Air America Can’t Even Pull Listeners In Santa Cruz
Pretty telling when liberal radio can’t even pull listeners in one of the most liberal cities in America.
SANTA CRUZ — Al Franken, Randi Rhodes and Sam Seeder — articulate liberal pundits — don’t sell well, even in Santa Cruz.
The trio are part of the nationally syndicated Air America, which was dropped from Santa Cruz radio station KOMY 1340 AM on Thursday and replaced with music from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
The left-leaning radio network, aimed at taking on Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk shows, debuted on Central Coast airwaves in July 2005, but local advertisers never bought in, station owner Michael Zwerling said.
“We didn’t sell a single ad in a year and a half,” Zwerling said Thursday. “I thought liberal radio would work as a viable advertising business in the most liberal town in America. I was wrong”
Santa Cruz isn’t the only place Air America has problems. The network is struggling nationwide and filed for bankruptcy four months ago.
What’s funny is that even the liberals in Santa Cruz seem to be listening to conservative talk radio given Rush Limbaugh’s numbers in the area:
Zwerling put Air America on the air as an alternative to the Limbaugh program, which plays on KOMY’s sister station KSCO 1080 AM every morning.
Limbaugh is a major moneymaker for the station, Zwerling said, and his show pulls the highest ratings of any program on KSCO or KOMY.
I think there’s probably a market out there for liberal radio, it’s just that the liberals who would fill it aren’t as crazy as Al Franken and Randi Rhodes.
