Its future looked bleak several months ago, but Air America’s future is looking better all the time — particularly with their favorite target for criticism getting another four years.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the liberal radio network’s expanded reach is coinciding with Bush’s second inaugural and Air America will now be heard in 45 markets, including DC.
It’s a remarkable feat for a network that was nearly given up for dead just last year…. [W]ith an infusion of new financing and new management, the radio network has won high ratings in some of its local markets and has garnered the support of radio-industry giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. It has signed three-year contracts with its top two stars, Al Franken and Randi Rhodes, and raised an additional $19 million from private investors. People familiar with the situation say Air America is also finalizing a deal that would get it back on the air in Los Angeles via KXTA-AM, a Clear Channel sports station.
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“What happened on Nov. 2 may have been bad for America but it sure was good for Air America,” says Rob Glaser, chairman of Air America.
The latest ratings data isn’t out quite yet, but Air America appears to not only be exceeding expectations, but more than holding its own against more established competition.
Definitive ratings for most of Air America’s markets won’t be released until later in the month. But local market research and anecdotal evidence indicate that the network is gaining traction. On the Internet, Air America is the fourth most popular radio station, with almost 200,000 weekly Web listeners, according to Webcast Metrics. (The top rated online radio station is Digitally Imported, which offers “electronic dance music.”)
In New York, Ms. Rhodes is tied with conservative Sean Hannity for the talk-show host that listeners spent the most time with each week in the fall season, according to Arbitron. Ms. Rhodes points out that she reached that level after just a few months of national exposure, and without the television show and book Mr. Hannity has to boost his public profile.
It’s at the point in which even Clear Channel, known for its right-wing ideology, is embracing Air America as a wise investment.
Clear Channel, after all, is about the radio equivalent of Sinclair Broadcasting when it comes to partisanship and campaign contributions, but that hasn’t stopped the company, which syndicates luminaries like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Schlessinger, from tapping into Air America’s increasing popularity.
When Air America was launched last April 1, Clear Channel tested it in Portland, Ore., on a poorly performing golden-oldies station, KPOJ. Results were startlingly good. Among its target audience of adults aged 25 to 54, the station moved from No. 26 to No. 3. The company started slipping in Air America programming in place of low rankers all around the country, including former sports/talk station WINZ in Miami, former nostalgia station KABL in San Francisco, and former Spanish-language station WKOX in Boston.
This week, Clear Channel is flipping three more stations to an Air America-heavy format, bringing Air America programming — Clear Channel calls it “progressive talk” — to 22 Clear Channel stations around the country. The company also made its studios in Silver Spring, Md., available for a live broadcast of Al Franken’s show on Tuesday.
The bottom line for Clear Channel appears to be its bottom line.
Air America, despite dire predictions, is building an audience and having an impact. More power to ’em — literally and figuratively.