The politically liberal talk-radio network, Air America, has closed its doors after struggling for six years to find an audience.
Uh, it really doesn't diminish our opinion of you, Al. But thanks for sharing that little bit of information.
Started in 2004 by comedian Al Franken, Air America, in its best days, had only 100 affiliate stations.
Air America never really connected with an audience. There are plenty of liberals in the country so it would seem that someone would have found Air America entertaining, but apparently few people did. Most days, listening to Air America was like listening to Al Gore. No matter what the subject, after five minutes you were digging in your pocket or purse for something with which to slash your wrists.
Al Franken, the centerpiece of Air America, could have been funny. But he was bitter and mean-spirited. On “Saturday Night Live,” he was funny. On Air America he was didactic, strident, and boring. And he was the most talented of the Air America hosts.
Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a trade journal of the talk-radio industry, nailed it:
“The thing that was so maddening about Air America’s original programming was that all you heard was about how bad Rush Limbaugh was and how bad Sean Hannity was. If that’s the ‘liberal message,’ there is no message.”
Franken’s slant was typical of Air America broadcasters—the ad hominem attack. This is a weak form of argument where a person counters the points made by another by attacking him personally rather than responding to his assertions. The title of Franken’s book, Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat, Idiot is an example of an ad hominem attack.
Air America was constantly angry about something, sort of like Glenn Beck. They found it difficult to be funny or to have any sense of humor about events.
Limbaugh’s success, on the other hand, stems from his skills as an entertainer and integrator of current events. Yes, he has an agenda and he pounds away at it but, if you can just put away your personal biases and sympathies for an hour or so, he’s fun to listen to, even when he’s wrong. And he’s wrong a lot. On political issues, give him an A or A-, but on science, math, and economics, C+ at best
Robin Bertolucci, program director at KTLK, says that ideology alone was not the reason for Air America’s demise:
“The thing that makes any radio program successful is the entertainment value and the information value,” she said. “What makes a compelling talk-show host is not limited to political ideology.” Citing Limbaugh as an example, Bertolucci said, “He’s a wildly talented and entertaining broadcaster. If he was a communist, I think the show would be successful too— in a very different way.”
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 5:00 PM and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Air America’s Last Flight
The politically liberal talk-radio network, Air America, has closed its doors after struggling for six years to find an audience.
Uh, it really doesn't diminish our opinion of you, Al. But thanks for sharing that little bit of information.
Started in 2004 by comedian Al Franken, Air America, in its best days, had only 100 affiliate stations.
Air America never really connected with an audience. There are plenty of liberals in the country so it would seem that someone would have found Air America entertaining, but apparently few people did. Most days, listening to Air America was like listening to Al Gore. No matter what the subject, after five minutes you were digging in your pocket or purse for something with which to slash your wrists.
Al Franken, the centerpiece of Air America, could have been funny. But he was bitter and mean-spirited. On “Saturday Night Live,” he was funny. On Air America he was didactic, strident, and boring. And he was the most talented of the Air America hosts.
Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a trade journal of the talk-radio industry, nailed it:
Franken’s slant was typical of Air America broadcasters—the ad hominem attack. This is a weak form of argument where a person counters the points made by another by attacking him personally rather than responding to his assertions. The title of Franken’s book, Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat, Idiot is an example of an ad hominem attack.
Air America was constantly angry about something, sort of like Glenn Beck. They found it difficult to be funny or to have any sense of humor about events.
Limbaugh’s success, on the other hand, stems from his skills as an entertainer and integrator of current events. Yes, he has an agenda and he pounds away at it but, if you can just put away your personal biases and sympathies for an hour or so, he’s fun to listen to, even when he’s wrong. And he’s wrong a lot. On political issues, give him an A or A-, but on science, math, and economics, C+ at best
Robin Bertolucci, program director at KTLK, says that ideology alone was not the reason for Air America’s demise:
Like this:
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 5:00 PM and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.