To anyone who has followed the molasses-paced erosion of WBAI/Pacifica, in recent years, last night's phone-based meeting of the PNB's Finance Committee is more aptly described as a confirmation than a revelation. It comes as no surprise that the general financial situation has continued to worsen. Listen to the average program offering and you get a good idea why that is the case, think of the fact that not even the treasurer, R. Paul Martin knows what comes in or how it is spent. WBAI manager, Berthold Reimers has the answers, but he isn't talking straight to anyone. With bankruptcy looming, some PNB members are finally smelling the rat.
One Finance Committee member pointed out the insanity of having the vandals fix the damage they themselves inflicted... and the beat goes on, its ring becoming increasingly hollow as Pacifica becomes a shameful footnote.
One Finance Committee member pointed out the insanity of having the vandals fix the damage they themselves inflicted... and the beat goes on, its ring becoming increasingly hollow as Pacifica becomes a shameful footnote.
The centerpiece for last night's conclave was Chief Finance Officer Sam Agarwal, who reported on the present situation. He is a rare bird in this nest, one who neither fantasizes nor gilds the morsels Pacifica and its local managements cast our way. As our good friend, 'Indigopirate' put it, "Agarwal seems at this point to state the dire situation and to voice positive thoughts, such as noting the energy and enthusiasm of the plans of a local board, then again, when questioned, acknowledging that, no, it's a bad situation, and there's not actually any hope."
Indigo noted, after trimming this audio to a listenable yet comprehensive length, that others raised hard questions and made candid observations. Though shorter, the audio retains the original sequence. Click-track beeps mark spots where editing took place. Let's hear what you think.
PNB Finance Committee meeting - May 17, 2016
I think it's silly - if not insane - to continue to waste time on motions that the LSBs raise money while saying nothing about the GMs and PDs not performing their jobs - which, among other things, is to make sure the stations are solvent.
ReplyDeleteLast year, when KPFK's budget came to the LSB, I pointed out there was a $1 million deficit in it, mostly from idiotic fantasy revenue. Lydia Brazon then made a motion that one of the two LSB bylaws mandated "Town Halls" be a fundraiser to raise $5000. Michael Novick happily voted for it but he seems to have forgotten all about it now, as has Lydia. It's not that I'm against the LSBs raising money but it cannot be relied on for any real funds and cannot make up for the enormous deficits at each station. Even WBAI can raise $5k per day on air. Why not focus on improving the product which is programming? Why do we have GMs and PDs who can't do the most basic of promotion and publicity?
Agarwal says the 2014 audit is almost done except for the going over the report and paying the auditors. That's like the doctor telling you you're sick but you refuse to go over treatment options and insist he finish examining you.
ReplyDeleteWPFW transferred money from a restricted account to pay expenses. Sound familiar?
Sonali's ears must be ringing. I don't know where Agarwal is coming from but I would almost wish he were part of the 'conspiracy' because it just doesn't sound like he has all the information he needs.
I think you're right, Agarwal probably does not have all the information he needs, but I think he knows more than "they" are comfortable with.
DeleteBruva Basir Mchawi has just reminded us that May is the birth-month of Bruva Ho Chi Minh. Well, June is the birth-month of Brother Jefferson Davis. Celebrate that.
ReplyDeleteKGT
Mchawi has been a blight on the WBAI image for a very long time, but he is as insignificant as the station itself has become. These garden furniture activists who infest WBAI are pathetic.
DeleteYeah, but he is an adjunct lecturer at Queens College English Department. Don't tell me he is insignificant if he can contaminate impressionable college students.
DeleteKGT
If he succeeds in contaminating their thoughts, he has found himself, in a sense. That said, professorships do not in and of themselves impress me one whit. In this country, at least, the position too often appears to be bestowed for debatable reasons—akin to labeling elderly artists/writers as "legendary" by rote.
