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The shakeup which didn't happen didn't happen earlier this month
The AP reports (alternate link):
Mark Walsh... said Tuesday that he gave up his CEO title earlier this month... the company also had put its programming director, David Logan, on administrative leave earlier this month. He declined to comment on the reasons for Logan's departure, and Logan also declined to comment...
In early April, everything was presumably going swimmingly. However, on the 14th the Gates of Hell opened. Maybe "earlier this month" means "shortly after we lost our signal in the #2 and #3 markets."
But, wait, there's more!
...the company is now being run on an interim basis by David Goodfriend, the company's lawyer... Goodfriend has no operating experience in radio other than a stint as a disk jockey in Beloit, Wis.
Posted in Meta at 08:32 PM | Comments (2)
"Al Franken Is a Big Fat Radio Host"
From a Rolling Stone article on AA's first week, here's the first paragraph:
There's The O'Franken Factor on Air America, a little island, an outpost, a brand-new infidel in the empire of conservative wrath and rant radio, the solitary liberal midday talk show in America, with Al Franken, the comedian and writer, in command. Around the offices of The Factor, it is sometimes observed that March 31st, the day the show began broadcasting, marked the end of the television era and the beginning of the era of radio...
Unfortunately, I scanned the whole article. Most of it is quotes from Franken. As for the author of the piece, I don't think he's kidding. That's right, that paragraph above was not meant sarcastically.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
A retouching moment in Air America history
Get out your airbrushes and prep history for a rewrite. The Chicago Tribune reports that AA's CEO has left and their vice president for operations and programming has been replaced ('2 top Air America execs leave choppy network').
(Via LAObserved)
UPDATE: Our staff is feverishly working on obtaining the Mark Walsh comments that might have precipitated his unexpected retirement to Siberia.
UPDATE 2: Big Rick Stuart has more here.
Posted in Meta at 09:34 AM | Comments (1)
AirAmerica is brokered!
Paul Weyrich goes into the details of AirAmerica's dirty little secret in 'A Bad Signal From Liberal Radio':...Rush Limbaugh is on more than 600 radio stations, many of them the most powerful in the nation. He doesn't pay to get on. Essentially radio stations pay him for airing the show. They take his program because they are convinced that he is going to draw such a big audience that they will be able to sell commercials within the show at a premium price. You see, for each of the three hours of Rush's show there are x number of commercials that are available for sale. Rush handles some of these "avails". This is whence his big bucks have come... Limbaugh put together his own network. His people do the national sales and he makes the rules regarding the number "avails" that will be available for sale...Are you with me so far? OK, now read this and this:
If Air America is paying Multicultural Radio to get their programming on in two of the biggest markets in the nation, they will quickly have to attract a mighty big audience to get the money from their advertisers to cover that major market bill - and they will have to keep paying until the audience is so large that Mr. Liu will accept a deal similar to what Rush offers. You take the program and in return you have the right sell so much advertising within the program...
One person who was participating in one of the many conversations dedicated to the revelation of Franken and pals' dirty little secret pointed out the following: Part of the original hype of Air America was that they had $30 million in cash and were going to buy up radio stations. HELLO!! A small, city-based AM station or a low powered suburban FM station in a market like Chicago would cost you $30 million all by itself! A full power FM in a far Northern suburb of Chicago sold three years ago (when prices were lower) for almost $200 million. The only thing that Air America can possibly do is buy air time. And brokers are the scum-nibbling bottom feeders of broadcasting...The author of those last two article appears to be former Indiana talk radio host Paul Phillips, pictured on this page. See also this 4/15 post from someone else:
...Now, AA is having a tantrum..calling Mr. Liu names like Liu ficer, threatening to slam his head into a car door, etc. (see the Sludge report on the AA website), libelling him in the press, and all sorts of other nasty stuff.And also this 4/16 post that goes into AA's hubris:
Let me assure you, their behavior will not help them get back on the air in Los Angeles and Chicago...in fact, I highly doubt they will be back on the MRBI stations there.
