Air America begging me for money,what a hoot!!

woiyo wrote:

farmerman wrote:
Id like to be able to hear it. We dont even have one station in the Philly through Harrsburg metro areas that carry AA. It could die by being unheard.

There is a reason sponsors do not pay high ad fees.

NO-ONE IS LISTENING.
.

Bullshit.

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Chrissee wrote:

woiyo wrote:
farmerman wrote:
Id like to be able to hear it. We dont even have one station in the Philly through Harrsburg metro areas that carry AA. It could die by being unheard.

There is a reason sponsors do not pay high ad fees.

NO-ONE IS LISTENING.
.

Bullshit.

So you figure Arbitron's ratings figures are wrong?

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AA Portland Poised for Number one

Quote:

Air America Radio, just a year and a half old, is poised to grab the top spot in talk-radio for the Portland, Oregon market. Many pundits wrote off the liberal talk-radio enterprise shortly after its inception, but in the last year AAR has grown from 16 stations to 70, and in Portland, it has relegated Sean Hannity's radio station to near the bottom of the trash heap. In this particular market AAR is moving up so fast in the ratings it is likely they have already captured the top-spot from the plummeting Rush Limbaugh, as this article is being written.

Alphaliberal.comThe spring Arbitron ratings show that KPOJ (620 AM), which carries the upstart Air America Network with Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy, and others, has rocketed to the number 5 radio station overall and is the number two talk station in the market, nearly in a dead heat with KEX-AM, the station carrying Rush "Oxycontin" Limbaugh.

Previously KPOJ had been airing golden oldies, drawing a 1 percent share. In the last quarter the AAR affiliate has gained 37% to capture a 4.5 share. In the same 3 months, Limbaugh's station has dropped 7.5% to a 5.0 share. Currently they are in a struggle for number 1 talk station in this market --a battle the sinking Limbaugh is poised to lose to the new station.

Building a talk radio auduence is a long, ardorous task. I wouldn't bank on any one network making it but progressive talk is here to stay.

Sorry to confuse you with the facts.
Rolling Eyes

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timberlandko wrote:

Chrissee wrote:
woiyo wrote:
farmerman wrote:
Id like to be able to hear it. We dont even have one station in the Philly through Harrsburg metro areas that carry AA. It could die by being unheard.

There is a reason sponsors do not pay high ad fees.

NO-ONE IS LISTENING.
.

Bullshit.

So you figure Arbitron's ratings figures are wrong?

Um, obviously you haven't spent much time in the media business, have you?

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It is pretty easy to fool people who are not media savvy throwing around Arbirtron numbers. I am sure I can find lots of markets that AA is not doing well in. Of course, the foolees have already been given that data by the lying right-wing bloggers they get there misinformation from. If AA is on a station that was getting .5 playing Jerry Vale music and has a signal the strength of a light bulb, it is doubtful any programming will get more than a two or three and even that will take serious dollars in promotion.

Go to xmradio.com and check out the tons of promotion given to AA. It is obvious it is one of their headliners.

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Chrissee wrote:

[quote="timberlandkoUm, obviously you haven't spent much time in the media business, have you?

I did real well selling airtime - straight commission - for a major-market, mid-dial AM 50,000-watter (the station was consistently #1 in its format, among around half-dozen competitors in the format, and in the top 5 in the overall market, which is among the top US broadcast markets) for a while back in the late '60s, early '70s - actually I was in the Engineering Department, and the head of the Sales Department was real distressed when I insisted I was just doing the sales thing as a spare-time/extra money lark (but the Chief Engineer was pretty happy about that), and around the same time I was a partner in the establishment and ownership of a still-successful, then-startup 10,000-watt suburban FM station, I have logged literally thousands of hours of board and air time at various commercial broadcast facillities, radio and TV, as DJ, and either 2cnd or Chief engineer (I hold a 1st Class RTO license, with numerous endorsements and instructor certifications), I have considerable experience as announcer, producer, program director, director of sales, and director of operations at various commercial broadcast facillities, and currently I am a board member and director of a local AM/FM radio station (#1 in its market - though admittedly its a small market- notta lotta folks hereabouts, period - the format is mostly classic rock/classic country with live DJs, and our revenue leader is the morning farm report), along with having a current and very long-time investment history in the industry. I'm real familiar with Arbitron, 'cumes, key, secondary, and marginal demo's, package placements, comps, tradeouts, and Cost-Per-Thousand calcs; deal with 'em every month - dunno how that qualifies in your book, but it works for me, financially anyhow.

And when it comes to The Book, AAR ain't no shining star, as reflected by their numbers, their ad rates, and their revenue situation.

On a related thought, I don't see a real bright future for Hyatt & Gore's CurrentTv, either, despite the cash and clout Sergey Brin brings to the endeavor. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart doesn't either, as shown in This Clip (Download note: 1.33MB .mov file, Quicktime recommended)

One thing you said, though, pretty well stands to scrutiny:

You wrote:

... I am sure I can find lots of markets that AA is not doing well in.

