The latest radio ratings are in, and they show continued bad news for Air America, the liberal talk-radio network featuring Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Janeane Garofolo and others.
While it is difficult to pinpoint Air America’s ratings nationally ” it is on the air in about 50 stations across the country, and has been on some of them for just the last few months ” it is possible to measure the network’s performance in the nation’s number-one market, New York City.
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, won a 1.2-percent share of all listeners 12 years and older. That is down one tenth of one point from the station’s 1.3 percent share in Winter 2004, the last period when it aired its old format of Caribbean music and talk.
Didn’t they say they would be more popular than Rush within a year? Maybe they didn’t mean this year.
And 12 year olds as the audience. Wow! Keep up the good work.
1. peejz, it doesn’t say 12 year olds. It says 12 AND OLDER, a standard rating bracket I surmise. Also, how do these numbers compare to similar shows in their formative years? Rush for example? Third, as young as Air America is, they may not yet have been able to pick-up stations that will eventually air them. Granted, the NRO (conservative press) article paints a less-than-stellar picture for Air America, but the article and the numbersd have to be taken in context.
The following was written by a conservative pundit, and was taken from the LA Times. OK, I answered some of my own queries. I still hope that Air America can eventually take hold. If for no other reason then to give balance to what’s being aired.
COMMENTARY: Why the Liberals Can’t Keep Air America From Spiraling In
: Wait a second, you say, didn’t I read that Air America has expanded to more than 50 markets? That’s true, but let’s put things in perspective: Conservative pundit and former Reagan official William J. Bennett’s morning talk show, launched at the same time as Air America, reaches nearly 124 markets, including 18 of the top 20, joining the growing ranks of successful right-of-center talk programs (Limbaugh is still the ratings leader, drawing more than 15 million listeners a week).
And look at Air America’s ratings: They’re pitifully weak, even in places where you would think they’d be strong. WLIB, its flagship in New York City, has sunk to 24th in the metro area Arbitron ratings ” worse than the all-Caribbean format it replaced, notes the Radio Blogger. In the liberal meccas of San Francisco and Los Angeles, Air America is doing lousier still. :
2-”It says 12 AND OLDER, a standard rating bracket I surmise”-All the other stations get a demographic breakdown. Why would AA be any different. They get the figures by the polls you are so fond of.
4. I’m sure AA gets the same. The article posted by Reilly merely quoted the 12 and older stats plus the 25-54 y/o data. I’m simply commenting on your barb about “12 year olds as the audience.” The same could be said for Rush, et al, if you want to apply the same logic.
Maybee AA would do better if they didn’t put up with people like this:
“Air America radio host: Punish me if I broke law
Rhodes apologizes to Bush, Secret Service for ‘gunshots’ skit she says was not funny
Posted: April 28, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
A liberal radio talk-show host who aired a comedy skit featuring an apparent gunshot warning to President Bush has apologized, and says she’s not afraid of being prosecuted over the matter.
“This was just a stupid, stupid bit!”exclaimed Randi Rhodes on yesterday’s broadcast on the Air America network. “But, if it crossed the line, then certainly, there must be punishment, and if there is, I want to be punished so that I can actually say ‘Equal justice under law.’ Anybody that has stepped over this line of law needs to be prosecuted, including me.â€
Here is the transcript of what was said:
“The announcer said: “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: [audio sound of four gunshots being fired.] Just try it, you little bastard. [audio of gun being cocked].”
“Let’s not do that while I’m here in Florida,” Rhodes, who broadcasts from West Palm Beach, said laughingly following the item. “Let’s not arm the old people until I leave. What is with all the killing?”
A government source told Drudge, “Even joking about shooting the president is a crime, let alone doing it on national radio … we are taking this very seriously.”
A statement from Air America denies there’s any federal probe taking place.
“We are not under investigation from the Secret Service,” president of programming Jon Sinton said. “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.”
“I’m the freaking news? You gotta be kidding me!” Rhodes said yesterday, as she apologized incessantly for the sketch throughout the course of her show.
Rhodes maintains the skit was created by producers at Air America without her knowledge, and she would not have aired it had she heard it in advance. Still, she says it’s her show, and she takes full responsibility.
