As my e-mail buddy Ben Varkentine notes on his blog, a lot of the publicity surrounding Al Franken's new liberal radio show is coming from right-wingers complaining that Al Franken's new liberal radio show is getting too much publicity. One such complaint comes from Hugh Hewitt setting up the (false, to me) premise that if the show doesn't succeed, it can only be because America really isn't interested in that message.
Why I think that's a false premise: A radio show can succeed or fail for any of a number of reasons, including whether or not the parent company can clear enough powerful stations. Most new radio endeavors do fail, regardless of their political message, and some take years to become viable. The odds are that Franken's show will tank, at least at first, because too many established radio franchises have all the key stations locked up. There are plenty of cities where it and the rest of the Air America Radio line-up won't be on at all.
Also, Al Franken might not be very good or very effective on radio. A lot of folks who are funny and successful in one venue do not translate well to another medium. There's a skill to being effective on the radio and it often requires years of practice — which Franken hasn't had — in small, unnoticed markets. Rush Limbaugh was on radio for years before he had any sort of following. And now, whatever else you may think of him, he's very good at what he does…very good at keeping people interested and listening. Hundreds of Rush imitators offering the same political rhetoric have failed. There was nothing uncommercial about their message but they didn't have the broadcasting skill to succeed.
Years ago, I did a TV show with Vince McMahon and a batch of W.W.F. wrestlers including Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Piper was the big star at the moment despite the fact that, by his own admission, he wasn't much of a wrestler. He wasn't huge, he wasn't brawny, he couldn't even lift his opponents off the mat…but he sure could fill arenas. I remember McMahon (who certainly knows his industry) remarking that Roddy was a star because of his showmanship. It was easy, Vince said, to find a guy who was 6'10" with rippling muscles and the ability to do all the physical moves. It was rare to find someone who could work the crowd as well as Piper, getting them fired-up and excited and entertained. It had nothing to do with wrestling and everything to do with selling tickets. I think Talk Radio is the exact same business.