Smart move by Clear Channel dropping the morning show on Air America

[TrueAmerican]

Most of the clear channel stations already don't pick up the bad morning shows on Air America.

http://www.cincypost.com/2004/12/11/spring121104.html

Air America needs to get its act together and higher some real talent for the morning. One way is to follow Clear Channels lead and pick up Jerry Springer nationally to replace the horrible morning programs.

Don't flame the messenger. ;)

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. what was so bad about it?

Other than the fact that the hosts are not really that funny and seemed to have little chemistry together?

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Liz Winstead is the funniest personality on AAR IMHO

[itzamirakul]

6. Gee...I'm glad SOMEONE thinks so...

personally, I think she sucks...but I listen anyway because I am so thirsty for liberal voices. I don't lisen for comedy...I mean...does the right listen to their strongest voices for comedy? or for talking points that convince 51% of America to vote for Bush?

[BlueEyedSon]

8. I listen for both, however I would NEVER listen to Rush even if

I agreed with him.... he's an un-entertaining, opinionated blowhard.

[itzamirakul]

10. Well, we both agree about Rush....

the fat-ass.

[ElectroPrincess]

23. I second that sentiment :-).

[zann725]

58. I like her too. She's gutsy. I enjoy the show...

certainly better than Al Franken lately.

[patricia92243]

3. Jerry Springer?? I thought the whole purpose of Air America is to get the

Democratic point of view out.

I agree that Morning Sedition is pitiful, but it should be re-staffed with a new,interesting Democratic program.

I personally love "Ring of Fire" but it only comes on Saturday mornings. I wish they could get these guys to do a morning show.

[BlueEyedSon]

9. I think they are ragging on "Unfiltered" (9AM - Noon)

since that is the proposed time slot for Springer.

[Eric J in MN]

22. Jerry Springer is a Democrat.

He would have run for US Senate from Ohio in 2004, but his pollng numbers were too bad.

[6th Borough]

35. He WAS the Democratic mayor of Cincinnati; not all too long ago. /EOM

[itzamirakul]

4. Randi Rhodes definitely deserves a spot...

I don't think I would be too inerested in Jerry Springer unless he was replacing the moderate Al Franken with a more aggressive show.
I get AAR on NY's WLIB so I don't think Clear Channel owns that YET.

I would rather see Mike Malloy get a more prominent spot that Liz and Rachel or Mark Moran and Mark Riley.

I sure hope that Clear Channel gets its act together with Randi. More of America needs to hear a strong voice to counter the Rush Limbaughs and Sean hannitiys - but then, I guess Clear Channel is owned by neocons.

[TrueAmerican]

5. That would be great to put Randi on right before Al

That would be perfect for my XM radio. Randi, Al, than big Ed; all live. I think you got something here.

[itzamirakul]

7. Mike Malloy should also have a top spot...

having him come on at 10PM and then cut off of my station at midnight prevents a lot of Americans from hearing a voice that could well counter Limbaugh. Franken is just too soft and wishy-washy for me. Somedays, I grit my teeth and just turn him off. He is not much better than Al From of the DLC.

I am NOT listening to these shows for comedy! I can get that cornball stuff on tv.

[BlueEyedSon]

11. "Comedy" is not necessarily "cornball".

Go watch the Daily Show and see if it is not simultanously funny and savage.

[itzamirakul]

12. I know, Blue Eyes...

but IMO, Moran is not Jon Stewart. His humor does not turn ME on...if it does for you, ok...I just can't take it some mornings, especially with Riley turning into his "Robin" (that laughing woman on Stern's show.) Moran has his admirers, I know...I'm just not one of them.

[BlueEyedSon]

31. Recovery Corner is pure genius... anyway CC is replacing Unfiltered

not Morning Sedition

[itzamirakul]

42. Yeah? I hadn't heard...

with whom? I mean who will the replacement be?

[ElectroPrincess]

25. No, it's mainstream ... I love raw and UNFILTERED

[jmatthan]

13. Tune in to Thom Hartmann

whose hours exactly cover Al Franken's.

Thom is great for a historic perspective (even though he is bit wrong or one-sided about NAFTA, etc.)

He also has great guests whom he allows to speak. He is extremely clever with his technique of allowing the "other side" to burn itself by their own words.

Thom is not a Democrat.

I understand he is going to stand in for Randi when she goes on holiday. We can expect him to make a deep impression on Air America listeners. Randi is all praise and respect for Thom!!

Hopefully Thom will replace Al Franken in the top spot in Air America. One can always hope. :-)

Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

[n2mark]

43. I usually listen to Tom Hartman

He is great -- so very knowledgeable! Are his books equally as good as his daily program?

[Bush was AWOL]

15. Who is Malloy?

In Columbus at 10 PM we get the Lionel show. Also, we get Ed Schultz instead of Randi Rhodes. I do, however, like Big Ed so I have no complaint, I guess.

[riverwalker]

20. Mike Malloy

is the most dangerous man in 'merika. In Minnesota we only recently started to hear him late night, and I am totally addicted. Call and write your station that carries AAR and request Malloy. He is a no holds barred, take no prisoners, truth teller. Schultz is ok, but he is too careful, too cautious, and getting too corporate. He does too much tap dancing around things, and sometimes comes across as a bit slow and uninformed. Your station needs Mike.

[ElectroPrincess]

27. He gives NO hope NOR any viable solutions to fight the rabid

right. Over time, he depresses the shit out of me. I had to quit OR start taking massive doses of antidepressants.

[jmatthan]

49. He rebuilt my faith in Liberal Americans

If not for Mike Malloy I would be hating ALL Americans.

Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

[readmoreoften]

51. I love Mike Malloy

I don't need anyone to blow sunshine up my ass. There are precious few solutions right now. The first solution is being honest with ourselves about how dire the situation is.

[ElectroPrincess]

26. Mike Malloy resides in his own universe ... he even ostracizes other

Liberals ... Nope, he's way way "out there."

[Eric J in MN]

29. In Minnesota, Mike Malloy is on from 9 PM - midnight (NT)

NT

[K-W]

18. Al Franken isnt a moderate.

Name one issue he isnt to the left of the party on?

[Bush was AWOL]

21. I wouldn't call him a moderate, either

reasonable and realistic is more fitting, imho.

[LincolnMcGrath]

60. Mr Franken is a self proclaimed DLC DEMOCRAT

[Seldona]

46. I would love to see John Stewart.

I know he is probably busy, but if they could land John that would really put AA on the map, more so than Frankin imho.

[annabanana]

14. Aw nutz.. I like the morning shows...

What, am I the only one? They suit me just fine for the morning drive.......

[WolverineDG]

28. no you're not

in the beginning, i didn't like either of the morning shows, but unfiltered grew on me & now i like morning sedition as well. the franken show grates my nerves a lot, esp since he keeps insisting on having his damn rushbot friend on. the only reason i don't switch over to sirius left is i hate lynn samuels more....all she ever seems to do is cuss.

but i really dig randi, majority report (when janeane isn't yelling at sam for reading the blog & interupting an otherwise good interview) and have i told you today how much i love mike malloy?

dg

[eyepaddle]

53. I like the morning shows too,

I usually listen on XM so they deviate from pure AAR and split Randi with Ed Shultz, and (insert puke sounds) Allan Colmes for Mike Malloy. That is a freakin' bummer.

I'm gonna stir the pot (I've been layin low for awhile) and say that: first off I agree with everything Randi says, and am always impressed with her rock solid information (facts and figures) and last, find her almost unlistenable. There's just something hard to define that annoys me. I usually listen to music until the evening and majority report.

Thank goodness for internet radio.

[barb162]

16. I'd rather listen to the most boring liberal than the smartest

right winger

[Armstead]

17. I love Unfiltered....Can't listen to Morning Sedition

I think Unfiltered is one of the best shows on radio. They are funny and serious ast the same time. And they go beyond "GOP bashing" to talk about other aspects of progressive poliutics.

I do find the hosts on Morning Sedition to be too grating. Especially Moran. He just strikes me as nails on a chalkboard -- which is not what I'm up for at that hour.

In general, I think Air America ought to be careful about getting too reliant on Clear Channel. I hope they don't have exclusive contracts in the cities where they are on CC stations....If they are smart, they'll make it possible for otehr stations to use syndicated AA shows that CC does not use in a market.

