Kelly: Investor plans to expand Air America at "rapid pace"

[Scribbler]

From the Wisconsin State Journal
http://tinyurl.com/yea7hj

Air America Radio may be in the hands of a new owner soon, with the potential to lift the company out of financial woes that have plagued the progressive talk network.

Terry Kelly, a Madison businessman and investor in Air America, said...A potential partner signed a "letter of intent" to take over the network. Kelly, a former board chairman of the network who will "lead the way in finding the appropriate new equity investments," said the investor group includes a new media partner, but he declined to name it.

He said he expects to close a deal with the group early in the new year.

Calling the potential investor "a very strong partner who intends to preserve Air America and expand it at a rapid pace," Kelly said the group may provide opportunities to develop television programming and other venues for progressive talk...

 

[kaufcom]

From the Wisconsin State Journal
http://tinyurl.com/yea7hj

Air America Radio may be in the hands of a new owner soon, with the potential to lift the company out of financial woes that have plagued the progressive talk network.

Terry Kelly, a Madison businessman and investor in Air America, said...A potential partner signed a "letter of intent" to take over the network. Kelly, a former board chairman of the network who will "lead the way in finding the appropriate new equity investments," said the investor group includes a new media partner, but he declined to name it.


The New York Times and Wisconsin State Journal now confirm that Kelly is mystery investor, but Maloney hasn't picked up this angle yet. So it can't be true.
He said he expects to close a deal with the group early in the new year.

Calling the potential investor "a very strong partner who intends to preserve Air America and expand it at a rapid pace," Kelly said the group may provide opportunities to develop television programming and other venues for progressive talk...

 

[Gnarlodious]

I think this is the moment we've all been waiting for, to see if a "Liberal Network" can be professional sounding, well managed and profitable.
I'd also expect an improvement with Wisconsin management, since those New York fatheads were ruining it.

 

[evnlee]

I think this is the moment we've all been waiting for, to see if a "Liberal Network" can be professional sounding, well managed and profitable.
I'd also expect an improvement with Wisconsin management, since those New York fatheads were ruining it.

this comedy of errors just gets better and better.

all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, and now it's all come home to roost.

The only way to make the liberal network 'professional sounding' is to force changes in the message, otherwise advertisers still will not run ads on a network bent on destroying them. You can't have a network airing hypnotherapists and trial lawyers ad nauseum taken seriously. AAR hosts won't play ball, so we now get the Schiavo-like spectacle to continue indefinitely.

Plus, all the troubles of AAR has to be placed somewhere for liberal, umm...progressives to feel good about tuning them in. 80 affiliates lost in recent weeks means the management was in error, the signal was weak, anything but the message can't bring in ad numbers.

check out this statement from the madison article:

"In recent weeks, Air America, which has its headquarters in New York and reaches about 2.4 million listeners weekly, has suffered the defection of a handful of its more than 80 affiliated stations and soon faces the likely departure of its most visible host, Al Franken, even as it cobbles together a plan to emerge from Chapter 11.

Kelly said he was disappointed that rich Democrats did not step up to support the network's political goals. On fundraising calls, he said, he was often turned down because the business plan was too risky.

He agreed the network over-spent "out of enthusiasm for what we were doing." But he said it also "inherited so many difficulties not of our own making."

Saying that Air America reaches millions of listeners and "clearly had an impact on the 2006 elections," Kelly added, "I think with a relatively small amount of money, we have succeeded wildly."

wow. That's the genius that's going to 'save' AAR?

Thanks, guys! A wonderful holiday laugh!

 

[robbbc]

Plus, all the troubles of AAR has to be placed somewhere for liberal, umm...progressives to feel good about tuning them in. 80 affiliates lost in recent weeks means the management was in error, the signal was weak, anything but the message can't bring in ad numbers.

check out this statement from the madison article:

"In recent weeks, Air America, which has its headquarters in New York and reaches about 2.4 million listeners weekly, has suffered the defection of a handful of its more than 80 affiliated stations and soon faces the likely departure of its most visible host, Al Franken, even as it cobbles together a plan to emerge from Chapter 11.



[/quote]

The only laugh is you not being able to read the content of the article you quote from dearie. "A handful" of it's 80 affiliates- not 80 Affiliates! You obviously know nothing and have nothing to offer this forum but your own empty rants, and are blinded by your own biases. Every time someone confronts you with an inconvenient truth (Liberal talk has had better ratings than most other AM Radio stations in any given market, Stations that flipped to liberal talk tended to do better than previously in the ratings book) you just gloss over it. Thanks for nothing!

 

[Radio_Realist]

Kelly said he was disappointed that rich Democrats did not step up to support the network's political goals. On fundraising calls, he said, he was often turned down because the business plan was too risky.

The problem with that approach is that there are two kinds of rich Democrats. There are the limosine liberals like the Barbra Streisand and the rest of the Hollywood crowd who are wealthy but who don't control major ad budgets. They aren't going to buy much in the way of commercials. The rich Democrats who run businesses and control ad budgets are the moderates, not the liberals. They're more likely to make direct donations to moderate Democrats, but not to throw away their business's ad budgets just to support a dying radio network.

 

[evnlee]

Plus, all the troubles of AAR has to be placed somewhere for liberal, umm...progressives to feel good about tuning them in. 80 affiliates lost in recent weeks means the management was in error, the signal was weak, anything but the message can't bring in ad numbers.

check out this statement from the madison article:

"In recent weeks, Air America, which has its headquarters in New York and reaches about 2.4 million listeners weekly, has suffered the defection of a handful of its more than 80 affiliated stations and soon faces the likely departure of its most visible host, Al Franken, even as it cobbles together a plan to emerge from Chapter 11.

The only laugh is you not being able to read the content of the article you quote from dearie. "A handful" of it's 80 affiliates- not 80 Affiliates! You obviously know nothing and have nothing to offer this forum but your own empty rants, and are blinded by your own biases. Every time someone confronts you with an inconvenient truth (Liberal talk has had better ratings than most other AM Radio stations in any given market, Stations that flipped to liberal talk tended to do better than previously in the ratings book) you just gloss over it. Thanks for nothing!
[/quote]

In the spirit of the season, I agree. Air America has been a smashing success, and all news talk must tremble at the very mention of thier awe inspiring name.
I forsee Air America returning to the airwaves with all it's high paid hosts,and all its lost affiliates ( real or imagined ), ready to guarantee more election results palatable to those happy go lucky progressives.
Fear not, those of the Birkenstock Brigade! Verily, I say unto you, a saviour is born for liberal/progressive/ whatever your calling it today talk fanatics! The Mighty Air America will return and shake the very foundations of talk radio!

Good Christian-hating men, rejoice!

 

[Scribbler]

Ah, the genius of Evnlee! You take the Evnlee Wishful Thinking Machine,
Evnlee Wishful Thinking Machine
type in "the defection of a handful of its more than 80 affiliated stations" and out comes "80 affiliates lost in recent weeks!"

See! It's right-wing magic!