Liberal talk radio hosts, including the new liberal talk network Air America Radio, are eating up the market share of conservative talkers quicker than Rush Limbaugh eats up Oxycontin.
Liberal talk radio hosts, including the new liberal talk network Air America Radio, are eating up the market share of conservative talkers quicker than Rush Limbaugh eats up Oxycontin.…
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— go to most recent comments26 - TC@LeatherPenguin
Those are Arbitron's numbers, billy, Premier didn't make them up. Those AAR numbers are "up" if you compare them to the dead air that was found on that spot on the dial before the change; that's why they flipped those stations to Air America in the first place. CC will give them some time, but if they recreate their abysmal performance in NYC, CC will wash their hands of the experiment and try something else.
27 - billy
give them time. its apples and oranges. rush has built an audience over 20 years. The fact that his owner shows arbitrons comparing him to a year old station says more about rush than aar.
28 - Eric Berlin
I believe Air America is here to stay, and that the content will continue to improve over time. It's a more interesting listen now -- for the most part -- than it was in its earliest days.
29 - Aaman
Rush has been around for more than 20 years - their first album was in 1974 - but they are more libertarian, I thought, than conservative.
30 - Eric Berlin
I think prog rock, by its very nature, is beyond mere ideology
31 - Temple Stark
But there is one similarity - both talk-radio and prog rock goes on and on and on.
:-)
32 - TC@LeatherPenguin
billy, Premier doesn't "own" Limbaugh, they handle distribution of his show...and pay a pretty penny for the right to do so. AAR, on the other hand, is paying Clear Channel to carry their broadcasts on a number of those two-bit, 1K watt stations, and as recently as this past December needed another infusion of invester's dollars to keep their joint operational.
I'm not about the politics, I'm about the business, and AAR's model is hemmoraging money, have a nearly nonexistent advertiser base, and their fate is almost completely in the hands of Clear Channel, one the charter members of the VRWC, like Limbaugh and O'Reilly, that Franken & Co. announced they were taking to the airwaves to do battle with in the first place. They may stick around in one form or another, trying to "fight the good fight," but the war is over and they lost.
AAR also robs underprivilidged kids and old ladies.
33 - billy
"he war is over and they lost."
you sound like all the other right wingers who keep eating their words every time they knock aar.
that other conspiracy theory you quoted only shows that the same crook, Evan Cohen, who almost sabotaged aar in the beginning, is, well . . ., a crook. that has little or nothing to do with aar.
34 - Dave Nalle
If Air America wants to stay around they need to get some more entertaining liberals on the air. Rush may be a pompous windbag, but he is at least occasionally amusing. Other conservative hosts like O'Reilly and Boortz are genuinely entertaining and have some actual relevant ideas. Franken is a blowhard who talks like he's lecturing retarded children. The other two Air America hosts I've heard - Rhodes and some guy - both come off as shrill and non-entertaining.
I know there are liberals out there who are both articulate and interesting. Give Jim Hightower or Molly Ivins or Kinky Friedman or Ed Koch or Alec Baldwin a show. They'd at least be enjoyable to listen to.
To succeed, AA doesn't actually have to beat Rush, they have to beat NPR. They can't pull away a conservative audience, so they have to make inroads in the liberal and moderate political audience and those folks are listening to NPR, not Rush. They need to provide a better, more entertaining product that appeals to liberals than NPR does or they're sunk.
Dave
35 - billy
garafolo and seder, mike malloy, and morning sedition are real good. i agree with dave, franken is a bit of a bore and so is springer. ed shultz is moderately entertaining.
but to call ed koch a liberal is like calling rush limbaugh a socialist.
36 - david
I don't know if Air America's ratings are up or not, but Yahoo! reports that Limbaugh is beating Franken more than 10-to-1. Is this something we should be proud of?
Rush Limbaugh Continues to Consistently Beat Liberal Talkers at Ratings Game
Monday July 25, 9:13 pm ET
- Numbers Don't Lie -
LOS ANGELES, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the Arbitron Spring 2005 ratings survey for Boston, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Washington D.C., Mr. Rush Limbaugh consistently continues to beat liberal talkers. In Boston, Mr. Rush Limbaugh's Persons 12+ audience is 16 times larger than Mr. Al Franken's audience and for Adults 25-54, his audience is 11 times greater than Mr. Franken's. Heard Monday through Friday on WRKO-AM from noon - 3 p.m., "The Rush Limbaugh Show" scored, among Persons 12+, a 4.5 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 34,200 listeners. Among Adults 25-54, he has a 3.5 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 14,800 listeners. Mr. Al Franken, who airs at the same time on WKOX-AM in Boston, has a Persons 12+ share of 0.3 with an average quarter-hour audience of 2,100 listeners. With Adults 25-54, he has a 0.3 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 1,300 listeners. Mr. Jerry Springer also airs on WKOX-AM, but his audience totals did not meet the minimum reporting standard set for that market by Arbitron.