DeleteIf money is so tight all across the network, how is Pacifica managing to pay people like Thom Hartmann and Brad Friedman? Being radio "names", they obviously don't work cheap. I know that many of Pacifica's PD's are convinced that we need these people in key time slots. If you're bankrupt, how are you paying them? If Hartmann is such a great host, why is he doing business with Pacifica? Then again, what do I care.
ReplyDeleteI am less familiar with Brad Friedman's work than I am with Hartmann's, but my impression—marginal as it is—tells me that he has more substance than Hartman. The letter's show would have been a misfit on WBAI even before it sank to its present level. I found it slick, annoying and obviously neutralized for distribution.
DeleteIt could be that he let Pacifica have it gratis or for a nominal fee—when there was a measurable listening audience, there was at least some benefit in being on the air in a major market. One might ask—and many have—why Gary Null stays on WBAI. Sure, he sells some product that way, but I suspect it doesn't hurt him to list a NYC radio station among his outlets.
As for Pacifica PDs, they haven't exactly been stellar; the occasional good one soon gives up.
Fewer people care with each passing of the drivel WBAI dishes up. One of the great things about radio was its inherent ability to fire imagination. As a boy, I was fascinated by what I saw when a good story was told_Radio Denmark occasionally had readings of short stories by authors like Ray Bradbury, and I was totally absorbed. The wonderful thing was that each listener conjured up his or her own picture... I think that was wherein much of radio's strength lay.
When I listen to WBAI, the pictures I see are quite different: hateful and silly people who will leave no mark when flushed down the drain.
FYI: Hartmann's drivel is financially backed by Sputnik Radio (formerly Radio Russia formerly Radio Moscow). Hartmann is, essentially, paid by Putin and is, hence, a paid representative of the Russian regime.
DeleteI have some Radio Denmark QSL cards from way back before they shut down on shortwave.
SDL
You missed your chance Chris. They got a new NES named Lynn Serpe. She is with the NY Green Party and ran for City Council in Queens. It just seems surreal how they are able to organize bylaws amendments and elections and yet seem utterly clueless when it comes to programming. That reminds me. Tracy has a revealing clip of Radford explicitly telling her LSB that they have no say over specific programming decisions but only the quality of the decisions.
ReplyDeleteActually, Hartmann has his own LLC production company. They produce both his radio and TV show. Sputnik Radio and RT (same company) provide him with a studio, phone lies, etc. In return, they produce content that the Russian govt. pays a fee for. Since the radio show is syndicated, this means the more stations that carry him, the higher his fee. I used to listen to him. But since he supports Hillary, he has IMO zero credibility.
ReplyDeleteMost "progressive" talk hosts are now self syndicated (Hartmann, Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, etc.). That may give them more content control and possible bigger profits. But the quality is really bad.
I rarely listen to Hartmann because I think he comes off as a propagandist. I stumbled onto the beginning of his show and heard an opening that it was partly financed by Sputnik Radio, so that is what I have to go on.
DeleteNo matter what, if he gets any support or has any connection to Sputnik Radio, he is getting support from the Russian government, the same Russian government that passed the anti-homosexual laws not too long ago. Yeah, really "progressive."
As I say, "progressive" is just wannabe bourgeoisie faux leftism.
SDL
Understand your point about the power of quality radio. I've worked in various parts of media (TV, radio, newspapers, etc.). I've also lived in major markets where quality was everywhere. Now, finding that quality is like looking for an underground resistance station.
ReplyDeleteI've only heard KPFK's overnight show that partially replaced Roy of Hollywood a few times. If it's always profanity, how come the FCC hasn't fined them? Or, does FCC deregulation now mean after midnight, listeners are now mature enough to handle the Dirty 7 Words?
ReplyDeleteFCC indecency fines are usually the result of an investigation prompted by a listener complaint. I guess KPFK has so few listeners that the odds of a complaint are very low.
DeleteSDL
In the early days of WBAI we were monitored by a thin-skinned Jesuit group that listened with quills poised and sent letters of complaint to the FCC at the drop of a "damn." They went bonkers and were joined by a couple of street-level bible toters when Leroi Jones read a couple of his poems on the air—pretty innocuous as far as words went, but one would think El Diablo himself had dropped in to our studio.
