NationStates Jolt Archive

Let's face it, the whole thing was no-more than a clever ruse by the democrats to get around campaign finance laws. So now the election is over and kerry lost I'm betting it's off the air soon. The question is when. My guess is before Christmas.

Do you have ratings or something?

Let's face it, the whole thing was no-more than a clever ruse by the democrats to get around campaign finance laws. So now the election is over and kerry lost I'm betting it's off the air soon. The question is when. My guess is before Christmas.
I have managed to find the local Err Amerika station in this here neck o' the woods, and I decided to listen in, to see what was going on there. I just happened to find the station on Nov 3rd. Based on what I heard that day, shortly after Kerry rightly conceded the election...I'd say they will be on the air until either,
a. they run out of money, yet again, or
b. their hosts' heads finally implode due to the vacuum inside, made worse by the spanking they got on Nov 2nd.

Option A seems less likely, since I'm fairly sure George Soros and Jabba the Moore will make yet one more dumb financial decision and dump more money on that failure known as Hot Air America.

No, but apparently this guy has the same questions as me about it. here (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_3222387,00.html)

I have managed to find the local Err Amerika station in this here neck o' the woods, and I decided to listen in, to see what was going on there. I just happened to find the station on Nov 3rd. Based on what I heard that day, shortly after Kerry rightly conceded the election...I'd say they will be on the air until either,
a. they run out of money, yet again, or
b. their hosts' heads finally implode due to the vacuum inside, made worse by the spanking they got on Nov 2nd.

Option A seems less likely, since I'm fairly sure George Soros and Jabba the Moore will make yet one more dumb financial decision and dump more money on that failure known as Hot Air America.

Well it's their dime.

Actually, a few times I have listened to the Al Franken show, It's actually not that bad entertainment/production values - wise (despite being all leftist spin). So I'm sure he could go on to something else, but the rest of the network is a dead donkey, and I don't ever see it becoming financially viable. Or. for that matter, particularly effective as a campaign tool for the Dems.

Considering that they're kicking ass in the ratings race and adding new stations all the time, I'd say they'll be on the air for the foreseeable future. Air American was never a ruse to get around campaign finance laws, any more than Limbaugh is a ruse to get around them. It's a business, and it's making money now. There was a void in the market and Air America has started to fill it.

I know they have added stations, hence the rating jump, but I thought they were practically giving the programming away. I didn't think they were making money.

As I said, I think the Al Franken show is not bad at all, and is quite entertaining, but he is only on a one year contract. He really is the conerstone of the operation I don't see how they can go forward unless they keep him or find some one else equally good (which will be hard, because he is a talented broadcaster).

I know they have added stations, hence the rating jump, but I thought they were practically giving the programming away. I didn't think they were making money.

As I said, I think the Al Franken show is not bad at all, and is quite entertaining, but he is only on a one year contract. He really is the conerstone of the operation I don't see how they can go forward unless they keep him or find some one else equally good (which will be hard, because he is a talented broadcaster).The ratings are unrelated to the addition of stations. The ratings are measured in individual markets, and in those markets, they're doing quite well. The addition of stations is happening because they've proven that they can garner ratings--here's an example. San Francisco just added Air America--on a Clear Channel station, the same Clear Channel that was sponsoring Bush lovefests prior to the Iraq war. They see ratings and a market, and put the two together. Money trumped ideology this time. And trust me--Clear Channel wouldn't have taken a chance on Air America if they didn't think they'd be around for the long haul.

Franken is the shit but mostly its is just a bunch of shrill women. That Randy Rhodes makes me want to puke out of my ears!

Franken is the shit but mostly its is just a bunch of shrill women. That Randy Rhodes makes me want to puke out of my ears!
I'd hate to see what happens if you listened to Mike Malloy.

Considering that they're kicking ass in the ratings race and adding new stations all the time, I'd say they'll be on the air for the foreseeable future. Air American was never a ruse to get around campaign finance laws, any more than Limbaugh is a ruse to get around them. It's a business, and it's making money now. There was a void in the market and Air America has started to fill it.

