What Happened to Air America Radio?

[drankin]

It's too bad. I liked to listen to it once in awhile. In between Ingraham and Savage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/business/media/22radio.html

 

[WhoWee]

Hardly anyone noticed.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Its too bad that decent liberal talk radio does so poorly. I'm lucky that there are fairly moderate conservative talk radio shows in my area.

 

[Trakar]

Its too bad that decent liberal talk radio does so poorly. I'm lucky that there are fairly moderate conservative talk radio shows in my area.

I really believe that there are some fundamental mindset differences between people who are generally attracted to conservative philosophies and people generally attracted to more progressive philosophies (I know, "duh"!). It seems that those attracted to more conservative philosophies are more entertained and attracted to the gut/emotional-level cheerleading and rhetoric that is the bread and butter of successful talk radio, than those attracted to more progressive philosophies. Of course, this isn't a blanket truism, I know there are emotional/gut liberals just as there are contemplative, esoteric conservatives, but in general, and in my experience, it seems to be the case. In the most simplistic terms, I guess I'd divide the extreme ends of this scale into the navel-gazers and the fans/cheerleaders.

This may be one of the main reasons why Liberal talk radio that tries to emulate the "shock-jock" inflammatory style of most successful Conservative talk radio shows, dooms itself to limited success or failure. Again, I'm sure these perceptions are largely guided by my personal experiences.

 

[Trakar]

Its too bad that decent liberal talk radio does so poorly. I'm lucky that there are fairly moderate conservative talk radio shows in my area.

I really believe that there are some fundamental mindset differences between people who are generally attracted to conservative philosophies and people generally attracted to more progressive philosophies (I know, "duh"!). It seems that those attracted to more conservative philosophies are more entertained and attracted to the gut/emotional-level cheerleading and rhetoric that is the bread and butter of successful talk radio, than those attracted to more progressive philosophies. Of course, this isn't a blanket truism, I know there are emotional/gut liberals just as there are contemplative, esoteric conservatives, but in general, and in my experience, it seems to be the case. In the most simplistic terms, I guess I'd divide the extreme ends of this scale into the navel-gazers and the fans/cheerleaders.

This may be one of the main reasons why Liberal talk radio that tries to emulate the "shock-jock" inflammatory style of most successful Conservative talk radio shows, dooms itself to limited success or failure. Again, I'm sure these perceptions are largely guided by my personal experiences.

 

[drankin]

I really believe that there are some fundamental mindset differences between people who are generally attracted to conservative philosophies and people generally attracted to more progressive philosophies (I know, "duh"!). It seems that those attracted to more conservative philosophies are more entertained and attracted to the gut/emotional-level cheerleading and rhetoric that is the bread and butter of successful talk radio, than those attracted to more progressive philosophies. Of course, this isn't a blanket truism, I know there are emotional/gut liberals just as there are contemplative, esoteric conservatives, but in general, and in my experience, it seems to be the case. In the most simplistic terms, I guess I'd divide the extreme ends of this scale into the navel-gazers and the fans/cheerleaders.

This may be one of the main reasons why Liberal talk radio that tries to emulate the "shock-jock" inflammatory style of most successful Conservative talk radio shows, dooms itself to limited success or failure. Again, I'm sure these perceptions are largely guided by my personal experiences.

I can't really agree with this explanation. I don't think there is a difference in "emotional"ly driven conservatives or liberals. Conservative radio just brings a better argument for their cause, IMO. That opinion comes from listening to both Air America and conservative radio. There is more talented personalities in conservative radio, for sure.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I am more of the opinion that the general news/talk radio audience tends to be of an older generation and that older people tend to be more moderate to conservative.

The talk radio shows that tend to be more attractive to the younger more liberal generations are ones like Mark & Brian or Howard Stern which are almost all entertainment news and music.

 

[Al68]

Conservative radio just brings a better argument for their cause, IMO.

