KSTP-AM: Going In The Left Direction

Here's a novel idea for talk radio. Instead of all-conservative or all-progressive talk, why not bring both sides of the fence on one station, and you can have both audiences?

KSTP-AM 1500, previously one of the most conservative stations on the dial (how could it be otherwise in the House of Hubbard, given the owner's political leanings?), is apparently giving this a shot. They replaced right-wingers Dave Thompson and Bob Davis with a new midday show featuring a left-of-center duo from Madison named Shawn Prebil and Chris Murphy. That show began Thursday.

They also gave Patrick Reusse, sports columnist for the Star Tribune and a certified lefty, his own morning drive show along with Jay Kolls. Apparently, Reusse believes his days at the bankrupt newspaper are numbered, so he needs the extra income. I'll probably listen to the show the next time MPR forces Cathy Wurzer to beg listeners for money.

Not that KSTP has gone all Air America on us. They still have Joe Soucheray's "Garage Logic" in the afternoons, so that he can continue to give us his head-in-the-sand views on climate change, come up with cutesy names for liberals, and "blowing up" bumper music he doesn't like (which is 95% of them).

KSTP is still catching heat for getting rid of T.D. Mischke, whose firing a few months ago remains a mystery. Truth be told, Mischke's show was geared more for the night owl crowd than for those on their lunch breaks. He's landed on his feet at City Pages, where he hosts an Internet radio show as well as writing a column for the dead-tree edition of the alternative journal.

Since losing conservative radio superstars (and lightning rods) Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to KTLK-FM 100.3, KSTP's ratings have been drifting, in spite of the addition of Minnesota Twins baseball. You could almost hear thousands of buttons across the Twin Cities pushed to other stations once Twins broadcaster John Gordon gives us the final score. So they had to try something, right?

Conservatives, who could be found on the Star Tribune website's comment section (from which we first heard about Prebil and Murphy) raising holy hell about the change and vowing never to listen to KSTP again, now have two choices: KTLK and WWTC-AM 1280, also known as The Patriot. There used to be three, but KYCR-AM 1570 just went to an all-business format.

Will Prebil and Murphy draw listeners from KTNF-AM 950, which we hear is doing very well for a small progressive station? As long as Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz are migrating from radio to MSNBC, it might happen.

That's assuming, of course, that Prebil and Murphy stick around long enough to make a difference for the station. If they don't, we'll be talking about who KSTP replaced them with in a few months time. Such is the nature of radio.