In addition to Mr. Limbaugh and Mr. Franken, below are numbers for liberal talker Mr. Ed Shultz, who broadcasts in a different timeslot:
Host Share Avg. Quarter Hour Rank (all AM/FM
(Persons 12+) (Persons 12+) programming-
persons 12+)
Rush Limbaugh 4.5 34,200 8
Al Franken 0.3 2,100 43
Ed Shultz 0.3 2,300 43
Host Share Avg. Quarter Hour Rank (all AM/FM
(Adults 25-54) (Adults 25-54) programming-
adults 25-54)
Rush Limbaugh 3.5 14,800 11
Al Franken 0.3 1,300 44
Ed Shultz 0.4 1,800 35
37 - Dave Nalle
On social issues Koch is as liberal as they come. Don't hold the fact that he's sensible on other issues against him.
IMO Air America would actually do better to get some hotheaded libertarians and moderates on the air than to stick with hard-left liberals. The category of people they're drawing on has a tendancy to whine rather than entertain.
Dave
38 - billy
" hotheaded libertarians and moderates"
agreed on that one, they need more of those.
39 - The Clock Ticks
The ad hominem attacks by right-wing talkers on other Americans have become tiresome...
This comes a few paragraphs after the author writes: "...another right-wing nutcase tried to make the silly comparison between Air America..."
"Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot," by Al Franken. Haha, gotta love the sober and oh-so temperate left.
40 - Dave Nalle
Come on tick, you know that ad hominem only counts as a bad thing if it's a right winger making the comment.
Dave
41 - Jimbo the Right Wing Hack
140% of almost nothing is still almost nothing Nevertheless I applaude your success. Everyone needs a bit of comedy relief during the day. What about the ratngs in areas other than those highly infected with liberalism?????
42 - El Bicho
"Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot," by Al Franken.
The title parodies Limbaugh's style of political discourse. Or are "feminazis" and "envirowackos" not meant as personal attacks? Al wasn't trying to be "sober and oh-so temperate."
43 - Al Barger
Really, I'd LIKE to believe that some liberals were coming along eating Rush's lunch for him. Some real market competition would motivate him to step up his game.
Nonetheless, these numbers sound extremely heavily cherry picked. Does the entire 24 hour Air America day get the fourth part of listeners that Rush gets in three? That would be a pretty significant accomplishment.
As a proud Al Sharpton voter and VRWC OG, I wish Al Franken et al success.
And don't be such a whiner, Bicho.
44 - godoggo
Of course, the funniest jokes come from the radical, not the liberal, left. Part of the reason I'm not much interested in AA.
Hey, just a moment...AA??? Cripes, what kind of initials are those for an ostensibly entertaining network?
45 - gonzo marx
bah...
i know ya can get ratings..
let me have some airtime!!!
mwahahA HAHHAhhhahaHAHAHAHAH ahhahhaaaa
that thought should scare some folks
as for how AAR is doing etc...still way to early to tell, but the numbers and grow so far are encouraging that there will at least be other voices out there
mebbe it's just me, cuz i am a senile olde Fool...but i think there is a direct corallary between the removal of the "equal time" policy tyhat governed our airwaves, and the kind of commercial hate spewing we have seen on AM radio for more than 15 years now
just a Thought...
your mileage may vary
Excelsior!
46 - Al Barger
Gonzo Marx sez: "let me have some airtime!!!"
Whoo, that one made my heart sputter like Dick Cheney. Had to get my nitroglycerine.
Gonzo, I'm scared of u!
47 - gonzo marx
big Al,
to quote a great, green philosopher and Jedi Master...
*you should be*
Yoda
Excelsior!
48 - MCH
"And don't be such a whiner, Bicho."
- Al Barger
Couldn't be whining nearly as much as Rush did, back when he requested (and received) his medical deferment for an ingrown hair on his bummy, thus successfully dodging the draft and evading service in Vietnam.
I guess that explains Al's defense of Limbaugh...the old "Chickenhawks of a feather, flock together" syndrome...
49 - Eric Berlin
Gonzo, I love you in a platonic virtual sense, but I must call you on your Star Wars quotage...
Yoday says:
"You will be... You will be," as Skywalker looks on, slightly creeped out.
