On Saturday I blogged here and on Calitics about how we need to save KLSD, the lone progressive talk radio station in San Diego, which may be flipped to sports unless enough listeners make themselves known. I mentioned the rally that will be taking place this morning (Monday) at 7:30 a.m. Pacific time outside the Clear Channel office (9660 Granite Ridge Drive). See details on the SaveKLSD.com website.
I live near Boston myself, but every progressive talk radio station is crucial. In the words of noted radio expert Ben Franklin, we who are trying to defend progressive talk "must, indeed, hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Yesterday I spoke with Jon Elliott, a talk show host on the station, and followed up with Kate Reifers, his director of research. His show is syndicated across the country, but his residence and his heart are in San Diego. Below the fold I'll tell you about my conversation with Jon.
Jon bills his show as the "fastest three hours on radio", but it was easy to communicate with him. He's a very accessible guy, and he understands what the blogosphere is all about. He visited my blog, Activist Land, where I had written an entry pointing to my KLSD diary here, to leave me a comment thanking me for the post and asking me to mention their petition. Wheels started turning in my head, and it occurred to me that perhaps I could ask him about the situation myself. So I sent him e-mail and invited him to call me back on my cell phone, then went ahead with my day. To my surprise, as I was in the supermarket, the phone rang and there he was. I got a kick out of the idea of conducting an interview right then and there over the cell phone in the frozen foods aisle -- hey, didn't Bob Woodward speak with Deep Throat in a parking garage? -- but realistically speaking, I knew I was better off going home, throwing the food I'd bought into the freezer, sitting down at my computer, and calling Jon back. Fortunately, Jon was agreeable.
Jon is passionate about KLSD and its listeners and had very positive things to say about the local Clear Channel management, who are actually providing the stage and sound system for today's rally. The local management is savvy enough to recognize that they stand to gain from the publicity. Current listeners give KLSD the highest TSL (time spent listening) rating of any station in town. The only problem is that with their 5000 watt daytime, 1000 watt nighttime signal doesn't allow them to reach enough listeners in the first place. The right-wing KOGO, by comparison, broadcasts at 5000 watts at night as well as during the day.
San Diego was actually the second major station (after KPOJ in Portland, Oregon) to carry liberal progressive talk in the new millennium, starting in August or September 2004. The flip to progressive talk pulled the station from about 40th out of 43 in the market to 17th. Jon joined the station in October 2004.
KLSD has edged up in virtually every measurement period but the very last one. Summer is traditionally a time when Padre sports broadcasting steals listeners away from other stations, but even so, the audience share for listeners fell absurdly sharply, suggesting a problem with the measurement. An axiom in the radio industry is that a station shouldn't change its format on just one "book" (the Arbitron ratings determined by requesting that listeners send in diaries about their listening habits), since these are prone to sampling error. The problem is that people hostile to progressive talk can run with the statistic anyway. They can also conveniently neglect to mention that there are already three all-sports stations in the market.
Well, I've got to run now, and I'd like to get this up before the rally. I may discuss the rest of my conversation on a later day. But please do join the rally if you can. Also join the group ( http://groups.yahoo.com/... ) to find out how you can get involved. More info is available at the site ( http://www.saveklsd.com ).
Remember -- if you're an out-of-towner, but stream from KLSD's website, please let them know (support@1360klsd.com). That means you see their advertising.
Good luck, KLSD!
UPDATE: They're broadcasting live from the rally. Try this link:
http://www.am1360klsd.com/...
If that doesn't work, go to: http://www.am1360klsd.com/ and look around.
UPDATE 2: Check out these pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/...
UPDATE 3: Here's a video of the rally, courtesy of A.D. Reiff of the JoyDog Group:
http://youtube.com/...