The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: LC EFA on February 08, 2009, 05:24:33 PM
-
Surely it couldn't have failed because of the huge marketability of its simply stunning high quality content or something.
Cid_B (326 posts) Sun Feb-08-09 08:23 AM
Original message
Why did Air America fail?
I have been out of the country since its beginning and eventual demise so I never had the chance to hear it. Is there a concensus on why it went down? Low ratings? Evil men with their fingertips together plotting? Came out at the wrong time? Something else entirely?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5008050
Evil men with their fingers snapping ? That's a good one.
madaboutharry Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 08:29 AM
Response to Original message
1. Air America did not fail.
Go to AirAmerica.com and see for yourself.
We still have a heartbeat... the king is NOT dead.
shadowknows69 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 08:34 AM
Response to Original message
3. Shitty sales team? Updated at 9:57 AM
All radio exists and dies by its sales numbers. The right sales team can sell a concrete life vest to a drowning man. If you can sell hate radio you should be able to sell truth radio.
Based on Air America, the market for hate radio is small. Based on Rush the market for truth is large. Stunning revelation :-)
Cid_B (326 posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sun Feb-08-09 11:32 AM
Response to Reply #6
19. Honestly I heard it just wasn't that interesting...
... and there are too many good shows on the air and the net that I never had a strong enough urge to check it out. If I was in the States and I happened to tune in then possibly it would have held my attention but the overall vibe from people who had tuned in was "Meh".
PS. Check your posts for snarky tones. Im sure such a straight forward question didnt deserve a snippy answer so it must have been a mistake. Cheers.
Read "It sucked too much to bother with".
DailyGrind51 (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 08:47 AM
Response to Original message
7. Air America is losing ground in some markets, I believe, because
Progressives have jobs actually requiring attention. How many teachers, nurses, factory workers, clerical personnel, or retail workers can keep the radio on during the day? "Management" can pretty much do what it wants, when it wants, including listening to conservative talk-radio.
They seem to be able to find enough time to post at the DU....
underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 10:50 AM
Response to Reply #9
17. They also took a radical approach to radio-they bought whole radio stations
as opposed to producing a show and then selling it to radio stations. I think they did this to have a uniform schedule of shows (as opposed to being sandwiched between RW shows).
As I understand it Rush et al sell their show to a radio station then Rush sells the ad space. Something like that.
Air America bought whole radio stations and usually small ones with almost no name recognition (formerly jazz or bluegrass type stations)
Could that be because no commercially operating radio station worth its salt would pay for their content ?
MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 10:02 AM
Response to Original message
10. It's humorless, excessively didactic, too serious, and too "PC"
No one likes a Nanny telling them how to feel, act, behave, or interact. CONSTANTLY. And way too much tut-tutting at anyone who doesn't meet The Standard of Behavior That Is Expected of Progressives (when plenty of Democrats run the gamut from progressive to conservative, and have a wide range of views and attitudes). If you want to appeal to Democrats, you've got to include those moderate and conservative Democrats...you know, the ones who helped get Obama elected. The ones who aren't as "liberal" as Janine Garofolo.
That's just the truth.
You can agree with many their views and still find them boring as hell, too.
SNL veers to the left, but they usually manage to be FUNNY. They don't take themselves too seriously. That's the trick.
Limbaugh is an asshole, and he maintains his impressive market share by appealing to stupid people, telling them that they are the little guy, getting ****ed, and he's their spokesman, and also by pissing people off (they listen to him to shake their fists, and tell others how "awful" he is). And, not infrequenty in un-PC fashion, being "funny." Air America drones on --too much finger wagging, too much "We All Feel This Way" when we DON'T all feel "This Way" and .... they are just NOT FUNNY. Even when they TRY to be....
I just don't need reinforcement of my views, from people who are NOT FUNNY and who are BORING.
No shooting the messenger.
Baikonour (98 posts) Sun Feb-08-09 10:04 AM
Response to Original message
11. Horribly run companies tend to go bankrupt.
I don't blame any of the talent. At one point, Air America had one hell of a roster. It's the guys upstairs who are to blame.
