As you may have heard by now, Air America has gone bankrupt, having announced on their website yesterday that they'd be ceasing live programming operations immediately. The progressive radio station's chairman explained in his statement: "The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America's business. This past year has seen a 'perfect storm' in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection."
The station will be airing reruns through Monday night, before going silent. Last year we interviewed Rachel Maddow who at the time said she was "still very connected to Air America... I'm still one of their talents and one of their shows. I'm still very loyal to them as a company." While she hasn't commented on her former employer's situation, the NY Times credits the station for helping to boost her career, as well as other former hosts. Though they go on to say that half a dozen former employees cited complaints about merry-go-round management, and a team that lacked "broadcasting business expertise."
As for the hosts who were still broadcasting, at least one, Montel Williams, said that his program would "rise again" (via Twitter, obvs).
