The Death of AAR

[CatWoman]

AAR fired Mike Malloy - allegedly to save money.

Then they cut back Randi from 4 hours to three.
Want to bet they cut her pay 25% as well?

Springer is gone - couldn't afford his salary?

Thursday, Al Franken told Wolf the Whore he hadn't been getting paid
and that AAR was staying alive on a "day to day basis."

So how did they fuck that up?

You would think they could survive just on New York City revenues.
How can they be on in 30 cities and can't stay on the air?

I talked to a recently fired AAR insider (not Mike Malloy) and he said,
"Air America Radio is what happens when you form a corporation
to solve America's problems."

I also heard a rumor that Al Franken gets more than $1M a year,
but they had to release Malloy for making less than $100K?

Bottom line - soon you'll turn on AAR and it won't be there.

So how did they fuck that up?

http://www.bartcop.com/

[valerief]

1. I miss Marc Maron or Rachel Maddow on my morning drive.

The Young Turks sound like freepers to me.

edited for spelling

[hlthe2b]

3. I've remained loyal, but damn, when they tossed Morning Sedition

with Maron, that, to me was the beginning of problems... I remain hopeful, if they can get rid of the stupid suits...

[SharonRB]

29. I miss Rachel, too

I liked listening to her while I got ready for work and on my way to work. Now I only catch her at all if I'm at work late and it's like hearing the voice of an old friend.

I do listen to the Young Turks. I don't mind them, but I do miss Rachel a lot.

[blm]

2. I'll tell you what I believe. The REAL powers in the party want to control

the ENTIRE message after November. They don't WANT independent voices speaking as Democrats or giving airtime to primary candidates they will be working AGAINST.

I also believe these powers intend to cut Dean out of the picture if they are unable to coopt him. I have seen signs of it in recent months..... I predicted it would happen earlier this year.

[Rosco T.]

4. Point of Order ... Randi ASKED to go to three hours/day..

.. and said so on the air. A Four hour show is a killer, and pertty much an abberation in the business.

[SharonRB]

28. I was just going to post this -- you beat me to it.

[boston bean]

5. I miss Rachel in the morning. I don't listen to the young turks.

Now I only listen to AAR on the afternoon drive home.

[maryallen]

24. "The Young Turks" is horrible!

[pwb]

6. they need sales people

the adds are always the same.

[patricia92243]

7. My city is one of the 30 cities that they are on. It is a little, tiny st

station that does not have a strong signal and cannot generate revenue. Supposing even half their stations are the same
thing:

no mon = no fun!!

[sbj405]

12. The DC signal sucks

Most people don't even knows there's a station here.

[ariellyn]

20. They move around from station to station so much, people can't

follow them. From Sirius to XM, from on to off to on in Chicago...

You don't get as bad as AAR has been without some help IMHO>

[davidwparker]

8. They should concentrate on satellite, streaming, and podcasts.

Why would anybody want to listen to AM radio?

[elfin]

9. I have XM in my car and HATED Springer...

and loved Al and Randi.

I bought XM just for them and now am getting hooked on Sam Seder in Springer's slot.

Al is the best (despite naysayers on DU) due to his knowledge and guests.

If AA disappears, with no real liberal replacement on XM, I either will switch to Sirius or dump satelitte entirely.

[Gabi Hayes]

16. if you switch to Sirius for political talk.....DON'T!

their Talk Left is horrid:

Bill Press twice a day
Alex Bennett
Lynne Samuels
Thom Hartmann twice a day
Ed Schultz
Stephanie Miller twice a day

that's it

Press is terrible on radio
Bennett is a narcissistic faux liberal
Samuels sounds like a hyena with throat cancer
Harthmann is OK
Fat Ed...nuff said
Love Steph

they have three or four RW talk channels, (plus two or three religious channels), plus CNN/CNN headline/Fox News/Bloomberg/CNBC, and two NPR channels, plus CNBC, CSPAN Radio, and two BBC channels

[napi21]

10. I was listening to a program on CNN this AM, and they were talking

about this. One of the comentators said AAR took a HUGH gamble by trying to buy stations to air their programming instead of the usual syndication route usually used by others. If it worked out, they would be very big very fast, but if it didn't they'd loose a lotjust as fast. I guess syndication taked a very long time to grow. I WISH they could succeed too, and I'm going to miss them A LOT if they go away, but they along with DU has exposed me to quite a few other LW radio shows, and I will still stream them all the time.

