I think there was an issue with financial backing. I remember reading an article that quoted Al Franken talking about the collapse of Air America having to do with financing. Hopefully, this venture will be different.

The best was Al Franken, Rachel Maddow, Sam Seder, and, of course, Morning Sedition with Mark Riley and Marc Maron who had absolutely the best issue framing of any other program anywhere.

Take a walk through the way back machine, Morning Sedition still lives.
Morning Seditionists Archive

It's all there. Whole programs! Yes, including Sammy, the stem cell. But also the Morning Sedition Radio Players. One of my faves was the iNews 5000 WiFi Headline Translator, always fun. Angus MacFahrquar, too.

It's wonderful to hear progressivism spoken with a Southern accent.

it was such heartbreak to lose Morning Sedition, but I followed Maron since then, as he did Breakroom with Sam & then on to the WTF podcast.

For the times though Morning Sedition was hands down the best. I used to go to the archive site that had it all archived every now and then to re listen to some of the bits. It was priceless!!!

I loved Eddie Pepitone's and Jim Earl's contributions (huge cast of contributors!)
Just cannot say enough good things about it. It was a much needed shot of comedy for the times, and for sure helped me survive those early mornings!

was a routine here at my house, nothing has come close since.

Planet Bush bureau chief Lawton Smalls was my favorite.

But then there was also Marc's alter-egos.

* Marc the Shark with "Right and Early"
* Future Marc (I love that guy!)

And don't forget the Morning Sedition Radio Players.
* The Shadow Government
* Marc Maron and the Temple of Doom

Altogether brilliant issue framing. The best of the best.

Christi-fascist zombie brigade. Legislative pig-pack.

It was hard to drive to work through tears of laughter.

Glad to see Marc Maron's been doing pretty well lately.

that leftwing broadcasting isn't commercially viable.

the election which installed Trump - that in combination w/ DU being down really was frightening.

Never mind that it was the #1 revenue producing liberal talk radio in the US (or so I heard - lets say one of the best anyway).

Owned by clear channel, so really no surprise - the point is, this is evidence that revenue/profitability is not the primary consideration.

Anyway lets make the MOST of what freedom of speech we do have, while we still have it.

They are consistently in the top ten podcasts week after week.

Radio is dead btw. It's still rambling on but podcasts are steadily replacing it.

Once u had a car with a blue tooth connection the radio never went on again.

at a financial loss.... as a DONATION to their "causes".

Also another issue with Air America was the lack of liberals/progressives OWNING stations that aired their programming. When a RW org buys up bundles and bundles of stations, they eventually boot liberal/progressive programming off their airwaves.

This doesn’t sound like that model. It sounds more like the podcast/YouTube model. Maybe they did that to keep their costs down. I’m interested to see what they can do.

Non Political (now) people can be won over just as Fox won over so many others. Repetition, simple messaging worked for them although It mayneed to be a slightly different sell for folks with more brain matter.

The biggest problem is our true message is never heard - we leave that to Fox and Rush who turn us into evil cartoon characters.

They lie constantly - we don't need to.

...they reinforced beliefs their audience already had.

Do you need to have someone on the air tell you things you already believe?

Hate radio eventually became an addiction model for some of them. And it got them to believe nonsense more extreme and out there then what they may have come up with on their own.

I'll allocate that a large section of our population are racist, narrow-minded xenophobes due in large part to the way they were raised however. But Fox and hate radio made this a lot worse, I think.

Faux has been pushing all of its audience towards more extreme, more radical, more regressive, more racist, more close-minded, more sexist, etc positions since its start.

It's not a con. It's propaganda, and it is remarkably effective, considering the fake bullshit they are pushing.

and it began with RW radio.

I didn't know what it was. Once I realized how awful they were...especially that stupid BS about the war on Christmas...I quit listening to them. But I knew many, what I would call normal people, never gave them up and now they are really weird crazy RepubliCONS. I think they catch people by espousing one thing the person believes in, then gently lead them to all their other crazy ideas.

Funny how as these normal people slowly turned more and more what is called conservative (though it is NOT conservative to want to destroy democracy), I turned more and more liberal. The difference being I developed these ideas on my own. No channel or station perfectly exemplifies my opinions. I even disagree with some Democratic policies. But my opinions are mine and not a carefully thought out manipulation by the uber rich to con me into trusting a failed system. People who believe Fox can't say the same thing.

I don`t Know if more echo chambers is the answer.

Air America was doomed financially before it went on the air. You must realize...their model was unsustainable from the beginning. They basically did what is called a local radio station LMA where they essentially leased a large market radio station 24 hours per day to air their programming. In return they would sell the air time and pay those leases. The problem was they were in mostly top tiered radio markets like NY, Chicago, LA, etc. Those individual license agreements or leases cost a fortune and they were on AM stations with not great coverage like WLIB in NY.

