Lightning Stills The Hot Air at WWPR AM1490
Bradenton's only radio station - and a hotbed of political intrigues - is off the air this morning, the victim of a lightning strike, owners say.
"We got hit by a lightning strike. We're working on it," said WWPR-AM 1490 minority partner and station director Ed Edwards.
The station is also home to a lot of black and Spanish preachers who may have suggested that God strike it dead. We have no source for that, though.
The station is host to competing political talk shows on weekday mornings, with showman Henry Raines of Bradenton's left-leaning "American AM" from 7 to 9 a.m. Mon.-Fri. competing with Matt Bruce's right-leaning "Captain America" from 9 to 10 a.m. Mon.-Fri., and the latter fighting Manatee Democratic Executive Committee vice chair Mitch Mallett's Democrat-oriented "It's Your Gavel" from 10 to 11 a.m. Wed.-Fri.
Bruce's "Captain America" recently bought the 9 a.m. slot from the station when Mallett's hour, which had been running five days a week at 9, fell behind on payments.
Bruce, according to station insiders, turned up with a check for $3,600 and demanded Mallett's time slot and got it, moving Mallett back an hour and cutting him to three days.
But the question arose of where Bruce suddenly acquired the $3,600 for the time, and insiders said he boasted it came from Congressional candidate Vern Buchanan.
Both Buchanan and Bruce denied that to Herald reporters who looked into it, but the Sarasota Herlad-Tribune subsequently reported a similar issue over sponsorship disclaimers arising over attack ads aimed at Buchanan at another station where a rival car dealer was paying for attack ads.
At WWPR, the issue is also over hidden sponsorship of an entire show, and the Federal Communications Commission has been asked by yours truly to look into the matter.
"We got hit by a lightning strike. We're working on it," said WWPR-AM 1490 minority partner and station director Ed Edwards.
The station is also home to a lot of black and Spanish preachers who may have suggested that God strike it dead. We have no source for that, though.
The station is host to competing political talk shows on weekday mornings, with showman Henry Raines of Bradenton's left-leaning "American AM" from 7 to 9 a.m. Mon.-Fri. competing with Matt Bruce's right-leaning "Captain America" from 9 to 10 a.m. Mon.-Fri., and the latter fighting Manatee Democratic Executive Committee vice chair Mitch Mallett's Democrat-oriented "It's Your Gavel" from 10 to 11 a.m. Wed.-Fri.
Bruce's "Captain America" recently bought the 9 a.m. slot from the station when Mallett's hour, which had been running five days a week at 9, fell behind on payments.
Bruce, according to station insiders, turned up with a check for $3,600 and demanded Mallett's time slot and got it, moving Mallett back an hour and cutting him to three days.
But the question arose of where Bruce suddenly acquired the $3,600 for the time, and insiders said he boasted it came from Congressional candidate Vern Buchanan.
Both Buchanan and Bruce denied that to Herald reporters who looked into it, but the Sarasota Herlad-Tribune subsequently reported a similar issue over sponsorship disclaimers arising over attack ads aimed at Buchanan at another station where a rival car dealer was paying for attack ads.
At WWPR, the issue is also over hidden sponsorship of an entire show, and the Federal Communications Commission has been asked by yours truly to look into the matter.
posted by ...Joe Shea at 6:19 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home