by John Gaudio,
Air America is pulling the plug, closing its doors, and preparing to sell off what assets it has as it prepares to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the next few days, according to the statement on its website. (Normally I'd just link to the site, and that link does appear below, but I've quoted their statement here as well, just in case that link stops working before you read this.) <Update, It did go away, so I dropped the link.>
Air America's experiment in "Progressive" talk radio, has proven valuable in at least one sense. It has demonstrated that the vast majority of the American people have no desire to listen to those who trash the traditional values we hold dear. It's good to understand those with whom you disagree, so I have listened, on occasion, and for short periods of time, to Progressive Radio AM 760 in the Denver-Boulder market. For the most part I found it painfully dull. Many of the hosts were rude, crude, and extremely intolerant.
Conservatives tend to be happy, both with themselves, and with the world. The progressives I heard on Air America were, for the most part, unhappy and bitter. They wanted to "fundamentally change" this great nation of ours. I once heard Dennis Prager ask something along the lines of, if you love your wife, would you want to fundamentally change her? So, if progressives love the United States, why would they want to fundamentally change this country? It seems that some progressives love the idea of what they think they can turn us into, while hating both what we have been, and what we are. The progressives I heard spent too much time whining, and there's very little market for whining.
That sort of programming leads to low listenership, which inevitably leads to low ad revenue, which, in the case of Air America, leads to the end of a progressive experiment in talk radio, and Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
President Obama was elected by a slim margin, and he accomplished that only by promising to be a moderate, to be bipartisan, to be open and transparent. Then he broke every one of those promises. He won with the help of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act, which effectively muzzled many American citizens by dramatically restricting their right to constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech. That right was reaffirmed for us today by the US Supreme Court's ruling that McCain-Feingold was unconstitutional.
Two days ago, the unimaginable Massachusetts Miracle demonstrated that even the most liberal among us, the people of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, were fed up with President Obama's broken promises, and progressive, or should I say socialist, agenda. Scott Brown 41, representing the 41st vote against Obamacare in the US Senate, was elected to fill the seat occupied for 47 years by Ted Kennedy. Today, Nancy Pelosi has admitted that for now at least, President Obama's Health Care plan is not going to pass.
Today, with their "progressive" world view falling down around them. The board of directors of Air America decided to end their failed experiment, to close the doors, turn off the lights, and most importantly, to stop supplying the misguided whining provided by their "progressive" hosts. To paraphrase the Rabbi in Fiddler on the roof, May God bless and keep them, far away from us.
May Air America rest, quietly, in peace.
"AIR AMERICA
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.
The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America's business. This past year has seen a "perfect storm" in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection. From large to small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel Broadcasting and closures like that of the industry's long-time trade publication Radio and Records have signaled that these are very difficult and rapidly changing times.
Those companies that remain are facing audience fragmentation as a result of new media technologies, are often saddled with crushing debt, and have generally found it difficult to obtain operating or investment capital from traditional sources of funding. In this climate, our painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week, but ultimately fell short of success.
With radio industry ad revenues down for 10 consecutive quarters, and reportedly off 21% in 2009, signs of improvement have consisted of hoping things will be less bad. And though Internet/new media revenues are projected to grow, our expanding online efforts face the same monetization and profitability challenges in the short term confronting the Web operations of most media companies
When Air America Radio launched in April, 2004 with already-known personalities like Al Franken and then-unknown future stars like Rachel Maddow, it was the only full-time progressive voice in the mainstream broadcast media world. At a critical time in our nation's history — when dissent on issues such as the Iraq war were often denounced as "un-American" — Air America and its talented team helped millions of Americans remember the importance of compelling discussion about the most pivotal events and decisions of our generation.
Through some 100 radio outlets nationwide, Air America helped build a new sense of purpose and determination among American progressives. With this revival, the progressive movement made major gains in the 2006 mid-term elections and, more recently, in the election of President Barack Obama and a strongly Democratic Congress.
Laws have changed for the better thanks to this revival.....but all the same our company cannot escape the laws of economics. So we intend a rapid, orderly closure over the next few days. All current employees will be paid through today, January 21. A severance package will be offered tomorrow to full-time current employees with more than six months of tenure.
We will strive to assist affiliates and partners in achieving a smooth transition. Starting at 6 pm EST today, we will provide our affiliates, listeners and users a selection of encore programming until 9 pm EST on Monday, January 25, at which time Air America programming will end.
We are proud that Air America's mission lives on through the words and actions of so many former radio hosts who are active today in progressive causes and media nationwide. In the years ahead, as we look back, we should all be proud of our passionate determination to assure that our nation's progressive voice would be heard loud and clear. Through the hard work and dedication of current staff, and those who preceded you, a lasting legacy was forged which will now continue through other voices and venues.
Thank you." |