In addition, they had a massive amount of salary they had to pay as they were staffing an entire radio network on top of the radio station leases.

This new network is just that. A network that will stream audio (much less expensive) and have a few top talent to pay versus an entire 24 hour network. Live streaming, podcasts, etc.

I hate what Fox does to it's followers, but this could work out, worth a go. As far the media goes. Meet The Press and Face the Nation are just terrible.

Means it's direct to the consumer and stand alone rather than connected with a TV network, cable provider, or other multi-channel distribution service.

I also wonder if enough people are aware of and follow ROF, the Ring of Fire Radio/Media Network,
and also FREESPEECH.ORG, the Free Speech TV network that's available to follow in many formats 24/7:
Live Online, Dish and Direct TV Channels, some Public TV & Radio outlets, excerpts on YouTube, Roku, more.

FREE SPEECH TV's programming and documentaries cover a broad variety of topics & viewpoints, and include notable guests like Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben, Robert Reich, progressive journalists, economists, political figures and organization spokespeople.
HOSTS include: Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman of the Democracy Now! global news program, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press, Andy Humm & Ann Northrop of GAY USA, Laura Flanders, Sonali Kolhatkar, David Pakman, Karel, more.









https://freespeech.org/shows/

http://freespeech.org/about-us/history/



https://trofire.com/

Someone is getting up off their butt and doing something positive. We should support that.

Glass half full Cary, thank you.

I loved Air America and here in my local area, we had the MIC until a few days after the horrible "election" and the conservative owners pulled the plug. There is a market for this and I would honestly consider watching this if we had any of the above platforms. I do not like watching TV on my phone, but might from time to time. Maybe it's time to update to an actual modern device so that we can do things like most people do. But we don't even have cable.

That's the formula that so far has been a success for the Devil's Advocates, a Milwaukee-based duo who nationally syndicate a weekday radio show both informative and entertaining. The two protagonists are friends -- one a progressive and the other a libertarian (who seems liberal in many ways but does serve as an on-the-other-hand debater). They're well-informed with a knack for reducing issues to their essentials while identifying both news value and right-wing hypocrisy -- and, of course, they have their choice of many under-scathed targets.

The show also streams on the 'net and is available as a podcast. Last year the Advocates acquired an AM station in Milwaukee to serve as their flagship. I am sure the ratings for that outlet aren't through the roof, at least yet, but this model reminds me of Willie Sutton's explanation for why he robbed banks: because that's where the money is. Progressives can listen for some reinforcement and entertaining fellowship, but conservatives like truckers and salesmen or guys in barbershops might stumble into this and find it strangely appealing. It's not only a medium they understand and use, it's a cheaper format for cash-strapped progressives.

http://newstalk1510am.com/

Repugnants get the majority of theirs from one source, Fox News and we need to focus more on CNN and MSNBC.

It will be a real surprise to me if they can attract audiences
and sell ad time..Become sustaining. Imho, a large portion
of tv viewers would find it lame...not a big enough circus
act..not enough soap opera lies.

It's good to have something besides MSNBC, which is hard for me to get, since I don't have cable. I get it at times, and clips, but it's a hassle. It'll be good to have PVN.

But Trump will have a field day with this: "A former CNN big wheel started his own liberal channel! See...what did I tell ya! CNN is biased with fake news and pushes the witch hunt hoax because liberals are sore they lost!"

They have Rachel Maddow. It's one of the best free apps out there.

That's one of the ways I can get full MSNBC shows. But they do run after the original show runs. However, some run sometimes on same day.

and the letting of oligarchy's buy and consolidation of the media stations with Clear Choice condemned Air America, they did not and would not have them as a program

Fear doesn’t seem to work as much for liberals...

I don’t like hearing opinions in news reporting, and seek out unbiased sources as much as possible. I think many liberals are similar. Confirmation bias and hyperpartisanism are closely related.

If liberals aren't afraid of what the trump regime is doing---afraid to the point of wanting to do something about it---we really are in a world of trouble. I welcome this new broadcasting effort.

No challenging ideas or thoughts.

How anyone can stand political talk radio is beyond me.

While we Lefties tend more often to tamp down irrational impulses, we can tap some sources of legitimate fear: dumb foreign policy leading to war, fiscal austerity leading to recession and more people dying in need of essential services. But we are much better at ridicule since the better comics tend to be liberal.

left-wing outlets. Other than night-time MSNBC, we sure don't get any real left spin from any network. I loved POTUS on Sirius radio until it became Politics of the United States. When it was still about the president and still hard left, I loved listening.

Don't we need to establish new liberal media now as the Giant Yam tries to shut down all regular media that is critical of him and his policies.