DeleteThe FCC kept such letters on file for review at license renewal time, sent us copies, and asked for verification/explanation. Some of these complaints were pretty funny, unintentionally, and we never got a thumbs down from the Commission.
In the case of Leroi, the same words spoken by an unknown might have caused us trouble, but the FCC had an odd—and I believe, unwritten—rule that exempted or gave a longer leash to published authors!
Now, I guess they don't give a flying pig... a look at the pathetic listenership totals quickly establishes the station's insignificance.
The history of the FCC starting with the Reagan administration has been to have every administration cut its budget. In fact, it got so bad last year that the FCC closed more than half their field offices and "retired" more than half their employees.
DeleteAt this point, the FCC is really just a political panel that does paperwork, manages station licensing and other such administrative stuff. They will still deal with indecency complaints, if they get several about a broadcast.
No matter what warning you give, indecency still isn't protected, of course. However, if there is some sort of artistic merit, news, or such "serious" material, you can push general limits further, as long as it is after midnight. Needless to say, this is all up to the subjective FCC.
If I remember correctly, the George Carlin 7 Dirty Words bit was played on WBAI during the daytime.
SDL
Newton Minow, a Kennedy appointee, was the best person I have seen in that position. Of course I can assume that you are familiar with his "vast wasteland" speech. When D.C. idiots declared WBAI to be subversive and un-American, there was a hearing the outcome of which could have been the revoking of our license. It was a threat to free speech that would have seriously affected the entire broadcasting industry. There was not a peep out of that industry during the hearing, but when the lawmakers ruled in WBAI's favor, commercial broadcasters fell over themselves celebrating the decision.
DeleteMinow addressed the NAB shortly after that, reminded the members of the consequences a different ruling would have had, and shamed them. It was not a case of Minow having an affinity for Pacifica, per se, but he was an intelligent, fair man. Remember Colin Powell's son in that position?
I forgot to mention I noticed the TECSUN BCL-3000 shortwave receiver in your graphic for this thread...
ReplyDeleteSDL
You know your SW stuff. :)
DeleteI downloaded and listened to the unedited Financial Follies and had to laugh, as usual. They still focus on making money without changing the programming quality. They are truly the dog that chases after fire hydrants and can't figure out why it has more and more bumps on its head. Oh, wait. More Spanish programming is the answer!
ReplyDeleteA high point was RPM mumbling about how Reimers ignores him. When will RPM learn?
By the way, the TECSUN BCL-3000 was re-branded as the Grundig S350 for North America...
SDL
Yes, they are dense beyond belief, although they have by now thoroughly convinced me that it's real... They really do not have the ability to think logically.
DeleteDon't know the figures, but I''m hearing that this dive is in a deep spin, as it were... Not even Reimers' two plugs are bringing in the money. On one of them, he say's, "Trust me!", funny line.
"Trust me!"? Did he add "It's only a shower!"?
ReplyDeleteSDL
Metaphorically speaking. He was referring to his promise of. Their buddy bribe being a marathon eliminator. Trust me... Nobody can possibly trust him when he says trust me... Or something like that.
DeleteIs Grundig still the quality product it once was?
Yes and no. Grundig was bought by Eton and stopped manufacturing their own stuff some years back. Now they re-brand Chinese radios. Sometimes they choose good models and sometimes mediocre. The Satellit 750 (re-brand of Tecsun S2000) is really good for the money. The old German made radios were still among the best, though. Know what? Old Grundig SW radios go for some serious money these days.
DeleteSDL
I've owned a couple of Grundig radios in my time—neither was a dedicated SW. I didn't have much equipment when I was young and poor, but it generally was either B&O or Philips. My first recording machine was a B&O wire recorder which I traded in for their first tape model in 1952. I also bought a ribbon mike to replace the dynamic one that came with it. No vu meters, just that green "eye," which worked well. I have posted some of the recordings I made on it over 60 years ago and they sound remarkably good.