To put things into a nutshell, AA cut off their nose to spite their face and now there's a big, ugly scar there. Fact is, AA needs MRBI more then the reverse, yet they acted (and continue to act) WAY too arrogant. I was at the AA studios this afternoon and everyone there was in shock about how badly their counterparts in NY were acting. The phrase "spoiled children" was used more then once...
I think these guys think they're dealing with some kind of hick. They're reported as saying they're looking for "a more mature" partner in Los Angeles. These are the same "mature" folks who attacked Arthur with the Sludge Report...(All of these posts are provided for entertainment purposes only, I have no way of verifying whether they're true or not.)
Posted in Meta at 10:21 PM | Comments (7)
Shoelace production up 47% this quarter! New victories expected in Los Angeles, Chicago!
David Goodfriend, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Air America Radio, has ordered that the following should be promulgated:
Air America Radio is pleased to announce that it has settled its dispute with MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting with regard to WNTD AM in Chicago. As part of the settlement, Air America Radio will remain on WNTD until April 30, 2004. Listeners in Chicago should stay tuned to hear where they may find Air America Radio after April 30, 2004. Air America Radio also will announce shortly where Los Angeles listeners can tune in.
"We are pleased that we reached a negotiated settlement," said David Goodfriend, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Air America Radio.
Furthermore, new victories are expected in Chicago and Los Angeles:
We are in discussions to broadcast Air America Radio on strong signal stations in Chicago and Los Angeles. We'll have an announcement on these developments shortly.
Our forces continue to repel the Enemy on major fronts:
...Air America must seek new homes in the nation's second and third-largest markets less than three weeks into its short life...
Posted in Meta at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)
"All-left radio is lacking the right stuff for success"
David Shaw of the L.A. Times listened to an entire day's programming of Air America, all 17 hours of it: "It may have been the most boring day of my life."
More:
...In a country in which 64% of the public say they attend weekend worship services at least once a month, mocking religion might not be the most effective way to win converts — and yet, on Good Friday no less, that's exactly what the various Air America hosts repeatedly did.
Two of the hosts gratuitously announced that they're Jewish, and one — Marc Maron of the network's "Morning Sedition" program — went on to make fun of Easter and Christmas rituals. Then, in a segment he called "morning devotional," Maron began his prayer for divine guidance on behalf of President Bush by saying, "Dear Lord, what the hell is going on up there?"
...I think what ultimately annoyed — and disappointed me — the most about Air America was all the false, aren't-we-funny, aren't-we-smart laughter that virtually all the hosts gave each other. Four of Air America's six weekday programs have co-hosts — and two have three co-hosts apiece, liberal collectives that stand in stark contrast to the individual, every-man-for-himself approach of the conservatives...
(Via LAObserved)
Posted in Reviews at 10:14 AM | Comments (3)
Air America coming back to Chicago; Los Angeles up in the air
Evan Cohen, Chairman of Air America Radio has ordered that the following statement should be promulgated:
"Air America Radio expects to be back on the air in Chicago starting tomorrow. Next stop, Los Angeles.
The New York State Supreme Court agreed with Air America Radio and granted our restraining order against MultiCultural Broadcasting, forcing them to put us back on the air on WNTD AM 950 in Chicago, just 24 hours after we filed the motion...
Air America will now turn its focus to Los Angeles, seeking legal remedies and exploring other broadcast options with a partner who is more responsible and mature."
According to this NYT report, one condition of granting the TRO was that they post a $156,000 bond.
The AP couldn't reach MultiCultural for comment ('Air America says court order to restore broadcasts in Chicago'). That AP report seems to think KCAA 1050 is a "Los Angeles" station. It's out of Riverside, which is 100 miles or so east of Los Angeles. Maybe if I had my antenna working I could pick it up.
Posted in Meta at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
Breaking: NPR Launches Hostile Takeover of Lib Radio Network
Details of the offer here.
Posted in Satire at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)
"Aren't you supposed to be monitoring Air America?"
Yes, that is our stated job. However, when I turned on 1580 AM in L.A. and I heard a religious show en Espanol, I thought it was part of Air America's attempt to reach out to those stifled Minority Voices.
