BREAKING NEWS: AAR Has Just Declared Chapter 11 - Staying On Air-Will Reorganize

[fred flintstone]

Phil, all fair comments on Maloney and his "work."

You say at one point that "we" knew all this before and mention some comments Randi and/or Anita Drobny made a month ago. Sounds like you had some good stuff. I don't recall seeing you post anything about it here. Wish I had. Do you post "goodies" like this elsewhere?

Not all of us hear everything Randi (or other hosts) say on their shows. Especially with Randi, I find a small dose is enough. Steph and Hartmann I can stay with longer. Public radio still longer.

 

[fred flintstone]

wow. such a staggering amount of spin, it's generating it's own gravity field! :

Just peruse if you will, FI's 'non-tabloidy' post from Wednesday, October 04, 2006. Go ahead, follow his link, and find his 'objective' review of the Zwerlings.

Here's a mom and pop that decided to give AAR a chance. Just like here in Atlanta, when the format fails, and they yank it, along comes the hate. Nice, huh? "They didn't promote it enough", or 'they hate the programming'.

Yeah, they hate it enough to give AAR a signal. They gave other liberal talkers a chance, too! They also own a conservative station. But they are in Santa Cruz, so, being business people, they decided to try something new that they thought would work.

No ratings. No advertisers. When they pull the AAR programming, then guys like FI start whining ' they wanted it to fail'
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/10/new_radio_waves.html

FI is exactly the same as Baloney. I'm guessing our friend used to have his own liberal talk show and got shown the door. Fred nailed it again.

Evn, I didn't say FI is the same as Maloney, nor did I claim to know anything about his career in radio.

You neglected to mention that the Monterey market has two progressive talk stations and KOMY is definitely number two (and does not try harder). KOMY is a weak stick AAR turn-key. In contrast, KRXA 540 puts out a better signal - has two local weekday talk shows (plus a third show it originates which has gone into syndication). The rest of the line-up is Steph, Big Ed, Hartmann, Lionel, Bill Press and Doug Basham. The AAR-free station has always had the better numbers, although the dominant talker in the market is KGO, San Francisco (with two progressive hosts).

Face it: Zwerling is a wacko owner. Every market has one - at least. Their function in life appears to be to provide radio with war stories to tell all designed to illustrate that this person is every crazier and/or dumber than the person hearing the story had thought. They also make many radio people appreciate working for Clear Channel (which is not always easy to do). FI provides a detailed, even handed and deftly handled description of the guy (which could be turned into a sitcom character). Worth reading.

 

[FightingIrish]

I'm not in competition with Radio Tranquilizer. My blog is something completely different. When I started it a few years ago, I didn't want to rely on just posting whiny blog entries. And my goal was not investigative research. I wanted to provide a resource, including a ton of oft-updated links, some news reports here and there, the occasional rumor and maybe an occasional opinion piece to spice it up. The Blogger software lent itself to being the best-equipped to suit my needs. And I've gotten a huge response from people that refer to it for information. I do it for fun, I don't make money off it nor is that my goal. I've still got a lot of work to do on it to bring it up to what I originally envisioned, but I'm getting closer.

As I said, opinion-oriented blogs that are more tabloidy in nature will likely draw more readers. I don't have the time for that kind of undertaking, and other blogs tend to do that kind of thing better, so I let them do it. Not saying that I don't do those kinds of posts occasionally, but that's not the focus of what I do.

wow. such a staggering amount of spin, it's generating it's own gravity field! :

Just peruse if you will, FI's 'non-tabloidy' post from Wednesday, October 04, 2006. Go ahead, follow his link, and find his 'objective' review of the Zwerlings.

Here's a mom and pop that decided to give AAR a chance. Just like here in Atlanta, when the format fails, and they yank it, along comes the hate. Nice, huh? "They didn't promote it enough", or 'they hate the programming'.

Yeah, they hate it enough to give AAR a signal. They gave other liberal talkers a chance, too! They also own a conservative station. But they are in Santa Cruz, so, being business people, they decided to try something new that they thought would work.

