Hyping Liberal Radio’s Rise, But Not Its Fall

[John Ashcroft]

After barrels of ink and hours of breathless TV promotion, the Air America radio network has gone from its media boost to a quick bust. After just two weeks, the six-station network went off the air in Chicago and Los Angeles on April 14. By April 27, CEO Mark Walsh had left. On May 7, co-founder Evan Cohen signed off. On May 10, the network disbanded its Chicago and Los Angeles sales offices, laying off 15 to 20 people.

Then, on May 14, the Chicago Tribune revealed that one inside source said “Chicago staffers were never enrolled in a health insurance plan, though Air America promised coverage and deducted health insurance premiums from their paychecks.“ Would that spur a juicy liberal-hypocrisy story in the middle of what big-government lobbies touted as “Cover The Uninsured Week” (May 10-14)? No.

A quick review of the media coverage shows a very biased pattern of boosterism followed by radio silence:

• ABC promoted the launch with two stories from reporter Jake Tapper on the March 11 Good Morning America and the March 28 World News Tonight. Peter Jennings noted the network's debut in an anchor brief on March 31, and Ted Koppel devoted an entire Nightline program to Air America on April 1. (Koppel didn’t even devote an entire Nightline to the murder of Nicholas Berg.) Network coverage of Air America's troubles? Zero.

• NBC highlighted the launch with a March 31 Today interview, and a Nightly News story from reporter Carl Quintanilla that night. Network coverage since? Zero.

• NPR promoted the network on the March 30 All Things Considered, and a March 31 interview on their afternoon talk show Talk of the Nation. On the April 9 ATC, radio expert Michael Harrison panned the network’s slate of programming. But later coverage? Zero.

• CNN aired Air America stories in heavy rotation on the weekend before the network debut (March 27 and 28), as well as stories across the prime-time lineup on March 31. Coverage since then? CNN has briefly noted the bad news on its media show Reliable Sources and in a few, scattered anchor briefs.

• Newsweek highlighted the debut in a big three-page spread. Newsweek.com also featured an April 12 Al Franken interview with tough questions like “Why are Democrats such wimps? Why don't they fight back?” Coverage since then? Zero.

• The New York Times filed a number of prominent stories, including a front-page story on the network's first day on April 1, and a long cover story in the March 21 New York Times Magazine. Coverage of the network’s troubles? The Walsh departure made the business section on page C-6, but the Evan Cohen resignation wasn't noticed.

• The Washington Post published a front-page article by Howard Kurtz on April 1, following an even larger Kurtz profile on the front of the “Sunday Style” section on March 21. Coverage since then? Walsh's departure was also on the front page of Style on April 28. Cohen's resignation was a paragraph buried in the business section on page E-2.

These ongoing struggles may not seem like big breaking news. But by that standard, neither was the dinky network’s launch, either. What the national media promoted as the roar of a new liberal lion turned out to be the quiet whimper of a sickly kitten.

Link: here (http://www.mediaresearch.org/realitycheck/2004/fax20040520.asp)

[Viking]

Man, that fucker flamed out and crashed even quicker than I anticipated. I was hoping for more comedy out of the whole mess.

[ELVIS]

Did you listen to it at all.. I did...

[Viking]

I only followed it enough to make me cringe. It's a litmus test - it reaffirms my faith in my beliefs, kinda like reading a Molly Ivins column. It was a moral, intellectual, and spiritual insult. To think that a snotty, whining, failed heterosexual like Al Franken was going to be their ideological standard-bearer was either the height of arrogance, or the depths of stupidity. They stacked their deck with C-and-D list no-talents, and thought that the pure venom of Bush-hate was going to garner them ratings. I keep waiting for these human abortions to try and use government funding and judicial activism to bail their heathen asses out. And, gird thy loins: these myrmidons and their parasitic overlords are always conniving to get their pet 1st Amendment slayer unleashed on the public airwaves: The Fairness Doctrine. You won't be able to crack off a free-speech fart without these children using the government beast to be able to sit on your head and take a shit in response. They don't understand the concept of individual liberty, so they'll impose upon you at gunpoint, if necessary.

[freak]

I just wonder how the liberal elite became known as intellectual standard bearers.

Nearly every idea they have, this one included, is a total wash-out.

"Al Franken - Talk Radio Sensation".

That very phase would make even a Downs Syndrome sufferer give a derisive snort.

Hell, even Alex Van Halen would respond with smug laughter at the notion.

[FORD]

Not so fast, boys......

Seems that Al Franken is beating Mush Limpdick in the NYC market, according to the latest Arbitron ratings.

Now I would say that beating the most circulated talk show host in the #1 market in the country is nothing to sneeze at.

Sure, Air America is off to a rough start, but they have had their share of road blocks. For one thing, they're hardly a national network yet. And with the dominance of right wing owned corporate chains like Clear Channel, and Viacom, affiliates aren't easy to come by.

