Sam Seder just confirmed he is moving, also discussing AAR bankruptcy

[LSK]

On Monday he is taking Springers slot.

Hes also talking about the AAR rumors.

He is admitting they are loosing money but saying most operations such as AAR looses money when it starts out. I have heard similar from many sources.

He says the bankrupcy decision has not been made yet.

He says if they do go Chapter 11, they can still continue to operate.

[Nutmegger]

1. I'll miss Sam

but glad he didn't get canned.

[Benfea]

20. I won't miss him.

I'll be happy as punch when he moves to the 9-noon slot. I'm sick of having to turn my stream off when Jerry comes on, because I always forget to put it back on in time for Franken.

[Nutmegger]

24. Well I'm sure there are folks in both camps.

I will just miss my routine. Oh well.

[librechik]

33. terrible decision: Stephie or Sam???

oh hell

[Edgewater_Joe]

2. He's Addressing The Bankruptcy: Ch. 11 = Still On The Air

AAR is not going anywhere in the foreseeable future, but looks for $$.

There's the word you've been looking for.

[ronnykmarshall]

3. I missed part of it ...

Did they file Chp 11?

[Sydnie]

4. not yet, said the choice hadn't been made yet n/t

[Edgewater_Joe]

5. No They Have Not

And Sam also pointed out "there are competitors" -- like Clear Channel, who along with Jones Radio (the Schultzzzzz and Stephanie Miller syndicators) and ThinkProgress/Center for American Progress, are AAR's competitors.

Which is good, because even if they did go off the air, bet your ass Randi and Franken and probably Seder would get snapped up in a heartbeat.

[ronnykmarshall]

6. Jones and Clear Ch ......

have both benefitted from AAR. The AAR lineup has opened the doors for these stations to move to a 100% "Progressive Talk" line up.

Things will change, but we are NOT losing "Left of the Dial".

[Quiet_Dem_Mom]

7. Here's my quick notes from what Sam said.

This is just me typing into Word/cut & paste...I don't claim total accuracy!


AAR has had financial/managerial difficulties since day one. Mentioned start-up issues with Fox news, etc.

Internet rumors indicating AAR may file ch 11 to reorganize. Sam said it’s conceivable but decision has not made by AAR yet.

If the filing does happen, AAR can operate for years in that manner. Business plan shifted when they switched affiliates. Less than 10% of workforce has been given severance and let go. AAR is looking for the best way to maximize its potential.

He is “very confident” that he will be broadcasting in his new time slot (9a-12n) starting Monday 9-18.

Sam's quote re: progressive talk shows in general: I don’t care what you call the network or the affiliate that brings you the truth, you’ll still be getting the truth. And that’s something you will never get from these right-wing blowhards or this corporate media who have been asleep at the wheel.


QDM

[pretzel4gore]

8. remember Alan Berg?

Alan was murdered in 1984, in denver. he was the most popular radio host in the country. rush limbah-humbug couldn't hold a candle to Alan Berg, who was liberal and freedom loving and anarchist yet repected law/order and hard work etc......iow a typical lefty. he dominated whatever region his show was heard. the question is: there must be hundreds of Alan Bergs, maybe not as ingenius as Al, but still...(?)

[hlthe2b]

19. I remember the name and that he was killed by White Supremists

My cousin, then a paralegal had to deal with his defense-- I remember her being very freaked out.

I'm sorry that I never got to hear Berg...

[pretzel4gore]

32. read 'talked to death' by steven singular

Alan actually talked to the members of the 'order'(?) on the air, and he teased them relentlessly -they were mule headed racist dupes, lol. Alot of the changes to mass media date from the time Alan was murdered, and i believe it's not just coincidence. The fairness doctrine was killed by regan in 1986, despite opposition from a majority of both dems and repubs(!) more importantly (put your tinfoil hat on!) was the way the jewish 'neocons' began getting very nasty around this time....horowitz, kristol, wolfowitz and so on...my theory is that they saw what happened to Alan, and said to themselves 'to hell with liberalism; it can't work, and the white racist are unstoppable unless we steer them ....' that's why so much of the jewish intelligensia today supports bush etc - they'd rather the pig go after muslims or drug dealers or blacks etc then the jewish people (esp. israel)....this is unprovable, but it is clear that alot of those who should be liberals are instead rightwing boors ....(?)

[rusty charly]

21. "Talk Radio"

Eric Bogosian wrote the screenplay with help from director 'Oliver Stone' . The screenplay was almost entirely based on Bogosian's original play and some biographical information about Alan Berg, a talk show host in Denver who was murdered in 1984 by white supremacists.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096219/trivia

[Imalittleteapot]

9. Sam in the morning is going to be great.

I can stream at the office, but I know many DUers can't and will be disappointed. So who's taking his evening post?

[NYCGirl]

10. The great Rachel Maddow will be on 6-8PM, then David Bender ("Politically

Direct") will be 8-9, Eco Talk from 9-10, and then Peter Werbe (who may or may not be permanent).

[kerstin]

12. Where did you hear about Peter Werbe possibly filling Malloy's old spot?

Mike was on with Sam Seder last week and they were hinting there was a possibility of a shakeup among the "suits" very possibly leading to Mike's return. They said the reaction of Malloy fans was having an effect and encouraged folks to keep the cards and letters coming in.

