The Red Sox And WRKO’s Leftward Shift
by Matt Margolis, January 21st, 2007 at 12:27pm
Brian has previously mentioned the possibility of John Henry and the Red Sox owners of having an option to buy part of WRKO, and that such a thing would likely move the station even more to the left “given the team’s partisan political nature.”
Some might be wondering “What ‘partisan political nature?’” Well, few people might know (or remember) that we learned just how partisan the Red Sox could be after Curt Schilling publicly “endorsed” Bush on national television, then mysteriously had to cancel out on campaign appearances in New Hampshire with the president, allegedly due to doctor’s orders because of injuries.
However, CNS News reported a few days before the presidential election in 2004 about the political leanings of the Red Sox owners:
Owners of the Boston Red Sox and the club’s president have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrat candidates, including Sen. John Kerry, while giving little to Republicans, according to federal election records.Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry, a hedge fund investor, donated $471,500 to Democrats since 2000, much of it in large amounts to Democrat campaign committees. Henry gave the maximum $2,000 to Sen. John Kerry last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The team’s chairman, Thomas C. Werner, a partner at a Hollywood production studio, gave $131,000 to the Democratic Party or Democrats running for office in the past four years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Werner gave $3,000 to Kerry since 2000.
Red Sox President Larry Lucchino, who previously ran the San Diego Padres, donated $27,500 to Democrats since 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Lucchino gave $2,000 to Kerry, but also donated $1,000 to then-Gov. George W. Bush in 1999.
The three Red Sox executives gave a total of $630,000 to Democrats since 2000, while Republicans received $8,000 over the same time period, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
WRKO will be broadcasting Red Sox games this season.
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Entry Filed under: Red Sox
5 Comments
1. D. R. Tucker | January 21st, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I assume that the members of Red Sox management were devout fans of Airhead America, and were profoundly disappointed to see the network collapse. Thus, I wouldn’t put it past them to use whatever influence they have to replace WRKO’s long-successful format with “progressive” radio. Marjorie Clapprood and Arnie Arnesen, come on down!
2. raccoonradio | January 22nd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Schilling did make at least one apperance with Bush in NH, I believe. The Sox fan site BostonDirtDogs.com has pictures (see Oct or Nov ‘04):
–Schilling with Bush, holding up four fingers as in “four more years”. Curt’s endorsement came at the end of his GMA appearance: “Everybody go out and vote, and vote Bush.”
–Another picture shows Henry, Werner, and Epstein appearing with John Kerry at a campaign event. Months ago, Kerry had thrown out the first ball the night before the DNC in Boston
(and ESPN made a big deal about his presence
at Fenway). Yet another picture, though,
shows actor Matt Damon posing next to a sign
at the Red Sox victory parade. Cartoons of
Babe Ruth with an “X” over his face, and John
Kerry. The sign read: “One curse down. One
to go.”
3. The Mole | January 23rd, 2007 at 10:14 am
Clearly the Sox ownership is left of center as their political contributions indicate. The WRKO ownership stake though, is more about circumventing MLB revenue sharing than it is about political dogma. I can’t speak to this specific agreement, but agreements of this type generally state that the minority stakeholder does not have a say about content. Any move to the left on WRKO probably won’t have anything to do with the Sox. I wouldn’t expect much of a leftward move though, since as you said, liberal radio has proven to be a disaster. My personal opinion why: Liberalism deals with a dull gray while Conservatism is a much more appealing black and white.
4. Brian Maloney | January 23rd, 2007 at 5:21 pm
To The Mole:
Teams have been moving toward content control on sports stations for the past 10 years. It’s widespread. The Red Sox is a partisan team and makes no bones about it.
You really think John Henry is going to tolerate conservative viewpoints on his new flagship station?
5. raccoonradio | January 24th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I’m sure the Sox aren’t crazy about the fact that their games would be leading into the host who regularly says “liberalism is a mental disorder” (WRKO has said Savage will run after games, or at 7 pm when there is no game or a West Coast game).
Whether they can force WRKO to change their
programming or not (without buying a share
of the station) who knows, but I could see
‘RKO moving on their own to shift the station
leftward to “please” Henry/Warner/Epstein, etc.
One reason WRKO may be running shows like Savage and Doyle at night is they’re
cheap; I think Talk Radio Network allows stations to carry them as long as they carry the ads.
Ratings-wise, whether or not Savage or Doyle
get them listeners, most nights the Sox will be on and that’s what they’re most concerned about. I don’t think they’ll bother hiring a local host for nights; that host would be pre-empted most of the time, as it is, so
it would be easier for them to stay with
syndie like Savage and Doyle. If you suddenly start hearing Randi Rhodes or Ed Schultz (delayed) on the nights the Sox aren’t on then you know they’re placating the Sox management.