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Each host on Air America has his or her own comedic style. For example, on ''[[The Al Franken Show]]'', guests are introduced with [[parody]] theme songs, based on popular songs. ''[[Springer on the Radio]]'' and ''[[The Randi Rhodes Show]]'' have parodies and satires of commercials, humorous songs, longer skits, and [[sound effects]] such as buzzers and bells.
Each host on Air America has his or her own comedic style. For example, on ''[[The Al Franken Show]]'', guests are introduced with [[parody]] theme songs, based on popular songs. ''[[Springer on the Radio]]'' and ''[[The Randi Rhodes Show]]'' have parodies and satires of commercials, humorous songs, longer skits, and [[sound effects]] such as buzzers and bells.


[[Sam Seder]] of ''[[The Majority Report]]'' occasionally records skits and [[Prank call|prank phone calls]] for broadcast during the show. For example, Seder called the press department of a [[senator]] who claimed to have proof that [[Catholicism|Catholic]] leaders in [[Massachusetts]] were [[sin|sinful]] due to an abundance of sinful women in the city's vicinity. Seder called the senator's press department asking if they had actual phone numbers of women of ill repute, so he could do further research personally. His co-host [[Janeane Garofalo]] focuses her humor mainly on current events.
[[Sam Seder]] of ''[[The Majority Report]]'' occasionally records skits and [[Prank call|prank phone calls]] for broadcast during the show. For example, Seder called the press department of [[senator]] [[Rick Santorum]] who claimed to have proof that [[Catholicism|Catholic]] leaders in [[Massachusetts]] were [[sin|sinful]] due to an abundance of sinful women in the city's vicinity. Seder called the senator's press department asking if they had actual phone numbers of women of ill repute, so he could do further research personally. His co-host [[Janeane Garofalo]] focuses her humor mainly on current events.


=== Listener participation ===
=== Listener participation ===

Revision as of 03:51, 16 March 2006

File:Air America Radio.jpg
Logo of Air America Radio, a U.S. radio network and program syndication sevice with a liberal point of view.

Air America Radio is a full-service radio network and program radio syndication service in the United States, started on March 31, 2004. It features a liberal, left-wing, progressive point of view and specializes in presentations and monologues by liberal personalities, guest interviews, calls by listeners, and news reports. Some of the personalities who host shows on Air America Radio include Al Franken, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Mike Papantonio, Laura Flanders, Rachel Maddow, Sam Seder, Janeane Garofalo, Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann, and Jerry Springer.

The network's flagship station is New York City's WLIB-AM and, as of February 2006, 89 radio stations in the US, as well as XM Satellite Radio offer some or all of the programs produced and distributed by Air America Radio [1]. By mid February new stations will debut in Orlando and Buffalo, and Des Moines, bringing the network up to 90 stations. As is the case with other full-service radio networks like ESPN Radio[2] and NPR[3], many affiliates carry other programming as well. Any station that carries any of the network's programming is considered to be an affiliate, which is standard practice in the radio industry. For example, WTAM in Cleveland was listed by Air America as one of their affiliates, but they also broadcast the Rush Limbaugh radio program, a show on the opposite end of the political spectrum. Air America Radio also makes use of audio streaming on the World Wide Web, reaching a national and international audience.

Programming overview

Like most talk radio outlets, Air America Radio's programming includes news, talk, comedy, interviews, guest editorials, and listeners' telephone calls. In various markets, there are traffic and weather reports throughout the broadcast day. The talk portions feature some extended host monologues in the classic talk radio format. Live and pre-recorded comedy routines, featuring various comedians, are also aired.

News, editorials and public affairs

Air America News and public affairs shows offer headline and short feature news reports. News reports are distributed at the top of each hour.The news is a general purpose offering from standard wire service sources such as AP and UPI, however, the broadcast network puts some accent on labor news unlike other radio networks which tend to focus more on Wall Street reports and daily financial news. Many affiliates choose to use other news services or run their own newscasts during the six minute "news hole" at the top of the hour.

The public affairs shows tend to closely follow the news of the day with monologues and reflections offered by the hosts. Listener calls are worked into these sections along with guest interviews. Air America Radio has a definite political orientation, and many broadcasts could be described as advocacy journalism or editorial and opinion pieces.

