Liberal talk radio
Let's take a look back and see what finally gave American liberals a chance to have their opinions heard on the radio. I think it's when Evan Montvel Cohen, a New York venture capitalist and media entrepreneur, announced that he was launching a brand new entertaining, liberal, political talk radio network in early spring 2004.
Gersende Rambourg discussed that highly anticipated radio network launch in her article titled “Upstart liberal radio seeks toehold in conservative territory” in the Agence France Presse on March 31, 2004:
Right-wing radio talk-show hosts have long been the scourge of liberal America, with a dominant presence on the nation's airwaves.
But a group of entrepreneurs with deep pockets, a line-up of liberal media stars and distribution in key markets is hoping to balance the mix with the launch of a new left-leaning radio network.
Air America will take to the airwaves Wednesday in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, providing a liberal take on issues of the day with 17 hours of original programming most days.
"There's no liberal echo chamber in this country," said Al Franken, a well-known comedian and satirist who will anchor the network's lunchtime show. "There's a right-wing echo chamber. I want to create a countervailing echo chamber."
Franken, who like many American comedians honed his skills on the popular US satirical show "Saturday Night Live," is calling his show "The O'Franken Factor," in a nod to a "The O'Reilly Factor," a Fox News Channel show hosted by Bill O'Reilly, with whom Franken has clashed in the past.
Fox sued Franken and his publisher last year over Franken's book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," arguing that the use of a photograph of O'Reilly on the cover and the words "fair and balanced" infringed on Fox trademarks.
The suit was dismissed, but not before generating an enormous amount of publicity for the book.
Franken is promising to tackle the giants of talk radio like Rush Limbaugh head on, perhaps hoping for a kind of air war that could win the network much-needed media exposure if not ratings.
"In the early days, the network needs all the media exposure it can get," said Tom Taylor, editor of the industry newsletter, Inside Radio, who predicted the network would "debut with small ratings and even smaller revenues." They have a gargantuan task ahead of them," he said.
Some critics go even further. "The idea is a noble one but is doomed to fail," said Phil Boyce, program director for WABC in New York and for the "Sean Hannity Show," which is broadcast on about 400 stations.
Hannity, Limbaugh and dozens of other conservatives on the air fill a void for Republicans, Boyce said. "One of the reasons that talk radio succeeds is that the audience sees it as an alternative to the liberal media," he said.
Air America chief executive Mark Walsh, however, is convinced he can build "an important new media franchise," and he's willing to spend 30 million dollars to do it. "We feel that there are listeners out there begging for entertainment, comedy and information that varies and is more robust than that which is available today," Walsh said in a recent conference call with reporters. "Liberals buy cars and buy beer and consume products in America too."
Walsh and his co-investors have lined up some well-known names -- comedian Janeane Garofalo, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's Iraq war, rapper Chuck D and environmental activist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The networks investors -- Walsh, Evan Cohen, the network's chairman, and RealNetworks chief executive Rob Glaser -- don't expect to break even for several years, but they are willing to sustain those losses in order to build a "quality audience" of adults from 25 to 54 years old to attract advertisers.
"The right has had the microphone too long. I'm not criticizing them -- I'm envious," he said.
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