Byron York reports t…

Byron York reports that Air America Radio, even with its huge buildup in the media, isn’t amounting to much.

As the new liberal talk-radio network finishes its first week in operation, industry insiders say the most impressive thing about the effort is not its performance – that has gotten mixed-to-negative reviews – but the fact that the network, Air America, has received such extensive press coverage relative to the tiny size of its audience.

“It was off the charts in terms of how much ballyhoo and hoopla it generated, considering what it is,” says Michael Harrison, the editor and publisher of Talkers magazine, which tracks the talk radio business. “It’s a modest startup, and it was treated like some kind of revolution.”

As I said late last month, Limbaugh didn’t start with nearly this kind of media blitz, and didn’t have to buy stations to carry his program, and look where he is today. And he didn’t get there by dissing a core constituency:

For example, there is a growing controversy in New York over the new identity of WLIB. Some listeners who were loyal to the black-oriented message of the station – as well as its Caribbean-music programming – are angry at the ownership for leasing most of WLIB’s broadcast day to the mostly-white Air America team. “Air America is in no way offering a satisfactory substitute for local community programming,” one activist told the New York Daily News.

And even far-left media critics don’t like it. Yes, one week is hardly a good enough predictor of the future, but I still stand by my 2 year prediction given what I’ve seen thus far.

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