50 - BoreAmerica.com
Meanwhile:
WHAT in Philly is off the charts! Literally: they don't get enough listeners to make the chart.
And, WLIB's NYC ratings are even lower than they were when that station broadcast Caribbean news and music.
And, what about that $500,000 that a non-profit organization reportedly loaned to Air America? The organization and the loan are currently under investigation. Has AAR returned the money?
Much more at the link.
51 - CT
This 'news' is wholly at odds with actual numbers Air America is producing, indicating it is more a niche market phenomena. In fact, AA can't even make a decent showing in liberal NY, and only tie Savage there.
More importantly, the network is currently under investigation from defrauding a children's center of almost $500,000, and in the process may see some of its executives go to jail.
52 - KL
Air America is boring. I am not into politics at all, so I don't care which party either one is for or against, but if you want to rate shows for pure entertainment value, sorry, but Al Franken sounds really whiny and annoying, and Janeane Garofolo is annoying because she sounds so dumb. On the other hand, Rush Limbaugh is actually funny, and you can tell that he is a professional in broadcasting; his show sounds polished. Like I said, I don't know or care who is right regarding the facts of the points they are trying to make, so I don't listen to any of them very much. But when I am trying to find something to interest me, more often than not, Rush Limbaugh cracks me up, while Franken, etc. don't sustain my attention or leaves me scratching my head, wondering what the heck they're talking about. I hope this opinion from a different perspective proves helpful...
53 - Greg
I remember when I listened to Rush Limbaugh while I jogged in LA and it was disheartening to hear the radios in passing cars matching my signal - so many of them, including delivery drivers who I knew were being duped by the phony populism. So it is especially heartening as I do my 10 miles each day, to hear increasing numbers of car radios tuned into the channel I'm not glued to: Air America's KTLK. It is leading the revolution.
54 - Brian
I usually can only listen to the radio when Rhandi is on, and I find that she may not directly attack Americans, but she certainly does a good job of stating that everything that is wrong with the country is somehow linked to the Bush family. She certainly likes to build a big conspiracy theory.
So the question goes, why do I listen? Because I want to know what lies and misconceptions are being passed along by the left. I listen to rush to know what lies and misconceptions are being passed by the right. And then I form my opinion based on what should be in the middle. I don't necessarily vote on the democratic side just based on all the damage that was caused by that party over the decades they've been in power. I think things work better when we have a balanced government. No one party with ultimate control. Each party checking the other, and compromising. Whats lost in both conservative shows and Liberal shows is the fact that we are one country, one people and no one side or person has all the answers
55 - joe
Air America Radio is stuck in the ratings cellar
BY BETH GILLIN
Knight Ridder News Service
On March 31, 2004, Air America Radio, promoted as the liberal antidote to conservative-dominated talk radio, was launched with great fanfare.
Since then, it has generated headlines while losing some stations and picking up others. In April, it fired head writer Lizz Winstead, co-creator of Comedy Central's "Daily Show," who is suing for back pay. TV's Jerry Springer, who is mulling a run for governor of Ohio, is now in her slot.
Now that it's possible to compare ratings for this spring to last year's start-up, it's clear the network has yet to climb out of the cellar.
Air America's overall ratings, which rose initially after all the free publicity, faded before the November election and haven't recovered.
Still, it isn't yet time to call the coroner. "Air America is going to take a long time to grow ratings," said Michael Harrison, editor and publisher of the trade publication Talkers magazine. "People unfamiliar with our industry think ratings are like box-office receipts. But they're not. Radio ratings are slow to build.
"The network got an initial bump from the enormous amount of free press it got. There was a curiosity factor. Now, it is settling in."
Air America's programming is carried in part or in whole on 67 stations. Most are in smaller markets, such as Albuquerque, N.M., and Albany, N.Y. (Locally, it airs on KTNF-AM, 950.) The flagship show, hosted by author, former "Saturday Night Live" writer/comic and Minnesota native Al Franken, airs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.
Franken originally named his show "The O'Franken Factor" (now "The Al Franken Show") to tweak his archrival, populist pundit Bill O'Reilly, whose TV show "The O'Reilly Factor" on the Fox News Channel outdraws all other cable talk shows and whose "The Radio Factor" draws more than 3 million listeners nationally.
Measured season-to-season " the most accurate way to assess audience preferences, because listening patterns vary throughout the year " Air America has lost audience in major markets, including New York and Boston, since April, May and June of 2004.
Franken, best-selling author of such anti-conservative tomes as "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot," chose to go head-to-head with gabber Limbaugh in many markets. This, it turns out, was not such a good idea.