Indeed, Air America took a void in the AM radio market and, at the same time, exposes people like Panny as the hypocrites that they are. It's perfectly okay that right-wing fanatics run their mouths independent of factuality all over the dial, but get a left-leaning station in there and everyone starts blustering about it.

"It's biased trash - typical Liberal tactic!" "It's all a ruse by the Democratic party!" "Falsehoods and lies! Why doesn't the FCC shut this down?!"

How ridiculous. Do such people have any perspective at all anymore? Of course, if you confront them on it, the argument it, "Well, it's okay that the right controls the AM radio, because we all know that the left controls the rest of the media! Just leave us alone!" <--Summarized from actual NS forum arguments about AA

One Air America, quite frankly, is not enough to make up for all the neocon pundits all over the dial, but it's a good start.

Indeed, Air America took a void in the AM radio market and, at the same time, exposes people like Panny as the hypocrites that they are. It's perfectly okay that right-wing fanatics run their mouths independent of factuality all over the dial, but get a left-leaning station in there and everyone starts blustering about it.Where do I start taking apart your argument? First, you are absolutely right, Err America found a void in the AM radio market and is trying to fill it. No argument there. However(!) having said that, let's analyze why there has been such a void for so long.

Take a little time to listen to the Right side of the dial, then compare it to the Left. How often do you hear personal attacks on the Right side of the dial? Granted, they happen, listening to Michael Savage or G. Gordon Liddy is an experiment in listening to vitriolic personal attacks. However, Limbaugh, Medved, Hewitt, Ingraham, Reagan, Hannity, O'Reilly and Boortz (among others) normally take aim, not at the person, but at the ideas the person represents.

Compare that to Franken, Rhoads, Garofalo, et al. Their main way to argue their points is to insult those who disagree with them. I have yet to argue a point with a flaming liberal, that doesn't, at some point, involve the liberal calling me either a fanatic, hypocrite, bigot, racist, fascist, or Nazi, or combinations thereof. Whenever you have to play the insult card, you prove the lack of value of your argument. And that has been why the market for Left-leaning radio has been so devoid, because listeners will put up with that only for so long...which also explains why Savage and Liddy have very small numbers, in comparison with Limbaugh, Hannity, and the others on the Right.

"It's biased trash - typical Liberal tactic!" "It's all a ruse by the Democratic party!" "Falsehoods and lies! Why doesn't the FCC shut this down?!"Funny, but if you substitute the word Liberal in the first sentence with Conservative, those are precisely the arguments I hear Libs making about conservative talk radio. In fact, no one in the Right side has called for Err America to be shut down by the FCC. They (Err America) have a right to broadcast, just the same. It won't be the FCC that shuts down Err America...it will be the free market, when people stop listening to the same inane drivel and whining from Al Franken day in and day out. He does get old, you know.

How ridiculous. Do such people have any perspective at all anymore? Of course, if you confront them on it, the argument it, "Well, it's okay that the right controls the AM radio, because we all know that the left controls the rest of the media! Just leave us alone!" <--Summarized from actual NS forum arguments about AAIf anyone lacks perspective in this, it's you. For years, NPR has been a government-funded Lib love-fest, with some classical music interspersed. For years, the M.O. of the alphabet networks has been to have a "round table discussion," with 3 or 4 panelists, of which maybe one could be considered to be close to conservative...and usually that meant that that one was just a tad less liberal than the rest of the panel! Do we need to bring Memogate back up? What about Bombgate? Two "stories" that were made up by the Leftist media to be too much more than they actually were. And yet, you on the Left howl in indignation at talk radio and FoxNews. Get some perspective before you lecture anyone else about it.

One Air America, quite frankly, is not enough to make up for all the neocon pundits all over the dial, but it's a good start.Now that is a load of crap even bigger than anything Al Franken says on a daily basis. Err America is destined to fail...you can't argue with the laws of supply and demand, and the truth is, the market for unmitigated Liberal whining on radio just isn't that big. After all, Howard Stern and Don Imus are nationally syndicated, and they actively appealed to their listeners to vote against Bush...and we already know how that went.

No, unfortunately for you on the Left, Err America reflects a set of values that has been repeatedly turned down since 1994 (with the sole exception of Clinton's re-election in 1996.)

