Franken moves in on Limbaugh (AAR ratings - New York)

[LTR]

From NYPost.com:

October 19, 2004 -- CRITICS said it wouldn't happen — but all-liberal WLIB is seriously challenging talk-radio rivals WABC and WOR.

According to Arbitron ratings released yesterday, WLIB thrashed WOR and nipped at the heels of top-dog WABC among the 25- to 54-year-old listeners advertisers chase.

(snip)

During midday, when both stations roll out their top guns — WABC's Rush Limbaugh vs. Air America's Al Franken — WABC is ranked 15th in listeners 25-54, followed closely by WLIB, which ranked 18th. WOR trails badly, finishing 27th in midday.


http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/32161.htm

[LTR]

1. Overall ratings aren't too bad around the region

I posted more about the overall ratings for NY and neighboring markets on my blog. WLIB is doing well in Westchester, Northern NJ and Long Island.

http://ltradio.blogspot.com/

[Cooley Hurd]

2. YES!!!! Who says liberal radio isn't a $$$maker???

...cause I say, "fuck 'em!!!" :thumbsup:

[janx]

3. Franken's great! I listen to a portion of his show almost

every day. It's not surprising that this is happening.

[Charles19]

13. Frankens doing great, good guests and he is doing what

Rush forgot about years ago and that is telling the truth!

As long as he keeps that at the forefront, that truth matters I will be listening for a long long time.

[truthisfreedom]

4. bwahahahaha. ol' hillbilly heroin boy will crap his pants if Al catches

up all the way before he runs for Senator against bad boy rethug norm coleman here in Minnesota in 2008. norm is a turncoat Democrat, by the way, a former womanizing mayor of St. Paul.

[Grins]

6. Help..

"...norm is...a former womanizing mayor of St. Paul.

Got a link for proof?


PS: Love that photo!

[truthisfreedom]

22. i'm an eyewitness. i was at manny's steak house in minneapolis a few years

ago on my friend's birthday and the four in our group were seated right next to the bar where he was drinking and flirting with a woman who was not his wife (she is relatively high-profile, and this woman was of differing ethnicity). my girlfriend wanted to take pictures but the birthday boy asked her not to, because he didn't want the celebration to be disrupted by anyone. norm's behavior made it quite obvious what was going on.

[prodigal_green]

5. all in less than a year!

way to go AAR!

I've been listening since the beginning and I can say there are definitely more (and more annoying) commercials on every day.

[robbedvoter]

7. Only 6 months! Where are the naysayers?

We had here a slew of "specialists" who were posting: "trust me, I am in the business" - and how we were dead in the water....

[Shopaholic]

8. And logically--why wouldn't it be a moneymaker and a ratings getter?

I mean, we know that this country is split in half--so if RW radio could be a hit, why not LW radio???? I mean, it's just logic--and now we have proof. Kick ass, take names and make them eat shit, AAR!

[LTR]

9. I used to work in the business

But I wasn't much of a naysayer. I always thought AAR had the chance to succeed.

When the lineup was originally announced, I did think they should have gone with more experienced radio people. I was a bit skeptical of a roster of comedians and TV writers. Talk radio is tough to do well. Gotta fill that three hours, right?

They were a bit rough in the beginning. Franken was a bit bland. Didn't think much of the other shows. And Randi was the only radio veteran with her own show. The surprise was Majority Report. It was, and still is a very entertaining show. But I figured it would sound rough in the beginning, but would get better over time. Six months later, the shows have come together and are as good as most of what is out there in talk radio land.

The initial decision of leasing time on stations was looked upon with skepticism. First, it's a bit expensive. Second, many stations that broker time are on crummy signals. This method was not overly successful, though they still lease two stations - in New York and Sacramento. But the struggles of this method turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It helped sell the network as a whole, and created a franchise. Ironically, it was Clear Channel that helped AAR immensely. On a lark, they threw it on a powerful yet underperforming station in Portland, OR. The result? Shot to the top of the ratings in it's first book! Clear Channel may be run by Republicans, but they always vote for money.

For AAR to be this successful in only six months (36 markets) is quite remarkable. It's better than I expected, but I figure many companies are turning to it due to overkill on conservative talk and desperation to do something with some failing stations. Radio has been stagnant for years, and it's about time somebody came up with an innovative idea that succeeded.

[rocktivity]

10. WOR--isn't that when Shill O'Reilly is on?

Yes, there he is, from 2 to 4PM*. In all fairness, though, both Franken and Limbaugh are on from noon to 3. I doubt they're eroding each other's audiences, therefore it stands to reason that it's Rush, not Al, who Bill should be blaming for his show's unpopularity. I mean, whose listeners are more likely to tune in to Bill after 3PM--Rush's or Al's?

:headbang:
rocknation

*Eastern Daylight time

[LTR]

11. WOR's schedule

They tape-delay O'Really and run it from 2-4. No live clearance in it's home market, and only two hours of a three hour show are run. That's sad, but at least it's on a strong signal.

From 12-2, they run Dr. Joy Brown. I guess they're trying to grab the non-political with that, but it sounds like a terrible lead-in to Dild O'Reilly.

