AAR goes begging again! Happy Halloween.

[mwebster]

More AirAmeriSpam. Just email; I have not heard them do this on the air.

Some excerpts (full text below):

Happy Halloween from Air America.
It’s Halloween and the right-wing is terrified…of you. ...
This sounds like Tom Betz'post: "Limbaugh/Premier Radio smelling of fear?" They recycle some of the same Arbitron talking points. Then add a new bit about Franken's book selling better than Ann Coulter'a book.

Then we get into fear tactics related to the latest Supreme Court nomination:
...if confirmed Alito could well change the balance of the high court for a generation to come.
We at Air America Radio make you this promise. We won’t let them get away with this without a fight. But we will need your help to do it."

What are they saying: Send money or it's your fault if Alito gets on the court?
And since AAR preaches to an audience already disposed to oppose Alito, what makes them think they are going to change anything?

Then they go for the close:
"How can you help ...
Join the Air America community. We need you. ...
Become an Air America associate. Click to help get Air America on the air in every community in the nation.
Click to contibute: ($50) ($100) ($250)"

The letter is signed by Danny Goldberg, a former record company executive, agent and record promoter. How do guys like Goldberg get radio stations to play records? Payola! Illegal, you say! Not really. They can't give money to under-paid jocks any more. They can't give money to stations unless the station announces the spin was paid for (sort of like a recommercial). But they can - and do - give money to independent record promoters (Goldberg has also worked that side of the street) who can give money to radio stations. (Jocks are still left out.) Maybe this is why AAR hired a record guy to run things.

The statment asking for money "to help get Air America on the air in every community in the nation" is the surest sign yet AAR is paying for clearances - not that there's anything wrong with that! Democracy Radio does it. Most of the second and third string conservative hosts do it. (Rush doesn't have to do it any more. For the last 10 years or so, stations have paid to carry his show.)

And continuing to fund raise in this manner will cause questions to persist about the state of AAR's finances.

--------------
FULL TEXT OF EMAIL

*October 31, 2005 *

Dear Friend of Air America Radio,

It’s Halloween and the right-wing is terrified…of you.

Want to know why? Here are just a few examples:

On October 17th, Rush Limbaugh said this to Sean Hannity:

/“In my mind they don’t even exist…for a moment you almost feel sorry for then.
Then you realize no, they don’t exist. And they don’t pose a threat.” /

But on October 28th, less than two weeks later, Al Franken, broadcasting on a
network that Rush once called “Dead Air America,” beat him like a drum:

*"Air America Radio announced today that 'The Al Franken Show' beat 'The Rush
Limbaugh Show' for the first time in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., two of
the top twenty-five markets, in the target demo of 25-54, according to Arbitron
Summer 2005 Metro. The two shows air at the same time ( 9am-12pm ) in both
markets*.'

While poor Rush is whistling by the graveyard, his fellow ghouls are out
screaming and shrieking and rattling their chains:

Bill O’Reilly recently predicted this to a group of advertisers:

'/[Air America ] is about to fold ... because Americans don't want to hear that
their country sucks 24 hours a day/."

But somehow those pesky facts never seem to get inside the "No Spin Zone." Here
are a few:

* The ratings for the Bill O’Reilly radio show in New York were worse in the
demo of A25-54 than those on Air America that he described as “catastrophic.”
* In the key 25-54 demographic which talk radio offers to advertisers, the
Summer 2005 Arbitron ratings showed that Monday-Friday from 2-4 PM when
O’Reilly is on WOR-AM and which at Air America’s 1190 WLIB-AM contains the
last hour of “The Al Franken Show” and the first hour of “The Randi Rhodes
Show,” that O’Reilly had a 0.6 share and Air America a 1.8 share.
O’Reilly had a cumulative audience of 45,800 and Air America had a
cumulative audience of 95,700 .

