Air America closing down - Sam Seder, Michelle Malkin say their peace

Air America pulls the plug

Air America
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.

The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America's business. This past year has seen a "perfect storm" in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection.

Air America alum Sam Seder shares his thoughts on the company that launched him whilst providing its share of tumult

Nice Try
I'll probably have more to say on this in the future...

Contrary to the conventional wisdom Air America failed not because there was no market for liberal talk (all the big lib talkers still on air Miller, Schultz, Hartmann, Malloy and Rhodes are profitable or close to it)- it was because Air America owners- there were 5 in 6 years- listened to so-called radio consultants who were nearly hostile to the format but more relevantly stuck in the paradigm of a dying industry. Thats how you hire Lionel or Montel and fail to monetize your podcasts and online content.

Conservative Michelle Malkin shares her thoughts

Lib talk radio flops again: Air America goes bankrupt
The surprise isn’t that liberal talk radio network Air America announced it is going bankrupt today.

The surprise is that they lasted so long on fumes...

Sen. Franken hasn’t lobbied for a bailout, as far as we know. But don’t breath a sigh of relief yet. They’re still swinging the Fairness Doctrine noose. When they can’t compete in the marketplace, the Left will use the power of government to squash their competitors.

Update: January 25, 2010
Sam Seder appeared on the Brian Lehrer show to chat about the demise of Air America

And so it goes
I did a segment on WNYC about Air America,- it was pretty frustrating- it's always wonderful when people who don't do their homework are more than happy to push the most obvious and least informed narrative.

Go to the WNYC site and listen to the full conversation with Sam Seder and Ana Marie Cox here - Air America Folds