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.
The 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.
Meanwhile KPAM-AM, the station that carries Sean "Chickenhawk" Hannity is in free-fall, losing 22% in the last three months --down to a 1.8 share, registering only a slightly larger audience than Spanish language talk.
Consequently, it looks like many of the pundits were wrong when they made wild claims like "Air America would not be around to see its first birthday", or "nobody listens to Air America", or "left-wing talk radio is not entertaining". On the contrary, many of their shows are extremely entertaining and they are building a fan base across the country. In some markets they are taking off faster than in others, but in this particular market they seem destined to take over the top spot. In the words of Dick Cheney, it will probably be "weeks, not months or years," before Rush Limbaugh too is relegated to the bottom of the trash heap in Portland, Oregon.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - DrPat
Replacing an oldies station is kind of a specious pretext for filing this under Music, shooz...
2 - Balletshooz
Where should it be Dr. Pat? Politics? It is a piece about RADIO? I dont really mind where it goes, but the piece is more about talk-radio than anything else.
3 - Eric Olsen
Radio goes under "Culture," and "Culture: Media"
4 - fred
What a moronic topic for a blog! One AM radio station in ONE market out of over 200 ADI markets in this country and you are acting as if this is a major breakthrough for Air America. What a joke.
The only reason Air America is still alive is that George Soros keeps writing the checks.
5 - Balletshooz
OK, thanks. Fred, have a link for that wild and unfounded statement? Sounds like sour grapes to me.
6 - DrPat
Perhaps they're still thinking of the NewsMax piece from last year: Soros Might Bail Out Air America
7 - Balletshooz
Good old Soros, he sounds like he may be turning into a Republican. He wont give money unless he gets a return?
Well, this is from last year, and if he actually did it id think Newsmax would have said something.
Anyways, conservatives always go up in arms when I write something about AAR. Im not quite sure why. Fred doesnt like me writing about something no one on the planet has written yet, but he dont seem to mind the 10,000 identical blogs about the non-story of how AAR took a bad loan last year from some guy that worked there for a week and almost bankrupted them in the first month.
8 - Eric Berlin
I must admit that Air America is growing on me. I didn't enjoy it that much ar first, but Rhodes and Schultz are very solid and improving over time. The Majority Report is often a bit shrill for my taste... although it's funny to hear Garfolo absolutely melt down on the air... which I've heard a few times already.
Ballet -- Your reports might be a bit more effective if you drop the comedic nicknames and keep it more on the straight / analytical tip.
9 - Balletshooz
Eric B, You are right but if I dont trash Rush, then conservatives won't bother coming here and arguing with me.
I agree, AAR last year was more unprofessional, they have improved alot. Garofolo actually is quite perfect for my taste, sort of like a liberal Limbaugh.
The latest news is Thomm Hartmann is going national for them, I think replacing Franken in some areas.
I have not heard him yet, but alot of people say he is more calm and really on top of the issues.
10 - fred
why would I have sour grapes over the knowledge that Sean Hannity has 13+mil audience and Air America has what? Where are the numbers for Air America? Fact is, they really don't exist. You don't do to well in only 42 markets.
audit
FReepLink
Where's Al Franken on this list? Liberals suck on the radio as they do in politics.
11 - fred
hey ballet, don't flatter yourself into thinking you're scooping the world. You're not that smart or insightful even for a liberal hack. The reason why no one else is writing about it is that the success of one piss ant radio station (out of 1200+ in the US) isn't newsworthy.
12 - Balletshooz
Good one fred, cite stats from before AAR existed. I guess you are right they didnt exist in the stats you cited because that was from last year before they existed.
If you think they dont exist tell that to Potland's people because they are about to be #1 there. Soros' fictional checks are why they still exist, not the fact they are #1. Sure Fred. Keep dreaming.
13 - billy
the success of one piss ant radio station (out of 1200+ in the US) isn't newsworthy.
And the bad loan they took last year, which Michelle Malkin has dedicated her life to is newsworthy?
Heres a scoop, the reason the MSM hasnt picked that one up is because it is NOT newsworthey, despite 10000 obsessed conservatives salivating over it.