No ratings. No advertisers. When they pull the AAR programming, then guys like FI start whining ' they wanted it to fail'
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/10/new_radio_waves.html

FI is exactly the same as Baloney. I'm guessing our friend used to have his own liberal talk show and got shown the door. Fred nailed it again.

Again, you bring nothing to the party but attacks.

The KOMY article was based on actual sources and articles, with a little humor thrown in. And many people have told me they enjoyed it. I don't claim my blog to be gospel. Go back and re-read my post. I didn't say "they wanted it to fail". Nobody wants anything they put on the air to fail. No, it was pure incompetence. It was a matter of trying to run a pair of stations on the cheap, and letting their egos get in the way of being successful. I contrasted the Zwerlings' approach with that of rival KRXA's. The owners of KRXA worked hard to get their station off the ground and are very committed to making the format work. As a result, they have enjoyed more success, even with lower-profile talent.

If a radio station doesn't put forth much effort to sell advertising, who's fault is that? You get out of it what you put into it.

As much as you like to build my little blog up, I've never claimed to be a journalist. I saw an opportunity to put up the type of site I felt people would enjoy (and people suggested I do just that). So I did, and many have complimented me on something that they deemed useful.

Did I say the entire thing is non-biased or unopinionated? Of course not. It is what it is. It's a friggin' blog, and I can write whatever the hell I want on it. That seems to be the purpose of the medium, right? Plus, it fills up space around the collection of links, news and information. Recently, I decided to add some opinion into it. I've said this in the past.

Since you've gained so much experience in the broadcast industry schlepping coffee for the jocks and answering phones, perhaps you should start up your own blog. I promise, I'll stop by to check it out.

And in case you were wondering about my former radio career, I was an on-air talent, working mostly in music formats, including alternative, rock and country, and a little sports. Also did some voice and production work as well, in addition to a little TV production work in my younger days. Also did some nightclub stuff. I left radio years ago when I was offered another job outside the business. It seemed the best move for me at the time. I like writing about radio because, while I think the business has gone downhill in recent years, I still have a fascination about the magic of the medium. I may return to it, but likely in sales (which is where my career seems to have gone since).

Glad you read my site. Stop by, visit often.

 

[kaufcom]

Here are the facts: AAR had a good signal,promotion by the local weekly and print,and a large base from which to work. But nobody cared. Ther is already NPR and WAOK , an 'urban talk' format in place, as well as some opinion on community based WRFG. AAR could not compete, and nobody tried to save it. :

• WWAA has a lousy signal. Radio reception is many of the suburban areas in Atlanta is non-existence
• Virtually every AAR market also has NPR and most of the Top AAR 20 markets have an urban station
• Weber can do what he wants with his station. My guess is that he made the format change for personal reasons not because lib talk was not working

 

[dampier]

Phil, all fair comments on Maloney and his "work."

You say at one point that "we" knew all this before and mention some comments Randi and/or Anita Drobny made a month ago. Sounds like you had some good stuff. I don't recall seeing you post anything about it here. Wish I had. Do you post "goodies" like this elsewhere?

Not all of us hear everything Randi (or other hosts) say on their shows. Especially with Randi, I find a small dose is enough. Steph and Hartmann I can stay with longer. Public radio still longer.

I heard it at the time, but had no ideas as to its meaningfulness so I didn't post it. Randi does go off on tears sometimes, and as I said, these turned out to be puzzle pieces whose meaning would only become completely clear later on. Unlike Baloney, I am willing to say "I don't know" what something means, and I usually like to know something before I post it on here. I did mentioned the Drobny appearance last month, and I have repeatedly said Randi is the best "source" of the AAR talent for insider dirt.