I'd love to see the afternoon breakdowns, pitting Randi Rhodes against Sean Hannity and Bob Grant. That would be interesting to see.

[robbedvoter]

12. O'reilly was tapping into the clueless audience ("I'm independent" schtick

Rush has freepers and matsochists. Since Ait America, the clueless and the former matsochists left their former habits behind. It's obvious from the new ratings that Franken DID cut into Doldo's already meager ratings.

[Arugula Latte]

14. Pig Boy better pop a few more Oxys.

And O'Reilly can sit on a falafel.

[CO Liberal]

15. WABC Used to Be in the Top Five When They Played Music

In the '60s, they had over a 50% market share. And now they're 15th????? :shrug:

[LTR]

16. Radio's changed too much since the 60's

First off, FM was a non-factor. The action was on AM at the time. And there's a heck of a lot fewer AMs than FMs.

Second, WABC was a kick-ass AM Top 40. I could tune it in from Ohio when I lived there in the late 70s-early 80s. But the 80s ushered out the era of pop music on AM. ABC had been having success with talk on AM in other markets at the time, so what else could be done with 770?

And the days of any station anywhere getting half the listeners in the market are long gone. Just too many stations out there.

I do imagine WABC makes a ton of money with talk, though.

[CO Liberal]

17. Still...

I'd just LOVE to see WABC go back to a music format, and fire Curtis Sliwa, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Matt Drudge.

[TheDonkey]

18. Loved the "flip flop" segments

Haven't hear it in awhile. Waiting to get Sirius Radio!

[LTR]

19. If you thought NYC was remarkable, the San Diego station blew up!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=109x14829

Up a whole share! And it's only been there for 1/3 of the summer ratings period.

[ElectroPrincess]

20. I keep it on all day :-)

Weekdays, I try to stomach at least an hour of CSPAN Washington Journal but usually turn on (via Internet) Air America Radio (WLIB) NLT 8:00 AM. Use cordless speakers to pipe it all over the house throughout the day.

Even when I must make a meeting or run errands, keep Air America running.

Thank goodness for a liberal voice in this great Country. ;)

[Chicago Democrat]

21. I like to watch the 1 hour show on Sundance Channel

its just the best parts.

[lizzieforkerry]

26. I love to watch it on Sundance too, but why can't they air it

at a better time? 7am is too early and 11:30 is way too late! I have emailed Sundance to tell them to air it either during the day or in the evening- please do the same if you feel the same way! Thanks! Lizzie

[Chicago Democrat]

28. You have to get Tivo... It is totally worth it.

$100 bucks and 12 per month ...its so worth it. Basically I tivo everything and skip thru commercials. I will email Sundance for you though in the meantime...lizzie.

love tim

[Skittles]

23. when will I hear AAR in Texas?

talk radio here is all conservative garbage, all the time

[LTR]

24. Who knows?

Clear Channel has stated that they'd love to put it on in Austin, but they have no available stations to do it on, and they won't blow up a successful station to do it.

Considering that it's doing well for CC in a traditionally conservative market like San Diego (where the just-released ratings show the station taking a huge jump since flipping to liberal talk), I could see CC looking at all of their underperforming AM stations across the country to see if AAR is a possibility. And don't count out other companies. Entercom's experimenting with it in Rochester, NY.

[SoCalDem]

25. What a shocker ..Liberal radio beats conservative radio in a LIBERAL place

All the so-called "experts" have said for ages that there was no liberal market...but that was only because they wanted to spew their conservative venom...unchallenged.. Given a head to head competition , they LOSE...

Conservatives subscribe to the .."If you can't beat it....EAT it." theory..they do not like FAIR competition, so they gobble up ALL the competition, and then say.. "See..we told you everybody loves us"..

What a bunch of LOSERS...

Put AAR head to head with Rush, and in all but the super rightwing areas, AAR will beat him every time.:) (or at least siphon enough of his "audience" off, the he (Rush) would be juat one of many blowhards..nothing special at all..:)

[robbedvoter]

27. Randi was trouncing Limpballs in Fla every year. Give it time

ABC is in the market for like 50 years, AAR - 6 months.

[SoCalDem]

29. That was the point I was trying to make (clumsily)

The "powers that be" have always used that canard as their excuse for why there was ONLY conservative radio, even in places like LA and NY..They always just said.."There's no market for liberal radio...it's boring..etc".. AAR has PROVED them wrong,, To have such big numbers after such a short time, tell the BIG STORY.. The market is there.. was ALWAYS there.. We were just being lied to and deprived of "the other side of the story" for about THIRTY YEARS...:grr:..

That's the part that pisses me off .. Is there a person alive who could say with a straight face that the people of LA would really prefer to listen to RW radio, given a real choice??

RW radio has raised the blood pressure of millions of people, and received lots of advertising money (which was in tun given as contributions to our foes) for way too many years..

And it's directly complicit in the dumbing-down, and "asshole-ification" of millions of people who might have not ended up that way, if they had not been fed garbage for so many years..