Last month, we launched the Air America Associates program and the howling of
the right-wing hypocrites was nothing short of hysterical:

Ann Coulter, the undisputed queen of self-promotion, was cackling with glee at the prospect of using Air America Radio as a marketing device for her latest right-wing screed:

"/That money you were thinking about donating to become an 'Air America
Associate' – Air America Ass' for short - why not do something useful with it?
Buy my book for friends and loved ones./"

Sorry, Ann. People just don’t seem to be paying attention to you the way they used to. As of this morning:

* Al Franken’s “The Truth (with jokes)” was at #7 on Amazon while the paperback edition of “How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)is at #1,042.

But while we may enjoy the right-wing’s fear and loathing of Air America Radio’s
success, we can’t afford to sit back and take it for granted. The dramatic
growth of Air America Radio over the last 19 months – we’re now on in 70 markets
covering more than 60% of the nation – only happened because of you.

And we need to keep growing just as quickly, because only this morning,
President Bush's idea of "Trick or Treat" was to nominate Judge Samuel Alito,
Jr. for Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court. Often referred to as
“Scalito” because of his extreme right-wing views, if confirmed Alito could well
change the balance of the high court for a generation to come.

We at Air America Radio make you this promise. We won’t let them get away with
this without a fight. But we will need your help to do it.

How can you help? Three ways:

* If you are currently listening to Air America Radio on your local station,
call them and thank them for carrying Air America programming. A list of
stations is available at *http://www.airamericaradio.com/stations*

* If you don’t have an Air America Radio affiliate in your area, let us
know: *http://www.airamericaradio.com/feedback*

* Join the Air America Radio community! We need you!
*http://www.airamericaradio.com/associates*

Thank you for all you do for our country.

Danny Goldberg

Air America Radio CEO

\IMAGE: Become an Air America associate. Click to help get Air America on the air in every community in the nation. Click to contibute: ($50) ($100) ($250)"\

 

[Scribbler]

A badly beaten Bill O'Reilly continues his "begging"

> More AirAmeriSpam. Just email; I have not heard them do
> this on the air.

How is it spam? It was sent to people who signed up to receive such messages from AAR. Meanwhile, Bill O'Reilly (who was beaten badly by Air America in New York City) is promising lapel pins and a "signed Thank You card" to people who respond to his "begging."

No Spin Lapel Pin and signed Thank You card
We believe in thanking our premium members for their support, which is why we want to give you a free gift! Whenever you sign up for a new premium membership, or you have reached the one year mark of your premium membership, we will send you a free, EXCLUSIVE No Spin Lapel Pin, along with a thank you card signed by the man himself, Bill O'Reilly! This pin is not available anywhere else, so become a premium member today!

 

[mwebster]

O'Reilly and AAR - Birds of a feather

So, you acknowledge that AAR operates at O'Reilly's level. Good to know. It would have been nice had AAR picked a higher standard for themselves.

And O'Reilly is hardly a major contender in conservative talk radio - second string, at best. The difference here is O'Reilly is generating some extra pocket change on his own. Let me know when Viacom/Westwood One (O'Reilly's syndicator) starts selling T-shirts.

>
> How is it spam? It was sent to people who signed up to
> receive such messages from AAR. Meanwhile, Bill O'Reilly
> (who was beaten badly by Air America in New York City) is
> promising lapel pins and a "signed Thank You card" to people
> who respond to his "begging."
>

 

[Scribbler]

Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and AAR - Birds of a feather

Here's the latest in Rush Limbaugh's "begathon."

Get full access to America's Anchorman with RUSH 24/7 and The Limbaugh Letter. Get Rush's NEW "Still Voting Democrat? You're Stuck on Stupid" bumpersticker. Plus Rush's "Limbaugh on Liberty" Special Report and Screensaver, and "Why the Blue States Don't Get the Red States" Report. Save 30% on combined subscription rates.

1 year of RUSH 24/7 and The Limbaugh Letter is only $59.90

And yes, this "begging" is brought to you by Premiere Radio Networks.

PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS, AFFILIATES AND SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, LACK OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS AND ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED WITHIN RUSH 24/7 FOR ANY PURPOSE. ALL SUCH INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS, AFFILIATES AND SUPPLIERS HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

YOU SPECIFICALLY AGREE THAT PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA, ANY MATERIAL OR DATA SENT OR RECEIVED OR NOT SENT OR RECEIVED, OR ANY TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH A RUSH 24/7. YOU SPECIFICALLY AGREE THAT RUSH 24/7 IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CONTENT SENT USING AND/OR INCLUDED IN RUSH 24/7 BY ANY THIRD PARTY. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS AND/OR AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS, AFFILIATES AND SUPPLIERS MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES TO RUSH 24/7 AND/OR MAY DISCONTINUE ANY PART OF RUSH 24/7 AT ANY TIME.

IN NO EVENT SHALL PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS AND/OR AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS, AFFILIATES AND SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF RUSH 24/7, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS OBTAINED THROUGH RUSH 24/7, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE RUSH 24/7, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS OR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IF THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OR THE EXCLUSION OF WARRANTY SET FORTH ABOVE IS HELD INAPPLICABLE OR UNFORCEABLE FOR ANY REASON, THEN PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS’ MAXIMUM LIABILITY FOR ANY TYPE OF DAMAGES SHALL BE LIMITED TO YOUR MEMBERSHIP FEE. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF RUSH24/7, OR WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS OF USE, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING RUSH 24/7 AND HAVE RETURNED TO YOU THE UNUSED PRORATA PORTION OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP FEE ON A 52-WEEK PRO-RATED BASIS.

> So, you acknowledge that AAR operates at O'Reilly's level.
> Good to know. It would have been nice had AAR picked a
> higher standard for themselves.
>
> And O'Reilly is hardly a major contender in conservative
> talk radio - second string, at best. The difference here is
> O'Reilly is generating some extra pocket change on his own.
> Let me know when Viacom/Westwood One (O'Reilly's syndicator)
> starts selling T-shirts.
>

> >
> > How is it spam? It was sent to people who signed up to
> > receive such messages from AAR. Meanwhile, Bill O'Reilly
> > (who was beaten badly by Air America in New York City) is
> > promising lapel pins and a "signed Thank You card" to
> people
> > who respond to his "begging."
> >
>

 

[mwebster]

Re: Plucked Feathers

Rush isn't begging. Rush is selling a product, a line extension of the radio show. Premium access. Value added. I don't think it's worth it but some people do.

AAR is asking for contributions and offering tokens. They are not selling archives, podcasts, video or what-not for a price. They are saying "help Air America get on the air..." (the operative word repeated in the email and on the website being "help"). AAR's website also clearly states the bumper stickers, t-shirt and tote bag are "free - with your gift." Rush is selling. But what AAR is doing is soliciting donations - not that there's anything wrong with that. (PS: Donations to AAR are NOT tax deductible.)

AAR is in the same league with Salem, maybe even O'Reilly on a good day. They are not in the same league with Rush.

Division I-A
Conservative Conference - Rush, Hannity
Liberal Conference -
Independent - Imus, Stern

Division I-AA
Conservative Conference - Beck, O'Reilly, Boortz
Liberal Conference - Springer, Schultz, Miller

Division II
Conservative Conference - Gallagher, Liddy, Ingraham, Savage, Schlesinger
Liberal Conference - Colmes, Rhodes, Hartmann, Maddow, Franken
Independent - Hendrie, Leykis

Division III
Conservative Conference - Bennett, Bruce, Cullum, Doyle, Humphries, Larson, Medved, Praeger, Parshall, Reagan, Snow
Liberal Conference - Malloy, Garafolo, Maron-Reilly
Independent - Lionel, Stephan

 

[Scribbler]

Re: Plucked Feathers

> Rush isn't begging. Rush is selling a product, a line
> extension of the radio show. Premium access. Value added.
> I don't think it's worth it but some people do.

Access to AAR programming is available free to AAR listeners.
>
And I thought your previous argument was that it was somehow wrong for syndicators to peddle show access and merchandise...that O'Reilly and Limbaugh were doing it all on their own and that Westwood and Premiere had nothing to do with it. But the Limbaugh web site makes it very clear that Premiere is behind the Limbaugh peddling operation.

