The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

15 October 2006

Air America Radio, Ed Schultz, Sam Seder, Al Franken

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION

One Host Defiant, Other Libs Worry About Fallout







In the aftermath of Air America Radio's bankruptcy announcement, surviving liberal radio hosts are utilizing various career self- preservation strategies, while working overtime to create the sense that "progressive" radio can yet succeed.

And while one talker took pains to distance himself from the failed network, another demonstrated continuing arrogance in the face of defeat. Meanwhile, a third well- known host seemed strangely silent about the whole mess.

Fargo- based libtalker Ed Shultz, who has never been associated with Air America, went so far as to put out a press release Friday making sure the public was clear on this point:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 13, 2006 Fargo, ND … Ed Schultz, host of America's fastest growing progressive talk radio program The Ed Schultz Show, today assured his listeners and fans that his show is independently owned, operated and in no danger of bankruptcy or other financial obstacles.

Schultz' assurances that all is well at The Ed Schultz Show and at Schultz's partner and co-owner Product 1st, the programming company owned by long-time radio executives Randy Michaels and Stu Krane, were sparked by news of bankruptcy filings at a liberal talk network in no way related to Schultz.

Said Schultz, "Our show is growing in ratings and audience share everyday. That's because we tell it straight from the heartland. And we're here to stay!"


Along with Stephanie Miller, another Jones MediaAmerica- syndicated host, Schultz has found moderate success as a middle- of- the- road talker with an upper- Midwest flavor. Beyond that, libtalk simply can't point to even modest success by almost anyone heard nationally, no matter how much spin is applied.

At the same time, Schultz and Miller have quietly toiled in the background as Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Janeane Garofalo and others stole libtalk's mainstream media limelight. And they could never hope to make a fraction of what Franken and Rhodes have been paid.


Meanwhile, our friend Sam Seder is up to his old tricks again, demonstrating a delusional defiance in the face of clear defeat. The Worcester wannabe went so far as to claim that Air America's "success" has paved the way for other liberals to host radio shows, conveniently forgetting that dozens of others tried it before Franken & Co.

Blaming Air America's troubles entirely on its previous management, Seder also leaves out the unfortunate truth that the air talent (such as Sam himself!) somehow forgot to generate ratings while they were worrying about internal backstabbing and what conservative blogs were saying about them.

From a letter Seder wrote to liberal blogger DownWithTyranny:


Air America's parent company will enter into a Chapter 11 reorganization today. Frankly, this is good news. Because of a lack of capitalization and a clear business plan Air America has been behind the 8 ball since its launch. Despite these missteps AAR has, as a product, been wildly successful.

After only two and a half years, AAR continues to grow listenership, add affiliates and enhance our brand. With little fanfare, the Air America "Playbook", which was released Sept.18, hit number 14 on the times best seller list this past weekend. As of today, AAR currently produces 19 hours of original programming a day and is heard on 92 affiliates reaching 58 percent of the country. Air America affiliates reach 2.4 million listeners per week.

This reorganization will allow Air America to restructure itself and relationships it has had since its inception. It will also allow Air America to restructure these relationships to reflect its change in business model which took place September first of this year. At that time AAR essentially became a syndicator of progressive programming.

I have some general knowledge of Ch. 11 reorganization (my dad an attorney who specializes in this field). I know that to enter Ch.11 AAR will have to show a judge a reorganization plan and that there is operating funds to implement these plans.

I have spoken to our new CEO and am convinced there is at least a sensible and defined business plan to move forward. Sadly, it's the first time anyone here has articulated such a plan. It remains to be seen whether it will be properly executed but I am as encouraged about AAR's prospects as I have been in months.

People should keep in mind that while there is other liberal/progressive talkers distributed by other syndicators, AAR, by providing a turnkey format, has greatly contributed to their success. Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press and others would never have enjoyed the success they have had over the past two and a half years were it not for AAR turning nearly 100 stations around the country into Progressive outlets.


Seder's statement further reveals a truly sad individual who remains defiant as the walls cave in around him. We could be sympathetic, but he doesn't deserve it, as he's been nothing but a jerk.

Sam, nobody believes your crazy claims about ratings growth, maintaining 92 affiliates, 58% of the country hearing the network, or having over two million listeners. Air America never came close to reaching the hundred station mark, even at its peak, and has lost quite a few of them since.


Finally, since the announcement Friday, Al Franken has been unusually quiet. We're no longer seeing his mainstream media quotes referencing flying United during its bankruptcy, as we did when rumors first surfaced. Instead, he has retreated into the background, not typical of Stuart in the past.

He has simply got to be worried.

So what will he do? Most likely, the Radio Equalizer figures he will continue his dull program at least until the election, all the while continuing to promote his new "moderate" image, just in time to run for the US Senate seat in Minnesota he's long been after.



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published by Brian Maloney at 06:00

24 Comments:

  • Haven't heard the radio shows by Miller or Press. Schultz's simple country boy routine gets old quickly.

    With the exception of Drudge's radio show and the Evil Liberal Propaganda Network, all talk radio is pretty much crap.

    By Blogger none, at 15 October, 2006 13:55  

  • Nobody ever thought the moron Schultz had a thing to do with AAR. He had his shot at respectability early on, and blew it anyway.

    Opinion was split on Miller. I personally don't think much more highly of her then I do Coulter or even Schlussel-Gelt, but at least she has a brain in her head and will forge something of a career for herself, eventually, as she grows.

    Malloy, Rhodes, and Seder ARE the true talent and spirit of progressive talk radio, along with Bennett and Samuels. Get 'em in one place away from moneychangers and under innovative, progressive management, and in two years, nobody will ever remember conservative radio ever existed.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 15 October, 2006 16:10  

  • The problem with Drudge is that he is an intriguing, likable young man, but you really cannot believe a word of what he says.....zero research skills.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 15 October, 2006 16:11  

  • Three points...

    Many Liberals, unlike most Conservatives, actually enjoy or are just curious to hear the Hate Radio morons. I'll confess. I do it too. We are actually curious to know what the "other side" thinks, does and says, and sometimes it's just fun to listen to the ranting and idiocy. Besides, it gets your blood up. It's like professional wrestling. Unfortunately, Liberal talk can just make you depressed. That's why the most popular Liberal talkers tend to do a lot less news and politics and just have fun - and it's they who get the bigger audiences. And so, as most Conservatives disdain listening to oppositional arguments, or trying anything new, or accepting anything at odds with there world view, it would stand to reason that Liberal talk radio will be at a loss for the broader audience of Conservative talk radio. This is common knowledge and common sense, and most liberals know it. Conservatives will tell you that the audience numbers are a measure of the message of Conservative talk radio, while it is the very lambaste and insanity of it that lures Liberal listeners.

    It could just be that the demographics of AM radio listeners are such that there simply isn't enough audience for a big, national, Liberal talk/"news," commercial radio syndicate. Liberals, preferring a little more maturity and responsibility in our real news talk, have had Pacifica and NPR for years now, and they're doing just fine. They are not commercial, which we like, as most Liberals, and certainly myself included, really, really, really hate commercials. So yes, they won't make the money of their commercial competitors, but they're still far, far, far better as far as Liberals are concerned. Also, commercials obviously mean a quid pro quo as far as the content goes. Would you buy a car based on what a radio host tells you right after he's done playing a commercial for that car? This is why Liberals buy their cars after reading non-commercial Consumer Reports, and Conservatives go with the likes of Car & Driver. Righties will tell you that the lack of commercial success is a measure of the failure of Liberal fare, while it's the very commerciality of most talk radio that precludes Liberal talk and audiences.

    But then, it may well be that Air America itself is the problem. Conservative talk radio has been around for a long time, slowly building its audiences, slowly developing its shtick. Air America toggled unto the cultural scene with a full-blown national network where none had been before and fared untested products into deeply entrenched demographics. Fox didn't become popular overnight. They lagged behind the Big Three for years before they finally built up a durable audience. And Fox had massive, international News Corporation, starring Rupert Murdoch, behind them. Air America was slapped together by a bunch of like-minded comedians and ex-pols. There are plenty of Liberal talk hosts out there in niche markets all over America. Some are popular over broader networks. John Stewart and Stephen Colbert are giants on the tube. And the country seems to be moving back to the Left these days anyway. Perhaps talk radio just can't sustain an Air America right now, or even ever. Conservatives will tell you that Liberal talk is wrong and so therefore it fails, while Conservatism itself utterly fails right before our very eyes.

    We Liberals don't need to be told all this. We already know what to think for ourselves.

    JMJ

    By Blogger Jersey McJones, at 15 October, 2006 16:41  

  • I try listening to liberal radio but most of it is poorly done. Franken is no Limbaugh. Harry Shearer's Le Show isn't bad, and I've heard Colmes and
    Steph Miller in the past. But if you have liberals sampling conservative radio more than vice versa, it's simply because most lefty radio is not as entertaining.

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 15 October, 2006 18:22  

  • Dear Mr. Seder,

    If your book making #14 on the best-seller list is indicative proof of your radio sucess, what to make of Mr. O'Reilly's much-higher position on the list? I guess this means his radio show is kicking your a**. Right?!?

    By Blogger BF, at 15 October, 2006 19:25  

  • I'm still amazed at how neocons hold by opinions strictly based on their alleged commercial success, especially in an age when the accuracy of sales totals, polls, and Nielsen/Arbitron ratings are taken seriously by no sane man.

    It simply reinforces my understanding that neocons really have no ideology, or sense of what's right or wrong. It's about power for them, and doing anything and everything to retain it.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 15 October, 2006 22:22  

  • Baloney,

    It's going to be a while before you get a hate talk show. It'll probably be in some suburb populated by Misters and Missuses Dori Monsons, i.e. paranoid, bigoted, know-it-all blowhards like you.

    By Blogger BWTechnical, at 15 October, 2006 22:23  

  • You may be surprised, PF1.

    The mighty Mike Malloy may turn up on another network one day soon.

    No, no...please don't stop droning on about Franken, just on account of me...

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 16 October, 2006 00:48  

  • I've heard Press, Miller, and others on KFI. They were nothing to brag about. Press got the nickname, "The Manure Spreader" from me on air during a cross with Hugh Hewitt. Bill Handel even made a promo for Press from a joke I told on Handel's "Gripe Nite" show, "Why can't Bill Press eat pickels? He can't get his head in the jar."

    By Blogger PCD, at 16 October, 2006 08:23  

  • What ABOUT the questions regarding the administration on 9/11, PedophiliacFreak1? What about the stand down order?

    What about Bush's war of choice, in which close to 3,000 of our soldiers, and 655,000 Iraqi citizens died, for a lie?

    Incidentally my screenname has nothing to do with drugs. How do YOU know so much about narcotics, dumbass?

    Oh, either you listen to Limpbowel all afternoon, or you post on moonbattery...

    Do ANY Republican nation-traitors have anything intelligent to say, anymore?

    P.S. LAURA Bush? Who cares who Georgie's beard is, anyway? The laziest First Lady since, uh, Babs..

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 16 October, 2006 09:09  

  • PCD, blessedly, here in the New York market, I'm spared both of them.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 16 October, 2006 09:10  

  • Hash,

    first off, it wasn't "neocons" who equated book sales with overall success. It was mr. Seder.

    Second, I'm still amazed at how Democrats hold by opinions strictly based on poll results, especially in an age when the accuracy of said polls have been shown time and time again to be lacking.

    It simply reinforces my understanding that Democrats really have no ideology, or sense of what's right or wrong. It's about power for them, and doing anything and everything to reacquire it.

    By Blogger BF, at 16 October, 2006 09:36  

  • Well the Air America line-up can probably get jobs with al Jazeera who pretty much share their politics. Don't the left realise that its not just the opinions that matter but talent as well?

