Authored by: cgrotke on Friday, January 22 2010 @ 12:51 AM GMT+4
You are right about advertising. Their own statement said the money
wasn't there.
It's not just them, either. The radio industry as a whole has seen ad
revenue decline. Most people focus on the decline in newspapers, but
radio has always been a business of thin margins. We may see other
networks or programs fail.
I never listened much, but did notice that one of their hosts is now a
Senator, and another moved up to host a TV show.
Authored by: Christian Avard on Friday, January 22 2010 @ 12:58 AM GMT+4
Dude, progressive talk radio is here to stay and it's still successful.
There's Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Alan Colmes, Ed Schultz,
Randi Rhodes, Leslie Marshall and...
STEVE WEST!
Progressive talk radio is going to do just fine. What AAR shouldn't
have done is try to be a radio network. That never worked from the
get-go. Good radio hosts develop an audience and grow from there.
That's how Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and dare I
say, Howard Stern got big. It's radio personalities that make good
shows, not necessarily networks.
On top of that, nobody really had any radio experience at AAR from
the beginning with the exception of Mark Reilly, Rachel Maddow, and
Randi Rhodes. Al Franken, to my knowledge, never did radio. But his
acting and writing skills allowed him to adapt to radio. Franken could
do radio, but I still think he stunk.
I'll say it again, progressive talk radio is popular and successful and
will continue to grow. Now with the progressive talk radio void, hosts
like Hartmann, Miller, Colmes, Marshall, Schultz, and Rhodes can fill
that gap back in.
Heck, maybe even Steve West will finally get to say (for real) that he
has over 6 billion listeners. "Is that the figure you cite, Steve?"
Authored by: AirBrattleboro on Friday, January 22 2010 @ 02:11 AM GMT+4
I wish I had more time to write. but I just wanted to throw in some thoughts.
Air America is/was a network. Had it been a loose cooperative or syndicate of sorts, it would have had more of a sovereign "union" approach to getting the shows broadcast. I suspect the network was weak from the start (actually, it clearly was), and despite some real talent with real listenership, the overarching network itself didn't benefit or profit. Thom Hartmann and Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow, etc., will do just fine, as will WKVT-AM. The numbers are indicating that the country wants more progressive radio (though conservative radio still dominates).
We're proud to be supported by local businesses (and an occasional national) advertising on "Live and Local" and throughout the day. For those who are habit-formed, as I am, to listening to Thom Hartmann and other familiar voices on our station, fear not. Once the dust settles, we'll find out how we'll be getting Hartmann, Schultz, et al, back on the air. Their shows are free-standing, and exist outside the domain of Air America.
And no, Christian....I don't have 6 billion listeners. That's absurd. Best estimates are 3.7 billion listeners, or roughly half the planet's population. But that's just an estimate. And only during my show.
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**********************************************
Steve West
Host - "Live & Local"
WKVT 1490 AM
802.254.5286
Authored by: AlanF on Friday, January 22 2010 @ 11:57 PM GMT+4
I'm surprised Alan Colmes subjects himself to Bill
O'Reilly every week along side his sister-in-law,
Monica Crowley. He rarely, if ever comes out on top.
Must be the money. Does anyone know what these
guys
are paid for these segments?
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"Economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings." -- FDR