The Failure of 'Progressive' Media

If conventional wisdom were correct, one would believe that America is shifting to the left out of disgust over the job being done by President Bush and Republicans in Congress. That should mean that fewer people would be attracted to Conservative talk radio and other media, right? That should mean that networks like Air America should be beating the pants off of personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, right? Wrong.

Where are all the Liberals?

VIA Drudge: Left-leaning new media has hit turbulence at the marketplace, newly released stats show.

A book hyped by major media as documenting a progressive revolution of "blogs" and political power, DAILY KOS 'CRASHING THE GATE,' has sold only 3,630 copies since its release last month, according to NIELSEN's BOOKSCAN.

[NIELSEN claims only 2,062 copies of DAILY KOS have been purchased at the retail level; the rest coming through 'discount' outlets.]

Meanwhile, the just released radio Winter Book [Jan-Mar 2006] from ARBITRON shows AIR AMERICA in New York City losing more than a third of its audience -- in the past year!

Among all listeners 12+, it was a race to the bottom for AIR AMERICA and WLIB as mid-days went from a 1.6 share during winter 2005 to a 1.0 share winter 2006.

During PM drive, host Randi Rhodes plunged to 27,900 listeners every quarter hour, finishing 25th place in her time slot, down from 60,900 listeners every quarter hour in the fall.

A network source says the radio ratings released today do not reflect the overall growth of the broadcast.

"The demos are better, and listeners trust AIR AMERICA to give them the real truth on issues and the Bush presidency," says the insider.

Yet, the numbers just don’t pan out, do they? The fact is, the conversation in Liberal media isn’t interesting. I mean really – how long can one listen to someone do nothing but complain about how much they hate George W. Bush? After awhile, the listener begs to know what the Liberals will actually do if they return to power. That’s where the conversation ends, and the Bush bashing begins (again).

Kos claims (no surprise) that Drudge’s numbers aren’t on the up and up. What-ev-eh.