We are charting new waters in the coming weeks, and I suspect there will be some sort of power play if Glaser does take the helm. Maybe he'll even take things in the direction of syndication now that there are multiple providers of programming for a libtalk station to choose from. I don't object to criticism about AAR management in general. I clearly think they paid Hollywood prices for radio talent, and I am not a big fan of all AAR shows. I just like to make sure that criticism passes the political sniff test and that it's more about the business and less about the ideology.

 

[dampier]

Maybe we can settle one of the AAR arguments once and for all by saying that Air America Radio is not going to be successful in every market it tries. That is gets tossed off a stations is not a win for AAR obviously, but it's not a condemnation of the format or the programming across the board either. This market-by-market analysis some people want to use as "proof" of AAR's inability to succeed is really not proof of anything other than the station management has elected not to run with it, for one of potentially many reasons.

 

[FightingIrish]

Phil, all fair comments on Maloney and his "work."

You say at one point that "we" knew all this before and mention some comments Randi and/or Anita Drobny made a month ago. Sounds like you had some good stuff. I don't recall seeing you post anything about it here. Wish I had. Do you post "goodies" like this elsewhere?

Not all of us hear everything Randi (or other hosts) say on their shows. Especially with Randi, I find a small dose is enough. Steph and Hartmann I can stay with longer. Public radio still longer.

I heard it at the time, but had no ideas as to its meaningfulness so I didn't post it. Randi does go off on tears sometimes, and as I said, these turned out to be puzzle pieces whose meaning would only become completely clear later on. Unlike Baloney, I am willing to say "I don't know" what something means, and I usually like to know something before I post it on here. I did mentioned the Drobny appearance last month, and I have repeatedly said Randi is the best "source" of the AAR talent for insider dirt.

We are charting new waters in the coming weeks, and I suspect there will be some sort of power play if Glaser does take the helm. Maybe he'll even take things in the direction of syndication now that there are multiple providers of programming for a libtalk station to choose from. I don't object to criticism about AAR management in general. I clearly think they paid Hollywood prices for radio talent, and I am not a big fan of all AAR shows. I just like to make sure that criticism passes the political sniff test and that it's more about the business and less about the ideology.

What they need is a severe overhaul. First, the focus of any radio network should be on entertainment first. After all, when it all comes down to it, talk radio is merely just entertainment. Sure, there is news and information, but if propaganda is the main goal, it will be dead in the water.

From what I understand, the situation in their front office is too many executives stepping over each other, and all with differing opinions. Someone needs to put their foot down at AAR and really take charge. Set an agenda, and follow through. Hire a real radio person with the sole responsibility of overseeing programming. Currently, it sounds like anarchy there. As talented as I think Randi Rhodes is, as of late she has become somewhat boring as she goes on Iraq war rants that can last several hours. She and other hosts should mix it up a little bit. Ed Schultz does well by changing topics throughout the course of his program. And he'll even veer off the political talk with topics such as sports or hunting. Mix it up, and have some fun. She already does the "bounce your boobies" thing on Fridays.

Also, this person needs to take a look at the whole schedule. Re-examine it. Change the focus of some of the shows if need be.

And unlike many, I have no problem with them being 24/7. Let's face it - Sam Seder and Rachel Maddow can't possibly cost them much, and the two nighttime hour-long shows pay for themselves. Plus, the do repeat a lot of weekday shows in overnights and weekends.

 

[kaufcom]

• There are two issues here
  
  First, is AAR's current ill-fortune (bankruptcy) and prospects for redemption.
  
  The other is the health of liberal talk.
  
  While the fate of AAR is an open question, I don't think anyone doubts for a minute that liberal talk radio is alive and well. The reasons are obvious.
  
