Air America pulled from two stations

NEW YORK - Just two weeks after launching, a new radio network aimed at liberal audiences suffered a setback Wednesday when a dispute with a business partner resulted in the network's signal being pulled from stations in Chicago and Los Angeles.

The owners of Air America Radio filed a lawsuit in New York's Supreme Court against the New York-based MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. after the radio company dropped Air America Radio's signal from its stations WNTD in Chicago and KBLA in Los Angeles.

MultiCultural Radio did not return phone calls for comment, but the Chicago Tribune quoted the company's owner, Arthur Liu, as saying that Air America bounced a check to them on Wednesday. Air America claims in its lawsuit that its payments are up to date.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040414/ap_on_bi_ge/liberal_radio_dispute_1

Air America's lawyer got on with Randi Rhodes today and said that Arthur Liu had "stolen money" from them. It freaked me out because it seems sketchy if "stolen" is accurate and I don't want them to get sued for libel.

But it's clear they didn't "bounce checks".

The lawyer implied that Liu was paid more $$ by someone else to not broadcast A.A. than he was getting from them to broadcast it. Creepy

The man running Multi-cultural Broadcasting took lease money from both the Spanish-language format provider and Air America to broadcast both content packages simultaneously on the station in Los Angeles.

This isn't a disagreement. This is fraud. Liu defrauded the Spanish language content provider of two weeks airtime, and is now defrauding Air America of the airtime they leased and he is currently denying on the LA and Chicago stations..

There were no "bounced" checks. Air America stopped payment on the checks for the LA station because they have to to stay out out of the mess and not get named in indictments.

double post

You just know that there are backroom deals and payoffs to make this thing fail.

I tuned in this afternoon while driving, and got nothing but Spanish-language Christian radio. I don't even listen to English-language Christian radio.

...he even said that his goal was to get sued so that there would be publicity...lol.

Hope they get it worked out soon so that the station is back on the air.

what a shame - I was wondering what happened to AAR this afternoon! :(

...can't you listen to it over the Internet? That's what I do.

and letting off steam here on DU. We didn't know how good we had it.

that should help some

I'm still on a dial up and moving around the shop.


BTW anyone interested in a rally outside the radio station meet here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x6980

Images of the March 21 protest in Los Angeles here:
http://ediablo.com/LAprotest3-21-04.html

The two most probable reasons are either the right wing was working hard behind the scenes or there is some sort of mismanagement going on.

Either way, it makes our side look stupid.

Mr. Liu is just an unethical businessman, crossing the line in driving a bargain.

and for the first time ive ever seen him so giddy and happy that I had to turn the channel before he got to it...I really felt ill
I think its only a glitch..I do think there are other forces at work cause no one would turn down high ratings..AA was getting pretty good ratings in those markets.. Something is deffanlty up

as in, falsely petitioned the recall are behind this-
They flooded the parking lots with fake petitions
about preventing 16 year olds from having abortions
without parental consent and all kinds of ridiculous
emotion based issues- they then turned the signatures
in as a public opinion to recall Davis-
thus we now a have a govenator with Enron ties.
The X-tian right is VERY organized in California.

Praise "Jeebus," who ever he is!
I happen to be a follower of Jesus, someone
the HATE-filled fundies have never known.

BHN