Air America Declaring Bankruptcy

Meh, I never really listened to it to begin with. I don't really want someone to reinforce what I already think, which is what most political talk radio seems to do for people anyway.

At least it gave us Rachel Maddow. Given she's pretty much the only person in the MSM that both generates and showcases critical analysis of the political developments of the day, that's a pretty big boon.

I wondered why Ron Reagan was a rerun this afternoon.

I listen for five minute bursts once a month or so. Political outrage is exhausting. To listen any more might facilitate my transformation into a corner yeller, or to a lesser degree, the guy everyone at the party agrees with but wishes would just shut up so they can have fun.

This is true. Maddow's fantastic, and is one of the only people I really pay attention to (though I've been awful about tuning in since the election came and went).

This is a big can of worms. The radio industry is hugely monopolized. I listen to lefty radio but only through the grace of a Frankenstein monster of bad AM signals + Sirius (which I pay for) + individual streaming internet sites. Drive around the country and all you hear is right wing talk, and most of those stations are owned by a small number of big corporations. If one of these stations hires a lefty talker they put him/her on the weakest signal they own. That's the reality, folks.

I never listened to Air America because i could never find a way to do it.

This is a case of competition being shut down by monopolies.

The fact that lefty shows like Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, Mike Malloy etc always beat the right wingers when listeners have a choice does not ever figure into the business decisions of these corporations.

First of all, God bless NPR.

It this true?

Agree.

As far as I know.

The radio industry is so incredibly opaque; it's almost impossible to know what's real and what's hype, but when I first started listening to Thom Hartmann, I spent a whole day googling trying to find out and the facts appear to support it. Right now, Thom Hartmann is the only person that the trade magazine Talkers put on their influential list but they are so secretive about how they come up with their data it's impossible to tell.

You know what'd be a good show for you, YT? Coast to Coast AM.

Right Wing Radio hosts try to entertain their audiences

Left Wing Radio hosts try to bore their audience to death

I tried to listen to Al Franken when he was on..Jesus wept that guy was dull. I could not believe he was present for the hey day of SNL.

jvc, that's not exactly scientific or precise, doesn't take into consideration the reach of the signals of those stations or ownership and doesn't include the most popular shows. It also doesn't compare the ratings of the individual shows either.

They’re the only numbers that matter, though, as advertising dollars are spent on actual ratings. I mean, I understand your argument here intellectually, but it’s like when people bring up DVR ratings, or internet streaming. Advertisers want to know how many people they’ll actually reach in a controlled environment, not how many they’d reach in some abstract model where “level” competition is the only competition that matters.

You have no idea how excited I was when I heard Al Franken was getting a radio show. This was around the time I became a political junkie and listened to his two books ("Lying Liars" and "The Truth: With Jokes") so I was thinking this would be great. The same sharp wit and wonkiness everyday. It's Christmas. Then I hear his show and like you said, he was dull. Never listened to his show again.

The same goes for Janene Garafallo. On paper, it seemed like a slam dunk. She was a comedienne so I figured she'd be fun to listen to. Wrong again. Instead of funny, she was whiny and self righteous. Same thing with Rhandi Rhodes and Sam Seder. There's only so much of that one can take.

Oh well, let the right wing have AM radio. It's fitting.

Well, for what it's worth, I never listened to Air America, but from what I hear it has been mismanaged from the beginning.

There are still vibrant and thriving non-right-wing shows to listen to. I'm going to make lemonade and list what I like:

(All times are Pacific)

7-9 & throughout the day: Diane Rehm -- amazing interviewer, easily the best interviewer on the radio, with fascinating guests. I listen to her on both Sirius and directly through the WAMU website.

9-12 Thom Hartmann -- this is my only must-listen show on the air., no matter what party you align yourself with (he debates conservatives almost every day). Thom is brilliant, funny and an American hero. Every Friday from 9-10 he has Sen. Bernie Sanders on to take calls from listeners, which gives pretty singular insight into what's going on in the Senate from the perspective of an Independent, great Senator. I listen either on Sirius (which turns him off after one hour for the un-listenable Lynn Samuels, unfortunately), or on his streaming video here, or on KTLK either at AM 1150 in L.A. or at its website here.

2-5 Make it Plain with Matsimela Mapfumo (Mark Thompson) -- this is a lefty show with an African American persective. This is my second favorite show on the air and a strong recommend. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's any way to listen to him except on Sirius Left, but Mark's awesome, funny, smart and cool.

Honorable mention:

6-9 Mike Malloy, who is on Sirius and KTLK., is hilarious. He's totally angry all the time. I like to listen to his show when I'm extremely pissed off about something or other.

12-3 Randi Rhodes -- She is on KTLK. I used to listen to her a lot more than I do now, really smart and informed.

12-3 Ed Schultz -- I don't really listen to him that much but he seems cool enough. What I do like when I listen to him is that he has on labor leaders, who I think are extremely important in our tenuous democracy. He's on Sirius.

