Big Alligator Tears Are In Order
Posted by: LC JackBoot IC/A-OBR in Good News, Idiotarians10:23 pm
Well, I’ll have to admit I was wrong on this one:
Air America To Declare Bankruptcy, But Progressive Radio Remains Strong
Strong at hemorrhaging bucks from their supporters and listeners.
Air America Radio will announce a major restructuring on Friday, which is expected to include a bankruptcy filing, three independent sources have told ThinkProgress.
Air America could remain on the air under the deal (emp mine), but significant personnel changes are already in the works. Sources say five Air America employees were laid off yesterday and were told there would be no severance without capital infusion or bankruptcy. Also, Air America has ended its relationship with host Jerry Springer. (ed note: other sources this evening include Mike Malloy in the “ended relationship”)
Wishful thinking at best. Based on what little I’ve been able to find, they’ve been actually paying for air time on the few major stations in syndication. Not quite the business structure intended for a commercial venture.
The right wing is sure to seize on Air America’s financial woes as a sign that progressive talk radio is unpopular. In fact, Air America succeeded at creating something that didn’t exist: the progressive talk radio format. That format is now established and strong and will continue with or without Air America. Indeed, many of the country’s most successful and widely-syndicated progressive talk hosts — Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, for instance — aren’t even associated with Air America.
We don’t have to seize a thing, those pesky facts keep clouding your progressive arguments. Radio is the most viciously competitive media. No quarter expected or given. This little gem from 2004 was a pretty strong indictemnt of their potential to succeed, right out of the chute. It’s actually simple, no ratings, no advertisers, no show. The End.
Radio giant Clear Channel is so committed to progressive talk radio that, this week, it will announce a partnership with the Center for American Progress and MSS Inc. to conduct a nationwide search for the next Progressive Talk Radio Star.
I’m sure Clear Channel, is breaking their necks on that commitment. Their largest subsidiary Premiere Radio Networks carries Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as the biggest audience share of their massive syndication empire, with an estimated 190 million weekly listeners and 70+ syndicated programs. Just as an FYI, the Center for American Progress is the wet dream of Bubba’s Lackey-in-Chief John Pudendum Podesta. They bill themselves as a Non-Partisan Think Tank, and I have some excellent beach front property in Arizona for sale cheap as well.
I predicted they would manage to survive on heroic life support measures by Soros & Co. at least until the fall elections. Being wrong can be amusing, now can’t it?
Boo-Hoo, here’s hoping they can find that Progressive Star, might I suggest Cynthia McKinney? Word has it that she’s looking for work.
Much wailing and gnashing of teeth was observed here but they closed off comments, due to server “overload”. I grabbed a screenshot and it seems the overload occurred shortly after echo chamber comments died off and the eeeevilllll right-wing rethuglicans showed up in force.
Buwaaahhhhaaaaaaa
Entries (RSS)
Air America Stiffs Franken…:lol:
September 13th, 2006 at 11:55 pmRest In Pieces, Religion of ‘Progress’.
Ditto the Religion Of Piss Be Upon Them.
Fellow travelers Hell bent for the Big Dirt Nap.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:45 amAir Idiot lasting this long was pretty much solely because Clear Channel, looking to make some money off lowly rated, small market stations they owned, flipped them from underperforming formats and decided to give the “progressive” netlet’s roster of asshats a whirl–many times charging Air Idiot to take up residence on CC’s airwaves. At least 35% of AAR’s affiliate stations are Clear Channel properties.
If not for that, the investors who have been propping this clown car up would have turned off the money spigot much earlier. Absolutely no one–from the investers to the merry go round of executives running the joint–had a freaking clue about the business of radio.
Off the top of my head, I know of two creditors Air Idiot owes a combined two million plus (Multicultural Broadcasting; Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club). It takes three creditors to join together to force a company into bankruptcy/reorg. My guess there is some other company (or one of their investers) that Air Idiot’s stiffed for big bucks and they all got together and told the Idiots “Fuck you: PAY UP!” And their sugar daddies told the Frankenfools, “Sorry. We’ve had enough. You’re on your own.”
September 14th, 2006 at 5:09 amMy, those were some . . . er, Interesting [. . yeah, that’s the word!. . ] . . comments on that link, Jackboot! I’ll go back and read further later, but by about the 15th or so, my mind was going numb.
I must admit to being torn on this one. While I am glad to see that all is not lost in America (this poor, misbegotten effort going broke due to lack of listeners is a good indication for the direction of the Country), I can also forsee a push to reinstate the “fairness doctrine” if the moonbats take control of the Government. Can you imagine one hour of Rush, followed by one hour of Franken, then Beck for an hour, then Springer, ad nauseum?
