Al Franken agrees to no salary

[cal04]

In a sign that the privately held company's financial woes have not fully abated, Al Franken, the network's best-known star, said in an interview last week that he had agreed not to draw a salary, however temporarily, making him "an involuntary investor.''

"We had some bad management,'' Mr. Franken said. "Then we got some good management.''Despite the intrigue concerning its management - and the abrupt pulling of its programming last month from stations in Chicago and Los Angeles, in a contract dispute - there are early indications that, where it can be heard, Air America is actually drawing listeners. WLIB-AM in New York City, one of 13 stations that carry at least part of Air America's 16 hours of original programming each day, even appears to be holding its own with WABC-AM, the New York City station and talk radio powerhouse that is Mr. Limbaugh's flagship.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/business/media/31air.html?ex=1086580800&en=707bcb9a3dc0e5f9&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1. I can hear O'Reilly already...

..."Stewart Smalley is getting paid what he deserves"...

O'Reilly will HAVE to comment on this one. He won't be able to keep it inside.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. O'Reilly is not that witty.

*

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

3. I think O'Reilly commenting on this could go both ways

I mean look how dedicated Franken is....he does it for NO PAY?

Let's see O'Lielly show that level of selflessness and dedication...

HA!

[NJCher]

5. is it no pay ?

Or is what he'd have gotten in salary being translated into stock, similar to what many dot.coms in the boom did?

If I had Franken's financial wherewithal, I'd go for that deal in a heartbeat. The network shows a lot of promise.\


Cher

[Eric J in MN]

8. deleted

nt

[DieboldMustDie]

20. Since Franken's ratings in New York are higher than Limbaugh's...

apparently he deserves quite a lot.   Hopefully it will all work out long term.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Good For Al...But For How Long?

I guess it's time to break this one into the open. Word had been among some AAR financial supporters that they weren't too happy with Franken. I suggest a lot of it was ego and not based on anything he did on the air.

There were those who have been critical that Franken has been using AAR as another PR gimmick; getting lots of free TV time in the days running up to the start of the network (and the network getting much need promotion in return) and something to keep him in the public eye between his books and other ventures. In specific, some were concerned that his thoughts about running for the Senate from Minnesota would mean he'd be dump doing the show to go for this next prize.

I hope this helps the network stay solvent...he and the others need to stay going for at least another 2 months or so for the entire Spring ratings period to play out so those NYC numbers can be used more effectively. But then I'm looking at this from a radio/business perspective and have been flamed here in the past for posting in such a manner, and that, unfortunatly, that's one major problem AAR still has going.

[NightTrain]

6. I've worked in commercial radio myself.

As such, I ain't gonna flame ya! :hi:

[KharmaTrain]

16. Thanks...and hope you still have your sanity...

I think you understand one trend is not a book...or how goofy this business is.

Personally, I'd love to see AAR or an AAR hit it big, and I think if done properly, a "liberal" or "progressive" network could do quite nicely. But, we'll leave those discussions for another time and place.

Cheers :hi:

[robbedvoter]

24. Yous love is oozing in every post where you agree with every critic

and done black after every lie about AAR...

[Eric J in MN]

7. The Senate race against Norm Coleman (R-MN) isn't until 2008. nt

nt

[KharmaTrain]

14. I thought 2006...methinks others did as well

I know Dayton comes up for re-election, and I sure hope he gets another 6 years and then Coleman gets what he deserves...the slime!

I cited the Franken thing since it had been mentioned on radio boards and other places that will work their way to ad buyers and others who have spastic colons and short attention spans. Unfortunately, these are the people AAR needs to survive.

[Eric J in MN]

17. I'll be very surprised if Dayton is defeated in 2006.

Dayton has a moderate style, but he voted against the "Iraq War Resolution" and he's a cosponsor of "The Voter Confidence Act," (against black box voting) so I think he has the moderate and liberal bases covered.