Little did I know that, as Evan Cohen, Chairman of Air America Radio tells us:
Air America Radio is temporarily unable to be heard on WNTD in Chicago and KBLA in Los Angeles, but Chicago and Los Angeles listeners can still hear our broadcast on the web at airamericaradio.com and on XM Satellite Radio (channel 167).
"MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting's conduct in this matter has been disgraceful. To shut off a broadcast that listeners rely on without warning and in the middle of discussions is the height of irresponsibility and a slap in the face of the media industry. In addition, it is a clear violation of their contractual obligations, and we are seeking legal remedies against them in court.
Janeane has issued a renunciation of Multicultural's actions here.
However, per Drudge:
A Chicago source familiar with the situation said a Multicultural representative showed up at WNTD's offices Wednesday morning, kicked out Air America's lone staffer overseeing the network's feed to the station from New York, switched over to a Spanish-language feed, and changed the locks on the doors... Developing...
Meanwhile, remember that La Biblia Es La Verdad.
UPDATE: From the Chicago Tribune:
Arthur Liu, owner of Multicultural Radio Broadcasting, which owns Air America affiliates WNTD-950 AM in Chicago and KBLA-1580 AM in Los Angeles, said Air America bounced a check and owes him more than $1 million..."They bounced a check today," Liu said. "It's a default. They have paid only a very small portion of what they owe us." Liu declined to say how much Multicultural is owed, but did say he is holding $1 million in checks that Air America has asked the company not to cash...
[use laexaminer2004/laexaminer]
UPDATE 2: AirAmerica's request for a TRO is here. They claim to have paid their bills and that Multicultural should have gone to arbitration in the case of a contract dispute. There is no mention of the VRWC in their request.
UPDATE 3: Robert the Llama Butcher comments here: "Under FCC rules dealing with Time Brokerage Agreements, the licensee [i.e., Multicultural --LW] MUST retain ultimate control of the broadcast facilities at all times, including control of content. I vaguely remember seeing a case a few years ago where a programming broker tried to get an injunction against a station in district court in order to keep the station from dropping the broker's programming... The programmer could still sue for damages from contract breach, but could not force the licensee to air its programming."
Posted in Meta at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
Air America: stifling even more Voices of Color
They displaced a Korean station in L.A. and a black station in NYC.
Now, even more Minority Voices of Color will be silenced:
the new radio network would air on two stations that currently offer Asian-language programming -- San Francisco's KVTO-AM 1400 and San Jose's KVVN-AM 1430. The Air American programming will be broadcast in English, but neither the radio network nor the two stations have said when the change would occur or what the future held for the stations' employees. KVTO general manger Harvey Stone could not be reached for comment...
(Via Drudge)
Posted in Meta at 03:46 PM | Comments (3)
Randi Rhodes on Rice
Randi is accusing the Bush Administration of murder for their perceived lack of response to terrorism prior to 9/11.
She's also attempting to say that Condi's attempt to differentiate between strategic and tactical responses to terrorist acts amounts to doing nothing. Here's the relevant excerpt from Rice's testimony:
I would like to think that we might have come to an effective response [to another Cole-type attack]. I think that in the context of war, when you're at war with somebody, it's not an issue of every battle or every skirmish; it's an issue of, can you do strategic damage to this organization? And we were thinking much more along the lines of strategic damage.
UPDATE: I edited the first paragraph to make clear the context of the accusation.
Posted in RandiRhodes at 03:31 PM | Comments (5)
A live blogospheric circle
Janeane and Sam will be interviewing the blogger I refer to as "Hatrios," and I'll be trying to blog it in almost real-time.
Developing.
UPDATE: Hatrios is explaining blogging, what is a blog, etc. etc.
Sam and Hatrios are complaining about supposed pandering by Bush. Blacks are only found in GWB's "Compassion" section, and not elsewhere. (Meanwhile, here's an example of the Democratic idea of diversity.)
