Air America Radio Off the Air in L.A. and Chicago
in L.A. and Chicago

OPINION

EDITOR'S NOTE: LA Communioty Policing does not support any specific political party. The views expressed are the author's own, and not necessarily those of LACP.

by Don Farkas

April 19, 2004

Broadcasts of Air America Radio, the so-called "liberal talk show network", were pulled off the air by the owner of two radio stations in Los Angeles and Chicago, in the early morning on Wednesday, April 14, 2004. By April 16, Air America Radio was allowed back on the air in Chicago, at least temporarily, after a New York judge granted a preliminary injunction to permit resumption of broadcasts there after what had been characterized as a contractual dispute.

Is there more to this strange story than meets the eye? Chicago and Los Angeles are Air America Radio's second and third largest markets. After being on the air for only two weeks, Air America Radio had already developed a following of listeners for what they considered to be entertaining and thought provoking programs heard from sixteen broadcasting outlets in six cities, on satellite radio, and over the internet.

As was first reported on the conservative internet website, Drudge Report, the initial reason for pulling the plug that had been given by the stations' owner, Multicultural Radio Broadcasting, was an alleged "bounced check" from Air America Radio for the leasing of a radio station in Los Angeles. The facts, however, suggest that claimed reason really does not hold water and also does not credibly explain why Multicultural also unilaterally terminated the totally separate, already paid agreement for the leasing of a different radio station in Chicago. You be the judge:

Air America Radio signed two totally separate contracts for leasing two separate radio stations in Los Angeles and Chicago, both owned by Multicultural Radio Broadcasting. The lease for the Los Angeles station, which started in February 2004, began earlier than Air America Radio's planned day to start broadcasting on March 31, 2004. After Air America Radio found out that Multicultural Broadcasting had also leased broadcasting rights during a portion of that same time to a third party, Air America Radio demanded to be reimbursed for any money received by Multicultural Broadcasting for broadcasts made by the third party during the time Air America Radio's lease was running. Multicultural Broadcasting refused to pay that money back to Air America Radio.

Despite the dispute, Evan Cohen, the Chairman of Air America Radio, sent two separate payment checks ($315,000 and $156,000) to Arthur Liu, the owner of Multicultural Broadcasting, with instructions not to cash the checks until the dispute about the alleged duplicate leasing of airtime was resolved. In the middle of negotiations, and despite those instructions, Liu went ahead and cashed the check for $315,000, which cleared the bank. Afterwards, Air America Radio put a "stop payment" on the other check of $156,000 pending resolution of the dispute. Air America Radio categorically denies that its check "bounced", as was claimed by Liu, because it says it certainly had enough money in the bank to cover the amount of the check.

It is noteworthy that the lease agreements for the two radio stations reportedly required that any dispute be settled by arbitration, the dispute involved only the totally separate lease agreement in Los Angeles, and the Chicago lease agreement had already been paid for in full by Air America Radio. Nevertheless, Multicultural Broadcasting summarily pulled Air America Radio off the air from both the Los Angeles and the Chicago stations.

Now, why could this be significant? In its brief time of existence since commencing radio broadcasts on March 31, 2004, Air America Radio had already started to become recognized as an emerging influential force in American politics. It has astounded many with how rapidly it seems to have begun attracting increasing numbers of listeners around the country. In particular, the Air America Radio programs broadcast in Chicago have the potential to play a significant role in influencing public opinion in Illinois, and other important Midwestern "swing states", in the upcoming presidential election. All of that growing momentum, however, came to a sudden halt on April 14 when the owner of WNTD and KBLA unilaterally pulled Air America Radio off the air in Chicago and L.A. If it were not for the judge who granted the preliminary injunction reinstating the Chicago agreement, the Chicago station would almost certainly still be off the air like the Los Angeles station still is.

Listeners trying to tune-in to Air America Radio on radio station KBLA in Los Angeles (1580 AM) since the early morning of April 14, hear mostly Spanish language religious programs being broadcast instead. The fledgling Air America Radio network, that had been broadcasting effective, hard hitting talk-show format programs featuring celebrity political commentators such as Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Randi Rhodes, and others, has been silenced from the radio in Los Angeles.

If it is only a "contractual dispute" that is behind the current situation, then Multicultural Radio Broadcasting should probably not mind answering a few questions about whether it has any ties with, or has received any payments from, persons or groups that might want to see Air America Radio off the air.

Anyone who has any questions or comments is invited to contact or call:

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Don Farkas

BABC Public Safety Committee Chairman

Email: donfarkas@belairmail.com

Phone - (310) 472-4822

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