Where do I start taking apart your argument? First, you are absolutely right, Err America found a void in the AM radio market and is trying to fill it. No argument there. However(!) having said that, let's analyze why there has been such a void for so long.

Take a little time to listen to the Right side of the dial, then compare it to the Left. How often do you hear personal attacks on the Right side of the dial? Granted, they happen, listening to Michael Savage or G. Gordon Liddy is an experiment in listening to vitriolic personal attacks. However, Limbaugh, Medved, Hewitt, Ingraham, Reagan, Hannity, O'Reilly and Boortz (among others) normally take aim, not at the person, but at the ideas the person represents.

Excuse me while I duck the ridiculous load of horsesh-t you just slung my way.

Now I have to stop to laugh.

Thank you for your patience. Anyway, I don't know how firmly your stuck your fingers in your ears, but that's exactly the kind of drivel coming from those people. Ingraham, for one example, regularly does sound-byte contests. These aren't based on logic, but the mockery she happens to be putting to the person at the time. For example, she put Al Sharpton in for his clip during the DNC in which he talks about why the African-American community votes overwhelmingly Democratic. Her basis for it? The inflection in his voice when he says "donkey." Yeah, real mature, just like how it's routine on such channels to regularly make up silly names to mock the various people they don't like.

Sorry, Panny, your assumtion that I never listen to AM radio is, like most of your assumptions, wrong. I listen to it to and from work 5 days a week. I've heard what the right offers here, so I'm not going to buy your "kittens and sunshine" whitewashing of it. On the other hand, I don't listen to Air America. Why? I don;t need someone to preach to the choir for me - perhaps the real reason why the station may ultimately fail.

Compare that to Franken, Rhoads, Garofalo, et al. Their main way to argue their points is to insult those who disagree with them. I have yet to argue a point with a flaming liberal, that doesn't, at some point, involve the liberal calling me either a fanatic, hypocrite, bigot, racist, fascist, or Nazi, or combinations thereof. Whenever you have to play the insult card, you prove the lack of value of your argument. And that has been why the market for Left-leaning radio has been so devoid, because listeners will put up with that only for so long...which also explains why Savage and Liddy have very small numbers, in comparison with Limbaugh, Hannity, and the others on the Right.

Oh, so the right is capable of intelligent arguments, but the left isn't, hence why there's no left-leaning radio. Yeah, no baseless assumptions there.

Please, Rush is still popular, despite being a pill-popping, thrice-divorced hypocrite. I'd say that listeners will put up with a great deal. Anyone who listens to those channels objectively can easily tell that they rely upon fabricating a reality within the confines of their program which people will faithfully believe.

Funny, but if you substitute the word Liberal in the first sentence with Conservative, those are precisely the arguments I hear Libs making about conservative talk radio. In fact, no one in the Right side has called for Err America to be shut down by the FCC. They (Err America) have a right to broadcast, just the same. It won't be the FCC that shuts down Err America...it will be the free market, when people stop listening to the same inane drivel and whining from Al Franken day in and day out. He does get old, you know.

Really? I've heard such arguments made on this very forum. And, tell me, when has anyone called for Conservative talk radio to be shut down?

If anyone lacks perspective in this, it's you. For years, NPR has been a government-funded Lib love-fest, with some classical music interspersed. For years, the M.O. of the alphabet networks has been to have a "round table discussion," with 3 or 4 panelists, of which maybe one could be considered to be close to conservative...and usually that meant that that one was just a tad less liberal than the rest of the panel! Do we need to bring Memogate back up? What about Bombgate? Two "stories" that were made up by the Leftist media to be too much more than they actually were. And yet, you on the Left howl in indignation at talk radio and FoxNews. Get some perspective before you lecture anyone else about it.

Heh, let me shatter your black-and-white world of partisan foolishness yet again, Panny, in reminding you that I'm a liberal Libertarian. Hence, you can put your precious labels away.

NPR often has many guests on, from all parts of the spectrum. I've seen you argue this before, so I'm not going to argue it with you now, since it obviously didn't do any good to lose the arguments then.

"Memogate" - poor verification in reporting, hardly a left-wing conspiracy (and hardly even untrue, since the guy's secretary verified the memos' content). I can hardly blame you for continuing to harp on it, since it serves your purposes so well. ;)

Bombgate? What the hell are you on about?

What this all comes down to is a misperception by some conservatives that news souldn't be hard to watch...that the events they report ought to somehow either cushion the blow of the realities of the world or affirm ones' beliefs. This is not the case. One poster on this forum summed it up well: "I know when I'm watching a left-biased news channel, because it makes my blood boil!" Gee, God forbid that you not like what you see on the news...

Now that is a load of crap even bigger than anything Al Franken says on a daily basis. Err America is destined to fail...you can't argue with the laws of supply and demand, and the truth is, the market for unmitigated Liberal whining on radio just isn't that big. After all, Howard Stern and Don Imus are nationally syndicated, and they actively appealed to their listeners to vote against Bush...and we already know how that went.

Yes, just keep repeating yourself over and over again like Father Limbaugh, and perhaps your sermonizing will bring your words into truth. Air America isn't failing, despite all the Republican (I shan't degrade them by confusing them with real conservatives) hatred of it. We already know that the market is more than sufficient to support hordes of whining right-wingers (see note above), so I don;t see why Liberal whining would do any worse. ;)

No, unfortunately for you on the Left, Err America reflects a set of values that has been repeatedly turned down since 1994 (with the sole exception of Clinton's re-election in 1996.)

Ah, poor Partisan Panny, maybe someday you'll be able to see in color like a real boy.

EDIT: And, to get to the real question here...just how long have you been claiming, like the pundits you defend, that the fall of Air America is right around the corner? Hmm...that reality-through-repetition thing just doens't seem to be coming through for you here...

Excuse me while I duck the ridiculous load of horsesh-t you just slung my way.

Now I have to stop to laugh.

Thank you for your patience. Anyway, I don't know how firmly your stuck your fingers in your ears, but that's exactly the kind of drivel coming from those people. Ingraham, for one example, regularly does sound-byte contests. These aren't based on logic, but the mockery she happens to be putting to the person at the time. For example, she put Al Sharpton in for his clip during the DNC in which he talks about why the African-American community votes overwhelmingly Dem

It was only a matter of time before Air America, or something like it, came about. Even conservative hosts pointed to the lack of representation to the liberal market on the radio waves.

It was only a matter of time before Air America, or something like it, came about. Even conservative hosts pointed to the lack of representation to the liberal market on the radio waves.
They would argue it's their only venue in a liberal-dominated media. :p

Yes, the media that is constantly running stories about Bush's clear landslide mandate victory, and how liberals have lost touch with America, and how the liberals need to move to the center to compete with the conservatives that have moved to the right...

Now, see, I thought this thread was dead two days ago.

Yet again I am not dissapointed. Good comments all around.

BTW, I would so totally do Laura Ingraham. She is hot.

They would argue it's their only venue in a liberal-dominated media. :p

Yes, the media that is constantly running stories about Bush's clear landslide mandate victory, and how liberals have lost touch with America, and how the liberals need to move to the center to compete with the conservatives that have moved to the right...

People call CNN liberal.. yet they refused to run more than one ad campaign against Bush - off the top of my head I can name the Log Cabin Republicans ad that was run during the week of the RNC, except on CNN of course.

BTW, I would so totally do Laura Ingraham. She is hot.
At least you're not going on about Ann Coulter. :eek:

*shudder*

Now, see, I thought this thread was dead two days ago.

Yet again I am not dissapointed. Good comments all around.

BTW, I would so totally do Laura Ingraham. She is hot.

Perhaps if you put duct-tape over her mouth...I've heard what usually comes out of there, and I would want to make sure it doesn't open during the act.

At least you're not going on about Ann Coulter. :eek:

*shudder*

Oh, dude, could you just imagine those two making out? I mean, think about it...

Damn, I think I just turned myself off to women forever.

Something about snarky, sneering Neocon bitches just turns me off...and Ingrahm's program is so often devoid of substance, I have even less respect for her than Coulter.

