Kennedy Endorses AAR Begging
RFK JR. JOINS THE FUN
Kennedy Not Above Air America's Panhandling
In a new sign of Air America's rapidly deteriorating financial situation, round three in the recent series of fundraising letters features Robert F Kennedy Jr. Apparently it's now time for the big guns.
Kennedy, who co-hosts a low-rated weekend program on the network called "Ring Of Fire", claims Air America was at the "forefront" of recent liberal election "victories". Previously, the Radio Equalizer has wondered how Kennedy could claim the moral high ground after being silent on the company's sleazy corporate actions.
Hasn't Kennedy's Air America association greatly harmed his supposed "social justice" reputation?
While his marquee value is high, listener support for the radio program has been remarkably low, even after taking into account its weekend time slot.
Through the end of June, "Ring Of Fire" was pulling in just 100,000 people nationwide, down about 10,000 from the previous fall.
By contrast, a weekend Al Franken re-run was heard by an average of 140,000 people in the same time frame. With co-host Mike Papantonio, a Florida-based trial lawyer who plays a large behind-the-scenes role in Air America's operations, the show has failed to make any real impact in talk radio.
Here's the latest letter:
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Kennedy Not Above Air America's Panhandling
In a new sign of Air America's rapidly deteriorating financial situation, round three in the recent series of fundraising letters features Robert F Kennedy Jr. Apparently it's now time for the big guns.
Kennedy, who co-hosts a low-rated weekend program on the network called "Ring Of Fire", claims Air America was at the "forefront" of recent liberal election "victories". Previously, the Radio Equalizer has wondered how Kennedy could claim the moral high ground after being silent on the company's sleazy corporate actions.Hasn't Kennedy's Air America association greatly harmed his supposed "social justice" reputation?
While his marquee value is high, listener support for the radio program has been remarkably low, even after taking into account its weekend time slot.
Through the end of June, "Ring Of Fire" was pulling in just 100,000 people nationwide, down about 10,000 from the previous fall.
By contrast, a weekend Al Franken re-run was heard by an average of 140,000 people in the same time frame. With co-host Mike Papantonio, a Florida-based trial lawyer who plays a large behind-the-scenes role in Air America's operations, the show has failed to make any real impact in talk radio.
Here's the latest letter:
Dear Friend of Air America:
I'm thankful for you.
With your help, voters across America have sent a powerful message to the Bush Administration and their right-wing cronies.
The party's over.
Last Tuesday's sweeping victories for Democrats and progressives pulled back the curtain from the much-vaunted Bush-Cheney-Rove political machine, revealing what Air America listeners have known all along: there's nobody there. After five years of lies, fear-mongering and electoral manipulation, voters from New Jersey to Virginia said, "Enough."
Governor-elect Jon Corzine summed it up succinctly in his acceptance speech: "I want to thank the people of New Jersey for rejecting the Bush-Rove tactics that we see in politics."
And it was more than just the victories in New Jersey and Virginia that sent shockwaves through the Republican establishment. The right-wing agenda took a major hit from voters across the nation last week:
· In St. Paul, Minnesota the incumbent Democratic mayor, who last year endorsed George W. Bush for a second term, was trounced in his own reelection bid by a Democrat who made that endorsement the centerpiece of his campaign.
· In Maine, an effort to repeal a law that protects gays and lesbians from discrimination was defeated
· In Dover, Pennsylvania, all eight of the local school board members who supported the teaching of "intelligent design" were voted out.
But now is not the time to sit back and rest on our victories. Our fight to restore progressive values in America still has a long way to go.
With your support, Air America Radio will remain at the forefront of that fight. There are three ways that you can help right now:
1) Join the Air America community by strongly supporting the AAR Associates campaign by clicking here: https://secure.airamericaradio.com.
2) If you're listening to Air America Radio on your local station, thank them for carrying your favorite AAR programs.
3) If you don't yet have an Air America Radio affiliate in your area, let us know today.
The biggest obstacle progressives face isn't even the Bush Administration or a Republican-controlled Congress. Our greatest challenge continues to be the stranglehold of the right-wing propaganda machine over our nation's media. Thirty percent of Americans now say that their primary source of news is talk radio.
And fully ninety percent of talk radio is dominated by the leading propagandists of the Right: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage and their factually-challenged ilk.
With your strong support, Air America Radio has defied the so-called "experts" who said that progressive talk radio would never succeed.
In less than twenty months, Air America Radio has grown to include more than 70 stations, reaching over 60% of the country.
More than ever, we must continue that growth. With the 2006 mid-term elections less than a year away, we need Air America Radio to remain a powerful voice for progressive values in the public square.
Become a part of the Air America community by joining the AAR Associates campaign today at https://secure.airamericaradio.com.
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, there are strong signs that the right-wing's domination of talk radio is finally coming to an end. And that's something for which we can all be thankful.
Sincerely,
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Your Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of your final purchase selections, help to support this site's efforts. Thanks again!
The Radio Equalizer also recommends the (free) Mozilla Firefox web browser. Packed with features such as tabbed browsing, SessionSaver (makes computer crashes less painful) and dual Google/Yahoo (both at once!) search extensions, I can't imagine using anything else.
published by Brian Maloney at
15:57
10 Comments:
In a new sign of Air America's rapidly deteriorating financial situation...
Brian,
I keep asking you for proof that AAR has, as you put it, a rapidly deteriorating financial situation. You continue to provide none. The fact that AAR is fundraising doesn't necessarily indicate financial problems -- it might, but it also might not. Completely ambigious.
