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Air America - Desperately Seeking
The Schadenfreude Express keeps rolling...Air America Desperately Seeking $8 Million Air America Radio, the new leftwing syndicated radio network, is desperate for a cash infusion, Reuters reported Thursday evening. So desperate that sources close to the company say that "Democratic heavyweights as Sen. Hillary Clinton, her husband, former President Bill Clinton and billionaire investor George Soros have been appraised of the money-raising efforts." "Please, pretty please, we need Moâ Money!" The network has been floundering almost from the get-go, with the business hemorrhaging cash and debts growing. Translation - no advertising revenue, coupled with the fact theyâre paying radio stations to carry them = stunning, but predictable, market failure. I can see the keel of this landlocked version of the Kursk all the way from here! Air Americaâs woes became evident just weeks ago when CEO Evan Cohen was ousted. "This venture is not dead and itâs not going to die," Mike Papantonio, a backer of Air America who also co-hosts a talk show with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told Reuters. "I am a businessman and I see this as a great business opportunity." "Tis but a flesh wound!" The wire service reported that the backers include trial attorney Papantonio, Chicago businessman Sheldon Drobny, and Rob Glaser, chairman of RealNetworks Inc. -- all of whom have promised to invest more funds to keep the company afloat. Uh, guys? Remember that quote from Will Rogers: "Iâm not so much interested in the return on my investment as I am the return of my investment." The company says its business plan calls for $8 million in new capital and that fundraising is underway. Fundraising sounds different from investing, doesnât it? I read it as a tacit admission that this $8 million, if they manage to get it, is going to be pissed away as well. Air America shows include Question - are you still a comedian if youâve stopped being funny ten years ago? As for their financial woes, company insiders wonât blame bad management or lack of market interest. Itâs not âbad management or lack of market interestâ. Itâs âbad management and lack of market interestâ! Instead they have a right-wing conspiracy right in their roost. Classic leftists - blame everyone but your own piss-poor decisions. Like Iâm surprised... Reuters reported: "Papantonio and others attributed the companyâs troubles thus far to mismanagement by Cohen, a former Republican political operative in Guam. Sorry, Iâm out of time right now to check on Evan Cohenâs background. Any diggers that can give me an assist out there? Posted by: Raj 2004-05-21 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=33612 |