Air America Radio, a progressive radio network that endeared Al Franken and Rachel Maddow to liberals across the country, announced Thursday that it will silence its airwaves after six years.
Air America Media chairman Charlie Kireker, in a memo, blamed the “very difficult economic environment,” and the “perfect storm” in the media industry for the closing. The company will soon liquidate under Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The chairman said the company’s “painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week, but ultimately fell short of success.”
As part of its legacy, Kireker said the company helped “build a new sense of purpose and determination among American progressives.”
“With this revival, the progressive movement made major gains in the 2006 midterm elections and, more recently, in the election of President Barack Obama and a strongly Democratic Congress,” Kireker said.
Kireker said the company intends on a “rapid, orderly closure over the next few days” and a severance package will be offered to full-time current employees with more than six months of tenure.
The company will offer encore programming until Jan. 25, when Air America programming will end.
Liberals saw air America Radio, which launched in April 2004, as their alternative to the conservative dominators of talk radio, such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.
Intro of Air America personalities:
“Americans Are Stupid” on the Lionel Show:
“Hot Talk”:
Sam’s Mailbag: Polygamy, Sean Hannity, New Bedford, and more
Rachel Maddow’s Campaign Asylum on Republican candidates for president in 2008
The Pap Attack: Do they hate an emancipated president?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jNbXp3FcAgAleksandra Kulczuga contributed to this report.