Skip to main contentLess than 72 hours after Air America, the national, New York-based "progressive talk" radio network, debuted in Portland and five other cities last week, Lars Larson's manhood came up.
A Portland caller mentioned the Rose City's voluble right-wing radio star. Randi Rhodes, Air America's afternoon host, pounced, waxing Freudian about the KXL host's well-known penchant for packing heat.
"He must have no penis," Rhodes said in glass-cutting Brooklynese. "I can't smoke in this building, and he's gotta carry a gun?"
Whoop, there it is. Air America promised that kind of fire, the better to scorch the right's near-monopoly on the AM dial. The question is, did Lars (or anyone else) feel the heat?
The network's launch didn't lack for attention. Flagship host Al Franken landed a New York Times Magazine cover story. Media critics eagerly scrutinized AA's fatwa against the Limbaugh-O'Reilly-Hannity fraternity, in which Larson is a pledge. But with just six obscure AM stations around the country--including Portland's KPOJ 620, a former oldies outlet owned by Bush-loving Clear Channel--Air America amounted to more of a guerrilla raid than a frontal assault.
And that might prove a blessing. Franken may be a Saturday Night Live alum, but his network isn't entirely ready for prime time.
In fact, The O'Franken Factor is the weak link in AA's chain of a half-dozen shows. Sadly for a show fronted by a comic, the Factor is about as funny as its name, a one-trick jab at Bill O'Reilly. Franken is surprisingly butter-fingered. He digresses, stumbles and chuckles at his own jokes. Co-host Katherine Lanpher, a radio pro, labors to keep Al on track--kind of important, given the A-list guests. Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, 9/11 whistleblower Richard Clarke, Paul Krugman and Joe Biden hit the Factor's first days. Impressive pull--but will it last if Franken can't pull it together?
Air America's kinks don't end with O'Franken. The network's promo spots--"...providing clarity and common sense in the face of right-wing blah blah blah..."--sound like John Kerry at his least concise. Some shows exude the hummus-eating earnestness of NPR. Janeane Garofalo lived the fantasies of millions by screaming at Ralph Nader until he hung up on her. But what, pray tell, was the point?
On the plus side, Rhodes is sharp and brassy and, as Larson found out, comes loaded for boar. Ironically, though, KPOJ's best show is probably its only one not produced by Air America. Ed Schultz's syndicated blitz out of North Dakota is funny, rednecked and uncompromising--it actually sounds like something that could give Rush a run for his OxyContin money.
And speaking of money...Air America's bosses say they expect to lose $30 million in the next few years. Given an ad rotation now heavy with New York City theater companies, they're probably off to a good start. Locally, KPOJ vice president Tony Coles says advertisers seem excited, but that it's far too early to predict success.
Portland is a solid blue blot on the electoral map, so Air America may find a receptive audience. But for now, AM radio seems likely to remain the Republican Pravda.
Then again, people once laughed at Fox.
WWeek 2015