Al Franken Leaving Air America

Radio Equalizer ^ | 11/16/06 | Brian Maloney

[raccoonradio]

*** Breaking News ***

We're hearing tonight that Al Franken is leaving Air America and giving up on talk radio for good.

His last day on the air will be December 8. A few libtalk stations have already begun to leak word of Franken's impending exit.

This confirms rumors we'd been hearing for several weeks that are now confirmed by these on- air announcements.

We'll have much more on this breaking story as details emerge.

[raccoonradio]

How in the world will they survive without him? :)

(actually AAR is circling the drain now as it is, PLUS Clear Channel--which put AAR on many of its stations--has gotten sold and the AAR defections are coming fast and furious!)

[raccoonradio]

Al finally realized it'd be nice to work at a job where he'd get paid...

[raccoonradio]

from boreamerica.com:

"Congrats and candies to all doubles, triples, and quads, team leaders, operational teams and support staff. The news can finally be released: Al Franken will soon be leaving Air America Radio. While the full story cannot yet be revealed and the full complete story will never be known, think of AAR as a brick wall without any mortar and built by someone unworthy of calling themselves a mason. Brick after brick were removed from the wall until it is close - just close - to collapsing. First, the funding "issues", leading to embarassment and finally bankruptcy. The former B-movie "star" Janeane Garofalo was given a better offer; trash TV host Jerry Springer was marginalized; the semi-talented Marc Maron was shuttled off to Siberia... I mean Los Angeles. Brick after brick, until the wall will soon fall."

[nickcarraway]

What? And leave orphanage donations unplundered?

[Pro-Bush]

What a complete failure! Liberal talk radio is over, except for PBS since it is federally funded.

[Sprite518]

Oh boy this is not good... Not that I like Liberals... I am concerned that the Libs in congress will now try to pass the Fairness Doctrine. You know they are going to go after conservative talk radio.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Both of their listeners were saddened.

[raccoonradio]

Yeah I hope they don't bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

Out of curiosity I tuned into Franken just after the '04 election. He had on a guy who was discussing voting fraud in Ohio. It was incredibly boring. Franken sounded like someone who just got awakened at 3 am...very tired, a molasses-like voice. Maybe it had "been a long week for him" but I think his voice sounds like that all the time. This is the counterpoint to Rush?

On a radio board, one regular said that Thom Hartmann-- who will probably get that noon slot in many cities-- is "really good". The same guy referred to my conservative politics as "Neanderthal". I told him well I guess I'm off to do another GEICO ad! :)

[unspun]

Who?

[Proud_texan]

Hehe, that sort of presumes that he actually knows how to "work". I somehow doubt that Al has any experience in that area.

[raccoonradio]

More from Radio Equalizer

One is KQKE Radio in San Francisco, which recently cancelled Franken and replaced him with Thom Hartmann, a more obscure "progressive" who airs in the same time slot. A check of Franken's site Thursday evening did not turn up any mention of a departure.

This confirms rumors we'd been hearing from industry sources and Air America listeners that are now backed up by these on- air announcements. What A Mockery, a liberal blog site, captured the audio of KQKE Radio's announcement here

While Franken's contract was recently rewritten in order to extend through the spring of 2007, all bets were off once Air America entered bankruptcy, since Franken's continued participation was directly tied to the network's solvency.

With just a week remaining in which to nail down a buyer, Air America is truly skating on thin ice at this point. Does the impending loss of Franken's show hurt its resale value?

In addition, is there any connection between this move and the five stations that have dropped the liberal talk radio format since election day?

As for his likely US Senate run, it would not have required Franken to exit his radio show until a formal announcement was made, which is likely to occur at least nine months from now. So this departure appears to be tied to the network's financial troubles.

We'll have much more on this breaking story as details emerge.

[GSlob]

Well, the best idiocy is the shortest one. How long did it take him to come to this realization?

[L.N. Smithee]

The newest GEICO ads are a hoot. They're such a hit that they don't even sell the insurance anymore. Click here for the latest, in which our hypersensitive caveman hits an O'Reillyesque cable news show.

[dirtbiker]

How in the world will they survive without him? :)

How in the world do they survive this long WITH HIM?

I tried to listen to Air America once about 2 years ago....worst 15 seconds of my life.....

[raccoonradio]

Now liberal talk blog LTRadio.blogspot.com is claiming that Franken leaving is just a rumor and that he's actually going to Iraq to visit troops, etc., and that he's still not sure whether or not he's leaving AAR. Who knows.