The Mic's 'big Eddie' Schultz Delivers Big Thanks To Our City
'big Eddie' Delivers Thanks
The Capital Times :: FRONT :: A1
Friday, April 13, 2007 Katrin Madayag The Capital
Times
After being delayed by April snow during his trip here from
Fargo, N.D., progressive radio host Ed Schultz gave his audience some of
his Midwestern credentials.
In 1978, he almost signed with the Green Bay Packers instead of the
Oakland Raiders. He owns several hunting guns, but has never fired a
pistol. He says that Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who has called the vice
president a coward, is the most honest man he knows.
And he praised Madison for being tough and not letting progressive
radio disappear.
The influential radio voice seemed to hold nothing back during his
three-hour live national broadcast before more than 200 people Thursday
morning at the Barrymore Theatre.
Schultz had strongly supported efforts by city
residents last fall to stop Clear Channel Madison from changing the Mic's
92.1 FM progressive talk format to sports, and he lauded their success.
"This community, the city deserve a tremendous pat on the back,"
Schultz boomed to the audience. "We need more Madisons."
Schultz focused on the state of progressive radio and interviewed local
Mic advocates Valerie Walasek of Friends of Progressive Talk and Aldous
Tyler of NonStop Radio. Schultz also plugged local filmmaker Luciano's
documentary, "Born Again Free Speech," which chronicles listeners' efforts
and is available at Rainbow Bookstore.
Schultz emphasized that conservative talk radio built a base and got
marketing power after several years on the air. It's unfair for
progressive talk to have to prove its financial success in a much shorter
amount of time, he said.
The show also touched on the recent White House announcement that
staffers' e-mail messages on a Republican National Committee account,
which Congress requested, were lost.
It was a "Rose Mary Woods moment," said guest John Nichols of The
Capital Times and The Nation, referring to President Richard Nixon's
secretary, who said she lost critical tape recordings. "We're getting into
very interesting turf here."
Clutching cups of coffee or beer, audience members, some from as far
away as Janesville and Blanchardville, popped in and out of the auditorium
throughout the three-hour broadcast, which began at 11 a.m. While some
people came during lunch breaks, others took the day off.
"We actually got here at 9 a.m.," said Dana Casey of Sun Prairie, who
came with her husband, Kent. Both regularly commute to their jobs in
Madison, but took the day off to attend the show.
"We're really excited," she said.
It was also a family day for Stoughton residents Bonnie Fons and her
daughter Sarah, a sixth-grader. It's an "out of school education," Fons
said. Schultz speaks up for what he believes in, which she tries to teach
her daughter, she said.
Schultz was a sportscaster and conservative radio talk show host before
"converting" to the progressive left.
"You evolve," he said. Several experiences - speaking with a Vietnam
veteran at a Salvation Army, having an aging mother, facing health care
issues and attending a 2000 Rally for Rural America - made him realize he
was a Democrat.
"He's got a great progressive voice," said Maureen Beyer of Fitchburg,
who plans to make up her missed hours at work. She started listening after
Hurricane Katrina and appreciates Schultz's tempered perspective rather
than extreme leftist opinion.
Jeff Tyler, vice president and marketing manager of Clear Channel
Madison, said both the passion of Madison residents and assurances of
better management from a financially embattled Air America contributed to
keeping the Mic's progressive talk format. The original plan to switch to
sports radio stemmed from low ratings outside of the city and the
hesitancy of small local businesses to advertise on the Mic, Tyler said.
Although the ratings haven't significantly changed since last year,
Schultz and the Mic's morning show, Stephanie Miller, consistently do well
for the station, Tyler said. But Clear Channel Madison still needs to
watch what Air America does, he said.
Schultz has done his national syndicated broadcast since 2004 with his
"Team Fargo" radio staff, which includes his wife, Wendy. Schultz has more
than 3 million listeners throughout the country, and Talkers magazine
ranked him as the country's fifth most influential radio host in 2007.
Segments of the live Madison show can be heard at
www.bigeddieradio.com.
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Schultz had strongly supported efforts by city
residents last fall to stop Clear Channel Madison from changing the Mic's
92.1 FM progressive talk format to sports, and he lauded their success.