The REAL poop on Air America
aka Why Radio Is Such A Strange Industry
Note: Air America Radio has been uniformly shredded by reviews in the corporate media. Its internal business problems, while serious, have been reported as terminal, and the network has been left for dead. Meanwhile, in the real world, AAR is generating amazing rating numbers considering its lack of major market coverage outside metro NYC. New investors and advertisers are replacing the ones driven away by the corporate hardball campaign. Sure looks like someone in corporate New York is scared......
LowerManhattanite (67 posts) Tue May-25-04 10:56 PM
Response to Reply #93
106. I work for WBAI-FM (Pacifica) in NY...Edited on Tue May-25-04 11:11 PM by LowerManhattanite
...and previously for Inner City Broadcasting ( ICBC-the license holder for the WLIB 1190 AM/WBLS 107.5 FM frequencies), so I feel I can speak on this with a certain level of authority...
Air America is fine. The payroll issue is a long-standing one with ICBC. Air America is run out of the old 33rd ICBC/ WLIB floor studios which were heavily renovated (by broadcast engineer friends of mine). They went from analog with a few CD players to a full digital format using NO tape. This quick switch (done in a span of three weeks--amazingly fast!) took place with almost NO shakedown/test-run of the equipment. Thus, the occasionally choppy air sound. They lost a major sponsor in GM when a vendetta-addled former editor-now columnist for the Daily News named Michael Goodwin mounted an immediate campaign against the network. (He won a Pulitzer while editor for his vendetta against the one-time Inner City Broadcasting-owned Apollo Theater and it's management---yes...he has a bug up his ass about the African-American Sutton family that owns AAr's flagship frequency)
He personally called GM's ad sellers and complained about Randi's comparison of the Bush family to the Corleones and her direct comparison of W to the dim Fredo. GM blinked and yanked the account, biting into the direct revenue stream--thus the payroll hiccup.
They have secured other investors which have been named---and some prominent ones who have NOT been named. Money isn't the problem. Ad sales are. And those problems have abated considerably. Various pharmaceutical companies have recently signed on, nearly ALL of the free Ad Council ads are gone and believe it or not two of the newest advertisers to sign on are Shell Petroleum and...wait for it...Sam's Club AKA Wal-Mart. Ford stepped into the breach for GM based on the web stream numbers. Marketers can tell a lot about a target market that has computers or daily access to them where they can be listened to (white-collar jobs translates into people with money). As to the ratings numbers, they mean what they say. In the most desired demographic, Limbaugh got beat by a two-month old baby upstart in the biggest media market. That covers New York, New Jersey and Connecticut---a listener base of nearly 12 million people and in the city of the lionized-for-no-good-reason repug Giuliani, the present mayorlty of the trollish repug Bloomberg and the smirking three-term GOP governor Pataki. How does this affect the competition?
Here's how. AAR's direct competition namely the NPR affilliates WNYC/WNYE and my present employer WBAI-FM are scared sh*tless. We have been from the moment AAR announced it's impending existence. These are the progressive stations in the NY area and from the moment of the announcement we all knew that fund-raising was gonna take a massive blow to the head. If those listeners are listening to AAR (and unfortunately, they are), that means they're not listening when we have fund drives---which translates into diminished revenue. The vast bulk of public radio listeners don't pay in anyway, so any slip in the audience means a loss of potential wallets. And the audience has slipped. (In addition to the loss of a lot of behind the scenes local talent AAR has hired away)
Sorry to ramble, but as something of an insider, I felt I could tell you a bit more than you're hearing via the rumor mill and freeper-provacateurs. The station isn't perfect, but it's doing better and is on a serious upswing. Watch soon for the weekend gaps to be filled with new programming in lieu of the repeats. The recent ratings are excellent--proof of the pudding? The sad faces here at WBAI and at WNYC and in the invite of Franken to speak at the influential "Talkers" conference.
Thanks for reading,
LM
...and trust me..Phil Boyce (the WABC Programming Director) is boiling mad about the ratings book numbers. The period Franken cited is the midday block (as opposed to morning drive and evening drive which sandwiches it). He's already got his little anti-union attack poodle and weekend host Steve Malzberg (the whiny little f*ck who was on Scarborough-"how'd-that-dead-intern-get-in-my-office" Country last week) foaming at the mouth about it. The progressives in NY radio all get along in spite of the competition. JoAnne Allen who does the midday news on AAR is still on good terms with her buds at WNYC and all the Pacifica "Democracy Now" folks have a standing invite on Majority Report.
That said, there are some glum faces at NYC and BAI with the hit they've taken listener-wise. (Although with NYC's rightward drift, their pain I can live with.)