While the "lots of markets" is sorta laughable, given there are at present fewer than 70 AAR affiliates (and not even all of them carry the full schedule) as compared to around 700 for one notable conservative talk show all by itself, in the majority of markets AAR does air, it is not a market share leader, and a large number of the markets it does serve are themselves secondary, tertiary, or marginal markets.

I do admire your spunk though. As Jeff Lynne sang, "Hold on tight to your dreams".

Here's a bit o' radio trivia for ya - ever see one of These? I have binders full of 'em - and literally thousands of vinyl LPs and 45s - industrial shelving units full.

Oh, and here's a website you might enjoy: Barry Mishkind's BROADCAST ARCHIVE

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I would like to be able to hear AA at least once. Since its not even carried around here , it's an unknown commodity. Is it just a west coast thing?

Wow, timber, duuude, I never knew that you had that kind of experience. I once had a CB radio in my car in the early 80's. Course then , everybody tried to sound like HillWilliams

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Farmerman,
If you go to their website, you can listen to clips.
They also have a station finder guide.
My big problem with AA is that it just isn't very good.
Too much schtick.

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I can't believe that someone would with so much experience would accerpt Arbitron ratings as gospel. Here is how it works, some one gets a diary, and fills in what they say they listen to. There is no doubt in my mind that the "I do believe" crowd just fill in that they listen to Rush and ohter right-wingh nutjobs as a political statement.

700 markets for Rush and only 70 for AA? So AA isn't in Meridian, MS? Whoop tee do. This is how tyhe right bloggers fool you by pointing out irrelevant data like this. I would guss that the 70 top markets cover 95% of the audience AA is geared to. There are lots if people though who subscribe to XM in those small markets so they can listen to AA and other "listenable" radio. I have driven all over this country and heard what passes as "radio." It is pretty pathetic. No wonder so many people in those markets listen to Rush compared to the alternatives.

Building a radio empire is not an overnight process. Timber should know that. Air America suffered early because of poor management. But Progressive Talk is flourishing in spite of not because of AA. Progressive talk is not confined to Air America anymore.

Quote:

(09/21/2005 ) Ed Expands As Schultz Show Hits 100 Affiliate Mark

The Ed Schultz Show, distributed by Jones Radio Networks and owned by Product First, has signed its 100th affiliate station.

WTAR-AM in Schultz's home town of Norfolk, Virginia, has begun broadcasting the Progressive leaning Ed Schultz Show.

"Our listeners are thrilled with the addition of The Ed Schultz Show to WTAR's lineup. It's an honor to bring our hometown guy back to Norfolk," said Bob Sinclair, owner/general manager of WTAR-AM. "We are proud to be the 100th affiliate and elated with his national success."

"Nineteen months ago our team started in an industry that was convinced our show wouldn't work," said Schultz. "It's rewarding that our 100th station is in my hometown Norfolk, Virginia. It reminds me that hard work and dedication pays off. This is only the beginning."

And the delusional right still says it won't work. They are wrong. Progressive talk is here to stay.

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Quite the selective use of Arbitron ratings to show the death of AA. In case you didn't realize it, it isn't Nov of 2004 which seems to be the time frame used for some of the stories posted. We could do a market by market analysis and selectively show good or bad using 3 of the 70 markets. The latest Arbitron ratings have shown a decrease in listeners to Limbaugh but an increase in listeners to Franken nationwide. Cyclical? Perhaps. A response to Bush and his policies? Also a possibility. Or perhaps Limbaugh is wearing out his welcome as the country goes into the crapper. Or maybe it is just selective picking of numbers.

I happened to catch a little bit of Limbaugh the other day where he was ranting about the left and how they whine to themselves but can never convince anyone else. I thought it was rather ironic coming from the King of dittoheads to make such a comment. I don't know that he has ever changed anyone's mind.

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Once you dig through all the BS about AA put out by the RW you start to see the problems with it.

AA is dying because it isn't on Sirius?
It fails to address or even mention the fact that XM signed a long term EXCLUSIVE contract with AA. EXCLUSIVE - that means that Sirius can't broadcast AA because of a contractual agreement between XM and AA. You might as well claim that Howard Stern is no longer a radio personality because he isn't being broadcast on XM. (He signed an exlusive contract with Sirius.) It makes as much sense.

The interesting thing is that Limbaugh is not broadcast on either XM or Sirius. What does that say about Limbaugh if we move this logic forward?

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Go to the XMradio.com and see what a major presence AA is in their promotional material. It is obvious that AA is one of XMs major players.

I hear caller after caller after caller from Red States saying they are listening on XM. Beyond raw numbers, AA listeners seem very passionate and loyal, I am in TV now but I would have no problem selling AA time.

