Air America went into bankruptcy yesterday and replaced
another CEO. What’s the problem?
I’m sure there are enough Lefty listeners in the Bay Area, LA and NY to support a few stations running Air America, especially since Al Franken is funny some of the time and honest some of the time.
The problem was applying Lefty thinking to a commercial
issue. Lefty thinking says “We are
right, there is a need for Lefty talk radio, so lets get the money and put up a
national program.” Just the sorts of
backward thinking Lefties do everyday in Congress and dozens of State houses
across the country.
That isn’t the way commerce works. Commerce requires bottom up marketing. You get your first customers, then you get more and finally you get more. Along the way you refine what you are selling.
Air America could have started with a satellite program and
gained listeners slowly while running on AM radio in three cities for three
hours a day. As the audience grew and
the programs adapted themselves they would get a market.
I don’t think the market would be a fraction as large as Rush Limbaugh’s for one reason. The Left has the entire mainstream media doing its job. The Limbaugh audience that started in Sacramento in 1984, and grown organically since, has operated in the total absence of any mainstream media coverage of its position. It stood alone until Fox arrived and has a twenty year base of loyal listeners.
delete.