PAPER: 'AIR AMERICA' MISSES PAYROLL; MORE TURBULENCE AT LIB TALK NET

[demdave]

In yet another sign of trouble for Air America Radio, the liberal talk network entering its fifth chaotic week on the air, co-founder and chairman Evan Cohen resigned Thursday, as did vice-chairman and investor Rex Sorensen.

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE is planning to report in fresh editions: The company also failed to make its scheduled payroll, leaving its staff roughly 100 radio personalities, writers, and producers unpaid until Thursday.



Warnung....a Drudge developing.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash5.htm

P.S. The cap headline is the work of Drudge.

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. Well...since Drudge says it

it MUST be true down to the very letter! :eyes:

[demdave]

4. I wouldn't bet on it.

[July]

21. Why post from a dubious source, then? n/t

[demdave]

41. He, sarcastically, implied that Drudge was never wrong

I said "I wouldn't bet on it". The truth is that Drudge is often the best source for breaking news. Occasionally, the "developing" stories don't develop but the vast majority of times they do. While Drudge has his own agenda, I can't refute the fact that he gets the stories posted first. You can see for yourself by the number and time of the confirming news articles. Once again, the info was correct but people have problems with the messenger.

My advise to you would be to read the news where it is posted first and then look for confirming reports. That is the safest practice.

[Almost_there]

2. Until I see a Trib headline...

I'll hold off judgement until I see a legitimate Chicago Tribune Headline with this report. Sadly though, Drudge has a network of moles out there, scurrying around for their nuggets of information where he gives them a treat of a pellet for things like this. The guy has been wrong MANY times, but, he has also been right.

If they missed payroll, that's actually more serious than people not getting a simple check. Franken, Chuck D, Garafolo, and the personalities could stand to miss a week, but, the folks who run the board, may have it tough to miss even a few days. And the real kicker is that they are violating numerous state and federal laws. More so on the tax side, but, not paying someone in accordance with your own guidelines is serious crap. It could just be a banking error, but, if it is actually that they don't have the money, this ship could sink faster than a stone.

[RamboLiberal]

6. Damn - here's the Trib link

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-040506airamerica,1,7378222,print.story?coll=chi-business-hed

In yet another sign of trouble for Air America Radio, the liberal talk network entering its fifth chaotic week on the air, co-founder and chairman Evan Cohen resigned Thursday, as did vice-chairman and investor Rex Sorensen.

The company also failed to make its scheduled payroll Wednesday, leaving its staff roughly 100 radio personalities, writers, and producers unpaid until Thursday.

"We're on a wild ride," said Jon Sinton, the network's president, acknowledging that Air America has suffered "the typical bumps and bruises faced by any start-up."

"But the bottom line," he said, "is that we are on the air to stay."

The departures of Cohen, a former Republican political operative from Guam who was among the network's initial investors, and Sorenson, an investor who owns radio stations in Guam, mark the second executive shake-up at the fledgling network in as many weeks. Last week, co-founder and CEO Mark Walsh resigned (he remains a senior adviser to the network) and programming chief Dave Logan was forced out.

[Chicago Democrat]

43. hey at least they are on...

But I am sad

[LoZoccolo]

3. I might believe it...

...from someone else, but as he put out the "bounced check" spin on the other incident...FUCK IT!

[shockingelk]

5. Franken said

Something to the effect that the thought that AA was cash short is rediculous: if they ever do run low, they'd just hit Barbara Streistand up for a $couple mil.

[w4rma]

7. Heh, Drudge left out the "Republican" before "political operative" (Cohen)

That said, are they having problems selling ads? Or are they having problems getting stations to buy air time from them?

Since the 1996 Telecomunications Act it's gotten *much* harder to break into radio, because there are now only a few corporations running the whole show. I hope the farm wasn't given away in 1996 by putting the big corporate bullies, who'd rather not help out their liberal competitors, in charge.

[FlandersFeelds]

8. I don't need drudge to tell me the sky is red

I'm hearing 3x more commercials (really bad commercials) on AA and it's driving me mad, it's driving me nuts. I don't need another starkey's day.

[GemMom]

22. Same here in Chicago

when I first tuned in, the ads were either non-existant or overly repeated. That surely indicates little ad revenue coming in.

[SidewalkShuffle]

35. I have to listen online

and 90% of the "ads" I hear are PSA's.

They get on my nerves real quick.

[tinanator]

39. Sharkey's

unless that is a sophisticated pun or something. Whoosh, over my head it went...

two tiny pictures, and theres one in each of my eyes.

[Old and In the Way]

9. If cash was a problem, I'd think they'd be asking for donations.

That hasn't been the case.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

10. Donations.

For-profit corporations cannot ask for donations.

On edit: Cannot ask for *or take* donations.

[Columbia]

12. You're right

They just ask for a government bailout instead. :evilfrown:

[htuttle]

19. I don't think that's true

However, donations to a for-profit corporation would not be tax deductible.

[salin]

45. BINGO!

point being .... DU is not a notforprofit and takes donations... but said donations are not tax deductable.

