January 22, 2010
Err America Goes Dark
I would have said they finally failed, but that would have erroneously implied that they were successful at some point, at some iteration, under some management. They never were.
The company, which was founded in 2004, never found a substantial audience or sound financial footing. It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2006, but managed to stay on the air at that time. The network churned through several owners and several attempted reinventions, with little to show for it.&qout;The fact of the matter was, it was always a very challenging business proposition, and it never had the right management," said Sam Seder, who hosted programs on Air America until last year.
The headwinds were enormous, he said, adding, "Radio is a dying industry."
I suspect that the growing stable of conservative talk radio personalities that emerged over the same time period would scoff at Seder's self-denial. America doesn't seem to have the first problem supporting long-time talkers like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, and they've found that there is plenty of room for other center-right stars to emerge in recent years, such as Mark Levin. The simple fact of the matter is that the nation isn't nearly as liberal as the majority of the media/infotainment industry is, or as liberal as the media/infotainment industry would like America to be.
If they had ever been honest about that fact, Err America would have never gotten off the ground.
I really think that there could be a successful liberal talk radio business. The problem with Air America was that so much of the programming and what was said was crap and rediculous ranting. There simply was a huge lack of common sense. The appeal to common sense is what I think makes the conservative shows appealing and successful.
Posted by: Titan Mk6B at January 22, 2010 11:38 AMYou know what they say: "To Err is Human."
Posted by: Dan Irving at January 22, 2010 11:51 AMOh, and add in that the Catholic and many of the more solid Protestant radio stations are doing well and growing. If I can't find my preferred, I can often find the other whether I am in the boonies or in urban areas. Err America, how right you are.
But let me ask you this, what company in it's right mind would pay someone to attack any company that makes profits? Just think about it... what exactly is used to pay advertising? Uhrm, did anyone actually think this station's stances through before setting it up?
I did consider it a religious station, of sorts. I call these "liberals" the new age Pilgrims. They want privation, not for themselves mind you. One sheet of toilet paper (for you), bicycles and public transport (for you), turning down the furnace or turning of the a/c (for you), but of course for your (and their) own, supposed, good. But they offer nothing that religion offers. Sounds like a religion straight from the book of "The Wit and Wisdom of Charles Manson" to me.
Posted by: Doom at January 22, 2010 01:34 PMI've been saying for years that there's simply no market for liberal talk radio. We have better things to do with our time.
Conservative talk radio is a huge success simply because the people who listen to the various con men who host these shows are unable to think for themselves. These shows have no substance at all. They deal in sensationalism. It's kinda like watching a "pro wrestling" match.
Just goes to prove what a nation of gullible people we are.
Posted by: Dude at January 23, 2010 12:05 PMDude, it proves that you can fool MOST of The People SOME of the time, if you have a a couple of generations of government "progressively educated" voters, a Progressive media flooding America with leftist propaganda and heavily biased editing, billions of dollars of foreign and diverted-taxpayer dollars, and an entrenched network of bought and paid-for gangs. SOME of Us The People are not and have never been ignorant or blind to what has happened to The Republic. SOME of us know that the dynamics os history portend a Humpty-Dumpty episode for the tyrannical hoard of bureaucracies that has become American government. Humpty might need a little push.
Posted by: twolaneflash at January 23, 2010 12:32 PMLiberal/Progressive talk radio will always fail. During an hour or more their ideas are discussed in depth, they cannot use those juvenile sound bites and personal insults to effect, so the senselessness of their proposals are exposed.
Posted by: Rick at January 23, 2010 01:51 PMBo Hoo
Posted by: Neo at January 23, 2010 08:24 PMDude,
Too funny. You try and explain why a company fails at attempting to indoctrinate by saying that you and yours do not need indoctrination (except in forced education, government subsidized education, government panels, and government intrusions). But this is not about indoctrination, it is about business. And the business by the left in the form of indoctrination failed so you try to switch in an apple for an orange. So very typical and why your businesses will fail every time.
As far as Rush being indoctrination, all you have to do is prove that what he is saying is not true. Take your pick, do it via theory (though you need to show some kind of proof, like a communist nation that worked or a socialist one that actually offers freedom to it's citizens), or through functional data. Since you can't, then what he is saying is not indoctrination, it is education. Further, it is education which is directed at a freer, richer, better nation. Which, in the end, is why he is still successful and why Err America is dead.
No, you probably cannot follow that. And, it most likely hurts your feelings. Whatever. So long as a Democrat holds office, you have a shot at a job, or at least a handout. Don't worry. Well, actually as of the late developments... do worry.
Posted by: Doom at January 24, 2010 07:19 AM
