Posted on 06/06/2006 7:23:15 PM PDT by editor-surveyor
Friends,
Last night I updated you on the decision by KFBK 1530 AM/Clear Channel to move away from their "conservative" reputation, including the firing of a pro-troop/pro-military talk show host, a man who has been a hero to our cause - Mark Williams.
We have several updates for you that you need to hear about.
1) KFBK has now posted online the biography of the man who has been hired to replace Mark Williams. His name is Mr. Bruce Maiman and he announced on the airwaves that he is a "liberal" who is also anti-war. He is also apparently a relative of one of the sales executives at KFBK, which might explain how he got his job.
You MUST read the biography KFBK has posted on this Mr. Maiman. It is insulting to see the kind of crass approach they have taken in their efforts to rebrand their station and shed their long-established conservative pedigree. This was the station that launched the "Rush Limbaugh Show," and now they dump a pro-troop advocate for a man with this as his bio:
http://www.kfbk.com/pages/maiman.html
2) The news media has begun covering the growing backlash as outraged listeners and sponsors have bombarded the station with phone calls and emails of protest. Read this report from the Sacramento Bee:
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Mark Williams fallout: The decision by KFBK (1530 AM) to oust conservative talk-show host Mark Williams in favor of moderate [sic] Bruce Maiman has angered many of Williams' fans.
Griffin & Reed Eye Care, which pays for on-air media endorsements (including Williams') for its lasik eye surgery, has pulled all advertisements from KFBK.
"Our relationship with the personalities that help us with our advertising is something we take very seriously,"
writes Brad Mitchell, Griffin & Reed's chief operating officer, in an e-mail.
"... I'm sure the absence of our money on KFBK won't be felt too much, but hopefully the position will."
And a Granite Bay organization called Marine Moms & Military Families, which has held many events supporting the troops in Iraq and protesting Cindy Sheehan's opposition to the war, is banning KFBK from covering future events.
"We take (Williams' firing) as a personal attack and lack of support against our military men and women and their families," reads a letter sent to KFBK boss Jeff Holden by the group's leaders, Michelle Souza and Deborah Johns.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/14264297p-15077028c
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It's time for those of us who appreciated Mark Williams' unwavering commitment to our troops and their fight against terrorism to take action. We must speak out and let KFBK/Clear Channel know how much they've let us all down.
1) FIRST: Send an email to these people and let them know you are saddened by the news that Mark Williams has been fired and replaced with an anti-war liberal. I've also included the email addresses for 2 reporters covering this issue - include them on the same emails. We need them to hear our voices!
jeffholden@clearchannel.com
markpmays@clearchannel.com
apeterson@radioandrecords.com
smcmanis@sacbee.com
2) SECOND: Place a telephone call to Jeff Holden, the KFBK Program Director who FIRED Mark Williams, and politely and calmly state that you are calling to have your name added to those who are disappointed with the decision by KFBK to fire pro-military talk show host, Mark Williams.
The number to call: (916) 576-2223
We need for them to be besieged with phone calls. So, please, if the line is busy when you call, try back a few minutes later.
3) THIRD: Please also send a FAX and let the management at KFBK know how thoroughly displeased you are to see this station switch from being a proud sponsor of our troops and their mission, and becoming a mouthpiece for an anti-war, left-wing agenda.
The FAX number is: (916) 921-5555
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*Please forward this to 5 other people you know who support our troops and their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every night the Mark Williams Show was broadcast over the Internet to units in Iraq and Afghanistan - where Mark had a lot of admirers. Many nights, Mark would sign off for the evening by sending out a message of support - complete with music and voices of Americans expressing their love for our troops - as a morale boost to all those who were listening over the Internet and serving in the war for freedom.
These troops have now lost their voice in Sacramento, and they've lost a radio program that they could count on to be there for them when the other media outlets had them feeling so down and discouraged.
If you have a pro-troop email list or website - could you please pass on this information?
Thank you!
Melanie Morgan
Chairman, Move America Forward
http://www.MoveAmericaForward.org
The conservative pretense is over at KFBK
I guess they're going for that more lucrative liberal programming!
Ahh, we have open lines. Where's the number. Oh, here it is, ... silly me. Do we have any callers? (H'yuk!)
No Alec, no one seems to want to listen to your horsecrap.
Way to go Grittin and Reed (son's surgeon) and way to go Granite Bay! (used to live there)
Did KFBK get bought out by someone or something? They are a very conservative area so this is just stupid!
Yes, but Sullivan is no conservative, except for his fiscal outlook; otherwise, as for social issues, he is pro-gay, including some form of 'marriage' and thinks that illegal immigrants should be given amnesty.
