AAR Advertiser Blackout List

[dampier]

Media Matters got its hands on a list of advertisers that do not want their spots run on any AAR-affiliated stations (presumably these are make goods and other spots that run in return for access to ABC Radio News).

While we all know that there are several advertisers that do not want their spots aired on any political talk radio, those advertisers who do allow themselves to advertise on conservative talk radio are going to be identified and a boycott and phone meltdown campaign will begin in November by people who notice the discrepancy. It's not going to be pretty PR for those sponsors, so either they will stop blacklisting AAR or blacklist all political talk radio to stay away from that third rail.

http://mediamatters.org/static/images/item/hp-aa-20061031-lg.jpg

 

[FightingIrish]

Peter B. Collins got the original internal memo from someone he declined to name. He read from it last Friday. I edited the segment of his show, where he mentioned the memo while interviewing Jeff Cohen of FAIR. Click the link for an mp3

http://z31.zupload.com/download.php?file=getfile&filepath=369

Also, some of the advertisers on the list do sponsor the Ed Schultz show, which is interesting. And I'm sure there's a few that advertise on conservative talk shows, and probably a few that don't do political talk at all.

http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2006/10/internal-document-reveals-air-america.html

 

[evnlee]

Media Matters got its hands on a list of advertisers that do not want their spots run on any AAR-affiliated stations (presumably these are make goods and other spots that run in return for access to ABC Radio News).

While we all know that there are several advertisers that do not want their spots aired on any political talk radio, those advertisers who do allow themselves to advertise on conservative talk radio are going to be identified and a boycott and phone meltdown campaign will begin in November by people who notice the discrepancy. It's not going to be pretty PR for those sponsors, so either they will stop blacklisting AAR or blacklist all political talk radio to stay away from that third rail.

http://mediamatters.org/static/images/item/hp-aa-20061031-lg.jpg

gee, so a bunch of corporations don't want to advertise on a network that regularly slams corporate malfeasance? a network that consistantly proclaims that 'corporations' are hurting the 'common good'?

is that not their right? so boycott. :

all you will do is A: get more real estate and lipitor commercials on non-liberal talk, or
B: not a dang thing.

awww.....poor widdle ol' Err Amerika. sniffle.

 

[chuckydoll]

The Air America Blacklist -- Are Your Favorite Brands On It?

That blacklist is a Who's Who of corporate America.

Allstate, Cigna, Farmers, State Farm -- big insurance companies

American Heart Association -- pushes corporate-sponsored "feel good" campaigns

Aventis, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Schering-Plough, Wyeth -- big pharmaceutical companies
(J&J also helps fund the Partnership for a Drug-Free America)

Avon, Coty -- big cosmetics companies

Bank of America -- big bank, got that way by buying up smaller banks

Cingular -- big cell phone company, owned in part by AT&T

Clorox -- put out a memo labeling company opponents as terrorists

Coke, Pepsi -- big soft drink companies, targets of anti-obesity campaigns

Dell, Epson, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft -- big computer companies

Denny's -- restaurant chain with a history of racist conduct

ExxonMobil -- world's biggest oil company, major Bush supporter

Frito-Lay -- big snack food company (owned by Pepsi), target of anti-obesity campaigns

GE -- big military contractor, major Bush supporter
(GE also happens to own NBC, #4 in prime-time ratings and #1 in censorship)

Goodyear, Michelin -- big tire companies
(Goodyear is closing plants and trying to bust its unions)

Kraft Foods -- owned by Philip Morris

Levi's -- has a history of supporting sweatshop labor

McDonald's -- biggest fast-food chain, target of anti-obesity campaigns

Nestle -- accused of pushing infant formula to poor people in Africa

Nissan -- big auto maker, lets Christian fundamentalists dictate ad buys

P & G -- Procter & Gamble, big consumer-products company
(also put money into Partnership for a Drug-Free America)

Paramount -- movie studio owned by Viacom, whose chairman is a major Bush supporter

Philip Morris -- world's biggest cigarette company
(also put money into Partnership for a Drug-Free America)

Sony -- consumer electronics, movie studios, TV

USPS -- U.S. Postal Service, your friendly neighborhood mailman

Visa -- credit cards

Walgreens -- biggest pharmacy chain

Wal-Mart -- world's biggest retailer, major Bush supporter, fervently anti-union

 

[AKLes]

Re: The Air America Blacklist -- Are Your Favorite Brands On It?

