A Huffington Post entry recently compared Ann Coutler, the queen of bitch, to the management of Air America. This is a rather inexact comparison in various ways. First, she has been around a lot longer than two years -- she had some time to hone her bit. Second, AC is a sort of naughty pleasure, appealing to the darker side of our tastes, even if our superego knows how ugly her rhetoric is, that is, if we take it totally seriously. Finally, her time is now -- conservatives are in control and Democrats by nature look weak.
Still, Air America management is worthy of some scorn. It is obviously hard to start a new radio network, and in various ways, I am sure there have done a good job ... all things considered. All the same, the current re-organization only emphasizes the problem. I speak of the move by the flagship station in NYC to 1600AM in particular. This is a bad sign, the way it was handled a sadly typical slipshod procedure. As noted, the signal is much weaker -- I turned it on last night, and basically could not hear it. Again, I'm from the Bronx, not some distant environs in Putnam County or something.
Another AA listener spoke of similar problems from Queens. A more detailed analysis of the current situation over there suggests some other signs of lack of money. At least, unlike in the past, the basic technical stuff seems to be running fairly smoothly. Still, not hearing the station ... or hearing it with much static (Saturday evening) ... makes the cutesy new number not really a good bargain in the long run.
The first blogger also was concerned about how the station treats listeners. I agree. We are dealing with the radio business, but one has some business expecting that a "progressive talk" station would respect its listeners a bit more than some run of the mill Top 40 station. For instance, years back, I listened to a duo (English sounding woman with taste and typical macho guy producer sort ala the Radio Chick and Butchy in NYC) during the afternoon on the walkman, and thought them pretty good. Nothing much, but enjoyable on a daily basis. I shifted for a few days to the sports talk station, and then switched back, and they were gone. Such is the business -- easy come, easy go, often without much warning. This sort of thing is also prevalent in the temp business.
But, again, one thinks Air America might be different. Not as much as one hopes. First, they stripped the station of some popular co-hosts who served as good balance overall. Mark Maron, for instance, was very popular to the fan base and provided a nice (amusing) balance to an admittedly rather dull (if veteran) old guard left host (Mark Riley). Liz Winstead did the same for Rachel Maddow, a good hard working host* (she came into her own guest hosting during Katrina). In fact, few seem really to appreciate replacing their mid-morning show with Jerry Springer, even if he is a "name" -- Sam Seder (whose co-host also left, less of a loss -- don't know how their fans feel about it though) is due to take the slot. Likewise, Al Franken (documentary coming out) really can use Katherine Lanphur (who has a book coming out) for balance.
Such things were clearly largely monetary. They also were addressed on air -- we were prepared for the co-hosts leaving and so forth, and Maron in particular got a nice send-off (and a West Coast show). Not quite the case for Mike Malloy, the old grumpy 10-1(12 in NY) night time host. Mid-guest hosting appearance for Randy Rhodes (who is smart, but turns me off -- annoying voice, knee-jerk attitude, though she has had success in the business overall), he was left go for "financial" reasons. This after we were told he was promised a return engagement after being taken off 1190AM for similar "financial" reasons for the "Satellite Sisters," a syndicated WE sort of talk show. Also, apparently, he was one of the least paid hosts anyway. It is probably a fair assumption to think that it was his sometimes over the top nature that led to his firing, or whatever you want to call it. Overall, especially since he too was popular with a key base (Sam Seder voiced his displeasure with his firing), it was just plain handled badly.
The listeners deserve more respect. They deserve to know what is going on. They should not have to hear elsewhere that Sam Seder is going to move to mornings, then see it on the Majority Report blog, but still not see it on the Air America website. The website took days to replace Mike Malloy on the schedule. It also (though it was mentioned in a promotion on air) doesn't let us know that Armstrong Williams (co-host) -- yeah, the black conservative host that took money from the Bush Administration to promote their education causes -- will stay on at 1600 with his early morning show. Some lead-in to Sam Seder ... oh wait, we aren't told about his upcoming shift either! Don't think Al Franken, who spoke of his major role in getting the station going and so forth, clarified such matters either. Just handles his duties ... he doesn't take calls anyway, and the only "emails" he takes are those from laughable critics of the show or those writing in to play "Wait Wait, Don't Lie To Me."
The station clearly serves a good purpose and has some good hosts and material. In fact, the weekend has some of the most interesting sounding stuff ... though admittedly, I barely listened to it since it is so badly promoted and on at relatively odd times. For instance, Jackie Guerra has an hour show on Saturdays called "Working It" that deals with working related issues ... she was an organizer as well as having a comedy/entertainment background. Betsy Rosenberg has an environmental show, two with religiously themes, and Laura Flanders has an evening show on weekends from a traditional progressive activist tradition that reflects her background. There also is a cooking show! Again, one would never know it, since you only hear it mentioned once in a blue moon. And, why was the hip hop themed show shifted to Sunday nights at 11pm? Sorta a Saturday night deal, huh?
Sounds silly, but why not? Why not have a variety of shows from a liberal mind-set? This is why Mike Maron added a nice mix -- a sort of morning show talk/comedy deal that people like for morning drive. A well run station would provide what one supposed Air America was expected to bring: a place for people go to on the radio for enjoyable progressive leaning talk, talk of all sorts. So, the Satellite Sisters isn't a bad idea, in a sense -- have a relationship type show, be it women friendly or not, but with a progressive flavor. But, please have respect for the listeners. Keep us abreast of what is going on, including on the website. Provide better promotion, again, especially on the website. The guest host process was a good idea -- people like Sam, Laura, Rachel, and Mike guest hosted on other shows.
And, please, no Armstrong Williams! It's a damn liberal radio station, isn't it? Maybe not. Maybe we are going for a Joe Lieberman deal or something. No wonder it isn't being promoted too well. I wonder how Sam Seder will feel following him? That should be amusing.
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* With Sam Seder shifting to the morning, it would seem ideal for her (Armstrong Williams filling her slot on 1600) to shift to his evening slot, but who knows?
Thom Hartman has a syndicated show and has guest hosted ... he too sounded good the few times I heard him, a progressive voice that takes calls and intelligently challenges opposite viewpoints, conservative and libertarian. He takes no prisoners, but can do this (with the right amount of righteous anger) without the sarcastic dismissive tendencies of Rhodes and Malloy, both who honestly sound like kneejerk libs a bit too often. They simply do not let other people talk ... it is an annoying quality that can leave to non-believers to dismiss them as well.