I'm done with KFBK, Hope Rush hears of this!
The problem with that idea is that KFBK is the most powerful station in the western US. It can be heard from Shasta to Bakersfield. None of the other Sac stations can be heard easily outside of Sacramento county.
They might as well run the Tom Daschle Show.
A sad day indeed. I used to listen to Rush on that station before he went national.
Has the Sacramento area gone that liberal? Well I know it's the state capital. But the central valley is a fairly red voting area as a block.
Stop listening to the station.
Advertizers pull the pin like this piece mentions. Make them feel the pain in the pocket book. Best way to deal with this in a capitalistic society.
Sullivan is good, but he's an intermittant RINO and way, WAY too in love with Schwartzenegger and another failed candidate for Governor, horsewhipped by Gray Davis... Mrs. Lundgren's little boy Danny!!!
This is all we can ask and pray for. Capitalism and Freedom will win the day in the end. Our society is far too spoiled with the good life and will not be willing to relinquish it, nevermind the pathetic speeches from the b.s. global warming alarmists.
This is the only thing that counts. Calling the station people don't work. CALL THE ADVERTISERS!
Calling the station people don't work. CALL THE ADVERTISERS!Calling the station people don't work. CALL THE ADVERTISERS!Calling the station people don't work. CALL THE ADVERTISERS!
Oh, I did not live in Granite Bay, I lived in Live Oak in Sutter county. Then moved to Placer county outside of Lincoln. Moved away after a divorce and now Pastor a church in Florida.
Glad to be out of the California thing. And I am a native of Los Angeles...lol.
I had forgotten how Sullivan is on all issues but financial.
Is the station in Rio Linda, CA, by any chance?
It doesn't sound to me that much of anyone will be listening in six months. Stations can lose money for only so long before they go broke. Meanwhile, radio personalities can go broke quite quickly with no income. Promise your attention elsewhere and then encourage advertisers to put their ads on there. One or two periods being beaten by the guy you fired means the end of many a manager.
I use to listen to Rush on KNBR (I think that's what it was then) In any case, they would interrupt his show for Baseball and I'd have to get up and find another station. Annoyed at this, I called the advertiser who was on the pre-game show and talked to the general manager. Told him now way was I gonna buy his stinkin' product cause he (Yes, him personally) was interrupting Rush. I was nice. The guy listened and thanked me.
5 min later my phone rang and it was some sales nerd at KNBR trying to explain how they had a contract with baseball and how it wasn't the advertiser's fault, yadda, yadda.
It's actually fairly easy to talk to advertisers!
Don't they still have Rush in the line-up twice a day?
I was the one that lived in Granite Bay. We moved to San Diego (DH's job).
Oddly enough, that's kinda the goal of advertising. :)
Smart town. It must b e a sister city to "El Granada."
When liberals name a town, grammar goes out the window, else they would be Rio Lindo and La Granada.
Respectfully, I do not agree. Tom is not as conservative as some (me for example) but he is right thinking on most issues. He also does a pretty good job when he fills in for Rush.
Having come to Sullivan's defense, I confess that if my radio is on in the afternoon, it's usually tuned to Medved instead of T.S.
Re KFBK going lib, that's a big shame. I remember listening to Rush in 1985 on that station!
Oh well, we still have KTKZ and KSFO (if you can handle a little static.)
You can defend Tom Sillyvan all you want, but it rings hollow with me. I've listened to much of his babble for over 20 years, and can name hundreds of issues where he is pure liberal, or just plain ignorant.
IMO, Tom Sullivan is a pussy on almost every issue. He never takes a strong stand on anything and tries to play both sides of every issue. I've turned Tom Sullivan off and listen to Sean Hannity who is on at the same time. The firing of Mark Williams is an insult to all Conservatives in the Sacramento-area. I will no longer listen to KFBK except for Rush's show.
I have e-mailed twice to KFBK, received one response, where I was asked to give Maiman a chance, ok, I did. So I e-mailed again asking they take the boring fellow off.
IMO, Tom Sullivan is a pussy on almost every issue. He never takes a strong stand on anything and tries to play both sides of every issue. I've turned Tom Sullivan off and listen to Sean Hannity who is on at the same time. The firing of Mark Williams is an insult to all Conservatives in the Sacramento-area. I will no longer listen to KFBK except for Rush's show.
This will back-fire for them. Liberals don't like talk radio, because it requires them to think; if they wanted to think, they would be conservatives within a month.
