My Letter To The Director of 940 WINZ

by Alex Caldwell on August 25, 2008 · View Comments

in Media

I realize this effort is probably rather futile, however this isn’t any work for me, so I feel it’s the very least I can do. Here’s the letter I wrote to the Director of 940 WINZ in response to them deciding to yank Nicole Sandler from the air without any kind of announcement. Aside from the fact that she’s a single Mom (I think) she seems like one of us, just a normal person raising attention to the issues but of course she has the same problem so many others do in the industry – she has to be profitable, which is of course the root of this problem.

Hi Ken,

I realize you are just doing what every manager/director has to do in a company which is to keep an operation profitable. The problem is that down here in South Florida, there’s no other choice. Imus won’t talk about local issues, he’ll talk about garbage that I’m sure nobody cares about at 6:00AM. We have no journalists that keep us informed, a national media that’s been reporting about a presidential election for over a year and South Floridians like myself are asking themselves where to turn to. It’s saddening to see this last source of information be ripped from the airwaves. From a business stand point I can understand your decision, however the way in which this was conducted, the complete disrespect for the audience – are you honestly trying to tell me that this was the only way to handle this? Why not make the announcement on the air that show didn’t bring enough revenue and that that’s why it had to get pulled – not that it would make anything any better but it would at least show that you care, which of course you don’t.

I will continue to propagate this information on national forums, I’ve approached various nationally syndicated talk show hosts that used to appear on Nicole’s show, I’m also contacting local Politicians that had appearances on there, and I’m going to continue to cover this topic on my blog, forum and the other 30 websites I administer and market. I’m also an internet marketer that works with local businesses in the area and I will make sure to let everyone of them know to never consider advertising on your channel, nor any of your affiliates.

Thank you for responding, I forgot whether it was on my blog or forum but you have to understand that “giving imus a try” is one of the weaker responses I’ve seen to such an argument.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this.

Best Regards,

This article was written by Alex - Author's Website
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My Letter To The Director of 940 WINZ

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  • g
    Yes everyone needs to listen to Limbaugh everyday and laugh. There is a reason the Dems won. That reason is the Republicans want an imperialistic society and it looks like 940 WINZ is going right down the tube with them. 940 WINZ is done for me.
  • Here is another fact you may not want to face. The independent progressive media is now growing. People are out their looking for alternatives to the "factually challenged" present day world of news-and-opinion talk radio. Nature abhors a vacuum.

    Industry giants such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity regularly employ and promote hate speech aimed against women, minorities, homosexuals, and foreigners over public airwaves. The all white "shock jocks" deliver a one-sided, highly politicized version of the news. This tends to blur the lines between entertainment, opinion, and journalism. This is a nice temporary strategy but it is not going to work with the “think for youself” types.

    Hang on to your hat it isn’t over yet, there are as many “curious” thinkers out there, as there are anti-intellectuals.
  • Kevin
    A new day has arisen in Miami Radio. The "think for yourself" experiment has finally ended the same way lib talk radio always ends: abject failure. There is a reason that the radio highway is littered with the likes of Nicole Sandler. The reason is that no one, except maybe the 12 or 15 people commenting here, are interest in listening to the hateful, angry display that "progressive" talk radio is. You all would do well to listen to some sports talk radio and begin the strggle to get a grip on reality.
  • Glenn
    I am thoroughly discusted with the management and operations at 940 Winz. They are now about 1 of 4 S. Florida sports talk radio stations.
    They were a the only progressive talk radio station in all of S. Florida. Many of my co-workers and myself listened to them from 8am to 6pm. Going back when they had Ed Schultz. Since they dumped Schultz he now has his own progressiverTV show everynight at 6pm and a very successful talk show who even had President Obama as his guest only about 2 weeks ago. Good for 940am, could you imagine the ratings they would have gotten. Now they don't have Tom Hartment, actually no progressive talk show at all. Just one of the many sports talk show.
    WINZ, I will never listen to your station again. As a matter of fact there will be a not so nice advertisement in the Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald paid for by myself and past loyal listeners as to what this station has turned into in the weeks ahead. Details to come.
  • ...and the list of people tuning out of 940 WINZ goes on unfortunately I don't think there's a damn thing we can do about any of this, we're still just experiencing the full consequences of the broadcast deregulation of the 90's. With the radio landscape the way it is, right wing garbage will continue to propagate. It's time to leave the sinking vessel and connect to your sources of information any way you can, and that means the internet in most cases. I use "wunderradio" on my iphone and it kicks ass - it doesn't matter where someone is broadcasting from, I can listen to it but that won't do me any good if those few liberal stations that there are cease to exist completely....
  • Bob
    With the firing of Nicole Sandler and now Randi Rhodes no longer on 940 winz , I only listen to Shepnanie Miller and Tom Hartman 9am to 3pm. I used to listen from 6am til 6pm. Please bring back Nicole in the mornings, Imus is old and too right wing, if I want to listen to right wing BS their are plenty of other stations to choose from. 940 needs to do what ever it takes to get Nicole Sandler , Randi Rhodes and Ed Shultz back on the air, with the loss of listeners 940 may be the next to file for bankruptcy
  • Viravanh Siegel
    First day that Don Imus was on , I stop listen to that time slot. It was quite a shock to me. I tought I had the wrong station on .
  • Lee Young
    I WILL NEVER LISTEN TO 940 AGAIN. YOU HAVE DROPPED ALL THE GOOD HOST AND NOW HAVE GARBAGE.
    LEE YOUNG
  • I have been down here in Florida for almost 10 years now. One of the biggest adjustments for me coming from a place like New York City has been adjusting to the "south Florida mentality." Quite frankly, people down here have the attention span of a gerbil. On average they are not particularly curious about anything. Then you throw into this the multicultural mix and you have a listening audience that's just not curious about anything much less becoming politically involved.
    I hate Imus with the heat of a thousand white hot suns, and I quit listening to 940 because of the switch. Somehow I am thinking this might be a casual factor. That means Nicole (my dear) you are just too good of a host for this particular listening audience! Out with the altruism, and in with lazy slothful self-centeredness.

    Enter a bitter old dry drunk like Imus and you have a match made in heaven (one dysfunction begets another).

    Let’s see what the ratings say. Meantime I am outta here (940AM).
  • Bill
    It's unfortunate that in this biggest of all capitalist countries, profit has to infiltrate news and information. I too agree that Imus has only nototiety going for him. The man is not an intellectual, and appeals to the lowest common denominator. You figure that one out. Nicole was great. I have zero interest in anything Imus has to say.
  • First of all awesome nickname, hahahha. Second of all I never said she was a great entertainer and it's definitely not like she's going to make the station a whole lot of money on the 6-9 AM slot on a local radio station in South Florida. I would be interested to see whether Imus pulls in the big bucks, I highly doubt it considering the stations usual programming, but then again that's mere speculation on my side.
  • AWhole
    I had never heard of Nicole before, until she started subbing for Rachel Maddow... and I gotta admit, I can see why she had low ratings. She's... well, boring. Sorry her spot got replaced by such a major-league jerk like Imus, but I don't find it hard to believe this was simply a financial decision. I can't imagine she drew in many listeners. I saw the story on Digg... it got eight diggs. Does not seem she was that popular beyond a few hardcore fans. And that just doesn't translate into revenue unless those listeners have last names like Gates, Soros, and Buffet...
  • It pisses me off so much since it's so obvious that someone at that station was trying to do someone a favor. Aside from the fact that they took away a local voice from South Florida, it's just utterly clashing to have Imus even be on that station - I'd be interested to know whether their ratings now justify having him on. Don't forget, Nicole has her own website where the podcasts from - http://www.radioornot.blogspot.com/
  • anthony gerald
    Dear Station Director,

    I, too, am very disappointed at the removal of Nicole Sandler from your 6 AM to 9 am programming. I miss her insight and commentary into issues affecting my community in Miami, Fl and I always enjoyed tuning in to WINZ when she was on the air. Regretably, however, your decision to replace Nicole with Don Imus may backfire on your programming decision. I have listened to Mr. Imus this past month, September thru October 22, 2008, and I must say that I do not care for his brand of humor and his conservative views. In my opinion, he is not funny and what in the world is a conservative doing on a progressive talk show? Please reconsider your decision and replace Imus with another progressive talk personality or bring Nicole back. Please?
  • marsha hollenbeck
    I only listened to 940 because I really enjoyed Nicole Sandler,
    I think Imus is not a good replacement. I will no longer be
    listening 940 on my way to work.
  • This was a decision based on numbers. The station is a difficult station to operate. The progressive format has not translated to revenues like other formats have. So we are in the position where we have to evaluate its ability to generate dollars as we are a business. Plus, the morning ratings were the lowest on the station.

    That said, especially in this important election year we are dedicated to the format, to choice and to providing an alternative to the other side of talk radio. Don Imus is a big name who does entertaining radio. He is some one familiar, sometimes for the wrong reasons to many people. Some of that is very unfair. Regardless he is a name we hope will bring needed attention and revenues to WINZ. And he has access to guests no other host on WINZ has.

    Have you ever actually listened to his show? Please give it a try. You might find him more entertaining then you think. Change is always hard. Trust me, this one was very hard. However I hope you will give Imus a try and also stay with WINZ for the many programs you do enjoy.

    Thanks for caring enough to write.

    kc
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