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Thom Hartmann to Replace Al Franken on rescued Air America Radio
By Rob Kall (about the author) Page 1 of 2 page(s)
For OpEdNews: Rob Kall - Writer
That set Thom Hartmann along a path-- envisioning, advocating Liberal talk radio, helping write the original business plan that became Air America Radio starting a program carried now for almost 4 years by Sirius Satellite Radio ... and now, he will, in just about two weeks, be taking over for Al Franken across the Air America Network, in the coveted noon to three EST Monday through Friday daily time slot.
Thom Hartmann is the Project Censored award winning, NY Times Best selling author of 18 books in print, as well as being a talk radio host with decades of experience.
Photo by Rob Kall
It won't be any change at all for listeners in Seattle, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids, Anchorage, Burlington, Santa Fe and a about 20 other cities where Hartmann has already been the show of choice, along with nationwide coverage on Sirius ..
But, with the acquisition of Air America Radio by a new buyer, presumably rescuing the network from bankruptcy, Hartmann will be reaching all of the 75-80 metro area radio stations that broadcast Air America Plus the stations Thom has been reaching through his own syndication..
Unlike Franken, who is primarily known as a comedian, Hartmann is known for encyclopedic knowledge, smart conversation, strong background audio content and entertaining repartee with the conservative guests he loves to bring on his show, where he almost always proceeds to eviscerate their arguments with facts and smart persuasion.
Air America Radio (AAR) appears to have made a very good business decision bringing Hartmann, who had already replaced Franken on a number of AAR stations. His Arbitron ratings have been up over over 100% over the last year in virtually every market he's entered.
Paul Fredricks, Operations manager for the local CBS 'Talk 1090' radio station waxed enthusiastically over Hartmann, who he replaced Franken with for the live radio slot nearly a year ago, saying,
He's done really well. He's been one of the anchors of our station as a whole. WE have a couple of good progressive voices on the air. And in some instances being number one, even beating Rush Limbaugh. THey (listeners) love how scholarly he is and they feel like they're going to college and enjoy his ability to draw on the history of the country pulling in the founding fathers
He's so well read and informed. He Not only keeps them up to date but also keeps them feeling like they are learning something.
Now, Thom is going to just explode on the scene. I think this is his day. To bring that in with Air America's 75 - 80 stations, he's going to shine.
Fredricks reports that in the Fall Arbitron ratings, Hartmann even beat Rush Limbaugh, pulling stronger audience stats.
In San Francisco, Bob Agnew, Program Director for Clear Channel's Quake Radio in the San Francisco Metropolitan area-- the fourth largest in the nation, reported that when the rumors started that Franken would be leaving AAR, he decided to get ready by switching Hartmann for Franken.
I always felt, once I started to listen to Thom, he just seems incredibly sharp. He's not a screamer... he's the new face of progressive radio... you learn something. He's not the professor you pound the nodoz to stay awake. He's a guy you want to learn from, at a time when there is so much BS... it's nice to have a refreshing, calm but vibrant voice coming out of the radio that just makes sense.
Agnew reported that, comparing Arbitron ratings between Franken and Hartman, they went up 25 to 65 percent with Hartmann.
Ed Schultz comes on, delayed, after Hartmann (just recently delayed. He was live until a few weeks ago, when he switched time slots, reportedly to take on Rush Limbaugh) and Hartmann pulled ratings 20% to 100% higher than Schultz's.
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Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, Host of the Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show (WNJC 1360 AM), President of Futurehealth, Inc, (more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
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