Air America

[Sid Schweiger]

>> Can Air America be the voice of that 49% and be successful, or as in the past, do you expect so-called liberal talk shows to fail?<<

I don't think AAR's success has to do with where they are on the political spectrum.  The question is:  Can they do entertaining, compelling radio (the same question one has to ask to judge the success of ANY radio format)?  I ask that because, even as they have had a Republican president and Congress for the past four years, the conservative talkers have had plenty to talk about and I haven't seen their ratings falter, except for the usual book-to-book variations one would expect to see with any format.

A "sub"-question might be:  Can they get over the loss of this election quickly enough to move on, and not always resort to bringing up four years ago, when the liberal "line" was that Bush and his cronies stole the election?  Even Rush Limbaugh doesn't mention Bill Clinton as often as he used to.

If they can conquer those two points, I think they have a shot.  The early (pre-election) results have been positive in some of their markets, and if they can continue improving as RADIO talk hosts (not comedians or social commentators who happen to be on the radio), they could pull it off.



Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
WAAF - WEEI AM/FM - WQSX - WRKO - WVEI
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Boston MA  02135-2040
Phone: 617-779-5369
Fax: 617-779-5379
E-Mail: sid@wrko.com