Air America Radio Remote in Maine

[Laurence Glavin]

Not assured of an entree to the Air America Radio remote in 
Cambridge, Mass, I drove up to the Pine Tree state to observe
the remote today in the Port City.  Attendance was better 
than I expected for a weeday afternoon. I arrived about 45 minutes
before showtime, expecting I could saunter in right away.  Instead
there was a line the length of Myrtle Street and around the corner to
the next intersection.  Ultimately, they filled most of
the Orchestra seats, the seats  ringing that section and most of 
the first balcony.  The crowd was VERY partisan, and hooped and
hollered at the slightest provocation.  This was my first extended
exposure to Franken's show;  when I travelled to western Massachusetts
for Columbus Day weekend, WHMP was carrying O'Reilly.  The show
is slower-paced than let's say Rush or even Ed Schultz...indeed
at one point, Franken referred to his own show as the Liberal
Home Companion (he and Garrison Keillor are both Minnesotans).
Apparently when he's on-the-road, calls are not taken, but he 
has people from the area (the Governor and a campaign worker 
who was also his sister-in-law) as guests.  I left a little 
before the end to hear how it sounded on the air because the
sound into the auditorium was variable depending on where Al
sat.  A sidebar:  WLVP is careless about breaking away from
WLIB, there was a WLIB station ID, and later a spot for a 
man running for sheriff in Bergen County.  There's no
Bergen County in Maine, so I assume it was NJ.  People in line
did discuss the "future" of Air America in Maine after the
election.  The question is, would the ability of the
outlet to stir a couple of thousand people to attend a 
show of this nature translate into ratings and ad time?
-- 
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