Is Air America About to Lose its Flagship New York Station?

March 7th, 2006 10:54 AM

The New York Post is reporting that the liberal radio network Air America might be about to lose its big New York station (hat tip to Drudge): 

“AIR America is close to losing its New York flagship station - knocking Al Franken and his liberal colleagues off the air on their second anniversary.

“The network has a two-year lease with WLIB (AM 1190) that is reportedly set to expire April 1 - and at least one reliable report says it is ‘extremely likely’ the deal will not be renewed.”

How can this be? Isn’t there a HUGE demand for this kind of liberal broadcasting…especially in this part of the country? Well, as has been well documented by the new media – and largely ignored by the antiques – AA has a bit of a financial problem. Apparently, things have NOT improved: “Air America got unwanted headlines last year when it was learned that previous management had received what investigators called an 'inappropriate' $875,000 loan - since repaid - from a Bronx charity.”

How bad could this be for them?

“Losing its New York outlet would be a serious blow to the fledgling liberal radio network. ‘Radio Equalizer’ blogger Brian Maloney - who blew the whistle on questionable loans to the lefty network last year - published the first report that WLIB was on the verge of evicting Air America some time soon.

“Air America's options for a new home are not promising. All of the city's other strong-signal stations are spoken for, leaving only weak-signal ‘fringe’ stations that do not cover the entire city and suburbs.”

What a shame. After all, where oh where are liberal-minded folks in this area going to find news that supports their dogma without daily doses of Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, and Randi Rhodes?