I know why AAR is "failing".

[mwb970]

TOO MANY F***ING COMMERCIALS! Want proof? Turn on your progressive station right now. They're playing a commercial, aren't they? Mine is.

Love the programming, HATE the station. It's a royal pain to listen to. Less than half of each hour is actual programming. What a shame.

[NJCher]

1. I second that

I had to quit listening because of it.

On rare occasions I still listen but I turn down the volume on every commercial break and listen to something else. Good grief, I could clean my office on one of their commercial breaks!!




Cher

[TheFarseer]

2. This is the problem

I know I am generalizing but, IMO Conservative people like talk radio and Liberal people like music.

[tanyev]

9. I've wondered about that.

I just don't enjoy the call-in radio format. I gave up listening to Springer completely because he's not well-informed enough, and he can't put the RW trolls in their place. I like Al and Randi and Sam when they are talking about something or when they have an interesting guest, but it annoys me when they take calls. And then there are the non-stop commercials. I've gotten to where I'll check AAR when I first get in the car, but if it's commercials or phone calls, I switch to CDs and stay with the CD for the rest of my trip.

[sabbat hunter]

3. commercials

are what pay the bills. since they dont get as much revenue for each ad due to ratings, they need to sell more ads to pay the bills. if they had less ads AAR would be in deeper trouble than they already are.

[pushycat]

20. AAR commercials are annoying: sounds and words are awful.

Especially those with the little kids screaming in the background, or the ones talking about the 'belly' found blocking a freeway. Geez - they are so bad! Whoever makes those commercials should be made to listen to them all day..

[longship]

23. "Well, I'm 73 years old and..."

The worst ones are the Ovaltine commercials.

Arrrgh!! :nuke:

[pstokely]

38. Blame the advertisers for annoying ads, not AAR

[FoxNewsSucks]

4. 37 minutes of each hour

is programming. If you download the podcasts, every program is set up that way. 23 minutes is for commercials, news, station ID etc. That's probably the same for the rightwing anger shows too.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. And for TV shows

20 minutes of commercials is pretty standard.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I get it on XM

The commercials aren't a problem.

[bbgrunt]

25. ...".well how in the world are you anyway!! I'm andy willowby and"

I too listen on xm. There are some obnoxious commercials, but this one really gets my teeth screaming.....

[howmad1]

45. Aren't a problem. Oh really?

XM commercials are soooooo annoying. Who gives a rats ass what's playing on channnel XXX. XM commercials are just as bad as those on local AAR stations. Only good thing about AAR commercials is when I switch to NPR, I forget to go back to AAR. Bet they lose lots of listeners who do the same.

[fasttense]

6. Well, if you ever had the displeasure of listening to Christian Radio

with Rush, Dr. Laura and David Ramsey it is the same, commercial after commercial. A never ending stream of crap for sale to the financially strapped "Christian" audience. Seems the religiously insane are willing to put up with commercials. David Ramsey is a host that tries to convince people to cut up their credit cards and get out of debt. He preaches to a financially strapped audience and yet commercial after commercial interrupts his message. This is the model that AAR is using.

[KharmaTrain]

7. Chicken vs. Egg

You are correct...radio has "commercial'd" itself into irrelevence. Surveys show its a major reason people are tuning to other forms of audio (IPODs) and it's a byproduct of Deregulation...where minimums of the number of commercial minutes an hour and the amount of news vs. "entertainment" vs. public service were also abolished.

AAR's problem is being a program provider, they get sloppy seconds with their affiliates. Of each hour, AAR has to give up X number of commercial minutes to their affiliates as well as 6 minutes at the top and another 3 at the bottom of the hour that stations can either use for news or even more commercials. Overall, AAR is lucky to control 40 minutes per hour and then in that time frame they try to squeeze in their 10 minutes an hour of commercials.

The alternative is pay...and that's not paying the bills right now. XM & Sirius are far from solvent, so how else do you pay the bills for the radio you want to hear?

