Rant on Air America Minnesota - not what I wanted my 1000th post to be!

[Oreo]

Nick Coleman is ripping into Randi Rhodes. He is saying he's glad they don't play her show. Dumbass doesn't even know they air her show overnight (which is a huge mistake IMO it shoul dbe on instead of Ed Schulz)

So I was pissed at that and then they did something that put me over the edge. They aired an ad for the FUCKING REPUBLICANS!! Granted they're wasting their money and giving money to AAR but for a while I thought I was listening to FOX.

I'm no longer volunteering to do their website. F `em.
Maybe I should put a big picture of Randi on their front page? I still have access

[chas 2010]

1. The station is run by a Christian. Enough said.

Maybe somebody will come around and buy it and make it into something soon. I heard when Franken comes to Minnesota I think he is going to clean house and operate out of it. Right now they run a bunch of small timers on the air that do not get much audiance. Morning Sedition and Al Franken and Ed Schultz keep them afloat.

[Oreo]

2. Not sure her being a Christian is the problem

I agree with everything else you said though. Al can't come soon enough.

Welcome to DU!

[bluestatewins]

7. Franken cleaning house

Franken plans to build a studio in the basement of his house. He will not own, operate, nor have any influence over any radio stations in Minnesota.

Air America has pitifully low ratings in every market... including the Twin Cities... where the low power of the signal is going to be a problem.

In other markets the signals are higher power... why the low ratings?

Liberals are so busy tearing each other down the republicans win by default.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

21. Your information is incorrect. Air America is #2 in NY and has grown in

Boston despite the weak signal.

[Love Bug]

3. Anyone hear the ads for dealing with pregnancy by the LDS?

I've heard this ad twice now and next time I'm going to write down their contact information. I suspect this is one of those pregnancy "crisis centers" run by religious orgs that use scare tactics to keep women from considering abortion. If that is the case I'm going to raise holy hell with the local AAR affiliate for accepting advertising $$ from and promoting non-progressive groups.

I didn't hear Colman say anything about Randi because I don't hear his whole show. Shame on him. What did he do -- buy into that whole Drudge thing?

[Oreo]

4. From what I hear

the owner is a right-to-lifer. She ran against Mark Kennedy and lost.

I appreciate all she is doing to bring AAR here but allowing ads for repubs is disgusting

[Thegonagle]

25. The ads played on the station don't concern me...

Because they pay the bills.

If conservatives want to waste money on that station, OK.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Oreo]

6. I wouldn't need to hack it

I built the new site.

Congrats on your 1st post being an attack against me. Nice job.

I will say over and over again that AAR is a great thing. If I complain about it, does that mean I think the entire station sucks? That's like saying if we complain about Bush, we hate our country. You're better than that.

[bluestatewins]

9. that's the way the cookie crumbles

how funny that you whine about being attacked while you seem to not hesitate to attack others who are working hard and pouring thousands of dollars of personal resources into making a change.

then you brag about your idea of hacking a website. isn't hacking illegal?

[Oreo]

11. When did I say hacking?

What part of I BUILT THE WEBSITE don't you understand?

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Oreo]

10. or an angry insider

I already did an alert

[progree]

12. Air America's low ratings

Check this out - discussion of Air America's low ratings (newshounds.us is a progressive web site, as were most or all the posters on this particular discussion).

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/04/09/vast_left_wing_conspiracy.php

[progree]

13. Air America ratings - a sad sad story.

Hi,

RadioEqualizer, a right-wing web site, has been writing about the Air America ratings being anemic, and more importantly, showing no growth.

Remember, folks, we are losing election after election after election because the mainstream media, cable TV, and the vast majority of talk radio is right-wing (or arguably center-right in the case of the mainstream media). I can't put it more plainly. The domination of the media by the right-wing is the #1 reason we are losing elections despite the miserable Repub / Bush track record. There is NO #2 reason, NOR #3 reason, NOR #4 reason, NOR #5 reason. Possibly weighing in at #6 is that Bush looks tough on his ranch with cowboy boots and chain saw.

The vast majority of our fellow citizens aren't aware that there is any "reality" other than what they hear, read, and see from the above. If we don't tell them, advertise, put bumper stickers on our cars, put up lawn signs, hand out business cards, carry signs (ahem), and in other ways advertise the existence of our radio outlets, the following will occur:

1. Most of these stations will fold (or more precisely they will dump Air America)
2. We will continue lose election after election after election.

This is a call to action. "Save The Whales" bumper stickers and knocking on some doors a couple days every 4 years is *NOT* going to affect many minds. Getting our voice out there and people aware of it will.

I found a discussion about the ratings on Newshounds.us . Its moniker is "News Hounds --
We watch FOX so you don't have to." and is apparently left wing. I didn't explore it. Certainly most of the postings on this particular discussion were left wing. See a couple inches below for a couple key messages. The Msg 2 response trying to put a happy face on it all is pretty thin gruel. New York City is about the only good news city.

Meanwhile, here are some Minneapolis ratings. It is from the below URL. I only kept the ones that have "Talk" or "News" in them, and only the last two rating periods. The URL below has 3 more earlier rating periods.

http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/

Click on Minneapolis and it will take you to the below:

http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DetailsPage.aspx?MID=167&RY=2005&RQ=1&MP=0&OTHER=2&MN=Minneapolis-St.%20Paul&MS=MN&MR=16&12P=2606000&UP=4/28/2005&SU=CM&BPER=5.6&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=6/1/2005&CE=0

   Station  Group Owner-Format        Fa'04      Wi'05  

   WCCO-AM  Infinity - News/Talk       8.0       8.6  
   KSTP-AM  Hubbard - News/Talk        4.6       4.6  
   WWTC-AM  Salem  - Talk              1.8       1.2  
   WFMP-FM  Hubbard  - Talk            1.0       1.1  
   KTNF-AM  JR Broadcasting - Talk     N/A       0.9  

KTNF-AM (AM 950, Air America Minnesota) doesn't have a rating in Fall 2004 because it was KSNB-AM (Business News) until December, according to the footnote on the page). Actually, it changed to liberal talk radio October 1 (and 24/7 too), per my recollection though the call letters were changed later.

WWTC-AM above is AM 1280, The Patriot. Its ratings in the last 5 quarters: 1.1, 1.7, 1.6, 1.8, 1.2. Ratings bounce around a lot on stations with lower

KYCR-AM (not listed above) is AM 1570, the Patriot II.

("The Patriot" and "The Patriot II" are both right-wing hate radio stations. I don't know why Patriot II isn't listed ... the logical first guess is the hopeful one that their ratings are too low.)


###########################################
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[] Newshounds discussion - a few key messages
###########################################
###########################################

News Hounds
We watch FOX so you don't have to.
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/04/09/vast_left_wing_conspiracy.php

==== Msg 1 =======================================


Not good news for Air America:

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/03/new-liberal-talk-radio-ratings.html

Update: New ratings, just released, show that in Boston, Air America outlet WKOX shows no growth from last month with a tiny 0.6 share of the audience. Its simulcast partner is a no-show.

In San Diego, the much-hyped liberal talk station KLSD continues its ratings collapse, from a 2.3 to a 1.9 to a 1.6 audience share in brand new figures.

In Philadelphia, Air America affiliate WHAT-AM drops from a tiny 0.8 to a miniscule 0.6 overall audience share.

In Detroit, lib talker WTDW-AM is a no-show again. Even Canadian talk radio (Ontario's CKLW-AM) is doing better than Air America in Detroit!

March 31 update: Air America in deep trouble in San Francisco: a flat 1.0 share, tied for 25th place overall, no audience gain from last month and a small fraction of the audience KQKE's predecessor had on the same frequency, playing adult standards.

In Washington, DC: liberal outlet WWRC is not present in the latest figures with any measurable audience.

This data overall paints a very bleak picture of liberal talk radio's future. There wasn't one sign of growth, not a fraction of ratings point in any city and many were down from already anemic levels. It's time to start confronting the liberal talk radio hype machine head-on with the facts. I can't wait to see what their excuses are this time for this miserable performance.

Posted by: Chuck at April 10, 2005 08:09 AM

==== Msg 2 =======================================

The post by chuck is misleading

The fact is that air america is on all but one of the top ten markets, Houston. That is proof that AA is not about to fail.

The number one radio market is New York.

In New York, WABC, carries both Rush and Hannity, is down this quater from a 4.5 to a 3.8 to the current 3.5.

Wlib carries AA had a 1.2 for the last two quaters before dropping to a 1.1 this quater.

What does this prove?

AA listeners are very loyal, and consistent. That means liberal radio as a format works.

It cannot be over looked that AA's ratings should be higher, espeically in New York. To me this means the format is sound but the on air personalities suck. Be honest, Franken is funny when he is serious and unlistenable when he is doing a comedy skit.