That blacklist is a Who's Who of corporate America.

And a wonderful assist to many of in preparing our shopping lists!

What "boycotters" universally fail (refuse?) to understand that their condemnation causes many opposed to their views to make a special effort to support those blacklisted. May they ever continue in their failure!

 

[SaltyDog]

I ran a Limbaugh affiliate for a long time and got those lists all the time. What really bugged me was that it would say: "Can't run on Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern or any other controversial programming" as if political speech and juvenile sexual humor were on par with one another. Advertisers are so averse to risk, even religious stations get blacklisted. I know because I've sold those too.

I don't have a current "No Rush" list, but truthfully, that list looks indistinguishable from the ones I've seen sent to conservative talk stations. So, instead of looking it this from a partisan point-of-view, why not ask the serious question: "Why are you big corporations such a bunch of pantywaists that you are afraid of a few phone calls? The only conservative who would listen to a liberal show, or liberal who would listen to a conservative show, and then complain about your ads are political activists trying to dictate programming for their own political ends. And how many political activists do you think there are as a percent of the population? Grow some 'nads will ya?" Conservatives and liberals alike should be trying to put pressure on advertisers to stop with these stupid lists altogether, not just for their own favorite shows.

A final thought. I always had a sneaky suspicion that those lists did not originate at the client level, but at the agencies who buy time. I still think I'm right.

If there are any Rush affiliate folks on this board, perhaps they will scan and post a list of "No Rush" dictates. If not, and I can remember to do it, maybe I can get a friend to send me one and I'll scan and post it.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

If there are any Rush affiliate folks on this board, perhaps they will scan and post a list of "No Rush" dictates. If not, and I can remember to do it, maybe I can get a friend to send me one and I'll scan and post it.

I'm not able to help with that, but like just about anyone who's had more than 5 minutes in the operations end of talk radio, I've seen dozens of these lists attached to "controversial" talk shows, including Rush and other hosts on the right.

 

[clichemoth]

There was a similar kerfluffle on DU recently where a poster chewed out a hapless GM customer service rep because Hannity shills for Cadillac. Apparently that person forgot that GM used to be one of the only two advertisers on ie America, which was generally even more anti-corporate than AAR ever has been. The other advertiser was Domino's, which is owned by an ultra-conservative and yet still advertises on liberal radio.

Some of the companies on this list do advertise on Schultz, Colmes, and Lionel, so it's not a strictly political thing. Probably more of a "don't waste ad money on a network that's rapidly going splat" thing.

 

[dampier]

Some of the companies on this list do advertise on Schultz, Colmes, and Lionel, so it's not a strictly political thing. Probably more of a "don't waste ad money on a network that's rapidly going splat" thing.

That's nonsense. In fact, people seem to be missing the entire point here.

These advertisers are not buying time on Air America. These are clients of ABC Radio's talk and news programming. When a station affiliates with a radio network, they are required to run a certain number of spots in return for free access to things like the top of the hour news and other ABC Radio stuff. There are also the Satellite Sisters who air on some AAR affiliates.

Sponsors are buying time to air spots on ABC Radio. What this list represents are those spots that they do not want aired on any affiliate that airs Air America Radio programming. So if an Air America affiliate is required to air, say, two extra spots per hour outside of ABC Radio programming during their normal schedule run to make good their contract with ABC, those spots cannot come from the blackout list.

The advertiser is not doing business with Air America in the first place, so there is no rationale for the statement about wasting money with AAR. The concern here is political. In many cases, it will be bipartisan. The work being done now is to figure out which of these spots air on right wing talk, but blackout liberal talk. The resulting list will make for a target list for activists.

 

[evnlee]

[The work being done now is to figure out which of these spots air on right wing talk, but blackout liberal talk. The resulting list will make for a target list for activists.

I'm sure those huge corporations are shaking in thier collective boots. :

Again, so what? " These advertisers are not buying time on Air America. These are clients of ABC Radio's talk and news programming. "

and, as such, they ( the client )probably understand that ABC Radio does not want thier client base advertised on AAR, (considering thier obvious bias.)

