Air America will file for bankruptcy

[welshTerrier2]

it is not clear that this means Air America will stop broadcasting ... it does mean that AA has not been a commercial success thus far ... some huge changes are in the works ...

fasten your seatbelts; it's going to get a bit bumpy for a while ...

source: http://thinkprogress.org/

Air America Radio will announce a major restructuring on Friday, which is expected to include a bankruptcy filing, three independent sources have told ThinkProgress.

Air America could remain on the air under the deal, but significant personnel changes are already in the works. Sources say five Air America employees were laid off yesterday and were told there would be no severance without capital infusion or bankruptcy. Also, Air America has ended its relationship with host Jerry Springer.

The right wing is sure to seize on Air America’s financial woes as a sign that progressive talk radio is unpopular. In fact, Air America succeeded at creating something that didn’t exist: the progressive talk radio format. That format is now established and strong and will continue with or without Air America. Indeed, many of the country’s most successful and widely-syndicated progressive talk hosts — Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, for instance — aren’t even associated with Air America.

Radio giant Clear Channel is so committed to progressive talk radio that, this week, it will announce a partnership with the Center for American Progress, Jones Radio, and MSS Inc., to conduct a nationwide search for the next Progressive Talk Radio Star.

[bluestateguy]

1. 6th thread on this

:eyes:

[ronnykmarshall]

2. The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!!

[onehandle]

4. Only 6th? And it's early.

I bet 100 in the next couple of hours.

[welshTerrier2]

5. gee, sorry to annoy you ...

6th thread? in this forum or somewhere else?

i checked the first two pages of THIS FORUM looking for the word "Air" ... none there ...

lighten up ... if you're not interested, just skip the thread ...

[NV Whino]

6. Stop rolling your eyes

Getting on the Internet late today, and on the West Coast to boot, it is the first one I've seen.

Multiple threads are not necessarily bad.

[hvn_nbr_2]

16. Sixth thread but the first I've seen that told me what's going on.

All the others were "somebody's going to talk about it," "somebody is talking about it," or "bankruptcy bankruptcy" leaving me to think they were talking about the bankruptcy bill again. So I appreciate receiving some actual information finally.

But then maybe my DU browse sequence is just wrong.

[Omaha Steve]

3. Clear Channel?????

They have a couple of the worst far right shows on the air here in Omaha.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. There in the 'make money' business, not the 'ideology' business

Call this 'hedging your bets'.

[CarlVK]

22. I wish more people realized this.

I get awfully tired of all the catterwalling I hear from people over hosts like Mike Malloy, who's ratings don't pass muster and they get let go. It's a business, guys. A money making or money losing venture. If AAR is going to survive this they have to figure out how to MAKE ad dollars, not bleed them...while maintaining a semblence of their ideological reason for being.

I don't have an answer as to how this will for sure be accomplished. But I can tell you that ignoring market necessities will be to the networks ultimate demise.

[elfin]

7. The reason I got XM instead of Sirius

Crap.

[bdamomma]

8. oh boy, the RW is going to be basking in this news.

not good news at all, we need progressive radio out there, for people to get the truth not all this spin and division that the RW is spewing.

[darkmaestro019]

12. That's the part I'm dreading. The gloating

Because as we all know, nothing is worth anything unless it rakes in a sh*tload of money. :sarcasm:

[thereismore]

13. let them gloat. They shall lose in Nov, that's gonna hurt. nt

[darkmaestro019]

30. Your lips/choose a deity's ear

I just made my usual random woo/you jerks noise to the news that it's only layoffs. I'm leaning towards woo. Still standing is always good.

[imfreaky]

10. Have to say i'm mystified by this

are there not just as many of us out there? Not in enough markets or what? I mean WTF! This is just sad sad sad.

[endarkenment]

11. Shitty AM stations impossible to hear.

I stopped trying even before I switched to sirius.

[drbtg1]

31. You hit the nail on the head

I have an AAR station only thirty miles away and I get nothing. I get stations 120 miles away but not AAR.

That, plus the satellite radio exclusivity deal, was deadly.

[Fredda Weinberg]

32. AAR gave exposure to talent like Randi

She enjoyed coverage like she never had in Florida. Even Malloy, for all his current trials and tribulations, will land on his feet, better for the experience.

If it lives or dies, the intention and impulse remain - and right now it does good.

[bdamomma]

14. it is sad especially now before a mid term election

[KoKo]

15. They have alot of ads....but maybe they don't charge enough??

[paulk]

17. this is more a reflection of the state of the economy

than on AAR. Advertising revenues are down across the board as businesses cut their ad budgets. Starting a large enterprise like a radio network under the Bush economy was always a risky thing - I hope AAR can keep itself on the air.