*Top markets rated by arbitron
*Ratings taken from Radio and Records

Posted by: b at April 10, 2005 10:10 AM
--------------------------------------------------

-Progree

[loveable liberal]

15. but dont you agree the reich wing scumbag, junkie's have had

more time to develop a market. We are but young and kicking junkie's ass in new york and portland. Dipsh*& Hannity isnt even on the radar.

[progree]

17. Its the flat and declining ratings that worry me. nt

[LTR]

24. These arguements are all bullshit

First off, many AAR affiliates are low-powered and/or obscure AM signals. Many of them (particularly the ones in Washington, DC and Boston) don't even cover the entire market.

Second, we are in a post-election hangover. Talk radio, both conservative and liberal, are down in the ratings.

Third, these are overall ratings, which mean very little. Demographic breakdowns give a more complete story. This is what advertisers base their ad buying decisions on.

And finally, syndicated liberal talk is a low-overhead situation. All of the shows (including AAR, Schultz, Miller, etc.) are offered on a barter basis. Meaning that the stations airing them just give up a few minutes of network ad time per hour. That's all. If it's all syndicated talk, there's not a single dime to pay air talent with. Just throw it on the air, sell some local ad time, and voila! The station's making money once they pay the electric bill. Syndicated liberal talk is an obscenely cheap format. Programming cost? Nothing.

[progree]

26. Re: "These arguements are all bullshit"

Re: "These arguements are all bullshit"

Gosh, I really hope so.

> First off, many AAR affiliates are low-powered and/or obscure AM signals. Many of them (particularly the ones in Washington, DC and Boston) don't even cover the entire market. <

That doesn't make me feel any better.

> Second, we are in a post-election hangover. Talk radio, both conservative and liberal, are down in the ratings. <

Still, AM 1500 is 4.6 and WWTC-AM The Patriot is 1.2. Compared to 0.9 for KTNF AM 950 Air America. Granted, AM 1500 isn't all political talk, they have some gardening show and a car fix-it program and who knows what else. I suspect though that these non-political shows aren't their big ratings getters; they are mostly on the weekend.

> Third, these are overall ratings, which mean very little. Demographic breakdowns give a more complete story. This is what advertisers base their ad buying decisions on. <

I haven't seen any breakdowns that make me feel any better. Or any worse. I know Al Franken talks a lot about New York and how while Bill O'Reilly is doing better among 60+ or something like that, he's not doing as well in whatever that 25-45 or whatever age range that is so good. That's good to hear, but I don't know if this is the general picture. I'm also talking not only about advertiser attractiveness, but far more importantly impact on election day. Liberal talk radio isn't about entertainment to me. For me, election day is all that matters.

> And finally, syndicated liberal talk is a low-overhead situation. All of the shows (including AAR, Schultz, Miller, etc.) are offered on a barter basis. Meaning that the stations airing them just give up a few minutes of network ad time per hour. That's all. If it's all syndicated talk, there's not a single dime to pay air talent with. Just throw it on the air, sell some local ad time, and voila! The station's making money once they pay the electric bill. Syndicated liberal talk is an obscenely cheap format. Programming cost? Nothing. <

Maybe someone should tell Janet Robert and all of the other primarily liberal talk stations that it costs almost nothing to run a station. I think they would beg to differ. I think we would have seen a lot more liberal talk radio stations and a lot more liberal talk programs on other stations many years ago if it was this free and easy. Either that, or liberals have been very very slow to awake to the importance of being on talk radio.
----------------------------------------------------------------

My main point is to get people not to take these stations for granted. It is in our interest to advertise them / spread the word about them as much as we can, and support them with membership (AM 950 www.airamericaminnesota.com is partly member-financed). Not only for these stations' ratings and financial survival, but, well, we want more people to listen so that we can win a few more elections.

-Progree

[Oreo]

14. On edit: You're the 950 sign Person!!

Why aren't we seeing any kind of advertising? No bumper stickers available? I'm sure these people are working their asses off to keep the station afloat but without getting the word out somehow, it's going to be a rough road. I would love to see the station succeed and I know there's a market for it.

If nobody knows about 950 (however weak its signal is) they'll never have good ratings.

Wow... I just found an old post of yours
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=160&topic_id=3311&mesg_id=5905
You're exactly what I'm talking about. People like us are trying to get the word out but it only works so much. You went out and held a sign, I volunteered to build their website. At what point are they going to start helping to get the word out?