In general, the hosts, guests and viewpoints of Air America represent the left and center wings of the Democratic Party, or, in the case of Mike Malloy, the Green Party. The rivalry between Air America and its critics, notably right wing competitors such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, is intense, with both sides making frequent attacks against the other.

Samples of regular guests heard on Air America Radio:

In addition, there are Mother Jones minutes and commentary by Jim Hightower and others.

Comedy on Air America

See main articles at Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Mike Malloy, Marc Maron, Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder, Jerry Springer.

Each host on Air America has his or her own comedic style. For example, on The Al Franken Show, guests are introduced with parody theme songs, based on popular songs. Springer on the Radio and The Randi Rhodes Show have parodies and satires of commercials, humorous songs, longer skits, and sound effects such as buzzers and bells.

Sam Seder of The Majority Report occasionally records skits and prank phone calls for broadcast during the show. For example, Seder called the press department of senator Rick Santorum who claimed to have proof that Catholic leaders in Massachusetts were sinful due to an abundance of sinful women in the city's vicinity. Seder called the senator's press department asking if they had actual phone numbers of women of ill repute, so he could do further research personally. His co-host Janeane Garofalo focuses her humor mainly on current events.

Listener participation

Listeners' calls are taken on most of the programs through a toll-free number, but are especially featured on Springer on the Radio, The Randi Rhodes Show, The Laura Flanders Show, The Mike Malloy Show, and Ring of Fire with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The listener calls are sometimes confined to a particular topic or feature, such as being a contestant on "Wait Wait, Don't Lie to Me" on The Al Franken Show. At other times listeners direct the flow of the conversation.

The Majority Report only occasionally uses phone calls from listeners, and predominantly only when Sam Seder hosts the program. Janeane Garofalo is frequently scheduled off on Wednesdays, and on these programs Seder utilizes phone calls from listeners regularly.

Weekday programs

Air America produces twenty-two hours of weekday network programming, including news summaries at the top of each hour.

The Air America Radio lineup as of March 15, 2006:

Cancelled Programming:

Weekend programs (varies)

For those stations for which Air America has full control, weekends feature repeats and highlights from their weekday shows, combined with new original programming and some syndicated shows produced independently.

New network programming for weekends includes:

Cancelled Weekend Programming:

Syndication

On September 8, 2005 Air America Radio announced that the Network has formed Air America Syndication, a separate division designed to offer additional programming and services to both Progressive Talk and other talk/music formats.

Business plan overview

Air America is a relatively new entrant into the mature format of news talk radio, known in the radio industry as "talkers". The network was known as Central Air during its development phase.

Historical context

In formulating its programming decisions and business plan, Air America took into account the history of media and politics. Since the 1964 presidential election, opponents of the New Deal coalition had been building think tanks and media to formulate or contribute to a Republican alternative to what they saw as the liberal mass media. Groups with right-wing politics moved to harness the emerging alternative media formats, particularly talk radio, and for many years, the airwaves were dominated by Rush Limbaugh and others espousing various right-wing political views. Writers, including British journalists Jonathan Freedland, John Micklethwait, and Adrian Wooldridge, have credited this Republican alternative with shifting the tone of American public debate. By creating an electoral environment where Republican candidates are more able to succeed, Democratic candidates are forced further to the right in order to be "electable". Micklethwait and Wooldridge wrote about this in The Right Nation, and David Brock wrote about it in The Republican Noise Machine.

Conservative dominance of talk radio may have played an important role in winning a shift in the balance of the United States House of Representatives in the 1994 midterm elections, though other factors such as the Contract with America also may have played significant roles. That analysis also credits the media with hampering Clinton's second term by keeping alive stories of scandal in the White House, and contributing to the victory of George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election.

The growing realization that liberal groups were becoming ineffective in terms of getting their viewpoint across in the media was the reason the concept of creating a liberal talk radio network emerged as a serious idea.

