The Money Pit (doom, grace, evolution, hell, America)

[Theodore]

By BRIAN MALONEY & MICHELLE MALKIN

AIR America, the much-hyped liberal media ven ture that was supposed to revolutionize talk radio, is "solvent and apparently stable": So claim the gullible cheerleaders at The New York Times, who made that unsubstantiated assertion in a recent glowing profile of Air America host Janeane Garofalo. But behind the fawning headlines and celebrity kiss-ups is a tale of astounding financial and legal chaos. The city Department of Investigation and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer continue to conduct separate probes into a dubious loan scheme involving Air America and the Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club.

An estimated $875,000 of the charity's funds have disappeared. Evan Montvel-Cohen, who served as both chief of Air America and director of development at Gloria Wise, reportedly steered the funds to himself (for claimed medical expenses) and Air America (for operations). Network officials are pinning all the blame on him, and are reportedly pressuring the inner-city charity to back up their story.

But the charity scam is just the tip of the iceberg.

Also banging on Air America's door: New York-based Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc.

The company is suing past and present Air America officers and investors in Piquant LLC (the network's current owners) for engaging in a "sham" transfer of ownership to defraud creditors. In state Supreme Court documents filed in May, Multicultural Radio seeks more than $255,000 owed by Air America since March 2004. It also wants Air America to return equipment from its Los Angeles station and repay other debts worth more than $1 million.

The dispute made national headlines in April 2004, when Multicultural Radio booted Air America off its stations in Chicago and Los Angeles over bounced checks. A New York judge ruled against Air America and castigated it for its "meritless" legal actions against Multicultural Radio in June 2004 — yet the network has since remained mum about its failure to pay up.

Another aggrieved party: Lizz Winstead, a former Air America on-air host and executive vice president in charge of programming. Her lawsuit against the company and Piquant LLC for "breach of contract and unjust enrichment" seeks close to $300,000 plus interest for unpaid salary, vacation, back pay and other fees.

Winstead didn't respond to our request for comment, but her complaint echoes Multicultural Radio's filing in exposing the network's fiscal troubles from its early days in October 2003, when its original owners at AnShell Media ran "into serious financial problems," to the present.

The suit notes that the network has even stiffed her out of promotional fees for plugging Vermont Teddy Bears and "PJ Grams." Air America, she alleges, willfully took those monies "and refused, despite Winstead's repeated demands, to pay them over to her, and converted such monies to their own use and possession."

Air America's financial crunch has now seen money disappear from poor kids, Alzheimer's patients, ethnic radio stations and teddy bear companies. What's next: churches and ice cream vendors?...


http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/op...ists/51519.htm

[BUDDY]

Do you think that if this was a conservative talk show host, it would be so hard to find information in the papers about this. I bet is Tony Snow or Lars Larson had done this, it would be front page news and folks would be calling for a public execution. Well, a public beating anyway. I just hope they pay all of the money back. Either way, that's the right thing to do.

[Theodore]

Originally Posted by EEWRED

Do you think that if this was a conservative talk show host, it would be so hard to find information in the papers about this. I bet is Tony Snow or Lars Larson had done this, it would be front page news and folks would be calling for a public execution. Well, a public beating anyway. I just hope they pay all of the money back. Either way, that's the right thing to do.

Absolutely, it would be an ongoing scandal just like Rush and the pain pills.
In it's present format I don't think AA is going to make it. All you have to do is listen to Randi Rhodes for 5 minutes to see why nobody is tuning in. The woman is clueless. AA won't be able to pay back a dime.

[Original Freak]

STATEMENT FROM AIR AMERICA RADIO

Statement:
If the allegations of mismanagement and corruption at Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club are true, it is absolutely disgraceful.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal and the HBO Documentary, Left of the Dial‚ the company that the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club officials gave money to, Progress Media, has been defunct since May 2004. That company was run at the time by Evan Cohen who has not had any involvement in Air America Radio since May 2004.

The current owners of Air America Radio have no obligation to Progress Media's business activities. We are very disturbed that Air America Radio's good name could be associated with a reduction in services for young people, which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction.

We at Air America Radio strongly believe in the mission of Boys and Girls Clubs to provide a safe and nurturing place for young people to learn and grow. As a result, we recently allowed the same club, Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, to use our name in a fundraising effort for a summer camp for children in their community.

