Think Progress is reporting Air America radio will announce filing for bankruptcy protection on Friday according to three independent sources. The company has experienced financial difficulties throughout its existence, continuing to request infusions of capital and suffering the loss of several high-profile hosts. Five employees were laid off Tuesday without severance.
The network has had several controversies since its inception including a funding scandal involving Evan Cohen. Air America Radio funneled $875,000 dollars from Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, a not-for-profit, in the form of a "loan" to fund its operations. Due to of the less-than-ethical funding arrangement, Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club has been disbanded.
In another incident, The Randi Rhodes Show aired a skit that could have been interpreted as advocating the execution of the President George W. Bush. Several of the shows have been accused as fostering bigotry against Christians, Catholics in particular, and have been seen as lowering the dignity of political debate.
In a comment on Think Progress on the matter:
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.
However, the progressive talk radio format did exist with the variety of IndyMedia projects as well as Pacifica Radio. Air America, however, was the first radio that put through an entire slate of radio shows instead of syndicating individual shows. This has largely caused problems with their expansion as it required stations to pick up the entire network for 24 hours a day instead of the most popular shows.
Ratings have shown that Air America has never been able to compete with rival Rush Limbaugh. However, Air America has brought a new broadcast model into talk radio and has led to similar projects. For instance, Wide Awakes Radio is an internet-only talk radio broadcast station that focuses on conservative content.
Air America's troubled past has finally caught up to them. Board shakeups, hosts leaving, and shady financing have all contributed to the demise of the station. Air America Radio has not returned calls for comment as of this writing.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Arch Conservative
Air Ameirca was a joke from start to finish. Liberals want to talk about tolerance and diversity and then they run ads with Bush getting assisnated. Seems a tad bit hypocritical but that's nothing new for the American left.
I guess Air America couldn't steal enough money from children's organizations to stay in business.
Oh well. they won't be missed.
2 - Braniff
Couldn't the wealthy folks in the entertainment industry subsidize Air America? Or were they too busy with their divorces, DUIs/drug abuse problems, attempts to put their babies on the cover of the babies and attempt to accumulate bling or what not?
3 - Zach Baker
I saw an HBO documentary on it's beginning. While not being someone who agrees with Air America's politics, I did think it was interesting what they were trying to do: Set up an influential radio network in a very short period of time.
They acheived that, in a sense, but their influence is still up in the air. And I think, after watching the documentary, it's a surprise how long the network lasted.
4 - brad schader
AA rested to heavily upon their celeb-radio host wannabes and ignored their real talent. Had they taken Thom Hartman, Ed Schultz, Stephannie Miller, Mike Malloy they would have done great. They tried for names and not talent.
5 - Arch Conservative
Since when is Mike Mallot talented? he's just another foaming at the mouth moonbat who couldn't hold anyone's interts but other foaming at the mouth moonbats.
6 - Jet in Columbus
You're talking about a man who has more talent in his little finger than you have brains Arch. I thought were over your juvenile name calling and that you'd grown up, I guess I was wrong.
7 - Arch Conservative
Mike Malloy is a piece of shit. Nothing but a rabid commie zealot. Fuck him and anyone who listens to his billshit.
8 - Lumpy
Mike Malloy was a certifiable nut and AA actually took him off the air for a while because he was too crazy even for the after midnite slot where he was competing with the crazies from coast to coast.
I actually found AA entertaining (except the tedious Franken) . Does this mean they are going off air or are they just reorganizing?
9 - Jet in Columbus
We it's certainly better than listening to Bushit
10 - Arch Conservative
I would pay good money to watch Michael savage beat the living shit out of Mike Malloy.
11 - Matthew T. Sussman
Or ... you could, oh I don't know, listen to something else on the radio?
12 - Jet in Columbus
Well, if it makes you happy...
13 - Arch Conservative
yeah it would make me about as happy as listening to a skit about Bush getting assisnated made Rhandi Rhodes and her listeners.
14 - Jet in Columbus
at least she can spell the words "their" and "assassinated"
15 - RJ Elliott
"I would pay good money to watch Michael savage beat the living shit out of Mike Malloy."
You mean Michael Weiner, right? ;-)
That being said, I am glad that Air Anti-America is kaput. If radio listeners want a liberal/leftist view on things, they can just tune into NPR...or go online and stream Pacifica.
And it's nice to see a vicious scumbag like Franken lose his job...
16 - Michael J. West
I would pay good money to watch Michael savage beat the living shit out of Mike Malloy.
What's really funny is that you think Mike Malloy is a foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic, but you don't think that Michael Savage is.
17 - Michael J. West
PLEASE NOTE: In the above comment, I did not deny that Mike Malloy was a foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic. At all. I would never deny that.
I'm simply saying that Michael Savage is not, in any way, LESS of a foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic than Malloy.
18 - Matthew T. Sussman
Oh Mike. You and your caveats.
BURN HIM!!!!
19 - Matthew T. Sussman
Filing for bankruptcy means stopping business altogether like impeaching the President means exiting office.
20 - Jet in Columbus
Supporting AA is the same as supporting Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern, they, as we, all have the American right to speak.
21 - Michael J. West
From the article in Bambenek's link:
That out of the way, let's point out a couple of things.
1) Air America is not failing because it is liberal or progressive or "moonbat" or whatever you want to call it. Let me repeat that: AIR AMERICA'S LACK OF SUCCESS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ITS IDEOLOGY. (It was not Bambenek, of course, that suggested that it did, but a fair number of commenters.) Air America is not doing well for the simple reason that it's bad radio. That's it.
2) There is only one thing in this article I can really dispute:
Several of the shows...have been seen as lowering the dignity of political debate.
Really? Political debate in the US had any dignity remaining when AA went on the air?
22 - Matthew T. Sussman
"AIR AMERICA'S LACK OF SUCCESS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ITS IDEOLOGY."
...yes it did.
/Argument Clinic
23 - Michael J. West
Suss,
I'm not able to respond to that comment unless you pay for another five minutes.
24 - Matthew T. Sussman
Oh come on! That was hardly five minutes!
Fine...
25 - Slick Willy
AA was in the odd position that it was competing with Bush himself to point out the idiosity (Bushpeak word?) of his administration's foreign and domestic policies. Just by listening to actual Bush administration speeches (and actions) performs the same function as what AA was trying to accomplish.