Why no Air America in Washington, DC?

[Tarheelhombre]

I would think we would get it first.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. i dunno, but i wish it'd get here!

[KharmaTrain]

2. Station Availability

Air America has to find a station in the market that is willing to sell it airtime 24/7...and at a reasonable price. Broadcast frequencies are limited...especially on the east coast where so many cities and metros run together.

Hopefully soon if the ratings in Portland & Miami continue to look good.

[soothsayer]

3. Saw these posts on a local DC tv radio website in their "mailbag"

www.dcrtv.net

"I have a hard time believing that Air America Radio said it didn't NEED an outlet in the DC market." -- Trust me, I was on the call, trying to sell them. They emphatically stated they felt they did not "need" DC - their term, not mine. (7/30/04)

Other post:

Air America said it didn't "NEED" a DC area outlet? Then why did they offer the sun, the moon, the stars and the kitchen sink to 4 (four) stations in the area in an attempt to broker the time? From a daytimer in Annapolis to a heritage full-time AM in Hagerstown, I have personal, first-hand knowledge that they were laughed out the door more than once when they tried the smoke & mirrors financial statement trick. If you don't clear at least 45 stations with legit affiliate agreements (no brokered time or LMA agreements) then you should consider yourself a minor league, third tier syndicated effort. Ad agencies and other potential sponsors also look much harder now at the "rimshot" or "move-in" signals that syndicators list as being a part of a major DMA/ADI, so Air America can't continue under the current business model if they're going to be successful. I don't agree with their politics, and some of their programming ideas are amateurish, but I think that idelogical competition is a good thing for the marketplace and would like to see them make an impact without resorting to the bullshit slight of hand & obfuscation of the real story behind their struggles. (7/30/04)

[BlueEyedSon]

4. Sirius, streaming.... and, as a last resort, XM

[demnan]

5. Yeah

considering everything on the radio here is shit.

[michigandem2]

6. wish we could get it on the radio here..

I know satelite and I know we cna get it online but those are not always feasible...MEANING I can't clean my house and listen I have to be sitting at my computer for hours...which sucks...so hopefully someday they can provide to us too!

[LTR]

7. I've heard rumors about Clear Channel putting it on there

Saw it on a radio board a few weeks back. The station in question is WTNT (570), which currently airs retreads like Hannity, Imus and Beck. And their ratings are horrible.

So far, CC is rumored to be considering their 'progressive talk' format (consisting of AAR and Ed Schultz) for a few stations, including Chicago (1690) and L.A. (570). After the success in Portland, they put it on in Miami.

Clear Channel is obviously a Republican company, and a particularly vile one at that. But they are well known for experimenting with offbeat format ideas ('Real Oldies', 'Jammin' Oldies', etc.). They also like to shove their own homegrown shows down everyone's throats (Glen Beck, Bob and Tom, etc.). If this 'progressive talk' thing they have going on gets bigger, I'm sure they're gonna shake up a lot of their underperforming stations.

Stay tuned.

[michigandem2]

8. a Clear Channel station here plays

Thom Hartman for 2 hours a day..which I can get at work and that is a nice breath of fresh air..

BEFORE his show though there is a little message "the opinions and views expressed in this program are not that of Clear Channel--" he is on against Rush another Clear channel station but there is no message before his show...hmmm go figure

[chuck555]

9. Why?

Is d.c. special? Mark Levine is on there,check it out.

[spooky3]

10. not special, just a bigger audience here than most places, and the market

realities are what they are.