DeleteWhen I was with WBAI, I bought a 1964 Beocord at Harvey's (remember that store?) and plugged it directly into a line output in master control, capturing the entire premiere marathon. Not having the money to buy as many reels of blank tape as it might require (I scheduled the drive to end as soon as the total was received in pledges), I got the whole thing on one 7" reel of 1/4" tape, using 4 tracks at 1 7/8 ips. There was no bleeding and the sound was amazing.
I still have the reel, but not a machine that can handle that configuration. Too bad, because, besides serving as historic documentation of what I understand was the first fundraiser of its kind, it contains fine musical moments, including Herbie Hancock's first encounter with an electric keyboard. Here's a sample of the sound from that 1964 marathon.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/iiyonyftzetgrn8/Clifford_Jordan_at_WBAI_-_1964_Outhouse.mp3
FCC rules: obscenity is always forbidden. Thee FCC however has never found anything obscene, as that is a much higher bar to prove.
ReplyDeleteIndecency, and profanity however are not permitted between 6 AM and 10 PM.
From the FCC page on such:
Obscene broadcasts are prohibited at all times
Obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution and cannot be broadcast at any time. The Supreme Court has established that to be considered obscene, material must meet a three-pronged test:
◾An average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
◾The material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law.
◾The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Indecent broadcast restrictions
The FCC has defined broadcast indecency as "language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities." Indecent programming contains patently offensive sexual or excretory material that does not rise to the level of obscenity. The courts hold that indecent material is protected by the First Amendment and cannot be banned entirely. FCC rules prohibit indecent speech on broadcast radio and television between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is reasonable risk that children may be in the audience.
Profane broadcast restrictions
The FCC defines profanity as "including language so grossly offensive to members of the public who actually hear it as to amount to a nuisance." Like indecency, profane speech is prohibited on broadcast radio and television between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Thank you.
DeleteThe problem with the FCC is that they have always been subjective.
DeleteBy the way, I don't know why, but the FCC doesn't seem to care at all about content when it comes to shortwave. A station like WBCQ has cursing on some shows, or from callers (no delay on the phones, and even I let slip a few curses when calling in), and Allan Weiner doesn't mind. I don't know if this has to do with FCC rules being different for shortwave or the FCC just not caring about shortwave. Weiner says as long as you don't do anything criminal (like in felony, not FCC rules violations) on the air, you won't be censored. Considering some of the extremists that have leased time from him, he seems true to his word.
SDL
If it is true that WBAI's license is worth tens of millions of dollars, perhaps even $100 million, then the obvious solution is to sell that license and close the station. The proceeds from that sale would be enough to:
ReplyDelete- Pay off all of the Foundation's debt
- Pay off WBAI's debt
- Pay off all of the other stations' debts
- Lavishly fund a new internet-based WBAI, run by professional management with experience in radio, paid on-air talent, and programming for which there is actual demand - all without the need for any fund drives.
- Create a reserve fund for Pacifica which could last decades into the future
Almost all of Pacfiica's financial problem could be solved in one fell swoop and the only sacrifice would be a bricks and mortar station which isn't wanted or needed and which spends most of its time begging for money.
The problem with that is WBAI's location. As a resource for visionary program material, no other area can come close to NYC. While WBAI's frequency and power probably still has the highest monetary value and dropping it from the Pacifica network should bring in the greatest amount, we must bear in mind that Pacifica has a history of shortsightedness—a serious flaw in its amateur governance that has helped propel it along its path to oblivion.
DeleteThe fact that Pacifica is based on the West Coast is another factor, I think. WBAI has long been a dark horse and dumping it would not generate a Kleenex moment out there. What the decision makers have difficulty seeing is that there is nothing wrong with WBAI that professional, concerned management could not have avoided.
Today, the programming is in the hands of opportunists who have turned it into a third-rate black station. The listenership count is as embarrassing as the programs are bad. We have a powerful outlet that serves as a propaganda soap box for narcissists and sedentary "activists" with big mouths and no moral fiber. Every day and night, the station spews racism, distorts history, lies to further its own agenda, promotes scams, insults intelligence and alienates those who would offer or have given financial support. I won't even go into the criminality that takes place with impunity as a corrupt PNB looks the other way.
