Posted on 08/22/2005 6:06:04 AM PDT by OESY
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....
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....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Q: How do you make a small fortune owning a radio/television station?
A: Start with a large one.
You really have to wonder has Air America Radio ever been profitable.Of course not. It's basically an infomercial for leftism. Enter "brokeredradio" into keywords for a couple articles depicting exactly how they operate (and how pathetic the radio industry sees them as).
-Eric
Well, they used to be, until the poor inner-city kids and Alzheimer's patients asked for their money back.
And the Lib's what us to trust them with fiscal responsibility of our nations fortunes. LOL. They couldn't manage a kids lemonade stand. Amen.
This is the one that has real potential for trouble. According to the suit the boards for the old owners, Progressive, and the new ones, Piquant, are populated by essentially the same cast. The SEC frowns on this sort of thing...
Thanks for the link to the "brokeredradio" articles. Very interesting!
When he left Sacramento for New York, it was a gamble.
He and his partners made deals where they provided content, and their income would come from selling time on the show.
In order to make the deal, Rush had to agree to do a three hour local show in New York and then his three hour national show.
Anyone remember Rush to Excellent tours? This was the way Rush earned money in the early days. He worked all week and then went on the lecture circuit on the weekend.
As we all know, the gamble paid off, Rush is a very rich man.
Could it be that he had something to say, that the people in America wanted to hear?
-Eric
It's not the SEC..it's the bankruptcy court..
Now that would be funny. Perhaps buy their contracts, and then insist they all sit in the same room and listen to each other talk. Don't broadcast, but let them talk to each other.
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