  • Lib talk is the fastest growing segment of the talk radio business. Lib talk ratings have increased by 10% over the past six months when their station count stopped growing. Conservative talk ratings were flat for the same period.
  • Almost 40% of the ratings generated by lib talk stations comes from non-AAR talkers (e.g. Schultz, Miller, and local hosts.) This will no doubt increase if AAR continues to flounder
  • Unlike television syndication where rights holders e.g. ESPN with football deals and ABC with Desparate Housewives, the only one's with "skin in the game" in radio are the station owners. If you don't think this is the case, see what happens is Hannity or even Limbaugh try to signicantly raise their license fees. Also remember, Premiere, Rush Limbaugh's syndicator, is actually owned by mega station group Clear Channel.
  • Clear Channel, which owns stations that serve over 2/3 of lib talk listeners, isn't going to make any changes. They love lib talk. Not only are they making money, especially in markets where they can package sales with a conservative talker, but by operating lib talk stations they can discourage Dems from re-enacting the Fairness Doctrine, when they take over the Congress next month.
  
  
  
  So gloat all you want to about the possible demise of AAR. However, by doing this you are burying the lead.
  
  
  Liberal Talk is Alive and Well on Radio​
  
  

 

[fred flintstone]

Progressive talk is alive - not necessarily well.

AAR is the format's biggest liability.

AAR makes dumb moves and screws up and people say libtalk can't work.

Get AAR out of the way and give progressive talk a chance.

 

[HHH]

Gr8oldies:

Regarding your comment about my statement about Talk Radio not pursuing solutions, etc, and your retort that Talk Radio is about revenue and ratings, and that it is just entertainment.

Well, of course! My next statement said just the same thing. Yes, it is entertainment. But just like TV wrestling is entertainment masquerading as "sports", talk radio is entertainment masquerading as "news and information". This is why I really can't stand much of it.
There is probably no harm in anyone actually thinking that TV wrestling is actually a real competition of actual participants, but when talk radio
presents itself to people as a credible news and information source, I just have to laugh. The day that Mr. Hannity and Ms Rhodes actually give information that is not dripping with adjenda, spin, and omission of any fact that does not fit their simple "good guys / bad guys world"
is the day that I will be able to listen without hearing the whole machine working behind them.

Someone said that AA's trouble is that the network had an agenda. Oh brother. If you can't see an agenda in Fox-TV, or the "Republican Kool-Aid Twins" Hannity and Rush, who have said straight out that they are "working to prevent Democrats for succeeding in any way" (quote: Hannity) or "You know, everybody talks about how we need a two party system, but I don't think we need it" (quote: Rush). One party is OK with Rush? And that's not an agenda, not to mention shockingly un-American? Both shows, BTW, market themselves NOT as entertainment, but as legit news sources. Rush even calls himself "America's Anchorman".

Look, the cons are just better at doing radio and hitting the emotional hot buttons of the masses. When you put Al Franken dryly (but accurately) reciting a monotone list of Tom Delay's crimes opposite Bill O'Reilly screaming that the "Libs are trying to ban Christmas", which do you think will win the numbers? O'Reilly, hands down. NOT because it is more important (Delay's crimes are far more dangerous and rotten than a few "Happy Holiday" signs replacing "Merry Christmas"). O'Reilly wins because he and the others (including Howie Carr and the Citgo sign in Boston) know how to rile up the supermarket tabloid crowd.

But its not news, or even in most cases, accurate information. If they would only say "the following program is presented for entertainment purposes only" I would feel better about the whole genre.

 

[kaufcom]

Progressive talk is alive - not necessarily well.

AAR is the format's biggest liability.

AAR makes dumb moves and screws up and people say libtalk can't work.

Get AAR out of the way and give progressive talk a chance.

If AAR goes out of business tomorrow, how many Clear Channel lib talk stations will switch formats.

The answer is 0

 

[evnlee]

Again, you bring nothing to the party but attacks.

and, of course this is the ultimate in the 'pot calling kettleblack' competition. :

You guys note that I included a link with my post? Fred? That link stated "the Monterey market has two progressive talk stations and KOMY is definitely number two " as you so eloquently put it. So how can you say I neglected to mention it? Duh.

FI? what's wrong, junior? You condemn 'attacks' but a cursory review of your 'news site' has plenty of them!! When someone points out your own vitriol, then you whine 'your attacking me'.

