*Air America Gone!*

[chesswarsnow]

Sorry bout that,


1. Well this is funny, if you asked me.
2. Air America, is tanking, and the Al Franken network has fallen flat on its face.
3. Only three people were ever known to listen to it, Al Frakens mom, and sister and Al when he wasn't on.:laugh2:
4. Heres a link and a sample:http://bigjournalism.com/fross/2010/01/21/breaking-air-america-ceasing-live-programming-this-afternoon/


"It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.

The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America’s business. This past year has seen a “perfect storm” in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection. From large to small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel Broadcasting and closures like that of the industry’s long-time trade publication Radio and Records have signaled that these are very difficult and rapidly changing times.

Those companies that remain are facing audience fragmentation as a result of new media technologies, are often saddled with crushing debt, and have generally found it difficult to obtain operating or investment capital from traditional sources of funding. In this climate, our painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week, but ultimately fell short of success.

With radio industry ad revenues down for 10 consecutive quarters, and reportedly off 21% in 2009, signs of improvement have consisted of hoping things will be less bad. And though Internet/new media revenues are projected to grow, our expanding online efforts face the same monetization and profitability challenges in the short term confronting the Web operations of most media companies

When Air America Radio launched in April, 2004 with already-known personalities like Al Franken and then-unknown future stars like Rachel Maddow, it was the only full-time progressive voice in the mainstream broadcast media world. At a critical time in our nation’s history — when dissent on issues such as the Iraq war were often denounced as “un-American” — Air America and its talented team helped millions of Americans remember the importance of compelling discussion about the most pivotal events and decisions of our generation.

Through some 100 radio outlets nationwide, Air America helped build a new sense of purpose and determination among American progressives. With this revival, the progressive movement made major gains in the 2006 mid-term elections and, more recently, in the election of President Barack Obama and a strongly Democratic Congress.

Laws have changed for the better thanks to this revival…..but all the same our company cannot escape the laws of economics. So we intend a rapid, orderly closure over the next few days. All current employees will be paid through today, January 21. A severance package will be offered tomorrow to full-time current employees with more than six months of tenure."


5. They were about to ask for more money, it worked one time, maybe not a second eh???
6. Seeing they were the ones who started all this *Free Money* from the government!


Regards,
SirJamesofTexas

[Little-Acorn]

.

All six of its listeners were heartbroken.

.

[Mr. P]

Air America Gone!

Again!!!????

[glockmail]

I flip through the dial a lot for talk radio and I've never landed on them.

[Abbey Marie]

Just one more victim of the vast right-wing conspiracy.

[Mr. P]

I've only have heard them on satellite.

10 mins was all I could take the assholes. That was a few yrs back when the female (Randi Rhodes I think) called for the assassination of Bush on air...I heard her say it.

[Abbey Marie]

I've only have heard them on satellite.

10 mins was all I could take the assholes. That was a few yrs back when the female (Randi Rhodes I think) called for the assassination of Bush on air...I heard her say it.

Dear God, that's unbelievable! Why wasn't she arrested?

[Mr. P]

Dear God, that's unbelievable! Why wasn't she arrested?

Donno.

[red states rule]

Will Sen Franken send some pork over to Air America in the next spending bill?

[CSM]

Will Sen Franken send some pork over to Air America in the next spending bill?

Since it will no longer exist by that time you can bet he will!

[red states rule]

Another mega failure by the left to compete with Rush and Sean

Yet the liberal media was so happy with the left's answer to Rush





Liberal Talk Radio Network to Start Up in Three Cities
By JACQUES STEINBERG
Published: March 11, 2004


The creators of a fledgling liberal talk radio network who hope to challenge the dominance of conservative voices on the nation's airwaves said yesterday that its programming would make its debut on March 31 on low-rated stations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The network, known as Air America Radio, said its hosts would include Al Franken, the comedian and political satirist, whose program will be broadcast from noon to 3 p.m.; Janeane Garofalo, an actress whose program will be on from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Chuck D, a hip-hop artist, who will be a co-anchor of a morning program; and Martin Kaplan, a media analyst who has previously appeared on National Public Radio.