Sure, It wasn't that their content sucked that no one listened or wanted to hand them any coin. It's gotta be "the guys upstairs". :mental:
jazzjunkysue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 12:21 PM
Response to Reply #30
31. The demanded a no-quit clause for her. They could fire her but she couldn't quit.
Would you sign that?
The better question in this case would be "Would you demand someone else sign that".
-
Half of talk radio's success is due to the fact that they poke fun at a solidly ultra libear TV and print media.
AA was superfluous....and it sucked like a ten dollar whore.
-
leftofthedial (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 10:49 AM
Response to Original message
16. it is still on the air.
in the most important way, it succeeded in helping to remove the bush cabal from overt power.
but in another sense, it has failed and is doomed to fail, because progressivism is incompatible with capitalism.
I was wondering why Bush didn't run again in 2008. :mental:
But at least leftOFFthedial got something right for once. Progressivism and capitalism are incompatible.
cherokeeprogressive (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 12:29 PM
Response to Original message
34. The number of DU'ers who listen to mush and insanity every day out of some misguided
need to "keep your enemies close" doesn't help. It props up mush and insanity's ratings at the expense of AA's.
DU sheep stray from the flock?? I had no idea. :lmao:
Still Sensible (752 posts) Sun Feb-08-09 01:01 PM
Response to Original message
37. I really think it's a lot simpler
they don't get enough listeners so their ratings suck.
I also think it is easy to explain why. Just imagine the demographics of RW radio listeners compared to Air America's potential audience. RW radio listeners are remarkably shallow, they don't do nuance and want to have everything defined for them in simple terms that reinforce their prejudices. Us vs. them, good vs. bad, black and white. They want to be told who it is to blame for their problems and the problems of society at large.
Progressives generally are freer thinkers, understand a lot about the complexities of issues, and don't want to just sit on their ass and let someone tell them what to think. No matter how good the message is on Air America, most of us are too busy thinking for ourselves and living our lives to tune in...IMHO.
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
Here comes the projection, LOL
Cid_B (326 posts) Sun Feb-08-09 05:07 PM
Response to Reply #37
47. This one cracked me up...
"Us vs. them, good vs. bad, black and white. They want to be told who it is to blame for their problems and the problems of society at large."
This one just made me snicker because in your definition you made a black and white, good vs bad and us vs them comparison.
The irony.. ohh the irony...
ooh, and they get called on it too
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
Still Sensible (752 posts) Sun Feb-08-09 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #47
48. Sometimes the truth is ironic, no?
No. Sometimes your just wrong though. Make that most of the time :-)
-
It failed because not enough people wanted to listen to their constant bullshit. Not even other liberals.
-
If there were an award for the primitive delusion of the day, this would be the winner:
Progressives generally are freer thinkers, understand a lot about the complexities of issues.....
Frankly, I've never met a "progressive" (Democrat, liberal, 0bamaite, primitive) who didn't think along rigid fossilized petrified lines of thought.
-
If there were an award for the primitive delusion of the day, this would be the winner:
Progressives generally are freer thinkers, understand a lot about the complexities of issues.....
Frankly, I've never met a "progressive" (Democrat, liberal, 0bamaite, primitive) who didn't think along rigid fossilized petrified lines of thought.
It's always been my contention that truly smart people don't have to go around trying to convince others how smart they are they can do it through their actions.
-
THERE IS A TRUELY AMAZING ADMISSION HERE
underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-08-09 10:50 AM
Response to Reply #9
17. They also took a radical approach to radio-they bought whole radio stations
as opposed to producing a show and then selling it to radio stations. I think they did this to have a uniform schedule of shows (as opposed to being sandwiched between RW shows).
As I understand it Rush et al sell their show to a radio station then Rush sells the ad space. Something like that.
Air America bought whole radio stations and usually small ones with almost no name recognition (formerly jazz or bluegrass type stations)
IF I am thinking clearly,the bacon stained one is admitting that the
FAIRNESS DOCTRINE DOESN'T WORK and is a very stupid idea
-
Has anyone here ever listened to Mike Malloy? I have, way before he got
hired/fired by AA. When I was posting on Malloy's board I listened to several
of his shows...not on the radio of course...via the net. Mike was a Bush hater,
nothing more, nothing less. It was all he had. It was "I hate these people!"