Limbaugh, still the giant among talkers, with 14.75 million listeners on 600 stations, has squashed Franken, whose ratings have dropped 50 percent in Boston since spring 2004; he is down 14 percent in New York.
Ratings for many conservative talk shows have dropped as well, editor Harrison said. "It's what happens after an election."
But while more seasoned hosts shift the focus to other topics while awaiting the next election cycle, critics complain that Franken is still obsessed with bashing President Bush. In contrast to Limbaugh, who mocks his own pomposity, Franken comes across as angry and not funny, critics say.
"Is Al Franken going to be the hottest thing in radio? I don't think so," Harrison said. "But it's too soon to say he's finished. A lot depends on how dedicated he is to the show.
"And I get the feeling he's not dedicated to radio broadcasting. He's dedicated to politics and his own celebrity. I think he'll drop out to run for office."
Or, perhaps, he will stay on the air while running for the U.S. Senate in 2008 from Minnesota. Air America signed Franken to a multiyear contract in November, the network's Jon Sinton said.
Franken has been floating trial balloons about a possible Senate run, and he and his wife have bought a home here. In January, the network will move "The Al Franken Show" from New York to Minnesota, an Air America spokeswoman said last week.
56 - Stocksthatgoup
Seems Karl Rove is planting unsubstatiated stories.
57 - Stocksthatgoup
Funds of a Bronx Youth Group Allegedly Lent to Air America
The top executive at a Bronx youth organization said yesterday that the former director of Air America Radio received more than $800,000 in loans for himself and the radio network from the nonprofit organization while serving as its development director.
Some of the transfers, according to the president of the Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club organization's executive committee, Jeannette Graves, occurred when the development director, Evan Montvel Cohen, who for a time served simultaneously as the liberal radio network's director, appealed to the organization for two loans worth $35,000. Another member of the executive committee said Mr. Cohen told the executive director of the organization that he needed the money to pay for chemotherapy for himself and other medical expenses for his ill father.
Seems Karl Rove is at it again
58 - Stocksthatgoup
Funds of a Bronx Youth Group Allegedly Lent to Air America
The top executive at a Bronx youth organization said yesterday that the former director of Air America Radio received more than $800,000 in loans for himself and the radio network from the nonprofit organization while serving as its development director.
Some of the transfers, according to the president of the Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club organization's executive committee, Jeannette Graves, occurred when the development director, Evan Montvel Cohen, who for a time served simultaneously as the liberal radio network's director, appealed to the organization for two loans worth $35,000. Another member of the executive committee said Mr. Cohen told the executive director of the organization that he needed the money to pay for chemotherapy for himself and other medical expenses for his ill father.
59 - Jerry Bott
Go ahead and criticize America for not having the intelligence to embrace Air America, but just stop this uneducated and/or deceptive attempt to spin the ratings.
If my audience has gone from 1 to 100, the percentage of increase is 10,000%.. big deal! I still only have 100 listeners!
This trick is nothing new...Radio stations with microscopic audiences have been using this "percentage increase" game all the time to hide the truth forever.
If you can handle the truth just do a Google search on "Limbaugh ratings"
60 - Namon Singleton II
There would not be a Air America without Rush Limbaugh. This man started the talk radio craze. There wouldn't be a talk radio if the major networks did not predominately lean left. Talk radio gave conservatives a place to here news and talk about issues other than the major networks. I don't understand the left being so upset all the time. I listened to Air America once and I couldn't believe all the half truths and leaving out certain information just to make your point (their side). I already get this in regular network news. That's the biggest reason why I don't think its going to work, you can hear the same info by watching ABC,NBC,CBS news. I watch Fox News because, I do get to hear both sides of the issue and make up my own mind. With newtwork news, I get the same old slant. Thank goodness for talk radio no matter who it is. I personally like Michael Medved's show. No screaming or attacking, mean spirited overtures. He talks about issues and explains his side like a teacher. Give me a show that talks UP about our nation, not find every possible fault we have. I'm proud of this country and where we are today.
61 - billy
"Give me a show that talks UP about our nation, not find every possible fault we have."
yes and that is probably why you listen to rush. he loves this nation so much he attacks the single biggest group of people (democrats) as being traitors, he hates the judiciary and its constitutional decisions, he hates the media, hell after yesterday's attack on Paul Hackett, he hates the troops too.
what exactly about america does rush like besides his cheap oxycontin? i cant find much.
62 - Dave Nalle
Hey, Oxycontin is NOT cheap. Just easily available if you doctor shop to get multiple prescriptions.
