Liberal radio network plans to launch in spring

By Jennifer Frey
The Washington Post

	Al Franken
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Franken's show is expected to air weekdays from noon to 3 p.m., in direct competition with the popular "Rush Limbaugh Show." Franken is the author of two best-selling nonfiction books, the first titled "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot."

Progress Media also announced it had signed environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to co-host another program for its lineup of round-the-clock talk radio.

"We're trying to give people an alternative," Franken said. "We want to provide a change in the political landscape and a beacon of hope for ordinary Americans who work hard and play by the rules."

And, of course, he wants another platform to attack his nemeses, including conservative talk-show host Bill O'Reilly.

"We're trying to get sued by a right-wing jerk — hence the name of our program, 'The O'Franken Factor,' " Franken joked.

Although its name has not been chosen, the network plans to go on the air by March or April, according to Progress Media CEO Mark Walsh. According to Walsh, the first distribution deal — a lease for round-the-clock air time at WNTD-AM (950) in Chicago — will be followed by several others in the next two weeks, likely in the New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco markets.

The announcements came two months after a new leadership team bought the majority interest in the proposed network from Sheldon and Anita Drobny, major Democratic donors who formed AnShell Media early last year. The new owners — led by Evan Cohen, a New York venture capitalist, and Walsh, a Chevy Chase, Md.-based Internet entrepreneur who has served as a technology adviser to the Democratic National Committee — moved quickly to sign Franken, who from the beginning had been in talks to be the network's flagship talk-show host.

"I wasn't going to agree to get involved in this unless it had a chance to succeed," said Franken, who agreed to a one-year deal but would not disclose terms. "There's always a risk. But I wanted to make a calculated risk."

Liberal talk radio largely has failed in the past in part because the industry is dominated so heavily by conservatives that liberal shows sandwiched between right-wing programming were all but destined to fail. As Franken put it: "That's like having three hours of country followed by three hours of hip-hop. It's not going to work." As an alternative, Progress Media plans to provide a 24-hour liberal-dominated home base for its talkers, albeit one that works in humor and an openness to debate.

"If all we are perceived as is being the mouthpiece of the Democratic Party, we have failed," Walsh said.

Walsh is tempering his expectations in the early going — "we expect to have a pretty decent radio product that we hope gets some ratings; our ambition is not blockbusterish," he said — and Progress Media expects to make a significant financial investment in the network as it attempts to expand its audience.

"Considering the state of politics, I believe that the times might be more fertile in the years ahead for liberals to be able to do what the conservatives have done, and that is to develop a core audience for liberal talk radio," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, the leading trade magazine on the subject. "However, even with the times being right, it won't be easy, because it took Limbaugh years to develop his following."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company