Rayburn to join Madison-based Roots Up Radio

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: Rayburn to join Madison-based Roots Up Radio : Jane Burns, 77 Square | January 19, 2009 : -------------- : : Fans of local progressive talk show host Lee Rayburn will be going from not hearing him at all the past two weeks to potentially hearing him non-stop. : Rayburn, who quit his morning show at The Mic 92.1 on Dec. 31, will return with a new show that will begin streaming live at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. It's part of a new Madison-based venture called Roots Up Radio (www.rootsupradio.com) that will combine the talents of independent, progressive broadcasters from across the United States. : "I'm verbally constipated," Rayburn joked. "I've just got to let it out." : Roots Up Radio was founded by Joe Connolly with the intent of giving local broadcasters a forum they have lost as media corporations have grown and local programming has given way to syndicated hosts. : "Most of the hosts are veteran broadcasters," Connolly said of his planned Roots Up Radio lineup. "With all the change happening in radio, most stations seem to be run by one or two people now and there's not a lot of support for local points of view. That's what we're trying to provide." : Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Clear Channel would be cutting about 1,500 jobs in an effort to save $400 million. Clear Channel owns The Mic 92.1 and five other stations in Madison. : Rayburn quit his job at The Mic in part because of programming changes he didn't feel met the progressive radio station's ideals. But because of the instability in the media business, he said he had always been worried about his future there and had been working with Connolly on Roots Up Radio. : "I want to try something that's creating this cooperation," he said. "I love the model. : "There are no investors, no sales, we're just broadcasters," Rayburn said. "That's who we are." : The site will be a collective of national broadcasters, but Rayburn's program will be local. : "I love Madison and doing a show for Madisonions or even Wisconsin," he said. "We'll still be taking calls using a 608 area code." : The model is meant to be sustainable, to sell enough ads for the hosts to make a living and keep the site going. With a low overhead, that means Rayburn will be doing many of the details for his show, right down to selling ads or buying supplies. : "I'm headed to Menards to buy a silent ringer with my last $10," he said. : The venture has been in the works for several months, but Connolly said they hadn't planned to go live this soon until Rayburn quit his job with The Mic and became available to continue doing his show in another format. So while the site is up and active for Rayburn's show, nothing will be archived on the site yet. Other hosts have verbally committed but haven't signed contracts. : "I was not looking for it to happen like this," Connolly said. "But with Lee's availability, we wanted to make it happen as fast as possible." : Rayburn's show runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. He chose the time to not bump up against the entirety of any show on The Mic that he likes and respects. He had the early-morning show on the Mic, but that's not a time people would be listening to Internet radio, Rayburn said. : Other hosts will be added in the weeks to come, Connolly said. New shows will be running live daily, and Connolly said that so far there's enough interest to sustain a second channel if that is financially viable. : In the meantime, the site will just rebroadcast Rayburn's show continually. : "It's the 24/7 Lee channel," Rayburn said, "for those who just can't get enough."

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