Green Family Closes On Air America Purchase

[NashVegas]

It took a little more time than originally projected, but the sale of AIR AMERICA RADIO to real estate mogul STEPHEN L. GREEN's GREEN FAMILY MEDIA has closed.

Majority shareholder STEPHEN L. GREEN will serve as Chairman of the Board, and his brother, NEW YORK politician MARK GREEN, will be President, with SCOTT ELBERG staying on as COO. TERRY KELLY's PROGRESSIVE RADIO GROUP and ROB GLASER's DEMOCRACY ALLIES will be minority shareholders.

http://www.allaccess.com/

[POAS]

1. Is Green going to be good for progressive radio

in general? I don't know much about him!

[LTR]

2. Here's a whole writeup I just did

Includes a link to Mark Green's article at HuffPo:

http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2007/03/air-america-20-day-one.html

[blondie58]

9. that is such good news

I don't like the changes that have been happening here at am760 in CO. Yesterday, I turned it on- and there was a CO basketball game. If I wanted to listen to sports, I would turn my channel to a sports station.

[Peace Patriot]

3. His two fresh initiatives are with the Republican Party and the NY Post?!

I hope this is tongue-in-cheek. If it is, it's riot! If it isn't, then I think we have reason to be concerned that AAR is dead. And if that is true, then I hope that the kickass inspiration of AAR's best--Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder--will arise elsewhere. Bad for me, cuz all I have is XM, and I'm already choking on Ed Schultz.

-----

"In the spirit that dialogue beats monologue, I am today contacting the New Hampshire Republican Party and the New York Post editorial page. Since the Democratic Party of Nevada actually invited Fox News to host that state's Democratic debate, I asked if Air America could host the first Republican debate in New Hampshire, assuring them that 'we too can be fair and balanced.'

"And to Bob McManus, editorial page editor of The New York Post, I proposed that he come on Air America to discuss his views and that Air America commentators would in turn once-a-month write an op-ed on his pages, because 'it's better to exchange ideas than insults.' His 500,000 readers should hear from us and our 2 million+ audience should hear from him." --Mark Green (at Huffingtonpost).

-----

I'll take Mike Malloy's and Randi Rhodes' "monologues" any day. Fuck the Republican Party. Fuck the NY Post. I don't want to hear it. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT. They've been monopolizing the "conversation" for over a decade now. STFU, to them.

I DON'T WANT "fair and balanced" leftist radio. I DON'T WANT a NY Post editor consuming the public's airtime on AAR. If this is the plan, forget it! What crap!

But maybe he's just kidding. He doesn't sound like it. But I can hope.

[orleans]

8. apparently mark green is a "liberal democrat"

"Mark Green, a liberal Democrat, once served as New York City public advocate and has unsuccessfully run for U.S. Senate, New York City mayor and most recently, state attorney general. He was a frequent guest on Air America, CNN and other networks, and he currently teaches at New York University, according to a company statement. "

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070306-1031-airamericaradio.html

what a relief!

however, their stream has been down ALL DAY! not good for wanting people to listen to your programing!!

[theaudacity]

4. With Al Franken gone, I don't have much use for AAR. Randy Rhodes drives me nuts.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Would you rather listen to a NY Post editor and Republican candidates? n/t

[peaches2003]

6. It's like water torture drip by drip

No one change has turned me from AAR, but it's one thing after another and it has changed so much I find I am turning the XM dial. Mike Malloy gone, then Al, , then Eco show in the evening, Young Turks in place of Mark Maron,then the addition of Ed Schultz instead of Thom Hartmann. Most of the other hosts I can take for a short time, but not their whole shows. I am learning to like Jon Eliot, however, but still wait for MM to return.

[a kennedy]

11. Instead of the Young Turks, I listen to Joe Madison the "Black Eagle"

on XM channel 169, The Power. I turn to my local Public Radio station when Ed Schultz comes on. I just can not stand him. :puke: :puke: :puke: Is he supposed to be to the right side of liberal??? I just don't listen to him, and I do miss Al real bad.

[liberalmike27]

12. Stephanie Miller is Better

I like her in the time slot where the Young Turd, um....Turks show comes on. I don't much care for Marin.

But I don't think you guys have listened to Thom Hartman much if you liked Al, you'll probably like that guy. He does allow for a discussion from at least one right-winger each show, but he is so awesome and sharp that the person usually slinks off full of holes.

I like Franken, I listened to Franken sometimes. But I think Hartman is really a quicker, more incisive solid liberal. Franken was kind of in the slow mode, and Hartman has a hair-trigger. The minute the shit starts, Hartman jumps in. That isn't my best time to listen, as I'm away from my computer, so I listen at night.

I just hope it stays intact at some level, in any case. I agree with the other guy, we've got far too much of what they call balanced, which means they have to drag in a bunch of conservative opinion that is often scientifically wrong.

[Doctor_J]

13. Thom slices and dices his daily winger

His program is appointment radio for me. He's really knowledgeable. He also does a local program in OR before the AAR one comes on. I don't know if they're on the internets though.

Besides him I listen to Steph and Malloy.

[peaches2003]

14. TH

Thom is the best. Love him. I used to hear him when he subbed for AAR hosts and then on tape early AM on the weekends. However, XM did not pick him up when his Portland show replaced Franken. I was sick about it. There is NO better and smarter host then Thom. Again, XM is becoming a big disappointment when it comes to their AAR programming. :grr:

[BrightKnight]

7. need content by mainstream orgs like NRDC, Sierra, UAW, ACLU...

They should invite a lot of organizations to produce short weekly radio programs. The production costs would down and the quality would go way up. The ratings and listener base would go up.

The AAR agenda should be to energize and expand the base.

I agree that the political duologue is too polarized. I don't agree that you can fix that by bringing on a lot of Repugs.

[robcon]

10. I think the new owners will be profit-oriented

The current situation is tough... "...When Air America's parent filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 13, 2006, the company reported it had lost $9.1 million in 2004, $19.6 million in 2005 and $13.1 million as of the filing in 2006..." http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070306-1031-airamericaradio.html

Certainly the Green brothers' investment is very slight in the company - originally announced as just assumption of debts and $.5 million in cash (I don't know if that was the final price at the close.) But they will try to develop a plan for positive profits, IMO.