[progree]

16. Advertising AM 950

>> Why aren't we seeing any kind of advertising? No bumper stickers available? I'm sure these people are working their asses off to keep the station afloat but without getting the word out somehow, it's going to be a rough road. I would love to see the station succeed and I know there's a market for it. <<
---------------------------------------------------

Yes, its sad. Though I did hear someone call into the Mike Malloy show about 3 weeks ago from St. Louis Park and said he saw a BILLBOARD advertising AM 950 Air America "where the left is right and the right is wrong". I'd love to see it.

I've seen a couple of the new AM 950 bumper stickers. The first ones that came out (the gray ones) had such tiny lettering that even a tailgater probably couldn't read it (honestly). Now a new one I saw yesterday had AM 950 in HUGE size -- taking up the full height and 2/3 the length of the bumper sticker. The remaining 1/3 was taken up by "Air AMerica Radio". I think this is great - visibility is so important.
---------------------------------------------------

Speaking of visibility, my sign has grown a bit from the last posting. Now 20" X 20" with "AM 950 Democracy Talk Radio". Black on yellow with flourescent pink border.

I decided to use "Democracy" rather than "Progressive" or "Liberal" so that it would be somewhat ambiguous so that middle-of-the-roaders and even some righties would try it.

Letters now 5.5" or 6" tall with 1" thick strokes.

I've been "on the street" with it about 6 hours a week since about November.

-Jumiee

[Oreo]

18. Absolutely amazing

Why they're not throwing t-shirts and bumperstickers at you to hand out is beyond me.

You've done more to advertise for them than they have.

I did a page for the site where you can print off a pdf of the logo.
Not sure if they ever mentioned it on air.

http://www.airamericaminnesota.com/pages/bumpersticker.php

[NMDemDist2]

22. my local AA affliate (1010AM Phoenix) has the wimpiest

bumper stickers

I have one on the car, but it's not eyecatching at all... :cry:

[progree]

27. Re: Absolutely amazing

> Absolutely amazing <

Thanks. Thanks too for the big improvements to the www.airamericaminnesota.com website. I especially love the big buttons!

[Eric J in MN]

19. You personally paid for an Air America billboard along

the highway?

[Oreo]

20. heh heh

I think he just saw one. They've put up a couple in the metro just recently

Progree stands in uptown (right?) with a sign for the station

[progree]

28. Nope. I've been thinking about something like it though

I doubt that I could afford a bulletin board by myself! but would probably contribute generously to an advertising fund.

I haven't yet emailed them about if they have any ideas or opportunities for spreading the word.

This from their Feb 7, 2005 email newsletter (all emphasis is mine):

WHAT'S NEW AT 950 AIR AMERICA MINNESOTA RADIO

... And, as soon as we settle into our new offices, we will invite you to our open house, so that you can meet everyone who has worked so hard to take 950 Air America Minnesota to this level. Volunteers have also been an important part of our growth -- from answering phones, staffing events, helping to fix up the offices or helping to market our station. We really appreciate the comraderies and enthusiasm our volunteers bring to the station. Please continue to spread the word about our exciting programming to your friends, patronize our advertisers and encourage businesses to advertise on Air America Minnesota. If you would like to volunteer or share your ideas for the station, please call us at 952-946-8885 or email our member services volunteer Raleigh, at membership(AAT)airamerica.com. Thank you for your continued support!

Air America Minnesota | 11320 Valley View Road | Eden Prairie | MN | 55344

=========================================================
=========================================================

I've been avoiding giving out the neighborhoods (plural) I walk. I'm worried that a bunch of righties might decide to attack me or at least tear up my sign.

Wish some others would do this too. Could use some company. Not to walk right together most of the time, but if there were two or more of within 2 - 3 blocks, then some crazy righty would be less likely to try something.

If the idea of carrying a sign sounds nutty, well, remember that Granny D walked across America at age 89-90 with a sign, and I've never heard it even remotely suggested she was off her rocker, at least not from anyone other than the far right fringe.

I think its the most effective form of political activism I can think of. Door-knocking before election gets one a few short conversations with a few who might be persuaded to our candidates / point of view. Getting people to listen to Air America is like having them hear our point of view for hundreds of hours.

[Love Bug]

23. I've seen that billboard!

I think it was on the corner of Penn and 66th St. in Richfield.