AirAmerica Bankruptcy Status in the New York Times

A two page article in the New York Times covers the current status of the continuing financial travails of Air America. I'm not sure I learned much substance from it, except that apparently the Ed Shultz show is moving to the same slot now occupied by Al Franken and Thom Hartman.  It appears it will be a three way ratings war, although probably not in the same markets.

In the long run that would probably cause all three shows to grow, because they are in some ways different types of shows appealing to different audiences. Since my local station time-shifts Al to the afternoon, I've been listening to Thom in the morning, Al at lunch time (the last hour) and then either picking up the early Al at drivetime or listening to the Podcast in the evening. (since I have AM and XM both, as well as an Ipod, I can pretty much do what I want to.

Alternate Streams for Mike Malloy/NovaMRadio

If their main page isn't up by tonight you can go to the Phoenix AAR station at http://1480kphx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=88 and click on "Listen Live" to get the stream directly. You've got a Windows media or a Shoutcast stream to choose from.

Mike Malloy Back Tonight!

Mike Malloy will be back on the air tonight, according to a post on Huffington Post and an announcement on Mike's Web site.

He'll be streaming on a new Progressive Radio Network NovaM starting at 9:00 pm EST tonight, October 30.
As of this writing, the new network's web site at http://novamradio.com/ doesn't seem to be done yet--I'm getting a link to their development page. Let's hope it will be up on time.

Women's Radio Network Launches

A new Talk Radio Network for Women (Run by Women) has launched and has programming on a few terrestrial stations and the internet. You can check it out at Greenstone Media.

Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda are principles in the new network and Gloria was on Bill Maher last night and announced new network.

Predictably, the right wing (Radio Equalizer, to whom I won't link) has accused them of being another Air America.

On Bill Maher, Steinem emphasized that the new network is not just for women, but expects its programming to appeal to women and men both.

I'll be adding a link to the AARLinks home page.

Mike Malloy Update

Mike Malloy is still working on finding a new home. He's updated his web site to report on progress, but there are no details.

New AAR Schedule

According to a post at Air America Place, this is the current new schedule for AAR.

5-6 AM Mark Riley (apparently he's not wanted at WLIB now that they have gone gospel)
6-9 AM The Young Turks
9 AM-Noon Sam Seder (Jerry Springer will still go out through AAR syndication)
Noon-3 PM Al Franken (Thom Hartmann through AAR syndication)
3-6 PM Randi Rhodes
6-8 PM Rachel Maddow
8-9 PM Politically Direct
9-10 PM Eco-Talk
10 PM- Midnight still up in the air. No replacement for Malloy has yet been selected (how about bringiing Malloy back?)
The Al Franken repeat will move up to Midnight.

This was as of Wednesday. Young Turks, Sam Seder, and Randi Rhodes are confirmed per what I have heard from their mouths or their website.

Status of Air America Radio

Not that I really know much more than you do if you read a lot of blogs. But this is a summary of what I have gleaned over the last few weeks. I'm going to skip the links to stuff because I don't have much time right now; I may update this and fill them in tonight.

A few weeks ago the right blogosphere was rife with rumors that AAR was having financial problems and would finally die. Of course they have been plugging these rumors since the beginning (no one listens, they are broke, etc) so I treated them as the BS they are. These started after Mike Malloy was let go and during the period that AAR was evaluating programming and deciding on the fall lineup.

Then yesterday (Sept 13) there was a post on Think Progress blog that broke the story that AAR was going to restructure and would "declare bankruptcy" on Friday. This brought forth the trolls and a lot of sad lefties who didn't understand that bankruptcy is a tool used by corporations to solve their financial problems and doesn't necessarily mean someone is going out of business (see Airlines to understand what I mean).


AAR has denied the bankrupcy rumors and is moving ahead with their new schedule in bits and pieces. Hopefully they will make an announcement about the new schedule on Friday. Here is what I've been able to figure out (all times are Eastern):

The Young Turks will fill the 6-9 am slot. Then Sam Seder will have a show from 9-12 (apparently with a new name). As near as I can tell Al Franken and Randi Rhodes will keep there existing time slots from 12-3 and 3-7 respectively. The 7-10 pm slot is unknown to me as is the 10-1 pm slot, but I suspect Rachel Maddow may have some part in one of those shows.

Jerry Springer and Mike Malloy are out.

