Posted on 08/06/2007 7:16:10 AM PDT by raccoonradio
There have been numerous reports since late Friday afternoon (Aug. 3) suggesting that female-targeted talk syndicator GreenStone Media could be closing its doors as early as Aug. 17.
High-profile feminist activists, author Gloria Steinem and actress Jane Fonda, were among a group that financially backed the network, which launched less than a year ago and has been struggling to gain a solid foothold in the affiliates arena.
R&R reported last week that GreenStone executive VP/COO Nancy Vaeth-DuBroff left the company several weeks ago to attend to some family matters that needed her full attention. She had only joined network in January, replacing Edie Hilliard, who joined the GreenStone board.
R&R has reached out to GreenStone VP of operations Jim LaMarca for comment on the network’s future.
The only two Greenstone Media stations I know of are:
--WTWK 1070 "EVE" in Plattsburgh NY/Burlington, VT. It replaced Air America and most likely will be replaced by something "off the bird" (satellite-delivered music or talk)
--WNSH 1570 in Beverly, MA. It's called "Radio for women, by women" but after 6 pm they go to all male hosts (Michael Reagan, Jerry Doyle) and their daytime lineup does feature one female host who is not from Greenstone (and is damn good: Laura Ingraham, from Talk Radio Network!)
have read they spent $5 million and came up with little
success—maybe a dozen affiliates at most...? At least they
didn’t run up the $20M debt (and that’s a low estimate)
Air America did...
I suspect that the failure of this network has less to do with its targeted audience of women, and more to do with extreme lefty bias. Anything funded by Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem pretty much guarantees such bias.
There’s also WEEV 1300 in the Albany, NY area, but you’re right. Greenstone is really struggling to get affiliates. WEEV, WTWK and WNSH makes all of three.
What may have saved Air America Radio is that they landed stations in each of the major markets. Greenstone has none in any major markets; Albany, Plattsburgh and Beverly aren’t exactly thriving metropoles in the realm of NYC, Chicago, LA, and the such.
yup!
from radioequalizer blog:
by Brian Maloney
“In a major blow to its high profile backers, including Gloria Steinem, Rosie O’Donnell, Jane Fonda and others, feminist talk radio network Greenstone Media is about to shut down, according to several trade reports this morning.
Despite its famous investors, ready access to cash and relatively high profile in the industry, Greenstone struggled to gain affiliates. And those who did carry its lineup of ‘chick chat’ shows tended to be tiny outlets in peculiar places.
“Perhaps foreshadowing the network’s failure, a number of executives had departed under mysterious circumstances in recent months.
“In March 2006, your Radio Equalizer broke exclusive details of Greenstone’s secret connections to Air America Radio and in September discussed a cocky interview Gloria Steinem gave to the New York Times on the network and its future. Also that month, Rush Limbaugh skewered Fonda and the network’s backers over their plan to challenge his ratings supremacy.
“Around that time, Fonda gave her own over- the- top performance on NBC’s Today Show, asserting her view that it would succeed.
“Not only was Greenstone partially tied to Air America, it shared the same peculiar habit of making arrogant assertions that its programming could overtake conservative talk radio. In this case, the company claimed there was a large group of female listeners that had been underserved by traditional talk formats.
“Hey Jane, Rosie and Gloria: who did your market research? You should demand a refund. Now, a few questions remain: how much did they lose and what will they say about fem- talk’s spectacular failure? Who will Steinem blame?”
Update: the rumor is true.
From Radio and Records:
After two years of building a full slate of live, female-targeted talk programming, GreenStone Media is preparing to discontinue operations effective Aug. 17. Only about eight affiliates cleared the programming in mostly mid-size and smaller markets, hardly enough to sustain the network.
“This is a longer and more expensive process than an independent programming company can shoulder in today’s turbulent marketplace,” said Susan Ness, president and CEO of Greenstone Media and former FCC Commissioner. “We’ve found growing interest in the radio marketplace and on other platforms, but we can’t responsibly predict success in a future near enough to match our investors’ resources.”
the entire MediaWeek piece:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/tvstations/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003621912
Launching a new radio network is a tough proposition (just ask Air America Radio). Launching a new radio network targeting women with female-oriented Talk programming in a male-dominated industry is even tougher.
After two years of building a full slate of live, female-targeted Talk programming, GreenStone Media is preparing to discontinue operations effective Aug. 17. Only about eight affiliates cleared the programming in mostly mid-size and smaller markets, hardly enough to sustain the network.
“This is a longer and more expensive process than an independent programming company can shoulder in today’s turbulent marketplace,” said Susan Ness, president and CEO of Greenstone Media and former FCC Commissioner. “We’ve found growing interest in the radio marketplace
and on other platforms, but we can’t responsibly predict success in a future near enough to match our investors’ resources.”
The company, which produces and distributes 48 hours of programming, offers streaming on its Web site (www.greenstonemedia.com) and provides podcasts, is still hoping that some last-minute financing or partnership could come through.
Ironically, programming targeting female audiences is one of the most requested advertiser demographics, yet there are limited choices among traditional radio. ABC Radio Networks, which syndicates The Satellite Sisters, also abandoned its initiative to develop more female-oriented Talk. The network’s former director of women’s programming, Corny Koehl, left to join Oprah’s Harpo Productions, which produces a channel for XM Satellite Radio. Sirius Satellite Radio also offers a full slate of female-oriented Talk, headlined by Martha Stewart.
“We believed (and still believe) that women need a voice on commercial radio, and that radio needs women’s voices,” Ness said.
It sure does.
May I direct them to Laura Ingraham, Tammy Bruce, Dr. Joy Browne, Dr. Laura, Cooper Lawrence (even at 5 affiliates, she has more than Greenstone), Sally Jesse Raphael, Janet Parshall, the Satellite Sisters, the Oprah and Martha channels on XM and Sirius respectively, not to mention the numerous local shows and man/woman morning show teams across the country and the fact that most music stations (except for rock) aim at women as it is. There is no shortage of female influence in radio.
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