It's been speculated that ownership changes and a bankruptcy are what silenced Air America Radio in Chicago and LA. Air America Radio has released a statement:
Air America Radio is temporarily unable to be heard on WNTD in Chicago and KBLA in Los Angeles, but Chicago and Los Angeles listeners can still hear our broadcast on the web at airamericaradio.com and on XM Satellite Radio (channel 167).

MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting's conduct in this matter has been disgraceful. To shut off a broadcast that listeners rely on without warning and in the middle of discussions is the height of irresponsibility and a slap in the face of the media industry. In addition, it is a clear violation of their contractual obligations, and we are seeking legal remedies against them in court.

So it sounds like the situation is more complicated than we originally thought, and we still don't have a very clear picture about what's gone wrong. Contrary to our earlier report, it looks like the dispute is between Air America Radio and Multicultural Radio and may indeed be completely unrelated to Radio Unico's bankruptcy.

Multicultural Radio's owner Arthur Liu claims (l/p:free_read/readfree) that one of Air America Radio's checks to him bounced and that the network owes him more than $1 million. Air America chairman Evan Cohen responded to the charge by saying, "That is an outright lie." Cohen has previously stated that Air America Radio has enough money to keep it running for at least two years before turning a profit. ( more) It seems unlikely Air America Radio would have brought on 6 more stations (as it did recently) if it were having money problems. Further, one would expect problems at other stations as well; both the stations that went off the air today are owned by the same individual.

Air America has filed a complaint in New York's supreme court charging Multicultural Radio with breach of contract and is seeking an injunction to bring Air America Radio back on the air in Chicago and LA.

Progress Media's chief operating officer recently told Randi Rhodes' audience the details behind the dispute:

There are two contracts with Arthur Liu, the stations' owner; one for the Chicago station (WNTD) and one for the LA station (KBLA). Progress Media learned that Liu had been charging two different entities- Progress Media and another party- for time on the LA station at the same time.

Progress Media objected to this, figuring that charging two different entities for time on the same station at the same time amounted to theft, and disputed some of their charges related to the LA station. They did send Liu his checks on time but instructed Liu not to cash those checks until the dispute had been settled, and began negotiating to settle the dispute. Meanwhile, they allowed Liu to cash the checks for the Chicago station, since their dispute was related to the LA station only.

In the middle of negotiations over the contract dispute in LA, Liu pulled the plug not only on the LA station but the Chicago station as well, in violation of the Chicago station contract.

Again, no checks have bounced. Liu has been asked not to cash checks for the LA station until disputes over charges for that station's service are settled.

---Nick

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