Comment from Mark Green about Sam Seder

I am sick at heart after listening to the last M-F Sam Seder show. I subscribed to AAR Premium just to get Sam after a KQKE in S.F. fall program change. I and others begged KQKE to carry his a.m. show. I don't listen to KQKE anymore except for a few minutes of Rachel each week. I got AAR Premium on 9/18/06. On 9/22/06 my dog died. Downloading and listening to Sam these last 7 months has gotten me through the saddest winter of my life. Not only did I find ways to get involved in the 11/06 election, but I always laughed through my tears at Sam and his guests. I am writing this through tears. I hope you heard his last show. I hope that he finds a venue for every day that he wants one. I believe that he has such decency and talent that he will soar.

I have heard some of Lionel in early a.m. here. I won't seek him out. I wish you and AAR well but I think ending Sam's show is a huge mistake.

Until today I thought it might be a joke since he was magnanimous all week.

The airways and Sam's audience took another hit today. I will cancel my AAR Premium and only renew it if that is the only way I can hear Sam again on your station.

Who in your network is going to do the interviews that Sam did? Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman of the Government Reform Committee Representative Henry Waxman? Most influential individuals in the progressive world, Kos, Atrois, Eric Alterman etc. Will that be Lionel? I do not think so.

Look at the line up that phoned into Sam's show today. Look at the outreach and the reaction that you received over this decision. You are incorrect in thinking that this change will keep your core listeners and followers.

This change was the last of many that is not acceptable to the listeners (albeit not all are of your doing), however, this was the one that hurt the most. That is because Sam was not a Lionel - he was one of us that was smart, engaged, accessable and more important a leader (although very humble) look what great grace he composed himself over the last week since the announcement.

That is the problem - you do not get the listeners. You hosted a few shows and thought I can run this radio. Sam has appeared on National media shows and represented your network AIR AMERICA RADIO's behalf and promoted the professional and smart ideas of liberals and progressives while all along being label by a good majority of the media as "those looney lefties".

He was the face that made the change happen this fall, He and Rachael showed that we are a strong force and Great Americans.

So to sum it up - You Sir are incorrect. This is a bad thing and your statements will not correct the damage that has been done.

Mr. Green,
Talk is cheap. Don't patronize us. We are not stupid. You fired Sam. At least admit it.

I do't believe you get it. Maybe you've made this bad decision and feel you have to stick with it and tell yourself you're doing the right thing. I hope you're right -- that AAR is going to be a successful progressive radio station, but I doubt it very much. I've been a premium member for 2 years 37 weeks, and I am certain you've begun your lineup change with the single worst move you could have made. It is so very very disturbing that Sam Seder is gone, and I don't think you understand just how much you have disillusioned your listeners.

Now that I have Mr. Green's attention I'll say how AWFUL LIONEL is and what a horrible decision you made demoting Sam to Sunday afternoons.

Maybe if you actually MARKETED Sam's show and did some promotion Sam's show might reach the audience he deserves. I know dollars are scared at AAR but a highschool garage band does better netroots promotion of their product then what I've seen come out of AAR 2.0.

Lionel was on my AAR station, KTLK in Los Angeles, for six months and the show was appalling. Lionel may pull in big numbers on the East Coast at some middle of the road AM, but he has zero appeal on the West Coast. He is horrible on the issues, seems terribly ill-prepared and seems to appeal to little old ladies on Long Island. The antithesis of hip. The good news on the West Coast is that Stephanie Miller (who isn't on AAR) will be on in place of Lionel. And Stephanie Miller seems like Amy Goodman compared to Lionel and that is saying a lot.

To replace the humanity, intellect and wit of Sam Seder with Lionel shows that you Mr. Green don't understand what passes for hip, cutting edge radio. I'm personally angry as someone who has paid their premium dues for the last two years. You obviously DON'T heed your audience. What a load of crap. Instead of being loyal to your talent you are taking the easy way out. Don't do any marketing or promotion. Don't take any risks.

Let's be honest, this is all about money. Pandering to the mainstream is much more profitable than playing to the core audience. We can complain, whine and threaten Air America via email or phone and it doesn't make a bit of difference. But if you go after the money, they'll start listening. So if you've enjoyed the Sam Seder Show, contact your local affiliate and let them know that you won't be listening to Lionel. Contact the sponsors of Lionel's show and let them know that Lionel is not welcome on Air America and that you won't be using their products/services while he is on Air America, and contact Lionel's show directly and let them know you won't be listening
http://www.lionelonline.com/

If you listened to the Sam Seder Show and call yourself a liberal, start acting.

After that, maybe they'll bring Sam back to weekdays and shove a "Best of Lionel" on Sundays.

We won't have to convince people to boycott Lionel's show.. they just won't be able to listen longer than 5 minutes, without switching to Stephanie Miller on NovaM. You are wrong, Mr. Green, and while this move to Lionel (oh my God, I still don't believe it) may just be more profitable to you in the long run, you've basically just run-off your listeners. In my case? for the last time.
If you were any smarter than Air America's last batch of suits, you'd LISTEN to your LISTENERS, perhaps you'd get the message. Did the fact that after firing Maron -- TWICE -- he was asked to host another morning show tell you anything?? Once again, Air America totally disregards its audience. And my goodness... LIONEL?? I stopped listening to him YEARS AGO. He's not a progressive, but a self-proclaimed libertarian! (i.e., republican who wants to keep his guns and get laid, as Thom Hartman says) Give me a break. I cancelled my premium subscription when AAR took Maron off for the second time, had my decision to do so reinforced when AAR fired Malloy ... and now I'll probably be cancelling my XM subscription, since I don't think the fee is worth only listening from 3-8. Lionel followed by Ed Schultz makes my stomach and head hurt, just to think about it.
It was fun while it lasted. Thanks for NOTHING.

The Yankees have sent Mickey Mantle back to the
minors...and it's 1956.

Has Mark Green been threatened?

"I'm devoted to keeping Air America as the leader in progressive talk and to taking it from the red to the black."

Bullshit! If you cared, you wouldn't have shoved Sammy to a Sunday slot and put in his place a jackass who called Rachel Maddow a "thick-necked lesbian".

Mr. Green, as grateful as I am to you and your brother for saving AAR from insolvency, that is how utterly and thoroughly disappointed I am in your decision to demote Sam Seder. What the hell were you thinking, sir? Here you have a passionate, funny and dedicated true believer who has been loyal almost to a fault to this network, and who, as others have pointed out here, has developed into a brilliant and entertaining as all hell progressive radio host, and what do you do? You shitcan him before the first book is even out! Good God what a foolish and shortsighted decision, Mr Green!

I have been on the AAR bandwagon from day one, and have stayed on board through one disastrous programming move after another (the cancellation of one of the best radio programs I have ever heard, Morning Sedition, the replacement of the hip, funny and informative Unfiltered with the Jerry Springer show for pity's sake, as well as the unceremonious and ridiculously unfair firing of Mike Malloy) and I had so much hope after you and your brother bought the network. But after this slap-in-the-face I'm done with Air America. Good luck, Mr Green, because if this move is any indication of your future plans, you will sure as hell need it.

This kind wraps it up for me...

Lee Iacocca - 9 C of leadership kind of sums up Sam.

http://depression2.tv/d2/node/261

I couldn't say what others have said any better. I'm wondering what others are wondering .... where are we going to hear those experts, that were initiated by Al Franken and carried forward by Sam? As Al said, Sam is Air America Radio. Al needs to visit with Green. :) :) Unless Lionel is going to change his format, he doesn't seem to fit with the caliber/style that has set AAR apart from all other radio stations. Oh, well .... like Mallory has said many times, radio is a mean/dirty/nasty business (althou, he did exclude the Drobny's/NovaMRadio). Maybe we should be glad Sam wanted to stay in such a business. I know I left the business world with it's competitive ugliness for the world of children (public education). I want Sam to be wherever he feels honoured and respected (i.e. NovaMRadio)and if he thinks he's being honoured and respected at AAR by having a show on Sundays (which may work out as the coolest adventure he and us have ever been on), so be it and "so it goes." From ... another sad and disenfranchised AAR fan ..... Peace

I am pleased to announce that I will be redirecting my premium subscription money to another progressive cause. I want to express my deepest appreciation for cancelling Morning Sedition; So What Else Is News; The Majority Report and Unfiltered. Those were my favorite shows and I grew deeply attached to the personalities. So it is with deep gratitude that I thank you for freeing up so many hours in my day.
I didn't believe it was possible to enjoy a radio program as much as I enjoyed Morning Sedition. I was wrong. The Sam Seder show was as good if not better than Morning Sedition. Sam was equal to Marc in preparation, passion and interviewing skill. As of Today I am no longer a premium subscriber.
You really must have shit for brains!

You must be kidding Mark. I just re-upped my Premium account and couldn't be more pissed off. First Malloy, now Sam. Replacing Randi with Imus next?

gripweed

Your decision to demote Sam Seder is only the latest in a long line of mistakes that you have been making.

Your first major mistake was firing Mark Maron. His show was, by far, the best in the morning drive time slot (6 - 9 am). It was unique, entertaining, intelligent, and full of heart. There was nothing else on radio, then or now, to compare with it. It was quality programming all the way through. I remember Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins coming on his show in the final days and basically begging Air America management to reconsider their decision. I remember his live broadcasts from local bookstores and restaurants, which featured live music and comedians. It was awesome, and he still managed to make his political points along the way. I used to look forward to listening to his show every morning. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Young Turks who replaced him. They are good, but he was GREAT !!! They can't fill his shoes, but it's not their fault.

I always enjoyed Sam Seder for his humor and his analysis. I would look forward to listening to him every day on my morning break at work.

One by one, you have been taking away all of the people I enjoy listening to. This is not the way to build an audience. We are the loyal listeners who have been with this station from the beginning, since 04/2004. If you alienate us, who will be left to listen to Air America ? Who are you going to appeal to ? Who will be your audience ? Do you want to turn Air America into another bland, superficial radio station, with mass appeal but no soul ? That appears to be where you are headed, in the neverending search for greenbacks and the "bottom line".

I really don't understand how you, the management, have been arriving at your decisions. Air america had great talent from Day One. The problem has never been the talk show hosts. The problem has always been the people whose job it was to market the radio station. That is the one area where Air America is really lacking and has shown very little creativity.

Air America has always had a great product. It's just that the so-called experts running the company have absolutely no idea what to do with it, and are blaming the product itself. They think if they just change the product (ie. talk show hosts), then everything else will fall into place.

It's time for the senior executives at Air America to take a good, long, look in the mirror, to see where the real problem lies.

Mr Green,
You have undone a tremendous achievement by our beloved Sammy. He had put together the absolute best show on this station! Shame on you for demoting him to a mere three hours a week! Shame on you for crapping all over his loyal listeners as well as the fantastic bloggers, reporters, politicians, etc, that regularly participated on his show! Why should we be loyal to you if you let our best people go? We won't be, that's what! This is so heartbreaking! It's obscene and shameful. You come off like a stupid jerk. How embarrassing for you. Face it...you blew it! You think we're going to listen to Lionel? *gag* Never!

love you Sam. and wholeheartedly agree with metfan about the original morning show with Marc Maron. It was fantastic that Marc was on Sam's show sometimes...so we could laugh with Marc again. Sam was my favorite host on Air America (finding him on sundays will not be the same) - so i can't help but take this tonedeaf management decision to heart. u suck Mr. Green.

