Jerry Springer, Air America, New York City, WLIB, WWRL

RECALLED FROM OFFICE?

Jerry Springer Faces Air America Loss





*** Exclusive To The Radio Equalizer ***

By Brian Maloney


Jerry Springer, Hell's unofficial mayor, may soon be recalled from office, the Radio Equalizer has learned.

Based on a reliable internal source, as well as hints from an Air America- related website, it appears very likely that Jerry Springer will not join Al Franken and Randi Rhodes when the liberal radio network's flagship moves to WWRL-AM / New York City next month.

Replacing Springer will either be Jones Media America's Stephanie Miller or, in an even bigger potential blow to the television trashmeister, WWRL's current midmorning infomercial lineup could remain in place.

At the moment, the Radio Equalizer leans heavily toward believing that Miller is the choice to take over Springer's show.

What this means for Springer's increasingly- shaky national talk radio career is unclear. Former Clear Channel titan Randy Michaels controls his show and had until recently been looking to take over WLIB-AM, the station Air America is vacating at the end of the month.

After a series of financial difficulties, the struggling network has been forced to accept a new home at WWRL-AM, which has a much weaker signal than WLIB. That left an opening for Michaels to potentially counterprogram a liberal lineup on WLIB, with Springer as the centerpiece. But Michaels has now pulled out of the bidding for the station's lease, leaving Jerry with nowhere to go in New York City.

Whether other Air America affiliates across the country will hang onto Jerry's show also isn't known, but losing New York City is most certainly a major blow.


As we've reported in the past, Jerry's liberal radio talk show has struggled to find an audience, even in his onetime home state of Ohio. In Cincinnati, where Springer was once the mayor, Air America's programming was recently demoted to a much smaller station in the market, after a poor ratings performance.

Ratings have lagged, and there have been very few additional stations willing to pick up the show in the past year.

Springer's struggle to gain credibility in liberal circles may explain his increased visibility on the political circuit in recent months. In addition, he's done some lobbying within the radio industry as well, hoping to gain attention for something other than the sleaze associated with his raunchy television show.

During June's New Media Seminar in New York City, for example, Jerry heavily worked the room, while other Air America hosts skipped the event entirely.


Indications that Springer would be leaving the fold, in New York City at the very least, have come not just from an internal source, but also hints left at the website for Air America's new flagship outlet, WWRL. In a box ad for the network, other hosts are mentioned, while Jerry's name is left out.

Otherwise, there's so far been no formal annoucement from the company on Jerry's fate. As always, we'll keep you posted.

ELSEWHERE: great election reporting continues at the National Review's Sixers site.

Thanks for your continued and vital Radio Equalizer support, via Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately order!

Say Goodbye: David A Lunde for the Radio Equalizer. Visit his site today!