[JABBS]

18. maybe the restructuring will lead to a new format

I've said this before, but it would be less expensive, and offer a true alternative, if AAR were to have three bankable national stars -- Al Franken, Rachel Maddow and maybe someone like Eric Alterman or Ed Schultz -- and then fill in the remainder with local people.

You'd have eight or nine hours of national stuff, covering the rush hour time slots. But then have local progressives talking about important local and regional issues, or localizing national and international stories.

That wouldn't cost as much in terms of talent. But it would give listeners a real alternative to most talk radio, which is purely national.

I'm not suggesting having 50 local news teams. You could have six or eight regional teams, so that the person listening in New York, Philly and Boston would hear a mix of Northeast news, and the person in Chicago, Minneapolis or Cleveland would hear Midwest news, etc.

[NJ Democrats]

23. I agree

I thnik they should do what ESPN Radio does. ESPN Radio has 3 National Shows, and then several local broadcasters. But ESPN also has many stations in different cities.

[MoonRiver]

19. Randi Rhodes said she will discuss this at 4:00 (Eastern?) today.

[GOPS Worst Fear]

20. Liberalism and Liberal Talk Radio Will Go On Regardless..

It's not that AA or any other liberal talk show is NOT popular. It has been. It's getting the corporate backing. That is where the problem has always been.
Now in case you are trying to say this will end liberal talk shows please try to keep up here...
Below is a list of all the Liberal talk show host that I know of. I am sure there are a lot more. Even if AA went by the waste side today there are still other NETWORKS who have liberal talk shows.
Head On Radio station has Bob Kincaid, Guy James, and Bruce Burch
Bartcop radio
KGO am 810 has Bernie Ward and Ray Taliaferro at their Powerhouse 50,000 watt station.
The Jones Syndication
Has Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz in syndication.
Almost all Air America Affiliates which there are over 80 also employ their own local liberal talent for those cities.
Radiopower.org
Here's More:
Weekly Liberal talk shows:
http://www.geocities.com/liberalprogressivetalk/weekdays.html

Week-end Liberal Talk Shows
http://www.geocities.com/liberalprogressivetalk/weekends.html

[ShortnFiery]

21. Thank you for the web links!

:applause: I also see the glass as "half full." :hi:

[regnaD kciN]

24. I have to ask...

Below is a list of all the Liberal talk show host that I know of. I am sure there are a lot more. Even if AA went by the waste side today there are still other NETWORKS who have liberal talk shows.
Head On Radio station has Bob Kincaid, Guy James, and Bruce Burch
Bartcop radio

Are either of these real radio networks, or just some guys streaming over the Internet?

[GOPS Worst Fear]

26. They are real and links...

why don't you click on them and try them out?

[regnaD kciN]

27. If they're "real," where are their stations...?

I look at H.O.R.N., and can't see a single radio station listed, either as an affiliate (a la Air America) or a customer for syndication.

Let me be clear about this: if something calls itself a "radio network," it needs to have radio stations. On the air and over the air. (While pay-to-listen systems like Sirius and XM may be nice for those who can afford them, they still remain a niche market unaccessable to the average radio listener.) Stations where, if you live in the proper region, you can turn on your radio (at home, in your car, or a portable), tune it to that station, and listen to their programming.

That's what radio is.

What radio is not: a "station" that does not broadcast over-the-air at all, that can only be accessed via an Internet browser and a broadband connection, streaming "content" that was created on the cheap for that streaming site. I'm not saying that sites like that don't have some value (although they're of very little use to the many who still can only get dial-up connections, and of even less use when you're in a place -- like your car -- where you can't easily set up a computer or get on the Internet), but they aren't "radio." They're what I would call "pretend radio" (although "fake radio" might be more accurate, albeit more brutal) -- not unlike boasting a "cable news channel," when all you've got is a homebrew program airing on your local public-access station. To equate "pretend radio" websites to a real chain of dozens of big-city on-air stations -- that reach millions wherever they go -- is delusional at best.

Once again, let me make the point. If the goal of progressive electronic media is not just to "preach to the choir" -- who already know about it and are willing to take the time and effort to hook up to a web stream or spend the money for XM -- but to bring in new listeners, there's no substitute for a real, local, over-the-air outlet that the "average Joe" might stumble upon while changing stations and get hooked on. If progressives have that, they have a viable radio network. If all we have is a streaming web site or two calling themselves a "radio network," we've got bupkis.

[TheDonkey]

25. Unfortunate news no matter what your personal opinions of AA are

AA went into untested waters and I really hope that it can survive.

[ChipsAhoy]

28. Thanks, Welsh -- but I'm waiting for Rush's radio show to go bankrupt.

Any news on that?

[elperromagico]

29. That damn liberal media strikes again. Now it's eating its own!!!

:eyes: