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UNAIRED IN AUSTIN
Air America is booted off the dial in liberal Austin, Texas, provoking bewilderment at democraticunderground.com:
This is a city that is overwhelmingly Democratic, but the right-wing talk radio stations in town consistently get much better ratings.
Even commies don’t want to listen to commies.
"Dingy” Harry Reid’s letter to Clear Channel Communications complaining about Rush Limbaugh may have had something to do with this. Clear Channel probably owns the former AA and newly minted spanish station. Mark Mays, CC’s President, passed Reid’s letter to Limbaugh who auctioned it for the benefit of a charity on e-bay for a little over US$2 million.
Sounds surprising unless you know (as I do from living there) that the local NPR station provides all the lefty commentary and news-slant Austin can stand.
How can you make money with a product if someone else is giving it away free?
Posted by Rittenhouse on 2007 10 24 at 12:14 PM • permalinkRe #3, and I think NPR has better broadcasters and staff than Air America does (on the rare occasion that I do listen to NPR news and commentary, they tend to be quite professional, if you can ignore the bias offered in most <not all> stories).
Of course, it helps being subsidized by American tax payers. Something that probably has AA gnashing their teeth over.
But, really, all of this simply underscores the cluelessness of the moonbats in general, and those at DU in particular. Market forces are more powerful than some Marxist style narrative, dude. Get over it, already.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 10 24 at 12:21 PM • permalinkThe real problem with Air America is that except for people like Randi “My Right Wing Dog Beat Me Up” Rhoades, most of the AA folks were not radio people.
Conservatvie talk radio people tend to be first and foremost radio people.
Also, conservative talk radio was build from the ground up. You had local talk radio personalities who then began to syndicate and grew organically. AA tried to create a national network out of nothing.
#3 & #4 - you guys beat me to it. You’re exactly right - what role does Air America fill when left-wing radio is ably served by the ubiquitous, easily-found, well-crafted NPR? If you were a lefty, would you listen to the vulgar, screetching Randy Rhodes on AM, or the mellifluous, cadenced, “NPR-speak” of Corey Flintoff and friends?
Pisspot lefties crab about right-wing talk radio. Christ, I’d LOVE a libertarian/right-wing version of NPR. Like all spoiled brats, they don’t know how good they’ve got it.
How can Air America compete with Austin’s own Alex Jones?
Conservative talk radio has an advantage that Air America doesn’t. There is a huge reservoir of underutilized broadcast talent on the right.
Lefties who seek careers in news and entertainment can always find an entry niche. If they are even marginally talented and attractive, upward mobility is guaranteed. The sky’s the limit.
Of course, this means that the pool of left-wing talent stretches thin as a puddle from the New York Times and Washington Post to CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR et cetera. And even what they consider elite talent - Couric, Rather, Dowd, Rich - is third-rate compared to conservative talkers like Limbaugh.
Conservative talk radio owes its success to the fact that talented broadcasters were excluded from the liberal orthodox media. When they got their chance, they found a large audience that had also been excluded.
If I may offer my own hypothesis:
1. Republicans tend to be conservatives, and conservatives tend to be Republicans
2. Within the US, there are four major classifications for metropolitan areas: urban, suburbs, outer suburbs (the “exurbs”, and rural.
3. Republicans area of strength is, in order from strongest to weakest: exurb, rural, suburb, urban.
4. Therefore, conservative area is strenth is, in order from strongest to weakest: exurb, rural, suburb, urban.
5. People who live in exurban communities travel, on average, much longer distances by car than people who live in urban communities (since they don’t have to travel as far to work).
6. People who listen to talk radio tend to listen to it in their car.
7. Therefore, talk radio will tend to reflect the views/ attitudes of people who spend the most time on the road.
8. Therefore, talk radio will tend to continue to reflect the views of conservatives/ republicans as long as they dominate the exurban areas of the country.
That’s an interesting thought Sean, and it makes a lot of sense. And that would carry over to urban niches--the shopfloors and other workspaces where workers listen to talk radio while on the job are more likely to be conservative. Whereas liberal enclaves like Starbucks have their own elevator music piped in and the advertising firms don’t have the radio on.
Posted by tim maguire on 2007 10 24 at 02:59 PM • permalink#11 SeanP
While I think the demographics and commute scenario you mention have something to do with it, I think the reason Tim gave, “Even commies don’t want to listen to commies”, is primary. Kidz tire easily of the nagging, and how many ways can you say “Bush sucks” anyway?