Hey FI, how many stations have you owned, huh? You have now demonstrated that you know more then 2 owners, one of which I personally know, Joe Weber. And if you think he's a conservative, your smoking Baroosk' stash!

Maybe I do have a blog, and I'm not stupid enough to post it here like you numbskulls. After all, your only doing it for 'free', not like Maloney, who only wants to get on Fox News.

Boy, if this is what happens when AAR declares bankruptcy, it's gonna get ugly when they pull the plug.

 

[evnlee]

Here are the facts: AAR had a good signal,promotion by the local weekly and print,and a large base from which to work. But nobody cared. Ther is already NPR and WAOK , an 'urban talk' format in place, as well as some opinion on community based WRFG. AAR could not compete, and nobody tried to save it. :

• WWAA has a lousy signal. Radio reception is many of the suburban areas in Atlanta is non-existence
• Virtually every AAR market also has NPR and most of the Top AAR 20 markets have an urban station
• Weber can do what he wants with his station. My guess is that he made the format change for personal reasons not because lib talk was not working

wrong again.

WWAA, or as it's known now, WMLB, has a strong signal. That's why Joe Weber bought it, genius.

You claim that most of the top 20 AAR markets have 'urban talk'. How many of the current AAR 'affiliates' that operate 24/7 have 'urban talk' as viable competition?

http://www.airamerica.com/stations

this is a bad weekend for y'all. the rest of us are celebrating

 

[FightingIrish]

Again, you bring nothing to the party but attacks.

and, of course this is the ultimate in the 'pot calling kettleblack' competition. :

You guys note that I included a link with my post? Fred? That link stated "the Monterey market has two progressive talk stations and KOMY is definitely number two " as you so eloquently put it. So how can you say I neglected to mention it? Duh.

FI? what's wrong, junior? You condemn 'attacks' but a cursory review of your 'news site' has plenty of them!! When someone points out your own vitriol, then you whine 'your attacking me'.

Hey FI, how many stations have you owned, huh? You have now demonstrated that you know more then 2 owners, one of which I personally know, Joe Weber. And if you think he's a conservative, your smoking Baroosk' stash!

Maybe I do have a blog, and I'm not stupid enough to post it here like you numbskulls. After all, your only doing it for 'free', not like Maloney, who only wants to get on Fox News.

Boy, if this is what happens when AAR declares bankruptcy, it's gonna get ugly when they pull the plug.

When did I mention I knew Joe Weber? Hell, I don't recall even mentioning the guy (except for him dropping AAR from his station. I had heard stories that the whole Israel thing had something to do with it, but, well s--t, I lost his home phone number, so I haven't been able to get it straight from the source). But gee, I guess you have all the answers, huh? Congratulations! You get a sucker! Whoo hoo!

Somewhere in all of your meandering, whiny posts, you are attempting to make a point. but I, for the life of me, cannot figure out what the hell your point is.

And at least I have the balls to lay my cards out on the table, in regard to my blog. I stand behind it 100%. As I have said, it is what it is. As far as doing it for free, that is my choice. I don't do it to kiss Bill O'Reilly's ass. For me, it's a hobby. Are you saying hobbies are a bad thing? So you may or may not have a blog, huh? But you're too scared to post it while you do your little childlike attacks on mine. Your cowardice is none of my concern. I have no problem with anything I post there, and it seems, you are the only one troubled by what I write. So much that you read two years of my postings. Hey, if you really like it, that's cool, but if you start getting all Mark Foley on me, I may have to get a restraining order.

And I thought you Republicans were sooooo tough. Guess not. Just another chickens--t errand boy with a big mouth and low self-esteem.

(Since you like taking things to a personal level, I thought I'd throw you a bone there.)

BTW: Joe wants you to clean his pool at 1PM tomorrow, not 2PM. Please make note.

 

[FightingIrish]

uh huh...

 

[fred flintstone]

Now we have some examples of the level of discourse practiced in the ditto-head community.

