Posted on 04/28/2006 10:31:52 PM PDT by neverdem
Just past its second birthday, Air America, the Left’s great hope to defeat the Right in the talk radio wars, has no reason to celebrate. Winter 2006 Arbitron ratings, leaked to Matt Drudge earlier this week and reported in greater detail by the invaluable Radio Equalizer blog, show Air America registering a weak 1.0 share in Los Angeles, an even tinier share in Chicago, and a catastrophic drop in New York City, where flagship station WLIB hemorrhaged nearly half its listenership over the last ratings period, falling from a mediocre 1.4 to a pathetic 0.8 share. That’s smaller than the all-Caribbean format the network replaced when it first launched in New York and nowhere near the ratings of conservative heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity in the city. Air America’s Gotham numbers are so dismal that WLIB is booting the network off the station later this summer, industry publication Mediaweek has just announced.
You’d think that the public’s growing dissatisfaction with President Bush and the Iraq War would translate into lots of listeners for Air America’s “progressive” talk, especially with the fawning free publicity the network and its top host, comedian Al Franken, have enjoyed from the mainstream press. But even hard-core liberals (who make up only about one-fifth of the American electorate, it’s important to remember) must find Air America’s incessant and often moronic Bush bashing monotonous and unentertaining—the kiss of death for talk radio.
Further, liberals already have NPR—and for that matter, the New York Times, network newscasts, CNN, and most of the mainstream media. Conservative and libertarian voices dominate the radio dial because they offer a much-needed response to the liberal media mainstream. The Right has done well on cable television and in the blogosphere for the same reason. Air America, created and kept afloat by a handful of wealthy liberal financiers, meets no such market demand.
Even as Air America’s hosts snicker about President Bush’s plummeting approval ratings, the network seems destined to disappear from the radio dial before the president leaves the White House.
I listened to the very first hour of the very first show Al Franken did. A nauseating experience. I've had a root canal that was less painful.
Gives one respect for the ones who do it well.
You said it. I always used that time to make some popcorn or go take a Franken.
When it comes right down to it, present day liberalism is a combination of mental laziness and moral cowardice recast as intellectualism and moral superiority. It is an ugly thing for its disciples to share openly.
Love this phrase, can I license it for SC???
What does SC stand for?
Their 2004 election night report was priceless, well worth listening to. I fully expected to hear the sound of wrist slitting and maybe a gas oven door swinging open followed by a hissing sound. They didn't go that far, but the note of despondency and depression in their voices was overpowering.
"But even hard-core liberals (who make up only about one-fifth of the American electorate, it’s important to remember) must find Air America’s incessant and often moronic Bush bashing monotonous and unentertaining—the kiss of death for talk radio."
I think it goes deeper than that. I think they just burned out their audience. Hatred and rage and anger takes more energy than happiness, and their constant anger just consumed it's audience. I get the feeling from some libs I know, they're just burnt out from being upset all the time.
Of course, we are talking about the crowd that cannot have a single moment of fun while people are being oppressed, Haliburton is in business, and people don't have instant access to pot and abortion - and nobody else can have fun, either!
I've been to many parties with liberals. Killjoys, the lot of them. Once they get a snootfull of cheap merlot, they just feel the need to unload all of their angst and anger at the world on you.
Pure garbage network. Randi Rhodes and the sickening nutballs. If you listen once, for thirty minutes, you have heard all you ever will. It is then repeated over and over and over.
>>Their 2004 election night report was priceless,
I didn't hear that (though I did tune in a couple days later
to hear a boring AND depressed Franken bantering with some "expert" about "voter fraud in Ohio"--didn't take long to make me switch the station) but I guess Franken was in Boston to do a Kerry victory party on-air.
NEW YORK, Oct. 28 '04/PRNewswire/ -- Sundance Channel will air a special election night edition of "The Al Franken Show," on November 2nd at 11:30pm. The political humorist will be broadcasting live from the Kerry campaign's election-night headquarters in Copley Square in Boston. The show will contain breaking news as well as segments taped earlier that day.
Not good enough, not smart enough, and dog gone it, people dont like Err Amerika.
If that lying jackass Franken and his motley crew at Error Amerika can raid enough piggy banks from little kids, they could always ask George Soros for matching funds to go on satellite like Howard Stern did.
Nobody's heard from Howard since his move "upstairs" either.
Heh.
Actually, I was driving home from Cleveland to Detroit and came upon a clear station. It was Air America. Franken had a segment where he played Rush and had a conservative gentleman defending him.
Franken was splatted on the floor by the conservative and never even realized it.
I loved it.
But I wouldn't look to find the show again.
My heart goes out to the Detroit station that used to play Glenn Beck in the morning and now has gone Air America. Even if they bring Glenn back, I'm hooked on Laura Ingraham!
Maybe now Franken will move down to Mexico to legally resume his coke habit?
I'm with you! I had a music radio show on campus when I was young. Every Friday night my roommate had one hour and I had the next. It would get to the point that he'd have me on for a chat, then the next week I'd have him on for a chat; just to fill some time. Sheeesh!
It did give me an opportunity, however, to interview Lambert, Hendricks & Ross on air when they gave a concert at the school (Valparaiso). That won out over our chats big time :) !
But, but, but Mr. rat, Mr. rat how can this be Mr.rat? You TOLD me air America would knock out Limbaugh!
From himself. Al Franken is a legend in his own mind....
Then they switched to Tony Snow and I just could never get into his show.
But since Tony took the WHPS job, they are starting up with Laura tommorrow.
Laura is the BEST!
She has me laughing out loud!
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