Drudge: Liberal Radio Network AIR AMERICA In Deep Financial Crisis

[RickyRicardo]

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash8.htm

Liberal Radio Network AIR AMERICA In Deep Financial Crisis
Mon Jun 21 2004 11:20:16 ET

On March 30, the night before Air America went on the air, the liberal radio network threw itself a $70,000 party at Manhattan's hip Maritime Hotel. More than 1,000 guests, including Yoko Ono and Tim Robbins, drank red, white and blue vodka cocktails as they toasted the network's bid to challenge the dominance of conservative talk radio.

But behind the scenes, Air America was running out of money.

The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports on Monday: Several employees say they still haven't been reimbursed for the costs of attending the New York launch.
Many of Air America's investors and executives say they thought the network had raised more than $30 million, based on assurances from its owners, Guam-based entrepreneurs Evan M. Cohen and Rex Sorensen.

In fact, Air America had raised only $6 million, Mr. Cohen concedes. Within six weeks of the launch, those funds had been spent and the company owed creditors more than $2 million.
When the problems came to light, 'we realized that we had all been duped,' says David Goodfriend, the company's acting chief operating officer. Messrs...

Developing...

[LittleApple81]

1. Al Franken debunked this specific WSJ article today in his program.

Stop this crud. We will be able to see if they survive or not. And I am betting (and praying) they will.

[tlcandie]

3. thanks .. sick and tired of seeing this crap too!

Every week, yet another one! Reminds me of terror, terror, terror! Enough is enough...no more drudge, "the sky is falling for American Liberal Radio!"

[Mel]

13. they will LittleApple81

I see the attacking and in Al's words LIES coming from the Right as a sure sign of it as will Michael Moore's movie F-911 they are scared na na na na nana! :evilgrin: Nice to see them on the defense that's where we need to keep them!

[mom cat]

48. I heard Randi slam it too. Their advertising is way up. There was

one missed pay period soon after the startup, but every startup has a shakedown period. The ratings are great. I don't think we have anything to worry about... unless the Carlyle group starts buying radio stations. We need to have our own.

[denverbill]

2. I don't understand why Soros wouldn't fund them.

And I also don't understand why it costs so damned much money to run a handful of radio stations.

[Magleetis]

4. Why believe Drudge?

Al was talking about Air Americas finances on his show today. He said there is cash coming in and they are not broke. I didn't read the article because I wont click on that POS site. Do you listen to Air America?

[gasperc]

5. Drudge discredits himself

years from now when AA is still on the air he'll have the egg on his face

[Canuckistanian]

20. Or on some other body parts!

:D

[lanparty]

30. He already does ... he doesn't care ...

Drudge is a GOSSIP QUEEN ... nothing more.

The man is shameless and really doesn't care whether anything he says has basis in fact.

[JoFerret]

6. From what I know

....of some of those bankrolling and directing - this is not true at all. No idea whether in the long run it will succeed but for now things are aok in spite of some nasty stuff.

[ElectroPrincess]

10. Drudge, et. al. hyper-focusing on AAR only proves that the

Right Wing Radicals are scared out of their wits. Oh, I can just see them getting up early in the morning, punching buttons for CSpan until their iddle fingers mesh to stubs. The possibility that AAR just may "make it" combined with The Big Dawg's super popular mega-selling book AND Moore's 911 breaking admission records is driving them Mad with hatred! <snicker>

In the insane Presidential Campaign Season the theme is "take no prisoners." It's us Progressives against the RW Fundies. The thought of the ongoing RW hissy-fits over AAR, Clinton, and F911 is strangely satisfying. However, there's no time to gloat - back to work. ;).

[President Jesus]

7. Did Evan Cohen give $2k to Bush* last October?

it certainly looks like it!
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=SC&last=cohen&first=evan

...and here's a record of the Rex guy's contribution
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=GU&last=sorensen&first=rex

...big spender!

[Tarheel_Dem]

16. don't know if you listen to randi rhodes.......

but she has openly admitted that some former investors were actually right wing operatives. she never really elaborates, but says they're no longer involved.

this is the 2nd or 3rd thread in as many days re: the "imminent demise" of air america, and the authors rarely, if ever stick around to respond again once they've started the thread. i smell fear & anger & anxiety. if they're so convinced & hopeful that aar is gonna fail, why even acknowledge them in the first place?

i'll say this, air america certainly is getting alot of free publicity out of the fearmongering from the right, and that makes me happy.

[lanparty]

32. Could be ...

That the investors who didn't "come through" insisted on their guys as executives in return for their monies.

Hence, the executives were fired.

I had an argument over on www.slashdot.org about this. They think that the Chicago and LA stations are off the air because they couldn't pay their bills. They simply don't read.

