Some second hand info I got from jonl at minds: Here's an interview in which Hightower discusses ABC's decision to drop his show...and other stuff. It's at MoJoWire (Mother Jones' site). Excerpt: see the ABC action as the result of what I call the three M's: my message, the merger with Disney, and marketing, or lack thereof. ABC did a terrific job of getting me an initial stable of stations--it's very unusual for someone who's never had radio experience to be able to launch a national show. But in our second year, some of the stations began to balk--I believe because of pressure from advertisers. We lost San Diego and St. Paul. At that point, ABC began to get a little antsy about what I was doing. Then came the merger, which, of course, I took on-on the air. The next thing I know I'm hearing ABC is in all kinds of budget meetings. It seems the bean counters were very focused on what was being broadcast. I think somebody higher up began to listen to the show and decided this is not a message for the new Disney/ABC, and that they didn't want to put more money into it.