O.K., Can Somebody Tell Me What's Up With AAR?

[Dinger]

I've read some of the posts (I will read more). How many stations have been taken off the air?
How can this be investigated? (Don't tell me it can't, and to shut up and be quiet - I won't listen, though I will read it.)
Has ARR made a statement? Timely, as we get into the crucial election season.

[northzax]

1. the problem is that no one listens to it

it has lost space in markets because radio is a business. If the local station can't sell advertising on the programs, they won't carry them. Plain and simple. It's just not that good as a whole package.

[Nabia2004]

3. First I heard of this, how about some proof?

[northzax]

14. how's this?

the economies of scale in big time talk radio mean you need to be everywhere to make it. More people listen to radio in the suburbs and rural areas (or a higher percentage, And frankly, those aren't liberal strongpoints in the US. I don't know anyone who listens to AAR on a regular basis, we just don't have time (who the hell listens to radio in the middle of the day? no one I know, especially political radio.) Where do people listen to the radio? in the morning, on the commute both ways. I don't know anyone in DC who drives to work, at least not in the key demographics. So let's take a key demographic. Me and my friends. I'll take the last ten people I spent time with, outside of work, in DC. We are all 25-34. 9 of us have at least one graduate degree, we are all liberals, we all make $50k+, and we are all single. AAR hasn't gotten to any of us. it is a non-entity in DC. that's not good.

in the places where AAR is getting good ratings, it is succeeding, in the places it doesn't, it is failing. welcome to radio.

[Nabia2004]

21. it will be interesting to see the Spring 2006 analysis

thank you

[Pryderi]

4. I thought AAR was getting a good amount of listenership. Why didn't they

get the advertisers?

[FormerDittoHead]

17. Here's a good article on the "packaged" sales approach they tried

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/03/03/news/local/news03.txt

The article reviews how they tried to sell advertising on three stations at the same time, failing to do that, they chose to do some kind of "sponsorship" approach.

The point is that the ratings were there, the advertisers were there, but the sales dept. didn't deliever.

[bluestateguy]

5. That is just not true

The station in Missoula that was canceled had a 3.6 share, and the Phoenix station that was KO'd was turning a profit and also had strong ratings. Those Arbitron ratings do not count satellite radio, people who listen online and people who podcast the shows. The latter is a big part of AA's audience.

The right is so desperate to see AA fail because they are scared of their monopoly being challenged on the radio. Dominating talk radio is not enough for these people. They want 100% control.

AA will never be what the conservative talk stations are, in part because it will not have the ready cooperation of powerful corporate interests, but it is alive and kicking, and I expect to see it up to 150 affiliates by the 2008 election.

[northzax]

15. what are the new ratings of the Missoula station?

what will the new ratings of the Phoenix station be? that's the question. it's a cut-throat business, you either make enough money to keep stations, or you don't. Maybe it will grow farther, but not without the listeners it needs.

[bluestateguy]

18. You're not making any sense

nt

[northzax]

19. what are the ratings of the Missoula Station

after dropping AAR and replacing it with something else? that doesn't make sense? should I try it in French?

And the Phoenix station wasn't making enough money that the owner didn't sell it, right?

[bluestateguy]

2. Don't panic

They went from 89 stations to 85. They lost Missoula, Phoenix and Atlanta (I forget what the other one was). This kind of thing happens all the time in the radio business. AA will be 2 years old on the 31st. Keep in mind that the conservative naysayers said it would not last 6 months. Taking on entrenched power structures is hard work, and there will be occasional setbacks, but the overall trajectory of AA is strong.

[ChazII]

7. The Phoenix station

was sold. KXXT 1010 had the money and the advertisers. Check the Arizon forum and read the threads for the rest of the story. The former AAR station now broadcast Christian programs.

[bluestateguy]

9. I know

My parents live there and were regular listeners. Now they get to choose from 9 Christianfundamentalistwacko stations.

[T Roosevelt]

6. Missoula and Phoenix stations were bought by RW religious groups

They also carried Ed Schultz, and he was talking about that the other day on Bill Press...

[napi21]

10. The Atlanta station also was sold. I think it's still broadcasting

AAR though. The word I hear is that we (here in the ATlanta area) think, because of who bought the station, that they will probably discontinue that relationship. I live far enough north of Atlanta that I can only receive it in my car, so I can't check it right now, but I listened to AAR in the car on Wednesday and it was fine.

[tularetom]

8. They put their best programs on

when nobody's listening. Gimme a break. Rachel Maddow is the best thing they have going for them and they stick her on at 4 AM PST. Putting Malloy on at 7 PM is real stupid also. Except for Randi their daytime programming is weak. Springer sucks, Al Franken is mediocre (even though he has some good guests), and the Majority Report needs to be changed to the Sam Seder program. I much prefer Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz (I know Big Ed is not a favorite around here) to any of the daytime lineup on AAR.

[napi21]

12. I know time zones are a bi*ch, but Malloy broadcasts from Ga.

and he's on here at 10PM. I suspect if he were on any earlier here, he'd have been kicked off! Most of the Ga. fundies go to bed by 10PM.

[Cosmocat]

20. I agree ...

Springer is just weak ... They have to do better at that slot ... There are so many stonger people they could move up in the rotation ... Thom Hartmann ... I agree, Shultz is an important guy to bring in middle of the roaders ...

[FormerDittoHead]

11. I will support them to the very end if just to counter this kind of crap..

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48875

I find it interesting that another link in this "feeding machine" is the "source" of the recent story about AAR losing its lease on its NYC station, Brian Maloney's Radio Equalizer.

[bluestateguy]

13. This Maloney guy is obsessed with Air America

For all of the Right's sneering that nobody listens to Air America they sure are obsessed with rooting for it to fail. If no one listens than why not worry about more important things? That is, of course, unless they feel threatened.

[Batgirl]

16. that's an excellent point and thanks for debunking

"If no one listens why not worry about more important things."

It's an ongoing disinformation campaign seeking to bring about what it pretends to decry.