[The call letters EVD stand for Eugene Victor Debs, whom the station honored at its inception. It has been the voice of liberal/radical Jewry for many decades.] Friends - In NYC, there's a similar struggle unfolding at another independent radio station fighting a corporate takeover. WEVD, a news-talk station owned by the Jewish newspaper Forward, features several liberal hosts, and has welcomed on the air (among other issues) our movement to take back Pacifica. We should link up with the listener group Save WEVD Radio and see about the potential for some joint work. Check out their Website and give them a call. If anyone is interested in making contact with them, please email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED], as I have some strategy suggestions. Bob Lederer ==== >From the website: www.SaveWEVD.com If you have suggestions about what next steps to take in our fight to maintain WEVD as an alternative news-talk radio station on the AM dial in New York City, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] or phone 212-726-1385 For Immediate Release Contact: SaveWEVD May 7, 2001 Chuck Zlatkin 212-726-1385 Owners of WEVD 1050 AM Stonewall Rumored Sale to Disney/ABC/ESPN The Forward Association Ignores Lobbying Effort By WEVD's Listeners Listeners Group Intensifies Efforts NEW YORK - MAY 7 - Listeners to radio station WEVD-AM 1050 in New York City have been lobbying the owners of the station, The Forward Association, not to sell the stand-alone, news-talk radio station to Disney/ABC/ESPN. The rumored sale price is considered to be in the neighorhood of $80-85 million, with the new owners using the freqeuncy to be the flagship station of the growing ESPN sports-radio network. The efforts by the listeners group, SaveWEVD, and the creation of the web site www.SaveWEVD.com has been ignored by The Forward Association. The members of SaveWEVD concentrated their efforts on generating letters, e-mails and phone-calls to the Forward Asscociation detailing what the station meant to them as an independent, alternative voice in New York City, countering the dominance of right-wing and hate radio on the dial. It was felt by the members of SaveWEVD that the owners of WEVD were honorable people who were committed to progressive social and political issues. The tenor of the effort by Save WEVD was respectful and civil. As time passed, it became increasingly clear that the strategy of The Forward Association was to ignore the efforts of SaveWEVD and not respond. A formal request was made by representatives of SaveWEVD to meet with Samuel Norich, President of The Forward Association. This request was also ignored. A number of rumors have surfaced in the press that the sale has already been made. There is speculation that the announcement of the sale has been delayed for tax purposes. SaveWEVD has decided to intensify its efforts by forming two new committees. The first committee is a Legal Committee to explore options for taking legal action to stop the rumored sale of radio station WEVD. The second committee is a Research Committee to find out the true history of how The Forward Association gained control of the license to WEVD, and how its business affairs have been conducted in recent years. ********************************* Here are several articles from the website -- check it out: The Inside Radio Fax, 04.20.2001 Inside Radio is a trade publication that is faxed to subscribers. ABC's acquisition strategy turning out to be shrewd-eyeing a big market next. Disney is bearing down on a major market for its ESPN Sports Network. Waiting to purchase WEVD-AM, New York from Forward Broadcasting. Forward has taken the station off the market due to issues relating to how the sale of WEVD-AM would affect the newspaper trust which operates their Jewish daily newspaper. Sources close to the situation say those problems can likely be worked out. ABC wants WEVD-AM for its missing piece of the puzzle for ESPN Radio. ESPN has stations in Los Angeles and Chicago. New York is a must. WEVD-AM makes sense. But it may not be that easy. Infinity really wants WEVD-AM, too. And so does Clear Channel. Forward is asking $80 million for WEVD-AM. Can afford to wait until the market comes back because as one broker put it, "nobody is buying anything right now." That is expected to change. Maybe as soon as fourth quarter. ABC's Michael Eisner never sold his radio properties while he sat out consolidation. No doubt had some good offers for ABC's top market stations. Instead ABC "rented" stations for Radio Disney's children's format and now ESPN. Only buying in critical markets where clearance issues would make it worthwhile." Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
