CONSERVATIVE STYLE; SALEM COMMUNICATIONS TARGETS CHRISTIAN CONSUMERS.Byline: Chris Sieroty Staff Writer GLENDALE - It's just past dawn on a chilly winter workday as Larry Marino, host of KIEV's Morning Magazine, delves into the conservative psyche and soul of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, talk radio. Marino spends four hours each weekday morning fielding calls from Van Nuys to Fontana with an easygoing eas·y·go·ing also eas·y-go·ing adj. 1. a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm. b. Lax or negligent; careless. c. , yet sometimes confrontational style. Of course he's not just a sounding board. This day Marino, a 38-year- old radio veteran, will tackle taxes and politics with Bill O'Reilly Bill O'Reilly may refer to:
Sounds just like a typical day in talk radio land. But Marino's show is the only one on the local morning airways with a decidedly conservative bent, focusing on issues as diverse as the Belmont Learning Center This Belmont Learning Center contains information about a building currently under construction. It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as construction progresses and new information becomes available. fiasco to the national political landscape. Republican presidential candidate John McCain For McCain's grandfather and father, see John S. McCain, Sr. and John S. McCain, Jr., respectively John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936 in Panama Canal Zone) is an American politician, war veteran, and currently the Republican Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. has been a guest as well as political commentator Dick Morris. ``As long as we continue to grow, we have an opportunity to do something positive in the community,'' said Marino, a self-described conservative. One thing is certain. His station is owned by a company with some pretty ambitious expansion plans. Camarillo-based Salem Communications Salem Communications (NASDAQ: SALM) is a media company specializing in religious and conservative talk radio which operates in the United States, with 99 U.S. commercial radio stations (pending acquisitions) that are primarily concentrated in the nation's biggest markets, Corp., the nation's leading religious multimedia company, bought KIEV-AM (870) for $33.4 million in September 1998 and immediately changed the infomercial and sports format to conservative chat. Founded almost three decades ago, Salem today is filling the airwaves and cyberspace with around-the-clock programming designed to meet the spiritual as well as informational needs of Christian conservatives nationwide. Salem currently owns or operates 62 stations from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. that carry Christian talk or music formats, with plans to acquire additional outlets and integrate their multimedia assets. For example, listeners could go to a radio station Web site and follow a link to company owned publication or online ministry. Salem also would like to expand into the Detroit and Tampa markets and buy second stations in Chicago and Dallas. Media analyst Paul Sweeney at Salomon Smith Barney Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup Global Capital Markets Inc., a global, full-service financial firm, that provides brokerage, investment banking and asset management services to corporations, governments and individuals around the world. in New York says that management is pushing all the right buttons. ``The future looks bright for Salem Communications. They have carved out a leading position in the Christian broadcasting arena,'' he said. Locally, KIEV now features syndicated daily programs from Michael Reagan Michael Edward Reagan (born March 18, 1945 as John L. Flaugher), adopted son of the late United States President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, the late Jane Wyman, is the host of a conservative talk radio show, the Michael Reagan Show and Michael Medved as well as locally produced talk shows featuring Stephanie Edwards Stephanie Edwards may refer to:
``We are not a religious station, but (our format) does reflect a conservative worldview world·view n. In both senses also called Weltanschauung. 1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group. , something that's not out there,'' Marino said. ``The shows are a mix of politics and water cooler conversations that hopefully connects with people.'' Morning Magazine also features daily updates from Washington, sports reports with Irv Kaze along with business, traffic and weather reports. Salem's Southern California properties also include KLTX-AM (1390), KLTH-AM (1240) and KKLA-FM (99.5), all in Glendale; Oxnard-based KDAR-FM (98.3), which covers Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and KPRZ-AM (1210) and KCBQ-AM (1170), both in San Diego. Besides its radio stations, the company operates Salem Radio Network, OnePlace Ltd. and CCM Communications, a magazine publishing company, in an attempt to reach an audience of about 30 million people. ``Salem recognizes that the Christian consumer is an important niche market and we have focused our business plans toward capturing and building that market,'' said Stuart W. Epperson, Salem's co-founder and chairman of the board. He's after a lucrative segment. The Christian retail industry, including books and music, earned $3 billion in 1998. The company's radio network syndicates talk programming, news and music to 1,300 affiliated radio stations throughout the United States. Features include Medved's three-hour daily program, which emphasizes politics, pop culture and ``The Cal Thomas Commentary.'' Based in Washington, Salem Radio Network News broadcasts to network affiliates and sells its programming to other stations. ``SRN SRN (formerly in Britain) State Registered Nurse is not a religious news service,'' Epperson said. ``We cover everything like any other news service. However, we do produce news with a sensitivity to the local listeners. The story will be correct on a factual basis, but we may give more time to the pro-life side. We may err on that side,'' he said. The company also syndicates seven different music programs including Christian Pirate Radio Countdown to some 200 affiliates nationwide. Salem's most successful music program is CCM CCM Contemporary Christian Music CCM Critical Care Medicine CCM County College of Morris (New Jersey) CCM Chama Cha Mapinduzi (political party, Tanzania) CCM CORBA Component Model Countdown with Gary Chapman, which is syndicated to 131 stations nationwide, Epperson said. ``They package their religious, music and talk message very well,'' said Brandt Gustavson, president of the Manassas, Va.-based trade group National Religious Broadcasters. ``They offer a quality product, because they look for quality people to work for the company.'' Salem even owns a company that tracks the Christian music industry The Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on traditional gospel music, southern gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music. . CCM Communications publishes six magazines that have a combined readership of more than 330,200 readers, the company said. OnePlace Ltd., known on the Internet as OnePlace.com, is Salem's Christian portal, operating a number of online sites including SonicPlace.com, Christiansuperstore.net. and church-supplies.com. ``Salem has developed a plan to spread its spiritual message to where the population is,'' Gustavson said. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Larry Marino hosts KIEV's Morning Magazine, the only morning radio talk show with a conservative slant. (2 -- color) KIEV's Larry Marino works for Camarillo-based Salem Communications Corp., the nation's leading religious multimedia company. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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