Hatrios complaining about a picture of Bush with pudgy white men. Janeane chimes in; general Bush-is-anti-women talk ensues. Janeane refers to "partial birth abortion" as "dilation and extraction;" the naming controversy is explained here.
Hatrios is complaining about the Bush TV ad "Wacky" following a report on deaths in Iraq. I'm sure that that evil $hrub planned it that way.
UPDATE 2: Sorry, I nodded off for a moment there. Live blogging will resume momentarily.
UPDATE 3: Oh God, they've invited Hatrios back for another segment. Rush would have pressed the Eject button 15 minutes ago.
UPDATE 4: Janeane attempts to answer the question about AirAmerica not being diverse enough: "We have blacks and gays and Jews and women."
No, Hatrios et al, the anti-AirAmerica "talking point" about not being diverse enough did not come from Alvin Maddox, it's been around for a while. See my link to the article in the Sacramento Observer here.
Hatrios predicts AirAmerica or the success thereof will drive the Right nuts.
Hatrios: "[Hitherto] there hasn't been a platform to answer the idiots and hatemongers on the right."
Hatrios gets yet another "talking point" incorrect. There's no market for explicitly liberal media; the major media is implicitly liberal.
Janeane says you need to cobble together your view of the world from the Nation, Mother Jones, NPR, and Pacifica.
Janeane used the word Manichean. She mispronounced it, but nobody's perfect.
Hatrios tried to say Janeane was the only anti-war personage booked to TV talk shows; Janeane corrected him.
Janeane: "A lot of Fox watchers don't like the ladies."
UPDATE 5: God I hate this job.
P.S. Jaysus does Sam... Seder... talk... slow... You pause for effect. Not... between... each... frigging... word...
Posted in Prevarications at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)
The O'Franken Factor Blog
In addition to the Majority Report blog, there's one for the O'Franken Factor. Both blogs allow comments.
Posted in Meta at 12:49 PM | Comments (1)
ChuckD's "collective"
After a discussion with an ACLU member concerning the FL and NYC police monitoring rap stars, ChuckD said that people of color and women need to realize that they're all part of the "collective." No, Chuck, you aren't supposed to be so explicit. Likewise, "Marxist dialectic" is right out.
P.S. Welcome Wonkette readers. I have two guest bloggers lined up, I just need to configure things. And, I'm looking for more guest bloggers who can post here occasionally. But, you must have a blog so I can verify you aren't a leftie in disguise. See this message for more information.
Posted in ChuckD at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)
"Hired killers"
Janeane refers to the contractors in Iraq not just as "mercenaries," but as "hired killers."
Dictionary.com defines "mercenary" as: "1) One who serves or works merely for monetary gain; a hireling. 2) A professional soldier hired for service in a foreign army."
This page explains the difference between contractors and mercenaries.
P.S. Please let Dianne Lieblich's advertising budget run out soon. I'm really really tired of her voice.
Posted in Prevarications at 10:02 PM | Comments (3)
Majority Report's blog still linking to DailyKos...
Second item on their 'Daily Blog Reading' list.
Posted in Meta at 09:55 PM | Comments (2)
Pearls from Katrina van den Heuvel
Nation editor KVDH is on Majority Report. Unfortunately, I seem to have missed the DailyKos segment. Excerpts:
Janeane refuses to call the Iraq War a "war." Instead, it's an "invasion and an occupation."
Janeane to KVDH: "you're part of the press, part of the Good Guys"
KVDH says the print press in Moscow is as free as the print press in NYC; only Russia's television media is restricted.
Janeane: "there's no liberal bias in the media." KVDH agrees: "If you ask Bill Kristol [among others], they admit they made up the liberal media as a device."
KVDH, Janeane, and Steven Colbert from The Daily Show formed into a circle and whined about how stoopid most Americans are...
Posted in Prevarications at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
"Air America a Great Disappointment"
From a contributor to dc.indymedia.org:
...With the Pacifica network struggling to stay afloat and reclaim its audience and funding to stay on the increasingly hostile airwaves, one hoped that Air America would either be a solid competitor to carry forward the torch or even an ally.
Air America is unfit for both. By adopting the same form and the same attitudes [as the evil KKKon$ervatives --LW], these so-called liberals have allowed themselves to be co-opted by the very fascism they are so angry about...
Posted in Reviews at 01:34 AM | Comments (3)
The Bore America challenge
OK, so by now we all know that Chuck D and Sam Seder will be the first Air America "talents" to be so consumed with outside projects that they must immediately discontinue their illustrious and highly-valued by their coworkers contributions to the Great Cause.
The only question is, when?
The person with the closest guess for either, left in the comments before April 15, 2004, will win a Michael Savage tape or book or something of similar fairly low cost.
Posted in Satire at 01:17 AM | Comments (5)
More blogospheric reaction
Right-Thinking has a review, including the following:
After his interview he gave the expected platitudes about how wonderful it was to have a national left-wing network, then he and the host ran down the list of markets where it is being heard: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. The guy stated, "Yeah, and as far as I'm concerned that's the real America." How typical of a leftie, to list a handful of big city liberal enclaves and claim that that's the "real" America.
Virtuous Circle has several posts, starting here.
Posted in Reviews at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)
A first taste of Janeane Garofalo
I've listened to my first 10 minutes of the Janeane show and I haven't heard anything. Who is this Sam guy? Why is he unable to speak... like... a... normal... human?
Sam and Janeane are having to take a short break while Sam explains one of his sophisticated conspiracy theories to her. I'm going to assume Sam thinks we want to pull our troops out of Iraq and replace them with mercenaries. This will make money for Halliburton in some way.
To be continued...
Well, they're back from the break. Unfortunately, they're now introducing David Korn, so we're unable to find out what if anything Sam was thinking.
Mas later...
Posted in Reviews at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)
"Liberal Radio Network Hits Air With Left Jab"
From Howard Kurtz in the WaPo.
Posted in Reviews at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)
"The station was in many ways a Black activist outlet"
Well, the fact that NYC's former Afrocentric station is now broadcasting Al Franken is for the greater good.
Nevertheless, the Sac Observer (that's their name, OK?) laments the change.
Posted in Meta at 03:21 PM | Comments (0)
"Franken's radio debut shy of perfection"
From St. Louis' Star Tribune.
Posted in Reviews at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)
"like ralph was a pinto and randi rear-ended him"
Titular quote from liberal blogger Skippy. Other posts here, here, and here.
Other blogospheric reaction: Wonkette (2), Hit & Run 1 and 2, John Kerry's blog, Balloon Juice, Crooked Timber, liberal Kevin Drum can't get a signal in deep behind the Orange Curtain, liberal media apologist Pandagon, Phelps has been converted, Begging to Differ has a review and it's not favorable, "[hitherto conservative] Talk radio is a format whose primary job is to disseminate disinformation to the faithful", Lonewacko starting the "displacing Minority Voices" meme since carried forward by Insty, a professional ventriloquist has a review and interesting links, "a liberal alternative to the usual hate-mongering." Finally, Crysta agrees with AA but finds it a bit dry.
UPDATE: Air America's target audience responds: "they made a rush limb song..." Many more comments followed, some semi-coherent.
UPDATE 2: Byte Back doesn't get Rush's schtick. JewView thinks it's MOR.
UPDATE 3: Alert to Finnish readers! Please click here and send me a rush translation.
UPDATE 4: Expat Yank compares it to the Beeb: "in comparison to the BBC, Air America Radio would probably appear a tad conservative."
Travelling Shoes says: DOA.
A DJ has background info on their SF outlet. (Via here).
Posted in Reviews at 02:42 PM | Comments (2)
"Liberal Air America adds bluster to the blustery talk-radio market"
From the San Diego Union-Tribune:
...Another Air America host, Randi Rhodes, is a hysterical shrieker who never heard a conservative conspiracy theory she found too far-fetched to share with listeners...
Posted in Reviews at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
"Franken's shtick shaky in liberal radio debut"
So sayeth the AJC.
Posted in Reviews at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)