[Jane Austin]

11. I believe Sam Seder said

that Randi Rhodes, herself, had been lobbying for her program to go to three hours.

[question everything]

13. How many of us understand the business of broadcasting?

When you have to have local affiliated to carry your programs?

They do not own the stations - perhaps the one in NYC, I don't know. And each market decided what it will carry and not. Some owners would not let local commentators talk about abortion, for example.

Could the millions of Soros have built a network of radio stations? And would you buy a local one or start your own from scratch? What is the procedure of starting from scratch, securing a bandwidth and call letters?

I have no idea, but I do not think it is that simple.

[Eric J in MN]

15. "Could the millions of Soros have built a network of radio stations?"

Of course. But Al Franken said George Soros donated enough to cover one day of AAR, not that kind of money.

[Eric J in MN]

14. One liberal billionaire could....

...put AAR on FM in every big city in America.

But the donations haven't been big enough.

[KharmaTrain]

17. Radio Is Drowning In Red Ink

AAR's made plenty of bad moves...most notably in not promoting their product, but they were a victim of a Catch 22 not of their own doing.

Briefly (I've posted this more times than I care to), radio is in a massive depression. Revenues across the industry are down as a combination of several years of a bad economy & flat consumer market, along with the growth of cable and internet as more cost effective than radio has driven a lot of traditional agency advertisers away from radio and with it a major chunk of change for a network like AAR. Next is the large debts mounted by companies during their deregulation feeding frenzy in the late 90's...not only have prices on broadcast licenses stagnated, many of these companies are paying off large debts in acquiring those properties...getting hammered by both lower revenues and rising interest rates. Lastly, there's the talent drain that consolidation and outsourcing has created in radio. Gone are many experienced and talented managers, promotions people, talent and so on that has turned many radio operations into turn-key earth stations with little attention on the local level that is necessary both for radio's prosperity and for a network like AAR to grow.

AAR is a lone wolf in this toxic environment. It was poorly funded to start with (see Evan Cohen and "Left Of The Dial) and made started up just as the radio business was starting to go into its present swan dive. Unlike other networks that have other formats or are a subsidiary of a larger corporation, AAR has attempted to fly solo and bank on things turning around in the industry...which didn't happen. The company is now beholden to Sirius and Clear Channel who hold the real fate of this network. They pull the plug and AAR will be off the air.

There's a far deeper problem here, and solutions, but I'm tired of wasting electrons on the topic and getting someone posting back how they like Randi Rhodes boobies.

The push should be to integrate, coordinate and create a more grassroot radio network. There are lots of people out here with their own radio shows and podcasts...also lots of people with broadcast, PR, advertising and marketing backgrounds. There's also lots of means to access the airwaves other than AAR. Maybe if the network goes down, people will try to work together. One can hope.

Peace...

[KittyWampus]

19. KT, I've read your posts on AAR with much interest and appreiate the time

you've spent explaining things. Wish you'd saved those posts on your own DU journal. Information you know is worth a great deal. :hug:

And from the very beginning, I always wondered why AAR didn't include local college radio personalities. There is probably a lot of talent out there ready to be tapped.

Who ever heard of Sam Seder before his show with Janeane... now he's beloved by many listeners.

[KharmaTrain]

21. Thank You...There's Some Talent Right Here On DU

There's so many opportunities, and its a shame that there's not more support for Progressive radio outside of AAR around here. There are several folks who have their own local shows or podcasts but there's little coordination and this has hurt everyone. DU used to have direct links to various radio shows, but somehow that's been discontinued. I'm constantly coming across new web and podcasts from Progressives and Liberals and wish there was a centralized portal that helped to promote all shows and also to be a conduit/platform to reach out to commercial and public radio.

