New York Investor Plans to Buy Air America By LOUISE STORY
Air America Radio, the liberal network that filed for bankruptcy in October, said today that it had reached a tentative agreement to sell itself to Stephen L. Green, the chairman of a New York office real estate investment trust.
Mr. Green, chairman and founder of the SL Green Realty Corporation, is no stranger to Air America. His brother is Mark Green, a New York politician who ran in the Democratic primary for attorney general last year but lost to Andrew M. Cuomo. Mark Green, who was once the New York City public advocate, has frequently been the host of programs on Air America and said today that the sale would usher in a new phase for Air America, focused on digital content distribution rather than radio.
"In this digital era, the tech changes by the day and Air America Radio has to become something of a new media company," Mark Green said. "We look forward to an A.A.R. 2.0 that has sharp smart content better distributed over a variety of platforms. And what better time to try this than with progressive and democratic values obviously on the rise?"
Air America also announced today that it would lose its most famous on-air personality, Al Franken, this month. Mr. Franken, who is considering running for the United States Senate in Minnesota, will broadcast his last show on Air America on Feb. 14.
Mark. Green said it was undecided whether he would play an executive role at Air America after the deal was completed and said he was speaking only as the brother of the purchaser.
Mark Green also said no hiring or programming positions had been decided for the network, should the deal go through.
The full terms of the deal with Stephen Green's new company, SLG Radio L.L.C., were not disclosed. The Progressive Radio Group, led by Terence F. Kelly, Air America's former chairman, will own a minority stake in the network. Mr. Kelly formed the group of about 20 investors in the fall after Air America filed for bankruptcy.
The deal is subject to approval by the federal bankruptcy court overseeing Air America's case.
Founded in 2004 as an alternative to right-wing talk radio shows, Air America has been plagued with financial problems since the beginning. A number of high-profile individuals helped finance the network, including Rob Glaser, the chief executive of RealNetworks, and Sheldon and Anita Drobny, longtime Democratic activists. The Drobnys have since split off and founded their own liberal radio network.
In August, Air America lost its lease to WLIB in New York and signed on with a lesser-known station, WWRL 1600. Air America, which is run by a corporate parent, Piquant L.L.C., produces 19 hours of programming each day and is heard on 81 affiliates.
A spokeswoman for Air America would not comment on the details of the deal.
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