Sorry to anyone who might be upset if there's any gloating about the possibility of AAR leaving town, but hey:
they're not the only station that someone might make fun of here. Look at WRKO and all THOSE posts!
There is a place for left-leaning talk on the dial (and one could say there is, on the left part of the FM dial)
but Air America, for all the ballyhoo about it, kind of fumbled the ball. Whether it was CC not promoting them
properly, or getting on weak signals, or putting on the droning voice of Franken or Randi Rhodes saying that
ha ha, the President should be shot; or whether it was the fact that they couldn't balance their books,
or that shows somehow weren't attracting an audience...
or whether it was the fact that conservative talk
radio succeeds, especially in Boston, because it's an alternative to the Left media out there and has over
the years been skillfully done. Whatever the reason, AAR's lack of success isn't surprising--and note that if
there are any libtalk shows with potential, they seem to come from other outlets like Jones.
Look, it probably would have been better if AAR had tried to put together a compelling show, someone who
puts entertainment/info together well, and marketed it to the so-called conservative talkers like WRKO
or WTKK (WBZ, I think, is a bit more centrist--and they don't really have open slots). They're "conservative
talkers" because that has worked in the past (and for that matter, are they ALL conservative? Mike
Barnicle, Jim Braude...and Marge Clapprood in the past...)
AAR may be going down but that doesn't mean liberal or moderate talk will; what I would have done:
--Get compelling, entertaining hosts (concentrate more on entertaining, not on winning elections, though
the Left has certainly had success with the latter in Boston!)
--make sure each AAR station has a DAILY ---LOCAL-- host! Not all syndie! But that would apply to the
idea of AAR doing a "network" rather than marketing individual shows to stations...
--Market yourselves to the big stations in town like WRKO (big signals). True, the radio landscape has
been littered with the failed libtalkers of the past: Hightower, Cuomo, J. Jackson, etc. But hey I thought
Steph Miller had potential and I liked Colmes' show when WRKO briefly had it.
--Balance your books--$20 milliion in debt? Of course maybe they were hoping the advertisers would
come through. Did they?
etc.
If libtalk should disappear from 1200 and 1430 either Monday, or a couple weeks after that, or Jan 1,
don't be surprised--and yes, radio is a business and the ratings/billings just weren't there--but
people can learn from mistakes and perhaps it will rise in some other way. Though you might also
argue that the Democrats now having control of Congress might make the conservative talkers
stronger than ever, as it's the opposition getting their voices together and rallying...
they're not the only station that someone might make fun of here. Look at WRKO and all THOSE posts!
There is a place for left-leaning talk on the dial (and one could say there is, on the left part of the FM dial)
but Air America, for all the ballyhoo about it, kind of fumbled the ball. Whether it was CC not promoting them
properly, or getting on weak signals, or putting on the droning voice of Franken or Randi Rhodes saying that
ha ha, the President should be shot; or whether it was the fact that they couldn't balance their books,
or that shows somehow weren't attracting an audience...
or whether it was the fact that conservative talk
radio succeeds, especially in Boston, because it's an alternative to the Left media out there and has over
the years been skillfully done. Whatever the reason, AAR's lack of success isn't surprising--and note that if
there are any libtalk shows with potential, they seem to come from other outlets like Jones.
Look, it probably would have been better if AAR had tried to put together a compelling show, someone who
puts entertainment/info together well, and marketed it to the so-called conservative talkers like WRKO
or WTKK (WBZ, I think, is a bit more centrist--and they don't really have open slots). They're "conservative
talkers" because that has worked in the past (and for that matter, are they ALL conservative? Mike
Barnicle, Jim Braude...and Marge Clapprood in the past...)
AAR may be going down but that doesn't mean liberal or moderate talk will; what I would have done:
--Get compelling, entertaining hosts (concentrate more on entertaining, not on winning elections, though
the Left has certainly had success with the latter in Boston!)
--make sure each AAR station has a DAILY ---LOCAL-- host! Not all syndie! But that would apply to the
idea of AAR doing a "network" rather than marketing individual shows to stations...
--Market yourselves to the big stations in town like WRKO (big signals). True, the radio landscape has
been littered with the failed libtalkers of the past: Hightower, Cuomo, J. Jackson, etc. But hey I thought
Steph Miller had potential and I liked Colmes' show when WRKO briefly had it.
--Balance your books--$20 milliion in debt? Of course maybe they were hoping the advertisers would
come through. Did they?
etc.
If libtalk should disappear from 1200 and 1430 either Monday, or a couple weeks after that, or Jan 1,
don't be surprised--and yes, radio is a business and the ratings/billings just weren't there--but
people can learn from mistakes and perhaps it will rise in some other way. Though you might also
argue that the Democrats now having control of Congress might make the conservative talkers
stronger than ever, as it's the opposition getting their voices together and rallying...