14 - Dave Nalle
Jesus, Balletshooz. Do I have to go get the numbers and prove you wrong again? I was hoping you'd have given up on this suicidal crusade again, but apparently you're a masochist.
Dave
15 - Balletshooz
BRING IT ON DAVE!! Ill make you ear your words just like I did last time. This time, dont include Potland, with Kalamazoo Michigan and a subset of Warren Ohio, and stick to the facts at hand, OK?
16 - Dave Nalle
Since those cities aren't directly adjacent with overlapping listening areas that won't be an issue here. Do you not realize that if you keep cherrypicking your data and presenting only what supports your position you will always be proven wrong on these ridiculous posts?
Here goes.
KPOJ is the Air America Station
KPAM is the Conservative talk station you compare it to
KEX is the larger conservative talk station you completely ignore
KXL is the other large conservative talk station you completely ignore
KOTK is the liberal talk radio station which went out of business
KCMD is the brand new comedy talk station.
Here are their ratings
KPOJ 4.0 3.7 3.3 4.5
KPAM 1.4 2.2 2.3 1.8
KEX 4.4 5.6 5.4 5.0
KXL 3.5 4.7 3.9 4.0
KOTK 1.2 .9 .7 0
KCMD 0 0 .7 .7
S04 F04 W05 S05
Liberal Talk Radio 5.2 4.6 4.0 4.5
Conservative Talk 9.4 13.5 11.6 12.8
Now, as a rule we've established before, we ignore the fall spike or average it out because it was an election season. All talk radio spikes then. So for liberal talk we see a decline from 5.2 to 4.5 because not all of the KOTK listeners transferred to KPOJ. For conservative talk we see an overall increase from 9.4 to 12.8.
So, rather than liberal talk being up, it's actually down .7 share over the course of a year. And rather than being down, conservative talk is up by 3.4 share over that same period. Based on the numbers, it looks like KPOJ lost its .7 share directly to the new comedy format station.
Here's the point about your methodology. In this case you chose to compare the third largest conservative talk station with your Air America station and ignored the two stations which have conservative programs which are larger than your Air America station. Obviously the reason you chose the comparison you did is that you had to pick the only conservative station where ratings went down to get the result you were looking for. How you thought you could get away with that I can't even imagine.
Dave
17 - Balletshooz
Use your imagination Dave, Im sure you can figure it out.
While you are at it, and I dont completely disagree with your analysis because it is on different grounds, but if you are going to throw everything into the pot, you might want to include the #1 talker in the area, Howard Stern. I think its fair to call him a liberal since he bashes Bush continually intermixed with strippers.
Then see what the numbers show, I think he is like a 7.6, so it may actually be a dead heat. Anyways, I think the argument that AAR is dead, or as some conservatives have said on my blog "I guarantee they will be benkrupt by the end of the month" are a bit silly.
18 - Eric Berlin
There's all kinds of ways to look at numbers. But I don't think anyone can deny that Air America is sticking around and starting to build itself up -- something many discounted in of itself.
19 - fred
of course, big money gains/losses is always newsworthy.
20 - fred
shoes, you are pathetic. Stern bashed Clinton, too, and is pro 2nd amendment and death penalty. He also is anti-Muslim, so he is not a liberal. Have you really listened to him closely for the last 20 years? I doubt it. Stern says anything on the air to get ratings.
21 - Jim O'Rourke
Hey this is great!!! I hope Franken is successful somewhere other than on the 'left' coast. For a while Liberals were self destructing at such an alarming rate that I thought they might go extinct. Not good.... we need them for comedic effect. Keep up the good work Al !!!
22 - Balletshooz
"He is not a liberal"
He endorsed Kerry. Any more questions?
23 - Eric Berlin
Stern is a strong independent, and has backed a number of Republicans over the years -- Giuliani, Pataki, Christie Todd Whitman, etc.
He's for effective government and doesn't care where it comes from. I think he should be applauded for that.
24 - billy
For a while Liberals were self destructing at such an alarming rate that I thought they might go extinct.
Amazing, I wonder how Bush only pulled off 50.8% of the vote and had to cheat in Ohio and Florida to get it?
25 - fred
proof that he cheated, or are you content to talk out your ass like the rest of your pals here?