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It's a simple law of economics, right? If there's a demand for a certain service or good, that business has a strong shot at thriving. Since the now-defunct Air America shut down for the last time earlier this year, the casual observer must conclude that no one wanted to hear left-wing diatribes over the broadcast airwaves. But that's not the case according to a panel on HLN's April 5 "The Joy Behar Show." This meeting of the minds, consisting of Behar, GQ's Ana Marie Cox and liberal talk show host Randi Rhodes, accused conservative talker Rush Limbaugh of playing victim...

Financed by some, but clearly not enough, liberal fat cats hoping to provide a countervoice to right-wing radio, Air America lurched to life amid chaos and suspicious bookkeeping that nearly sank the network in its first few months. Flouting received radio wisdom that one strong host creates the strongest listener identity, Air America began with teams in each three-hour time slot.... [snip] So why is poli-talk radio so dominated by Limbaugh, when the country is not? Because even for people who don't agree with him, he can be monstrously entertaining; he makes great radio. He and his clones may dominate...

As most of you know, ther WWZN-AM 1510 transmitter and array are located in Waltham, where there is considerable flooding due to global warming. As a result, WWZN is off-the-air today at least, meaning no Stephanie Miller on the radio, just her web site.

The former CEO of Air America, Danny Goldberg, has been kind enough to provide us with some comedy entertainment in an article, Air America Radio, RIP -- It Didn't Have to Be This Way. Actually, Danny, it did have to be that way due to those market forces at work that you castigate. However, we all owe you a vote of thanks for coming up with several incredibly lame but laughable excuses to explain away the failure of Air America in particular and "progressive talk radio" in general. First the donor quality excuse: Democracy Radio folded in 2006 as a...

Talk radio helped energize Scott Brown's Senate campaign. Will it doom the Democrats in 2010? The right loves to rant against the "liberal-media elite," but there's one key media sector where the conservative id reigns supreme: talk radio. It's a format long marked by an abundance of influential red-staters (Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity) and precious few blue voices of comparable potency — an imbalance exacerbated when Air America folded last week. And this disparity could pose big problems for the Democrats in the 2010 elections, in which Republicans hope to emulate Scott Brown's recent Senate triumph. Talk radio...

It tells a federal bankruptcy court its unsecured debts are more than $15 million in excess of its assets, says the New York Times MediaDecoder. The largest debtor by far is Pendulum Media, controlled by Charlie Kireker, who took over Air America’s parent a couple of years ago. Several Air America talents are due money, since last week’s shutdown: Rachel Maddow is owed $3,952 (“which appeared to be about two-thirds of her monthly pay of $5,833”, says MediaDecoder). Ron Reagan’s company is owed $6,351. Ellis Henican is owed $1,500. Weekender Ana Marie Cox is owed $1,169 in unreimbursed expenses, and...

Bad content? Bad business model? No, those reasons aren't why Air America is no longer with us. Air America, a radio network advertised as the next talk radio juggernaut in 2004, was supposed to revolutionize the format and provide a "counterweight" for those left-of-center politically. But there's another reason according to HLN host and "The View" panelist Joy Behar. In the usual fashion of citing no statistics and making sweeping generalizations, Behar blamed the collapse of liberal talk radio outlet Air America on a gender gap in listeners on her Jan. 25 HLN broadcast. "Ok, but can I say that...

The conservative wing of the Supreme Court has brazenly revealed its corporatist agenda; President Obama may have found a populist voice with which to hector Wall Street; having given away Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat to a former Cosmo centerfold, Democrats are preparing to roll over on health insurance reform; and without doubt, Rush Limbaugh is making a complete ass of himself. Yet, for the first time in over a year, I won’t be able to talk about any of this on the radio. Air America, the long-suffering progressive talk radio network that carried my show, is no more. They...