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Commercials separate Air America from bankruptcy. n/t

[Teaser]

10. They need to advertise their product

they absolutely suck at promotion.

That needs work.

[maseman]

11. Marketing takes money

And as we know AAR doesn't have much to spare. They also rely on their local affiliates to market in local markets, but that doesn't happen much either. As public companies like Clear Channel and CBS Radio have bought stations, part of their "cutting costs" have been with marketing and promotions. That is why radio is losing people to other technology like iPods and the internet.

AAR doesn't run any more commercials then any other syndicated talk show. If you never heard Rush or Hannity (or the other thousands right-wing shows) they are all about the same regarding commercial loads.

People complained for years that the liberals don't have a voice and that the radio companies only supply right-wing talk. In all fairness there has been a pretty good explosion of progressive talkers in the past two years. Now I see people complaining about commercials. Folks, that is how these groups make money (or attempt to make money.)

Matter of fact, you want to help? The single best way to help keep progressive talk on the air is to patronize the advertisers and make sure they know you heard it on Air America or whatever station you are listening to. Our local AAR radio station has a number of local advertisers. There is an organic lawn care service that I started using this year. I have actually become buds with the regional manager and have helped with some marketing ideas. I wrote a large local car dealership about my willingness to purchase my next car from them for supporting AAR. They ended up renewing their ads with the AAR station because of my letter (and others.)

Write the advertisers, call them, visit them, talk to them about how Happy you are to hear their business on AAR. You want a liberal voice on the air? This is how to secure that.

[LTR]

12. Here's a copy of the AAR clock

This clock details how the time if divvied up on the network:



http://www.thomhartmann.com/thomshow.pdf

Now, what 'local' availability means is that The station can do with it whatever they want. It can be used for newscasts, advertising, promos - whatever.

I've seen other network clocks, and there's virtually no difference.

[liam_laddie]

13. Very helpful posts, especially...

the clock time chart. May I mention that many popular hosts like Ed Schultz, Thom Hartman, etc. are
not contracted to AAR. They run their own show, or are part of another content producer/network. Most
stations carry a mix of AAR offerings and others, to match either the local market or the preferences of
the owners.
Speaking of which, the debut of the Young Turks...I feel it was a very lame show. If that's what goes
for good on the west coast, I certainly don't get it. Lousy content and personalities. Who makes the
talent decisions at AAR? Cousin Homer, Uncle Mel? OTOH, I do like the Galvin brothers, who are
subbing for Springer today and Tuesday. Just my $0.02, inflation adjusted

[twilight_sailing]

14. Young Turks

If Air America can't afford to pay Mike Malloy $100,000 a year, how much are they paying each of the Young Turks? Less than $33,333 each?

[EnviroBat]

33. That show seriously suuuuucked...

I'm sorry, but this morning was amateur hour on AAR...

[patrioticliberal]

34. They blow.

[TornadoTN]

18. Very disappointed

During my morning commute, I became rather intrigued by Rachel Maddow. I had started out not much caring for her during her time on the other morning show that was a virtual cacklefest with no substance, but she really showed how smart she is and her knack for breaking down issues piece by pice when she got her own show.

Now they move Rachel to a slot that just doesn't work with my schedule (can't win them all I guess) and put these "Young Turks" on in her spot. I gave them a shot, but not again. That had to be the most disorganized and ineffective show I have ever listened to in this format.

Outside of Sam Seder and Randi Rhodes, I'm pretty much finished with Air America. It doesn't make me happy to admit it, but they have made some really poor decisions on talent and producing interesting and engaging programming. So it's back to music for me, I'll save my progressive listening for the blogs and such.

[pushycat]

21. Sam Seder is great. He does not interrupt like Randi.

It's pleasant to listen to Sam because he actually listens to his callers and doesn't constantly interrupt or talk over them. He is my favorite!

I really like Ring of Fire too. Pap Attack is just terrific!