    By Blogger Andrew Ian Dodge, at 16 October, 2006 09:39  

  • If Hannity were to become a frequent guest on Arutz Sheva, how popular do you believe HE would continue to be?

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 16 October, 2006 10:00  

  • No, I've never made comments about drug use, on this blog, simply because I'm not a drug user (duh...)

    The Bush Crime Family has failed in EVERY single challenge posed to it. We are considerably unsafer in terms of real terrorist threats, both from within and from outside. Companies have outsourced virtually all meaningful, profitable work to other countries, and illegal immigrants are being imported en masse, and the pure fact of the matter is companies are refusing to hire returned Iraq soldiers who've been stop-lossed two or three times, out of fear that they'll go "postal" and snap in their offices and warehouse floors. We are de facto puppets to the will of China, who control our home mortgages and public debt, and could call them at their whimsy. An entire American city was washed away, along with tens of thousands of its unaccounted residents, and one year later, no significant accomplishment in terms of rebuilding have been made. There is not even an attempt to justify "bringing democracy to Iraq" anymore-they are working to find yet another dictator that meets their needs, while hundreds of thousands of Iraqis flee to Syria and Jordan-hardly an ideal scenario for Israel's future security, and a lasting peace in the Middle East. Violent crime and open hatred between American citizens, aided by open borders and Bush-subsidized drug importation, have reached all-time highs, and there is no longer a free press to report on it (we listed 28th on a ranking of countries in this regard).

    To top it off, pedophilia is now completely an excusable offense.

    Come off it, PF1. Let your party go. They actually left you behind, a long time ago.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 16 October, 2006 15:09  

  • Facts are facts, PF Flyer.

    An entire American city.

    How do you attempt to spin the physical realities of that little happenstance?

    I guess it must have been Carter's fault, now...

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 16 October, 2006 20:24  

  • That's how the Bush Crime Family operates. Washed away, without a trace.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 17 October, 2006 01:54  

  • That's funny hash. Just this Sunday, I saw the Saints playing in the Superdome. Care to revise your "without a trace" comments?

    By Blogger BF, at 17 October, 2006 08:24  

  • Lynnwood, (good God), how can there not be less crime in a city where most of the residents that were washed away belong to the same group of people who had the highest levels of criminality present?

    WHY do you think it was New Orleans, rather than Detroit or Baltimore, that was allowed to be devastated?

    Do you believe that information-technology professionals simply flap their arms and FLY here from St. Petersburg, Dublin, Tel Aviv, and Bangalore without assurances of legal amnesty and specific promises of employment? Can you really imagine that they uproot entire families and entrepreneurial structures of their own without some semblance of structure to arrive here to? Please stop invoking supposed "liberal-academic" sources and engaging in other such transparent smokescreens...it's boring and meaningless. One cannot politicize such a study, at any rate.

    Lynnwood, do you really expect ANY corporate managers or, especially, human-resources professionals who worship at an altar of political correctness and manufactured diversity to come out and ADMIT that they shun these returned vets? Surely you don't expect me to name them, do you? And I KNOW you don't expect the job-seeking vets themselves to speak critically of their experiences stateside, much less what they saw over there, that led them to this situation?

    I have absolutely no doubt that you know people who have profited enormously while under the employ of consultants and business interests during the Iraq war.

    Tell me, what is the typical ranking of your "few friends and relatives" that have returned and have had no problem in securing "employment"? Do they share a common ethnic or religious background? Have they fought in other, similarly-driven conflicts? Do they have allegiances to any other entity then the US?

    Obviously, I'm dubious about your claim, but not discounting it entirely...just wishing that any clarifying details might have been evident, when you asserted it.

    Your refutation of foreign domination of our national debt staggers me with your simple ignorance of basic concepts regarding debt instruments, foreign trade, and indeed the Federal Reserve Bank and their functions in our economy. I deeply implore you to learn more about the nasty little corner that your administration has painted the American middle class into.

