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Air America (radio network)

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File:Airamerica logo.png
Logo of Air America Radio, a U.S. radio network and program syndicator with a liberal point of view.

Air America Radio is a radio network and program syndication service in the United States, started on March 31, 2004. It features a liberal, left-wing, progressive point of view and specializes in presentations and monologues by liberal personalities, guest interviews, calls by listeners, and news reports. Some of the personalities who host shows on Air America Radio include Al Franken, Laura Flanders, Janeane Garofalo, Mike Malloy, Marc Maron, Randi Rhodes, and Jerry Springer.

The network's primary station is New York City's WLIB-AM and, as of August 2005, 70 stations in the United States, as well as XM Satellite Radio, offer some or all of the programs produced and distributed by Air America Radio. Air America Radio also makes use of audio streaming on the World Wide Web, reaching a national and international audience.

Air America Radio is currently involved in a financial scandal. AAR owes money to Multicultural Broadcasting and MC has a judgement against AAR that AAR has not paid. Air America has alos been sued by Lizz Winstead, a former on-air host for AAR and Vice President for Entertainment, for nonpayment of her salary and misappropriation of fees that she earned from advertisers.

Programming overview

Like most talk radio outlets, Air America Radio's programming includes news, talk, comedy, interviews, guest editorials, and listeners' telephone calls. In various markets, there are traffic and weather reports throughout the broadcast day. The talk portions feature some extended host monologues in the classic talk radio format. Live and pre-recorded comedy routines, featuring various comedians, are also aired.

News, editorials and public affairs

Air America News and public affairs shows offer headline and short feature news reports, and, in some markets, traffic and weather reports as well. The news is a general purpose offering from standard wire service sources such as AP and UPI, however, the broadcast network puts some accent on labor news unlike other radio networks which tend to focus more on Wall Street reports and daily financial news.

The public affairs shows tend to closely follow the news of the day with monologues and reflections offered by the hosts. Listener calls are worked into these sections along with guest interviews. Air America Radio has a definite political orientation, and many broadcasts could be described as advocacy journalism or editorial and opinion pieces, but, in keeping with many of the principles of journalism ethics and standards, the hosts distinguish their own opinions from the factual reporting. Hosts offer frequent citations to news reports, studies and government documents to provide background information and sources for the views they express.

In general, the hosts, guests and viewpoints of Air America represent the left and center of the Democratic Party, or the Green Party. Opponents of Air America claim that anarchist, communist, and socialist political theories and thinking are not only discussed, but are espoused. Supporters say this is untrue, and that a thorough listening would quash this claim. Guests and callers are heard and express their views on shows by Mike Malloy, The Majority Report and Laura Flanders.

Samples of regular guests heard on Air America Radio:

In addition, there are Mother Jones minutes and commentary by Jim Hightower and others.

Comedy on Air America

See main articles at Al Franken, Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, Jerry Springer, Janeane Garofalo, Sam Seder.

Each host on Air America has his or her own comedic style. For example, on The Al Franken Show, guests are introduced with parody theme songs, based on popular songs. Springer on the Radio and The Randi Rhodes Show have parodies and satires of commercials, humorous songs, longer skits, and sound effects such as buzzers and bells.

Sam Seder of The Majority Report occasionally records skits and prank phone calls for broadcast during the show. For example, Seder called the press department of a senator who claimed to have proof that Catholic leaders in Massachusetts were sinful due to an abundance of sinful women in the city's vicinity. Seder called the senator's press department asking if they had actual phone numbers of women of ill repute, so he could do further research personally. His co-host Janeane Garofalo, through her ongoing rants, focuses her humor mainly on current events. However, sometimes she does not go for a punchline on her assumption that some actions by right-wingers are so outrageous that they are intrinsically funny.

Listener participation

Listeners' calls are taken on most of the programs through a toll-free number, but are especially featured on Springer on the Radio, The Randi Rhodes Show, The Laura Flanders Show, The Mike Malloy Show, and Ring of Fire with Bobby Kennedy. The listener calls are sometimes confined to a particular topic or feature, such as being a contestant on "Wait Wait, Don't Lie to Me" on The Al Franken Show or on Morning Sedition's "Liberal Confessional." Other times listeners direct the flow of the conversation.

The Majority Report uses phone calls from listeners only occasionally, and predominantly only when Sam Seder is on the program. Janeane Garofalo is frequently scheduled off on Wednesdays, and in those programs Seder utilizes phone calls from listeners more readily. On Fridays, Sam Seder has the day off for religious reasons, and on these programs Garofalo predominantly rants the entire time with only occasional guest interviews, and the listener participation is nil.

