Why Air America Sucks

As a talk radio pro who defends and cherishes free speech, it’s time for me to weigh in on why Air America sucks. It’s not that I want them to fail – they already have once. As a free speech advocate, I cheer for their success – unlike what many liberals hope for conservative talk which I helped establish in America. But, since its inception, Air America has been a failure. After its first financial disaster, it is attempting to make a comeback and has new and credible leadership in industry veterans Bennett Zier and Bill Hess. But, it’s a long climb out of a deep hole.

Air America’s newest ace is none other than former TV huckster Montel Williams. He follows Jerry Springer who followed none other than…..Al Franken. Now, there is some name value in all three, but the first two failed in radio. Franken was an absolute disaster. As I wrote in my upcoming book “Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio,” Franken didn’t know he had to have something between the ears to do a three-hour radio talk show each day. And, that’s what so many of these non-radio personalities don’t get. Doing a three-hour radio talk show takes hours of prep time. Most hosts spend about three hours of prep time for each hour of on-air time. These guys just walked into the studio and thought it would happen automatically. Listeners would flock to them….they were superstars…NOT! There are no teleprompters in radio!

I once watched Franken accept an award in New York before a gathering of radio executives a few years ago and I almost puked. We were ready for a 5-10 minute acceptance speech, but what we got was a 30-40 minute rant against Bush. Nothing but whining. And this was at a cocktail party gathering. We all walked out.

Those liberals who have made it in talk radio don’t have an association with Air America. Some stations have a liberal lean and work in markets like San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Thom Hartmann have gained success independent of Air America. But ratings nationwide are next to nothing for Air America stations.

There are many reasons why Air America has so far failed to gain traction with listeners. One is because most of the media is already liberal and it’s questionable whether there’s more room for more liberalism in the media today. Look at NPR as one example: it’s ratings are at an all-time high, so why many liberals are calling for a return of “fairness” regulations is beyond any normal logic. But we’re not talking about logical people.

When Air America first began, it was comprised of a bunch of non-professional whiners. They put ideology ahead of entertainment value. None were a match for Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Lars Larson, and any number of radio professionals who were entertaining as well as informative. Air America was not entertaining–it was “acid reflux” in our speakers. They had nothing positive to say about anything. Meantime, conservative talkers have always been more positive, happy, and genuine and this resonates with America. It’s at the core value of what conservatives believe. Traditionally, we are an optimistic group of people and believe in the goodness of the individual. Air America sounded the complete opposite and so American ears turned away.

Air America also fails to resonate in the heartland. Most decent people still believe in an old fashioned handshake as their bond. There was no handshake coming from Air America. There was from Rush and always will be. Air America is also having trouble generating revenue because entrepreneurs and hard-working business people who tend to buy radio advertising believe in spending their money conservatively – and with conservatives. They support their core values with their core dollars. Air America doesn’t have as many sources of revenue due to socioeconomic values in America. As an example, conservative radio in Portland, Oregon does four times as much revenue as the liberal station, according to my long time sales sources in the market. The reason is as mentioned above.

When the Fairness Doctrine was lifted in 1987, conservatives could come out and voice an opinion on the radio without fear of government retribution. There was so much pent up demand that it took off like wildfire. There just isn’t that same pent up demand for liberal talk because it is everywhere to begin with. It’s the law of supply and demand. And, of course liberals don’t understand that.

So, back to Montel Williams. Good luck.