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dropped raunchy, and virulently anti-Bush, radio host Howard Stern.
When Air America was launched last April 1, Clear Channel tested it in Portland, Ore., on a poorly performing golden-oldies station, KPOJ. Results were startlingly good. Among its target audience of adults aged 25 to 54, the station moved from No. 26 to No. 3. The company started slipping in Air America programming in place of low rankers all around the country, including former sports/talk station WINZ in Miami, former nostalgia station KABL in San Francisco, and former Spanish-language station WKOX in Boston.
This week, Clear Channel is flipping three more stations to an Air America-heavy format, bringing Air America programming -- Clear Channel calls it "progressive talk" -- to 22 Clear Channel stations around the country. The company also made its studios in Silver Spring, Md., available for a live broadcast of Al Franken's show on Tuesday.
While he acknowledges the warm welcome from Clear Channel, Mr. Franken says he sometimes worries the conglomerate is using Air America, "trying to get the left off their back." But he says Clear Channel's support is also a sign of the network's success.
If running more liberal talk is boosting Clear Channel's reputation among liberals, "that's a side benefit," says Gabe Hobbs, the company's talk-radio programming chief. "We don't make programming decisions based on political affiliations."
Smaller companies are switching to Air America, too. Last April, Mapleton Communications LLC's KYNS in San Luis Obispo, Calif., transformed itself overnight from conservative talk to Air America. "People turned it on expecting to hear Sean Hannity, and got Al Franken instead," says station manager Nancy Leichter.
The new programming created "a lot of controversy," Ms. Leichter says. But after an initial dip in listeners and advertisers -- she lost a flooring company and a landscaper -- Ms. Leichter saw both numbers pick up again. By late summer, advertising revenue was running almost double what it had been under the conservative format, a pace that continues today.
Air America isn't in the black yet, but President Jon Sinton says the network's revenue is growing rapidly and it expects to be profitable. The radio network sells advertising spots to medium-sized and small businesses on its local affiliate stations, and it is starting to attract the eye of some larger advertisers. Gary Schonfeld, president of Jones Media, which sells Air America advertising, says the network is just reaching the critical point where it is available to 75% of the population, a key measure for big marketers.
Talkers' Mr. Harrison says says it's too early to call Air America a success. "When they start earning money as opposed to raising money, then we'll know they've made it," he says.
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