Just curious.

[NYCGirl]

16. This thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2115901

[LSK]

14. I like this new lineup except for the lack of Malloy

4 hours of Randi is a bit much. I never listened to Springer.

Now AAR is rock solid all day for me.

[bluetrain]

11. The Pedant says: You mean "lose" not "loose" / eom

[natrat]

13. aar turned into a scam after going to xm

how else can you explain going to a red company like that---my take is this has been preordained--some execs at aa take money to make bad managment decisions, combined with the average xm listener prefers nascar and rush and soon right wing radio again has no competition

[LSK]

15. what are you talking about? a red company?

[NYCGirl]

17. Nascar is on Sirius. XM is rated 75% blue by buyblue.org

http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/official/02/22/sirius_2007/

http://www.buyblue.org/node/2566/view/summary

[Rosco T.]

23. and Sirius is 59% red...

http://www.buyblue.org/node/1834/view/summary

[geomon666]

18. Corporations are there to make money by any means possible.

Liberals and capitalists just don't mix. Farewell AAR, parting was...inevitable.

[Rosco T.]

22. Bovine Stuff.

Sounds like someone stuck with a lifetime Sirius sub.

[natrat]

26. xm=clear chanell=crooks

[NYCGirl]

29. How does XM = Clear Channel? You want to give some facts on that? NT

[Rosco T.]

35. More bovine Stuff... long since disproved that Clear Channel = XM...

try getting some facts before you spew.

[B Calm]

25. AAR was dead from the day they fired Malloy!

[DemonFighterLives]

27. Thanks, I was asking about this in another thread

Righty nutball on C-spn was speaking as though the bankruptcy was a done deal.
I hope AAR can prop itself up in some manner so as not to make the nutcases wishes come true.
:dem:

[KharmaTrain]

28. Radio Is A Financial Disaster

A great lesson on what happens when "de-regulation" goes wild. It destroys first the competition, then the creative and then the industry itself. The gluttony of radio consolidation that took place in the late 90s was funded by some very "creative" financing...based on very high advertising rates/projections and the silly concept that as long as a company was growing it was worth throwing money at. Companies went from a dozen to several hundred stations...the big rollers bought out stations right and left and pretty much gutted them all...replacing local programming with cheap stuff they could feed off a satellite and "downsizing" and "voice tracking" (radio's equivelent of outsourcing)...that turned the dial into banal mush and has driven millions to satellite, IPODS and other sources for news and entertainment.

The bubble really burst over the last couple years as the economy has gone in the tank. The dot com boom flushed radio with tons of easy cash and when that bubble burst, so did the "good times". Since then its been downhill...as advertisers with tighter bucks to spend have opted to put those dollars into cable TV or internet and there's precious little local advertising that keeps a majority of stations going. Companies like Clear Channel and Infinity now own hundreds of stations with many of them losing money and the belt about as tight as it can go. The debt on their spending sprees in the 90s hang like a sword of Damoclese and the continuing slump in advertising and the stock market is compounding problems.

Add to this a catch 22. Much of the paper value in these companies are tied up in "stick values"...the assumed prices of their broadast licenses...and they're fighting tooth and nail to keep those prices from falling. This has led to the slow growth of satellite and internet radio as the large corporations try to fight the inevitable. Its created a major mess as radio's future is very undetermined.

This is the world AAR attempts to swim upstream in. Unlike right wing hate networks that have had years to slowly grow and many have alternative sources of revenue (like a Richard Mellon Scaiffe) that have helped it, AAR doesn't have such a luxary. The network's struggled from Day One to just stay above water and have made what I feel have been some poor choices at critical times that are now coming home to roost.

Chapter 11 isn't the end of the game, but in AAR's situation, it could be critical. They don't have any real assets to put as collateral (such as licenses) or a big money franchise that could turn things around. They need for another savior to step up with some deep pockets and then try to expand and promote their product better. In many cases this networks worst failure was how much of a "best kept secret" they had become.

It's gonna be some interesting times ahead...

[robcon]

30. Radio's a dying business. But progressive radio has a future.

Limpball's audience is old, getting older and dying off. His ratings are in a slow decline.

Younger people DO NOT get a lot of their talk/opinion or their news on radio. The internet will grow as the prime source of the news/talk/opinion, (except for old people) while newspapers, network news and radio will continue to decline. Only cable news is holding its own, but even there, Fox and CNN skew very old as well.

I don't hold out a lot of hope for Air America as a network.

But on the other hand, a syndicated progressive radio show with an interesting radio personality has a good chance of succeeding in attracting an audience - even a youngish audience... e.g., Malloy, Schultz, etc. Radio is a narrowcasting medium - a strong program in major markets need only have a steady ratings history to generate advertisers. The syndication, not network, model will continue to be successful. Success rarely requires huge ratings - Limbaugh never had huge ratings, but he has national presence for advertisers.

As O'Reilly's failure on radio and Limbaugh's failure on TV showed, a name alone is never enough. The show must be interesting and appeal to some advertisers' demographics to be financial successful.

Progressive radio has a future as long as there is great radio talent. Talent is the key. A network is unnecessary.

[bbgrunt]

31. Kharma: very interesting review of the situation. thanks

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Crap. I don't want the wingers to be right abt AAR not making it.