Err America

Unlike ratings winners such as Tammy’s show, Air America filed Chapter 11 today. Jonah Goldberg writes:

For several years now, the venture’s boosters have insisted there is nothing wrong with the idea of Air America. Their problems all stemmed from obscure details of one kind or another. I have no doubt that all sorts of non-ideological mistakes were made. But the one important point is that if their programming were legitimately popular those mistakes wouldn’t have mattered. All sorts of successful entrepreneurial ventures make countless mistakes getting up and running. But because their products are popular those mistakes don’t really matter. If very large numbers of people wanted to listen to Air America, Air America wouldn’t be bankrupt. Money would have rolled in and this keystone cops stuff would have remained invisible. But despite the best efforts of very serious Progressive types and ample up front investment and enormous free publicity and goodwill from the mainstream media, the thing still bombed. Air America was launched on the assumption that “if you build it, they will come.” They didn’t. And that’s the moral of the story few on the left will ever admit or call attention to.

I am sure that I will get emailed all sorts of articles and blog posts pointing to the great numbers Air America had in Muncie or Austin. That’s all nice and fine. But the thing died because the thing was doomed from the start. Deal with it.

Much more from Brian Maloney, the Radio Equalizer.