WFMU's blog post about Air America's future

[clbuck]

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/08/air_america_vs_.html

The blog has some speculation and rumors about what may happen to some Air America programming:

• Springer may be coming to an end soon
• The Majority Report "may soon be history", though there's a possibility that Sam may have a new show in Springer's timeslot
• Rachel Maddow has been looking for a new timeslot, possibly the current Majority Report slot.
• Randi being reduced to 3 hours, instead of 4.

Unlike the "Radio Unequalizer" blog, this one seems supportive of the concept of Air America, but is critical of some of their decisions. Not saying any of this is true, but it's interesting to read about.

[SteppingRazor]

1. My local affiliate's already dropped both Springer and Maddow...

replacing them with Stephanie Miller and ace local investigative journalist Jim DeFede, respectively. I love both changes.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

32. I'm glad I get Steph instead of Jerry Springer.

I really like Rachel Maddow's style- informative show- well done.
(and I kinda have a minor crush on her :blush: )

[Strelnikov_]

2. All Sounds Good, Except Sam Should Stay In His Slot IMHO

And move Maddow in Springers.

[longship]

3. Good moves, but only if Seder is still on the air.

Springer can go--he's milk toast. Replace with Maddow or Seder. Or, better yet, revive Morning Sedition.

I love Majority Report. I'd hate to see it go. But I rarely have time for it in the afternoon/evening here. But, Seder must stay at AAR.

Maddow runs a very tight ship. If I could hear her in the afternoon/evening with news, that would be great. I'd record her for later consumption.

Randi, love her, but just maybe she *is* an hour too long.

[Nickster]

4. Sounds pretty reasonable. I hope they don't get rid of Sam. I wouldn't

mind seeing him in a different time slot though. Randi herself has said it's taxing to do 4 hours of radio so I could see three hours happening too.

[wryter2000]

7. If Randi wants to go to 3 hours, great

As long as they play all the program she does. I don't want to miss an hour. I'm fine with Sam at his present time or in Springer's. As long as they keep him when I can hear him.

[Nickster]

15. She would only be doing three hours of show. There wouldn't be a fourth

hour to hear anymore.

[wryter2000]

26. Sounds good to me

I have no idea how she can do that for four hours.

[hlthe2b]

13. Ditch Springer, move Maddow, keep Seder in his slot...

I've never liked Springer. He is like nails on a chalk board to me. I don't doubt he is basically a "nice" guy, but I am tired of RW apologists and his show is nothing but... Springer is so busy defending or softening his comments re: Bush* and other RWers--for fear of offending any Repug listeners--that he just lets their outrageous accusations against Democrats or Lib/Progressives go unanswered. I just want to smack him, most of the time. When he goes into his "analyst professorial" mode, "explaining" the obvious to the listening audience, I go crazy. He is almost always uninformed, poorly informed, or naive'. Then he "catches" himself-- once again afraid he has offended his RW nut listeners-- and goes into his self-effacing humble mode once again...:eyes: My morning "exercise" now consists of flying across the room to turn off my xm when he comes on in the morning as I'm getting dressed for work.

I loved Rachel Maddow when she had her rapid fire one hour early morning show. I still like her a lot and agree her talent deserves a longer format at a better time period and I adore Kent Jones, but I have to admit I wish she'd ditch some of the sound effects. They are getting old...

Sam Seder is a treasure. He is smart, funny, quick, and has truly become an asset and one I'd listen to wherever they put him. His guests are terrific and he has has truly grown into a terrific talent. I enjoy his in the current MR timeslot, which for those of us in the Mountain Time zone is late afternoon, early evening. Perfect, I think.

I will forever be pissed at what they did with Morning Sedition and Marc Maron. If they get rid of Seder, I will still listen to other programs, but far less than I do now and will probably have to rethink whether I should keep XM.

[wanpete]

5. These are reasonable changes and, if true, it's good to see that AA

is willing to change for the better of the network. I'd love to see springer out the door. There are so many wonderful progressive voices out there. Why on earth put him on the radio for 3 hours a day????

[HamdenRice]

6. Biggest mistake AAR ever made ...

was getting rid of Morning Sedition. That show was on its way to becoming a classic -- like Bob and Ray. They cancelled one of the greatest shows ever on radio.

Funny thing is that the show only worked well when Mark and Mark were together, which was strange because the rumor was they did not like each other that much.