Dave
63 - billy
another thing rush hates. drug re-importation, although clearly it would save him in the pocketbook.
64 - Doug
The reasons for the shift are not clear...
For me, it's pretty simple: Right Wing radio makes me feel physically ill. Air America (and Ed Shultz) make me feel inspired.
65 - Dave Nalle
Inspired to do what?
They both iritate and bore me by turns.
Dave
66 - Al Barger
Hey, Air America's up 1,000,000% in the ratings in Laurel, Indiana.
67 - TC@LeatherPenguin
In Comment 52, KL summed Air Idiot's problem up in a nutshell: they're amateurs. Randy Rhodes, the only experienced broadcaster in their entire lineup, is basically ignored in all the press coverage and publicity campaigns AAR produces in favor of the hackneyed Franken and Garofalo. In their disastrous early days, she was heard on her show moaning for ever throwing in with the group, then she decided "what the hell?" and went off her rocker, declaring everything happening that she considers bad, including the weather, is all because Bush and his family rule the planet, and their Sith Lord Rove travels far and wide brutalizing all enemies real or imagined.
She's the only one in their lineup I can't handle for more than twenty minutes before punching up another station.
68 - likwidshoe
The conservative echo chamber believes Air America Radio is going down like Jeff Gannon on an overnight press-pass to the White House.
Translation: JEFF GANNON IS A FAGGOT! Question: why do you always bring up or allude to Gannon's sexuality? How utterly hypocritical and bigotted of you.
Right-wing radio focuses on attacking Americans (i.e., liberals, democrats, gays, muslims, and hippies).
Well, it is quite obvious that you don't listen to "right-wing radio" for you to say this. What did you do? Pause just long enough from talking about Gannon's sexuality to tune into some local guy and consequently base your entire opinion on what little you heard?
Left-wing radio focuses on attacking policies (i.e., the war in Iraq, the budget deficit, the environment).
Right...you mean when they are not talking about killing the U.S. President? Or is that be considered "attacking policies" in your world?
The ad hominem attacks by right-wing talkers on other Americans have become tiresome, non-entertaining, and frankly un-patriotic. This may be one of the reasons many people are starting to tune them out.
Uh huh. What was that you said about Jeff Gannon again? Don't choke on your hypocrisy. You've got plenty of it.
69 - David Richardson
Defend AAR when you hear this nonsense. I called 920 AM in Atlanta yesterday (Sat 8/6) when the host, who happens to be the chairman of the Cobb County GOP, mentioned the debt thing and the ratings. I gave him the facts and , of course, he cut me short but not before I got my nessage out. I gather the ratings are only so-so here in Atlanta but this is the deep South where conservative talk has dominated on at least 3 large stations for 20 years. Use the facts against them - GOP policies do not work.
70 - Dave Nalle
To use the facts against them you'd have to have facts which were actual 'facts' not manufactured spinfacts to support your positions. One of the main reasons why the left has been hurt so badly by the expansion of alternative media is that the more people get to explore and analyze leftist policies and their version of 'facts', the more obvious it becomes how contrary to truth and good sense most of what the left believes is. Frankly a good portion of it is downright crazy.
Dave
71 - christine craft
I'm Christine Craft,lawyer and radio talk host at KSAC(air america affiliate) in Sacramento.
I love Air America!!!though I have no direct connection to it..I work for a local owner.
I have staged several full o'fun protests against the boobengrabber(arnold) and the bush regime..proving that you can express your politics and have fun at the same time.
My two hour show has the highest ratings on this Air America affiliate..better than the network folk...but I would not do nearly as well without the AAR shows..especially my fav of favs..Randi Rhodes who comes on right before me...like rock and roll liberal talk is here to stay!!!
by the way..I gave Rush his first job in television....right here in Sacramento..He was very funny then..not so surrounded by sycophants or drowning in drugs..I liked him then..not for his politics..just for himself..before he got figuratively too large for his own britches.
72 - Steve J.
Dave Nalle -
Ed Koch is NOT a liberal, he's more like a NYC version of Zell Miller.
O'Reilly has never had an idea you can't also get from the neighborhood drunk.
73 - Steve J.
KL - "Like I said, I don't know or care who is right regarding the facts of the points they are trying to make"
Please get out of my country.
74 - Steve J.
DAVE NALLE - "how contrary to truth "
"We know for a fact there are weapons there." - Ari Fleischer, Jan. 9, 2003
[edited]
75 - MCH
Re comment #71;
Christine, I'm curious, since you knew Limbaugh behind the scenes...was he as big a hypocrite in real life as he is in his celebrity personna?