After a beginning that has often been called “rocky,” with both good and bad news, Air America Radio is settling in for the long run and beginning a slow but steady pace upward. The maverick network is bringing in more and more stations, including the usually conservative Phoenix AR, Albuquerque NM, Boston MA, and next week (finally!) San Francisco CA (in addition to being added to the cable Sundance Channel). Rochester NY, Denver CO, Atlanta GA and San Diego CA were recent big additions, and Washington DC is coming soon.

One of the reasons for the addition of new stations is the influence of its ratings: the Albuquerque station manager said he’s picking it up because “It’s shown legs in other markets, with the ability to garner ratings and revenues,” and the Phoenix reporter notes that “[i]n Portland, Ore., radio station KPOJ jumped from No. 22 to No. 3 in the spring Arbitron ratings among listeners ages 25-54.”

Additionally, the station has three million monthly listeners on its streaming Internet radio feed (Real Player required), not counting those who listen to the archived shows at Air America Place.

The network, despite the new expansions, is still in its infancy and will likely take a few years to grow into a name brand on the radio dial. But despite constant put-downs and predictions of demise from the right wing (I’m a Mac user, and am used to hearing people predict the death of Apple time and time again), the network is steady, successful, and growing.