The World According to Oatney

Clear Channel had to screw things up just when they were getting on my good side

For those of us who are fond of independent radio, or "free radio," as many of us like to call it, Clear Channel served as the ultimate enemy for many years. The radio conglomerate has shown a fondness for buying up radio stations and dominating the radio market with its syndicated music, sports, and talk shows.

Clear Channel, however, has never bothered to suppress the independence of WLW-AM here in Cincinnati, and has kept the 50,000 watt "Big One" filled with local talent who are largely reflective of the area's conservative make-up. WLW is a conservative station for a conservative people, and Clear Channel, much to the surprise of many, has largely seen to it that it remains so.

Clear Channel really made it on to my good list when it collectively decided to censure Howard Stern from it's stations because of Stern's lewd content and vulgar tongue (never mind the fines from the FCC). Howard Stern whined about free speech and has even moved his show to Serius Satelite Radio, but Clear Channel did the right thing. I sincerely doubt that the Founders of our Republic would agree that over-the-air phone sex is protected by the First Amendment.

Political speech is protected by the First Amendment, however, no matter how much we may disagree with it. I suppose it was with that in mind that Clear Channel changed the format of another Cincinnati station that it owns, WCKY-AM 1530, to liberal talk radio. The words liberal talk radio do seem like an oxymoron, especially when the best content on the station is now
The Al Franken Show and liberals do not have near the attention span of better-informed conservatives. It was a bad move to take a venerable Cincinnati station like WCKY and turn it into an outlet for left-wing steam blowing, especially when the more sane heads at WLW are broadcasting out of the same studio complex.

Clear Channel makes such a profit off of WLW and its other area stations that it can likely afford to give Marxists a station all to themselves, so even though I think it was a bad move, it is a tolerable one. What is disgraceful is the fact that WCKY can do no better for local talent than the most infamous and disgraced mayor in Cincinnati history. Not only did the man disgrace himself while mayor by going over to Newport for a night on the town and deciding to pay for a Lady of the Evening with a personal check, but, typical to his trashy nature, Jerry Springer now hosts the trashiest presentation of trailer park wares on daytime television. Clear Channel now thinks this man will be a good radio host. My opinion of Clear Channel and its corporate sensability has taken a huge nosedive.

His first three hour show was yesterday, and if the papers were to be believed, there was little to no negative reaction to Springer's presence on the air or the things he said. WCKY and Clear Channel will learn soon enough that the reason for this phenomenon is that virtually their entire listening audience resides in University Heights and Clifton, where the smoke from the previous night's pot blowout has yet to clear before Springer's new show comes on the air each morning.

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:53 AM