When Mark Riley was away, Mark Maron just went on and on about his own nerosis and blabbed and blabbed without saying anything. And when Mark Riley was there without Mark Maron, it was like NPR, but less funny. In retrospect they were like Martin and Lewis -- the nut and the straight man. I liked the way Maron would act uninformed about some issue so Riley would give the back story.

But above all it was a funny show in a truly original way, with great bizarre characters. I still miss Lawton Smalls, Milf Milfington, Angus McFahrquar, Mark the Shark, "Marc's Dream Diary" and "Weekly Remembrance" (I remember almost having a car accident when they announced the death of the lead singer of the 70s soft rock group, Bread," by saying the lead singer was "toast").

[wryter2000]

8. Amen

Morning Sedition was brilliant. There's nothing else like it in the media. How I miss Lawton Smalls and Right and Early (brought to you by Radio Halliburton).

Oooh-oooh! Sammy the Stem Cell. Damn, he was funny.

[hlthe2b]

10. My first spontaneous smile today (remembering "toast")

I could not agree with you, more, HamdenRice.

Damn that Danny Goldberg. He wasn't just incompetent. He was criminally incompetent in his determined destruction and final elimination of Morning Sedition.

I like Riley, but find him pretty boring on his own. I used to set the alarm for 4 AM to listen to the two of them on MS! Routinely!

[stepnw1f]

37. "the straight man"...LOL

He seemed to make a point of it.... and would always tell Mark M. not to touch him. He almost sounded phobic.... too funny.

[pstokely]

38. Also the XM deal

It should be on both

[RethugAssKicker]

9. Be glad you stil have AAR... Here in Atlanta.. its gone !

[wryter2000]

27. I have AAR on the radio

But I mostly listen on-line. The dumb local station plays infomercials all weekend and dumb non-AAR shows. During the week, they have a local 7 - 10 am show with Will Durst and Willie Brown. They spend half the time laughing at their own jokes. Plus, they can't make themselves get up any earlier, so Franken is delayed for a hour. Then, they put on Schultz. Randi gets delayed for four hours. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Mostly, I just listen to Franken (an hour late) on weekdays when I'm at home, and the rest of the time I stream at work.

I wish AAR would go to another station that was willing to play AAR shows in real time. I'd switch in a heartbeat.

[Rosco T.]

11. Not unreasonable...

- Springer is still looking at re-entering politics
- If he did leave, then they would need another show to fill that slot
- Sam is too good a talent to get get away, and he did fill in for Springer for a week and was well-received
- Randi's 4 hour slot is an anomoly in the business, most shows are 3 hours
- Rachael is the most underused and powerful voice they have and it would make better sense to have her in a larger, more prominent slot.
- The other option would be to put Thom Hartmann in place of Springer

[NYCGirl]

14. I'm with you on giving Rachel Maddow a better timeslot.

:thumbsup:

[Rosco T.]

16. and, let's not forget what AL has planned in the next few months...

.. on though, THAT's when Thom will join the schedule full time.

[NYCGirl]

18. Whether Al is running is still not certain. I couldn't see putting

Hartmann in that slot, though. He's bright and knowledgeable, but I find his show somewhat pedantic. When I'm out running around on my lunch hour and listening to my radio, I'm not able to concentrate that well (and I do appreciate some humor, too). Hartmann would be good later in the evening, I think.

[Rosco T.]

19. Of course AL is going to run, why else did he move the show..

.. en masse to Minihaha??

[NYCGirl]

20. In case he runs. But it's still not a done deal; he's said if he feels he

can be more useful as a Democrat where he is, he'll stay.

[BonnieJW]

12. Randi

I wish she would have more guests. Her show is all about her. She gets on there and rants for four hours and I can't listen to her. Even when she has guests on, she constantly interrupts them.

[Nickster]

17. That's why they have such a diverse line up of hosts. So you can choose

which host you like best, and then listen to them. Myself? I love Randi and Mike and listen to AAR specifically for their shows. The other hosts all appeal to different people and different mindsets, from the centrist to the far-left.

[LaPera]

21. So please support Air America Radio-for 6 or 10 bucks a month...

For a few bucks a month support AAR - Our national liberal radio network.

Just subscribe to AAR premium, for six or ten bucks a month your choice...it all helps AAR out immensely!

www.airamericaradio.com

[Stardust]

31. AAR deserves our gratitude. Even if you don[t especially care for

some of the hosts, AAR has been an invaluable pioneer and strived to provide a quality alternative to right-wing radio. Please help them out if you can. BTW, it nice to read a thread about AAR that doesn't have any bashing (yet.) I mean, c'mon, let's give all those at AAR a break. They are in their infancy and struggling against very powerful forces.

