[Beacon Hill Babe]

What the heck are you talking about? This is a business. There’s no tit for tat when someone one one station is let go. Ward was an embarrassment and couldn’t be allowed to continue his association with the station. Morgan’s firing had not a thing to do with it. And, how do you figure that she was a target simply because her husband is Operations Director? If anything, that is what saved her last time around. It certainly is not a detractor. If anything, it kept her in that chair longer than anyone else would have been kept on.

[Political Junkie Too]

My post goes back to my first one where I put on my tinfoil hat and suggested that this is part of a long-term strategy to dismantle conservative talk radio. I realize that the specific dismissal of Morgan was a business decision because her contract was up and the others (Lee Rodgers and Tom Benner) were not. Rodgers went on the air this morning to explain that KSFO was making money, but that dismissals were happening at all stations to cover losses elsewhere in the network.

However, my larger point is still that the ABCRadio network sale would lead to the dismantling of conservative talk radio. It seems that ABCRadio was the birthing ground of conservative talk radio, given that Limbaugh started out at WABC, and Hannity and Levin are located there, too. Breaking up the ABCRadio network is a clever way to hasten the demise of conservative talk radio, if it's not possible to do it via the Fairness Doctrine.

Consider this plan:

1. Destroy the affiliate network. (Done)
2. Eliminate local talk radio. (In Progress) This begins the process of de-linking the listener to his/her local station and local issues.
3. Replace local talk radio with nationally syndicated talk radio, but at non-live times. (Also in progress). If only the local origin of a nationally syndicated show is getting the live feed, then the people in other locations, either when driving or elsewhere, will not be able to participate because the shows will have ended by the time they get to listen. This results in people becoming less interested in conservative talk radio as a whole.

Here in the SF Bay Area, only Michael Savage is live. Hannity goes on at least 3 hours after his show ends. Levin is the same, also true with Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller, Bill O'Reilly, practically all of them. Only internet listeners get to call in live.

-PJ