Is Air America ever going to grow enough to be useful?

[dsc]

Air America has many great shows on it. Franken has really begun to do well and the 7pm guy is amazing. The Majority report is good and Rhodes, while not my taste, is clearly the taste of many people. So the question becomes what, if any, strategy does Air America have of growing outside of areas where they are preaching to the choir and the internet. To site one example, I am travelling from Ohio to North Carolina. Regardless of which way I go (either via Interstate 77 and Interstate 40 or via the PA Turnpike, Interstate 70, and I 95, I will be pretty much unable to listen to Air America for a single minute. That is an incredibly large area of the country and isn't exactly unpopulated. Put another way, you can't listen to Air America over the broadcast band in PA, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, or Wisconsin all of which are large states and all but one are swing states. I know it hasn't been ages but it has been awhile and no real signs of a plan to expand have been forth coming.

[shoelace414]

1. once the ratings come out

then they may expand. (depending on how the ratings look)

[LittleApple81]

2. I imagine it is EXTREMELY hard to get in even a toe into the media

market when most of the stations have already being assign/bought by rightwing corporations.
I know they want to expand and they will do their best to achieve it. But I don't blame them for not being able to do it as fast as I would wish it.
THANK GOD FOR THE INTERNET. I have my wireless headphones and don't miss a beat.
I won't buy a syrius system because I don't feel the need for it.

And they have been useful already.

But you are right: it would be great to have them in all the large/underserved markets.

[Inland]

3. Here's my measure

Air America has real advertisers. That's a big a deal as any. But the frustration of being unable to hear a broadcast in chicago is huge.

[NewJeffCT]

8. definitely better advertisers now

I hear Home Depot (odd, since they give huge $ to Republicans) and Flonase and a few other big names. Not sure if Supercuts is a big name or not, but I'd at least heard of them prior to AAR being on the air.

In the beginning, it seemed to be all PSAs.

If the 2nd quarter ratings book is as good, or better, than the first quarter book, then I think we'll see them expand to a good deal more markets.

[Inland]

19. Yeah, the PSAs were a bad sign

Now I hear ads for pain relievers and matress stores.

[Caution]

4. the fact that they havent got a boston affiliate

seems to be a bad indicator to me. I really expected to hear them in boston by now particularly with the convention here, but still nothing. I'm beginning to wonder just how long they will remain afloat. The next set of numbers will hopefully allay my fears on this.

[dsc]

6. Isn't their new station close to Boston?

New Hampton Massachusetts I think.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. Northampton, MA is a long ways from Boston

it's out in Western MA

[MattNC]

7. in addition

to San Fransisco, Seattle, and some other major markets that would be considered liberal. hopefully the ratings will look good and they can finally get into some bigger cities.

[CO Liberal]

5. They May Have Lost Their Potential Outlet in Colorado Springs

The local alternative newspaper (The Independent) was arranging for Citadel Communications to carry Al Franken's show on one of their talk stations (1300 "The Buzz"). But this week, The Buzz switched format and is now carrying the Fox Sports Network.

[K-W]

13. It seems very likely there is an organized corporate effort

to stop or slow them.

[keep_left]

26. Not hard to believe...

Here in MN, our Air America affiliate (Straight Talk Radio) bought one of their stations from Starboard Network. The other Straight Talk station is being leased and is still owned by Starboard. And in case you were wondering what Starboard Network is about:

http://www.relevantradio.com/docs/index.asp

Check out their sucky site a bit. People like Sam Brownback make regular appearances, not to mention the frequent visits of pseudo-"scholars" from the RW think tanks. This is supposed to be "Catholic radio", if you can believe it. Starboard, as far as I can tell, is an Opus Dei front.

This is the reality of AM talk radio that AAR has to deal with. Is it any wonder that NO talk radio station in the Twin Cities metro area would carry AAR programming? This despite the fact that many of these stations cannot even generate an Arbitron number with their current right-wing shows?

[RubyDuby in GA]

9. They need to come to my area

I live just outside of Atlanta and they definitely won't be preaching to the choir, but there are a lot of us who do resist the powers that be (until November that is).

[K-W]

11. I think this is a fairly accurate explenation.

Air America was started with venture capital. Thier plan was to start in thier launch cities by purchasing air time. They own the air time they broadcast on. Then they would sit and prove they could attract and audience and get advertising revenue to fuel more growth. That or they would need more venture capital.

It turned out that they had less available capital than they thought, because one of the initial investors had misrepresented thier money and was pulling out. Also, before that they lost 2 of thier stations in LA and Chicago.