[bushisanidiot]

64. Hmm.. so the repuke "investors" tried to set AA up to fail by

promising $$ for the startup then pulling out in hopes of bringing AA down.. all in an effort to show that leftwing radio can't survive.

Repukes just can't help but try to cheat the system.. apparently it's just in their DNA.

[Tarheel_Dem]

65. they've discovered that when the playing field is level........

they CAN'T win; so they resort to trickery, thievery, and outright lying to maintain the status quo. but if there's a god in heaven (and i believe there is), air america will surpass even their most vicious critics' predictions, and become a major force in american politics.

NOW BRING ON MIKE MALLOY!

[mopinko]

8. isn't there a rule

against posting right wing sources without comment?
and just a piece of "inside" info- i checked out ad rates just out of curiosity. they told me that they are totally booked for the month of july.
and to the comment above about the cost of running a radio station. i believe the biggest expense is the cost involved the leasing time on the affiliate stations.

[wryter2000]

39. Great news!

they told me that they are totally booked for the month of july.

Ha! They're turning down potential advertisers. Eat that, Drudge.

I tell you, the RWers are p*ss*ng their pants. All along they've been a lunatic fringe, and that fact is finally coming out. :bounce:

[Mel]

9. So

you chose this as your 11th post, on your first day at the DU :thumbsdown:

:shrug: Oh, yea, welcome to DU

Well, all I can say, the Right sure must be scared of AAR and btw I never ever click on any link to drudge not one thin dime will he make off of my click.

[ElectroPrincess]

12. Forget Lucy: RicKy! You got yourself some 'splanin to do here?

On Edit: Ricky Recardo would you Splain it to Me?

Response: http://www.fiftiesweb.com/lucy-rrp.wav

[Magleetis]

11. I'm still waiting

for an answer to my question. Do you listen to Air America? Ricky are you there? I didn't think so.

[RickyRicardo]

14. Sorry, I don't live in a market that it airs in

But I used to listen to it in LA, and enjoyed it before it went off the air.

[Magleetis]

17. I stream it

over the net. Where there is a will there is a way.

[RickyRicardo]

19. Unfortunately, that is not possible where I work

I try to stream it at home sometimes, but my favorite show (Randi) is over by then anyway so I don't usually bother.

[Magleetis]

25. I guess that I'm lucky

to have a relaxed office atmosphere and a lot of bandwidth. BTW welcome to DU, hope you like it here. Just some friendly advice, you may want to get a few more posts under your belt before you post Drudge in the LBN forum because you may be mistaken for a disrupter.

[RickyRicardo]

28. Thanks for the advice

[wryter2000]

40. Welcome, Ricky

:hi:

[Citizen Daryl]

59. www.randirhodesarchives.com n/t

[Mel]

15. Where are you

Where are you Riiiiicky you got some splaing to do....we are waiting.

[RickyRicardo]

21. Is something wrong?

Do you have a problem with Cuban Americans or something?

[hightime]

24. A good rule of thumb is: don't post developing stories from Drudge.

They are notoriously inaccurate and will get flamed, especially if you are one of us low post count folks. If the stories have any substance they will usually develop into stories linked to a real news source.

I may have a low post count but I have been around here since the last election and know most of the ways of the board.

[RickyRicardo]

26. Sorry, I didn't see that in the rules

So, it's ok to post if I have higher post counts?

[hightime]

27. Even then, Drudge developing stories are sketchy. I would wait.

There are RULES and then there are rules.

[pauliedangerously]

33. Bienvenidos, Ricky!!!

Hope I spelled that right.

Dude, I'm fairly new to this site myself, though I've been around long enough to see that there are lots of freepers lurking around here spreading malicious anti-liberal gossip.

I will be the MAN here and contend to the others that you posted this article to ALERT the DU community about potential problems with Air America.

A real liberal is open-minded, and I think it's safe to say that most people who belong to this group are; although, our openmindedness is often challenged, especially these days when we're being attacked from many directions...even on our OWN discussion boards.

So, THANKS for the hot tip; Drudge is questionable, but it is important for us to get the skinny on what rumors/stories are circulating on the Dark Side.

:toast:

[ElectroPrincess]

42. I second that, Welcome Ricky!

But please don't assume that we're being mean by continued teasing regarding such an "awesome screen name". <warm smile>

Oh boy - Oh boy, I do hope ya stick around for the comic relief ... a little "ribbing/teasing" is a sign of warmth and fun, not mean-spirited from me in da least.

Hey Ricky! Welcome :-)

[Alpharetta]

18. Free publicity for Air America Radio

Hardly late breaking news, but I am glad Drudge keeps bugging his right wing readers with the thorn AAR.

Maybe Drudge can give Michael Moore a bit more publicity too. He has? Oh goodie.

[librechik]

22. So what? The US is in deep financial trouble, yet the Pukkkes say

that's no cause for worry. Deficits are AOK when you're running a business.

