Air America's night signal

[Donna Halper]

Mark asked--


>The big question for Air America is, will liberals and other interested 
>political junkies continue to tune in with the passion they showed in the 
>first month?

Only if they can hear the station so that they can make an informed 
decision about whether they like it or not.  Unfortuntely, after sundown, 
many of us cannot hear the station, as I discussed earlier. The ratings 
that get published are usually the simple 12+ numbers, with no mention that 
in some cities, the signal Air America got stuck with is so tiny that just 
about nobody can receive it, while in other cities, it's dominant and 
powerful. SO even when ratings come out, they may not tell the whole story 
for a while.  The fact is that playing field is still not level, with 
conservative stations much more able to get their message out.  So many 
markets are still one-sided in their presentations of opinion, and it will 
be interesting to see if Air America (and Jones, which syndicates Ed 
Schultz and Stephanie Miller) are able to get onto some big signal 
stations-- then we will get a better idea if there is a market for that 
other point of view.  Meanwhile, I notice that some shows on AA seem more 
confident and more professional, and a lot more entertaining than they did 
six months ago.  Getting the point across is one thing-- doing it in an 
interesting and entertaining manner is equally crucial if AA is to survive.