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Posted on 04/25/2005 9:31:37 AM PDT by smoothsailing
Dead Air (America)
by Pat Sajak
Posted Apr 25, 2005
Air America, the much-ballyhooed Liberal radio alternative to Rush and Sean and all the other Righties who are successfully dominating our airwaves, doesn't appear to be gaining much traction. It's on the air in only about 50 markets and, even in the "blue" states, its ratings are generally paltry despite reams of free publicity and plenty of financial backers who want this enterprise to succeed. Meantime, Bill Bennett, former Drug Czar and Education Secretary, can be heard in over 100 markets, with a show that launched about the same time as Air America with virtually no mainstream press notice.
How do these things happen? Isn't AA's Al Franken at least as funny as Bill Bennett? (Although, to tell you the truth, when Al was part of the team of Franken & Davis on Saturday Night Live, I wondered how a comedy duo could survive with two straight men.) Don't Liberals listen to the radio? Why isn't anybody out there?
As someone who has been involved in a TV project or two which went largely unnoticed, I think I can answer the question. Conservative radio succeeds, in great measure, because a major segment of the population perceives a need for it. There is no need for mass media with a Liberal slant, because it is already all around us. When I did a late-night talk show on CBS more than 15 years ago, we modeled it after Johnny Carson's show on the supposition that he was about to retire. He didn't, and people went right on watching him. Heck, I watched him. Putting aside any talent deficiencies I might have had, there was no need for Pat Sajak when Johnny Carson was there.
If history had been different and the media centers of the country had been located in Nebraska and Georgia instead of New York and California, they would likely have taken on a more Conservative look over the years.
Liberals would have been screaming about the lack of balance when it came to coverage of news, politics and social issues. In that atmosphere, a dozen Air America-type programs would have sprung up by now, and Conservatives would be bemoaning their success and looking for alternatives. If Rush Limbaugh went on the air in that "alternate universe," he might very well have failed. Who would have needed him? Conservative thought would have already controlled most of what we were watching, reading and hearing.
In short, what Air America is selling is available in too many other places. It's the same dynamic that made a success of Fox News Channel and a failure of Phil Donahue's attempted comeback on cable TV a few years ago. What will eventually kill Air America is its redundancy.
Copyright © 2004 HUMAN EVENTS. All Rights Reserved.
Drudge had a piece a few weeks ago
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3aa.htm
I would like to hear from a lot more Hollywood conservatives. If more like him would come out of the closet we might actually see a red California. So many people out there are afraid to buck the trend that they not only don't speak their mind but also don't vote their conscience.
The irony is that Al Franken wrote the SNL sketch where Buck Henry played a talk-show host who couldn't get anybody to call him. He had to resort to increasing ridiculous topics like "Soviet Communism, let's give it a chance" "Killing puppies - I'm in favor of it" or "Hitler, boy do we need him now." Of course noone ever called in. Once again, life imitates art.
Are we sure that using Franken and "straight men" in the same sentence is appropriate?
Keep your eyes peeled for Liberals attempting to persuade the FCC to reinstate the “fairness doctrine” (happening as we speak – er, post).
This would require stations to “balance” their liberal and conservative talk segments or risk losing their broadcast licenses (3 hours of Rush, 3 hours of Franken).
Hey, if you can’t gain an audience by popularity, try by fiat!
ping
A puss like that screams blithering idiot from across the river doesn't........what an ignorant POS that loser was, is and always will be IMO.
I'm pretty sure I dislike him just from the picture.
It will be interesting to see how they stack up in the ratings when Talker's does their host listernership review later this fall. IT will be based on Spring listenership.
Al is keeping it in a lockbox,apparently.
The show consisted of a couple of female announcers whipping up the audience into a frenzy about the GOP victory, telling everyone it was a fraud, putting on a few even more crazed callers, and -- mostly -- exhorting people to send money to some organization that was going to fund a recount in Ohio and (I think) several other states.
I believe that organization later turned out to be a fraud that took the money and made a bunch of excuses about why they couldn't do the recount.
That was it. That's the only time I've ever heard AA. Totally, absolutely, pathetic.
Have you ever seen that cartoon of the man talking to his dog, and over the dog's head is a "thought balloon" containing pure gibberish? I think that's what liberals hear when they listen to conservatives on the radio. The words, the thoughts, the ideas, make zero sense to them. It's all gibberish. All they are able to make out is criticism of liberals and of liberal ideas, which they interpret as hatred and bigotry. Conclusion: that conservatives like to listen to gibberish hatred and bigotry, and that if they put on gibberish hatred radio aimed at liberals, they will have the same success as Rush Limbaugh.
It's especially funny that they think they're the smart ones.
(steely)
Added to keywords,Coop! :)
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Sorry, back to your regularly-scheduled posting...
I had no idea BB had a radio show -- but you can bet your AM dial I knew Cupid-lips did.
Most of the enlightened libs are too busy smoking pot and crack to listen to Error America. They have much better things to do, such as working on their karma, or sitting in ponds with frogs...
LOL!
Another truth that gets left on the dance floor is that there are a lot of people that vote democrat, but actually very few democrats in the true sense of the word (as one would define it today). And on top of that, there are even fewer real liberals. So if everybody that wants to hear and say "amen" to Air America's message tuned in, they would still be way short of anything remotely close to a success. I compare Air America to local cable access. Their mothers are the only ones watching, or in this case, listening.
Air who?
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