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Home Front: Culture Wars
Air Anti-America restored in Chicago
2004-04-16
In a rapid reversal of fortunes, Air America Radio won a temporary restraining order Thursday requiring the owner of its Chicago affiliate to restore the fledgling, liberal talk-radio network's broadcast, one day after it was thrown off the air in Chicago and Los Angeles. "We've just won Round 1," said Evan Cohen, Air America's chairman. "Arthur Liu received a clear message: Temper tantrums are not the way to conduct business." Cohen said the network expects to resume broadcasting Friday on WNTD-950 AM in Chicago.

Liu, whose Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. owns Air America's Chicago and Los Angeles stations, pulled the network off the air in both markets Wednesday and changed the locks on the doors. He told the Chicago Tribune that Air America had bounced a payment check and owed Multicultural more than $1 million. But New York state Supreme Court Judge Marylin G. Diamond found Thursday that Air America had fully paid for airtime in Chicago and ordered Multicultural to begin broadcasting Air America's programming again.

Air America remains off the air in Los Angeles, where it had been broadcast on Multicultural's KBLA 1580 AM.
Darn. What will the dozens millions of LA listeners do?
A person answering the phone Thursday at Multicultural said the company had no comment.
"We will say no more!"
The dispute between the two companies began Wednesday morning, when Multicultural employees kicked Air America staffers out of the Chicago and Los Angeles stations and began airing Spanish-language programming. Liu claimed Air America had defaulted on payments for airtime. But Air America executives said they were withholding payments for the Los Angeles station because Liu had been "double-dipping," or reselling airtime that the network had bought and paid for, prior to the network's launch a little more than two weeks ago.

Cohen said Thursday that Air America is considering its legal options regarding the Los Angeles station and would be "doing something within the next 48 hours." Diamond scheduled a hearing on Monday to get a response from Multicultural.

No matter how the dispute is resolved, it seems unlikely that Air America will continue to broadcast on Multicultural's stations. The public relations battle became personal very quickly on Wednesday, with Liu accusing the network of insolvency, and Cohen calling Liu "disgraceful and unprofessional." "Is this a relationship we want to continue?" Cohen asked. "Over the next couple of days we're both going to be doing a lot of thinking." Cohen said he is "exploring other broadcast options with a partner who is more responsible and mature."
"We'll see if we can do bidness with some other gullible, struggling radio station owner!"
Posted by:Steve White

#15  Didn't frankenSTEIN say his first order of bussines was to get sued? This entire "dust up" smells more of ginned up PR than anything.

S'what I've been saying for two days. Two of their biggest markets, which they'll be broadcasting again in soon. Publicity from the media. Most of blogdom is talking about it. Not costing them a cent except for lawyers.
Posted by: Pappy   2004-04-16 11:31:19 PM  

#14  p.s. evryone have a godd night. im going sleep this headache off. the long posting over here earlier today not help either. tell .com i say hi.
Posted by: muck4doo   2004-04-16 6:19:01 PM  

#13  streeming not working
they got the dor unlock though
it purdy mess up

im had to leave today that place cuz im getting headache there from frustration. hopefuly they get it together next wek and we can all have fun making hiakus again. dubya posting there and he making purdy good hiakus. sunshine jim purdy good to.
Posted by: muck4doo   2004-04-16 6:15:17 PM  

#12  how cruel
haiku
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-16 5:44:55 PM  

#11  What's the real deal here Mucki? I've heard they're having streaming problems, but I'm not sure if it's related to the money war. I'm hoping you can sum it up in a 5-7-5.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-04-16 4:37:36 PM  

#10  If memory serves me right-- and it doesn't always -- it was on 950 AM. I took quick listen to see if they, too, were raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma. We all know that the Left has a monopoly on compassion... well if they were they were doing it in Chinese today.

Of course I may have mis-remembered the Chicago freq.
Posted by: eLarson   2004-04-16 4:21:48 PM  

#9  they figure out why its still not on. they having hard time opening the door.
Posted by: muck4doo   2004-04-16 4:06:46 PM  

#8  Didn't frankenSTEIN say his first order of bussines was to get sued? This entire "dust up" smells more of ginned up PR than anything.
Posted by: Dave   2004-04-16 2:30:17 PM  

#7  No prob, CS! You're right, though...not only do Sean/Rush/Savage/Boortz, etc. NOT pay to be heard (like Airhead America does), but they get paid to be heard!
Posted by: BA   2004-04-16 2:21:42 PM  

#6  unfortunatly peple on the blog keep saying it still not on in chicago so evryone wondering whats going on.
Posted by: muck4doo   2004-04-16 2:14:08 PM  

#5  BA, I didn't see your post, sorry for the dupe effort.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter)   2004-04-16 2:11:46 PM  

#4  A point not made her is that the talk radio (Rush, Sean, Bill) doesn’t pay stations to play their show it’s the other way around. The get the product and then sell commercial slots. If Nair America has to pay station to play their product, how are they making money? If they are not a money making company then they are nothing more than an expensive political ad. This has to be some violation of the election reform law?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter)   2004-04-16 2:10:53 PM  

#3  One obvious question....why in the world is a judge in NY hearing a case regarding Chicago and LA (unless Liu's home office is in NY)? And, I love Neal Boortz's rant about this (see boortz.com)...it's amazing that lib radio has to PAY to get airtime and not compete in the free market. According to Neal, neither he, Rush or Hannity pay to be heard (plenty of sponsors pay for their airtime).
Posted by: BA   2004-04-16 1:43:55 PM  

#2  I'm glad that Judge Diamond has the time to take up the cause for these liberals. Why don't they have to go through the same red tape that the rest of the businesses in US do in order to get their case heard?

But Air America executives said they were withholding payments for the Los Angeles station because Liu had been "double-dipping," or reselling airtime that the network had bought and paid for, prior to the network's launch a little more than two weeks ago.

SPIN-ALERT: No way. There's no chance that they or anyone else would "withhold" their FIRST PAYMENT for a service because of this convienent "cause" or any other. Certainly they can't expect to default on a contract without making ONE payment and demand to remain on the air!

Liu should make a HUGE stink about this. He ought to get on every network and expose them for what they are. I find this story and Air Anti-American Radio's various responses to be repugnant and outrageous. Yesterday this story was funny, but hearing the response from AA-AR makes me want to vomit.

What a bunch of tools. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
Posted by: Unmutual   2004-04-16 12:42:35 PM  

#1  Doing it in the courts. Yep. That's a "liberal." Setting up a network for a bunch of rank amateurs and assuming that the audience will come without having to... I dunno... earn it? Yep, that's the modern "liberal", too.
Posted by: eLarson   2004-04-16 11:55:13 AM  

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