These are huge financial setbacks for them, and for them to move to any more places would require an initial investment. So they would either need more venture capital, or wait until thier ad revenue could fuel expansion.

I dont know exactly where they are in the process, but I think it explains why there has been a stall in waht was initially touted as a fast growth plan.

Once they get ratings and they can demand higher ad rates (assuming the ratings are good), they can start getting more money together to expand, that or syndicate. Only syndication will truely get them everywhere, but there are reasons they cannot yet syndicate.

[K-W]

12. But to answer your question it is already effective.

just in the cities it is in, it is reaching people. A radio station in NY alone can reach a great number of people. Also, they have done a great job of getting on the radar. Getting thier talent on talk shows and getting news media to cover them. They have some small amount of influence already and will hopefully only get more.

[shoelace414]

14. they changed their model

they syndicate now.

[eleny]

15. With Clear Channel buying up stations all over the country

I think that also puts a slowdown on where they can expand.

[nostamj]

16. I was kinda shocked when I went to their offices

yesterday to drop off materials about the ?W Revue to Laura Flanders producer.

not even a sign on the door! if the door hadn't been open with a poster of Franken in sight, I would have had no idea it was the right place.

whatever money they have, they're not spending it on luxuries for the staff...

[eagler]

17. We need the Fairness Doctrine restored!

In those more Rural areas of the country where we only have right wing radio, we need to be more well-informed.This is one of the reasons why people from rural areas so often support Bush. They are only hearing one side and have been for over a decade.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. Hear, hear! From your mouth to God's ear!

[Stew225]

20. Just wanted to let you know that you assessment

of the AAR programs is exactly that of mine. I too like the 7pm guy. Obviously, his PR agent needs to get more on the ball but.... I even emailed the guy to let him know what a great job he's doing.

I live in Ohio and download the shows to cassette and then listen in my car. It would be great to have them on a station in Ohio, but, well, but, who the hell knows!

My goal now is to find out the name of "the 7pm guy." It seems he works very hard at the show and also has a unique and effective presentation.

[FighttheFuture]

22. His name is Marty Kaplan. He is listed on the AAR web site.

If your head is spinning from spin, join host Marty Kaplan as he 'un-spins the day's news.

Weekdays 7pm-8pm

http://www.airamericaradio.com

[FighttheFuture]

21. I subscribed to SIRIUS just for AAR and am very happy.

I paid 14 months in advance and got a better rate. I also waited for a sale at either Best Buy or Circuit City on the Audiovox tuner. I have a portable receiver that I use in my car, home and on a boombox.

I know it's an outlay of couple hundred dollars, but I felt it was worth it. I also let SIRIUS know why I subscribed.

I still want them on the air here (Chicago area) because the satellite tuners are not really portable like a small AM/FM radio.

It may be possible for some enterprising person to contact SIRIUS to ask what kind of GROUP rate might be available if they could get x number of people signed up. I feel DU could get a lot or people.

[SoCalDem]

23. Oooh.. tell me exactly what you bought...model numbers..the works

Iwant a system for home /car..and I need a new radio for the car too.. and I am baffled when it comes to this stuff. I am so afraid of being sold stuff that I won't understand...or being overcharged..:)

[ClassWarrior]

24. I'd hate to be your investment guy.

I'd like to see things happen quicker too, but these things take time. If you want to do something in the meantime, start writing and phoning low-rated AM stations. Start talking it up with everyone you know. If you're on the road so much, get an AAR sticker for your car.

There are things we can do. But mostly we have to be patient.

[dsc]

28. A couple of things

One, they claim to be after affecting this election. That leads one to the reasonable assumption they intended to have lots of stations. Two, I am moving which is why I will be traveling. I actually don't drive a bunch otherwise.

[Arugula Latte]

25. They just added a Miami station

So that's a good sign.

[greblc]

27. We have AAR here in Minneapolis...

but the signal is terribly poor. If you go by a High Tension Power line forget it. The Dems own the vote in Twin Cities. The burbs could go either way. AAR doesn't reach outstate MN or the burbs(i.e.Duluth,Bush visited there on Tuesday). Is there any way to jumper or pass on an A.M. signal via Ham Radio or something? You hear about
Armed Forces Radio being heard all over Europe during WWII. 60years later we must have some way do this? The FCC may not like it but isn't this possible?

One criticism of ARR. It's all Doom and Gloom. It would be nice if they would pass on more Liberal triumphs. Then I could swirl them around in my head as I try to forget the EVIL upon us. It would help me sleep better.