[NYCGirl]

9. He won't be running in Minnesota until 2008...

he's already said. That should give him enough time to build a following for AAR.

[robbedvoter]

23. I knew your poison was coming. Here's a REAL insider for ya (progressive)

LowerManhattanite (67 posts) Tue May-25-04 10:56 PM
Response to Reply #93
106. I work for WBAI-FM (Pacifica) in NY...Edited on Tue May-25-04 11:11 PM by LowerManhattanite
...and previously for Inner City Broadcasting ( ICBC-the license holder for the WLIB 1190 AM/WBLS 107.5 FM frequencies), so I feel I can speak on this with a certain level of authority...
Air America is fine. The payroll issue is a long-standing one with ICBC. Air America is run out of the old 33rd ICBC/ WLIB floor studios which were heavily renovated (by broadcast engineer friends of mine). They went from analog with a few CD players to a full digital format using NO tape. This quick switch (done in a span of three weeks--amazingly fast!) took place with almost NO shakedown/test-run of the equipment. Thus, the occasionally choppy air sound. They lost a major sponsor in GM when a vendetta-addled former editor-now columnist for the Daily News named Michael Goodwin mounted an immediate campaign against the network. (He won a Pulitzer while editor for his vendetta against the one-time Inner City Broadcasting-owned Apollo Theater and it's management---yes...he has a bug up his ass about the African-American Sutton family that owns AAr's flagship frequency)
He personally called GM's ad sellers and complained about Randi's comparison of the Bush family to the Corleones and her direct comparison of W to the dim Fredo. GM blinked and yanked the account, biting into the direct revenue stream--thus the payroll hiccup.
They have secured other investors which have been named---and some prominent ones who have NOT been named. Money isn't the problem. Ad sales are. And those problems have abated considerably. Various pharmaceutical companies have recently signed on, nearly ALL of the free Ad Council ads are gone and believe it or not two of the newest advertisers to sign on are Shell Petroleum and...wait for it...Sam's Club AKA Wal-Mart. Ford stepped into the breach for GM based on the web stream numbers. Marketers can tell a lot about a target market that has computers or daily access to them where they can be listened to (white-collar jobs translates into people with money). As to the ratings numbers, they mean what they say. In the most desired demographic, Limbaugh got beat by a two-month old baby upstart in the biggest media market. That covers New York, New Jersey and Connecticut---a listener base of nearly 12 million people and in the city of the lionized-for-no-good-reason repug Giuliani, the present mayorlty of the trollish repug Bloomberg and the smirking three-term GOP governor Pataki. How does this affect the competition?
Here's how. AAR's direct competition namely the NPR affilliates WNYC/WNYE and my present employer WBAI-FM are scared sh*tless. We have been from the moment AAR announced it's impending existence. These are the progressive stations in the NY area and from the moment of the announcement we all knew that fund-raising was gonna take a massive blow to the head. If those listeners are listening to AAR (and unfortunately, they are), that means they're not listening when we have fund drives---which translates into diminished revenue. The vast bulk of public radio listeners don't pay in anyway, so any slip in the audience means a loss of potential wallets. And the audience has slipped. (In addition to the loss of a lot of behind the scenes local talent AAR has hired away)
Sorry to ramble, but as something of an insider, I felt I could tell you a bit more than you're hearing via the rumor mill and freeper-provacateurs. The station isn't perfect, but it's doing better and is on a serious upswing. Watch soon for the weekend gaps to be filled with new programming in lieu of the repeats. The recent ratings are excellent--proof of the pudding? The sad faces here at WBAI and at WNYC and in the invite of Franken to speak at the influential "Talkers" conference.
Thanks for reading,
LM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1664394&mesg_id=1667009&page=

[rocktivity]

26. "In the most desired demographic,

Limbaugh got beat by a two-month old baby upstart in the biggest media market. That covers New York, New Jersey and Connecticut---a listener base of nearly 12 million people...