Hell, the Portland affiliate IS a goddamned Clear Channel station! And while they haven't censored the content yet that I'm aware of, it's a little odd to hear Democratic content on the program, and then have Tom Ridge and Colin Powell breaking in for the commercials.

The media monopolies have gone too far. Geez, didn't you guys watch the Simpsons last night? ;)

[lucky wilbury]

some how i doubt it ford. here's the list by station in order from first to last:

The NYC Arbitron Abbattior (5/21/04):

WABC (Rush, Hannity): 3.9 (up from 3.7) Ranked 7th overall
WOR (O'Reilly, Savage) : 2.1 (down from 2.2) Ranked 21st
WLIB (Air Idiot): 1.4 (up from 1.3) Ranked 24th


WLTW-FM AC Clear Channel 6.6 6.3 5.8 5.9 1
WSKQ-FM TROPICAL SBS 4.5 5.8 4.9 5.4 2
WRKS-FM URBAN AC Emmis 4.2 4.4 5.0 4.8 3
WHTZ-FM CHR/POP Clear Channel 3.9 3.7 4.7 4.6 4
WQHT-FM CHR/RHYTHMIC Emmis 4.5 4.7 4.2 4.3 5
WWPR-FM URBAN Clear Channel 4.0 3.9 3.7 4.0 6
WABC-AM TALK ABC 3.5 3.3 3.7 3.9 7
WINS-AM NEWS Clear Channel 4.1 4.0 3.9 3.8 8
WKTU-FM CHR/RHYTHMIC Clear Channel 3.7 3.9 3.6 3.6 9
WXRK-FM ALTERNATIVE Infinity 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.5 10
WCBS-FM OLDIES Infinity 3.8 3.8 3.2 3.2 11
WQCD-FM SMOOTH JAZZ Emmis 3.4 3.5 3.1 3.1 12t
WBLS-FM URBAN AC Inner City 3.6 3.7 2.9 3.1 12t
WAXQ-FM CLASSIC ROCK Clear Channel 2.9 2.6 3.0 2.9 14
WPAT-FM SPANISH AC SBS 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.8 15
WPLJ-FM HOT AC ABC 2.5 2.1 2.8 2.6 16
WCAA-FM @ TROPICAL HBC 2.2 2.6 2.6 2.5 17
WCBS-AM NEWS Infinity 3.2 2.6 2.6 2.3 18
WQXR-FM CLASSICAL NY Times 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.2 19t
WFAN-AM SPORTS Infinity 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.2 19t
WOR-AM TALK Buckley 2.5 1.8 2.2 2.1 21
WNEW-FM HOT AC Infinity 0.9 1.7 1.6 1.6 22t
WADO-AM SPANISH N/T HBC 1.1 1.3 1.4 1.6 22t
WLIB-AM NEWS/TALK Inner City 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.4 24
WALK-FM AC Clear Channel 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.1 25
WKXW-FM TALK Millenium 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.0 26
WFME-FM CHRISTIAN Family 0.6 0.8 0.7 0.9 27
WBLI-FM CHR/POP Cox 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.8 28t
WHLI-AM # ADULT STANDARDS Barnstable 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 28t
WBAB-FM @ ROCK Cox 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.6 30
WMCA-AM CHRISTIAN TALK Salem 0.5 ** 0.6 0.5 31

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by FORD
Not so fast, boys......

Seems that Al Franken is beating Mush Limpdick in the NYC market, according to the latest Arbitron ratings.



Yeah right...

Lucky caught you in another LIE!

:elvis:

[lucky wilbury]

don't you think if he did it would have been front page news and posted all over this forum?

[John Ashcroft]

How many national networks did Rush start with?

Interesting that some people "feel" that Air America is entitled to a national audience simply because Rush has one (which was earned, not given).

[Satan]

LW's quoted statistics are for the stations overall ratings. FORD was speaking only of the Al Franken show vs Mush Limpdick. So it's entirely possible that Air America can lead in that timeslot, in the NYC market, but not the 24 hour overall ratings.

[Satan]

Originally posted by John Ashcroft
How many national networks did Rush start with?

Interesting that some people "feel" that Air America is entitled to a national audience simply because Rush has one (which was earned, not given).

At the time Limpdick started, radio was not yet corporatized, and even if it had been, as a right wing talk show, it would have been easier for him to pick up slots on right wing corporate radio chains. The reason you have so many Hannitys and Savage Weiners and all those other neocon shitbags on the radio is because they fit the agenda of the corporate radio chains. Especially Clear Channel, which is literally a branch office of the BCE.

[lucky wilbury]

again like i said if he did beat rush on any given day it would have been everywhere and the overall ratings would have shown it. the ratings for the entire station is only .2 above where it was when it was a jamican station.

[Wayne L.]

I think Air America bombed because they weren't fooling themselves & the American people with the hype anyway whether you're from the left or the right even though I think Al Franken could be more popular as a radio talk show host on another radio station on the AM dial.