Concerned, honest voices still emanate from the wreck of WBAI, but they are faint and steadily growing even more so.
Personally, I believe Pacifica itself has passed the point of no return—the amateurs and schemers have, through a succession of clueless vandals, thoroughly destroyed Lew Hill's concept, blocked the network (from want of a more descriptive term) from keeping up with the technical needs of today's generation, and irretrievably given the Pacifica Foundation (and WBAI) a bad name.
Well said, sir.
Delete[bows]
~ 'indigopirate'
Thank you, indigopirate. I consider that weighty, coming from you.
DeleteWhy bother with just an internet only WBAI when many of the listeners don't even have or use the internet? Their crap isn't going to pick up any listeners, anyway, as we see from their financial straights right now with their online presence. If they are going to sell one station, especially in a flagship market like NY, they may as well sell them all and make Pacifica all internet. Losing listeners wouldn't matter with all that money in their coffers... Until it's stolen...
DeleteSDL
The Internet,like the telephone before it, will become commonplace in one form or another. Granny may not become a habitual Googler, she may never Yahoo, but she'll soon enough learn to tap on her favorite spot. Don't you think?
DeleteBTW, have you noticed that every day is Malcolm X's birthday?
DeleteWill the internet become the future of "broadcasting"? That's a good question. I think it will, but internet based radio must evolve from what it is now and become more streamlined and simplistic for people. Also, people need to get used to using it for "radio," like they had to get used to other changes of technology. Also, radio companies must put more emphasis and advertising into the product. Anyway, there are huge debates on this topic on radio forums everywhere.
DeleteI haven't noticed that Malcolm X has more rebirths than Dracula and Godzilla combined I haven't listened to WBAI much because I have been monitoring the other four Pacifica stations out of curiosity as to how they conduct beg-a-thons. KPFK is closest in style to current WBAI. KPFT is more like old style WBAI, with live people begging.
I hope you don't mind me giving a little plug for a good little station. I often listen to Lehigh University's WLVR 91.3FM ( http://www.wlvr.org ) when I want music. For anyone who wants a good mix of different styles of obscure rock music (particularly hard rock, psych, progressive, blues rock, etc.), this is the best music station I know of. If they do a beg-a-thon, I'll be donating.
SDL
Have you noticed that every Malcolm X's birthday is brought to us by Mimi X Rosenberg?
DeleteKGT
When it comes to Mr, X (who I met and had coffee with), the M's have it--It's a toss-up between Mimi and Margaret. BTW, I liked Malcolm. He had an aide, bodyguard, or whatever by name of Benjamin Goodman. Benny came to see me at my apartment shortly after Malcolm's assam slave blanket obscuring their sunlight. Mimi has bestowed sainthood upon my friend, Gil Noble, but Gil. Would be the first to tell you how idiotic this woman is. One day, I'll say more about Gil and the Malcolm footage. I wonder if the interview he did with me in my apartment still exists..
DeleteChris, you're like the Leon Charney of radio. He knew every Israeli politician personally. You seem to know or at least met everyone even remotely connected to Pacifica. I hope you don't have his ego. He never failed to remind everyone of his role with the Camp David Accords. I used to enjoy watching his program. At times, he seemed more Israeli than the Israelis.
DeleteI volunteered at and later managed WBAI at a time when it attracted some of the most interesting people around. I was the opposite.of Berthold Reimers in most respects, including visibility. Except for inventing the fundraising on-air marathon, I look back without regrets. BTW, our marathons (I conducted two annual ones at BAI and one each at KPFA and KPFK)--all were short, reached the goal, brought in money beyond that, and offered only one reward: a unique radio station.
DeleteWBAI can still do it with ease. Set a goal of $1,600 and it should be over in a day...
DeleteSDL
Your optimism is positively blinding!