I don't think that's it. Independent of which side has a better argument, Air America's viewpoint was the same as that represented by the mainstream media's depiction of their views, so it was redundant, and people just had no reason to hear the same message repeated again, regardless of which side they're on.

Conservative radio offers a different viewpoint than the mainstream media's representation of the conservative viewpoint, so it's not redundant. There is a reason to listen to it regardless of which side you're on.

The end result was that both sides had a lot more reason to listen to conservative radio than Air America.

 

[WhoWee]

Liberal shows (TV or radio) are popular only when they are funny - as soon as they turn mean spirited (Bill Maher) they lose appeal.

 

[Trakar]

I can't really agree with this explanation. I don't think there is a difference in "emotional"ly driven conservatives or liberals. Conservative radio just brings a better argument for their cause, IMO. That opinion comes from listening to both Air America and conservative radio. There is more talented personalities in conservative radio, for sure.

Of course, as I stated, I was only drawing from my own experience, and from that reference, the emotionally driven political junkies of either stripe would find talk radio political shock-jocks entertaining, however, (again in my experience) there are many more gut-level/emotion driven conservatives than there are gut-level/emotion driven progressives. I don't see any difference in the talent levels or supportive arguments on either side of the talk political spectrum, I just don't find any personal appreciation for politics in that format. Ironically, I rather enjoy several non-political talk radio programs, I just find nothing of value in political talk radio. I'm sure others may have different experiences, what political persuasion do you consider yourself to be? I don't know for sure what to call myself anymore, though I'm registered independent. I spent most of the first half-century as a registered Republican and then switched to independent back in '94. If it helps, I've mentioned it before, my presidential voting record is:
Nixon (2x)
Carter
Reagan (2x)
Bush Sr.
Clinton (2x)
Gore
Kerry
McCain (would probably have voted for Hillary had she been the Dem nominee)

 

[Trakar]

I am more of the opinion that the general news/talk radio audience tends to be of an older generation and that older people tend to be more moderate to conservative.

The talk radio shows that tend to be more attractive to the younger more liberal generations are ones like Mark & Brian or Howard Stern which are almost all entertainment news and music.

There may be at least some element of truth to that, IMO.

 

[Trakar]

I don't think that's it. Independent of which side has a better argument, Air America's viewpoint was the same as that represented by the mainstream media's depiction of their views, so it was redundant, and people just had no reason to hear the same message repeated again, regardless of which side they're on.

Conservative radio offers a different viewpoint than the mainstream media's representation of the conservative viewpoint, so it's not redundant. There is a reason to listen to it regardless of which side you're on.

The end result was that both sides had a lot more reason to listen to conservative radio than Air America.

Really?!
My perceptions of the political talk messages and the mainstream media are virtually the opposite,...with the qualification that I really haven't listened to either political talk radio or the mainstream media in nearly five years.

 

[Trakar]

Liberal shows (TV or radio) are popular only when they are funny - as soon as they turn mean spirited (Bill Maher) they lose appeal.

Do you feel the same way about conservative shows (TV or radio)?

 

[WhoWee]

Do you feel the same way about conservative shows (TV or radio)?

It doesn't matter what the message is - mean spirited shows do not have the wide appeal of a humorous show.

 

[Al68]

Really?!
My perceptions of the political talk messages and the mainstream media are virtually the opposite,...with the qualification that I really haven't listened to either political talk radio or the mainstream media in nearly five years.

LOL. Then I'd say your perceptions are five years out of date.

 

[Trakar]

It doesn't matter what the message is - mean spirited shows do not have the wide appeal of a humorous show.

of course, some people seem to feel that mean-spirited is funny.

I lost interest in John Stewart in 2006, mainly because he stopped being funny, and started cheerleading rather than critically approaching at lot of issues with regards to the Democratically controlled congress, or at the least, this was my perception.

 

[Trakar]

LOL. Then I'd say your perceptions are five years out of date.

much of my time is spent on issues that use 30 year averages to determine trends; five years is within the error bars .