[ElectroPrincess]

30. I'm so torn ... If CSPAN sucks, I love Morning Sedition

CSPAN has sucked almost every week day in the recent past so Bless the fact that we can listen to Morning Sedition. ;)

[zann725]

59. I like Morning Sedition...but on the West Coast it's on too early.

Yawn. Would be nice if they'd move either "M.S." or "Unfiltered" up to the Franken timeslot. He's become so 'centrist' lately.

[Eric J in MN]

33. They're caught between a rock and a hard place.

Clear Channel can start dictating content if "Air America" becomes reliant on them.

On the other hand, Clear Channel controls 1200 stations, so it's hard for "Air America" to expand without them.

[janx]

40. I agree. Reilly is cool, but Moran just sounds sophomoric

most of the time. And the forced laughter isn't very convincing.

I don't need that the first thing in the morning.

[K-W]

19. When you are delivering your own opinion, you arent a messenger.

Your judgement is not fact.

If you wanted to suggest that Unfilitered or Morning Sedition were difficult to market. Then you could say "dont flame the messenger"

[spanone]

24. Fuck Jerry Springer. Worse idea I've ever heard.

I do not want that sorry fuck in our camp.

[Eric J in MN]

32. I disagree. The Republicans are always attacking us as

"The Liberal Elite," pretending that we're the champions of the rich when they are.

Jerry Springer is comforatable talking to rich and poor.

[Coventina]

34. WTF?!?!? I LOVE "Unfiltered"!!!

I couldn't live without the "Unfiltered News".

This sucks!!!!!

:-(

[haele]

36. Our CC/AA station has a local liberal pundit for morning drivetime

It works better here than if we had yet another nationally syndicated program in that slot, because we have a lot of progressive issues here in San Diego and the local talent gets people listening for the day.
No matter how good the 6 - 9 show is on the AA syndicated playlist, the local show discussing local matters is what draws the listeners. Our CC/AA station was also smart enough to 1) try for a 24-hr format to keep listenership up and 2) pick up some good established home interest shows from other local radio channels as filler between the political shows; I regularly listen to a common sense type consumer finance show and a very good West Coast gardening show during my various drivetimes, both of which are never lacking callers where the hosts are witty and connected with their callers enough to be interesting; in fact, their shows are popular enough that they consistantly end their shows with an average of five to ten callers waiting.

To get back to the comment - it really should be a local decision as to what should run when - as politics are ultimately local, and the local managers should have some sort of idea what can bring listeners onboard. They don't make the investment they do so their stations fail, after all - they want them to compete with the other talk stations.
If there is no decent local talent that can carry a drivetime show, than go with the syndicated. If there is, shift the syndicated show over to a time slot where it can be enjoyed. But the most important thing is to get the voices out there and the listeners to come.

Just my two cents.

Haele

[Vox_Reason]

37. What about Stephanie Miller?

My local Air America station (WCHL in Chapel Hill) has Stephanie Miller in the morning from 9-12, and she's great! I believe she's syndicated as well... Has anyone else heard her show?

[TrueAmerican]

38. I heard her when she subbed for Big Ed

She is better than both morning shows on Air America.

[rman]

39. Clear Channel drops progressive lefty shows, what a surprise

-

[Must_B_Free]

41. I like the morning shows.

both of them.

[SnowBack]

44. They can take my Unfiltered...

when they pry my Sirius radio from my cold dead hands!

Liz, Rachel and Chuck are brilliant!

:headbang:

[n2mark]

45. Changes with Air American in Phoenix

We no longer receive Unfiltered here. We now hear Charles Goyette a Phoenix person who was just fired from another station because he was against the war in Iraq. He is more independent, but does not like the shrub. He is good. I'm hoping KXXT hires Mike Newcomb and brings on Tom Hartman.
Mike Newcomb is local and 100% dem. Actually, it is important for the local stations to bring in local people. This gives more support for us in our puke area.

I really think for now Air America should bring on the Independents who do not support the war and see the administration for who and what the are........ Just my feeling.

I don't think people are ready for Unfiltered yet, at least here. Why? This will get me in trouble with all of you but to be honest they do talk a lot about gays, not sure this red state is open to this yet. They will be but will need to brought into this slowly.