And it provides an insight into why Air America Radio flopped:

Not incompetent management, although that sure helped.
Not because there isn't a potential audience for progressive talk. (Anybody who doubts this can wait until next month.)

AAR flopped because the political hacks running AAR tried to copy Rush; they thought they could reach liberals the way Rush and his imitators rouse the ditto-heads.

They may also have been deluded enough to think talk radio can and does actually convert people. They seem to have believed Rush might be leading some good liberals astray. They may have even thought they could save some of the ditto-head heathen (despite the fact that Rush is still the best at doing the act he perfected).

But the bottom line is Rush-style talk radio is not how liberals want to be talked to.

How liberals want to be talked to is a lot closer to how public radio stations do talk radio. Now, just wait, some of the ditto-heads among us are going to start jumping up and saying, "see, he admits NPR is biased." No, that is not what I said. I said the kind of person disposed to liberalism tends to prefer the kind of presentation and programming style public radio uses over the kind of presentation and programming style Rush-Hannity-Savage-Ingraham-Gallagher- O'Reilly (et al) use. In every market with both a commercial progressive talk station and a public radio news-talk format station, public radio gets significantly better numbers.

Progressive talk also made a bad mistake in going after AM stations (mostly marginal we'll-take-anything AM stations), probably because Rush is mostly on AM (although that may be changing). Public radio is fortunate enough to be on FM, where about 80 per cent of the radio audience is. Most radio listeners never - ever listen to, sample or think about AM radio. AAR claimed it would reach younger listeners and then set up shop where young listeners don't go.

The righties (and some left wing zealots) don't seem to know the difference between the radio business and politics. People get involved and emotionally invested in campaigns. Motives vary but usually people get involved in politics because there are things they want to make happen or prevent. They also seek validation for their own beliefs. There is a public campaign and a public election. Somebody wins. Somebody loses. Public policies vary with the result.

Radio on the other hand is a private experience. As Arthur Godfrey realized 70 years ago, "if there are two people in the room, they've got something better to do than listen to the radio." So Godfrey, and most successful radio broadcasters after him, started speaking to one person. People connect with a voice and listen for agreement. A ratings book comes out and one station does better than another, and it means almost nothing. The world goes on; nothing changes. It means less than nothing when two stations are not in competition for the same listeners - and right-wing and progressive talk do not - repeat NOT compete for the same listeners. Rush's competition is O'Reilly and Tammy Bruce - maybe Liddy and Boortz (for an hour). Not Franken.

Gloating when your candidate wins an election is one thing. Gloating over the problems of a radio format to which you don't listen and whose fortunes do not affect either you or the personalities to which you do listen is nasty, mean-spirited and petty. But those are the kind of people who tend to become ditto-heads and those are the qualities that Rush and the others play to and exploit.

 

[fred flintstone]

Guess what! It's not local.

There's a 15 page thread over on the news-talk board currently,

The Seattle progressive talk station is owned by CBS Radio. Air America Radio does not originate the majority of the programs the station carries. Probably you don't even know which ones do come from AAR (without looking it up). If AAR disappears tomorrow, most of the KPTK schedule would be unaffected. Maybe one or two shows would get a new syndicator. Maybe a couple of new shows would be picked up. Many listeners would not notice much.

So, given all that, what has this to do with Seattle radio? (Rush probably didn't cover this Friday, so you may have to think this one through yourself.)

If you don't have answer to that one, come over to the news-talk board and answer this one:
Why do you care and why does this make you so happy any way? Have you ever listened? (Probably not.)

 

[fred flintstone]

Al Franken is still keep mum on recent events, possibly looking at how AAR's bankruptcy filing may affect his decision to run for the Senate from Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Sam Seder may be in stage one of the grieving process. He has released a statement (below).

Seder declares AAR a success. And buried in the released statement is the news that AAR has dropped the "network" or turnkey business model and has gone to a syndication business model. This is a sound move although long over due. Seder adds AAR's turnkey format made possible the success of Steph and Big Ed (which now cause AAR to drop the turnkey model). The irony here is Seder is the individual host most adversely impacted by the success of outside programming: First, Majority Report got bumped from most progressive talk stations when they took Big Ed and ran a delayed Randi show instead of Seder and Garofolo. Now he is in a time slot in which most stations take Steph (and a few have stuck with Jerry).