As a former Program Director and one who did talk radio for 20 years, it's not an easy format to do well, but it can be the most compelling and inspiring radio when done right.

I'm just hoping to nudge the dialogue around here....my days of trying to show the world are long gone. Thanks for your kind words

Cheers...

[kohodog]

22. Radio isn't the only suffering media

Newspapers and the printing industry in general is suffering. Any independent organization faces a partiularly difficult path as consolidation squeezes them out. I know from experience.

AAR has tried to do something remarkable and I hope they squeeze by. I am out of range since they changed frequencies in NY, but I still support their effort.

Springer and some others weren't my cup of tea, but at least someone is trying.

[KharmaTrain]

23. It's A Sign Of The Economy...Radio Is in Real Bad Shape

Surely the digital world has made changes and the internet has to be hurting many "brick & mortar" bottom lines. But then I think change is a good thing...it creates new opportunities and shakes out the deadwood.

Radio dug its own grave through deregulation. Companies overbought at over-inflated prices. Stations were sold for 10 and 20 times cash flow...it was all to drive up stock prices that was where the fat cats were really making their money. They priced out competitors by driving the prices up so high it made it irreisitable for many smaller operators to resist and to keep new ones from getting in. Also, the dot com boom threw a lot of money into radio advertising. For a time stations couldn't fill the airtime fast enough and this led to the expanding of commercial breaks to 20 and 30 minutes an hour. When that money ran dry, they tried to fill that vacant invetory with any and all commercials they could...penis replacement, strip clubs, informercials and so on...and even that money has dried up.

Yes, AAR tried to swim up a very tough stream and its amazing they've made it this far. Having worked in syndication radio, I know how difficult it is to start a new program...yet alone a new network and all the money and luck required to make it just get on the air. Then there's the constant struggle to keep it there. It's a testament to the many good and dedicated folks who work there that keeping this network going is their primary mission. Hopefully it will catch a tail-wind...an Entercom or Jones will purchase it or buy into the company and give it both the cash and marketing expertise that could help it survive.

Cheers...

[Eric J in MN]

26. Is Entercom involved with any progressive talk shows now? (NT)

NT

[KharmaTrain]

31. They Own a Couple AAR Affiliates

WWKB in Buffalo is their biggest. This company has grown smart...one of the few. To my knowledge they're not involved in any network or syndication.

[dbt]

32. Well said, KarmaTrain! Let me just add that

a VERY fundamental--and simple--problem with the radio industry now is that the people at the top of the corporations who are running the stations and the networks have never spent a minute on the air. We are left with a business which was built on one-on-one communication between human beings, being run by the bean counters. Instead of answering to the audience, CorpoRadio answers to the shareholders.

About the time your average Radio Sales Rep has figured out how to meet his/her goals for the coming month, the Head Office sets out a new and DIFFERENT set of procedures with a HIGHER goal. ALWAYS a higher goal. Bring us more money NOW--while we cut costs all around you and take away the support structure you need so we can show the shareholders a higher ROI.

Imagine if, say, General Motors or Ford were run by CEOs who had never had a thing to do with building a car or a truck! What kind of shape do you reckon THEY'd be in right about now?

:freak:
dbt
Remember New Orleans

[deutsey]

18. Check out KPFA (or a Pacifica station near you)

It started listener-supported radio in 1949...despite numerous threats (external and internal), it's remained true to progressive values.

www.kpfa.org
www.pacifica.org

[B Calm]

25. When they made the stupid decision to fire their best talk show

host, I know it's just a matter of time and they'll be going off the air.

I really think AAR has been taken over by republicans with only one agenda on their minds and it's not for AAR longevity.

[mountainvue]

27. I don't listen to it anymore since

they fired Malloy. It's too bad. Air America had a good thing going there for a little while.

[file83]

30. They should have just fired Franken, kept Malloy and keep the $900,000/yr

That could help, for starts.