the Air America radio network is in such bad financial shape that its announcers are begging listeners for help paying the bills. In a rare move for commercial radio, the all-liberal network began asking listeners for donations and selling blocks of weekend airtime.
The move comes after the network was pressured by city investigators to repay the $875,000 borrowed from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club — with the money going into an escrow account until a city probe of the loan is finished.
The "loan" from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club was arranged by one of Air America's founding partners, Evan Montvel-Cohen, who was at the same time a fund-raiser for the Co-op City-based club, which was primarily funded by city contracts.
The scandal, which came to light over the summer, prompted city investigators to yank $10 million worth of contracts for youth and elderly services from Gloria Wise. Charles Rosen, the group's director, was forced to resign.
Shortly after its launch last year, Air America began bouncing checks and was kicked off stations in Los Angeles and Chicago. Montvel-Cohen was bounced from the network.
More recently, the 70-station lefty network has been suffering lower ratings, a phenomenon that has hit many politics-obsessed talk stations since last fall's election, including conservative WABC (770 AM).
"They must be in so much trouble," said former WABC talker Lynn Samuels, now on Sirius Satellite Radio's all-liberal channel. "I'd never heard of a commercial station asking for money."
