There it goes. Gone. Finito. No hope.
I have mixed feelings. I got a lot out of AA during the dark Dubya years. But the network switched to an all-Obama, all-CDS format, and that's when I said adios. If I want to hear endless chants of "CLINTON BAD! CLINTON BAD! CLINTON BAD!" I'll hop into my time machine, head back to 1998 and turn on cable news.
They alienated much of their audience. Now they're gone. The lesson: Clinton-phobia can be a fatal disease.
15 comments:
Somewhere I read that we'd probably be bailing them out if Brown hadn't upset the applecart.
I guess now I will never get the apology I demanded from Thom Hartmann for claiming, while he was still on AA, that Hillary darkened Obama's skin color in a political ad. I lost all respect for Hartmann then and that is also when I stopped listening. Good ridance.
I have to say it is pretty weird how many people, organizations etc that defamed the Clintons ended up in dire circumstances.
Another one bites the dust.
Buh Bye.
They lost me when Randi Rhoades called Gerri Ferraro a whore. I then considered Rhodes so trashy and repulsive I never tuned in again. They cannibalized half their own party. And nobody in AA management had the good sense to make them stop.
You mean liberal talk radio couldn't find corporate sponsors?
Go figure.
Perry's Guide to Voting: If a Clinton-hater likes a candidate, he's a sh*tty candidate.
You can take this to the bank, preferably one of the smaller banks.
anon at 10:04:
I thought Randi Rhodes called Hillary a whore. Additionally I thought she called her an "effing" whore.
May be Rhodes was so enamored of that phrase that she also called Ferraro the same, too.
Anyway, that station stop being of benefit to the greater public good a couple of years ago. Good riddance. Although I find it ironic that they are done the same day the SC decided corporations are persons and can give to campaigns.
-i'llbedamned
When did that happen? I can't believe I used to listen to them religously every freaking day till the primaries. My biggest disappointment was Tom Hartman.
The trash mouth Rhodes called them both whores. Never tuned in AA again.
They never broadcast around here so I tried listening on the internet.
Remember that old joke, "We now interrupt this commercial for some scheduled programing"?
It was unlistenable so I gave up in the early days. I did watch AL Franken when he was simulcast on Sundance, or whatever, but that was right before he left.
Seemed like the advertisers were the same as right wing talk radio, I guess liberal or progressive business owners didn't want to pony up any $$$.
Ended up with BOTH satellite radio systems (and paid extra to be able to stream online when I was at work) just so I could listen to AA, all day every day, from shortly after they began up to the autumn of 07. I remember when Rhodes used to SWOON as she talked about being in the same room with "The Big Dog." Suddenly, in an appalling about-face, the Clintons were scum. Mike Malloy, Thom Hartmann, Sam Seder... My biggest disapointment was Rachel Maddow -- I actually had written a letter to MSNBC (when I was still watching Olbermann, and before she started appearing on his show) urging them to give her a show of her own. Now, as I skim through the TV directory, I am heartsick every time I see her name.
A business model that relies on alienating the bulk of its customer base is doomed to fail.
The Randi Rhodes whore episode here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/03/air-america-host-randi-rh_n_94863.html
My bad. Looks like she used broad brush and called BOTH Hillary and Geraldine the same thing. Wow. That's mature and classy. That's some worthwhile political analysis right there.
-i'llbedamned
Come to think of it-how many people are left on the list of folks who went out of their way to slander the Clintons?
Well I've been waiting with anticipation for Maureen Dowd to get caught in bed with a porcupine or whatever thing she does to make her so loathsome-so maybe she is next.
I guess well see-I just keep Hoping for Change. :)
The reality is that AAR was killed by a combination of factors, chief among which are likely (a) lousy business model and (b) right wing control of the airwaves.
The lousy business model had to do with the decision to build a centralized broadcast bureaucracy with salary-heavy talent in one of the most expensive places in the U.S., i.e. NYC. They also brought in non-radio executives. Selling radio is not the same as selling shoes.
The second part of the equation, right-wing control of the airwaves, was largely brought about thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which let outfits like Clear Channel buy up all the stations it could find. As such, even had Part 1 of the equation succeeded, AAR still would've failed because there was almost nowhere willing to place the programming.
So the simple answer is that AAR tried to build a liberal radio network on the right-wing model. I submit that it can't be done. Liberals aren't right-wingers and don't respond the way wingers do.
I didn't hear Rhodes on that particular day but the whole hatefest over Hillary really turned me off of AA.I bet they wish they had her now!!
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