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Rick Ellis

Apple Valley, MN
Commenter for
5 years 24 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 08/10/12 at 12:09 pm in response to More radio ratings: what women (and people over 55) like

I find myself confused by the MyTalk 107 format. The shows seem to be premised on the idea that women want fluffy celebrity talk and a lot of "oh my gosh" personal stories. I find it generally impossible to listen to for very long.

Yes, I'm not female but a format oriented towards women shouldn't completely scare men. There are ways to thread that programming needle, but MyTalk still hasn't figured out after a number of years.

Posted on 07/03/12 at 03:35 pm in response to What Kurt Bills wants to do to Obamacare (viewer discretion advised)

I've covered Bills when he was a state legislator and while I believe he's sincere, he seems genetically incapable of speaking in anything but cliches. Or answering follow-up questions.

Posted on 07/03/12 at 12:57 pm in response to End of Pioneer Press no-layoff era ... but more celebrity coverage?

I'd like to see expanded coverage of the West Metro. For that matter, I'd like to see a more adventurous mix of the south suburbs. Okay, since I live in the south suburbs, it's the area I'm most concerned with.

I'm somewhat surprised that a big metro newspaper site (either here or somewhere else) hasn't tried to finesse their coverage of the burbs by allowing readers to create a modestly localized version of the web site.

In this case, I could register at TwinCities.com and...

Posted on 02/17/12 at 04:27 pm in response to Competitors no more: Thisweek, Sun papers consolidate in Dakota County

Not to be picky, if I recall correctly the latest Census data had the population of Rosemount at just over 21,000.

Posted on 12/19/11 at 03:08 pm in response to WLTE flipping to country competition for K102

I'm looking forward to hearing the station. Although it's successful locally (and nationally), I'm not a big fan of the mix of old and new songs favored by K102. There are plenty of solid new country songs, so I don't need to hear a track from five or even ten years ago.

I'm hoping to hear a mix that is a bit heavier on the guitar (especially later in the programming day). And a bit of edge in the talent wouldn't hurt, either.

Of course, this is coming from a guy who once...

Posted on 08/29/11 at 10:47 am in response to Vin Weber: Flawed Iowa strategy doomed Pawlenty campaign

Aside from his flaws as a candidate, two things really killed the Pawlenty Presidential run. The first was that by changing his position on so many things to fit the conservative Iowa voter mindset, he managed to both lose his ability to appear moderate while failing to convince conservatives he was one of them.

Second, his debate performance gave voters a sense of the type of President he might be. His dodging of the opportunity to take on Romney face-to-face made him appear weak...

Posted on 07/08/11 at 12:57 pm in response to Top Pioneer Press arts editor Raschke leaves for MSP Communications

I'm sorry to see her go, but this is a good chance to reboot the PIP's entertainment coverage. As a newspaper, they do a decent job, but as a multiple-platform news provider....well, they could do a lot better. At least in my opinion.

Posted on 12/13/10 at 12:37 pm in response to Stop shilling: Journalists who resisted new-stadium hype after the Metrodome roof collapse

Of course, the one side of the argument that is never articulated in new stadium discussions is the one that is most relevant to me. I'm not much of a professional sports fan (though I love local and minor-league sports), and because of that building a stadium is far down on my list of priorities.

Sure, I think the Vikings will eventually get one, since fans don't want to run the risk of losing the team. But whether we really *need* it or not is a different question.

I think it...

Posted on 11/18/10 at 02:36 pm in response to Local radio ratings: Who the 25-to-54s listen to

I'm a big fan of AM950 in theory, but it's one of those stations that would benefit from more local voices. Yes, it's more expensive, but given the competition, it's the best way to engage the audience.

I agree that Stephanie Miller is good, but I would move her back an hour to 9. Replacing the ponderous Bill Press at 5 am can't be done quickly enough for my tastes.

I don't think it's the case that liberals can't be great talk show hosts. I just think that conservative stations...

Posted on 11/12/10 at 10:38 pm in response to WCCO-TV and WCCO Radio's shotgun web marriage

I agree that the radio site was atrocious, but I'm not sure that this is a great trade-off (although I expect WCCO didn't have much of a choice)

The whole move seems designed to make it easier to sell national ads across the station group. Which is fine, except that it's a recognition that the CBS stations haven't unlocked the answer to selling digital ads at a local level.

It's also a recognition that most of the big media players are moving away from in-house propietary...