Weekend Fodder

WHAT ABOUT BOSTON?

Missing From Press Boasts, Plus: "Right-Wing Vandals"




Countering Air America's recent success claims by Al Franken over Bill O'Reilly, the Radio Equalizer yesterday heard from a talk radio executive with additional information on this supposed battle.

As part of recent internal company research on the strength of various syndicated hosts, the programmer learned that while O'Reilly's radio success varies somewhat nationwide, he's a powerhouse in Boston.

Heard in the Hub on Boston's WTKK-FM, O'Reilly turns out to be one of the market's strongest national programs, crushing competition from Air America's two area stations, WXKS-AM and WKOX-AM.

While WXKS produced just a tiny 0.5 audience share in the most recent Arbitron report, sister WKOX remained in last place with a 0.2.

Meanwhile, conservative WTKK-FM remains in 11th place, after factoring in a recent drop to a 3.1 percentage of the radio audience.

This information was certainly left out of Air America's recent letter touting "success" against established conservative hosts. Another oddity: emailed to supporters, it was not published in the press section of Air America's website.

Lacking any Boston interests, the executive's company was conducting research for internal purposes.



As you may know, the Radio Equalizer isn't a big Imus fan, but this New York Post blurb struck me as funny:

NOT even Don Imus, whose morning radio show has been simulcast on MSNBC for years, says nice things about the little-watched cable channel. Yesterday, reacting to news that Aaron Brown had left CNN and been replaced by Anderson Cooper, the I-Man said, "Which means there will be, very soon, 'The Aaron Brown Report' here on MSNBC, because the MO for MSNBC is [that] anybody at either Fox or CNN who can't get it done, they hire 'em here, thinking I don't know what . . ." A television insider recently described MSNBC as "an elephants' graveyard."

Indybay.org, one of the socialist websites recently involved in promoting a hypocritical protest by children against Clear Channel's San Francisco radio stations, is gloating today:

Stephen and Virginia Pearcy, Berkeley lawyers who have a home in the Land Park district of Sacramento, have faced a constant barrage of vandalism and threats by right wing vandals against the anti war art displays at their house over the past year.

Right wing radio talk show hosts and Move America Forward, an extremist organization that slavishly supports Bush's war in Iraq, even held a demonstration in front of the Pearcy's house last February to attack the display of a soldier's uniform with a noose on the neck, with the caption, "Bush Lied, I Died."

Finally these vandals have come to justice, thanks to the persistence of the Pearcys. Brian O'Malley, the first vandal who tore down the Pearcy's soldier display last February, has lost his appeal of the original small claims judgment awarding them $5,000.

"At the appeals hearing last Friday, O'Malley was represented by OJ Simpson 'Dream Team' attorney Robert Blasier," said Steve Pearcy. "However, it didn't help O'Malley save one dime."

The appeals judge heard two hours of arguments last Friday and then took the matter under submission. "Today, exactly one week after the hearing, we received letters from the court declaring the new judgment, again in our favor, in the amount of $5,000," said Pearcy on Friday, November 4.

Earlier this week, even as the O'Malley case was being decided, the Pearcys received a check in the amount of $3,500 from an attorney representing the vandal of their second soldier display, put up after the first one was vandalized. "That vandal, Mike Coates, whose identity only recently became known to us after we submitted a DMV ownership info request (based on a license plate number caught on video), unequivocally chose to accept all of the terms of our initial demand letter," said Pearcy.

While the Radio Equalizer doesn't support vandalism, this lawsuit appears vindictive against political opponents, at best.



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Franken image from Registered Media.