The funding for Camp Air America was raised and collected entirely by the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, and Air America promoted the camp on air and urged support for it. A link on our web site sent those interested in contributing to the camp to the Gloria Wise web site. Regrettably, the camp did not survive the closure of the Gloria Wise organization. We have offered any individuals who contributed to the camp as a result of Air America's promotion the option of a refund paid for by Air America Radio and the Club offered the alternative option of having their donation redirected to Kip's Bay Boys and Girls Club.

http://www.airamericaradio.com/press/gloriawise



NEW YORK – August 4, 2005 – Air America Radio announced today that its affiliate base has successfully increased its cumulative listening audience from 1.3 million Persons 12+ (Arbitron Nationwide, Fall 2004) to a Cume of 3.1 million Persons 12+. The Network also continues to grow in key markets including: Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Cincinnati, Denver, Honolulu, Memphis and Miami, according to the Arbitron Spring survey.

-snip-

The Denver Post noted that “Air America has defied its doomsayers through its affiliate KKZN-AM which reached a milestone in its young life, gathering a 2 share in the spring rankings-putting it well out of the top 10.” A year ago KKZN was at a miniscule 0.4 share.

-snip-

"We are more than thrilled with the audience growth at KTLK and Air America in Los Angeles. Becoming the third ranked station in TSL shows us just how healthy the format is and our expectation is to continue this significant upward swing. We are really just getting started," said General Manager of KTLK 1150 AM John Quinlan.

Since last year, Air America Radio has grown from 25 affiliates to 67 stations nationwide.

It seems to be doing alright....

[Sunstone]

I, for one, hope Air America succeeds. I'm all for diversity on the air waves. The only talk radio I get here in Colorado Springs is conservative talk radio, and after a while, it gets to be predictable.

[CaptainXeroid]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

I, for one, hope Air America succeeds. I'm all for diversity on the air waves. The only talk radio I get here in Colorado Springs is conservative talk radio, and after a while, it gets to be predictable.

I concur! Different opinions are good...just like here. In Hot'lanta, Air America is on 1690 AM, a station WAY up on the band that barely gets outside I-285 and doesn't even have its own website. Hannity and Savage get big time billing on the 50,000 station station here, and Limbaugh does well on a station almost as strong.

The statement Original Freak linked seems to answer the allegations regarding the Boys and Girls Club funds, while the original article appears to offer little more than 'guilt by assocation'.

Because my work site is next to the computer room, I can't pick up any AM stations during the day. Since home is outside I-285, I can't always pick up their station there either. I'd at least like to give them a listen.

[Fascist Christ]

Originally Posted by Theodore

Air America's financial crunch has now seen money disappear from poor kids, Alzheimer's patients, ethnic radio stations and teddy bear companies. What's next: churches and ice cream vendors?...

I would like to see more references than just some opinion piece. Otherwise, it just looks like just an attempt to give them a bad name. There are plenty of people who would want to see the station fail, and these authors are obviously among them.

[Feathers in Hair]

Thanks for the articles, both of you guys.

[Original Freak]

Originally Posted by CaptainXeroid

Because my work site is next to the computer room, I can't pick up any AM stations during the day. Since home is outside I-285, I can't always pick up their station there either. I'd at least like to give them a listen.

I listen via streaming on the net...I'm in Canada and unless I had satilite radio I don't think I could get it otherwise.

[Theodore]

Originally Posted by Fascist Christ

I would like to see more references than just some opinion piece. Otherwise, it just looks like just an attempt to give them a bad name. There are plenty of people who would want to see the station fail, and these authors are obviously among them.

Here are some of the latest ratings:

In Washington, D.C., WWRC fell to a 0.3 rating and is in last place in the market.

In Boston, the two AAR stations take up the last two spots in the ratings chart with ratings of 0.4 and 0.2.

In New York, the flagship AAR station, WLIB has just a flat 1.0 rating and is in 24th place.

In Detroit, WDTW was a flat 0.4 which is tied for last in the city.

In Chicago, WCPT is stuck at 0.4 and just out of the cellar in the market.

In San Francisco, KQKE increased slightly to a tiny 1.4 in the most liberal city in the county and is in 23rd place. Still the station is down 0.5 from last summer. In San Jose, KQKE improved to 1.1, but is also down 1.5 last summer.

In Los Angeles, KLTK improved slighty to 0.9, but is in 30th place in the market.

In Monterey-Santa Cruz (CA) area, the AAR station didn't even make the ratings list.

In San Diego, KLSD, which was once considered one of the AAR stations that was succeeding, is flat at just a 1.7 rating. That is down nearly a full point from last Summer.

In Riverside-San Bernardino, CA (my hometown), KCAA doesn't even make the ratings list.

In Philadelphia, WHAT turned in a 0.5 rating which is up from its spring rating of 0.0, but is down from last summer's 0.8.

In Akron, Ohio, WARF is stuck at 0.4 -- good enough for last place -- and that is down from a 1.1 rating this winter.