DeleteI believe in the power of positive thinking, as long as you don't set too high a goal...
DeleteSDL
Hmmmmmmmmm, let me think about that statement as Mimi regurgitates Malcolm and X marks the missing Michael's morning spot.
DeleteI'm really surprised that they are calling him Malcolm "X". I once heard a hip hop programmer on a local college station talking about the Spike Lee movie "Malcolm the Tenth."
ReplyDeleteBefore he died, Gil Noble told friends he thought Samori was a terrible PD and Murillo was "oily".
ReplyDeleteGil was an intelligent man.
DeleteGil Noble sucked up to Sonny Carson, Leonard Jeffries and swore by, not at, Elombe Brath. Let's not all drink the Kool-Aid at once.
DeleteKGT
When Gerald Rivers, a Puerto Rican Catholic/Russian Jew ethnic mixture with a latinized working name, hit it with his Willobrook report, ABC promoted him. He had been sharing office space with Gil Noble, so now he wanted it all. Gil was moved to a much smaller space, in the basement. He was not pleased and it didn't help that "Geraldo"—as Rivers' producer renamed him in order to get a more latino sounding host—became an arrogant bastard.
DeleteA few weeks later, Gil asked me to meet him for lunch. He told me about Geraldo and said that he was looking for his own Willowbrook. What, he asked me, did I think of racism on the jazz scene? Was there something there that he could expose? Gil was also a pianist and he had many jazz musicians among his close friends, including Jackie Mclean, so I assumed that he had picked up on a problem I was unaware of.
I told him that it was certainly there, somewhere, but that I hadn't sensed it among musicians—the business end (managers, bookers, club owners) was another matter. I had heard racist talk there, the sort of "free speech" white guys sometimes exercise when blacks aren't around.
Gil was obviously looking for something that might draw as much attention to "Like It Is" as the little bastard was enjoying. I advised Gil against focusing on the jazz scene, because it just wouldn't have the impact and feel-good properties of "rescuing" mistreated patients. Besides, the musicians had to continue relying upon the veiled bigots.
Gil never brought the subject up again, perhaps because he thought better of it, or because a member of his staff discovered all the Malcolm X footage in the garbage, dumped there by ABC producers who failed to recognize its historic value. As you probably know, Gil did do something about that.
I'm wondering if anyone else is, as myself, suffering from Post Traumatic Degrue Satiety...
ReplyDeleteSDL
I share your affliction, SDL, and my HenrikClarkeiosis is flaring up again. If his birthday continues for one more day, I'm afraid I'll lapse into a Malcoma.
DeleteJust much too much of the same repetitive stuff. I bet this beg-a-thon is going to drive away a significant number of listeners, especially if they add the customary extra week of begging.
DeleteSDL
I posted above about a scenario in which WBAI is sold and the proceeds of the sale are used to right the Pacifica ship, pay off all outstanding debt and fund a top-notch internet-based WBAI. Albertson commented that he thinks that Pacifica is beyond the point of no return, presumably meaning that it is doomed to bankruptcy. But that got me to thinking: what is the end game when Pacifica is holding on to these extraordinarily valuable non-liquid assets - licenses - the value of which far exceeds the current debts of the foundation and all the stations combined? Even if it were to go into bankruptcy, all that would happen is that the court would order some of the licenses to be sold in order to pay off creditors. But once the creditors are paid off, it would be back to business as usual albeit with one or two fewer stations. So whether anyone follows my idea (which was actually Steve Brown's idea from a few years ago) or whether a sale happens in the context of a bankruptcy auction, the end result is the same - the Pacifica saga goes on and on and on, even if WBAI does not.
ReplyDeleteHerself, basically. She tried harder to sell her book than to bring the station money. She's got Haskins fooled, but who hasn't?
ReplyDelete(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteIf WBAI is sold for tens of millions...
(I have a sense that it's value is being vastly overstated. Think you can still get $1 million+ for that taxi medallion? - An uber NOT!)
... if Pacifica suddenly is debt free and has it's hands on millions, it will demonstrate just how quickly you can burn through a fortune.
