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.
Wow – 8 solid hours of lies, deceit, fear mongering, phony patriotism, and propaganda! Woooooo Hooooooo!
It’s good to know that WINA and Eure aren’t going to let integrity, rational discourse, and intellectual honesty stand in the way of programming decisions. It’s good to know that they’ve learned something from their competition with Clear Channel.
With the notable exceptions of WTJU, and to a far lesser degree WNRN, local radio in this town is just vapid and vacuous (there is no NPR station in this town, though fortunately that choice exists through relays). This decision only makes it worse.
If you like radio, check out XM or SIRIUS. You’ll get far better news (though the WINA morning show probably paraphrases Daily Progress articles as well as anybody), exponentially superior music programming than any of the commercial stations around here. I know a lot of people who have gone XM or SIRIUS, and not one regrets it.
if you don’t like what is on the radio, then turn the channel. How hard is that? If you don’t like the businesses who advertise with WINA, then show them by not going there.
Sometimes you act like they are forcing you to listen. I sometimes watch O’Reilly on Fox. I don’t worship the guy he walks on. However, I tried to listen to Al Franken (the anti-O’Reilly). I thought he was a nut. Now would you see me up and arms if WINA had a slot with him in it. Naw. Who cares!
Yeah, Clark Howard is fine if you are among those who can`t decide whether to pay off a 15% loan first or pay off the 5% loan first. Then of course, the folks who cannot decide if stuffing envelopes at home will really net them $250K per year or maybe it`s a scam?
Well, it`s not that bad but it is close. I agree he seems like a nice guy but then that`s his job.
Then again I`m no fan of O`Reilly either so I suppose IamDaMan offers the best solution – listen to something else.
In a liberal town like Charlottesville, I wonder how WINA can find such hardcore conservatism to be profitable. I don’t think their signal reaches that far into the hollers…
I listen to WINA. I know plenty of people who listen to these shows while driving and at work. Private businesses tend to target an entire market, not just the minority of people who vote.
In a normal world, a media outlet expressing minority views would be applauded in a "liberal town like Charlottesville." But Cville’s elite political culture is conservative by definition– they resist reform, progress, and equal access. They are no better than Republicans and, in some instances, worse.
Well…WINA hasn’t been on my presets for quite a while now…which is saying something in this town.
So I’ll chalk this up as yet another reason not to bother with them.
I used to try to listen to Limbaugh so I’d have an idea about other views on various topics. But then I realized that I could just imagine the most outlandish, absurd claims about whatever the issue of the day happened to be and end up at the same place.
I hope to God the new owners dump the BGB show on 3WV. As I have said in an earlier topic, these 2 morons are annoying with their little Beavis & Butthead antics. Everything about that show sucks, right down to the sound effects. No, I don’t listen to them, but I do switch over every-so-often to see if someone has gotten the nerve to force them to grow up or replace them. Obviously, they still have some fans out there…..