Posted by Dave in Chicago on 2007 10 24 at 03:04 PM • permalinkAhh, the analysis of talk radio and its dominance by conservatives…
Reminds me of the story of Rupert Murdoch, upon his entry into the US cable market with Fox News Channel--a market which many observers thought was amply satisfied with many choices--where upon Murdoch replied that he was going after a niche market, conservatives and the Right.
A niche that carried the potential of 50% of the market. Some niche!
Even if SeanP’s (#11 above) analysis is correct, it still doesn’t answer the fact that every other radio station, excepting conservative talk-radio, fills their station license-required news blurbs with the same lefty slant found in the New York Times, or on CBS.
The lefties are still stuck in the world of Pauline Kael, paraphrasing--they don’t understand how conservative talk radio is so successful, since they don’t know anyone who listens.
The hubris of Air America is their belief in themselves as the sole source of truth--that once this has been revealed, then Rush, et al, will go down in flames.
Also, their shit doesn’t stink.
Lefties all over the web have been touting this Huff’n’Puff Post piece by Air America president Mark Green. The guy is a failed politician many times over and apparently knows squat about running a successful radio network, but he’s got the ‘08 election all figured out.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 10 24 at 04:52 PM • permalinkSeanP,
Interesting analysis, but conservative talk radio dominates the ratings in urban, suburban, rural, and exurban areas. It not only dominates during drive-time but during mid-day and evenings.
Conservative talk radio is generally interesting, good-humored, and fast-paced. That’s why people listen. By contrast, even liberals don’t listen to liberal talk radio because it’s a bad product.
The reason liberal talk radio does not succeed is that there are so many things that simply cannot be said or the whole fabric unravels.
For instance on immigration one cannot say “why don’t we have a set of legal processes by which a potential immigrant may apply for entry, be granted it, and monitored, uh you know, like the other 200 odd countries in the world...”
The thought above must be branded racist hate speak by the left. It obviously is not. Audience dribbles away, a little ashamed at having listened in the first place.
Our oz ABC is similar in many ways to the NPR in the USA. Earnest, professional presenters get away with murder a lot of the time. Yesterday Fran Kelly conducted a live-to-air interview with Mal Brough about the intervention in aboriginal communities to cut the booze and abuse of one another, and to encourage kids back into school and a healthier life. Mal was absolutely on target and disposed of all the loaded questions and false assumptions with calm, efficient, reasoned statements. There was nothing she could do about it.
Later that day, the ABC TV news managed to cover the same territory, highlighting NT Minister Scrymgour’s inflamatory anti-intervention statements, but featured little of the sense conveyed by Mal Brough apart from him calling for her resignation. At least they did show Rudd saying she was wrong - but what else could he say under all the circumstances, what with an election on and this being a Tampa moment?
While we don’t have anything quite like Air America, we do have Airheads Australia, aka Sunrise on 7.Thanks for the comments, everyone. One thing I just wanted to add for the skeptics was that the LA area, unlike the rest of the country, apparently has a fair representation of liberals on the air. Michael Jackson (not that one) was a mainstay here for decades, along with Tom Liekus, Mark Germaine, Bill Press, Stepahnie Miller—hell, even Ted Rall had a show here for years. And the biggest local talk show host here (Bill Handel) is more of an independant than conservative.
You know what else LA has? Traffic. Lots and lots of traffic. Meaning that even the people who live in the upscale urban areas like Los Feliz, Pacific Pallisades, Hancock Park, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, etc. have to spend 30-60 minutes on the road (even if their place of work is just 10 miles away).
Granted, I haven’t exhaustively studied my hypothesis, but that is only for lack of a government grant to fund my research. Any helpers?
#16—
I think you are correct, and it is becuase comservative talk radio (i) tends to hire radio people who are conservatives (whereas Air America mostly hired liberals who wanted to be radio people) and (ii) conservative talk radio grew organically from local markets into the national market, whereas Air America tried to shoehorn a national network into local markets.
Sean,
When Rush started his show in New York City, prior to syndication but with syndication in mind, he chose the 12-3 pm time slot because it was a dead period on AM radio. Programmers would risk approximately nothing by picking up his show, which is one reason it exploded across the landscape.
The fact that Rush is drive-time in LA is happenstance, and LA’s commuter culture is not typical of the rest of the country.
Incidentally, there were liberal hosts in NYC in the following years, too, including Joy Behar and Alan Colmes. They failed to draw ratings.
Doesn’t Hucbald visit Austin?
