Liberal Talk Radio, Air America, Ed Schultz

WE STILL EXIST!

At Convention, Libtalkers Make Their Case






(Continuing Coverage From The Recently- Held Talk Radio Convention In New York City)

After a brutal year for their format, perhaps the only realistic goal was to let the industry know that liberal talk radio still exists.

While the embattled hosts and their syndicators may have at least accomplished that much during the recently- held New Media Seminar in New York City, overcoming a widespread belief that "progressive" radio has failed in a spectacular fashion could prove much more difficult.

More than three years after the high- profile launch of Air America Radio, the company continues to survive, though in a downsized form. And even that is only because a wealthy Manhattan landlord / developer, Stephen L Green, bought the network to give his brother, perennial candidate Mark Green, something to do.

And Al Franken's high- profile departure to run for the US Senate has had a mixed result. While his bloated salary and perks, including a huge staff to oversee his boring show, greatly hurt Air America, he was its star and generally achieved the biggest ratings. His presence at this type of event in the past was sure to attract attention, but this year there was no similar draw.


But Air America has done a couple of things right this time around, even if it seems to beat a dead horse. It hired David Bernstein, a well- regarded professional who previously ran a number of major talk radio stations, to oversee programming.

In addition, it has poured more money into marketing, which was evident at this year's convention. Sponsoring a cocktail party where some decidedly un- PC hors d'oeuvres were served (don't tell PETA about the lobster claws!), Air America also handed out T-Shirts, buttons and a glossy press packet featuring full- color photos of the network's air talent.

But your Radio Equalizer couldn't help but wonder why Air America's hosts are still above mingling with the programmers, hosts and executives gathered at the convention.

Sean Hannity doesn't feel he's too important to do this, why do they? And why not learn something from the panel discussions? Many people travel a thousand miles or more to attend, all these guys need to do is hop into a cab for a quick ride.

Other than a brief appearance by Randi Rhodes for the cocktail party, the only Air America host seen throughout the convention was Lionel, who recently left his longtime home at WOR to join the liberal talk network. But he has generally always attended these events.


Beyond Air America, other libtalkers have also recently lost a number of affiliates and the brash overconfidence of years past was replaced by a low- key approach. The main exception to that was Ed Schultz, who made an impassioned plea to stick with the faltering format.

Sounding frustrated and downright angry, Schultz told the convention audience, "are we doomed to fail? No! I'm here to show you the black ink."

Also looking to refute indications of sagging audience figures, Schultz said "we have proven you can get ratings on lesser signals."

The Fargo- based syndicated talker's presentation also addressed listener concerns that he isn't liberal enough, saying that not every compelling topic is political in nature, something he claims other "progressive" talkers don't seem to understand.

Beyond that, Schultz says he wants to be judged on the quality of his show, rather than the ideology.

While one can appreciate Schultz's passion after so much failure and disappointment for libtalk, at this point, the industry has pretty much written off "progressive" radio. If they can stop the bleeding and even pick up a number of new stations (a few dozen at least), the format might have a shot at survival.

Otherwise, liberal talk radio will continue to struggle in a broadcaster's version of purgatory, heard on satellite radio and the Internet, but hardly anywhere else.

Images by David A Lunde

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