And if Imus is in "Division I-A" and Schultz and Miller are in "I-AA," then how can you blame Air America for WWRC's rating woes? Imus does the morning show, followed by Miller, and Schultz does PM drive. The real reasons are a poor signal, a lack of promotion, and (maybe) Imus being over the hill.

> Division I-A
> Conservative Conference - Rush, Hannity
> Liberal Conference -
> Independent - Imus, Stern
>
> Division I-AA
> Conservative Conference - Beck, O'Reilly, Boortz
> Liberal Conference - Springer, Schultz, Miller
>
> Division II
> Conservative Conference - Gallagher, Liddy, Ingraham,
> Savage, Schlesinger
> Liberal Conference - Colmes, Rhodes, Hartmann, Maddow,
> Franken
> Independent - Hendrie, Leykis
>
> Division III
> Conservative Conference - Bennett, Bruce, Cullum, Doyle,
> Humphries, Larson, Medved, Praeger, Parshall, Reagan, Snow
> Liberal Conference - Malloy, Garafolo, Maron-Reilly
> Independent - Lionel, Stephan
>

 

[thebroker]

Re: Plucked Feathers

I think the major difference here is that Rush is pocketing the bucks, while AAR is using the proceeds from the sale of their earth-friendly grocery sacks to pay the light bill.

 

[mwebster]

Re: Plucked Feathers

>
> And if Imus is in "Division I-A" and Schultz and Miller are
> in "I-AA," then how can you blame Air America for WWRC's
> rating woes? Imus does the morning show, followed by
> Miller, and Schultz does PM drive. The real reasons are a
> poor signal, a lack of promotion, and (maybe) Imus being
> over the hill.
>

I never "blamed" AAR for WWRC's ratings. The station was marginal with sportstalk before. They could flip to religion and have God do morning drive and still not get much of an audience.

Imus looks over the hill. TV was a mistake. He's still got it on the radio. I don't know that he's the best fit for a progressive talk station. But if the choice CC faced when the station flipped to progressive talk was Imus or AAR's morning trainwreck, Imus is an understandable choice.

Lack of promotion? One thing AAR excels at is getting attention without paying for it. Barnum knew there is no negative publicity.

But poor signals are a problem AAR faces in many markets and one which may not go away. AAR showed up after most of the best real estate was taken. And that, coupled with apparent declining interest in ALL political talk, may really cripple them.

 

[Scribbler]

Re: Plucked Feathers

>
> I never "blamed" AAR for WWRC's ratings. The station was
> marginal with sportstalk before. They could flip to
> religion and have God do morning drive and still not get
> much of an audience.

This is HERESY in the anti-AAR, mostly right-wing universe. The correct talking point is that the signal is fine and that WWRC is "Air America's station." Somehow the anti-AAR crowd ignores the fact that Clear Channel owns WWRC and runs mostly NON-AAR programming (and always has, since it flipped the station to mostly progressive talk).

> Lack of promotion? One thing AAR excels at is getting
> attention without paying for it.

AAR isn't responsible for promoting Don Imus, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, and Lionel. Clear Channel is. And it's not doing the job.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Scribbler on 11/01/05 11:06 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[doc9464]

I should ignore this but its hard not to debunk the lies....

The only people who got this message were the people that signed up on the AAR web site. You obviously SIGNED up on the web site. This is the only way you got this unless someone else who SIGNED up did the same thing. This was not sent as unsolicited mail It is opt-in mail.

The arbitron issues are given discussion as well as some additional info about Bill O'Reilly's failure to beat Randi or Al. I find that worth reading right there.

The Franken book success...well I find that great. I think you already posted someting whining about Franken promoting the book (Was that you? - if not I stand corrected in advance). Guess Franken has another winner ....no one complained when O'Reilly had his book

I still have to ask why are you so concerned about AAR's associated plan when you would have to opt-in to recieve this type of mail. Otherwise, Im back to my original post. Im not just sure why you are "obsessing" or if not "obsessing" more concerned than anyone who is acutally interested in Progressive Radio.