First come the salary increases and hiring binge. Then load up on "vital capital equipment" such as iPhones, iPads, big screen TV's (that can slowly wander off).
Of course an important institution like Pacifica should have luxury management retreats.
And inevitably come the lawsuits.
I expect Yee to gather ex-employees and other parties to sue Pacifica, while Siegal collects fees defending Pacifica.
The windfall will not delay the ultimate demise by much (unless by some miracle there is a major management change).
BTW look what happened to Cooper Union...
http://www.vice.com/read/new-yorks-attorney-general-wants-to-know-why-this-college-isnt-free-anymore-406
WBAI, as we have come to cringe at it, will turn to dust and there will be another station at 99.5—it will bear no resemblance to the station that once was, but—even if it solely broadcasts Florence Foster Jenkins—it will be regarded as an improvement.
DeleteCooper Union certainly reflects a major change—not quite the same, but....
That said, I think technology and listening/viewing habits are moving too fast for a million bucks to be regarded as a wise investment.
JustAListener hits things on the head with excellent aim. There are all sorts of prices bandied about for radio frequencies, but, in truth, the big radio corporations are in trouble and debt. 99.5 FM is prime radio real estate, but it isn't truly worth what it was five years ago. The only radio companies expanding now are the religious broadcasters, but they are non-commercial and have a big built in sucker base to pay their way.
Delete(I just had a horrid thought. One weekday morning we awaken to hear Daulton Anderson rambling about how some religious broadcaster just purchased the former WBAI and now he is the new morning man, playing gospel, for the new WGOD 99.5 FM!)
In the end, no matter what occurs, Pacifica won't change its operating mentality and state of denial. At best, Pacifica is doomed to wallow in the same muck it created for itself for twenty years.
SDL
If it came down to a toss-up between WGOD-FM and WHATE-MF, I would rev up a turntable and dip into my collection of LPs by William Schatner and the Portsmouth Sinfonia.
DeleteJeez! One of my sections in my record collection is "personalities," as it's called. I have records from Schatner, Nimoy, David Hemmings, Chad Everett, Marjoe Gortner, and many other actors, actresses and celebrities who thought they could sing, including Xaviera Hollander!
DeleteSDL
An enviable collection! Marjoe in the Morning... that is the stuff nightmare are made of... might even give Hopeless Haskins a run for his running "the way we were" theme.
DeleteBelieve it or not, the Marjoe Gortner LP, Bad But Not Evil, is a pretty good hippy rock album, which is why personalities collectors don't like it. They look for the comically bad. Check out this song and you may agree with me he should have stuck to music and not "acting":
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iVstq9d-58
The David Hemmings LP was decent, too. However, he was backed by The Byrds on it, so you'd expect some professionalism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZqwD2NUR4E
SDL
prescod is saying if nobody calls , she can't offer the congo package anymore.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess what , nobody called . Wouldn't you think they would get the message by now?
That's Frantic Maggie's beggathon m. o. She does this when the phones don't ring, which is increasingly the case.
DeleteI was listening to a few minutes of Prescod and really tried to keep an open mind but as soon as I heard the word conquistadors in regard to a critique of
Deletecapitalism, I literally tuned out. With the economy, refugee crisis, election, this is what they choose to concentrate on? Even Fox is more fair and balanced than this. I'll pass on the Capitalism DVD series worth $500 and now available for $240. After all, didn't I already get the Cuba in Africa DVD? I need to calm down with a nice cup of 'Grounds of Democracy' coffee.
I know the feeling. When I heard scammer Ron Daniels refer to the gentrification of Harlem as "genocide," I pulled the "Reparations Now" sticker off my forehead.
DeleteToday, scammer Bates was once again describing an old turd as a "brilliant" historian. The old turd has, of course, been flushed, but John Henrik Clarke's fantasies live on in simple minds of the Haskins ilk, and con artists like Bates take advantage of that.
When will the station's growing debt and diminishing listenership convince these poor fools that they have kicked off a losing game?