WLIB, Air America, New York City

RIGHT ALL ALONG

Beyond August, Air America Homeless In New York City?





Exclusive To The Radio Equalizer

If you've been following our story so far, you may by now recognize this annoying routine:


The Radio Equalizer breaks an Air America Radio story.

In response, the company issues a spin-packed press release.

Even after the firm's long history of fishy, Enron-like corporate antics, unquestioning media outlets swallow it hook, line and sinker.

Air America's sleazy (and often not particularly bright) serial defenders slam us for getting the story "wrong".


Because our investigative pieces are always backed by documentation, however, we simply haven't been wrong. If our assertions were incorrect, we'd expect to hear from the liberal talk radio network.

Since there's no question we're spot-on, Air America's energy is better utilized trying to figure out why insiders so readily want to help us reveal its ugly truth. If only they had a spare moment, that is, after spending most of their time fighting for handouts and fending off yet another lawsuit.


After our exclusive March report detailing the company's impending flagship New York City station loss, we correctly stood by its findings.

Now, new information answers a key question: how much longer can they expect to remain on WLIB-AM?

Answer: short of a miracle, only until the end of August.

That unpleasant fact, which could seriously undermine the company's future prospects, flies in the face of a cryptic March press release which seemed to claim they'd reached a new deal with station owner Inner City Broadcasting:

NEW YORK-March 16, 2006- WLIB will continue to be the New York home of Air America Radio, under an agreement announced by Air America and Inner City Broadcasting Company. Over the next several months, Air America and Inner City will seek to enhance and extend their long-term relationship.

“We are happy to reiterate that our New York listeners will be able to continue to hear our programming,” said Air America Radio CEO Danny Goldberg.

“Inner City has always had faith in the mission of Air America,” said Vice Chairman of ICBC Broadcasting Holdings, Inc. Skip Finley.

By failing to clearly indicate it was merely a short term deal, however, was the media tricked?

We think so and wonder why, with the exception of the New York Post's John Mainelli, reporters aren't more careful when it comes to dealing with the firm.


So where does Air America actually stand in New York City? After August, they'll be looking for a new home, of which there are few, if any, decent options.

Because such a huge percentage of the network's listeners are in the nation's largest radio market, losing the station would represent a damaging blow for an already troubled company.

Why were they able to extend their deal through August? We suspect other groups interested in taking over WLIB simply weren't yet ready to take over. Or, it could be part of a compromise reached in the expensive legal wrangling between Air America and Inner City over the station's lease.

What we do know: because it's just a short-term deal, Air America's New York City problem hasn't gone away. In the meantime, hefty lease payments to Inner City of $208,000 per month continue to be made.

As to whether lease-related litigation issues have been fully resolved, we don't yet know, but will keep you posted.

Just don't hold your breath waiting for the mainstream media to admit they've been had by Air America Radio.

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Graphic support: David A Lunde and Pete at IHillary