So what can these 'activists' do? Do you honestly believe that AAR myrmidons have any collective 'power' to 'force' ABC radio to air those spots on AAR? Will the client that advertises with ABC radio drop thier agreement with a large listener provider because some DU posters and a handful of angry AAR crackpots sign some ridiculous petition or go around hollering about it? Get real.

The real question here is why hasn't AAR built up a remedy to getting the big corporate sponsors~ where's the Mom and Pop advertisers? For that matter, what's keeping Ben and Jerry's from advertising on AAR programming?

AAR complaining about a 'corporate blackout list' is like the fat chick whining about going to the prom stag. Get on the treadmill, put down the twinkies, and work harder to attract suitors.

 

[dampier]

Again, so what? " These advertisers are not buying time on Air America. These are clients of ABC Radio's talk and news programming. "

and, as such, they ( the client )probably understand that ABC Radio does not want thier client base advertised on AAR, (considering thier obvious bias.)

No... you are still wrong. ABC doesn't care one way or the other. This list is based on the advertisers' wishes, not the ABC Radio Network.

 

[evnlee]

Again, so what? " These advertisers are not buying time on Air America. These are clients of ABC Radio's talk and news programming. "

and, as such, they ( the client )probably understand that ABC Radio does not want thier client base advertised on AAR, (considering thier obvious bias.)

No... you are still wrong. ABC doesn't care one way or the other. This list is based on the advertisers' wishes, not the ABC Radio Network.

again, what's the big deal? First you say they are "clients of ABC Radio's talk and news programming" and then you say " the advertisers themselves don't want to be on AAR stations " but do want to be featured on conservative stations.

Either way
A: the advertisers do not wish to be aired on AAR affiliates, or
B: ABC does not want them ( thier clients )to air on AAR affiliates.

are you saying that if ABC allows programming to be aired on AAR affiliates, and they have a special list of 'sponsors' that don't want to appear on AAR, they can't run another spot? There's no other sponsors to fill the blank? Are they telling AAR affiliates " hey, don't run any Frito-Lay spots, instead, run some dead air instead? " I don't think so.

Who is the bad guy here? ABC Radio or the advertisers that do not wish to appear on AAR? :

 

[dampier]

Either way
A: the advertisers do not wish to be aired on AAR affiliates, or
B: ABC does not want them ( thier clients )to air on AAR affiliates.

are you saying that if ABC allows programming to be aired on AAR affiliates, and they have a special list of 'sponsors' that don't want to appear on AAR, they can't run another spot? There's no other sponsors to fill the blank? Are they telling AAR affiliates " hey, don't run any Frito-Lay spots, instead, run some dead air instead? " I don't think so.

I'm not sure why you are confused. Networks feed advertiser spots down the line to stations which they can use for make-goods or blackout replacements. Let's say State Farm wants to advertise on ABC Radio News at the top of the hour. Let's also say that it return for getting ABC Radio News on your station, you have to give them, in addition to the national ads on their hourly newscast, up to two minutes of advertising outside of the news as well, which ABC gets to sell to run on your station.

State Farm, as an advertiser can ask ABC Radio to alert their affiliates of any of these things.

a) their spots can run on all stations carrying ABC News with no restrictions.
b) their spots can run on the newscast only, but they do not want their spots aired on Air America stations as make-goods or contract spots run during an Air America radio show, to fulfill a contract requirement ABC Radio has for their affiliates.
c) their spots not run on any Air America affiliate for any reason, be it in the newscast or outside of it.

When a substitution needs to be made ABC has already provided stations with alternate spots they can run in place of those ads.

 

[FightingIrish]

First off, I know that similar lists are out there for other forms of 'controversial' or 'polarizing' radio shows, such as Limbaugh or Stern. Radio Shack and Proctor and Gamble are good examples of this.

Some advertisers shun talk altogether. When's the last time you've ever heard a Coke or Pepsi ad on a talk station?

What would be interesting, though, is seeing how the lists compare. Are there advertisers that sponsor conservative talk shows but refuse to sponsor AAR, Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller, etc?

And I did a little digging as well, and some of the companies on the list do in fact air on AAR affiliates, or likely have no restrictions.

Office Depot, in fact, is a big sponsor of Ed Schultz' show (which airs on many AAR affiliates). Big Eddie even appears in radio ads for them.