Complementary programming

Stations broadcasting Air America programming often augment or replace parts of the network's lineup with other programming, typically with a progressive or liberal political perspective. Some examples include:

  • The Stephanie Miller Show with Stephanie Miller (three hours: 9AM-12PM EST) (distributed by the Jones Radio Network)
  • The Thom Hartmann Radio Program with Thom Hartmann (three hours: 12PM-3PM EST)
  • The Ed Schultz Show with Ed Schultz (three hours: 3PM-6PM EST) (distributed by the Jones Radio Network)
  • The Lionel Show with Michael LeBron (three hours: 10PM-1AM EST) (distributed by the WOR network)

Business plan overview

Air America is a new entrant into a mature format of news, talk radio, comedy known in the radio industry as "talkers." The network was known as Central Air during its development phase.

Historical context

In formulating its programming decisions and business plan, Air America took into account the history of media and politics. Since the 1964 presidential election, opponents of the New Deal coalition had been building think tanks and media to formulate or contribute to a Republican alternative. Groups with right-wing politics moved to harness the emerging alternative media formats, particularly talk radio, and for many years, the airwaves were dominated by Rush Limbaugh and others espousing various right-wing political views. Writers, including British journalists Jonathan Freedland, John Micklethwait, and Adrian Wooldridge, have credited this Republican alternative with shifting the tone of American public debate, creating an electoral environment where Republican candidates are more able to succeed, and in which Democratic candidates are forced further to the right in order to be "electable". Micklethwait and Wooldridge wrote about this in "The Right Nation," and David Brock wrote about it in The Republican Noise Machine.

Conservative dominance of talk radio played an important role in winning a shift in the balance of the United States House of Representatives in the 1994 midterm elections, though other factors such as the Contract with America also played significant roles. That analysis also credits the media with hampering Clinton's second term by keeping alive stories of scandal in the White House, and contributing to the victory of George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election.

The growing realization that liberal groups were becoming ineffective in terms of getting their viewpoint across in the media was the reason the concept of creating a liberal talk radio network emerged as a serious idea.

Early start-up difficulties

Air America was started as part of Progress Media, which said it had amassed $30 million in venture capital prior to its debut, a claim which later turned out to be untrue (only $6 million was initially collected). Two individuals from Guam, Rex Sorensen and Evan Montvel Cohen, were involved in raising the capital but denied any wrongdoing. Cohen had an unusual history for his position in a progressive-left radio network since he was a Republican political operative in Guam and former chief of staff for Republican Governor Tommy Tanaka. Cohen dismissed concerns by saying he was a committed "progressive" and that Republicans in Guam "are left of Paul Wellstone." It was reported that Cohen had unpaid business debts in Guam, although Cohen denies this. Tommy Tanaka pleaded guilty to corruption charges in 2003.

Two weeks after their debut, Air America Radio was pulled off the air by the owners of two stations the network had licensed in Chicago and Santa Monica, California (near Los Angeles). This was due to a contract dispute between Air America and the station's owner, Multicultural Radio Broadcasting. Air America alleges Multicultural Radio may have sold time on their Los Angeles station to them and another party, and stopped payment on checks to them while they investigated. Multicultural Radio alleges that Air America bounced a check and owes $1 million. Air America Radio filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court, charging breach of contract and was granted an injunction to restore the network on WNTD-AM in Chicago. On April 20, the network announced the dispute had been settled, and Air America's last day of broadcast on WNTD was April 30.

Four weeks after Air America's debut, the CEO, Mark Walsh, and Dave Logan, its executive vice president for programming, left the network. One week after those departures, the chairman and vice chairman, Evan Cohen and his investment partner Rex Sorensen, also left. Some attributed Cohen's departure to investor unhappiness with how he handled the dispute with Multicultural Radio Broadcasting.

Columnist Michael Goodwin of the New York Daily News quoted a marketing communications manager from General Motors, declaring "GM will not advertise on any Air America affiliates." However, GM OnStar commercials have been appearing on the Internet stream since the fall of 2004.

As part of a reorganization, investors in Progress Media bought the assets of that company, creating its current owner, Piquant LLC. An important change which accompanied the reorganization was a decision to stop trying to buy radio stations, lease air time, or insist that stations carry all of the network's programming.

On February 28, 2005, a new CEO, Danny Goldberg, was named. Goldberg set a goal of getting the network in 90% of the country as soon as possible. Expansions early in his tenure included Austin, Texas and Dallas, Texas in March 2005, and a return to Chicago in May 2005. At a media conference in July 2005, Goldberg stated that Air America Radio would be on 75 stations as of August and that Air America News would be relaunched in September as a much more expansive operation to "provide news for our stations and beyond."

A documentary on the network's rocky start and ultimate resurgence, Left of the Dial, premiered March 31, 2005 on HBO.

In April 2005, the studio of an AAR affiliate in Warren, Ohio, WANR-AM, was briefly occupied by a group that changed the locks and began broadcasting Christian programming until the police forced them to leave. A few weeks later, the group seeking to switch the station's format to Christian programming was able to purchase the station, and the Air America programming was discontinued.