From 9AM-noon ET, I used to switch back and forth from Stephanie Miller to Sam Seder. I love both programs but I found myself tiring of the sophmoric humor and really appreciated Sam's combination of wit and wisdom. Lionel? I agree with a lot of his views but we don't need a whiny crank to just reinforce our own thoughts. Sam motivated us to do something instead of just listen and nod our heads. I don't believe the decision was made with good programming in mind--it's a play to lowest common denominator. I hate to inform you but O'reilly and Limbaugh listeners will NEVER tune in no matter who hosts the show. I hope Lionel brings in the cash so someday soon I can pick up AAR from New Haven to Buffalo. That will be the only worthwhile outcome from this marketing gambit.

Sorry, Mr. Green but you just fired the hardest working and smartest person on radio or television. Every day I waited for Sam to give me hope, to let me know that I was not alone with my horror of what is happening to our country. Sam not only gave me hope he gave me understanding and analysis the no other news person could. He is so smart, has and incredible memory for events and no one can take on the right wing callers as he does. And he is funny without degrading anyone. My heart is still aching. I guess I will be listening to a lot more music as I work on my computer and drive in my car...Janet

Mr. Green: I like everyone else here do appreciate that you saved AAR. I know you believe in progressive politics. I get that this is a business and needs to make money and I also get that this Lionel has a large proven following. I get that you want a big name that isn't totally identified with dirty hippie progressives that can bring people in and enlarge the listenership for all the other AAR shows.

But you really picked the wrong show to boot. As numerous people have said, Sam was the heart and soul of AAR. You have risked alienating your proven base in hopes snaring new listeners. I can't say I'd be happy to see any of the AAR people replaced, but Sam was the last I would want to see go.

Unlike many of the other very good and intelligent hosts on AAR, Sam made listening totally fun. His humor and wit was matched by his intelligence and true belief in progressive causes.

He was here from the get-go. He helped build this station. I can't believe you could think we'd all just get over seeing him leave.

I honestly don't think I'll be listening to AAR as much.

Seems like Mr. Green has taken lessons from Bush. Replacing people that do a great job with one that is incompetent (Brownie = Lionel).

And the "my way or the highway" attitude is the same.

It isn't working for Bush and it won't work for you!

I would like to just say a few things about how bad of a decision demoting Sam Seder was from a pure business model. Now, I do have an MBA and that does not necessarily mean that I know more about good business models than anyone else - see George W Bush. But, I do not believe Mark Green has ever run either a successful business or even enterprise in his life (see mayoral campaign) and this first decision in his maiden voyage in radio proves my point.

First, as many people here have mentioned - you've got to do the market research before making a major decision in programming. It is easy enough to poll your audience and even focus grouping is relatively inexpensive to do. I cannot believe, in light of the outrage this decision has cause, that this most basic of reprogamming decision tools was used before deciding to replace Seder with "Lionel."

If you are not going to do that basic research, you better pretty damn well know your audience. No one who is AAR's supposed target audience is going to listen to "Lionel." Believe me. AAR is going to lose massive amounts of listeners in that slot because he is going to be unattractive to people who listen to the rest of the lineup. That's business school 101. Don't put porn in a store that sells bibles and don't put bibles in a store that sells porn.

Sheesh - no one actually needs to go to school at all to know that one. I simply don't get the decision making process behind this by guys who have just spent, by media accounts, a lot of their own money to buy this network, other than pure unadulterated ignorance of the market.

Finally, it was clear that Seder was surely and steadily building an audience. Now stay with me here - progressive radio as a network is very new - it needs time and patient capital to grow. Plus, as a lot of commenters have noted, the financial problems with AAR have had nothing to do with the talent but with the management. The constant tinkering with the lineup and jettisoning of talent is one of the major problems the AAR management has exhibited. Mark Green should have spent all his initial time with the network figuring out a good management structure and not allowed ANY programming changes for at least 6 months to a year while he figured out the business. (If he could). Making programming changes before getting hold of the reins of management and learning the business is idiotic from a business sense.

In addition, we need to keep in mind what the mission of progressive radio is supposed to be about. I firmly believe it is a profitable business model. But, like a lot of businesses, it needs patient capital to work. There are numerous industries, including things like STARTING A BRAND NEW RADIO NETWORK which are going to take years before they start turning a profit.

One of the things that has killed me about AAR is that everyone was so keen on it showing it could make a profit almost from day one to answer the right wing noise machine which said progressive radio wouldn't work when the IBC network or whatever it is called that runs Limbaugh, Hannity, et al. was more than content to lose money for a decade or more just to get their message out. And, then - hey - if they ended up being profitable eventually, that was great. But, all of those radio programs were loss leaders at the beginning. The thing that they had which apparently AAR talent has never had was patient support and a vision of what their bosses wanted them to accomplish as far as changing the perspective of the American public. They were highly successful in doing that. And, that change of perspective was part of their metric of success - not simply immediate ratings or $$s.

Is it too much to hope that a "liberal" like Mark Green can grasp this simple fact? That a measure of success for the business model for AAR should be about changing attitudes and perspectives of the public, not just getting anyone who might have somewhat superficial better ratings in the short run and on a totally different network to replace a host like Seder who is smart, extremely funny, "gets it", and has actually helped move the debate in this country. You have to have trust that Seder's wisdom and humor is what a huge market in America is longing for and will tune into once they have heard it and the ratings and $$s will come. Even if not, although I firmly believe Seder would have been a money-maker for the network in time, you are successful if you change attidues and perspectives. But, getting the public to hear your talent takes time and patience. Right wing radio has that patience. Will AAR "liberal" management have it?

What an absolute loss for the bottom line of AAR and for the country. I am very saddend to say this, but I am going to cancel my AAR premium membership, tune into Sam's show (and never Lionel's) on Sundays and then hope that Sam will get picked up by Nova M for 5 days a week.

Ahh! here I am, after a long hiatus. Way back when AirAmerica left Sirius I have been holding my anger. Who knows where progressive radio will end up. I'm still a Sirius supporter, though the reason I first accepted Sirius was because of AirAmerica, which has left for XM. I listen on a local station in the Portland area. I support Sam Seder, and have liked him since early on, when he was with the hot babe co-host on Sirius. Now that I'm at a distance, I can't believe Sam is being dumped, especially for that stupid bastard who insulted Ms. Madow. That should be unacceptable but the newest owners of AirAmerica the orginators of stupidity. I don't give a rat's ass about who now owns AirAmerica, I think that there enough local progressive's that can support their local network broadcastors and maintain a good radio commentary base that we don't have to rely upon the 'great' thinking of millionaires and billionaires to relate to the populus. You should have kept Sam on every day, because to do otherwise is just stupid. So go ahead and put a GWBUSH stamp on your head, and tell everyone that means excellence. At least no one will belive you and you'll have your head and nuts removed before you can do more damage.

I'm discouraged. With Green at the helm, Air America is done.

Seder was proving that the left is the fun and exciting place to be. He was giving liberal politics a whole new look and feel.

AAR is now boldly heading into the past.
.

Hell Yes!

Mr. Green, you really don't get it. Why in the world would you fire a popular & much loved host like Sam & hire this Lionel guy? No one who listened to Sam's show will listen to him. Sam was the best. No one could or should take his place. Why do you want to alienate & anger the loyal listeners who have stuck with the network for 3 years, through bankruptcies, etc. We lost our radio station & got XM just to keep listening. Then you fire Sam? Why? This makes no sense. None. Everyone who listened to him will now listen to Stephanie Miller or to no one at all. Not to Lionel. I used to listen to Stephanie but when Sam moved to the same time I preferred him, no question, as did many other listeners, & I have not listened to Stephanie once since then. Why couldn't you promote & advertise his show, to try to get more listeners? If you want to sabotage & destroy Air America, you are doing an excellent job. Even your other hosts, such as Bobby Kennedy, can't understand why you did this. Why didn't you just add the Sunday show & leave Sam's weekday show alone? I have never been so disappointed. Up until now I praised & recommended AAR to so many people, but I will never do that again. For everyone reading this, stephaniemiller.com, you can stream the show from 9-12 while you are not listening to Lionel. I'll be back when Sam is back.