I do enjoy Morning Sedition --- they are funny, interesting and an uplift to a new day.

[UdoKier]

47. How many KleerChannel stations carry AAR shows?

Is it a lot?

I don't know about KQKE here in SF, but in the afternoon, they play Ed Schultz instead of the AAR show before Randi.

I'm not a huge fan of Schultz, but I guess we need his kind, too...

[Chalco]

48. How about Amy Goodman?? nt

[Malva Zebrina]

50. I like listening to all the AAR shows, even the morning shows

except for Franken,at which time I tune in to Thom Hartman. Randi is the best of them all. She works hard, knows her facts, is funny at times, plays cool music,(or is that Tim?) sometimes sings along with it, and I like her on air interactions with Tim and all the bells and whistle buttons they interject at certain points. She does have a habit of talking over the callers and I think needs to get over that. I tried Franken for a few weeks and just simply lost interest. Can't stand the self promotion and he did not seem to have a knowledgeable grip on the facts and issues in many of his interviews. I heard that Franken initially refused to address the voter fraud conflict on his show, but he must have changed his mind, especially since now there seems to be a lot of media interest in Ohio and Ohio is filled with all sorts of high profile professionals insisting upon counting the votes. I now hear ads on AAR with Franken promoting the count the vote initiative and I wonder what that is all about, as none of the others are into ads like that. I hear that Franken has signed on to AAR for two more years. I am glad to hear that Hartman will sub for Randi. I thought it was to be Laura Flanders which would have been OK too, but nice to have Hartman, if that is the case. I like Malloy also.

[mandyky]

52. I love the morning shows

Marc and Mark and Liz and Rachel! I only listen until 3 PM -
Randi is too overbearing, Sam and Jeanene yell too much, and I go to bed too early for MM.

[otohara]

54. Group Hug For Clear Channel

Yuck - hate those fuckers. Love Unfiltered, they are so smart

Rachel Maddow comes to Air America with a background in music radio (WRNX, WRSI) and rabblerousing. She is a graduate of Stanford University, and holds a doctorate in Politics from Oxford. Chuck D. is cool and Liz Winstead was head writer for the Daily Show. A lot of talent and brains.

So what if Jerry Springer was the Mayor of Cincinnati and he is an attorney. He threw all that away to become a trash talk TV host. He's got to earn back some respect to be considered as a serious political talk show host. He'll slip back into trash talk show host - how many years did he do that?

[Garbo 2004]

55. Winstead also was co-creator of The Daily Show, not just a writer.

Our local independent AAR station apparently dumped Unfiltered and repeats Morning Sedition instead for West Coast morning drive time. I guess it's like a double espresso to wake people up. But Maron I prefer in small doses.

I'd rather have Unfiltered broadcast in the morning. But the key for me are the shows' guests. And when either one has good guests that's got my attention.

[fob]

56. Don't flame the messenger? You can't get off that easy.

Unfiltered and Morning Sedition are both good shows regardless of your opinion.

It's "hire" NOT "higher" and for the rest of the liberal radio bashers in this thread, the guy's name is Marc Maron, NOT Moran. If you're gonna rag on someone on OUR side, at least have the decency to take 3 seconds to get the guy's name correct.

Oh, and when/if Al Gore gets his progressive television station going, please take the time and energy you would put into posting "How shitty is Al Gore's progressive TV channel" in a different medium than this one. There's enough liberal/demo bashing out there already.

/rant

[regnaD kciN]

57. I LIKE Unfiltered...

Out here in the west, Morning Sedition is generally on too early for me. (3-6 A.M.?) Unfiltered is the drive-time programming, and I find it both entertaining and informative.

Basically, the "daytime" programming on KPTK is:

6-9a Unfiltered
9-noon Al Franken
noon-3p Ed Schultz
3-whenever Randi Rhodes

(I say "whenever" because, as I've noted before, sometime between 5 and 6 the station reduces power and gets drowned out where I live by a sports channel broadcasting from Tijuana, more than a thousand miles away. :grr: )

Anyway, whatever problems KPTK may have, at least it isn't owned by Clear Channel (who you can bet will dump the format the minute the Next Big Thing -- country hip-hop? -- comes over the radio horizon).