Really, are you surprised?
Air America struggles to earn its left-wings
By Dean Johnson
from the Boston Herald
Friday, May 14, 2004
Neil Young would occasionally introduce one of his songs by saying, ``This starts off kind of slow and then drops off altogether.'' That's an apt description of the current state of the fledgling liberal radio network Air America.
The company has lost its outlets in Chicago and Los Angeles, two of the nation's three largest markets. It also has lost its chairman, vice chairman and director of programming after little more than a month on the air.
Earlier this week, the network's sales chief also left because, she said, ``I no longer want my name associated with that company.'' The network's on-air star, Al Franken, is still getting plenty of press, though, and was profiled flatteringly on the most recent ``CBS Sunday Morning'' TV show.
Air America is airing in about a dozen markets and on both the XM and Sirius satellite networks. It continues to pick up affiliates, but the add-ons are in such places as Key West, Fla., and Portland, Maine, not locales where it should be on the air, such as, say, Boston, Detroit or Philadelphia.
Air America isn't yet on life support, but it isn't breathing easy.
Posted by colrus at May 14, 2004 09:50 AM | TrackBackThe problem I see with Air America, beside the obvious fatal flaw of naming a radio program after a Vietnam Era, CIA Black Ops Snafu that never really existed (wink-wink), are the inherent characteristics of the show and it's scary similarities Seinfeld; to wit, a show dedicated to nothing about nothing. Remember Seinfeld? At least with Seinfeld there was some humor, however New York-centric it may have been. Now take our Jerry Seinfeld and replace him Stuart Smally. Got that visual, good. Now dump the rest of the cast and put the show on radio. Still with me... Voila, Air America!
In response to conservative shows like Hanity's or Limbaugh's which, while they can be preechy and a bit over the top at times, are solid forms of entertainment; the liberal group has decided to start one of their own with similar format. But wait, Rush and Sean use fact, common sense, HUMOR and satire mixed with a fair amount of truth to both entertain and stress their points. Air America has none of those characteristics. The similarities between conservative talk radio and Air America begin and end with the fact that they are talk radio. People, even rabid liberals do not want to hear more of the same mindless rantings that lack substance and have no bearing in reality. Air America as a response to conservative talk radio is like arguing about any sport with a Philadelphian; eventually he's going to invoke the power of Rocky and tell you that you suck. Come to think of it, all liberals are basically the same wether it's on radio, or in politics. Whenever they start to lose an argument on the finer points, they revert to name calling and muddle the issues with inane factoids and quips that have no bearing on the issue at hand. Just listen to Kerry, and I mean really listen. His lips are moving but what is he saying? Nothing. Unless he's arguing semantics and getting hot and bothered under the collar. And even then he's only making sense with specificity to the semantics at hand. Or Susan Sernadon and her he-bitch, Tim Robbins... wait that was unfair and mean spirited. Tim Robins isn't a he-bitch, for Chirst's Sake, he's Nuke LaLouche, or is he Bob Roberts, oh what the hell I give up. All these silly liberals make me tired. And aparently, they make eachother tired, too.
Posted by: Chuck Echenique at May 21, 2004 02:11 AM