Stephen Lemons at the Phoenix NewTimes blog is reporting that, at least last night, the offices of flagship station 1190 WNUV, Tolleson, AZ were padlocked.

I’d been tipped off that KNUV 1190 AM, formerly the flagship station of the liberal Nova M radio network, and briefly, the home of Nova M’s successor network, On Second Thought, had been padlocked. So I had to see for myself…  — New Times

We went through a period in the 80s where stations went dark, including some pretty big hitters in the top 20 markets. Get ready, radio, history may be about to repeat itself.

The New Times blog has done some excellent work on the whole mess with Nova-M, the Drobneys, Randi Rhodes and the John Manzo suit. When old-line journalists lament the demise of “real” journalism, they should look to blogs like Phoenix’s New Times for solace.

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Nova-M Radio, the radio syndicator for Randi Rhodes, crashed and burned to the great delight of a gaggle of right wing talker fans everywhere. Moe Lane at Redstate took mock credit for its demise, claiming an appearance by “our own Mark Impomeni…shut it down cold.”

The #tcots on Twitter were all a-twitter too. Free Market At Work, they crowed. And they’re right, but its not because there’s a lack of appetite in the country for liberal ideas or thoughts, it just there’s a lack of demand for it over old delivery methods.

The correct paring of medium and message was one of the main reasons for Rush Limbaugh and neocon-talk radio’s rise in the first place. When Limbaugh began doing his brand of political talk, old pickup trucks still had AM-only radios.

Let’s digress a moment, and quote Wikipedia’s entry on buggy whips:

Though similar whips are still manufactured for limited purposes, the buggy whip industry as a major economic entity ceased to exist with the introduction of the automobile, and is cited in economics and marketing as an example of an industry ceasing to exist because its market niche, and the need for its product, disappears. — Wikipedia on Buggy Whip & Coach Whip

The buggy whip didn’t disappear overnight. There was this period where whip manufacturers were failing, and those most successful in staying in business hewed to markets where their product was still in demand, and they did what they needed to be premier in that market.

It would be as if a smart buggy whip manufacturer would identify the Amish market and do what ever it took to best serve their needs. Even naming themselves—in a not so subtle nod to their remaining market—Ordnung, the German word for order.

Ordnung, if you’ve been keeping up with your Mennonite apologetics, is the Amish name for their set of rules for living. What a great name for a whip, if you’re Amish!

So take no joy in watching libtalk radio go over the cliff, righties. It was just the weakest buggy whip company in the business: it deserved to die. But the lesser Rushbos aren’t far behind.

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Radio Equalizer has just published a document purported to be from Randi Rhodes’ attorney Robert V Gaulin claiming that Nova-M radio has shut its doors.

Eric Reinert, general manager of Nova-M’s flagship station in the greater Phoenix market, acknowledges that he is familiar with the letter from seeing it on the web, but refused to confirm nor deny the rumors. The office phone is no longer answered as Nova-M radio.

Pressed for details Reinert added, “Its not that I can’t confirm or deny, its that I won’t.” It will all become clear over time, Reinert said.

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Less than a year after Randi Rhodes broke with Air America, returning to Palm Beach County to move her national show to the Nova-M network, she is again off the air, her show being guest hosted, often at the last minute, by Nancy Skinner. Rhodes and WJNO are preparing to relaunch her show as a local program from the West Palm Beach studios of the Clear Channel cluster, according to sources inside Clear Channel knowledgable about the preparations.

Is this the Randi Rhodes channel?

Rhodes and Nova-M have been blaming “technical problems” for the interruption of The Randi Rhodes show, but when pressed, a spokesman at Nova-M’s flagship station in Phoenix responded that “technical problems” could have a lot of different meanings. The many definitions of “technical” was echoed by sources at Clear Channel in West Palm Beach, who said there were no Clear Channel technical issues, and that the assumption that a technical problems had to do with equipment or transmission wouldn’t be correct.

Over the last few days, according to those familiar with the situation in West Palm Beach, WJNO has been making preparations for Rhodes to return to WJNO as a Clear Channel employee hosting a local show from their facilities. Though Clear Channel owns Premiere Radio Networks, the radio syndicator that distrubutes Rush Limbaugh, it is not believed her show will be syndicated when she returns.

Rhodes seems to be doing her best to become the liberal counterpart of Rush Limbaugh: a deeply flawed spokesperson for an ideology. Its still not clear how a mugging with political overtones in New York which Air America reported squares with her ultimate story that she left an Irish Pub after several hours of drinking and isn’t sure what happened next.

The whole transition from Air America to Nova-M leaves more questions unanswered than nailed down. And now comes statements from Rhodes and Anita Drobny that make so little sense her supporters are shaking their heads in disbelief. Rhodes has depended upon the intelligence of her listeners to call bullshit on the Bush administration and have it resonate with those within the sound of her voice. There comes a responsibility when you appeal to the intelligence of your listeners to respect that intelligence when you speak about yourself.

UPDATE

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