Damn Air America Radio must really be in trouble. asking for money

[Fluffdaddy]

From their listeners to help stay on the air. Do you see Right Wing radio Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and others begging for "Gift" to stay on air and get in to more markets ?
Damn Damn Damn this is depressing. The left just does not support our own. Maybe the Neo-cons/right wing-nuts are right. There is No market for liberals radio :(
You know what's sadder ? I'm going to send a "Gift" to AAR :eyes:

Link asking for your "Gift" below
https://secure.airamericaradio.com/





Warm up letter


Dear Air America Radio Listener,

When we launched the Air America Radio network one year ago, the country was being talked to death by conservative zealots like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and others. Right Wing radio saturated every media market and every community – a dominance of the airwaves that has been a huge part of what allowed the Right Wing to:

Drag America into the Iraq war.
Open up the Arctic National Refuge for oil drilling.
Take over both houses of Congress.
And, of course, win the 2004 Presidential election.
Rather than wait for the Right Wing to run out of breath, we launched Air America Radio to give the country back its voice. Thanks to listeners like you, we have a presence on 70 stations covering 60% of U.S. media markets. Air America Radio currently offers 15 shows and runs 24 hours a day of entertaining – at times irreverent – but always enlightening programming.

To continue this great success story and start shaping the national debate the way that Right Wing talk radio does every day, we've got to reach into every community in this country. We know we can’t achieve this next stage of growth without significant help from you, our loyal listeners.

We’ve also been asked on many occasions by our listeners how they can help out. Today we are launching a new program called AIR AMERICA ASSOCIATES that gives you the opportunity to do just that.

http://airamericaradio.com/associates

As an Air America Associate, you are a member of a special group of listeners who support Air America Radio and are dedicated to building the Air America community. When you sign up, we will send you a packet of bumper stickers to remind you that your job as an Associate is to spread the word about Air America Radio to other progressives in your workplace, your family, and your neighborhood.

Also, as an Air America Associate, you'll be kept informed of events in your area and receive a monthly Associates insider newsletter with backstage news from our shows and our headquarters. And in time, when we launch our paid services, as an Associate you will be eligible for special discounts for premium content.

Rush Limbaugh didn't take over our airwaves by himself – he had an army of "dittoheads" behind him. We will never reach the same critical mass that he has without our listeners helping us as well. So, please become an Air America Associate today by clicking here:

http://airamericaradio.com/associates

Thank you very much for your support,

Danny Goldberg
Air America Radio CEO

:eyes:

[stlsaxman]

1. WTF???? Hell no I won't send them a freakin' DIME!

Not unless they become commercial free! Are they a non-profit agency now??

In one commercial break we're subjected to:
USO
Alert USA
Ovaltine
Orrick Vacuums
"Parents- The anti-drug" campaign
Ovaltine
America Life Insurance Company Of New York
Orkin
USO
Skin-zinc
Orrick Vacuum
and then once again: "MORE OVALTINE, PLEASE!"

No. Not a dime. AAR needs to hire a more effective sales department, plain and simple.

If Rush is asking for personal sponsorships you can be sure he's keeping that money himself for his Oxy habit.

I'll listen to podcasts and buy Ovaltine and donate to the USO but I HATE commercials.

Am I an asshole for feeling like this?

[LaurenG]

2. No not an a**hole

If would be normal to be frustrated by annoying things. The bottom line is you have to decide if your frustration should be used against AAR or just let go of and support them anyway. What do you think, can you let it go or stand firmly in your frustration?;-)

[stlsaxman]

4. No, it's a matter of principle.

Commercial Radio has commercials. I accept that and I accept that AAR is commercial radio. Though they don't have an affiliate where I live and have to stream them on the net, I HAVE purchased Ovaltine and will donate to the USO because they sponsor AAR with their commercials.

Should they go with a non-profit status and run commercial free broadcasts like NPR, I would donate PROFUSELY. But, they won't.

They need to fire and rehire their sales department if they are running out of money.

[gmoney]

7. Whenever anyone says...

"It's not about the money, it's the principle of the thing," it's really about the money.

Radio is an extremely tough sell these days... the quality of advertisers on every station is limited or downright lousy, and most national advertisers are opting for "remaindered" time rates, meaning heavy, heavy discounts.

I'm not sure, but I bet the ads on the AAR stream are at least partially different from the on-air ads, because local affiliates are going to sell ads locally which override the "remaindered" spots from Ovaltine or whoever.

The affiliates pay to license AAR programming, so it's more about ratings out in the hinterlands, and if a station drops AAR because they don't feel the ratings are happening, that's a big hit for AAR corporate.

By the way, the fact that the AAR radio stream is FREE must be a huge expense for them. Those assholes at Bob & Tom charge big money for the ability to stream their shows or listen to archived stuff, and it's not worth shit. AAR makes its archives available FREE commercial-free, again, no doubt at substantial expense. Would you rather that you had to pay AAR $10 a month to stream? I sure don't want that...

[gmoney]

3. That's pretty reactionary...

That you think it's not worth a direct contribution to keep AAR on the air after the utter DROUGHT of progressive talk on radio? Wow, talk about short-sighted. Consider it like buying your own ad on the station, or investing in the station, to keep it afloat.

Shit man, do you want to prove Limbaugh RIGHT?? "Liberal radio will never work..."

They've come very far in this first 18 months or so, but I think expectations are too high out among their affiliates. They're comparing AAR ratings against Rush's ratings of TODAY, not Rush's ratings from when he was first on the air. So when it's not a giant hit immediately, the stations are shifting to something else. A number of these affiliate stations are Clear Channel, the most ruthlessly greedy organization this side of Halliburton.

Yeah, the commercials suck, but there are commercials on NPR, PBS, and Ed Schultz and just about everything else. Unless George Soros DOES start pumping massive amounts of money into it, AAR needs income to operate just like every other organization. You pay for cable TV, but almost every station has ads on it (some are nothing BUT ads). Get a grip.

I'm hoping that their move to new studios in NYC are indicative of some long-term financial stability, and that this move is just a matter of building listener loyalty and using the listener base as a "street team" to help spread the word.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

5. In a word? Yes.

We've been saying for years that we need a liberal/progressive counterforce on talk radio. Now that we've got one, you're not going to support it. Rush and his cut-rate imitators are awash in cash because Corporate America wants them there. Air America is not going to get the same level of support (just as the Democratic Party doesn't get nearly the corporate support that the Republicans get).

Chances are the spots you're hearing are going awfully cheap (because you hear them so often). AAR won't start seeing real money until advertisers are fighting for a slot -- and until that happens, I'm sure they are all but giving away advertising time to avoid there being nothing but public service announcements.

Send them something. Otherwise we go back to all conservative talk, all the time.

[matcom]

6. HAHAHAHAHA yeah, THAT is the ticket!

:eyes:

commercial free = ZERO $

what. are YOU gonna support them every month?

give me a fucking break. do you have one OUNCE of knowledge on how expensive that business it or how to survive?

good gawd

[gmoney]

8. Not sure if this was your intended result...

but I've signed on and made my contribution to AAR. Not much, but about what I was paying to support AirAmericaPlace.com ...if conditions were different, I'd throw more at them.

[stlsaxman]

10. okay okay okay- I'm awake now and thinking more clearly....

and after a full days work my mind is a little more together ;)

I KNOW how important AAR is, believe me. I love it with all my heart. I know that if everyone sends in a little contribution that they can expand the network further than they already have....

I pledged support to NPR and PBS for 20 odd years because they didn't interupt programming with commercials. And I am able to send some to Air America Radio as well, and will do so, willingly!

I just found myself angry and venting this morning....

Have I mentioned how much I hate commercials???

:yoiks: :hide:

[Fluffdaddy]

9. OK so this means everyone is sending a little something something to help

out??




lets ses proof posted. I'll show mine if you show yours :rofl: