Posted on 09/12/2005 10:54:04 PM PDT by Plutarch
While listeners like what they hear, businesses aren’t buying air space
SANTA CRUZ — Even in the nuclear-free zone of Santa Cruz, left-wing talk radio doesn’t sell well.
Since programming content for local AM sister stations 1080 KSCO and 1430 KOMY made the great political split July 18, the liberal arm has been slow to hook advertisers.
It’s so slow, station owner Michael Zwerling went on the air recently with an ad of his own threatening the future of progressive shows on KOMY.
"For liberal programming to continue ... you need to support it," his ad said.
Zwerling said his ad was designed to "get in people’s face" and remind listeners that radio is a commercial business, and if ad space is available, they need to know about it.
"You can’t be coy in this business," said Zwerling, who shifted his personal politics right of center in the 1970s when faced with the burdens of government bureaucracy while building a house in Santa Cruz. "You have to spell it out, especially in Santa Cruz where everybody thinks they deserve everything."
KOMY, the new home to the Air America network featuring Al Franken and Randi Rhodes, lags in advertising appeal, Zwerling said, especially compared with Rush Limbaugh, who has ruled the KSCO airwaves for more than a decade blasting conservative tirades.
"I wouldn’t have bought the station if it didn’t have Rush Limbaugh on it," Zwerling said. "Rush is our biggest player."
Zwerling brought Air America to the Central Coast in July. During negotiations between the station and Air America, Zwerling said Air America executives refused to allow Al Franken to share a dial with radio shock jock Michael Savage, a brash conservative previously on KOMY who rants against big government and illegal immigration and says "liberalism is a mental disorder."
"As soon as I said Michael Savage, the door slammed shut," Zwerling said.
All along Zwerling believed Air America would fit well in this radio market that reaches from Davenport to King City and beyond.
Zwerling finally agreed with Air America executives, and decided it would have the best chance for success here if KOMY and KSCO divided their programming according to liberal and conservative content.
Now KSCO is stocked with Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, The Savage Nation and Phil Hendri, while KOMY airs Al Franken, Randi Rhodes and Alan Colmes.
Zwerling said making the political split on KOMY and KSCO made sense given what he sees as the deepening polarization of politics across the country.
"Liberals don’t even want to listen to conservatives," he said. "And conservatives don’t want to listen to liberals. I think it’s a sad state of affairs."
Since Air America debuted on KOMY, the station has been praised by listeners writing and calling with appreciation, but not a single business has stepped up to buy air time specifically during Air America’s slot.
On the other hand, Limbaugh’s show — with an estimated 5,000 local listeners per quarter hour — is mostly sold out, station General Manager Michael Olson said.
Many businesses buy ad time for both KOMY and KSCO to avoid alienating customers with political extremes, Olson said.
Santa Cruz County Employees Credit Union purchased a 60-second spot that runs on both stations during Good Morning Monterey Bay.
Tray Dunbar, credit union chief executive officer, said as a financial institution, they’d rather stay nonpolitical.
"I wouldn’t advertise during the Rush Limbaugh show, and I wouldn’t advertise during the Al Franken show," Dunbar said. "We chose the morning show because that doesn’t really have a political slant to it."
Meanwhile, Olson said he never expected Air America to be an instant hit with advertisers.
Advertisers, he said, plan budgets many months in advance and Air America has been playing on KOMY less than two months.
Olson said it’s too soon to rush to judgment, though he believes Air America will one day hold its own.
"Will it get as many listeners as Rush? I doubt it," Olson said. "Personally, I don’t think Al Franken is as entertaining as Rush, but I do think he will pick up a nice audience."
KSCO/KOMY radio station owner Michael Zwerling says the local liberal community is not stepping up to support KOMY’s broadcasts of Air America talk radio. (Dan Coyro / Sentinel)
Doesn't he understand that in true Liberalism, a local tax on public goods and services should be enacted and then used to support Liberal programming (like PBS).
Sadly, the same could be said for a majority of the population of the USA.
Air American is looking for handouts? That's...appropriate.
the grunge punks and anarchists that listen to this crap are too busy saving up their bread to by drugs with ....
they'll listen for 'free' but " like ,hey man....."
Al Franken is not as entertaining as a ham sandwich.
KOMYtose.
This guy made a bad business decision, but doesn't want to admit it. He gets a few ad buys from people like the credit union guy who doesn't want to be "political", but that's mostly charity.
Oh, but I do know liberals who listen to Rush. Rush is funny. Franken is not.
Author had to slip that in there, eh?.
It fits well with the San Diego LiAAR affiliate, KLSD.
That's not a joke.
I am so glad that the reporterette with the 3rd grade mentality didn't show any bias. /sarcasm off
When I thought I was a liberal, I listened to liberals, like Jimmy Carter, Dan Rather, and read the newspapers.
But I wised up to their BS, and realized that they were idiots. I stopped listening to their lies. I stopped reading their propaganda.
Businesses are smart to avoid advertising on Air America. I view any support for them as support for socialism, liberalism, and pinhead-ism, in general.
I certainly would boycott any business advertising during their programming.
Ok, you start a station with the lest talenteded, no knowledge of politict's, (except they alway's vote democrate), and they don't know why, just because???? The lowest of slime ball's with no knowledge of the other party, except, we hate any Rebullican's, and all our listener's should listen to us!!!!!! hahahqahahah
In the end AA may have a few stations left, but not enough to support a national network, or high salaries of the overpaid personalities.
* The AA claim of "70 stations nationwide" isn't entirely truthful. If a station airs just one of their only two marketable shows, Al Franken or Jerry Springer, they're considered an AA station.
That says it all and explains why the libs fight so hard for NPR.
What? Business owners don't relate to the socialist crackpots (or is that crackheads?) on Airhead America? Can't imagine why.
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