Ratings

Air America won a 1.3-percent share of the market audience during its first full quarter in operation. That number rose slightly to 1.4 percent in the Summer 2004, and fell back to 1.2 percent in the Fall 2004 period, where it remains today.

The new Arbitron ratings for Winter 2005, which covers January, February, and March, show that WLIB, the station which carries Air America in New York, took a 1.2-percent share of all listeners 12 years and older, down one tenth of one point from the station's 1.3 percent share in Winter 2004.

Between the hours of 10 A.M. and 3 P.M., the period that includes Franken's program, Air America drew a 1.4-percent share of the New York audience aged 25 to 54 in Winter 2005. That number is the latest in a nearly year-long decline. In Spring of 2004, Air America's first quarter on the air, it drew a 2.2-percent share of the audience. That rose to 2.3 percent in the Summer of 2004, then fell to 1.6 percent in the Fall of 2004, and is now 1.4 percent—Air America's lowest-ever quarterly rating in that time and demographic slot.

The ratings also show WABC radio, which airs Rush Limbaugh, consistently beating Air America in New York City although Franken's ratings have beaten those of fellow talkshow host, conservative Bill O'Reilly. In the 10 a.m. to 3 P.M. period in the Winter of 2005, WABC won 2.7 percent of the audience to Air America's 1.4 percent. In Spring 2004, WABC beat Air America 2.7 percent to 2.2 percent. In Summer 2004, WABC won 2.7 percent to 2.3 percent. In Fall 2004, WABC widened its margin significantly and won 3.6 percent to 1.6 percent.

Although Air America’s ratings have shown improvements in other markets, it still lags far behind its competitors . Phoenix's ratings at KXXT went up 0.4 points in the spring ratings book to a 1.1 share, at 23rd place compared to 3rd place rival KFYI’s 5.2 share. Portland's KPOJ shows a stronger 4.5share placing it 5th in the market, behind rival KEX’s 5.0 share. Denver's KKZN currently ranks 22nd with a 2.0 share and Seattle's KPTK is 24th with a 1.4 share, both well behind rival conservative talk formats.

For more ratings information, see the listings at Radio and Records, and search by call letter within the specific markets.

Sponsors

Commercial sponsors have included:

  • Consumer Products and Services
  • Automotive
  • Insurance
  • Financial/Professional Services
  • Business Services
  • U.S. Government office of National Drug Control Policy, ONDCP

Local advertising placment and availability may vary in different markets.

In addition to commercial sponsors, Air America also devotes time to public service announcements or PSAs. Some of the groups AAR has included are Operation Truth and the Willie Nelson endorsed group NORML and PSAs from the Center for American Progress.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

Support from Clear Channel

Clear Channel tested the format at KPOJ-AM in Portland, Oregon, the first station to join Air America as an affiliate broadcasting Air America shows combined with other programming. As a result, the station increased its ages 12 and up market share by nearly an order of magnitude. KPOJ's spring 2004 Arbitron ratings grew from a 0.4 to a 3.7.

The success in Portland led Clear Channel to switch more of its stations to the format, so that as of September 2004 over a third of Air America's affiliates are owned by Clear Channel. This includes stations in swing states such as Florida (West Palm Beach and Miami (12th largest radio market)), Colorado, Ohio, and New Mexico, as well as major markets such as San Diego (17th largest) and Boston (9th largest).

Infinity Broadcasting is also testing Air America on its stations. On October 22, 2004, Infinity announced that it was switching one of its country stations in Seattle (1090 AM) to Air America.

The senior vice president of Infinity Radio Seattle said of the switch, "We believe this is distinctive programming. There are those in the radio business who believe that shows with a liberal perspective won't get an audience. Air America in recent months has shattered that myth."

Community relations

  • Al Franken has taken his talents overseas for the USO carrying in the long tradition of U.S. entertainers of all backgrounds going to entertain military personnel overseas. Franken has done so in a non-partisan manner.
  • The Al Franken Show has gone on several road trips giving new audiences an opportunity to meet the hosts in person.
  • On the air, one show will have promotional spots in the other show.
  • Each program on Air America also has its own website in the blog format. These various blogs provide a text and graphics link between hosts and the audience. The blogs foster a feeling of community. *Public Service Announcements are featured from a diverse number of groups from the ONDCP to Willie Nelson endorsed NORML.
  • In addition to these, several of the hosts have independent name blogs. see: External links
  • Main Air America website with links to show blogs
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

Promotion

Air America Radio's early promotions humorously describe the network as further to the left than a number of well-known right-wing groups, such as the NRA and the John Birch Society, as well as the fictional and apolitical character Betty Crocker.

