Why Air America Failed

Read the first run of "State of the Nation" on DeskofBrian.com

http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/whyairamericacollapsed

In the wake of Air America's funeral - the pending chapter 7 bankruptcy, it seems appropriate to evaluate why they failed...why liberal radio talk shows fail.

NPR

NPR is better. The leftist bias is present at NPR but is not as flaming, enraged and not distracting from the actual content. Air America never crawled out of there shadow.

Blame Game

You can't blame George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove for three hours, five days a week with little else to offer. The Republicans were hypocrites, abandoning their ideals and their base. Air America wasted most of their programming name calling, banging the anti-war drum and not honestly criticizing Democrats or the Clinton administration.

Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert & Comedy Central

Yes I'm blaming them too.

The Daily Show's version of the news is far more entertaining and digestible than the vile and vitriol from the Air America hosts. Most conservative radio listeners are older, have families, children, busy lifestyles, are readers and will commit time to factcheck information. Air America didn't cater to this demographic and younger audiences prefer the satiric version on comedy central.


The financial ruins of Air America are not due to "tough economic times" but rather endless horrible ratings. Al Franken reported once that a payroll checked didn't clear - that was before the 2008 Wall Street collapse.

Inexperienced radio hosts, bad business decisions and a hollow message prevented the liberal radio network from blossoming. Air America was insignificant in the grand scheme of news and pop culture. Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck made headlines NOT Randi Rhodes.

I really have enjoyed the opposing opinions and different perspectives, particularly Rachel Maddow. Of course, she's following the MSNBC trap and emulating Keith Olbermann laterly instead of learning from the failed Air America model.

Air America Cartoon published at cynicalnation.com, 2006