> More AirAmeriSpam. Just email; I have not heard them do
> this on the air.
>
> Some excerpts (full text below):
>
> Happy Halloween from Air America.
> It’s Halloween and the right-wing is terrified…of you. ...
> This sounds like Tom Betz'post: "Limbaugh/Premier Radio
> smelling of fear?" They recycle some of the same Arbitron
> talking points. Then add a new bit about Franken's book
> selling better than Ann Coulter'a book.
>
> Then we get into fear tactics related to the latest Supreme
> Court nomination:
> ...if confirmed Alito could well change the balance of the
> high court for a generation to come.
> We at Air America Radio make you this promise. We won’t let
> them get away with this without a fight. But we will need
> your help to do it."
>
> What are they saying: Send money or it's your fault if Alito
> gets on the court?
> And since AAR preaches to an audience already disposed to
> oppose Alito, what makes them think they are going to change
> anything?
>
> Then they go for the close:
> "How can you help ...
> Join the Air America community. We need you. ...
> Become an Air America associate. Click to help get Air
> America on the air in every community in the nation.
> Click to contibute: ($50) ($100) ($250)"
>
> The letter is signed by Danny Goldberg, a former record
> company executive, agent and record promoter. How do guys
> like Goldberg get radio stations to play records? Payola!
> Illegal, you say! Not really. They can't give money to
> under-paid jocks any more. They can't give money to
> stations unless the station announces the spin was paid for
> (sort of like a recommercial). But they can - and do - give
> money to independent record promoters (Goldberg has also
> worked that side of the street) who can give money to radio
> stations. (Jocks are still left out.) Maybe this is why
> AAR hired a record guy to run things.
>
> The statment asking for money "to help get Air America on
> the air in every community in the nation" is the surest sign
> yet AAR is paying for clearances - not that there's anything
> wrong with that! Democracy Radio does it. Most of the
> second and third string conservative hosts do it. (Rush
> doesn't have to do it any more. For the last 10 years or
> so, stations have paid to carry his show.)
>
> And continuing to fund raise in this manner will cause
> questions to persist about the state of AAR's finances.
>
> --------------
> FULL TEXT OF EMAIL
>
> *October 31, 2005 *
>
> Dear Friend of Air America Radio,
>
> It’s Halloween and the right-wing is terrified…of you.
>
> Want to know why? Here are just a few examples:
>
> On October 17th, Rush Limbaugh said this to Sean Hannity:
>
> /“In my mind they don’t even exist…for a moment you almost
> feel sorry for then.
> Then you realize no, they don’t exist. And they don’t pose a
> threat.” /
>
> But on October 28th, less than two weeks later, Al Franken,
> broadcasting on a
> network that Rush once called “Dead Air America,” beat him
> like a drum:
>
> *"Air America Radio announced today that 'The Al Franken
> Show' beat 'The Rush
> Limbaugh Show' for the first time in San Francisco and
> Portland, Ore., two of
> the top twenty-five markets, in the target demo of 25-54,
> according to Arbitron
> Summer 2005 Metro. The two shows air at the same time (
> 9am-12pm ) in both
> markets*.'
>
> While poor Rush is whistling by the graveyard, his fellow
> ghouls are out
> screaming and shrieking and rattling their chains:
>
> Bill O’Reilly recently predicted this to a group of
> advertisers:
>
> '/[Air America ] is about to fold ... because Americans
> don't want to hear that
> their country sucks 24 hours a day/."
>
> But somehow those pesky facts never seem to get inside the
> "No Spin Zone." Here
> are a few:
>
> * The ratings for the Bill O’Reilly radio show in New
> York were worse in the
> demo of A25-54 than those on Air America that he
> described as “catastrophic.”
> * In the key 25-54 demographic which talk radio offers
> to advertisers, the
> Summer 2005 Arbitron ratings showed that Monday-Friday
> from 2-4 PM when
> O’Reilly is on WOR-AM and which at Air America’s 1190
> WLIB-AM contains the
> last hour of “The Al Franken Show” and the first hour
> of “The Randi Rhodes
> Show,” that O’Reilly had a 0.6 share and Air America a
> 1.8 share.
> O’Reilly had a cumulative audience of 45,800 and Air
> America had a
> cumulative audience of 95,700 .
>
> Last month, we launched the Air America Associates program
> and the howling of
> the right-wing hypocrites was nothing short of hysterical:
>
> Ann Coulter, the undisputed queen of self-promotion, was
> cackling with glee at the prospect of using Air America
> Radio as a marketing device for her latest right-wing
> screed:
>
> "/That money you were thinking about donating to become an
> 'Air America
> Associate' – Air America Ass' for short - why not do
> something useful with it?
> Buy my book for friends and loved ones./"
>
> Sorry, Ann. People just don’t seem to be paying attention to
> you the way they used to. As of this morning:
>
> * Al Franken’s “The Truth (with jokes)” was at #7 on
> Amazon while the paperback edition of “How to Talk to a
> Liberal (If You Must)is at #1,042.
>
> But while we may enjoy the right-wing’s fear and loathing of
> Air America Radio’s
> success, we can’t afford to sit back and take it for
> granted. The dramatic
> growth of Air America Radio over the last 19 months – we’re
> now on in 70 markets
> covering more than 60% of the nation – only happened because
> of you.
>
> And we need to keep growing just as quickly, because only
> this morning,
> President Bush's idea of "Trick or Treat" was to nominate
> Judge Samuel Alito,
> Jr. for Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court.
> Often referred to as
> “Scalito” because of his extreme right-wing views, if
> confirmed Alito could well
> change the balance of the high court for a generation to
> come.
>
> We at Air America Radio make you this promise. We won’t let
> them get away with
> this without a fight. But we will need your help to do it.
>
> How can you help? Three ways:
>
> * If you are currently listening to Air America Radio on
> your local station,
> call them and thank them for carrying Air America
> programming. A list of
> stations is available at
> *http://www.airamericaradio.com/stations*
>
> * If you don’t have an Air America Radio affiliate in
> your area, let us
> know: *http://www.airamericaradio.com/feedback*
>
> * Join the Air America Radio community! We need you!
> *http://www.airamericaradio.com/associates*
>
> Thank you for all you do for our country.
>
> Danny Goldberg
>
> Air America Radio CEO
>
> \IMAGE: Become an Air America associate. Click to help get
> Air America on the air in every community in the nation.
> Click to contibute: ($50) ($100) ($250)"\
>