As for the stations this targets, I don't think this is confined only to ABC News affiliates. Remember, they do have an arm that solely syndicates national ads, rather than programming (I'm more familiar with Westwood One in this regard). Many more stations are affiliates of ABC's national ad rep arm.

 

[evnlee]

Either way
A: the advertisers do not wish to be aired on AAR affiliates, or
B: ABC does not want them ( thier clients )to air on AAR affiliates.

are you saying that if ABC allows programming to be aired on AAR affiliates, and they have a special list of 'sponsors' that don't want to appear on AAR, they can't run another spot? There's no other sponsors to fill the blank? Are they telling AAR affiliates " hey, don't run any Frito-Lay spots, instead, run some dead air instead? " I don't think so.

I'm not sure why you are confused. Networks feed advertiser spots down the line to stations which they can use for make-goods or blackout replacements. Let's say State Farm wants to advertise on ABC Radio News at the top of the hour. Let's also say that it return for getting ABC Radio News on your station, you have to give them, in addition to the national ads on their hourly newscast, up to two minutes of advertising outside of the news as well, which ABC gets to sell to run on your station.

State Farm, as an advertiser can ask ABC Radio to alert their affiliates of any of these things.

a) their spots can run on all stations carrying ABC News with no restrictions.
b) their spots can run on the newscast only, but they do not want their spots aired on Air America stations as make-goods or contract spots run during an Air America radio show, to fulfill a contract requirement ABC Radio has for their affiliates.
c) their spots not run on any Air America affiliate for any reason, be it in the newscast or outside of it.

When a substitution needs to be made ABC has already provided stations with alternate spots they can run in place of those ads.

Okay, but you are the one that wrote : "It's not going to be pretty PR for those sponsors, so either they will stop blacklisting AAR or blacklist all political talk radio to stay away from that third rail."

I asked 'who's the bad guy '? You did not say " State Farm ", you tap danced. Just say it, for crying out loud.

Again, does SF not have the 'right' to not advertise on AAR? Especially if they are getting raked over the coals for thier Katrina shenanigan's? :

Okay, but you are the one that wrote : "It's not going to be pretty PR for those sponsors, so either they will stop blacklisting AAR or blacklist all political talk radio to stay away from that third rail."

Don't you think the corporations on that list have a reason for not wanting to be on AAR?

Phillip, what is that reason? Do they just hate AAR?

Do you honestly think they are going to be concerned over the 'masses' of upset AAR listeners?


yawn. non issue.

 

[dampier]

Okay, but you are the one that wrote : "It's not going to be pretty PR for those sponsors, so either they will stop blacklisting AAR or blacklist all political talk radio to stay away from that third rail."

I asked 'who's the bad guy '? You did not say " State Farm ", you tap danced. Just say it, for crying out loud.

You are trying to make me take a position on something I don't have a position about. What I was relaying is that those people who do have a problem with this will make it an issue with those sponsors. I don't consider this a good guy-bad guy issue. I'm just relaying the information I have. I don't have a problem with advertisers deciding who they want to sponsor, and wouldn't boycott personally over this.

 

[evnlee]

Okay, but you are the one that wrote : "It's not going to be pretty PR for those sponsors, so either they will stop blacklisting AAR or blacklist all political talk radio to stay away from that third rail."

I asked 'who's the bad guy '? You did not say " State Farm ", you tap danced. Just say it, for crying out loud.

You are trying to make me take a position on something I don't have a position about. What I was relaying is that those people who do have a problem with this will make it an issue with those sponsors. I don't consider this a good guy-bad guy issue. I'm just relaying the information I have. I don't have a problem with advertisers deciding who they want to sponsor, and wouldn't boycott personally over this.

fair enough. I stand corrected.

 

[ajhenderson]

Wow, Exxon Mobil doesn't want to be on with hosts that call for them to be investigated and imprisoned. Hmm...

Anyone who has a clue about radio and has seen a network blackout list knows the list is amazingly long and includes plenty of right-wing talkers, the Tom Leykis' and Don and Mike-types, and plenty of others. Honestly, it's amazing ANY station clears the spots the lists are so long. Of course, AC stations with male-bashing morning shows are perfectly innocent as far as these advertisers are concerned. As are Spanish-language stations that say Caucasians should "go back to Plymouth Rock".