[TornadoTN]

29. Yeah, Seder is the cream of the crop

At least in my book anyway. Randi is good in doses because if anything, she is passionate about her opinions. However, when she starts shooting down callers, even the ones on our side, I turn the channel and leave it far off of AAR.

[patrioticliberal]

36. And to reward him, they put him on when most can't listen

[patrioticliberal]

35. Yeah, they suck ass. I only listened because I hated Janeane

[FoxNewsSucks]

40. yeah, it sucked today

When I lived in Wichita, the "hot talk" station played a 3 hour repeat of the Young Turks on Saturday & Sunday evenings. That was the extent of liberal programming there. As I found out this morning, it was obviously 'best of'. I liked them, but today was pretty lame. They can do better, and they'd better start. They are better suited to later in the day anyway.

I thought this was a mistake all along. I listened to the podcast of Rachel every morning when I go run. It was great because not only is she a good morning-type host & smart, but it was a NEWS show. That's what I, and probably most people, want to hear first thing in the day: What's in the NEWS. Plenty of time for the opinions & talk the rest of the day.

Bring back Malloy, and put Rachel back in the morning.

[Selatius]

15. What if they switched to an all pay format like satellite radio?

No commercials on satellite. It's all subsidized by customer fees.

[longship]

22. No commercials on satellite, except on news and talk stations.

Trust me, XM has plenty of commercials. Tons of them.

[Horse with no Name]

16. I don't mind commercials

Because I know they have to pay the bills and that is how they do it. Being fairly new, they cannot charge exorbitant amounts for their spots, so they have to run more. Totally understand that.
However, what I do mind on our local affilitate, is the public service announcements they air that pander to the RepubliCON message.
Terror, fear, Homeland Security, etc.
I even heard one done by Bush the other day.
In my heart of hearts, I feel that is the kind of stuff that should be left off of progressive radio.
I understand that they have a community obligation to run PSA's.
However, why not run the ones that champion the Democratic message?
Habitat for Humanity?
Food Banks?
Big Brothers and Big Sisters?
Any numerous PSA's for Hurricane Katrina victims sponsored by the State of Louisiana?
The PSA list could go on and on.
And yes, the local afiliates DO have a choice of which ones they want to run before someone says they do not.
It is just easier to use the "canned" PSA's that are provided by DHS instead of going into the production room and making their own.

[otohara]

17. That's A Good Thing

otherwise your local Clear Channel, or CBS station that airs AAR would pull the entire program and put something like all paid commercial programming on it or god forbid more right-wing radio.

[donco6]

19. Actually, 37 minutes is programming.

See the scheduling clock above. It is the same for just about every station I've ever seen.

Now whether ALL stations have too many commercials is worth debating.

I like AAR generally, though we don't get the national programming here. We have Jay Marvin in the a.m. drive - I like him. Then Al - don't care much for his show. Then Ed Schulz - I personally don't find him to be the AntiChrist as many here do. Then Randi, who I like generally. I don't like when she takes calls, mainly because she can't help talking over people before they even get two sentences out. Hate that.

That's all I listen to.

[Touchdown]

24. Podcasting cuts them out. 3 hours shrinks to 1:52.

Randi's 4 hour show is 2 and a half hours after commercial exicising. Given a choice to wait until the next day to listen or sit through commercials, then I'd pick next day...anyday!

An hour and eight minutes of commercials for every show! That's just too much of Bruce Berman's "pathetic" sleep number Ovaltine for me.

[Swamp Rat]

26. They fired Mike Malloy.

AAR SUCKS!

[flyarm]

42. I AGREE sWAMPRAT AND I WON'T LISTEN UNLESS THEY

bring Mike and Kathy and Ms Molly back!

i am done with AAR unless Mike is back!

fly...hi Swamprat!!:hi:

I am a Truthseeker, and i love Mike Mally!!:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

and i am sad now without Mike Malloy:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Swamp Rat]

47. Did you see the KO, Daily Show, and Colbert Report tonight?

Keith is da bomb!

