Advertise to "liberals" in Santa Cruz... real, real cheap.

Since becoming an Air America affiliate, Santa Cruz' KOMY 1430 AM has hit a minor snag in the road to spreading the truth: no one wants to buy ads.

...It's so slow, station owner Michael Zwerling went on the air recently with an ad of his own threatening the future of progressive shows on KOMY.

"For liberal programming to continue ... you need to support it," his ad said.

Zwerling said his ad was designed to "get in people's face" and remind listeners that radio is a commercial business, and if ad space is available, they need to know about it.

"You can't be coy in this business," said Zwerling, who shifted his personal politics right of center in the 1970s when faced with the burdens of government bureaucracy while building a house in Santa Cruz. "You have to spell it out, especially in Santa Cruz where everybody thinks they deserve everything."

There oughta be a law mandating that businesses must support their local radio stations. The businesses would be required to keep a log of the political preferences of their customers. Then, they'd have to buy advertising according to the percentages of conservatives and of liberals.

If Barbara Boxer or Nancy Pelosi can't get that through, perhaps George Soros would step up to the plate.

UPDATE: It appears that Rush Limbaugh has entered the fray. His ads on their sister station are sold out, but he's offered the following advice to the AAR station:

"What you need to do if you want financial support, you need to go get funding," he continued. "You need to ask for donations from people. Probably the best way to support Air America in this market since its advertisers won't is to find a local Boys and Girls Club, and tell that Boys and Girls Club that you need an operating loan for some unrelated purpose... Normally, people give money to the Boys and Girls Club, but liberal radio has found a way to extract money from the Boys and Girls Clubs... I think this is the lesson for all of you who wish to show some sort of financial revenue income by carrying liberal radio. You have to orient yourself to fund-raising, not commerce. Commerce has never been part of the recipe here. ... This guy has made a terrible blunder. He thought liberal radio was about commerce and dollars and business and selling advertising, and that's not what it's about. ... You are doing something good for the cause."

Posted in Meta at September 13, 2005 06:03 AM

Comments

Who would waste advertising $$$$'s pitching their products to a couple of hippies?

Posted by: Randi Sucks at September 13, 2005 09:13 AM

How many headshops are in Santa Cruz?

Posted by: Scott at September 13, 2005 09:47 PM