[Tempest]

23. You're wrong. They can and *have* accepted donations

They're just not tax deductable.

[benburch]

11. I wish them luck!

It took me almost two weeks to raise the $750 I was looking for to buy a new server for White Rose...

Donations are just not a way to raise the cubic dollars an operation of that scale requires!

[Old and In the Way]

13. I think I heard Randi say there's 2 million steady listeners now.

Probably another 2 to 3X whave listened occaisionally. If so, it wouldn't be difficult to raise some quick casy, I think.

But I didn't realize that a "for-profit" couldn't raise money. Maybe they can reincorporate as the 'Church of Liberal Enlightenment" and fund raise like Pat and Jerry, as they preach the Gospel of the Republican Jesus.

[Almost_there]

15. Have Arbitron ratings come out?

The real thing to watch out for will be the ratings book. If it comes in strong, they will be fine. I wonder about the claim of 2 to 3 million continuous listeners. If Rush Limbaugh has call it 20 million sheeple, but, he is on 600 radio stations in every market, and Air America is on call it a dozen stations in several markets, unless virually everyone in those markets is listening to AAR, no way they have 2 - 3 million constant. I'd put their listenership closer to 500,000 constant. And as liberal as Burlington Plattsburg area is, there are a sum total of 50,000 people who could possibly listen, including cows and domestic pets. The only major market that they are tapping into now is New York, and that's on a relatively low power station. http://www.airamericaradio.com/pub/resStations.htm. I just hope this project wasn't too ambitious, I'll never hear the end of it if they go off the air.

[recidivist]

25. Overambitious is probably right.

As many have pointed out, Limbaugh paid his dues. He started in radio in high school, bounced all around the country, was fired half a dozen times, and generally learned the trade the hard way. By the time he went national, he had worked out most of the kinks. Like him or not, he's a highly polished performer with a well-developed on-air persona, and he knows his audience.

If AA fails, its obit will probably read "too much, too fast."

[ProfessorGAC]

27. More Like 300,000

It's pretty simple. When radio people say 10 million, they mean the cumsum for the 6 rated days. So, you can pretty well take the reported Arbitron numbers and divide by 6 and get the real audience size on a continuous basis.

There are other smaller reasons for the number to be inflated, but the "divide by 6" rule of thumb is reasonably accurate.

Same with Limbaugh. He doesn't have 20 million listeners. It's more like 3.2 million.
The Professor

[jdj]

30. You forgot to count internet streams

Because a huge chunk of us are listening online. I would guess that at least half, if not more, of call-ins on Randi Rhodes show are streaming and say so on the air. That doesn't even count people on dial up who have only one line and can't call.

And even though people keep trying to call for the end of AirAmerica, there is no indication it is anywhere near. I don't know much about this business, but I do know that there is alot of turnover of all kinds. And even if they do end up being the Shannon Faulkner of radio, they are just prying the door open for the tidal wave that will come in after them, just like at the Citadel.

[Jane Austin]

31. BTW, Thank you for White Rose

I really appreciate the Randi Rhodes archives there.

[benburch]

32. You are most welcome! nt

....

[Jane Austin]

38. If we donate, will you put up yesterday's O'Franken?

:)

[cleofus1]

14. if they ever need money...

They can sell memberships tha could include baseball caps and other marketing devices (if they aren't doing this already).

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[ima_sinnic]

17. who cares?

sheesh! this is the most important problem you have right now?
why on EARTH would someone save posts from January and February to make a point like this?

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

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[markses]

26. I got a clarification on it from Skinner

In case you were of the opinion that you were required to use all caps if they are in the headline, be assured that you are not. To wit:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=120&topic_id=17504#17515

Now, as far as treasuring your posts, I can disabuse you of that as well. I noticed your bizarre interpretation of the rules before, and its strangeness struck me. We often remember that which pains us; in this case, I was pained by the bizarre logic. That, however, did not induce me to save your posts. Rather, I did a search that took all of 30 seconds. Go ahead and try it yourself.

In any case, I'm just trying to help with the rules.

[CatWoman]

29. DITTO!!!!!!!

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[NJmaverick]

20. This really sucks!!

What they are doing is so important, yet the people in charge seem to be screwing up this big time! I thought they got enough money to properly start this venture. What the hell is happening?

[CatWoman]

28. When the fuck will DU stop putting money in Drudge's pocket?

Every time you click on his page, that asshole gets paid.

[benburch]

33. He DOES?

I don't THINK so. Usually you have to click through an ad before a website owner gets anything. Pay for impression ads are rather rare any more.

[SidewalkShuffle]

34. on CSPAN

he said that his ads are sold in blocks of 1,000 impressions. So, if you want to advertise on his site you buy 1,000 impression lots for $X, regardless of click throughs.

[benburch]

42. Damn.

I'll look at the Google mirror from now on.

[Chicago Democrat]

44. Barbara Streisand Should give AA 20 million to get more stations.

Where can I get in touch with her?