# The Air America Death-Rattle Has Begun! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 29, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108 "2005-09-29T22:23:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/1 "2005-09-29T22:23:52Z")
Yikes! Hot on the heels of the news that Al Franken, Garofalo et al. have been reduced to begging for money from listeners to stay alive comes this news that the failing liberal Air America radio network is being kicked off Philly radio. Ha ha ha. I love it. Tomorrow is their last day on WHAT. I’m sure all ten of their listeners will be heartbroken over the news. By the way, I recently started getting the Sundance Channel which airs some of Franken’s show, and I actually watched for a couple minutes…wow, is it bad! The man is obsessed with Bill O’Reilly, can’t stop talking about what O’Reilly said on last night’s show… this becomes extremely boring after about 10 minutes or so. From the Philadelphia Inquirer: [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking\_news/12774593.htm](http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/12774593.htm) ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/2 "2005-09-29T22:32:14Z")
_sigh_ I think that rumors of Air America’s impending demise have been circulating for several years, and they are still ticking. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/3 "2005-09-29T22:45:31Z")
I’ve listened to Al Franken’s show a number of times recently. I’ve never heard him begging listeners for money, unless you count being the pitchman for various ads. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/4 "2005-09-29T22:49:36Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > I’ve listened to Al Franken’s show a number of times recently. I’ve never heard him begging listeners for money, unless you count being the pitchman for various ads. Sorry, I thought the story was common knowledge. From: [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/business/brief\_display.jsp?vnu\_content\_id=1001182004](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/business/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001182004) _In an unusual move for commercial radio, Air America Radio quietly launched Sept. 21 a loyalty program that includes asking for donations from listeners, a strategy more common to noncommercial stations and political action committees. According to the network’s Web site, listeners become an “Air America Associate” by making a cash donation to the network._ These guys are in huge trouble. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/5 "2005-09-29T22:56:43Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > …Air America’s impending demise have been circulating for several years, and they are still ticking. Interesting, given that they launched 3/31/2004 and tomorrow will mark the end of their 18th month broadcasting. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/6 "2005-09-29T23:02:13Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > These guys are in huge trouble. Are they in as much trouble as DeLay, Frist, Abramoff, Rove, [Safavian](http://www.gcn.com/24_29/news/37089-1.html) , or [Franklin](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5311584,00.html) ? ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/7 "2005-09-29T23:03:15Z")
It was pretty quiet, then. I’m a good ol’ liberal, but I’ll stick with NPR. The yammering and ads are just as irritating as any conservative stations, even if I’m more in agreement with the subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/8 "2005-09-29T23:04:47Z")
Who gives a fuck? I listened to Air America for the first two days it was on and found it boring for the same reasons that right wing radio is boring. The endless shilling for one political viewpoint is just not very interesting to listen to. I suspect that I’m not alone among liberals in that I prefer to hear a more thorough presentation of issues and that I have no desire to simply hear my own opinion reiterated endlessly with no rebuttal. I also think that right wing radio thrives on hate as much as anything. Hatred of gay people, hatred of Muslims, hatred of “secularists” (Bill O’Reilly’s favorite bugbear) and hatred of liberals. Air America has never seemed sufficiently angry or hateful or fearful enough to succeed with a wide audience. I never expected it to last even this long. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/9 "2005-09-29T23:39:59Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > Interesting, given that they launched 3/31/2004 and tomorrow will mark the end of their 18th month broadcasting. By “several”, I meant more than one. :rolleyes: Gimme a break. My perception of time is weak. I could theorize that those on the left of the spectrum are more intelligent than those on the right, and thus less likely to listen to radio hucksters, resulting in Air America’s alleged financial troubles. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/10 "2005-09-29T23:47:59Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Air America has never seemed sufficiently angry or hateful or fearful enough to succeed with a wide audience. Well, except for Randi Rhodes. She’s just shrill. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/11 "2005-09-29T23:48:35Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > I could theorize that those on the left of the spectrum are more intelligent than those on the right, and thus less likely to listen to radio hucksters. Well, you _could_ theorize that, but it would beg the obvious question: why weren’t these same liberals “intelligent” enough to realize that a left-wing talk-radio network would fail in the first place? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rpinrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@rpinrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rpinrd)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/12 "2005-09-29T23:49:22Z")
I tried this channel when I first got my XM radio. I thought it might be a nice alternative to Limbaugh (Is he still on, or did the pill-popping take him out? Other than the sports talk station, I never spin the am dial because I’m afraid I’ll run into him or a preacher and then be forced to run my car off a bridge). Instead, I immediately realized that it was every bit as disgusting and pointless as that jerkwad ever was. The woman they have on for the evening drivetime was just pointless. They could’ve had the phrase “Bush is evillll!!!” repeating on a loop and it would have had the same effect (similarly, from what I remember of Limbaugh’s show at the time, he could have been replaced with a loop of “Clinton is evilllll!!!”) I quickly switched that preset to a BBC channel. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/13 "2005-09-29T23:49:43Z")
I don’t listen to Talk Radio (save for an occasional dial in to _Out Q_ on _Sirius_, and while I make no value judgments of those who do, I personally just don’t get the appeal. That said, however, I think that timing for Air America was terrible, coming as it did just before the explosion of Satellite Radio. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/14 "2005-09-29T23:53:08Z")
You are using the phrase “beg the question” incorrectly. And what does intelligence have to do with knowing whether a business venture will succeed or fail? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/15 "2005-09-29T23:59:05Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > You are using the phrase “beg the question” incorrectly. > > And what does intelligence have to do with knowing whether a business venture will succeed or fail? I beg your apologies. This is what **CynicalGabe** wrote: _I could theorize that those on the left of the spectrum are more intelligent than those on the right, and thus less likely to listen to radio hucksters, resulting in Air America’s alleged financial troubles._ My question is obvious: if a liberal is ‘intelligent’ enough to know that “those on the left of the spectrum…[are] less likely to listen to radio hucksters,” why in the world would this same ‘intelligent’ liberal start a radio network aimed directly at that audience? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/16 "2005-09-29T23:59:28Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Who gives a fuck? That is the most succinct verdict possible, I think. I tried, I really tried to care, but I just don’t. I dislike Hannity et al. for a reason, and Hannity’s dim mirror image is another waste of airwaves. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/17 "2005-09-30T00:01:24Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > I dislike Hannity et al. for a reason, and Hannity’s dim mirror image is another waste of airwaves. I hardly think Al Franken is a ‘mirror image’ of Sean Hannity. Hannity is successful, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/18 "2005-09-30T00:03:15Z")
Yes, and in another diffrence, Frankin can actually prove his claims. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/19 "2005-09-30T00:04:31Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > You are using the phrase “beg the question” incorrectly. > > ? And I beg your forgiveness for begging for your apologies! ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108/20 "2005-09-30T00:07:33Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > Yes, and in another diffrence, Frankin can actually prove his claims. Yeah, he has url=http://www.frankenlies.com/]14 Harvard researchers! Al Franken was pretty good in “Trading Places”, after that, meh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-air-america-death-rattle-has-begun/324108.md?page=2)