| AirAmerica news...
(Added 16 April 2004)
From: DANA PUOPOLO
Air America is 1000% in the wrong here.
What happened is this:
Air America leased both stations effective the first of the year. Their
contract requires them to put something on them (in other words they have to
fill the time; the stations can not be silent).
They weren't ready so they asked Mulitcultural (MRBI) to fill the airtime FOR
THEM. MRBI did....with paid programming until AA was ready on March 31st.
Those are the facts...now here's where the stories diverge....
Air America claims that the $$ Multicultural got belongs to them. MRBI says
that most or all of it belongs to them because AA allowed them to do this.
Does AA have a case? Who knows...
BUT here's where they (AA) F***ed up...
Instead of this dispute running a parallel with the LMA of the stations, AA
merged them together...by stopping payment on the checks to pay for the LMA's
of the stations for April. When the checks bounced, MRBI gave them over a week
to make good on them, which they did not, so they pulled their programming at
7 AM on local time on Wednesday.
What AA SHOULD have done is persued their claims separately from the LMA...
Remember...this programming 'side deal' had NOTHING to do with the LMA, nor
was it even mentioned in the LMA contract...
Basically they were playing poker with a pair of twos...and Arthur Liu called
their bluff.
Now, AA is having a tantrum..calling Mr. Liu names like Liu-ficer, threatening
to slam his head into a car door, etc. (see the Sludge report on the AA web
site), libelling him in the press, and all sorts of other nasty stuff.
Let me assure you, their behavior will not help them get back on the air in
Los Angeles and Chicago...in fact, I highly doubt they will be back on the
MRBI stations there.
To put things into a nutshell, AA cut off their nose to spite their face and
now there's a big, ugly scar there. Fact is, AA needs MRBI more then the
reverse, yet they acted (and continue to act) WAY too arrogant.
I was at the AA studios this afternoon and everyone there was in shock about
how badly their counterparts in NY were acting. The phrase "spoiled children"
was used more then once.
There was a court hearing this afternoon in NY for an injunction. To my
knowlege it was not successful...simply because by not paying, AA has breached
the original LMA contract....and by their acting nasty, now MRBI does not want
a new one....
Can you blame them?
From: Rich Wood
I don't think it has anything to do with politics. I think it's a
collection of cocky TV people who have contempt for radio people. That
became very clear when one of their honchos chose to make it public on the
air. Extremely unprofessional, as is the "Sludge Report" on the web site.
I've seen some dumb stuff in my time in radio and TV but this one takes the
cake. They need those markets and they've made it almost certain no one is
going to want to deal with them. The second dumb thing was the TV interview
they gave where they bragged that they could lose money for years. If I
were an investor I'd have a problem right about now.
Rich
From: "Timothy Mauch"
Most LMA contracts I've seen have clauses that say the programmer is
responsible for providing the programming to the station, a definite
period of advance notice if unable to comply, and "no refund" if
sufficient advance notice is not given.
If MRBI had to find programming on short notice, then AA shouldn't
get a refund for the missed air time.
I would imagine that the contract was with MRBI, not just the one LA
station, so when AA stopped paying, MRBI had the right to pull all AA
programming.
MRBI has been burned by too many fly-by-night outfits during the last
three years to put up with more of the same. When you contract to
pay-as-you-play, you'd better pay, or you won't play for long.
Tim Mauch
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