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woiyo wrote:

It is probably not the "message that is the problem, it is more likely the messengers and thier styles.

with ya on that one, woiyo.

since i really hate all talk radio (it drives me nuts..), i've only heard aa a few times. always been an al franken fan, and garofolo has done her research, but others like randi rhodes... yechhhhh.

with the polls showing bush and friends at 40 points, it's not like there's no audience for the left of center view. but it's gonna take more than repeatedly pointing out that "bush is a moron" to regain the congress and the whitehouse.

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btw, i don't want to give the impression that i hope air america fails. i actually hope they do real well and continue to inspire similar types of programming.

bill o'really(?) absolutely hates franken, so he's always claiming that aa is withering up.

usually right before he starts hawking "bill o'reilly premium memberships" and "factor gear".

i bow to timber and chrissee's greater knowledge of the inner mechanics of the business of radio. however, chrissee does make a valid point that the samples submitted to arbitron are probably not fully accurate. the wife was tagged to keep the diary... and just put down that she listened to her classical station all the time. which is only kinda, sorta true.

btw, timber, looks like your page was a play list with last week/this week rating along with info that can be tossed out and possibly the cart number ?

liked most of the songs on it. and now feel pretty freakin' ancient.

okay, gotta go get stoned on geritol now...

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Air America has my good wishes on its success, but I don't really like its style. Too much talk and not enough good interviews. Al Frankin is adorable, I've always loved him, but the first half of his show is talk that has nothing to do with politics and too much Al Franken. When he gets to the interviews there is a serious discussion which I will take time to listen to.

Janeanne Garofolo is another favorite of mine, but again, she is first an entertainer, not a newscaster.

Randi Rhodes is just awful--whining, crying, swearing about the sinister right wingers (which is often true, but enough, already). She is well informed, why can't she stop whining and exagerating almost everything she says and use her brain and viable information instead of sounding like a terminal case of PMS?

So, two very smart entertainers who have become talk show hosts and an hysterical woman who could be a wonderful source of information if she didn't get off on being angry all the time?

Actually, the only one I can listen to regularly is Jerry Springer, which is surprising to me since I thought his tv show was number one for weird and unbearably stupid guests and that he was just as bad as his guests for letting them on the air. Now I find out that he is very smart, reasonable and open to opinions from the other side.

I guess I've gone on and on about Air America because I love its reason for being. Less shouting, whining and acting like Bill O'Reilly and Fox News and they'd have a top notch production.

I really, really do wish them well, despite my rant.

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I love Randi, she is the Goddess of Talk Radio, I have been listening to her since 1993 in Miami. I love her passion. I like how she and Jeanane constantly talk about how being a hard right-winger is a deficiency. It actually is, there is something basically lacking in people who have no compassion for their fellow human beings and that is what is essentail to be a right-winger in this day and age.

Sam is great with Jeanane or alone. Al Franken and Katherine Lanfer are entertaining, Katherine playing Al's straight man. Al has several superb bits "The oy, oy, oy show" "Wait, Wait, Don't Lie to Me" Is is a lie, the truth, a weasel or a "sleazel." The bit he does with his old schoolfriend dittohead is good too. Then he has great guests, Conason, etc.

The one guy I have a hard time listening to is Jerry Springer.

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If this transcript is any indication, it's no wonder you worship Ms. Rhodes. She speaks your language.

Quote:

Air America's Randi Rhodes Compares Katrina Evacuation to the Holocaust!
Posted by Dave Pierre on September 22, 2005 - 01:03.

On the Wednesday, September 21, 2005, episode of The Randi Rhodes Show on Air America, host Randi took a call from a female listener in New York, who proceeded to criticize the manner of the removal of victims in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Randi's response? She compared the event to the Holocaust! (An audio of the entire show can be found here (mp3 file). The remarks are about 40% of the way in.)

It's outrageous. Read for yourself (emphasis mine; audiotape on file):
CALLER (continuing): The thing that really killed me was the fact that when they bussed some of them out of the Dome. They loaded them on the bus, and they wouldn't tell them where they were going. RANDI: Yeah. What is that? CALLER: That is like when you transfer prisoners to one -- RANDI (interrupting): Actually, you know what it reminds me of? [b]It reminds me of a little visit I made to the Holocaust Museum, and I saw these cattle cars.[/b] CALLER: Yes! RANDI: And they took people to go on them, but they didn't tell them where they were going. CALLER: Yes! They do that to prisoners. If they're taking prisoners from one high-security prison to another, they do not -- RANDI: So, what are you supposed to do? Just do a "faith-based evacuation"? (Changing voice, as if an evacuee) "I'm sure he wouldn't send me to Auschwitz." CALLER: Yeaaw! But why were these people patted down? There was an assumption of criminality made because they were poor and they were black -- RANDI: Check this out. Let's just -- Think about it this way. [b]People were taken one place. Their children were taken another place. THIS IS SO MUCH LIKE THE HOLOCAUST. [/b]I can't even -- You know, it's like, you're not supposed to forget the Holocaust so that it can't happen again. [b]And here you have people being loaded onto transportation vehicles, not being told where they're going, and their children are being taken someplace else ...[/b]

Air America begging me for money,what a hoot!!

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