    Is a city its land, or is it the people, and the commerce, and the culture, that it is made up of?

    You cannot POSSIBLY believe this garbage about Iraq. Even the ADMINISTRATION is publicly backpedaling from the idea that they can "install" democracy by force, and it is literally being acknowledged by the ADMINISTRATION that they are in search of just another benevolent authoritarian, if not dictator. The entire operation was a total FAILURE. You should tell your "friends and relatives" how successful they were....

    A source for the Iraqis fleeing? Uh, try every single network evening newscast on Sunday?? Again, this is not a secret, and indeed, is being watched with equal consternation by Israeli as well as Syrian, Egyptian, Iranian, Lebanese, and Jordanian authorities (why do you suppose Olmert had his nose up the butt of the Lebanese prime minister to reopen dialogue, with the very country he attempted to immolate less than two months ago?)

    Lynnwood, do you even follow the "MSM" network newscasts? Of any country? Do you ever read any newspaper? Do you ever do any research?

    Uh, to be fair: do ANY of you neocons?

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 17 October, 2006 14:40  

  • Yeah, Microsoft. Uh, huh.

    Yeah, those highly trained elite forces really sound like they saw serious action in Iraq.

    You couldn't discern the fact that I AGREED with you regarding the fact that crime went down in New Orleans...you just didn't want to accept the reason why, when I pointed it out to you.

    Ask any New Yorker if crime is going down. Under Republican governance. Well, maybe you might want to try asking the SERVANTS of anyone you know in New York, that question.

    And you were too lazy to even look up the NBC Nightly News. On Sunday. I gave you the DATE. You just COULDN'T. Do you pay someone to wipe you, too?

    Oh, and Lynnwood...you are STILL not addressing the simple fact that I and the vast majority of the American people, simply do not BELIEVE your statistics to begin with! This is why nothing worthwhile ever gets accomplished in this country. This is the giant disconnect, between what people see on the ground, and the dog-and-pony show your cabal puts forth. Your goal is universal acceptance and compliance with your flawed and fraudulent outlook, and I'm putting forth a fundamental shift of values and a better way of operating. Both ideals directly contradict one another, and how can you even judge and interpret what I do when the information you purport to be from sources you use is simply invalid and improperly applied to begin with?

    Lynnwood, I'm not even sure what your mission here is, except just to try and prove you can win debates with the big boys. You've failed miserably on that score....why not simply admit your policies are a sham, you've been supporting a pack of liars, thieves, torturers, pedophiles, and military losers, regroup, and formulate a NEW political philosophy, one of your own, that at least you can back up with some integrity and conscience?

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 17 October, 2006 17:38  

  • No, it should be easy for YOU to verify.

    If it weren't have been for the Bush Crime Family and their interference in the affairs, "Kevin" and "Kenny" would never have been placed in such dangerous situations in the first place!

    I certainly didn't support it...

    Do you know what "Compstat" is? Do you believe its use is a uniquely New York phenomenon?

    You are saying that the city of New Orleans is still there? And its people?

    Well, then, what has happened to Houston, then?

    Stop parroting my words...use whatever imagination "Microsoft" (giggle) hasn't beaten out of your head. The burden is on YOU to verify! I've spoken my piece, on information commonly held....must I provide links to the moon landing and how a steam iron operates, as well?

    Truly, truly pathetic.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 17 October, 2006 20:04  

  • Well, as long as you can watch your football games, all those unmarked mass graves in Haley Barbour's Mississippi don't really matter after all...

    Oh, Sweet Mystery of Faith. NBC NIGHTLY NEWS, SUNDAY EVENING, 6:30-7:00 PM, EASTERN STANDARD TIME...

    Damn, "Microsofts" sure does have some dumbass janitors these days...

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 18 October, 2006 01:06  

  • Do you possess the mental capability to read a map, at any rate? Could you find Abu Ghraib on a map of Iraq, or would that elude you as well?

    Maybe you could ask one of your crack military men for directions!

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 18 October, 2006 05:46  

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