I'm delighted to report that I was able to pick up WLIB on my car radio on my drip to the central Jersey shore yesterday!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Eloriel]

27. Oh, that was BEAUTIFUL, music to my ears. Thanks.

I LOVE AAR (not Randi, tho). I really, really want to see it succeed. I'm thrilled with its progress and was blown away by the versus Limbaugh ratings. Amazing, just amazing.

[Eric J in MN]

10. Apparently Rush Limbaugh is on 600 stations, and Al Franken

Apparently Rush Limbaugh is on 600 stations, and Al Franken is on 13 stations.

[K-W]

12. Of course. Limbaugh is a heavily syndicated host.

Franken has a show that has just went through its first ever ratings and only airs on one network.

They arent aiming to compete with Limbaugh nationally, just in some markets and to create an audience for liberal radio.

[K-W]

11. I read this as a good sign.

Not so much in the money dept, but that their top guy is showing that he is clearly committed to making things work. It seems it was inevitable that the original setup of Air America could not sustain itself. Now hopefully a core group can stick out the bumps and carry on.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

13. Here's what our pals the Freepers are saying, shall we boys and girls?

...in response to the same NYT story.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1144984/posts

posted on 05/30/2004 8:38:53 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
"Air America will no longer be useful to Soros and Co. the day after the election. That's when the plug gets pulled."

posted on 05/30/2004 8:51:35 PM PDT by Ichneumon
"Let's see... Ragtag group of liberal idealists try to start a business with severe personality clashes, lack of relevant experience, and lies about how much capital they actually have to operate, under the belief that wishing hard enough might be all it takes to bypass the realities of the world, resulting in an implosion that the endeavor may or may not survive...Yeah, that's about typical. And *these* are the folks who think they know best how to run the government, *and* micromanage your lives with rules, regulations, and taxing you to death so that they can spend your money more "wisely" than you yourself can..."

posted on 05/30/2004 8:57:38 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion: The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
"Shhhhh! We want those rich limousine liberals throwing their money down a RAT-HOLE!! Sounds like there was some LYING goin on with those financial numbers....oh, they are Democrats...of course they lie!

posted on 05/30/2004 9:43:16 PM PDT by ladyinred (The leftist media is the enemy within.)
"ROTFL! Of course the media would make excuses for them! They are just going to make it because liberals do not listen to talk radio! They might miss a gangsta rap song, or American Idol or Survivor or something!

:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[Eric J in MN]

15. Most new businesses lose money, including new tv/radio networks.

Fox News lost money for the first few years.

MSNBC is still losing money.

UPN is still losing money.

I'm confident I'll be able to listen to Air America at least through November.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

18. Remember "cdnow.com?"

...I did a proposal for an e-commerce web site for a local CD store. I spoke with Valley Distribution, who supplied the store (and, coincidentally, cdnow). Their advice? Don't do it, cdnow is losing their shirts. All of the "sale" and "discount new release" CDs were intended to lure you into buying the full-priced "back catalog" stuff.

So after being millions of dollars in the hole (according to Valley) cdnow.com sort of got absorbed into Amazon and ceased to exist.

But it's more convenient for the freepers to say that a struggling radio station is proof that Kerry is not fit to lead.

:silly: :crazy: :silly: :crazy: :silly: :crazy: :silly:

[Lou_C]

19. We need to support the advertisers

Do they have a list of advertisers for Air America?

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. Thanks, Al. You are such a mensch! :^D

[robbedvoter]

22. Also discussed here - NYT avoiding Randi's name like plague

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1694439

And if you are going to praise Franken, she has done the same at one point ("those of us who had some, did forego payment). She also lobbied hard for the creation of this station and served as counter-argument to "there's no market for liberal views" - as she was creaming Rush in Florida. I wonder why Arbitron didn't release the rush hour numbers?

[Eric J in MN]

25. in late July, the complete ratings should be available (nt)

nt