Air America sale OK'd by bankruptcy judge

[Doondoo]

A federal bankruptcy judge approved on Friday the sale of the liberal talk radio network Air America Radio for $4.25 million to Stephen L. Green, founder of a New York real estate firm.

The approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain essentially transfers all the assets of Piquant LLC, parent company of the New York-based Air America, to a group including new and current investors.

It gives a majority stake to Green Family Media LLC, an entity controlled by Green, and a minority stake to Democracy Allies LLC. That group includes RealNetworks Inc. Chief Executive Robert Glaser and two former Air America board members.

Air America was launched in 2004 and has lost money ever since. Its most prominent personality was the comedian and author Al Franken, who left the network on Wednesday to run for nomination to a U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota.

Green is the founder and chairman of SL Green Realty Corp., a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns 34 Manhattan office buildings and has a total of 27 million square feet of space under its control. He is also the brother of Mark Green, a longtime New York politician who has appeared frequently as a guest on Air America.



http://www.madison.com/bn/index.php?action=this&bn_id=0-119302

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

1. now they're finally over the initial financial blunder

it will be smooth sailing from here on, as the shows have a proven audience

[geomon666]

3. Yeah....sure. n/t

[Fluffdaddy]

2. Great to hear

[PassingFair]

4. Somebody give Ed Schultz a tranquilizer.....

he's not gonna handle this well.

[rocktivity]

5. The most surprising thing I've heard about AirAm

since Franken announced that he was going to run!

But seriously, folks, everybody wins. Al can stop pretending that he can't make up his mind about running, Randi can take her rightful place as the goddess of progressive media (and bill CACI for her legal fees), Thom Hartmann can now become of national importance, New York City has a shot of getting Mike Malloy back, and most important, they're out of debt.

:eyes:
rocknation

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Ok, now, they are gonna have to dig a little deeper.

First, they HAVE to bring in a real radio pro who knows how to kick the format in the ass. They exist, they are out there and such a person would be an asset. But they need one of those to run this thing correctly. Make it sound like a format, and not college radio from Oberlin, c.1970.

Second, they really need to consider bringing back some of the old talent. Maron and Liz Winstead come readily to mind. Plus add some new talent, like Hartman. Will they bring back Malloy? It would be good for ratings, the man could be the managerial radio talent they need, but it would precipitate a hell of a battle between the Green contingent and Glaser's group. Lots of bad blood there, and Mike might place conditions that they just could not sign off on. If I were him and Kathy, I would place JUST those conditions.

They should hold onto Rachel at all costs. That grrl has a bright future, especially if they match her with the right producer.

They should consider Stephanie Miller somewhere in the mix. Perhaps Taylor Marsh, too. Big Ed can go blow it out his barracks bag, pompous git that he is.

Funny, there seems to be a shortage of male, liberal radio talent. Too much "Morning Zoo" probably.

Third, they need to get a crack sales staff, who can sell the ad time. The landscape has changed greatly since AA first went on the air. They have to get the big accounts, or this is all for nought.

The whole thing started out well and got screwed by meddlesome gagootzes. They need to look back to look forward. Some of the changes made were made because someone was making decisions with their ego and not their brain.