He hated Bush, the BFEE, the administration. Now if you were a Left wing loon
and wanted that crap, Mike was for ya.
His show back then was very unprofessional and had more Public Service
announcements than commercials. Mike is a good example of why AA and
Lib talk radio in general fails.
-
Has anyone here ever listened to Mike Malloy? I have, way before he got
hired/fired by AA. When I was posting on Malloy's board I listened to several
of his shows...not on the radio of course...via the net. Mike was a Bush hater,
nothing more, nothing less. It was all he had. It was "I hate these people!"
He hated Bush, the BFEE, the administration. Now if you were a Left wing loon
and wanted that crap, Mike was for ya.
His show back then was very unprofessional and had more Public Service
announcements than commercials. Mike is a good example of why AA and
Lib talk radio in general fails.
I've never even heard of him.
-
I've never even heard of him.
His notoriety was that Fat Che thought he ran his (Mike Malloy's) message board.
But there was the fat girl from Canada, "Sabrina" or somesuch stupid name, who did 72% of all the posts there.
-
His notoriety was that Fat Che thought he ran his (Mike Malloy's) message board.
But there was the fat girl from Canada, "Sabrina" or somesuch stupid name, who did 72% of all the posts there.
LOL Frank! It was the "Lovely Bina"!!! :-) She was a piece of work to put it mildly.
She also was on POAC and even was an Admin on POAC till they finally got rid of her.
Those were fun times... :-)
-
Those were fun times... :-)
Yeah.
I'll bet Delilah here remembers all those fun times too.
Ah, the nostalgia.....
-
It failed because yakking on and on for house at a time about feelings and good intention and Communisum with nothing factual to back up your stuff gets old.
All it takes is one of us to call in to an AAR show and refute their propaganda for their entire argument to fail.
Folks like Wilkow....Limbaugh and Levin base their arguments and commentary in factual information backed by the words of the Constitution.
A Lib caller dials up Rush and gets chopped off at the knees within 30 seconds because their arguments hold no merit.
And that right there is why Err Amerika fails and Rush et al succeeds.
-
Another thing I've noticed.
You never hear the DUmmies talk about any Err Amerika hosts individually. They talk about AAR as a group or collective.
Conservatives talk about conservative radio...they mention individual talk radio hosts.
Libs and Conservatives think of themselves in the same manner as well.
-
Yeah.
I'll bet Delilah here remembers all those fun times too.
Ah, the nostalgia.....
Indeed. Those were fun days, me, gator, Rob Crook, Constitutionally Speaking and others went on Malloy's board and had a blast. Then we went over to POAC.
It was a lot fun back then, it got nasty at times but as long as no one went overboard you could have a semi-civil debate.
Ah well, that's in the past.
As to AA, no one listens to them and no one wants to waste their money advertising with them.
1 + 1 = FAIL.
-
besides the lack of Content on AA. They stole money from kids the nthey failed to pay thier bills because no one wanted to be associated with the likes of thieves and hustlers. AA had nothing to show for content because people like that jackhole from SNL and that lunatic bitch that threated the President were not remotly entertaining.
-
Still Sensible (752 posts) Sun Feb-08-09 01:01 PM
Response to Original message
37. I really think it's a lot simpler
they don't get enough listeners so their ratings suck.
I also think it is easy to explain why. Just imagine the demographics of RW radio listeners compared to Air America's potential audience. RW radio listeners are remarkably shallow, they don't do nuance and want to have everything defined for them in simple terms that reinforce their prejudices. Us vs. them, good vs. bad, black and white. They want to be told who it is to blame for their problems and the problems of society at large.
