dsewell writes: WINA is announcing that starting Monday the 14th, Bill O’Reilly‘s “Radio Factor” show will replace Clark Howard‘s consumer affairs program. A phone call to the station confirmed that Howard’s show is being dropped entirely rather than moved to a different time slot.
I was going to bill this as the first post-Eure programming move on WINA, but in fact the sale of the station to Saga Communications has not (to my knowledge) been completed yet. So I have no idea whether it’s related to the sale.
Whatever the underlying reason, to my mind it’s an ominous move. Clark Howard is one of the few nationally syndicated AM talk radio hosts who is humane, reasonable, and capable of listening to callers rather than using them as rhetorical stepladders. I have no idea what his politics are, except that he is consistently on the side of honesty and fairness in business and the rights of the little guy in consumer transactions. Bill O’Reilly, on the other hand, is the apotheosis of what talk radio has become: a mean-spirited, pugnacious self-promoter.
Silver lining: WINA is removing the only reason not to listen to Diane Rehm and “Talk of the Nation” on Radio IQ during the 1-3pm time slot. That’s too bad. I quite like Clark Howard’s show.
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