Air America's parent company will enter into a Chapter 11 reorganization today. Frankly, this is good news. Because of a lack of capitalization and a clear business plan Air America has been behind the 8 ball since its launch. Despite these missteps AAR has, as a product, been wildly successful.

After only two and a half years, AAR continues to grow listenership, add affiliates and enhance our brand. With little fanfare, the Air America "Playbook", which was released Sept.18, hit number 14 on the times best seller list this past weekend. As of today, AAR currently produces 19 hours of original programming a day and is heard on 92 affiliates reaching 58 percent of the country. Air America affiliates reach 2.4 million listeners per week.

This reorganization will allow Air America to restructure itself and relationships it has had since its inception. It will also allow Air America to restructure these relationships to reflect its change in business model which took place September first of this year. At that time AAR essentially became a syndicator of progressive programming.

I have some general knowledge of Ch. 11 reorganization (my dad an attorney who specializes in this field). I know that to enter Ch.11 AAR will have to show a judge a reorganization plan and that there is operating funds to implement these plans.

I have spoken to our new CEO and am convinced there is at least a sensible and defined business plan to move forward. Sadly, it's the first time anyone here has articulated such a plan. It remains to be seen whether it will be properly executed but I am as encouraged about AAR's prospects as I have been in months.

People should keep in mind that while there is other liberal/progressive talkers distributed by other syndicators, AAR, by providing a turnkey format, has greatly contributed to their success. Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press and others would never have enjoyed the success they have had over the past two and a half years were it not for AAR turning nearly 100 stations around the country into Progressive outlets.

 

[fred flintstone]

Meanwhile, Big Ed Schultz is taking pains to remind listeners and the industry that AAR has "nothing to do" with The Ed Schultz Show.

Press Release:

Ed Schultz is Here to Stay

October 13, 2006 Fargo, ND - Ed Schultz, host of America's fastest growing progressive talk radio program The Ed Schultz Show, today assured his listeners and fans that his show is independently owned, operated and in no danger of bankruptcy or other financial obstacles. Schultz' assurances that all is well at The Ed Schultz Show and at Schultz's partner and co-owner Product 1st, the programming company owned by long-time radio executives Randy Michaels and Stu Krane, were sparked by news of bankruptcy filings at a liberal talk network in no way related to Schultz.

Said Schultz, "Our show is growing in ratings and audience share everyday. That's because we tell it straight from the heartland. And we're here to stay!"

Schultz's daily show can be heard in over 100 cities across the country.

 

[fred flintstone]

Sheldon Drobny has weighed in with a statement of his own. He says he offered financial backing to AAR but then-board chairman Rob Glaser and the board turned him down and opted for chapter 11 instead.

It sounds like, along with everything else - and possibly the cause of at least some of it - is a conflict of some sort between Glaser and Drobny. Drobny closed off the money tap a while back. Drobny has expressed public dissatisfaction with AAR's recent direction. Drobny wants to run the show; so does Glaser. Both have tons of money and are used to getting their own way.

The rumors are true. We did offer to fund AAR and prevent this from happening. We believed that the company was very well positioned to be successful with a change in management and fundamental changes to the operation of the company. Despite our weeks of negotiations and hard work, the board chaired by Rob Glaser who is also the CEO and Chairman of RealNetworks, Inc. and their attorney Tracy Klestadt advised the board to file a bankruptcy petition.

As founders and investors in the company, we have a significant interest in the future of AAR and will do everything possible to protect our investment in the company and its operations. We continue to support liberal talk radio with or operation of Nova M Radio, Inc. that is managing AAR affiliates in Phoenix and Little Rock. We plan to continue our efforts to make liberal talk radio a success. Stay tuned.