Leading them off on the non-hit parade was Al Franken, who the management assumed would come with a built-in audience. Franken had serious name recognition from his days on Saturday Night Live, and while most regular readers of this space will likely disagree, he was — on occasion — a funny guy. But one thing he was not was a radio guy. Following Al they had Janeane Garofalo, who had been a mostly underground success as a stand-up comic in the bigger urban areas. She loved to talk about politics, but she had a screeching, nails-on-blackboard voice and a tendency...

It's been a rough week for the DUmmies. In a span of three days, Brown wins "Teddy's seat," the Supreme Court strikes a blow for free speech, and Air America announces it is going off the air. The DUmmies are in deep, deep depression! Up the meds! It's been a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week! Sample the despair and the anger here in this THREAD, "Air America Ceasing Live Programming This Afternoon." The DUmmie downers are in Radical Radio Red, while the commentary of your humble guest correspondent, Charles Henrickson, looking forward to the day when the...

LOS ANGELES – Air America Radio, a radio network that was launched in 2004 as a liberal alternative to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators, on Thursday shut down abruptly due to financial woes. The network once boasted hosts such as Al Franken and Rachel Maddow, but struggled from the outset, including multiple management shake-ups, a bankruptcy in 2006 and sale for $4.25 million the following year. Air America ceased airing new programs Thursday afternoon and said it will soon file to be liquidated under Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It began broadcasting reruns of programs and would end those as well...

Liberal talk radio network Air America shut down for good yesterday ringing yet another death knell to progressivism in America. The majority of the people in the United States no longer support the policies of President Obama who ran in the center and governs from left of Castro. Scott Brown swept to victory in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts and now finally the realization that absolutely no one was listening has closed Air America. The people are talking now.

Air America Ceases Radio Broadcasts, Will Declare Bankruptcy Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 21, 2010 - 11:50am. New York - Liberal talk-radio network Air America unceremoniously announced on Thursday that it would cease broadcasting immediately and file for bankruptcy. "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 company said on its website. "The very...

(snip) Slowing down isn't in Air America's plans either. ''In five years we'll be on 600 radio stations," Sinton boasted. ''The brand will be pervasive, and I think it will be a quaint memory when people said, 'Boy, what a stupid idea.' "

Air America, the progressive talk radio network, said Thursday that it would cease broadcasting immediately, bowing to what it called a “very difficult economic environment.”

Air America, the long-suffering progressive talk radio network, abruptly shut down on Thursday, bowing to what it called a “very difficult economic environment.” The chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker, said in a statement that the company would file under Chapter 7 bankruptcy “to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business...” The closing did not come as a surprise. Air America, which began six years ago and has 100 affiliated stations, cycled through a number of owners and never found its financial footing. It first filed for bankruptcy protection in 2006 but managed to stay on the air....

Air America, the left-leaning radio network started with personalities including now-Sen. Al Franken and Rachel Maddow – now of MSNBC – has crashed and burned, announcing a bankruptcy filing and plans to pull its own plug by Monday. A letter from Air America Media chief Charlie Kireker today told workers, "With radio industry ad revenues down for 10 consecutive quarters, and reportedly off 21 percent in 2009, signs of improvement have consisted of hoping things will be less bad," according to a report in Mediaweek. "And though Internet/new media revenues are projected to grow, our expanding online efforts face the...

Air America, the long-suffering progressive talk radio network, abruptly shut down on Thursday, bowing to what it called a “very difficult economic environment.” The chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker, said in a statement that the company would file under Chapter 7 bankruptcy “to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.” In a troubled time for advertising-driven media businesses, “our painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week but ultimately fell short of success,” Mr. Kireker said. The closing did not come as a surprise. Air America, which began six years...

On the same day Neilsen reported competition-dwarfing numbers for Fox News's coverage of the special election in Massachusetts on Tuesday night, Air America radio declared bankruptcy and will cease live broadcasts immediately. In a statement posted to its web site, Air America's management explained: 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...

Not that anyone noticed, but all-liberal-all-the-time Air America is dead. It would have turned six years old in April. This may be the best example yet for liberals to use to illustrate the sort of hopeless and burdensome life that would have been better off being aborted beforehand. 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....