Didn't they have a live internet stream?

A lot of those shows are pretty horrible, I can't stand Ed Schultz, and I'm really against Satellite Radio. That's why I canceled my XM subscription and switched to podcasts in the end.

If it did I think it was subscription based and I'm such a cheapskate I can't commit dollars until I know what I'm getting. I got Sirius for Stern; Sirius Left was a nice surprise.

What shows are horrible? I can understand not listening to Ed Schultz because you have to have a taste for that style, but I'm curious what else you think is horrible?

Also: Why are you against satellite radio?

Really should have just trashed Schultz (I just don't like his show nor his TV one), I'm not too familiar with most of those (as I don't have Sirrus) although I think I've listened to Rodhes and just wasn't memorable enough for me.

I think Satellite radio is worth no more than $5 a month for the value it brings to be quite honest. I just think it is overpriced, and I'm happier with a mix of NPR + podcasts. Once I had an ipod/mp3 player, podcast are a much better outlet for niche topics discussed at their own pace.

I think this is true for a lot of people on the left, which is why this is happening in the first place.

I'd say you have to have a certain degree of "the converted" to listen to Mike Malloy but it's patently untrue about Thom Hartmann, Diane Rehm and Mark Thompson. It's not the same as right wing radio.

That's the one thing I did like about the Air America people. They would make a special effort to get the Republicans on the air who are ready to try out the talking points they just got from Rush on a live subject. It's pretty amusing to see them shot down one by one.

You would never see that on Right Wing radio. Especially Rush who hasn't debated a real liberal since subbing for Pat Sajack back in the 80's.

I've heard nothing but bad things about Air America's business saavy so I'm really not surprised about this.

Aah, Y.T., a man after my own heart.

I love Thom Hartmann. Listening to him is like taking a really fun social studies/geo political/government course. Although I like how he invites guests of opposing views on and debates them, sometimes I have to tune out the Ayn Rand Instutute guy and other repeaters. But Higgins the Cat stories are always fun.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoys Mike Malloy's tirades. He had me from the the first time I heard "Bush Crime Family", "The Pig Man" (Rush Limbaugh), and "Crazy Eyes" MIchelle Malkin. I'll tune in when I'm angry but end up cracking up when I hear his rants. I like the way he takes on both the left and the right. The only problem is that KTLK preempts him a lot for stupid LA Kings Hockey (f_ck you, Nick Nickson). Don't we already have an all sports station for that?

Randi Rhodes is a lot better than she used to be, especially now that she's getting laid on a regular basis (by The Howard). I like the way she uses right wing callers' ignorance against them. Her coverage of the Tea Party marches was amazing. But she can definitely be grating after awhile.

Ed Schultz used to have Randi Rhodes slot on KTLK but I don't know what happened. My father is an avid watcher of his TV show though.

I also like Ron Reagan and hope his show gets picked up by another company.

I've never heard of Diane Rehm or Matsimela Mapfumo but will check them out based on your recommendation, Y.T. I don't have Sirius so I'll try to find them online.

BTW, another entertaining talker is local ex rocker Johnny Wendel. He's on 4 - 6 PM on KTLK -- when not being pre empted by football.

Whatever happened to Art Bell? I know he's not political, but I caught him at the tail end of his run and caught some clips on YouTube (before they were taken down) and boy was he entertaining.

The show is still on the air although Art Bell has retired (I think he lives in The Philippines now). Still a good show though.

Fixed for you. Seriously.

Kreeper, agree. But I've never heard Johnny Wendel and don't really listen to Ron Reagan. But I adore Thom Hartmann. I'm not sure if Matsimela Mapfumo has an online podcast, but the Diane Rehm show is on throughout the day at WAMU. She's out for about a week right now, though, so wait till next week when she's back.

Thx, JudgeSmails.

History Buff, I like the UFOs, but I could never seem to turn on the radio at the right time to listen to Art Bell, and I'm behind the times on podcasts and stuff.

Hahaha I caught a little bit of the Glenn Beck show last week while driving around town. The most entertaining part of his show was the choice of sponsors:

A Dentist who assured me the listener that he sees plenty of people who haven't been to a dentist in 5-10+ years, and that he sedates all his patients while doing checkups/surgeries/whatever

A representative of the New York Mint (?!) who was selling "Buffalo Dollar" Gold Coins. Ya see, the Feds had confiscated most of these coins in the 1930's but recently someone in Europe found a hidden cache of these coins! Now you too can own real live Gold!

This must be one hell of a cache: I've heard this same commercial for years

Numerous services that not only would eliminate all your debt (no matter how large) within 6 months, but would place you on the path to WEALTH!

Here in L.A. Ron Regan's afternoon drivetime show has been replaced by some some guy who talks finance. That really sucks, I loved Ron's show. So sorry to see it go.

Art still does occasional guest spots and specials. I happened to have a rare late night out a couple of weeks ago, and they were re-running the New Year's Eve show from this year and he was hosting.