 

[ajhenderson]

Re: Plucked Feathers

> This is HERESY in the anti-AAR, mostly right-wing universe.
> The correct talking point is that the signal is fine and
> that WWRC is "Air America's station." Somehow the anti-AAR
> crowd ignores the fact that Clear Channel owns WWRC and runs
> mostly NON-AAR programming (and always has, since it flipped
> the station to mostly progressive talk).
>
> > Lack of promotion? One thing AAR excels at is getting
> > attention without paying for it.
>
> AAR isn't responsible for promoting Don Imus, Stephanie
> Miller, Ed Schultz, and Lionel. Clear Channel is. And it's
> not doing the job.

Quit being a left-wing stooge for AAR. Clear Channel promotes WTNT even less. If you want to bitch about evil republicans, find a blog.

 

[NewsVet]

Selling Access and Phony Rankings

Rush/Premiere sells access to Rush's streams. AAR listeners get AAR streams for free.

> Division I-AA
> Conservative Conference - Beck, O'Reilly, Boortz
> Liberal Conference - Springer, Schultz, Miller

How can you justify putting Springer and Miller is a higher "division" than Franken and Rhodes? Both Springer and Miller are on far fewer stations and neither can point to any rating successes. The Premiere press releases comparing Rush's ratings with Franken, Schultz, and Springer consistently show Franken getting better numbers than both Schultz and Springer. Miller has been in syndication for more than a year and her web site lists only three major markets where she's on -- Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Her web site claims that she's on "dozens" of stations, although a fan who recently counted them could come up with only 23 -- far fewer than the 60 plus for both Franken and Rhodes.
>
> Division II
> Conservative Conference - Gallagher, Liddy, Ingraham,
> Savage, Schlesinger
> Liberal Conference - Colmes, Rhodes, Hartmann, Maddow,
> Franken
> Independent - Hendrie, Leykis
>
> Division III
> Conservative Conference - Bennett, Bruce, Cullum, Doyle,
> Humphries, Larson, Medved, Praeger, Parshall, Reagan, Snow
> Liberal Conference - Malloy, Garafolo, Maron-Reilly
> Independent - Lionel, Stephan
>

 

[Scribbler]

Re: Plucked Feathers

> Quit being a left-wing stooge for AAR. Clear Channel
> promotes WTNT even less. If you want to bitch about evil
> republicans, find a blog.

Who said anything about Republicans, evil or otherwise? But you're right about WTNT. Clear Channel should promote it too, along with that station that carries Imus, Miller, Schultz, and Lionel.

 

[clichemoth]

Re: Selling Access and Phony Rankings

> Rush/Premiere sells access to Rush's streams. AAR listeners
> get AAR streams for free.

It's not like Rush isn't available free on many stations' streams (KEX and WLS come to mind immediately, but I know there are several others). Site members on Rush's site (and Beck's, C2C's, and Hendrie's sites, all of which operate identically in that regard. I presume Dr. Laura's does as well.) also get access to past shows and other benefits.

He's selling a product. AAR isn't selling a product here, they're asking listeners to donate to keep a commercial radio network on the air. Even as a supporter of progtalk, I think that's a joke. The only other stations I've heard do that were tiny religious AMs that essentially operate as non-comms even though their license doesn't require them to. Those stations aren't out soliciting national ad buys at the same time, though, and that's the difference.

 

[Scribbler]

Re: Selling Access and Phony Rankings

> He's selling a product. AAR isn't selling a product here,
> they're asking listeners to donate to keep a commercial
> radio network on the air. Even as a supporter of progtalk,
> I think that's a joke.

They're NOT saying they're asking for money to keep the network "on the air." They're saying they're doing it to further expand. They could do what Limbaugh/Premiere does -- charge for access to both current streams and archives, but so far AAR has resisted the idea. Would making people pay for what they now get free make you happy?

And I doubt that many of Rush's paying customers know that they get his live show free from a few affiliates and they sure can't get his archived shows free, anywhere. AAR programs, past and present, are free, period.

Danny Goldberg said he got the idea for an "Associates" program from The Nation magazine which has been doing something similar for many years and which is something like a hundred years old. It may be a dumb idea from a PR viewpoint because it's never been done in commercial radio before, but aside from that, why not do whatever it takes to expand?

The New York Post, the Weekly Standard, the Washington Times, and many other conservative putlications continue to exist (at a loss) only becsause their conservative backers pour money into them, knowing that they'll never make a profit. Why deny progessives the same privilige if they want to chip in much smaller amounts to help a progressive alternative to the near-monopoly that conservative talk radio now enjoys? Why is OK for newspapers and magazines and not for radio networks?

 

[mwebster]

Losing Money

> It may be a dumb idea from a PR
> viewpoint because it's never been done in commercial radio
> before, but aside from that, why not do whatever it takes to
> expand?
>
> The New York Post, the Weekly Standard, the Washington
> Times, and many other conservative putlications continue to
> exist (at a loss) only becsause their conservative backers
> pour money into them, knowing that they'll never make a
> profit. Why deny progessives the same privilige if they want
> to chip in much smaller amounts to help a progressive
> alternative to the near-monopoly that conservative talk
> radio now enjoys? Why is OK for newspapers and magazines and
> not for radio networks?
>

It sounds like you're saying progressive talk radio and specifically Air America Radio is losing money (and that this associates program is a "dumb" idea). The Nation makes no bones about running at a loss. AAR and some of their defenders here try to claim they are a successful business. If they operated as a non-profit (like Democracy Radio) without the pretense of being a business, it would be a whole different conversation. Now the conversation is, they say they are doing well but they are asking for "help."

And expansion is not always a good idea. All sorts of companies have failed by expanding too much or too soon. Of course, most of those companies operated in the real world of profit and loss without improper loans, rich backers or even "associates" to bail them out. In this case, you have a company not generating sufficient sales revenue from their current audience and station line-up apparently buying their way onto more (probably low power, marginal AM stations) where they will continue to get insufficient sales revenue to buy their way onto even more stations. Rush's syndicator took years to develop a strong station line-up, they did not force premature expansion. But they were running a business - not a crusade.

