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KPOJ Cancelling Political Talk Radio
UPDATED: Fox Sports Radio 620 launches tonight
Carl WolfsonPortland's progressive talk-radio station 620 AM KPOJ is ending all political programming and changing its format to all sports.
KPOJ morning host Carl Wolfson announced the decision by the station owner, Clear Channel Media, on his Facebook page this morning.
To my friends -- Clear Channel informed me this morning that they are moving in a new direction with KPOJ, beginning on Monday. I appreciate the opportunity they gave me for six years to be a voice for progressive causes in our state and nation. I will miss all of my fun friends at work (my excellent producer Paul, remains employed!). I love all of you, my loyal listeners. It has been my honor to give a platform to all of the outstanding groups, volunteers, elected officials and good people who make Oregon so special.Wolfson tells WW he's grateful for the chance to be on the air, and that KPOJ gave Portland a progressive voice for the past eight years.
"But this is awfully hard," Wolfson says. "I'm very grateful to all my loyal listeners, and I'm sad that the progressive voice is going off the air in Portland."
UPDATE, 2:50 pm: Clear Channel Media officially announced this afternoon that 620 AM will become "Fox Sports Radio 620" starting at 5:30 pm today. It will add national Fox Sports Radio programs to broadcasts of Portland Trail Blazers basketball (moved from fellow Clear Clannel station KEX 1190) and Oregon State Beavers football.
The new Fox Sports programming lineup has posted to 620 AM's website.
Along with Wolfson's show, Carl in the Morning, 620 AM also aired programming from Thom Hartman, Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy.
Ratings numbers from the past two years show KPOJ trails its talk-radio competitors—and Portland's two sports stations.
From October 2011 to October 2013, according to the ratings tracked by Arbitron, KPOJ fell from a 1.1 share to a 1.0 share of listeners—meaning 1 percent of listeners above the age of 12 were tuned to 620 AM. That's well behind last month's 3.5 share for News Radio KEX 1190 (which airs Rush Limbaugh) and the 5.0 share for KXL FM News 101 (which airs Lars Larson).
KOPJ's numbers also trail KOPB—the public radio station has an enviable 5.5 share—and both sports stations, KXTG The Game (2.5 share) and KFXX The Fan (1.6 share).
- Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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tim shea
Portland should have a voice for progressive people...who might step up and keep us informed?
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Dre Ski Rock
Tune into to Kboo!
Michael H. McDonald
It is very sad that Portland is losing the one radio station that was the only local on air source of speaking truth to power. I guess a well informed electorate is not a priority. It must be time to refocus the masses attention onto things that have little or no bearing on the outcome of their lives or their children's lives.
Toadstools
The problem with the progressive format is that progressives actually process this stuff above the reptillian brain. After a while it just gets mind numbing. I love a short jolt of it, like a cup of strong coffee, but I don't need it all day long.
Sorry to lose the outlet, but I am part of the problem. I will continue to set my dial to KBOO.
Sue Wilson
Portland, stand up and protest this decision! It worked in Madison and in Columbus, and it can work for you. But you need to show up physically and call the TV stations and newspapers, don't expect to do this all via Facebook. (Organize via FB and Twitter, but put your boots on and go!)
Jeanene
KBOO is only a partial substitute. It does not have a powerful signal, so it isn't a substitute for people on the road a lot or who aren't close-in to Portland. And it's not just a talk station either.
NPR also has a lot of non-political things which can be entertaining and informative but often not all that useful in relation to important issues. Plus, they tend to bend over backwards to be non-partisan, with the result that hard-cutting analysis is often avoided.
People who want to hear progressive talk are a segment of potential radio listeners who are not all served by the other alternative formats. I hope progressive talk will find a new radio home in Portland.
Clif
To say that Rush has more listener's than KPOJ is a falsehood. The reason being is that KPOJ is on the lowest output frequency, and Rush's show being on a higher output frequency. So of cource he is going to have more listener's.
What Clear Channel has done is wrong. The speaker's on KPOJ told the truth as much as possible. With research to back it up. While Rush's speaks whatever he is told to say, and most of it is lies.
I hope Clear Channel goes bankrupt for what they have done.
Kari Chisholm
Hey folks, as a person who appeared on KPOJ every Tuesday morning for seven years, I'm well aware of the power and reach of that station. I'm terribly disappointed as well.
Let's be clear: the station was profitable. And it had a dedicated audience that wasn't going to flip over to another Clear Channel property - like sports or right-wing talk.
I've started a campaign at www.savekpoj.com to talk back