Let's stop the left wing stereotypes for a minute, shall we? Because I don't even fit the "profile". I not angry, I'm not male, and I'm not shallow. I have an English degree which means I've done more "nuance" than most. Besides, if your side IS so nuanced, wouldn't that give you MORE to talk about? Wouldn't your "conversations" be endless and interesting as you explore all those shades of gray? And yet, left wing radio sucks. No matter how much it's been tried, no one (including liberals) listens. Granted, unless you're making fun of people who don't think like you, you don't have a sense of humor and most of the time you people are just damned angry (I mean you have the whole fricken government and you still whine and moan). Radio especially (because it doesn't have the pretty pictures) has to be entertaining as well as informative. When the radio personality is just saying the same angry shit already playing on the tape running through your brain why listen?
The one thing you must have when you listen to Rush is a sense of humor. He's quite nuanced, really. If you can't grasp complex ideas you'll end up completely misunderstanding and taking sound bites out of context...oh wait. He doesn't tell me what to think, he gives voice (in a fun way) TO WHAT I ALREADY THINK AND BELIEVE. You talk about needing to have our prejudices reinforced but your whole post is one whole simple rant that repeats the same opinions the left has had about those on the right (or anyone not like them) since the 60's. Were we to discuss affirmative action, for instance, you would not even hear me say I don't like it BECAUSE I think minorities are quite capable of succeeding on their own merits. They don't need to be judged by race (or gender, or sexual orientation, or any of the other labels you apply to people). But you would be utterly incapable of listening beyond my saying "I'm against it" because in your narrow leftist perspective you put me in a box that says conservative. Since you've been conditioned (like Pavlov's dogs) to automatically think "racist" it would be impossible to have an intelligent conversation.
Progressives generally are freer thinkers, understand a lot about the complexities of issues, and don't want to just sit on their ass and let someone tell them what to think. No matter how good the message is on Air America, most of us are too busy thinking for ourselves and living our lives to tune in...IMHO.
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
Freer thinkers? You mean if I wanted to have a conversation about say class warfare, or universal health care, you being such a free thinker and all would have no trouble with the complexities, the give and take of different ideas? You folks on the left may not tell someone how to think (though I think that's arguable) you certainly have ways of ostracizing people who don't think like you? Justice Thomas, Secretary Rice, J. C. Watts, all African Americans (heck they even have slave blood) who are successful. They grew up in mostly segregated neighborhoods (let's face it, there aren't a lot of minorities in the 'burbs where most of you grew up), but even with an upbringing shared by most other minorities and an education at typical liberal universities they developed a different philosophy of life. Their path is different than what you "expect" of blacks...you want them to think and feel like victims so you can feel the benevolent "great white hope" (how sick and twisted is that)...you say and think the most vile things about them. Hey, at least other blacks know what their place is that way, huh? Or am I just missing the subtly (that's another word for nuance) of your point of view?
With my fellow conservatives I've had spirited debates about the pros and cons of the war in Iraq, Evolution and Creationism, homosexuality, political philosophy, literature, the nature of God, etc. We don't all agree. That's what makes it complex and stimulating. How can you learn anything if you only parrot the same trite phrases over and over and over with a completely closed mind (I'm guessing it's because you're afraid to challenge yourself with something beyond your narrow world view). Might as well put your fingers in your ears and say "La, la, la...I'm not listening!" Open your mind and embrace the nuance for a change! I mean the REAL definition not the liberal, "I can't make up my mind because I don't know if it's PC enough, whether it won't work and I'll get blamed, or I don't know whether I'll be criticized for having a different opinion." Oh, as for sitting around on my ass, I have a Rush 24/7 membership so I can listen when I have time if I'm too busy to listen live. Well, I've got to run and and go do dishes. Wouldn't want to blow your mind by having a conservative Christian woman having an intelligent thought when I should be performing my wifely duties.
Cindie
-
Strangely, none of them seem to have hit on "It sucked, had less listenership than an all-polka station, and Al Franken cleaned out their checkbook."
-
Al Franken cleaned out their checkbook."
....and now he's going after the big money.
-
For me, it was simply the whiny shrillness of Randi Rhodes' voice that made me immediately spin the dial.
-
Cid_B
Why did Air America fail?
Because playing the "I hate America" radio game is never quite as much fun as the home version.
.
-
even liberals don't want to hear that crap