Or, deliver us, Rush being forced to co-host with Franken.
The reason for Air America’s demise is their lack of audience. When you only have the ability to appeal to about ten percent of the population, you limit your chance of success, severely. Rush is successful because 1) he’s entertaining; 2) he has a wider audience base (for want of a better word - he doesn’t just try to make nice to the conservative moonbats, he shoots for anyone from left-moderate rightward); 3) he is actually intelligent enough to make his case when he says something, instead of just frothing at the mouth. (Yes, I have listened to Air America a couple of times. Franken, Springer, a couple of others. Call it opposition research, if you will.)
Ditto Beck, Hannity, Boortz (libertarian, not conservative, as he will be most happy to tell you), and several others.
You know who had the best left-leaning talk show, IMHO? Mario Cuomo. He was, at least interesting and was willing to TALK instead of scream at someone who disagreed. His show went broke, what, 8 years ago, I guess? Why? Not moonbat enough.
September 14th, 2006 at 6:50 amThere’s no chance of the “Fairness Doctrine” being resurrected, IMO. All broadcast media companies–radio and television–in the country would band together and kill that baby the minute it was proposed, screaming that such regulation would cripple them and drive their listeners/viewers to cable, satellite, etc., and drive their stock straight into the toilet. They would demand that those competing delivery systems be similarly regulated.
Wall Street would go friggin’ bonkers. The cable companies would never stand for it. Murdoch and Roger Ailes would go mental; CNN and MSNBC would have to prove that various hosts do not operate from a biased perspective. And who would be the arbiter of “balanced,” anyway?
September 14th, 2006 at 8:02 amWhat they want is the next Liberal Rush Limbaugh. Ain’t gonna happen, because no such animal exists. When you have a philosophy as bankrupt as Airhead America Radio, you won’t be able to find someone as gung-ho about it as Rush is. Do you know of any liberals who are “doing what I was born to do” or “having more fun than any human being should be allowed to have”? The millions who listen to him do so because he’s right most of the time and he’s damn good at what he does. Those freaks in “progressive radio” either have no talent or their talent consists of ranting incessantly. I don’t want that on my radio, no siree bobskiy.
September 14th, 2006 at 8:03 amCheck out the Dummie Funnies on this.
September 14th, 2006 at 8:49 amIt looks like they opened comments … but are moderating them.
Losers.
September 14th, 2006 at 9:53 amThe game plan for AAR is apparently to play deadbeat and skip their debts under chapter 7, and then find some other group of widows and orphans to steal operating funding from.
September 14th, 2006 at 9:54 amOK … they aren’t moderating … they just have a slow server.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:08 amI always wondered why they even tried this whole “progressive talk radio” schtick, because it had ALREADY BEEN DONE. And failed miserably the last time.
Not long after Limbaugh’s meteoric rise, the leftoid contingent decided to “counter” the wide popularity of conservative talk radio with their own commielib sort. They had Larry King (who is as big a leftwingnut dimbulb as ever sat down behind a mic), Jim Hightower and several others, along with a lot of local “talent”.
By the mid-1990s they were all long gone.
And it was not because of any “neocon conspiracy” to “silence dissent”, or anything of the sort. They simply could not draw an audience. No audience, no advertisers. No advertisers, no money. No money (unless you are NPR and the government is propping you up with taxpayer dollars), well, you get the idea.
And now it’s happened again with Air Idiot. What a surprise…(not).
I guarantee you all that the owners of the Nation’s radio stations, whether it’s Clear Channel or some mom-and-pop 5Kw I-could-get-a-better-signal-out-of-a-six-inch-piece-of-wet-string one-horse operation in Podunk, Idaho, don’t give a rat’s ass whether their hosts are conservative or liberal, only that they generate revenue. And if they don’t, they are history.
September 14th, 2006 at 2:15 pmI wonder what DJ has to say about this.
September 14th, 2006 at 6:22 pmThis cracks me up, and hardly unexpected. Just here in Kalifornia a big article in the paper today as to how most disaffected, apathetic voters feel and behave….you guessed it, in favor of big government, higher taxes and more social services. Seems the mean, selfish, greedy old white bastards, meaning me, DO vote and the dissaffected DO NOT. Seems they find it too inconvenient or troublesome. In other words, too damn lazy. Yes, they expect it to be handed to them, just like everything else. Even motor voter hasn’t gotten these people to sign up to vote. And you know what? I can live with it. I mean, consider…you don’t expect these people to HAVE to listen to Air America, do you?
September 14th, 2006 at 7:53 pmIf this really is the end of Air America, we can lay the blame on Al Franken.
September 15th, 2006 at 8:31 am