Early start-up difficulties

Air America was the initial idea of Sheldon Drobny and Anita Drobny, who wanted to start a progressive radio talk network to compete with conservative talk radio. The first liberal network, the UAW's i.e. America Network, which was home to current Air America host Mike Malloy, never gained national attention. Its last day on the air was February 27, 2004, only days before Air America took to the airwaves. Air America was started as part of Progress Media, which said it had amassed $30 million in venture capital prior to its debut, a claim which later turned out to be untrue (only $6 million was initially collected). Two individuals from Guam, Rex Sorensen and Evan Montvel Cohen, were involved in raising the capital but denied any wrongdoing. [4] Cohen had an unusual background for someone in his position within a progressive radio network since he was a Republican political operative in Guam and former chief of staff for Republican Governor Tommy Tanaka. [5] Cohen dismissed concerns by saying he was a committed "progressive" and that Republicans in Guam "are left of Paul Wellstone."

Two weeks after its debut, Air America Radio was pulled off the air by the owner of two stations that the network had licensed in Chicago and Santa Monica, California. This was due to a contract dispute between Air America and the stations' owner, Multicultural Radio Broadcasting. Air America alleges Multicultural Radio may have sold time on their Los Angeles station to them and another party, and stopped payment on checks to them while they investigated. Multicultural Radio alleges that Air America bounced a check and owes $1 million. Air America Radio filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court, charging breach of contract and was granted an injunction to restore the network on WNTD-AM in Chicago. On April 20, the network announced the dispute had been settled, and Air America's last day of broadcast on WNTD was April 30. The New York Supreme Court ultimately concluded that the injunction was improvidently entered and that Air America Radio's court action was without merit, dismissing Air America's complaint and awarding over $250,000 in damages and attorneys' fees to Multicultural. [6] According to a subsequent lawsuit filed by Multicultural, Air America Radio never paid the sums ordered by the court. [7]

Four weeks after Air America's debut, the CEO, Mark Walsh, and Dave Logan, its executive vice president for programming, left the network. One week after those departures, the chairman and vice chairman, Evan Cohen and his investment partner Rex Sorensen, also left. Some attributed Cohen's departure to investor unhappiness with how he handled the dispute with Multicultural Radio Broadcasting.

Columnist Michael Goodwin of the New York Daily News quoted a marketing communications manager from General Motors, declaring "GM will not advertise on any Air America affiliates." However, GM OnStar commercials have appeared on the Internet stream starting in the fall of 2004.

As part of a reorganization, investors in Progress Media bought the assets of that company, creating its current owner, Piquant LLC. An important change which accompanied the reorganization was a decision to stop trying to buy radio stations and lease air time, or insist that stations carry all of the network's programming.

On February 28, 2005, a new CEO, Danny Goldberg, was named. Goldberg set a goal of getting the network in 90% of the country as soon as possible. Expansions early in his tenure included Austin and Dallas in March 2005, and a return to Chicago in May 2005. At a media conference in July 2005, Goldberg stated that Air America Radio would be on 75 stations as of August, and that Air America News would be relaunched in September as a much more expansive operation to "provide news for our stations and beyond."

In April of 2005, Gary Krantz was named President of the network. Krantz, a veteran of Clear Channel, AMFM, and MJI Broadcasting was brough in to oversee Sales, Programming, Affiliate Relations, New York's Flagship station, AM 1190 WLIB, and Air America' s Interactive division. Together with Goldberg, and the existing executive team of Carl Ginsburg (COO), and Jon Sinton (President/Programming), and new CFO Robert, the newly established management team has gotten the company on track to consistent growth in 2006.

Notable new additions to the network's management team are Scott Elberg, VP/GM of WLIB New York. Elberg has a proven track record in NY radio, having managed Clear Channel's WKTU-FM, and held several senior sales management posts at WHTZ, WNEW-FM, and Univision Radio. In August of 2005, Russ Gilbert was named VP/Interactive. Gilbert oversees the web division of the company and has recently launched Premium subscription services for the network. In September, Tamara Karcev was named Director/Affiliate Relations, overseeing the continued growth of the network to it's current affiliate base of 87 stations, including 8 out of the top 10 markets, and 18 out of the top 20 markets

A documentary on the network's rocky start and ultimate resurgence, Left of the Dial, premiered March 31, 2005 on HBO.

