I'm hanging in there with Air American Radio

[Fluffdaddy]

I live in a major size city with two talk radio stations. Both run 12 hours of rightwing-nut talk show hosts one after the other. If it was not for AAR and a few hours of PBS I would have been trapped in conservative radio darkness for years. I don't even have a local AAR station in my area anymore, I had to go with sat radio Sirius and now XM to get my AAR fix. Am I happy with of many the moves AAR has made?...........No. But Close your eyes and think what it would be like if FOX NEWS was the only news cable channel you got. That's what it would be like for many of us if AAR went dark.
Try to support AAR even when they make dumb programming moves. There has to be at least one host you enjoy listening too.

[movie_girl99]

1. I love Rachel Maddow's show so

i will continue to listen to her.

[ShortnFiery]

10. Yes, and I also enjoy Thom Hartmann eom

[ginnyinWI]

2. Me, too

Without AAR I only have public radio--everything else in Milwaukee is right-wing. No AAR on the air, either--I have to get it on XM.

Rachael is good--is moving to evenings. Franken is okay--if he has guests! Randi is good, and there are lots of smaller weekend shows that are well worth a listen.

[wryter2000]

3. I'm with you

I'm not turning my back on the rest of the good folks who are doing their best to get the truth out there.

I'll tell you honestly, though, if I could find another local affiliate I'd switch. My local one stinks. Plays Schultz, delays Franken and Randi, plays infomercials on the weekends (no Ring of Fire or State of Belief). You'd think SF could do better.

[Fluffdaddy]

5. I hear you wryter2000. You would think a city like Philly could do better

Then two right-wing radio stations going 15 hours a day 5 days a week. You would think someone would throw us a bone on the week-ends at least.............LOL
Thank god for AAR and Sat radio

[muesa]

7. I like Al Franken and Ed Schultz

The only alternative is KGO-810. And I get KGO burn out from Ray Taliafero and Bernie Ward and Ronn Owens; I prefer Ravi "RJ" Peruman and John Rothmann and Karel to Ray Taliafero and Bernie Ward and Ronn Owens; and I know Bill Wattenburg personally. Overall I prefer KQKE and AAR to KGO.

Added on edit: I love "Willie and Willie" - Willie Brown is the greatest.

[wryter2000]

12. Welcome to DU

:hi:

My main complaint with Will and Willie is they won't start at 6:00, thereby delaying the rest of the programming. They are an improvement over Springer, that's for sure.

[Webster Green]

9. Ah yes, KQKE......They really suck!

They are almost useless on the weekends with all the stupid infomercials.

Their techs must be on crack. I've heard them airing two different audio feeds at the same time, like maybe.....oh I don't know maybe 1500 times since I've been listening. It happens so often you would think they are doing it on purpose.

[wryter2000]

11. I loved the idea of Will and Willie

The execution is something else, though. Plus, if those two guys can't get up to do a show at 6:00 am, give them only two hours so I can get Franken live.

When they first started, I had my radio on ALL THE TIME. Now, I have it on once a week when I'm home on Monday so I can be moving around while Franken's on (an hour late :mad:).

[LTR]

14. This is common with Clear Channel affiliates

Their Cincinnati station was terrible. At times, multiple shows would run at once. Satellite news feeds, often recorded by their automation system, would air over shows. Ed Schultz even ripped into them on-air a few weeks back.

According to a radio message board I frequent, the problem seems to lie primarily in the automation software. Most, if not all CC stations run a system called Prophet. Works great for music and voicetracking, but older versions are a bit flawed when it comes to time-shifting programming and taking shows off satellite (many of these stations air shows at a later time slot, like Randi Rhodes). That is why you hear two things running at once at times. As I understand, this problem happens on most of their automated talk stations.

As far as the infomercial thing goes, I'll accept it. This is done on all types of talk stations, regardless of orientation. This helps pay the bills, so you can enjoy your favorite programming the rest of the time. Besides, talk stations tend to have considerably lower listeners on the weekends than on weekdays.

[gasperc]

4. I want my AAR

I'll support it no matter what, well unless they pick up Glenn Beck's show or something then I'll shoot myself, fatally

AAR has to do what it needs to do to survive. I'd rather they keep Mike on and syndicate it like they do some of their other shows. Let each market chose who plays better for them. We as progressives need AAR to thrive, let's critisize them when they screw up but keep giving them our support

[Benfea]

6. Frankly, I view the changes as positive.

There will be aspects of Mike Malloy's show that I will miss, but there are many more aspects that I won't be missing. Whether he stays or goes won't really affect how much I listen to or don't listen to AAR one way or the other.

I know that sentiment will rub many people the wrong way, and I apologize for having an opinion that differs from yours.

I know Mike and Kathy read these forums, and in case either of you happen to read this post, I wish the both of you the best of luck in whatever you do next. You guys live right in the belly of the beast and it's good to know that someone is down there fighting the good fight.

However, the other things I've heard about the new AAR lineup really have me excited. The biggest change that makes me happy is moving Sam Seder to the more prominent 9-noon time slot. For starters, I like Sam Seder and I'm happy for him, but mostly I'm happy that he will be dislodging Jerry Springer from that time slot. Every morning I have to turn off AAR when Springer comes on, and I often forget to turn it back on right when Franken comes on. I was really angry when Springer came on and Marc Maron was let go. Now Springer will have to move to early mornings or late evenings, or (dare I hope) removed altogether.

Rachel, as I understand, is moving to the evening. This is great as I often miss her show due to the hour it's on (I'm generally asleep or on the train).

Best of all, there are rumors about Maron possibly returning to AAR. I absolutely loved his show when it was on, and I sincerely hope these rumors turn out to be true!

I'm really excited about many of these changes!

[wryter2000]

13. Sam

Of course, I won't get Sam on the radio in SF. I'll have to stream. I love Sam!

[Blue Belle]

18. I'm excited about them too...

I'd love to see them dislodge Ed Schultz so that Randi could run in her normal time slot here in Portland (and I wouldn't have to hear him), but I'm glad they're moving Rachel to a time when I can listen to her. I can understand why some listeners are upset with the firing of Malloy - I never got into that show, but I would be just as livid if they fired Randi. I'll keep supporting Air America... their station, along with the DU, are the only things that keep me sane.

[Benfea]

20. Ugh. They have Ed on in Chicago too.

Thankfully, the Chicago station is too weak for me to pick up, so I mostly listen either to the Internet feed or XM satellite radio, either of which lets avoid Ed entirely.

[Blue Belle]

21. I listen via internet feed when I'm at home...

but if I'm in the car from noon to three, I'm stuck with listening to Ed. :eyes:

[LSK]

8. i will continue to listen to Randi and Sam occasionally

But I am open to other media too. I hope headon radio can get bigger.

[rockymountaindem]

15. I'm with you as well

I don't listen much, because I prefer music in the car, but I was listening to the Boulder AAR station this morning for a change. They had a good local host, Jay Marvin, doing his morning show. He's a good liberal, a good host and he was strenuously promoting the Dems this morning along with most of his callers. I'm not going to throw up my hands and quit, besides I don't like Malloy's style anyway.

[LaPera]

16. Well hang in there gn the petition, do both!

http://www.petitiononline.com/Malloy/petition-sign.html?

[Quiet_Dem_Mom]

17. I'm keeping my premium subscription.

I really enjoy Mike's show and gave AAR a piece of my mind, for whatever that will be worth. But, there are other really good shows on AAR (go Rachel!) that are worth supporting. Besides, what else would keep me entertained while I'm in my itty-bitty cubicle?!

I hope it all works in Mike's favor and he is back on the air/Internets soon. With the elections on the horizon, we need all the strong left-of-center voices we can get!

QDM

[muesa]

19. 100% agreement

Make that 110% agreement

[B Calm]

22. AAR cut me off when they fired Malloy!

[bdamomma]

23. I'm listening to Sam, we may have our differences right now with the suits

but I want to support Sam.

[grateful581]

24. I will not give up on Air America Radio

But in response to the way they fired Mike, I canceled my Air America Premium subscription.

I need my Air America Radio Xm 167.
It keeps me sane while living here in Utah