Where have you gone, Air America: The nation hasn't turned its ears to you
By
Jesse Noyes
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Monday, September 18, 2006 - Updated: 04:39 PM EST
It hasn't exactly been an American dream.
    Since Air America Radio's inception, the liberal talk network has 
struggled to
stay alive. Last week, speculation swirled that the troubled network was 
preparing
to file for bankruptcy and its most recognizable star Al Franken revealed he 
hadn't
received a paycheck in a while.
    On Friday, an Air America spokeswoman dismissed the bankruptcy rumors, 
saying
the broadcast network was undergoing "the the normal financial pressures of 
a start-up."
    Air America was launched with a bang of publicity, but, over two year 
later,
it's still short on bucks.
    So what went wrong?
    There's a lot of differing opinion on the matter.
    One theory often cited is that there just isn't a market for left-wing 
punditry
on the radio dial.
    "America is a conservative country," said Peter Smyth, chief executive 
and president
of Braintree-based Greater Media Inc., which owns 19 radio stations in the 
Boston,
Detroit, New Jersey and Philadelphia markets.
    "When you put your flag in the ground and say . . . 'we're going to be 
the rebuttal
of Rush Limbaugh,' you have to ask 'Well, does the market want that,' " he 
said.
    Conservative talk show hosts, and even whole stations dedicated to 
right-wing
talk, are all over the place. But there doesn't seem to be much demand for 
left-of-center
radio, said Jason Wolfe, program director for the oft-conservative chatter 
WRKO-AM
(680).
    "There's an overwhelming amount of conservative talk radio or talk radio 
that
is more to the right than the left," Wolfe said. "The view of the right . . 
. provides
more of a compelling and entertaining product than what Air America does."
    But Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers Magazine, said Air America's 
woes
have little to do with its political bent and everything to do with the 
company's
business sense.
    "Somehow they have created the impression that they are the lone voice 
of liberalism
in a dark sea of conservatism," Harrison said. "It's not that they're 
liberal, it's
that it's radio and radio is very, very competitive."
    The network's main problem is that it spends more time trying to affect 
elections
than it does concentrating on the bottom line, Harrison said. "The ultimate 
business
plan is to generate ratings and revenue, not to get anybody elected," he 
added.
    A shortage of real radio talent might also be keeping Air America in the 
red.
When the company launched, it nabbed some recognizable figures, like Franken 
and
actress Janeane Garofalo.
    But radio can have a way of breaking down some uninitiated celebrities, 
as David
Lee Roth's disastrous stint replacing jock Howard Stern for CBS Radio 
demonstrated.
    "They thought that big names would bring big audiences," Smyth said. 
"Great actresses
don't usually make great radio talent."
    Meanwhile, the network suffers from serious signal deficiencies. Most of 
its
affiliated stations are found on weak AM frequencies. In Boston, Air America 
programming
is broadcast on WKOX-AM (1200) and WXKS-AM (1430), which barely register a 
blip on
Arbitron ratings figures.
    Even in the Big Apple, where the network is headquartered, it now airs 
on a weaker
signal after failing to reach a lease agreement with its former flagship 
station.
    "I'm not sure (Air America's trouble) has anything to do with content as 
much
as it has to do with the radio frequencies they ended up on," Bruce Mittman, 
president
of advertising firm Mittcomm and a local radio veteran, said.
    All those problems combined don't paint a pretty picture, and Mittman's 
prognosis
is dim. "My feeling is they probably will go bankrupt unless they have a 
large broadcaster
come in with some deep pockets to intervene," he said.
    But some experts aren't ready to sign the death certificate. The network 
has
nearly sunk before only to be bailed out by donations from sympathetic 
left-leaning
listeners, Harrison said. "Their business is based largely on contributions 
and donations,"
he said. "They'll probably end up with a tremendous amount of investment."
Jesse Noyes
Boston Herald Business Reporter