I think that's the difference between the right and the left. I'm not looking for media that caters to my political alignment. I don't want to hear just my stuff through my filters and my preconceptions.

I want media/news/analysis that is about reality, and I want it to be honest. It must survive scrutiny and criticism from any angle, whether friendly or hostile.

So I have no need for this sort of thing.

who is posting on a "left-wing", democratic, echo chamber website" when talking about a left-wing", democratic, echo chamber streaming service... WTH? lol.

We have some pretty contentious debates here.

Don't I know it. LOL

I’ve seen more knock-down drag-out fights and viscious disagreements here than you can imagine. Just bring up GMOs, nuclear power, veganism, Islam, or gun control and watch the fur fly. There’s no single ideological box into which all DUers can be placed.

Hell, five minutes in the Israel/Palestine sun-forum will disabuse you of any motion that we are an echo chamber.

. . . but so often the problem is conservatives don't want to be asked the questions we'd ask.

long gone - the best we can do now is get information from a variety of sources and be aware of which filters are being applied.

You are aware that what some of us see as relatively unbiased sources (eg BBC, NPR) are considered flaming left by the conservative propagandists?

You are correct though that we (or a great many of us anyway) are free thinkers and dont like echo chambers. But you know what - dialogue/debate is a left/progressive thing - you wont hear any of that on any of the right winger propagandist shows - limbaugh, hannity, bill cuningham etc. Oh they might let a bumbling inarticulate lefty get on, but only so that they can proceed to mock and pour on the verbal abuse and not get a word in edgewise.

Hopefully there willl be someone like Alan Colmes (R.I.P.) who took unscreened phone calls and liked to present all points of view from across the spectrum.... and was often quite funny doing so. There are some libertarian and other non-liberal oriented talk shows whiich have found a home on progressive media so if youre looking for variety of viewpoints, progressive media is actually a good place to look for it.

You're on it that even media mainstays like BBC, NPR and others are considered very left by some now.

"Before getting excited, ask yourself if the conservative talk radio business model works with liberals. Given the demise of Air America, I'm not sure it does..."

Before getting excited, ask yourself if one example illustrates a pattern. I'm not sure it does (space provided free of charge below to move goalposts).

The Young Turks were mentioned in the story referenced. Despite the current issues with the founder, Cenk Uygur, TYT is profitable and successful. The reason Stephanie Miller succeeds is not necessarily her political stance, which I agree with most, but she is entertaining. That is the first rule of media. Air America didn't quite live up to that.

But I think in its early days, before it went to giving Jerry Springer and Lionel shows, it was living up to that standard quite well. I agree with most of the other commenters that AA's unstable financial backing and bad business model were more responsible for its doom than issues with content.

I listened to his radio show back then, and while not particularly exciting and good radio, he did have some good content, especially when you consider his main TV gig. If any show is podcast ready, that would be it.

Lionel had somewhat of a following with a show late night on WOR 710 Radio NY prior to Air America.

Loved “Morning Sedition” as well, my favorite bit was Maron detailing what was in Dubya’s day timer each day...hilarious.

On my cable I have 2-3 conservative networks other than Fox. We’ll see if this new liberal network gets a slot, I’ Not holding my breath. Still, this is exciting.

killed off Air America?

We don't have be in an echo chamber. It will be wonderful to have this in addition to what we have now that is certainly more mixed. I loved Air America and was so sad when it was gone. I will love having something like this especially as a podcast?

we definitely need more news outlets. And hurry up! please.

- Peter Thiel Launching Fox News Rival, Newsweek, Jan. 4, '18

>Snips
Donald Trump’s favorite news channel, Fox News, may have a new right-wing cable rival competing for the president’s affections. Peter Thiel, the billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist who funded pro wrestler Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against now-defunct gossip website Gawker, is reportedly looking to launch his own conservative news channel.
Thiel is a Trump supporter—he donated $1.25 million to the president’s election campaign—and served on his presidential transition team.

A history of Thiel
Thiel made his name as co-founder of PayPal, the online money transfer service. He served as the company’s chief executive officer until it was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. The billionaire is also a board member of Facebook. In 2004, he invested $500,000 for a 10.2 percent share in the social media site as its first outside investor. He sold most of his shares in 2012 for over $1 billion.
In 2016, Thiel helped fund Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker, which, in 2012, published portions of a sex tape the retired pro wrestler appeared in. Gawker outed Thiel as gay in 2007.
Hogan was awarded $115 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages. Gawker subsequently filed for bankruptcy. The two sides settled for $31 million in November 2016.
According to Forbes, Thiel has a net worth of $2.5 billion.
More, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/peter-thiel-launching-fox-news-rival/ar-BBHRd7d?li=BBnb7Kz