“If the bit was understood to be a threat against the president,” Rhodes explained, “I need to apologize to the president of the United States, and I do. I also need to apologize to the Secret Service [which] has a very, very serious job. If they had to take two seconds out of their day to look into me, I apologize for that. … But where is the apology when they threaten judges from the Senate floor or from the House floor? Or where’s the investigation into [WND columnist] Ann Coulter’s mouth? …
“[My apology] is sincere. I feel bad that anybody would feel threatened by comedy. That’s one thing, but I also feel bad that it wasn’t funny. And I also feel bad that there could be a perception that I would be advocating violence against anybody, let alone the president of the United States of America. It’s no secret that I think he’s a terrible president, but I don’t think that anybody should have violence advocated against them in any way, shape or form ever! … That [skit] will never see the light of day again. It was bad.”
Rhodes received numerous calls of support over the matter, including one from Andrew, who identified himself as a conservative Christian in Long Island, N.Y.
“We don’t agree [politically],” Andrew said, “but there’s no reason why – for something like that – you should get in trouble.”
Rhodes said she’s been contacted by producers of NBC’s “Today Show” who want her to provide them the skit to air on national television, along with an appearance by Rhodes.
“How in the world could a bad bit be worthy of a ‘Today Show’ segment, but the 15 years of talk radio in the wilderness of the conservative AM dial means nothing?” Rhodes asked rhetorically. “You don’t become a media whore because now there’s an opportunity to get your mug on the freakin’ TV. It’s not what I’m about.”
Rhodes was wrong. No question.
i don’t like that kind of humor, either. i prefer mike kilo’s vairiety. so acceptable.
9. True, shiloh. Then again, kilo targets the “peons” among us who dare to think independently. And, he backs up his venom with solid arguments. [gag]
7. “Let’s not do that while I’m here in Florida,”Rhodes, who broadcasts from West Palm Beach, said laughingly following the item. “Let’s not arm the old people until I leave. What is with all the killing?”
Might the above quote have been a shot at the recently enacted FL law that allows folks to shoot anyone who they feel threatened by without fear of prosecution? I agree that the “shot” at the president is wrong, but the FL law is absolutely absurd! Think about it, two folks get into an argument following a fender-bender. One reaches into his pocket to get a pen, and the other shoots him because he was “afraid and felt threatened.” Yes, siree, the Florida legislature has done us all a world of good with this one. Vigilantes unite!
More on 11.
The measure lets people use guns or other deadly force to defend themselves in public places without first trying to escape.
MIAMI, April 26 – Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill on Tuesday giving Florida citizens more leeway to use deadly force in their homes and in public, a move that gun-control groups and several urban police chiefs warned would give rise to needless deaths.
The measure, known as the “stand your ground”bill, lets people use guns or other deadly force to defend themselves in public places without first trying to escape. …
If only we could get California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas to enact similar legislation making it lawful for US cITIZENS to shoot illegal aliens on sight……that would be great.
13,
Mike, this site may be right-wing, but it is certainly not a fascist site.
Air America will fail because it was an attempt to co-opt the confrontational, one-sided techniques of many conservative radio programs. I put AA and Limbaugh in the same category – political theater masquerading as talk radio.
But Limbaugh didn’t fail.
I wouldn’t argue that liberals are immune to the kind of tunnel-visioned shit politics that Limbaugh and AA represent. So I have no answers, K.
17 – You have to at least agree with Michael Savage some of the time then. He hates Limbaugh, but he hates liberalism too.
19,
I know little of Michael Savage, but what I do know of him leads me to believe that it would be difficult for me to agree with him on anything. Talk radio is institutionally and formulaically bad, it has little to do with the personalities involved.
if memory serves, Savage had a show, briefly, on MSNBC, from which he was fired for telling a homosexual caller that he should get AIDS & die.
his opinion , for me, after that was always somewhat tainted.
truth be told, his opinion before that event was more of an entertainment than something to be seriously considered.
Talk radio is institutionally and formulaically bad,
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA????????????
ask Infitity radio, or any station that Rush is on how “institutionally and formulaically bad” talk radio is…
you are an idiot….maybe all talk radio should be like “Air America”…no ideas, no talent…no listeners.
22,
Well Mike, there are 2 differences to illuminate here: the difference between talk radio and news is that talk radio is a realm of opinion exclusively, wheras news organizations (though less and less so) make that distinction.
The other: the only difference between your description of AA (which I think you are right about) and Limbaugh is that Limbaugh has listeners.
Thank you again for calling me an idiot after defending the good name of talk radio. I love slap-stick irony.
Wasnt it PAUL McCARTNEY or JOHN LENNON who claimed they were more popular then jesus? i mean the BEATLES big misatke was going to INDIA and meeting us with all those goofy gurus:lol: