« San Francisco: Intersecting Cultures | Main | Seneca, Lincoln, the Cheshire Cat & Democracy~The Art of Vision »
July 07, 2005
Calling for Total RE-MAX!
We're back with a bang! And happy to get things moving with a call from Candy Corneliussen to reinstate MAX HACKETT on WGOW. Also at Chattablogs is Beth's statement on the removal of Max Hackett. Here's an excerpt from Candy's Call to Action:
URGENT!
We need every voice to protest the corporate removal of Max Hackett from WGOW; he was Chattanooga's only progressive voice in local talk radio and is being replaced with an afternoon of RUSH LINBAUGH!
Max's show aired on WGOW 102.3 FM, Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Max has been our only local talk radio host who routinely featured voices and opinions that are rarely heard - or often silenced - in our community.
TO CONTINUE READING CLICK HERE
Posted by wjbailes at July 7, 2005 02:26 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://chattablogs.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/22859
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Calling for Total RE-MAX!:
Comments
I was told they were receiving more positive responses than negative about Rush Limbaugh.
Posted by: Nautimous at July 7, 2005 02:39 PM
Hearsay. Unless you have a source. Otherwise, I am inclined to believe you when it comes matching a national syndicate against a new local voice. Not very hard to guess who's going to win there. As far as common sense is concerned, replacing local with national may return to haunt the station. We'll see. For my part, I've had more negative responses sent to me about the change than positive.
Posted by: Bailes at July 7, 2005 03:59 PM
I've nothing at stake here, really, because I don't really listen to a lot of talk radio. However, it still sucks seeing local content replaced by some national talking head. Call it the sprawl-mart-ization of radio.
Posted by: J3remy at July 7, 2005 04:21 PM
Hey John,
Thanks for the mention on your blog. As you can tell by my most recent entry, I am furious about the removal of Max Hackett from WGOW. Let me know if there's anything I can do. From what I understand, WGOW management isn't very receptive to their listeners, but it's worth a shot. If Max absolutely must go, it would be better to leave the 1-4 PM spot open to a local talk show host.
Beth
Posted by: Beth at July 7, 2005 09:30 PM
Interestingly enough, I think you're going to find conservatives and progressives in agreement that this move stinks on many levels. I have sent an e-mail in to WGOW and left a message on their voicemail expressing my displeasure. Beth, I only hope you're wrong that WGOW is not receptive to its listeners!
Posted by: RobU at July 7, 2005 09:38 PM
Beth & RobU, we have to ACT as if someone is listening and BELIEVE that action is worth doing.
Posted by: Bailes at July 8, 2005 03:50 PM
Folks-
Honestly -- at this point -- I think you'd be better to focus your attention on the causes/concerns that you shared with Max and not waste your time trying to get him reinstated.
I love Max. He's a great guy. But it's my opinion that Max's heart was never in it from the beginning, that he struggled with arriving at a consistently captivating format and that the listeners felt that. I mean, come on, he let ME on the air FOUR TIMES!!!
Seriously, though, the contract with the Limbaugh people is already signed, and even if 1,000 people protested the station's dismissal of Max, they wouldn't care because those 1,000 people wouldn't be listening to Rush anyway. So, WGOW isn't losing anything. In fact, they are GAINING listeners by moving their cash cow to a stronger signal where even more people can hear him. 'Tis business.
Bottom line? If nobody is listening, advertisers won't buy time. If advertisers don't buy time, station loses money, people lose jobs and city (maybe) loses station.
The subject matter has to be as ENTERTAINING as it is informative or crucial. Otherwise, like on government subsidized media outlets, consumers will be forever bugged by on-air pleas for money by hosts who talk about how "important" or "vital" their programming is when public opinion says otherwise. Unfortunately, for small, specialized audiences, this type of programming is dead without government assistance. And who wants government being responsible for whether or not we get to watch or listen to programming? I sure don't.
Max seemed unsettled about his role. And I can understand that. But it's a big world with a lot of choices, and not enough people chose him.
Posted by: Bill at July 8, 2005 04:18 PM
I called WGOW to express my disappointment with their poor decision to take Max off the air and replace him with Rush. Their response was it was a financial move.
Oh Gimme a break!! Rush has to cost more than Max Hackett. Poor decision on WGOW's part.
I have received emails from folks stating we should boycott their advertisers. I believe this would be the most effective. Today, I listened at around 11:30, so it wasn't Rush's time but I heard two advertisers we could complain to about this: Carter's H&C and Lisa's Gold Jewelry. We need a few more, anyone interested?
Posted by: sandy at July 8, 2005 04:18 PM
Bill's point is a good one. Just don't listen to WGOW anymore. Easy enough. Done.
Posted by: sandy at July 8, 2005 04:21 PM
Hate to see Max go !!! The real problem is losing local talk to some syndicated windbag regardless of his political leanings.GOW has been a good format for local issues and happenings and we just lost a big part of that!!Personally I will boycott all of their sponsors and let them no why.Citadel made this move to abandon the local people and our dollars can rectify this matter. It will take time but it can and should be done. Give'em Hell !!!!!
Posted by: Jim at July 8, 2005 06:26 PM
I agree with Jim. I will miss Max, but certainly can live without him. The problem is that the 1-4 PM timeslot has been hosted by a local individual for years, and to give it to some nationally syndicated talking head is a betrayal to the Chattanooga people.
Posted by: Beth at July 8, 2005 10:23 PM
It's about time you wised up.
Jim Kennon
Posted by: Jim Kennon at March 16, 2007 04:50 PM