Mr. Franken's program will be called "The O'Franken Factor,'' in a barb aimed at Bill O'Reilly, the host of "The O'Reilly Factor'' on the Fox News Channel. Fox News sued Mr. Franken and his publisher last summer in an unsuccessful effort to block distribution of his book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right'' (E. P. Dutton, 2003). The network charged that the book's use of Fox's "fair and balanced'' tagline would tarnish its image.

For all Air America's relative star power and connections - Mark Walsh, the network's chief executive, has donated more than $100,000 to the Democratic Party and has served as an adviser to the presidential candidate John Kerry on Internet issues - the network faces enormous hurdles. They include making money for its investors and unseating the biggest conservative voices in talk radio, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, whose programs appear on hundreds of stations.

"It's tough to build a syndicated show, let alone a whole array of syndicated shows,'' said Michael Harrison, a former radio station owner who is the publisher of Talkers, a trade magazine.

In New York, for example, Air America will broadcast on WLIB, an AM station that was ranked 24th in the metropolitan New York market last fall, according to Arbitron ; WABC, which broadcasts Mr. Limbaugh and Mr. Hannity, was ranked 12th. Similarly, in Chicago, Air America's affiliate, WNTD, was ranked 32nd; the Limbaugh affiliate, WLS, was ranked fifth. In Los Angeles, Air America will be broadcast on KBLA, which ranked 30th.

Nonetheless, Mr. Walsh said the effort had support, including an initial investment of more than $20 million provided by several backers, including Evan Cohen, a venture capitalist, and Rex Sorensen, a entrepreneur.

Mr. Walsh said that he expected the network, whose parent company is Progress Media, would offer something unique on talk radio - a megaphone for liberals - and that by the end of the year he anticipated its programming would be carried by stations in at least a dozen other markets, including San Francisco. Mr. Walsh declined to name any other cities where the network was pursuing stations.

Mr. Franken, who described himself in a telephone interview as "a comedian first and a citizen second,'' said he intended his show to be "entertaining, funny and hard-hitting.''

"This territory has been ceded to the right way too long,'' he said. "We're going to take it to them.''

Mr. Franken said that he had called his show "The O'Franken Factor'' with the hope that it would "annoy and bait'' Mr. O'Reilly.

Robert Zimmerman, a spokesman for Fox News, said: "One of this country's founding principles is the right to free speech. We wish them well.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/business/media/11radio.html

[CSM]

"Mr. Franken, who described himself in a telephone interview as "a comedian first and a citizen second,'' said he intended his show to be "entertaining, funny and hard-hitting.''

Well, they did manage to send a clown to Washington!

[red states rule]

"Mr. Franken, who described himself in a telephone interview as "a comedian first and a citizen second,'' said he intended his show to be "entertaining, funny and hard-hitting.''

Well, they did manage to send a clown to Washington!

Al will do for the Senate what he did for Dead Air America

Damn it is hard to be a liberal these days :laugh2:

[glockmail]

Dear God, that's unbelievable! Why wasn't she arrested? Why would they do that when they had no problem with some dude who filmed a damn movie about assassinating Bush.

[red states rule]

Air America, a company born out of hate




The Right Time For The Left And Talk Radio? By Jon Eekhoff

April 21, 2004

The right time for the left and talk radio? Anger has fueled right-wing radio for many years. Rush Limbaugh tapped into this anger years ago; it brought him wealth, fame and political power. Many other right-wing pundits have followed in his mighty footsteps hoping to find their own supply of white-male-rage to lift their ratings.

No one has done it like Limbaugh. He is articulate, entertaining and popular. I have passed many a long road trip yelling at the radio as Limbaugh broadcasts from high on top of his white tower to all the ditto heads across America. This uncontested access to millions of voters has long been a sore point for the liberals of America.

Finally the left has paid Rush the ultimate compliment, if you can't beat him, join him.

Air America (the left's answer to Limbaugh and pals) kicked off its first broadcast on March 31st. Since that time it has lost its two largest markets (LA and Chicago), sued those radio stations and won and is now back up and broadcasting in limited markets across the US.

Anchored by Al Franken, Air America hopes to gather the same kind of support as Limbaugh, but will it work? As much as I would love to see it succeed, I think Air America will have an unsuccessful run at Limbaugh. Not because Air America's on-air talent is not articulate, entertaining and popular, but because anger does fuel talk radio and liberals just aren't angry enough.