Current campaigns (as of 2005) include outdoor advertising in New York City. Billboards and transit shelters feature pictures of Rhodes, Springer, and other hosts with the slogan, "The only talk radio left."


Weekday programs

Air America produces seventeen hours of weekday programming, including news summaries at the top of each hour.

Weekend programs (varies)

For those stations for which Air America has full control, weekends feature repeats and highlights from their weekday shows, combined with new original programming and some syndicated shows produced independently.

New network programming for weekends includes:

Controversies

Skit on "The Randi Rhodes Show" about "shooting spoiled child" in bad taste

In April of 2005 one pre-recorded comedy routine broadcast during The Randi Rhodes Show sparked a minor controversy. The United States Secret Service reviewed and set-aside further investigation or action regarding an April 24, 2005 radio feature broadcast from New York City during the show—Rhodes was in a Florida studio. The skit featured an announcer staying: "A spoiled child is telling us our Social Security isn't safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us. Well, here's your answer, you ungrateful whelp: (sound effect of 4 gunshots being fired). Just try it, you little bastard. . The implication, according to Matt Drudge, is that the spoiled child is George W. Bush. Randi Rhodes apologized for that skit on Wednesday, April 27, 2005, admitting it was "an attempt at humor ... bad joke." Rhodes further stated "It was a bit. It was bad. I apologize a thousand times." Rhodes also said the incident should be seen as a call for major networks to pay more attention to what the questionable journalism habits of her right-wing counterparts.

Jon Sinton, Air America's president of programming said "We are not under investigation from the Secret Service. We regret that a produced comedy bit that was in bad taste slipped through our normal vetting process. We do acknowledge that it was an internal error and internal discipline will be enforced."

UPI reported the Secret Service initially looked into the broadcast to see if it constituted a threat to Bush but later issued a statement saying they would take no action.

References:

Gloria Wise/Air America Loan Controversy

In July, 2005 the Bronx News issued a report alleging that $480,000 was loaned to Air America Radio by the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club of Co-op City, a non-profit organization providing services for children and seniors in the Bronx. As the club is heavily funded by the City of New York, the legality of such a transfer is under investigation. At the time the funds were said to have been transferred, Evan Cohen, former chairman of now-defunct Progress Media, the original owners of Air America, was also Director of Development for Gloria Wise.

In response to this report, Air America Radio's current owners, Piquant LLC, issued a press release characterizing the alleged corruption on the part of Gloria Wise and Progress Media as "absolutely disgraceful." In addition, Piquant stated that though they were not obliged to pay back the debts of Progress Media, they had previously arranged to fully compensate Gloria Wise in order to clear AAR's name. Critics have raised questions about the legality of the transfer of AAR assets from Progress Media to Piquant LLC. Specifically, the possibility exists that the transaction constitutes a fraudulent conveyance intended to avoid debts incurred by Evan Cohen. Others have noted that, since Piquant LLC is owned by most, though not all, of the same investors as Progress Media, a creditor that could not collect on their debts might attempt to pierce the corporate veil and hold the individual investors liable. In turn, the investors of Piquant could be able to sue Evan Cohen for securities fraud.

On August 2, 2005, the New York Sun reported that the Gloria Wise executive committee estimated a total of $875,000 was transfered from the club to Air America Radio as well as directly to Evan Cohen.

On August 6, 2005, the New York Post reported that the office of the New York Attorney General was joining the New York City Department of Investigation in the inquiry into the behavior of the Gloria Wise executive board. They also reported that Air America has begun paying back the funds, starting with a $50,000 payment, into an escrow account controlled by AAR's lawyers, although city investigators preferred a neutral account that could not be touched by either party.

On August 12, 2005, the New York Times reported that Al Franken commented on the scandal during his show earlier that week. Franken characterized Evan Cohen as "a crook" and said "I don't know why they did it, and I don't know where the money went. I don't know if it was used for operations, which I imagine it was. I think he was robbing Peter to pay Paul."

On August 18, 2005, the New York Sun reported that in May, 2005, Multicultural Radio Broadcasting filed suit against the current owners of Air America Radio, Piquant LLC for $255,000 alleging that the transfer of assets from Progress Media to Piquant LLC was a "sham" transaction designed specifically to stiff the creditors of Air America. The suit is an attempt by Multicultural Broadcasting to enforce a November 2004 judgement against Air America.

Archives

Air America Place is the official audio archive of all Air America Radio programs. The website also houses a blog and a message board for fans of Air America to post on. Air America Place is located at http://www.airamericaplace.com.

White Rose Society also has archives for Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, and numerous other liberal programs, some of which are on Air America affiliates. White Rose Society is located at http://www.whiterosesociety.org/

Affiliates

Please see List of Air America Radio affiliates for complete listing.

External links and references

Official websites

Air America fans

Air America critics

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