In April 2005, the studio of an AAR affiliate in Warren, Ohio, WANR-AM, was briefly occupied by a group that changed the locks and began broadcasting Christian programming until the police forced them to leave. [8] A few weeks later, the group seeking to switch the station's format to Christian programming was able to purchase the station, and the Air America programming was discontinued. [9]

On July 28th 2005, Sinohe Terrero, AAR's VP of Finance, issued a memo to employees advising that payroll direct deposits would be delayed by one working day and not post on Friday July 29th as expected. The memo stated "We have been advised by ADP that Direct Deposit will probably not post until Monday. [August 1st]"

Ratings

File:Alfranken87.jpg
Al Franken, host of Air America Radio's flagship program, The Al Franken Show. (credit: Bill Hayward)

Air America affiliates have performed well in some markets and poorly in others. In Arbitron's Fall 2005 ratings book, the most recent available as of February 2006, ratings at Air America stations nationwide have trended generally upward, with some of the network's highest ratings coming from stations in Portland, Oregon (where station KPOJ ranks second among AM stations and sixth overall); Santa Barbara and San Diego, California; and Madison, Wisconsin. Markets where AAR stations have performed poorly relative to the competition include Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; and Washington, DC. Unsurprisingly, Air America stations tend to perform well in college towns and large cities with culturally liberal reputations, particularly on or near the West Coast.

In New York City, Air America's flagship station WLIB ranks 24th of 43 measured stations in the New York market with a 1.4 rating, behind competing talk stations WABC (ranked 10th with a 3.4 rating) and WOR (ranked 20th with a 2.1 rating), [10] though Air America programs hosted by Al Franken and Randi Rhodes have outperformed their conservative rivals Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly among adults between the ages of 25 and 54, a key demographic for advertisers. [11]

Nationwide, however, conservatives continue to dominate political talk radio, benefitting from greater name recognition and a much larger networks of stations. For example, Rush Limbaugh, the most popular talk radio host in the United States, averages a cumulative weekly audience ("cume") of about 13.75 million listeners on more than 500 stations nationwide, [12] whereas the Air America network as a whole reported a cume of 3.1 million listeners over 67 stations for the spring 2005 ratings period. [13] (Air America Radio has added more than 20 new affiliate stations since then, however, so the network's cumulative audience has almost certainly grown significantly since spring 2005.)

A daily podcast of The Al Franken Show has consistently appeared in the list of the most popular podcasts downloaded each day from Apple Computer's iTunes website since being introduced in the spring of 2005.

For more ratings information, see the listings at Radio and Records, and search by call letter within the specific markets. Alternatively, go directly to the Arbitron website for this data: [14]

Support from Clear Channel

Clear Channel tested the format at KPOJ-AM in Portland, Oregon, the first station to join Air America as an affiliate broadcasting Air America shows combined with other programming. As a result, the station increased its ages 12 and up market share by nearly an order of magnitude. KPOJ's spring 2004 Arbitron ratings grew from a 0.4 to a 3.7.

The success in Portland led Clear Channel to switch more of its stations to the format, so that as of September 2004 over a third of Air America's affiliates are owned by Clear Channel. This includes stations in swing states such as Florida (West Palm Beach and Miami (12th largest radio market)), Colorado, Ohio, and New Mexico, as well as major markets such as San Diego (17th largest) and Boston (9th largest). Ratings in Boston (WXKS 1430 and WKOX 1200) have shown a lack of success. In the summer of 2005, the stations got 0.4 and 0.2 respectively, while conservative talk stations like WRKO got 3.9.

Infinity Broadcasting is also testing Air America on its stations. On October 22, 2004, Infinity announced that it was switching one of its country stations in Seattle (1090 AM) to Air America.

The senior vice president of Infinity Radio Seattle said of the switch, "We believe this is distinctive programming. There are those in the radio business who believe that shows with a liberal perspective won't get an audience. Air America in recent months has shattered that myth."[15]

Community relations

  • Al Franken has taken his talents overseas for the USO carrying in the long tradition of U.S. entertainers of all backgrounds going to entertain military personnel overseas. Franken has done so in a non-partisan manner.
  • The Al Franken Show has gone on several road trips giving new audiences an opportunity to meet the hosts in person.
  • On the air, one show will have promotional spots in the other show.
  • Each program on Air America also has its own website in the blog format. These various blogs provide a text and graphics link between hosts and the audience. The blogs foster a feeling of community. In addition to these, several of the hosts have independent name blogs. see: External links
  • In addition to commercial sponsors, Air America also devotes time to public service announcements or PSAs. Some of the groups AAR has included are Operation Truth, the U.S. Government office of National Drug Control Policy, ONDCP, the Center for American Progress, and the Willie Nelson endorsed group NORML.