[CrushTheDLC]

22. How about Sam Sedar & Rachel Maddow doing a show together?

The Majority Report was designed to be a two person show. And even though Sam has proven himself quite capable of carrying the show on his own, adding Rachel to the show would revive the "duo" dynamic and it would give her a better time slot at the same time.

In fact, if I were running AAR right now, this would be my first move. Second move would be to get the Morning Sedition back together if Mark & Marc were agreeable.

As for Randi cutting her show back to three hours, what were they planning to do with the other hour? Move everyone else up an hour early? I guess that might help the Truthseekers get some sleep, since Mike Malloy's got the late shift.

I would cut either Franken or Springer. Neither should be on in the morning. Probably the best solution would be to put the Majority report on in Jerry's time slot, and then give Thom Hartmann the official network slot in the 7-10 Eastern/4-7 Pacific currently occupied by Sam.

[Rosco T.]

23. almost workable.. but...

- Hartmann's current 'network' (syndication) slot is when Al is on now, I firmly believe that Thom will take over Al's slot when he makes his senate run (and I firmly believe he will). To have him in MR's slot would mean he would be doing 3 shows a day (his local in Portland, the 'syndication' show and then the 'network' show. I would like to see Thom around a long time, not croaked of EXHAUSTION!

- Sam and Rachael? No. Two powerful talents would end up running over the top of each other.

- Getting the Band Back together (Mark & Marc). I think they wanted to do that, but Marc wouldn't come back to New York, maybe another try is in order.

- Maybe put Mark on with Sam.. the 'rational, calm' to counter the Sam's exuberant presentation (nothing wrong with it).

[wryter2000]

28. LOL -- Sam and Marc together

I'm not sure my sides would survive. Sam's great when he's serious, but he's also a comedian, and he can be quite funny. Put him together with Marron, and it would be madness. Lord, I'd love to hear that.

:rofl:

[Rosco T.]

29. not Marc.. MARK...

but Seder and Maron would be good also :)

[wryter2000]

30. Okay

That makes more sense. Seder and Riley would be a great team!

[clbuck]

25. Thom Hartmann won't do the 7-10 slot.

He would have to cancel his KPOJ morning show to do that, since he'll a 7 hour gap after that one's done to do his national show. Then again, if he officially takes over Franken's timeslot, that means that KPOJ will have 6 hours straight of Thom Hartmann, which I'm pretty sure would be excessive.

I wouldn't mind if the evening shows get moved up an hour for a shortened Randi; Malloy would have his former 9 PM-midnight slot back from his i.e. America days, plus WWRL would carry all three hours (the new station is only programmed from noon to midnight; Malloy's final hour won't air on the new station).

[never_get_over_it]

35. NO NO NO Please NO

I want Sam all by himself....LOVE HIM and I waited forever for Janine to leave...

and I think Rachel has already announced that she is going to be on from 6:00 to 8:00 and Sam has suggested he is going to be offered a daytime slot

I'm guessing its Springer - and have to tell you if Franken goes wouldn't bother me a bit - but he does have some great interviews...

as for Randi have an hour less - that's fine she is very smart but she is too stuck on herself and hard to listen to because of it - the I me I me I single handeldly did this and I single handeldy did that - and the way she cuts off her guests is very annoying - but like I said she is very smart and has good info so I will ocassionaly listen to her but can't do it every day

[LSK]

24. Sam in the Springer spot would totally rule!!!

That would be awesome!!!

[Cleita]

33. So in the glass half full category, my opinion is

that Randi may want to do only three hours. She is the only host who does four hours and now that there are more hosts to fill time, I don't think she's upset about it. Rumor has it that Janeanne has wanted to bail. Jerry's contract may be up and although I like him, maybe he's too boring for most. Just my two cents.

[clbuck]

34. An update

Looks like two of these rumors are now true; Rachel's moving to 6-8 PM, and Randi's being reduced to 3 hours.

Still don't know about Springer and Seder yet, though.

[mucifer]

36. Maddow on Fri announced she is moving to 6-8p eastern time

She announced it on her show but said nothing about what they will do to "majority report" with Seder.

Im very curious and a big Maddow fan.