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March 31, 2005
Unfortunately, we don't get cable TV here at BoreAmerica HQ, so we were unable to watch the HBO documentary "Left of the Dial".
However, several DUmmies provide reviews here, and more links will be added as they become available.
UPDATE: See More "Left of the Dial" reviews.
Posted in Meta
at 09:01 PM
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From the Boston Globe's "Message received. A year after the launch of the Air America radio network, progressive talk is making progress":
It's morning drive time in Boston, and talk-show host Stephanie Miller is blasting away, criticizing the forces pushing to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube restored, mocking Fox News Channel pundit Bill O'Reilly, and attacking Senator Rick Santorum, the Pennsylvania Republican. A year after the left launched a major effort to combat Rush Limbaugh and conservative dominance of the airwaves, liberal talk is taking hold here and in scores of other cities.
While the big talk stations WRKO-AM (680) and WTKK-FM (96.9) remain strongholds of conservative voices, such left-of-center hosts as Miller, Ed Schultz, Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, and Janeane Garofalo are luring listeners to what is billed as ''Boston's new progressive talk radio network."
That network consists of two ratings-challenged stations -- Framingham's WKOX-AM (1200) and Medford's WXKS-AM (1430) -- that operate with sunrise-to-sundown licenses. But the mere fact that the network exists prompts analysts to deem the embryonic experiment in liberal talk a promising, if qualified, success...
The fall 2004 Arbitron numbers for listeners 12 and older showed the ''progressive talk radio network" lagging near the bottom but making notable progress over the numbers generated by previous formats...
Bear in mind they said "near the bottom". Air America is not "at the bottom". They're somewhere above it.
Posted in Meta
at 08:49 PM
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Both BoreAmerica.com and AirAmerica are one year old today. On behalf of this site, I'd like to thank Air America for the priceless entertainment they've provided us over the past year, and wish them many more.
Feel free to leave your birthday wishes in the comments.
Posted in Meta
at 10:37 AM
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March 30, 2005
MediaWeek reports:
Jerry Springer has signed on to become a part of the Air America Radio lineup, the liberal network announced Wednesday. Beginning April 1, Springer on the Radio will air 9 a.m. to noon, replacing Unfiltered, formerly co-hosted by Lizz Winstead, who mysteriously exited the network last month.
Signing with Air America will immediately give Springer clearance in an additional 45 markets, including New York. His show debuted in January on WCKY-AM, Clear Channel's Progressive Talk station in Cleveland. Clear Channel, which has been rolling out Progressive Talk stations across the country, also cleared Springer's show on stations Detroit, Miami and San Antonio...
All of us at Bore America are ecstatic about this news, as the joke that is Mike Malloy was wearing a bit thin. Jerry will be sure to give us new and entertaining material in the weeks to come. Look for posts about Jerry in the "PureClass" category we just made just for him.
Posted in PureClass
at 07:46 PM
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My dream involves Janeane ditching the blonde hair and getting a preppie makeover. Meanwhile back to Garofalo's dream:
Minutes before showtime on a Tuesday night, Janeane Garofalo slides into the studio carrying a microphone and a backpack stuffed with research. On the desk she lines up provisions: a can of supercaffeinated Red Bull, a can of diet Sunkist, an enormous bottle of water...
She goes on to jab "those red-state value voters" who are "really, really supportive of the rights of a globule of presentient cells" but whose state laws permitted capital punishment for juveniles. She takes a few shots at the president, whom she regularly labels a hypocrite and a liar. Just for variety, she assails actor and Bush supporter Ron Silver.
And that's just in the first 15 minutes...
Ka-ching!
Posted in Janeane
at 07:36 PM
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March 23, 2005
Member #17 has a report on the upcoming HBO documentary on Air America ("Left of the Dial") here:
...The main character, Evan Cohen, founding chairman and main investor, is depicted as a complete fraud.
The documentary shows Cohen arriving in the middle of night at AIR AMERICA offices to sign over the company and disappear again, but not before lying about how many ads have been sold and how much money is the bank [zero]...
It shows how AIR AMERICA executives lied and lied again about not bouncing checks to their Chicago and Los Angeles affiliate owners. [The network was quickly thrown off the stations.]
The film captures AIR AMERICA staff first learning about the Chicago and LA nightmare by reading a DRUDGE REPORT exclusive on their computers...
...[It] shows an angry meeting of the writing staff being told how money was deducted from their checks to pay for health care -- but the money was never paid to the HMO and they were never covered!
Host Janeane Garofalo looks suicidal in nearly ever scene which she appears...
But every drama must have a hero: Enter Randi Rhodes...
When she attempts to introduce herself to director Michael Moore [rushing out of a Franken Radio interview], Rhodes quickly realizes he does not even know who she is.
The heartbreaking scene is easily a frontrunner for this year's EMMYs...
Billboard reports:
Air America Radio president Jon Sinton told Billboard Radio Monitor "This documentary is a sanctioned event. Matt Drudge, notwithstanding, we’ve signed off on it. The filmmakers had access to us and it truly is a story of birth, death and resurrection. It's a very redemptive story. We’re not displeased with it at all..."
Posted in Meta
at 09:20 PM
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March 11, 2005
Air America is coming to Dallas and Austin. KOKE 1600 AM in Austin will start their broadcasts on Monday March 14, and KXEB 910 AM in Dallas (owned by Border Media Partners) will start the liberalism flowing on March 21. They're already on in Corpus Christi.
Austin, well, they should fit right in. However, in the case of Dallas they might have a bit of a problem even getting started. It's apparently a low-wattage, static-filled station. Story in "A Texas forum for Franken - albeit faint":
...Air America executives, who called the expansion in Texas the high point for the network, said Mr. Franken will find an audience, even in President Bush's home state.
"We're providing an alternative for a minority that feels alienated," CEO Danny Goldberg said...
"We don't lie. Rush lies all the time. ... He's ridiculous on so many levels," said Mr. Franken, who will be in Austin for his first show on KOKE-AM (1600).
Others aren't convinced that listeners will turn the radio dial to the left.
"You're in Bush country, you're a liberal, and you have a bad signal. That's a lot going against you," said Jeff Hillery, program director for KLIF-AM (570).
Posted in Meta
at 09:05 AM
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March 01, 2005
"'Progressive talk' could be on its way":
Liberals rejoice: Chicago finally could be getting a "progressive talk" radio station showcasing such prominent voices as Jerry Springer, Al Franken and Ed Schultz.
Nothing is official yet, but the bosses of an AM station in the market are shooting to launch the format by March 31 -- the one-year anniversary of Air America Radio's aborted attempt to bring its left-wing syndicated lineup to Chicago listeners...
Posted in Meta
at 11:46 AM
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FrontPageMag takes Lizz Winsted and Rachel Maddow to task for failing to disclose the ties between the Democratic Party and a petition they supported: "Radio Hypocrisy". The article describes the funding the organization that sponsored the petition receives and enumerates all the things Lizz and Rachel didn't tell their listeners.
Posted in Meta
at 11:43 AM
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Monitoring Air America Radio [TM] so you don't have to.