Coincidence? I think not.Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2007 10 24 at 06:54 PM • permalinkMark Green is the head of Air America? Oh, that explains a lot. Let’s see, fail in politics, go into business? No, no, Mark, it’s the other way around . . .
Also, Austin is Democrat, and even liberal - but by Texan standards. Also, we Texans are nothing if not ornery and contrarian, no matter our politics. Finally, even a hardcore truther-Code Pink-Mumia supporting-DUer, no matter how much they agreed with the host, could not keep listening for long if the host had an irritating Yankee accent and no sense of humor. (That’s why Texans can’t understand why Diane Rehm has a career.) Jim Hightower is more our kind of thing.
I guess this episode has given David Marr something else to write about next week - dissent is being silenced!
Posted by mr creosote on 2007 10 24 at 09:06 PM • permalinkSomebody call DA Ronnie Earle; HE’LL put a stop to this...!
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 10 24 at 09:37 PM • permalink#29: mr creosote – if David Marr’s dissent wasn’t being brutally suppressed all the time, he’d have nothing to write about.
Posted by s.r.intulom on 2007 10 24 at 09:48 PM • permalinkHaving listened to the New York City branch of Air America now and then on my commute, I came to see something very quickly....they were not honest with their audience.
When wingers did something stupid and less than conservative, Rush and Hannity are all over them. Disgruntled conservatives could call in to commiserate.
When moonbats did something stupid and less than progressive, Air America didn’t want to hear about it and scorned any moonbat who called in to complain. The leadership could never be wrong. Not honest with their audience at all.
...which didn’t play in a town like New York, whatever your politics.
SeanP
Dear Gloria isn’t on KABC anymore?
I think there is another aspect here. Given the capability of the internet, the real hardcore of the left can listen to more professional output like Pacifica Radio on the web. A UT college teacher or student would rather listen to an Amy Goodman of Democracy Now than some idiot on AA.
#10 Rebeccah, you make Texas sound like Saskatchewan and Manitoba: places where the NDP (an openly socialist party) has roots going back to the thirties. But the central canadian (Ontario) NDPers (kneedippers) hold their noses when talking with them as the western ‘dippers have very conservative social values.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 10 24 at 10:34 PM • permalinkAre US taxi drivers addicted to listening to conservative talk back? I can’t remember the last time I climbed into a taxi and was not ear bashed by Alan Jones, or the opinions of Alan recited second hand by the driver.
I sometimes think that taxi radios have been modified to preclude them from picking up ABC radio.
Posted by mr creosote on 2007 10 25 at 12:48 AM • permalinkLiberal talk radio may suffer a PR error committed by those hell-and-brimstone preachers who preach doom and gloom all the time. To keep an audience, there has to be a balance between the Bad News and the Good News. Rush Limbaugh best exemplifies this balance; he complains about a lot of stuff, and he also preaches a lot of optimism.
People want to be entertained. People don’t like media that constantly sinks their moods - well, except for those inexplicable sorts who listen to Nivana or Marilyn Manson.
Posted by Alan K. Henderson on 2007 10 25 at 01:52 AM • permalink#37
There are bumper stickers with the following theme: Make a liberal angry-be happy.
I remember back when many in the telecommunications industry were losing their jobs. Rush took a series of days on his show taking calls from people who had lost their jobs and took the opportunity to start their own businesses and were now successfull. He still gets calls to this day from people who heard those shows and thank him for saving their lives because it gave them the courage to go out on their own.
That fundamental belief in individuals is part of the reason that Rush is so popular. You will never come close to that on liberal talk radio.#36 Mr Creosote, US Cab drivers are generally addicted to radio programming in Urdu or Somali. At least in the major urban areas.
Posted by alien kiwi on 2007 10 25 at 05:55 PM • permalinkI haven’t posted here in a long while.
I was in the Austin airport over a week ago waiting for my husband who was coming home from Iraq (he’s retired military, now a contractor i.e. mercenary), we live an hour a way around Ft.Hood. While waiting I picked up a newspaper for travelers that has restaurant reviews, maps and places to stay. Oh, and of course some pretty nasty letters to the editor from the tolerant liberals.
One letter suggested sticking all conservatives in Texas where we could surround ourselves with border fences, not tax each other and starve and something about Gays...I think we were suppose to hang conservative Gays or something. I forget exactly. At first I thought it was suppose to be satire, making fun of how liberals view conservatives, but by the end I saw the guy was serious. So, Austin is pretty liberal which is why I stopped subscribing to the Austin American Statesman.
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