Stewart skewered Novacula and Jason Jones did an outrageous bit.

Colbert challenged Bushler to come on his show and define what he think constitutes torture! :bounce:

[flyarm]

50. absolutely!!..and yes Keith is incredible!!..my hero! n/t

[JABBS]

28. too much ranting

Some AAR on-air "talent," most notably Randi Rhodes, struggle with facts, make off-hand remarks that aren't funny, and turn off the anti-Bush centrists who might tune up to hear an alternative point of view to Rush and Sean.

Until AAR can be a source of facts and an outlet to combat conservative spin -- without being mean-spirited -- it will never grab a large audience share.

[TornadoTN]

30. True, and there is a time and place

There is a time and place for the "rants", but AAR has become an echo-chamber for that type of speech. Randi is passionate, but she needs to take a deep breath and research things a bit before going over the top. I think she will find that people will become more receptive to her show and go beyond "preaching to the choir".

At the same time, I don't think people want snoozefests like Jerry Springer or the all-encompassing moderate like Al Franken tries to be. Don't get me wrong, Al has his place and I respect that some people really like the guy, but he is far to "wishy-washy" on tough subjects. It's almost as if he takes the Hillary Clinton tactic of triangulation and brings it to a new level on the radio.

[Johonny]

31. No Stephanie Miller

They missed out on one of the best new radio personalities.

[patrioticliberal]

37. She's not actually new to radio at all

She's been around for quite some time, including during the Clinton years, and clearly knows how to work it.

A professional that actually knows how to do radio. Amazing, huh?

Replace Franken, put Thom on full time in syndication, toss the Young Turks and put in something better. Move Seder back to the time slot he was in.

And of course, bring back Malloy, but that ain't gonna happen.

[K8-EEE]

32. Keith Olbermann's Show Is Brutal With The Commercials Too...

It makes me want to get TiVO!

[CarlVK]

39. Oh , you people....

How many threads on this stupid subject need be posted before you figure out that COMMERCIALS pay the bills? How do you propose AAR continue without commercial ad revenue? OK I'll give you two ways that they could do it - become a PUBLIC station, which means reliance on a pittance of grants plus what you can beg from the public at annual fund drives, and be subject to a ton of regulations that will impact the content of your airwaves - or you can pray to the great monkey god and wait for them fly out of my butt and rain money down on the studio facilities.

AAR is a business. Businesses need money to keep going. Is it kickin in yet?

[LaPera]

41. AAR has the same amount of commercial time as all the others...

After 6 minute of the news & ads... 13 minutes of talk, then ads, then 5 minutes of talk, (bottom of the hour) then ads, then another 13 minutes of talk, more ads, then 5 more minutes of talk, then ads...then again the news...

36 to 37 minutes per hour of talk...Got to pay for the programing!

Only the AAR execs & Franken are making the big bucks!

[alittlelark]

43. KPFA has no commercials. I donate $700 - 1000 per year.

They are in the black because WE care about our NEWS and enjoy the perfunctory.


Very few regions of this country understand, or can suport INDEPENDANT MEDIA.


AAR is not INDEPENDANT MEDIA.


Get a Clue , a grip, a whatever.

[LaPera]

44. Link! I got it!

Love to donate and listen again - Still Pacifica? I used to love & listen to KPFA-KPFB on the radio many years ago...I've forgotten...But I will listen again to the most radical, liberal radio (still hope) on the air and they have been streaming...

http://www.kpfa.org/
Berkeley!

[alittlelark]

46. KPFA ROCKS

And I'm willing to PAY for the REAL news I get.


Glad you re-discovered it!

[alittlelark]

48. 'Still Pacifica', still rockin' the FREE WORLD.

Get informed... or be a sheeple.

[LaPera]

49. YESSSSSSSS....Thank you alittlelark!!!