Liberal Talk Radio Network to Start Up in Three Cities

NY Times ^ | 3/11/04 | Jacques Steinberg

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The creators of a fledgling liberal talk radio network who hope to challenge the dominance of conservative voices on the nation's airwaves said yesterday that its programming would make its debut on March 31 on low-rated stations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The network, known as Air America Radio, said its hosts would include Al Franken, the comedian and political satirist, whose program will be broadcast from noon to 3 p.m.; Janeane Garofalo, an actress whose program will be on from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Chuck D, a hip-hop artist, who will be a co-anchor of a morning program; and Martin Kaplan, a media analyst who has previously appeared on National Public Radio.

Mr. Franken's program will be called "The O'Franken Factor,'' in a barb aimed at Bill O'Reilly, the host of "The O'Reilly Factor'' on the Fox News Channel. Fox News sued Mr. Franken and his publisher last summer in an unsuccessful effort to block distribution of his book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right'' (E. P. Dutton, 2003). The network charged that the book's use of Fox's "fair and balanced'' tagline would tarnish its image.

For all Air America's relative star power and connections - Mark Walsh, the network's chief executive, has donated more than $100,000 to the Democratic Party and has served as an adviser to the presidential candidate John Kerry on Internet issues - the network faces enormous hurdles. They include making money for its investors and unseating the biggest conservative voices in talk radio, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, whose programs appear on hundreds of stations...

FRANKEN WANTS TO BE A 'FACTOR' TOO

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Advertising costs?

[Recovering_Democrat]

Oh, goooooooooood...Al Franken goes up against Rush Limbaugh....Al will be buried, unable to do a pittance against Rush.

[hoosierpearl]

sarcasm Woo hoo I can't wait. I'll be tuning in every day. /sarcasm

[billorites]

Damn, we're in a tight spot!

[kevkrom]

Its programming would make its debut on March 31 on low-rated stations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago

Three liberal bastions are all they could dredge up to broadcast this mess? They're worse off than I had thought.

Good.

[Semper Paratus]

3 cities? WOW! Sweeping the nation.

Let me guess, Cambridge, Madison and Berkley?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Thinly disguised circumvention of that holiest of holies, "Campaign Finance Reform."

The purpose of CFR was to shut up all the peasantry who joined organizations like the NRA specifically to give themselves a voice.

[kevkrom]

Mr. Franken's program will be called "The O'Franken Factor,'' in a barb aimed at Bill O'Reilly

This moron can't even show originality in his show title. His is nothing but a walking lump of hate, and this is going to turn even "friendly" audiences off in droves, leaving only the hardcore haters to wallow in their own lies.

[nobody_knows]

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago

Glad to see the dems are taking it to the republican majority in these battle ground states! Wow, talk about your courageous move.

[smiley]

Air Radio for Air Heads....love it!!

[Cicero]

The clintons used Salon to help get themselves over the hump in the 1996 elections. Their backers blew millions in a vain effort to make a success of it, but it worked at a key moment for the clintons.

I see something similar here. Left wing talk radio will blow millions uselessly for its sponsors. But it could very well help out during the election year.

Roger Altman runs all the supermarket tabloids for the clintons. They really are dying for a news monopoly. They don't care if this is a money loser as long as it helps the corrupt cause at the right time--which is 2004.

The sponsors won't necessarily lose by it either. They could easily be paid back if Kerry--or more likely hillary--won the election.

[freeperfromnj]

Al Franken goes up against Rush Limbaugh

DOA

[Cicero]

BTW, Air America is an interesting name for them to choose. That was the name of the CIA-sponsored airline that was involved in Vietnam and may have been used to smuggle drugs out of the Golden Triangle in those years.

They'd might as well call it Puff the Magic Dragon.

[ibbryn]

This is good news! A nice, safe hole for dims to dump their money into.

I wonder how they got the guy from NPR to hook up with them. Since NPR is completely non partisan, wouldn't it have been just as likely that the dude would have been looking for work in the conservative stations? Yet he hooked up with the dims? What are the chances of that?

[NCPAC]

Probably won't ever tune it,...but I would "date" Janeane Garofalo. Oh, is that a sexist, politically incorrect comment?! I am soooo sorry!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Would be absolutely hillarious if some conservative group bought and ran mock ads on these stations selling the Brooklyn Bridge, witch hunt vacation packages, and 'Emperor's New Clothing' fashions. Call it 'Terry's Pied Piper Productions', a perfect match between advertiser and audience.

[Iron Matron]

Liberal talk radio will never work:

JOKES CAN'T TELL THEMSELVES!

[Mat_Helm]

Whoooh......!

I'm must be sufferin from Deja Moo!

Cause I've heard this bull before.

[fatrat]

a few days back i read about a dozen or more cities, yesterday it was 4 cities, today it is 3 cities.....hmmmm

[Tanniker Smith]

Okay, so who's going to listen to Franken during Rush's breaks? Oh, waitaminute -- they didn't list the stations in New York City. Oh, well. As Emily Latella would say, "Nevermind".

TS
(What? If Franken isn't going to be original, I don't have to either.)