 

[thebroker]

Re: Losing Money

Frankly, has anybody stopped to consider that perhaps AAR is is leaking like a sieve because nobody's listening? If AAR were the ratings powerhouse that some of it's fans believe it to be, why isn't it making money hand over fist?

If people are listening to a program, said program will attract advertisers. If nobody's listening but the crickets, advertisers have no incentive to spend the money. In a full 28% of the markets where AAR is on the air, it has no measurable audience. Therefore, as many as 19 of AAR's roughly 67 affiliates simply "don't count". If I'm an advertiser, I'm not going to get real excited about my commercials clearing on stations with an audience so small it can't be counted.

From a credibility standpoint, I think perhaps AAR would be better off to just stop their sales efforts and focus on fundraising, becoming a strickly non-commercial network. Perhaps that would allow them to pick up affiliates who are also non-commercial.

Sure, I just flat-out don't like AAR. The hosts grate my nerves. However, I do enjoy certain progressive programming, specifically Ed Schultz and occasionally Stephanie Miller is she isn't in an America-hating mood. I think AAR could take some lessons from Jones Radio Network, the syndicator of Miller and Schultz. It's all a matter of execution. Perhaps if AAR as a corporation toned down the rhetoric a little, they'd have more success attracting both affiliates and advertisers. Leave the rhetoric for the hosts...

 

[dampier]

> I should ignore this but its hard not to debunk the lies....

It's just more of the same so I have stayed out of it myself.

> The only people who got this message were the people that
> signed up on the AAR web site. You obviously SIGNED up on
> the web site. This is the only way you got this unless
> someone else who SIGNED up did the same thing. This was not
> sent as unsolicited mail It is opt-in mail.

This is the key thing. I wonder if he signed up under 25 e-mail addresses just so he could complain about all the begging. I don't give donations to AAR myself, but I'm not bothered by it that much either. If I was, I'd just unsubscribe. They are not running on-air telethons.

 

[FloridaBear1776]

How you can have plenty of listeners and still lose money

Imagine an AM talk radio station, independently owned, pulling down a 2 share 25-54. That station's share would be pretty good in many markets. But it has only that two share to sell, going up against a chain with eight stations and a combined 33 share, and another chain with six stations and a combined 32 share, and so on.

The situation for AAR is somewhat similar. Network radio avails are bundled up together. AAR inventory is handled by Jones, but it's a relatively small fish compared to Premiere and Westwood One. AAR is a small fish within a small fish.
Being a stand-alone network, AAR doesn't have all the economies of scale that Premiere and Westwood possess. There isn't some other division throwing off cash that can be used to keep a network afloat until it becomes profitable.
Also, while many CC and Infinity stations clear AAR, you can bet more would if either Premiere or Westwood owned the network. I don't know of any Cox stations that clear AAR just because it's repped by Jones.

I can guarantee you this, if AAR goes down, and I don't think that's going to happen at this stage, some radio syndicator will buy the corporate shell and keep it going, making it profitable by merging the business into its other businesses. More likely is that AAR's owners will sell out at some point to recoup their investment and allow the business further opportunities for growth.

 

[thebroker]

Re: How you can have plenty of listeners and still lose money

> More likely is that AAR's owners will sell out
> at some point to recoup their investment and allow the
> business further opportunities for growth.

I'm not entirely certain, but I think maybe this has already happened once? Isn't AAR on it's second set of owners?



I also had no idea it was repped by Jones. Sure, JRN isn't as big a talk syndicator as Premiere or Westwood, but they do a whole lot of business with their 24-hour formats and music on hard disc, both of which carry network avails. So, they have some synergy here that even Premiere does't have.

Maybe a good solution would be for JRN to actually acquire AAR's assets? That way, they could run them as a real syndicated network, not a rhetoric machine. I believe that this could be the only chance AAR has of surviving long term.