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Nbadan
04-28-2005, 02:49 AM
Some Right-wing talk-TV hosts, including Scarborough Country, have begun to label liberal radio..'hate radio' over a recent comedy skit that went bad during the AAR Randi Rhodes show...


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."

Worldnet Daily (http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44014)

Notice the timing...the latest Arbitron ratings for the largest markets came out the other day and AAR is doing well in most markets and continuing to grow. Remember when Joey and O'Reilly and Hannity said this network wouldn't last? That was a year ago and now it's not only still around but hurting some Xtian radio and a threat to the rest of right-wing hate radio.

Notice how well AAR is doing in markets where there's an affiliate for "The Patriot"...the ultra right-wing hate network owned by Salem that features Ingraham, Savage, Medved, Hewitt and many other venom spewers. Salem owns most of these stations and their ratings are 1/2 or less than that of the comparable AAR affiliate.

Not only does this mean advertisers will split those critical dollars (which are real hard to come by these days) with AAR (mostly Clear Channel) stations and not with Salem. Ouch #1

With their large investment on AAR, Clear Channel is going after Salem through the backdoor. Clear Channel has its own hate network with Rushbo and Hannity and would love to see Salem fade away and back into putting on the "dollar-a-hollar" preachers this company used to make it's money from. They're putting a squeeze on Salem and it's being felt. Not a good thing for a big contributor to the Repugs..and the religious right's favorites in specific. Ouch #2

Advertising revenues continue to sink for most radio stations and the huge debts many stations have incured over the years (most through speculation from their greedy owners like Antzinger & Salem) are coming home to roost. Over-inflated property values are starting to take their toll as the large debts these companies took on to build these huge radio empires aren't meeting the bills. Debts are growing and revenues aren't. A competitor that can eat into those revenues even further (and the associated license property values) has to be eliminated.

It's a great thing to hear all this shit about Randi and AAR. As the old axiom goes, "say good, say bad, just say". Hopefully this story gets A LOT of play...it attracts people to hear what Rhodes or AAR is all about...especially sheeple who weren't aware of the network.

The Ressurrected One
04-28-2005, 10:44 AM
I would think advocating the assassination of a U.S. President could be construed as "hate."

It was a publicity stunt to boost ratings...c'mon, recognize it for what it is.

2centsworth
04-28-2005, 04:32 PM
Liberal radio is doing about as well as its doing in San Antonio.

The Ressurrected One
04-28-2005, 04:58 PM
Air America is on the air in only about 50 markets and, even in the “blue” states, its ratings are generally paltry despite reams of free publicity and plenty of financial backers who want this enterprise to succeed.

By comparison, Bill Bennett, former Drug Czar and Education Secretary, can be heard in over 100 markets, with a show that launched about the same time as Air America with virtually no mainstream press notice.

How did that happen? Isn’t AA’s Al Franken at least as funny as Bill Bennett? (Although, to tell you the truth, when Al was part of the team of Franken & Davis on Saturday Night Live, I wondered how a comedy duo could survive with two straight men.) Don’t Liberals listen to the radio? Why isn’t anybody out there?

I think I know the answer to that question.

Conservative radio succeeds, in great measure, because a major segment of the population perceives a need for it. There is no need for mass media with a Liberal slant, because it is already all around us.

If history had been different and the media centers of the country had been located in Nebraska and Georgia instead of New York and California, they would likely have taken on a more Conservative look over the years. Liberals would have been screaming about the lack of balance when it came to coverage of news, politics and social issues. In that atmosphere, a dozen Air America-type programs would have sprung up by now, and Conservatives would be bemoaning their success and looking for alternatives. If Rush Limbaugh went on the air in that “alternate universe”, he might very well have failed. Who would have needed him? Conservative thought would have already controlled most of what we were watching, reading and hearing.

In short, what Air America is selling is available in too many other places. It’s the same dynamic that made a success of Fox News Channel and a failure of Phil Donahue’s attempted comeback on cable TV a few years ago.

What will eventually kill Air America is its redundancy.