Monday, October 21, 2013

DC Radio: CBS Stations Refuse ‘Redskins’ Commercials

The Oneida Indian Nation learned Friday that the radio ad it had scheduled to run in Washington this weekend as part of its national “Change the Mascot” campaign, would not air.

A representative of CBS Radio Washington cited increased discussion around the name as the reason for pulling the ad from two of its stations, Sports WJFK 106.5 FM The Fan and Hip Hop WPGC 95.5 FM.

“Based on the amount of on-air debate, adding paid commercials from one side is not something that we think is beneficial for this discussion and for our audience,” Steve Swenson, senior vice president of CBS Radio Washington wrote in an e-mail that was provided by the Oneida Nation to The Washington Post.

The Fan bills itself on its website as “the radio station for D.C. sports fans. Our opinions are unbiased and unfiltered, and we never hold back.”

The New York-based Oneida group, which has emerged as one of the strongest forces in the name-change push, advertised on both stations at the start of the season. The one that was supposed to run this weekend was titled “Legacy” and questioned the one Redskins owner Daniel Snyder would leave. Snyder defended the name in a letter to fans last week.

Friday, Swenson confirmed that the stations would not be running the ad this past weekend.

“The issue has been heavily debated on WJFK where we can provide a good balance of discussion, opinions and context to the issue through our programming,” Swenson said by e-mail. “Our audience has reacted positively to that presentation, and we will continue to approach the situation keeping in-line with our audiences’ expectations.”

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