Promotion

Air America Radio's early promotions humorously describe the network as further to the left than a number of well-known right-wing groups, such as the NRA and the John Birch Society, as well as the fictional and apolitical character Betty Crocker.

Current campaigns (as of 2005) include outdoor advertising in New York City. Billboards and transit shelters feature pictures of Rhodes, Springer, and other hosts with the slogan, "The only talk radio left."

Archives

Air America Place is the official audio archive of all Air America Radio programs. The website also houses a blog and a message board for fans of Air America to post on. Air America Place is located at http://www.airamericaplace.com.

White Rose Society also has archives for Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, and numerous other liberal programs, some of which are on Air America affiliates. White Rose Society is located at http://www.whiterosesociety.org/

Affiliates

Main article: List of Air America Radio affiliates

Controversies

"Shooting spoiled child" skit

File:RandiRhodesMid.jpg
Randi Rhodes

On April 24, 2005, a pre-recorded comedy routine broadcast during The Randi Rhodes Show sparked a minor controversy. The United States Secret Service reviewed the broadcast and did not pursue further investigation or action. Rhodes broadcasted that day from a Florida studio instead of her home studio in New York City.

The broadcast's opening skit was a monologue featuring an old man, saying: "We saw America through the Great Depression and hot and cold wars. Our muscles boosted this nations' economic superiority to dizzying heights. And then our time came to enjoy just a little of the comfort and security we brought to the U.S. of A. So we joined with others of our era to protect what's rightfully ours. But now we've learned the AARP isn't enough. Our pensions have been stolen our health benefits cut and those of us with homes too often have to choose between heat and food. A spoiled child is telling us our Social Security isn't safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us. Well, here's your answer, you ungrateful whelp: [Sound effect of 3 gunshots.] The AAARP: the American Association of Armed Retired People. Just try it, you little bastard. [Sound effect of gun being cocked.]"

The implication, according to Matt Drudge (and also apparent to the United States Secret Service as they investigated the matter), is that the spoiled child is George W. Bush. Randi Rhodes apologized for that skit on Wednesday, April 27, 2005, saying: "It was a bit. It was bad. I apologize a thousand times." She claimed that neither she nor her producer, both of who were on the road that week, were involved in writing or producing the bit, nor had they reviewed the bit prior to its broadcast. However, she said that since the segment aired on her show, she accepted full responsibility for any wrongdoing and promised full cooperation with any subsequent investigation.

Rhodes also said that, regardless of this episode's outcome, the media and the Secret Service should pay more attention to other media and political figures and their possible incitements to violence against public officials. Examples included: G. Gordon Liddy, on August 26 and September 15, 1994, encouraging citizens to resist ATF agents with armed force and telling them to aim for the head; Senator Jesse Helms and his November 22, 1994 statement that the military in North Carolina disliked then President Clinton so much that, if Clinton visited, "He'd better have a bodyguard"; Senator John Cornyn and his April 4, 2005 statement that seemed to rationalize recent violence against judges and their families.

Jon Sinton, Air America's president of programming said "We are not under investigation from the Secret Service. We regret that a produced comedy bit that was in bad taste slipped through our normal vetting process. We do acknowledge that it was an internal error and internal discipline will be enforced."

References:

Liz Winstead contract

A former on-air personality and executive with Air America, Lizz Winstead, is suing Air America for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. [16]

Profitability

Due to several startup difficulties, payroll issues, and scandals, some conservative critics ([17], [18]) question AAR's profitability and overall financial health. However, the network is still relatively new, and there were no existing for-profit progressive networks with which to compare the business model.

In September 2005, AAR established what they called the Air America Associates program to solicit donations from listeners. Bill O'Reilly, a competitor, points to this as evidence that the network is in trouble [19], and has said that without large infusions of cash from wealthy liberal donors such as RealNetworks founder and CEO Rob Glaser, Air America would be unable to continue. But, AAR claims contributions will go toward expanding the network into other markets around the country [20] and that the network is currently in strong financial shape.[21] Air America Radio president Gary Krantz has fired back at O'Reilly's claims, stating that "there is no substance whatsoever to Mr. O'Reilly's absurd claims of gloom and doom,” and that "financially, Air America is significantly stronger than ever.”[22]

Official websites

Air America fans

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