[Note: WBAI has actually been in serious decline for several years, due to factional struggles which have affected the quality of programming. -hugh]
from:
http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=6&id=5072
According to the latest Arbitron ratings extrapolations, The O'Franken Factor crushed Rush Limbaugh in New York in April...
If you were an average 18- to 34-year-old in New York in April, you were 7 times more likely to be listening to Al Franken than Rush Limbaugh according to extrapolation of Arbitron ratings data. Air America Radio's WLIB beat WABC by a smaller margin among 25-54 year-olds.
According to the Chicago Tribune, "WLIB won sevenfold with a 2.9 share to WABC's 0.4" among the former group and "WLIB garnered a 3.4 share to WABC's 3.1" among the latter group between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM, which comprises the last 2 hours of Unfiltered and all of The O'Franken Factor on WLIB and local radio personality John Gambling, Paul Harvey and Rush Limbaugh on WABC. The O'Franken Factor and Rush Limbaugh go head-to-head from Noon until 3 PM Eastern time.
Right-wing-generated rumours of Air America's quick demise have clearly been greatly exaggerated. Despite what amounts to a small set of problems unsurprising for any new business venture, Air America Radio has things well under control. Perhaps the Bush administration could learn something applicable to its out-of-control occupation of Iraq from Progress Media.
From Corey Deitz, Your Guide to Radio
Dateline: 05/08/04
The Associated Press reports more top executives at the new liberal network, Air America Radio, have left the operation. Evan Cohen, co-founder and his investment partner, Vice-Chairman Rex Sorensen are both stepping down from the board. The Associated Press says both Cohen and Sorensen declined to say what they would do with their financial stake in the company.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
"Company President Jon Sinton told the Chicago Tribune...that Cohen resigned because other investors weren't happy with how he handled a financial dispute with affiliate stations in Los Angeles and Chicago, which resulted in the network's going off the air in those cities, with no replacements yet lined up."
The Times also reports, "Air America also missed its payroll this week by one day, for what insiders called technical reasons."
The exit of Cohen and Sorensen continue a string of departures. In late April, Mark Walsh, stepped down as CEO of Air America Radio and its initial Program Director, David Logan, was put on "administrative leave".
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.
Air America radio is also available at www.airamericaradio.com and on XM Satellite Radio (channel 167) and Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 125).
From About.Radio:
Dateline: 04/16/04
Air America Radio, the fledgling new liberal network, gets back on-the-air in Chicago today, one day after having its plug pulled over a contract dispute with the owner of the station the network is leasing air-time from.
Yesterday, a New York State Supreme Court Justice, Marylin G. Diamond, issued a restraining order requiring WNTD/950AM to resume broadcasting the Air America Radio network feed.
Air America Radio says it is pursuing a remedy with the Los Angeles station, KBLA/1580AM, where its programming was interrupted as well and hopes to be back on-the-air there soon.
This saga began on Thursday when the owner of both stations dropped the network feed after alleging a payment check had bounced.
~ Corey Deitz
From a source in the legal profession:
Air America has two separate contracts with MRBI, one for L.A. and one for Chicago. Air America has brought an injunction against MRBI for its closing down the Chicago station over a dispute related to the L.A. station.
Air America says that they did a stop order on the rent check when Liu wouldn't discuss with them what he was doing by double dipping with the rent money. Air America says Liu is refusing to arbitrate according to the contract.
See the injunction link from The Smoking Gun for the complaint about the Chicago station.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0414043air1.html
From thesmokinggun.com:
APRIL 14--Air America, summarily booted today off stations in Los Angeles and Chicago for reportedly bouncing a check, is seeking a legal injunction that would return the fledgling liberal network to the airwaves. Air America filed the below breach of contract lawsuit this afternoon in New York State Supreme Court. The complaint alleges that Multicultural Radio Broadcasting, which owns WNTD in Chicago and KBLA in Santa Monica, improperly yanked the network from its Windy City perch over a dispute involving the California station. Air America, which contends that it has "paid all amounts due" for the leasing of airtime on WNTD, has petitioned for a temporary restraining order that would return shows like "The O'Franken Factor" to the dial. (5 pages)
Statement of Evan Cohen, Chairman of Air America Radio:
"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."
The Sludge Report
from airamericaradio.com:
After just two weeks on the air, Air America Radio, the fledgling liberal talk-radio network featuring Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, and that really loud woman from Florida, appears to have encountered serious cash-flow problems.
Stop the presses!!! There’s nothing more exciting than half a story from a third hand source!!!!
Insiders tell SLUDGE, that the reason the network was pulled off the air this morning in Chicago and Los Angeles, the network's second- and third-largest markets, was because, the owner of both stations, Arthur Liu of Multicultural Broadcasting, said, the network bounced a check and owes him more than $1 million!