Oh, dude, could you just imagine those two making out? I mean, think about it...

Damn, I think I just turned myself off to women forever.

Something about snarky, sneering Neocon bitches just turns me off...and Ingrahm's program is so often devoid of substance, I have even less respect for her than Coulter.

If this is the truth, I'm single :p

At least you're not going on about Ann Coulter. :eek:

*shudder*

Actually I have met both Ann and Laura. Don't ask.

Ann = :mad:

too skinny, I mean like famine victim skinny. If you can believe this she looks worse in R/L. She's funny though if you just treat her like a stand up act.

Laura = :fluffle:

Not that hot, but definitley doable.

I didn't really pay that much attention to what she was saying. Nice ass though for an older lady. :)

Actually I have met both Ann and Laura. Don't ask.

Ann = :mad:

too skinny, I mean like famine victim skinny. If you can believe this she looks worse in R/L. She's funny though if you just treat her like a stand up act.

Laura = :fluffle:

Not that hot, but definitley doable.

I didn't really pay that much attention to what she was saying. Nice ass though for an older lady. :)LOL, exactly my assessment without having ever met Coulter, and none of this "older lady" business for Ingrahm though (she's "of an age" with me).

If this is the truth, I'm single :p

Nah, I'm already bisexual...so how you doin'?

Not much longer. There seems to be few companies willing to advertise on them and it is not some right wing conspiracy. No one listens to them so no one wants to pay money to get no added business.

Commie-Libs at Moveon.org will keep funneling funds or pissing funds away with them. Let them stay on. I'll keep listening to Rush and Hannity while no one listens to the crap Air America puts on the airwaves.

Not much longer. There seems to be few companies willing to advertise on them and it is not some right wing conspiracy. No one listens to them so no one wants to pay money to get no added business.An interesting observation, Corporate America doesn't want to support media opposed to Corporate America and aimed at a demographic with no desire to support Corporate America.


I supose they need to seek ads from Mom's Fair Trade Sweater Imports - hmm. Yes, actually this is a fairly good idea, what AA really needs is a niche marketing group to dig advertising from non-Corporate businesses to match the profile of thier demographic. I wonder if anyone could sell AA on this idea?

An interesting observation, Corporate America doesn't want to support media opposed to Corporate America and aimed at a demographic with no desire to support Corporate America.


I supose they need to seek ads from Mom's Fair Trade Sweater Imports - hmm. Yes, actually this is a fairly good idea, what AA really needs is a niche marketing group to dig advertising from non-Corporate businesses to match the profile of thier demographic. I wonder if anyone could sell AA on this idea?
No one will buy ad space because no one is listening so the idea will fail.

No one will buy ad space because no one is listening so the idea will fail.

Indeed, their target audience is not one that needs to have their opinions preached to them, or world events "interpretted." Kinda like how Spiritualists/Deists don't need a Church. Makes you think, doesn't it? ;)

There was a void in the market and Air America has started to fill it.
There was no void in the market for liberal hate speech.

No one will buy ad space because no one is listening so the idea will fail.
Actual llistenership isn't that bad, not equivalent to the top conservative shows, but better than a fair amount of the tripe out there on the radio. Even a minimal market share is a market share, and the demographic is somewhat self-defining as to ideology. The trick is to find the advertisers for the market and convince them to advertise. I doubt you're going to get Coke (tm) to advertize on AA, but if a company like Starbucks (tm) wants to push a new fair trade intitative, AA would be the perfect place to advertise it.

What you really want to do is convince a niche marketer to reverse the usual process, when the advertiser (company) hires a marketeer to produce ads and find the right media to place them in, instead the media hires the marketeer to find the right advertisers. I don't think anyone's done this on a national level in quite some time, usually this sort of thing is done directly by the media company when it's done, but an outside marketeer would be a good idea in AA's case. National level adverising would be a problem, and that's where the big bucks are, but certainly they should be able to come up with enough money to keep AA on the air (although they may have to dump Franken). I'm not certain AA could do this easily given the way they efectively gave away the show to get it on the air, but they could make an arrangement first for the streaming audio, targeting local ads based upon the IP adress streamed to.