Oh, we are angry now, but how long will the anger continue? If President Bush gets reelected we are guaranteed four more years of anger, but if he continues to bungle the war in Iraq and the economy continues to tank, we will have a new president and what will Al Franken have to talk about then? Bashing Ann Coulter and tweaking Bill O'Reilly works when there is an audience of angry liberals, but the anger of the masses is based on a feeling of powerlessness and if Bush is gone who will become the focus of our rage?

The beauty of Limbaugh is that he never tires of enemies, conspiracies and "inside" information; there is always a new adversary right around the corner. His ability to spin seemingly harmless information into end of the world scenarios has kept him on top for close to 20 years. Like Don Quixote he creates imaginary liberal windmills to tilt while fighting for all that is good and pure in America. His willingness to stretch the truth has now become commonplace in most conservative media circles, unfortunately the liberal media has not been and never will be as adroit at telling fibs as the right.

Facing off against Limbaugh will be Franken. Mr. Franken is witty, at times thoughtful and surprisingly annoying to conservatives. In the end he is a one trick pony. He doesn't have the paranoid mind of Limbaugh and he doesn't have the meanness of many of the conservative radio hosts. He sticks to the facts and provides very witty observations, but as Voltaire said, "A witty saying proves nothing."

Being constrained by factual information just might be the downfall of liberal radio. Who wants to listen to facts, when just down the dial is an entertaining, angry fictional account of the news? I am not saying that liberals can't lie; there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. ("I never had sexual relations with that woman.") What I am saying is that we just aren't as good at it.

President Bush has told some real whoppers (tax cuts for the working class, WMD, Iraq = Al Qaeda, the war in Iraq is over, I'm a compassionate conservative…) and aside from his trademark smirk he seems to sincerely believe he is telling the truth.

When Clinton was lying you could see the guilt on his face. He knew he was lying. When Bush lies he truly seems to believe he is telling the truth. It is the same with the media. The conservative media boldly lies and makes no apologies. Fox news calls itself "fair and balanced" and provides the most biased right-wing news possible. They don't pull their punches.

Air America has a daunting task in front of it. The AM dial is full of entertaining conservative voices, voices that Middle America trust. The loyal audiences of conservative radio (retired folks, truck drivers, farmers, people who spend time traveling) are not going to be people interested in liberal radio. They already have their source for "news".

Liberal radio needs a new audience; an audience that I don't think exists. It is an audience of progressive thinkers with lots of extra time to listen to the radio.

How will Air America to carve out an audience of loyal ditto heads? How will Air America tap into a permanent source of liberal rage? These are questions that will be answered, but unfortunately, I fear, the answers are not going to be encouraging for Air America.

http://www.orbusmax.com/oped/jone_042104.html

[sgtdmski]

I won't be shedding any tears, now only if MSNBC would tank then maybe I would finally be able to get FOX News here in Bethel, AK!!!! Please all u folks right to GCI and tell them to put FOX News on in Bethel!!!!!! THey seem to be ignoring all my emails and letters.

dmk

[Gaffer]

I won't be shedding any tears, now only if MSNBC would tank then maybe I would finally be able to get FOX News here in Bethel, AK!!!! Please all u folks right to GCI and tell them to put FOX News on in Bethel!!!!!! THey seem to be ignoring all my emails and letters.

dmk

Sounds like your dealing with a liberal organization. They are cencoring what you can view. They don't want you to watch FOX.

[KarlMarx]

Air America = NPR without taxpayer support.

[Abbey Marie]

Why would they do that when they had no problem with some dude who filmed a damn movie about assassinating Bush.

Today, Benedict Arnold would get a production deal and a plaque from moveon.org. Our Founding Fathers must be rolling in their graves.

[red states rule]

Today, Benedict Arnold would get a production deal and a plaque from moveon.org. Our Founding Fathers must be rolling in their graves.

and be a Professor of US History at Berkeley

[Abbey Marie]

and be a Professor of US History at Berkeley

True. Or Colorado. With tenure.

[Kathianne]

I know this is shocking, but not one person I know, not one, has said, 'Gee, I really miss Air America.' LOL!