There's always KTKZ 1380 AM. Or, for even beter reception, 105.5 FM
Eric Hogue, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, Laura Ingraham. Powerful lineup.
Give the people the benefit of the doubt on that one; they were never told the truth on stem cells by the media. It was a fear campaign.
I can only get KTKZ on a high-tech ham portable here. Most radios just draw a bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz on their freek.
How about 105.5 FM? That's KTKZ FM freq.
Mark is a good guy, but I always found his show a bit boring. I almost never listen to KFBK except occasionally Rush. I find the programing on KTKZ and KSTE much more entertaining and thoughtful. Also since KSTE is the same managment and has Hannity, Savage and Armstrong and Getty, it's not like the Clear Chanel is purging the airwaves of conservative hosts. It's probably about ratings and the cost of keeping Mark. Broadcasting is first and foremost a business (well, except for Air America and PBS maybe). They are probably paying this new guy a lot less, and if his ratings aren't good he'll be gone soon enough.
I had hoped that Kirk Uhler who has filled in for Tom Sullivan several times would be chosen if Mark ever moved on... but no such luck. Kirk used to be on KSTE and on KAHI in Auburn. He's quite good IMO!!!
Clear Channel is a Cecil Rhodes endowed propaganda machine, and they are just now showing their true colors. Watch for more of this. Rupert Murdoch is another one to watch. Fox will soon be taking us down the garden path.
Sad news ping...
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What was the official reason for his firing? What were his ratings?
Mark Williams was let go because of money. Ratings on evening radio mean nothing. No more money and no more advertising will accrue to a radio station because of ratings, because the available audience is miniscule...doesn't mean squat.
Forget KTKZ...they can't even beat the Air America outlet (well, maybe after the new ratings came in...)
The reason KFBK is #1 is Rush Limbaugh...and only Rush Limbaugh. Their news blocks are dull, boring and repetitive.
It was KNBR-AM who brought Rush to the Bay Area on a daily basis. KGO-AM, the longtime top rated ABC-owned station in San Francisco, played the best of Rush on weekend afternoons when he first went national. KNBR had Giants baseball, Warriors basketball and sports talk in the evening, but still had DJs and MOR (middle-of-the-road) music filling the early morning through evening drive hours.
As music on AM fell out of favor with stereo-craving listeners (especially after the colossal failure of the concept of AM Stereo) and the retirement of morning drive legend Frank Dill, KNBR started with talk shows during the afternoon when there was no sports programming. Although he was exploding throughout the rest of the nation, it was thought Rush would never sell in looney left San Francisco, and KNBR brought him from the shadows on KGO to the Bay Area live five mornings a week. Surprise, surprise -- KNBR beat KGO 9am-Noon for the first time in decades.
KNBR listeners weren't all happy with Rush. One creative attempt to get him dumped was when callers to Giants post-game talk shows used racial slurs about black players, which were then blamed on supposedly racist Limbaugh listeners who stuck around for the games. Nobody fell for it. Rush was replayed Midnight-3am as well as the 9-Noon live slot. KNBR was the top-rated sports station in the nation, and that was partially due to the fact 25% of the programming was Rush.
Rush was firmly ensconced at KNBR until ABC outbid it to get him back in 1999, bringing him to KSFO, purchased by Disney, ABC's parent company. After abandoning a standards/MOR format years earlier, KSFO failed with a mixed-bag of liberal talkers (including Tom Leykis) and Dr. Laura in the evenings and had switched to a lineup of brash, amateurish and almost unlistenable right-wingers (J. Paul Emerson being the most forgettable), and had righted itself (pun intended) with former KGO hosts Lee Rodgers and Jim Eason, Geoff Metcalf, and former ABC reporter Melanie Morgan. Also joining was former KGO fill-in host Michael Savage, who has become a star (and a bestselling author) in his own right.
"KFBK is the most powerful station in the western US."
No kidding. I used to listen to KFBK 45 years ago, after midnight, clear up here in northwest Washington on my little tube radio. Used to pick up one from Ogden, Utah, too.
Called, faxed. emailed mamagement of KFBK 1530 AM. Going after the advertisers next. South Placer county is more conservative than you can imagine. I live in Rocklin and will spead this around about Mark. a true conservative activist.
This looks like an impending crash and burn. I wonder how long it will take for those pesky Arbitron ratings to work their magic?
Your post took me down memory lane. I still have the news articles announcing the beginning of KSFO talk radio...
I'm sorry to learn this about Mark Williams. He covered those conservative events no one else covered.
Well, I will just remove this station from my speed dial buttons in both cars.
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