Air America Closes, Files for Bankruptcy

By Andrew Gauthier 

The Wall Street Journal

Air America Media, the radio broadcaster that tried to serve as a liberal answer to conservative talk radio, ended live broadcasts Thursday and will liquidate its operations.

In a letter to its staff, Air America Chairman Charlie Kireker blamed a “perfect storm” across the media industry along with the recession for the decision to shut down the company.

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“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 letter said.

Air America launched in April 2004 and carried well-known personalities such as comedian Al Franken, now a senator from Minnesota. Rachel Maddow, who now hosts a prime-time show on cable-news channel MSNBC, also worked for the radio company. It had some 100 radio outlets across the U.S. More…

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