The only real proof would be some sort of internal financial docs, which you apparently do not have. Stop making claims without any evidence to back them up, save for your own assumptions.
By
Justin, at 16 November, 2005 16:25
Icarus:
I've never suggested that AAR has good ratings, although the summer books show gains in most of its major markets. I also haven't suggested that AAR is rolling in cash. Instead, I've said that I simply don't know the company's financial stiuation, and that Brian also doesn't know it. The only difference is that he pretends to know.
This isn't liberal vs. conservative: It's a matter of proof. all we know is that AAR has some serious sugar daddies, and that it still is in business. Beyond that, we know nothing about its revenue, margins, overhead, etc. I am asking Brian to prove his charges. Is that biased? I would think it's reasonable.
By
Justin, at 16 November, 2005 19:25
Actually, what we know about AAR is that they did a corporate shuck and jive move (selling their assets to form a "new" company) to avoid debt; they were kicked off stations in two major markets for failing to pay their bills; they have a lawsuit against them for back pay; on air talent (if you can call Franken talent) signed releases so the "new" AAR would not be liable for back pay; AAR "borrowed" close to $1 million from a charity and didn't even try to pay it back until the story blew up in their face.
Nope. Absolutely no sign of financial troubles there. Whatever could we be thinking?
By
Sean, at 16 November, 2005 19:38
'Sweeping Victory..' ????? They held on to two Governor seats? They're desperate, and pathetic. BTW 60% of the country?? What a load of crap. Here's AAR's newest aquasition in Ely Minnesota: http://www.wely.com/
Air America is a joke. The only time they gain in the ratings is when they remove their own content.
By
Lidsville, at 16 November, 2005 20:14
I think most courts would consider Lyin Baloney to be a stalker at this point. Someone with a life would find people who he or she agree with. Guess the Ko(ck)s bunch bores you or something.
Justin: You make absolutely no sense. Radio profits are 100% based on advertising revenue, save for the few non-profits who have to "beg" for funds twice a year. Even then, many of the non-profits rely on "underwriting" to help make their budget come out even. "Underwriting" is a type of advertising allowed on non-commercial radio, where certain guidelines are met as not to coerce the listener into purchasing a product.
Sorry for the digression, back to AAR. Their profits are going to be based on revenues generated by ratings, just like every other radio station. Now, fewer listeners equals lower ad rates, which equals less revenue. They are absolutely correlative.
Now, if there are liberal donors to AAR, that's another story. But then one would think that the FEC would have to investigate for possible McCain-Feingold violations, because they are being financed by political donors and not advertisers.
And the other reason one could assume they are hurting is that they went and cherry-picked money from a Boys and Girls Club. If Rush Limbaugh did that, he'd be publicly flogged on an hourly basis.
By
E.W.Reed, at 16 November, 2005 22:06
Brian -
Actually, I find Kennedy's letter accurate -
"The Party's Over!"
He didn't say WHICH party....
BTW - I own two copies of Libby's book, and it is all that is advertised.
By
Peter Porcupine, at 16 November, 2005 23:58
Justin: You make absolutely no sense. Radio profits are 100% based on advertising revenue, save for the few non-profits who have to "beg" for funds twice a year. Even then, many of the non-profits rely on "underwriting" to help make their budget come out even. "Underwriting" is a type of advertising allowed on non-commercial radio, where certain guidelines are met as not to coerce the listener into purchasing a product.
I agree with you that radio profits are based on ad revenue, but none of us know the ad revenue of AAR or its affiliates. You can guess, but simply don't know. Moreover, AAR has some very deep-pocketed benefactors, so the suggestion that the network is in deep financial trouble might not be accurate, even if the ad revenue was horrible. Again, we just don't know. The only person claiming to know is Brian, but he's provided no proof.
By
Justin, at 17 November, 2005 06:53
Ah, RFK, jr. The guy supports renewable energy... so long as the windpower farms are built where the peasants live and not just over the horizon from the family digs.
By
Anonymous, at 17 November, 2005 08:32
its funny that you would criticize a show for having "low ratings" seeing as how YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A SHOW ANYMORE!!!!! it was cancelled right? i seem to remember something about that.
amyway, the fact that Air America IS growing scares you to death. all of you conservatives on here are scared, your administration is falling apart, and the only thing you have to attack the liberals for is their radio station. mighty weak argument, my friends, and (as was said earlier) i find THAT to be "piss poor."
By
hardcore conservative genious, at 17 November, 2005 09:32
Okay Lyin', since you refuse to actually Google yourself, here are some examples:
Lawyers representing an owner of radio stations, Multicultural Radio Broadcasting, received the agreement after issuing subpoenas in connection with their pending lawsuit against Air America. Multicultural, represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, is suing Piquant and others for more than $1 million that it says it is owed, and the confidential settlement was quoted at length in its lawsuit.
and
Yesterday, Mr. Franken stood by his earlier statement. He said that, on the advice of his lawyer, Gunnar Erickson, he signed the agreement last fall that erased legal claims he had against Messrs. Cohen and Sorensen because they owed him money, but he said he did not see the list of liabilities that included the Gloria Wise transfers.
Source
The HBO crew is told to shut down their cameras — but they don’t — and the ‘We’re Broke!’ meeting is filmed raw.
LEFT OF THE DIAL shows an angry meeting of the writing staff being told how money was deducted from their checks to pay for health care — but the money was never paid to the HMO and they were never covered!
Source
By
Sean, at 18 November, 2005 19:48
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