Air America Update

Not many minutes after finishing the previous post, I encountered further word on the Air America situation. (If you're not up to speed on the problem, scan down to the post below, then come back up here.)

First, it is reported that the man who shut down the airwaves, Arthur Liu (the former "father of Taiwanese rock and roll"!) is a Republican donor. At the moment, I have but one source on this claim, which requires confirmation.

Second, Air America's lawsuit against Liu has already appeared on the Smoking Gun site.

The document states that Air America has paid all amounts due vis-a-vis the Chicago station, which refused to broadcast Air America this morning. This shut-out, claims the suit, breaches the agreement between the network and the station, which specified that all conflicts would be arbitrated.

As for the dispute involving the Los Angeles station, an internet poster who goes by the nickname Aeryl has claimed:


Multicultural [Liu's outfit] aired another station, while AAR had paid for the airtime, though they had not yet debuted. He should not have rented out airtime already paid for.

That is where the double dipping came in

The contracts for LA and Chicago are two different contracts.


I have not been able to verify these data yet, and I advise readers to exercise caution. I can verify, however, that 1580 AM in Los Angeles was broadcasting material from another source in the time previous to Air America's debut. If the contracts for the two stations are indeed separate, then Air America would seem to have a strong case in the Chicago dispute.