The run-on sentence, tortured grammar and the exclamation point clearly means it’s true!!
Only it isn’t. Normally we’d let this go because "habitual liars" like Drudge are laughable, and ridicule is our business. But Arthur Liu --- not funny. He lied to us, he ripped us off and now we’re chasing him down with a pipe wrench. It’s a metaphor.
Here’s what really happened:
This Liu-ser was ripping off our boss Evan Cohen big time (he can’t do that, that’s our job). Evan found out about it and he stopped payment on a check to keep Liu-cifer from ripping him off even more. You can touch Evan for the occasional meal or drinks but a million bucks is crossing the line. And if we ever get low on cash, we can always call Barbra Streisand. Or any of the Baldwins. Except Stephen.
So we got screwed, Liu’d, and tattooed. How Liu can you get? In Liu of payment. Liu’d and lascivious behavior. These write themselves. What we’re getting at is that we hate him.
So now everyone’s saying we’re going down the dumper in Chicago and Los Angeles, but what they don’t tell you is that we’re still on in Portland. And we OWN Portland. And let’s not forget Riverside and Plattsburgh. And New York. And streaming on the internet. And XM. And Sirius. Actually we’re fine.
So cool your jets. Air America Radio isn’t dead, we’re in court and we’re going to slam Liu’s head in a car door. Another metaphor. We hope to be back on the air tomorrow or the next day in those markets.
In the meantime, why don’t you give Arthur a call at (212)966-1059. Arthur Liu, I wouldn’t show your face around here.
Or Riverside. Or Plattsburgh.
DEVELOPING……
---------------
Liberal Radio Stations Silenced
Air America network pulled off stations in L.A. and Chicago in a payment dispute.
From the Chicago Tribune 11:45 AM PDT, April 14, 2004
After just two weeks of broadcasting, Air America Radio, the fledgling liberal talk-radio network featuring Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, was pulled off the air this morning in Chicago and Los Angeles, the network's second- and third-largest markets, in a dispute over payments for airtime.
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.
Air America and Multicultural had entered into a time brokerage agreement in which the network was essentially renting Multicultural's airtime, Liu said.
"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.
"They've been saying, 'We're going to get you the money' for the past two months," Liu said, referring to a security deposit that he said Air America was supposed to have prepaid in advance of its launch. "They're not honoring our agreement."
"That is an outright lie," said Evan Cohen, Air America's chairman, in a statement. "Multicultural Radio Broadcasting's conduct in this matter has been disgraceful.... [I]t is a clear violation of their contractual obligations."
Air America filed a complaint today in New York state Supreme Court charging Multicultural with breaching their contract and seeking an injunction to force Multicultural to restore the Air America broadcast on both stations.
Listeners who tuned into WNTD-950, Air America's Chicago affiliate, Wednesday morning heard Spanish-language talk radio instead of "Morning Sedition" and "Unfiltered," the network's morning talk shows.
A Chicago source familiar with the situation said a Multicultural representative showed up at WNTD's offices this 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.
Liu said the same thing happened at KBLA in Los Angeles.
Press release from RealNetworks:
Air America Radio listener demand drives highest ever-concurrent usage of Real Broadcast Network for a non-breaking news service
New York, NY and Seattle, WA — April 07, 2004 — Air America Radio, the new national progressive radio network, and RealNetworks®, Inc., the leading creator of digital media services and software, announced today that over 2 million streams were delivered online for Air America Radio via www.airamericaradio.com during the network’s first week of broadcasting exclusively through RealPlayer® 10. With 50,000 streams delivered concurrently on launch day, this was the highest ever usage of the Real Broadcast Network for a non-breaking news service. Consumers have declared that they will listen live to today’s top political and popular satirists, commentators, and activists.
"We’re extremely pleased that the Air America Radio launch is the single largest non-news stream in Real Broadcast Network history," said Evan Cohen, Chairman of Air America Radio. "Over two million streams within the first week of our launch is a testament to the quality of Air America Radio programming and reach of the Real™ 10 platform."
"Since its launch in January, RealPlayer 10 has been embraced by consumers and reviewers for its ease of use, high quality audio and video, and great programming," said Richard Wolpert, Chief Strategy Officer, RealNetworks, Inc. "We are delighted to add Air America Radio to that programming and help even more consumers connect with the content that matters most to them."
Air America Radio can be accessed free for live audio via RealPlayer 10 by going to www.airamericaradio.com. RealPlayer 10 is available as a free software download at www.real.com.
For More Information:
Maureen (Moe) Farley, RealNetworks, 206.892.6653, mfarley@real.com
Naomi Starkman, Air America Radio, 917.539.3924, nstarkman@airamericaradio.com
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