No information on Thom Hartmann but I have heard nothing about him changing his status.

So, in conclusion, until we hear more I think we can assume that AAR will still be around. The Internet/XM schedule will change some. Local affiliates may dink with their schedules (my local AM station has already done that, a year ago, and has Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartmann in the morning; Ed Shultz in his live slot at noon, then Al Franken delayed in the 3-6 slot and Randi delayed in the 6-10 slot. I guess they were doing Mike Mal

Advertising on AAR

Based on my observations of AAR from the beginning and listening to most of the programming from the beginning, I think that restructuring and bankruptcy filing will be a good thing for AAR.

AAR is essentially a network, which doesn't own stations itself, but relies on local stations to carry its programming. National advertising is expensive for advertisers, and most of the advertising on the local stations is sold locally. A lot of XM advertising is generated by XM (again it's that national thing that is expensive).

I've always considered that many of the advertisers are "bottom feeders" who are akin to spam on the Internet. I suspect that many of them advertise on the conservative talk stations also.

The left blogosphere has done a much better job of attracting left advertising but it's probably related to the price.

At any rate, the new AAR lineup that is coming will probably work better on many stations. If we could just find out who will be on in the evening slots. . .

Crossposted at as a comment on Daily KOS on the Blog.

Lots of links on DailyKos

DarkSyde on DailyKos has a post with lots of good links in the body and comments.
Since I don't get a chance to update this site as much as I'd like, I'm passing this on to you so you can find more good stuff.

One of these days . . .

Al Franken's New Movie at Tribeca

TRIBECA REVIEWS: Franken, Dodos, And Choking: "Al Franken: God Spoke (Showcase: Documentary)
Directors: Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus
Cast: Al Franken, Ann Coulter, Bill O�Reilly, John Kerry, Sean Hannity, Michael Moore, and many other political figures.

�It isn�t about power, it isn�t about winning�it�s about doing good for the people.� "

A Review of Al Franken's new movie at the Tribeca Festival.

TPM Muckraker is on the Net!

A few months ago I contributed to Josh Marshall's fund to start a new Blog: TPM Muckraker. Today I received official notification that it's on line tomorrow, March 13. (It's actually been on line for a few days already).

Highly recommended as a tool for raking that, well "muck". A link will go on the Blog Link section soon.

Marc Maron is alive and well and on the air!

Air America Radio |

I didn't pick up at the start but it's streaming through KTLK in LA. You can get the stream from this link. I'll get the links on the front page in a day or two.

It's great to hear Marc again.

Possible Major Mess

I can't believe I did it but i just did. In working to get ready to do some upgrades to the site, I just told Front Page to merge the Navigation structure for the Blog. It's possible that a bunch of posts were lost. However, I know the blog has been inactive for a long time (I have some sort of life) so it's possible I just haven't blogged here since last April.

Anyway, I will be blogging more, I think, as I get the site updated some and maybe get a little more time to blog.

CNN News on KTPK 1090 AM has got to go!

To: jtrapp@infinityseattle.com
Date: 17 Jan 2006, 05:19:44 PM
Subject: CNN News has got to go!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We've been putting up with CNN News on your station for some time now. I
suppose you could argue that it allows us to find out what the other side
is up to, but the fact is that the slant on the news that CNN News provides
is not compatible with the listenership of this station. You need to be
carrying Air America News.

When I'm in my car, I often switch between the news feed on XM Channel 167
and your news feed, and they are offering entirely different news stories
and an entirely different approach to the News.

Unfortunately, when watching TV News, we are forced to put up with their
slant because it's the best we have (although if I really want News I have
to watch C-span for the raw feed or Democracy Now on Link-TV). But at
least their is a choice on AM radio and XM radio.

This email at this time is prompted by the report that someone had called
Al Gore a hypocrit because of actions that took place in the Aldritch Ames
case, which took place in the early 90's. A real News outlet might have
reported that remark, but should have pointed out that at the time the
searchs took place that they were legal; the law was changed by Congress a
couple of years later. Furthermore, Gore was only Vice President at the
time and had no control over the actions of the Justice Department, which
was under the leadership of the President.

This note will be posted on AirAmericaLinks Blog
(www.airamericalinks.com/blog).

Rob Stitt
Snohomish


"A country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting
caught. . . ."
GW Bush April 13, 2004