[Tarheel_Dem]

23. good one!

:thumbsup:

[daa]

45. Way to go nt

[lanparty]

29. I think they're trying to keep their freepers from tuning in ...

They will be gone soon anyway, so don't listen to them!!!!! Thats the message I'm getting here.

What they fail to mention is that Air America is a STARTUP!!!! And startups typically run on tight budgets and have the occasional payroll hiccup.

Air America's number of affiliates has grown FOUR FOLD in it's first three months of operation. Any business would be overjoyed with that level of growth. In fact, the growth of Air America has far outstripped the growth of the economy ;-)

They have good ratings. They have a growing audience. Everything about the business seems to be going well.

If they can keep their freeper audience away from Air America until the election, they can keep them in their echo chamer of lies. They can avoid having to take on Franken head to head. They can keep their armies of ditto-heads from hearing Franken debunk Limbaugh and O'Franken every day!!!!!

Air America WILL survive and it will do well. There is a built in audience by a group that know that the "mainstream" media is lying to them. The freepers are just trying to hold back the tide until after the election.

[wryter2000]

41. Randi covered this wonderfully last week

She said Faux News ran in the red for two years.

Ricky, sorry about the misunderstanding. You can see how it might look...someone brand new who posts from a RW website. We get some obnoxious trollers here sometimes.

Here have a :beer:

[lanparty]

43. Don't forget the Washington Times ...

Which has run in the red for 20 years.

That paper is still down 1 billion care of Reverend Moon and the unholy alliance of the Moondamelgelicals.

[young_at_heart]

31. Rush and friends seem to have unlimited funds

Such a shame that money is always the problem...or the answer.

[dryan]

34. Drudge Report

Most of Matt Drudge's sources are pretty lame. He's right maybe once in ten times.

[Citizen Daryl]

60. It's true, I had first-hand experience.

Back during the Starr investigation, I registered "flyntreport.com" in an attempt to sell it to Larry Flynt after I discovered he hadn't registered the domain name of his then-upcoming book exposing the hypocrisy of those dragging Clinton through the dirt.

He looked at my placeholder website, and determined it was the "official site".

After that, the gloves were off. Freepers pulled the domain registration info from InterNIC (I was so naive back then), and posted my personal information on FR. My phone began ringing off the hook, harrassment after harrassment, with the occasional death threat thrown in for good measure. Same with my e-mail. Even got an e-mail from someone describing the exterior of the house I was living in at the time, with the warning to "watch your back". They even harrassed my then-fiancee.

[hightime]

35. It is the difference between having advertisement pay for the programming

and not. Unless something has changed, when the idea of AA started it was stated that they were going to buy air time on various channels. This gave them the freedom to pick the markets they wanted and also to decide on the content. It also facilitates a speedy insertion into the desired markets. The down side is that it requires HUGE sums of cash.

The advertisement driven path is to start small, build an audience and get picked up by successively larger distributes and better markets.If you have seen the Howard Stern movie "Private Parts" you will recognize what I have described.

Even if you hit the scene with a ready made audience and are an immediate undeniable success, the advertisement money will still lag and you will still need HUGE sums of money.

I think the problem with AA is, if you believe the articles I have read, that they thought they had a 30 million dollar investment pot to draw from and 2 of the supporters bailed after only investing a fraction of this. There have been several suggestions here and elsewhere that this was an intentional plan to scuttle the program.

[lanparty]

44. Even Rush was initially subsidized.

Rush's sydication was subisdized. He was running in the red for quite a while before the advertising kicked in.

[daa]

46. I bet O'Liar isn't making money yet

on the radio. He paid paople to carry him. He is probably closer to being cancelled than making a profit.

[rawstory]

36. PLEASE!

Have y'all READ the Journal article? It suggests, actually, that the situation isn't as dire as it seems, and that they're now moving on the right track, selling specific shows rather than leasing stations...as usual, Drudge is throwing mud...HE probably didn't even read the whole story.

[seventhson]

37. I have some pretty good sources

who say they are just fine --

The Drobny's are very cool people who have the juice to keep this alive.

Cohen and the other schmuck basically, it seems, lied to everyone and did intend to make the biz fail.

But Anita Drobny is now chair of the board and she and her husband have the ways and the means to ride out a year or more at least and they know they can do that til the corner is turned on profitability/

Startups always cost a bundle and the investors have to have enough to eat the atartup costs for this long term investment that WILL thrive.

all the hullabalo is interesting but the ship is still moving and is riding high.

[JustaSingleDad]

51. The Drobny's are very cool people who have the juice to keep this alive.

I have to believe AA will live long enough to get an real angel, but I don't think it will be the Drobny's.. There is something creepy about these two. They started this venture 3 years ago saying they had $10 million to invest.. Then they sold-dumped it on someone else and it went almost belly-up.. They were involved in other bogus tax ventures some years back and got themselves and others in deep shit with the IRS. I would feel a whole lot better if Soros was funding this as he said he would.. %$#@%!

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JustaSingleDad]

55. Sorry to be the messenger, but... I think this will answer your question

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=7th&navby=case&no=952966

[seventhson]

63. This is bogus and does not support your contention at all

It looks like the liberal Drobnys were targeted by the right wing and the IRS was used to fraudulently convict them.

you used the term "schemes"and deep doodoo.

This article does not bear that out.

They were trying to devcelop aloe vera as a product and get tax breaks for it and were shut down by the IRS.

That sucks. Their assertions that the IRS used fraud and coercion to get a judgment against them were dismissed on a techicality even though their witnesses were allegedly threatened and intimidated into silence.

You got more than this?

This looks like a right wing smear campaign to me.

[JustaSingleDad]

67. ARGUED JUNE 5, 1996--DECIDED MAY 1, 1997

Hey I understand your loyality to the cause but be aware of the facts so we don't get blindsided again..

I see you have used the old standby that it's once again the VRWC, even during the period of time we were in the White House, and in control of the IRS.. You used the words deep DooDoo, I would never use that stupid saying "ever".. I will be here waiting for the apoligy you should have given to me after your first venture into "LaLa" land..

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Moderator]

57. seventhson & JustaSingleDad, cool it

seventhson, if you think a poster is disruptive, hit the alert button and be quiet about it. The moderators will consider whether the post in question is indicative of disruption. Announcing an alert as such is very poor form.

JustaSingleDad, next time someone attacks you, please don't respond in kind. Hit the alert link, that's what it's there for. The response will usually be timely, even if it was not this time around.

The substance of the exchange could be boiled down to...
seventhson: got anything to support that statement? cause I don't like it.
JustaSingleDad: sure, read this article (posts url)

Work on it, people, we can do this thing.

[JustaSingleDad]

68. I just saw this .. I will indeed follow your suggestion.. Thanks

[Gloria]

47. New plan of selling shows sounds like the old IEAMERICA to me...

which was in the red only $70,000 a month. I still cannot fathom why someone with deep pockets couldn't keep it on the air....Al Gore bought a cable outlet and it cost how much? $70 million??

And we still don't have Mike Malloy on the air!!!!

[wryter2000]

38. You're about a month out of date, Drudge

Cohen was deliberately trying to sink them. He's gone. All is well.

[ScotTissue]

49. Question about income from streaming....

How much income do you suppose AAR gets from streaming on the net? Not as much as from a radio market, I suppose. Don't know/just curious.

[underpants]

66. Probably nothing but they use it to sell ads

They can go to potential advertisers and show them that X million people are listening at X time. The more people (and what people) you have listening/viewing the more you can charge for that spot and the more people that ad will reach.

[Jane Austin]

50. JaneAustin: Drudge Report in Deep Moral Bankruptcy

:)

[robbedvoter]

52. Randi: original investors: GOP-ers. never put the money in

So they got rid of them, got real investors, real money, everyone got paid - she personally asked on the air every employee if they got theis paycheck.
Just another dirty trick - such as the Chicago/LA guy reneging on his contract.
They sabotage it , then trupmet the hoped result. Sorry, wingnuts, foiled again!

[Geo55]

53. New ads

I have to stream AAR....They could use a stronger outlet in NY.
I've noticed a more diversified mix of ads lately...more main stream companies...even Sam's Club (Walmart) which Al's show sliced n' diced the other day.

[susu369]

58. Drudge redux Salon's downfall

years ago....

[Citizen Daryl]

61. The number of Internet listeners may be incomplete...

...as AAR is not hosting their own program archives (yet). I wonder if they're staying in touch with the guys who run airamericaplace.com and randirhodesarchives.com. I can't stream at work, so I rely on them (and whoever posts archives of the shows on alt.binaries.sounds.radio.misc) daily.

[SideshowScott]

62. Why is ANYTHING on Drudge's Page in LBN?????? MODS!

No Offence to Rickyrecardo ( Luuuuucy! ) I really dont think that anything that Drudge has to say has anyplace in Late Breaking News. If anything in GD where just about anything goes where we can pick it apart. But to me to have anything from Drudge is just as bad as putting headlines from the Washington Moonie Times, NY Post, Newsmax, World Weekly News ( Batboy seen with Osama! ) , and any other rag that makes its bread and butter on lies.
Drudge is nothing more than a Republican huckster who will lie and lie somemore to make his GOP masters happy. Im not comming down on RickyRecardo ive had the urge to post something from his site when I first read Drudge's page. But it will only take a short time to find out the Drudge is nothing more than lies and half-truths to make the Dems look bad and Bush and the GOP look good.
I say anything comming from Drudge should be locked or at least find a source thats credible on the story and link that instead.