Saturday - October 14, 2006

You Can Lead A Horse To Water …

… but you can’t make him drink. That was my first thought when I heard the news last night. My second thought was “Don’t any liberals listen to talk radio?” My answer to myself was “Self, obviously they don’t.”

This has been almost predictable from the beginning. The only question was how long it would be before Air America crashed. They played fast and loose with charity money, ran up big bills and never could attract an audience. Can you guess why?

Because nobody in their right mind wants to listen to the mindless drivel coming from the Left. “Bushchimphitler”, “No blood for oil”, “Cheney conspiracy”, “Haliburton payoffs”, etc. The list goes on and on. Not even the Angry Left could be convinced to tune their radios to this crap. Then again, the Angry Left is probably too busy listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly so they could build up their anger.

Personally, I never listened to Air America and the only knowledge I have is from readers who have told me what they heard. I thought they were joking. Obviously I was mistaken. Anyway, this bunch isn’t going to go away. They’ll reorganize and they will figure out a way to pay off their creditors (to the tune of $21 million shekels).

In the meantime, poor Al Frankenstein will have to suck it up for the $300 grand he is owed. The real downside to this is that Janeane Garofalo will probably not be able to afford the face-lift she so desperately needs ... not to mention Al Franken’s much needed psychotherapy ....

Air America Parent Files for Chapter 11
_{(LA TIMES) - October 14, 2006}

Red ink finally got the better of the nation’s blue-state radio network. The parent of Air America Radio, plagued by management and financial problems since its inception, filed Friday for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The filing in New York by Piquant, the network’s parent company, became necessary after negotiations with one of the privately held company’s founding creditors broke down, said Air America spokeswoman Jaime Horn. She declined to identify the creditor, but Piquant has had troubles in the past with its business partner, MultiCultural Broadcasting Inc.

The liberal radio network, which bills itself as a progressive spot on the dial, will remain on the air — including on Los Angeles affiliate KTLK-AM (1150) — while operating under Bankruptcy Court protection.

“By running such a poor business they did a disservice to liberal talk radio by making it seem like the problem was that they were liberal,” said Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers magazine, a talk-radio industry trade publication. “Before you change the world, make sure you pay your bills.”

Last month, the network’s star commentator, comedian Al Franken, complained publicly that his paychecks had stopped. Air America made headlines when it was founded two years ago, trumpeting itself as a response to radio’s many conservative voices such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The network’s on-air talent has included actress Janeane Garofalo and talk-show host Jerry Springer as well as Franken.

The Bankruptcy Court filing shows an operation in a deep financial hole. Assets of $4.3 million are far outstripped by $20.3 million in liabilities, according to the filing. Creditors include Franken, who is listed as being owed $360,749.

During the bankruptcy proceedings, Air America will continue to operate with funding from Democracy Allies, an investor group that includes Rob Glaser, chief executive of RealNetworks Inc., who made his initial fortune as a Microsoft Corp. executive.

Glaser, who once served as chairman of Air America, holds a one-third stake in the company. He resigned Friday as a director of Piquant. Horn said that Scott Elberg, who has been at the network since 2005, had been named its chief executive. Before joining Air America, he worked on two radio stations in New York.

“Nobody likes filing for bankruptcy,” Elberg said in a statement. “However, this move will enable us to concentrate on informing and entertaining our audience during the coming months.”

From the start Air America has lost money, including $13.1 million so far this year, according to the Chapter 11 filing. In 2005, its operating loss reached $19.2 million, up from 2004’s $8.6 million.

The network also has become a revolving door, the filing indicates. Two board members, Douglas Kreeger and Tom Embrescia, have left. In June, Gray Krantz left as president. Executive Vice President Tom Athans and Chief Operating Officer Carl Ginsburg exited in July.

- More on the story from the LA TIMES ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/14/2006 at 02:46 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists •  
• Comments (9) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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