WCCO Radio is dead to me

[dflprincess]

I heard this on AM950 during the Nancy Nelson show this evening.

For the last 12 years (4 of Ventura, 8 of Pawlenty) WCCO (AM 830) has given the governor an hour long show at 9 AM on Fridays.

But not for Mark Dayton.

They've offered Gov. Dayton an hour at 7AM on Saturdays and, unlike the prior governors, he would also be expected to have a "side" kick on the show (maybe that awful Michelle person who is on in the afternoons?)

Apparently the station has once and for all decided it is not longer interested in being the "good neighbor".

[Another Bill C.]

1. I haven't listened to WCCO

since Steve Cannon left. In the '60s and '70s it was the only station I listened to. Then, they started trying to appeal to a different demographic and trashed the formula that made them #1.

[hifiguy]

5. Same here

If a music station wasn't on it was 'CCO, always. Once Boone & Ericson and Steve Cannon left the morning and afternoon drivetimes, respectively, there was no reason to listen anymore.

Sad. I grew up listening to 'CCO in the glory days of the 1960s and 1970s. Cannon, B&E, Howard Viken, Franklin Hobbs, Joe McFarlin, and of course, Twins games called by Herb Carneal. Gads, I even remember Randy Merriman's quiz show "Honest to Goodness" with Dick Chapman from when I was a little shaver in the early 1960s.

[CatholicEdHead]

2. National program directors are ruining the station

Soon it will probably be nothing but your standard fare right wing talk station.

[mascarax]

3. And the sidekick was supposed to be...

Ted Mondale.

I think because he's heading up the Vikings stadium deal/assessment/whatever. So, really, the whole damn show would've been about the Vikings. It wouldn't have been about Dayton and governing MN (at least much...maybe a few minutes before "Hey, Ted, where you at on the stadium deal?"). That's my take. It really was insulting--not just the time slot but also the focus.

[Jenoch]

4. WCCO is mostly dead to anyone under 60

Actually, Ventura's show was on at 11am and was Lunch with the Governor". 

I don't really blame WCCO. The show has been boring radio. The only listeners were the politically connected and the ratings were so low they couldn't sell it. They saw the change in administrations as an opportunity to make changes of their own. Obviously, Governor Dayton took it as a personal rejection. He must hold WCCO in higher esteem than do most Minnesotans. 

The curious thing is why he rejected the proposal from KTNF and their partner Minnesota News Network which included plans to distribute the program statewide.