Nova M(assacre)?

Following recent events at Nova M Radio, more is coming out as to what is going on at the fledgling syndicator and radio station operator.

Last week, the broadcaster announced the addition of a second Phoenix-area signal to compliment KPHX. And they announced the departure of program director/afternoon host Jeff Farias. Now, it appears there's more to the story.

Along with Farias, several other staffers have been let go, including CEO John Manzo, sales director Kim Macias and webmaster Billy Foster. No official explanation has been given for any of the departures.

Rumors have been swirling about, with Nova M reportedly claiming that Farias left on his own terms, according to a statement on their website. But Farias and others close to him are claiming that they didn't jump – they were pushed. What's going on here?

A lot of the internet scuttlebutt claims that it all started with a power play showdown between Manzo and owner Sheldon Drobny. The story (not confirmed, and denied by Manzo) goes that Manzo was let go and the other three, who sided with him, departed as well. A few supporters, however, have disputed this scenario.

Farias is not publicly commenting on the situation, likely due to legal advice, but Leonard Clark, a former contributor to Farias' show, has started a website and posted a few diary entries on Daily Kos here and here in support of Farias, and to help explain his side of the story.

Replacing Manzo at Nova M is Arizona radio executive Art Mobley. No replacements have been announced for the other former staffers as of yet, though the Air America shows of Rachel Maddow and Ron Reagan are currently airing in place of Farias.

UPDATE: Some more info gleamed about KPHX's new stablemate, KNUV (1190AM). And yes, it appears that Nova M will indeed purchase the station outright, in contrast to the current LMA agreement the company has with Continental Media to lease KPHX (1480AM). This all lends to speculation that Nova M may eventually relocate altogether to 1190 once the KPHX lease runs out. Again, that's all just speculation.

UPDATE II: John Manzo emailed me, and said that he is unable to offer comment at this time, which is understandable. He also informed me that he has not been hired by Randi Rhodes, which I had reported. That has been corrected. He did ask that I remove the article. I am unable to remove the complete article at this time, since the information is already widespread around the web, including some reputable trade publications and scribes. I have, however, done some rewording of the article, in respect to Manzo. And I will consider the request to remove the article, if deemed prudent. For right now, it will stay, albeit with corrections.

In addition, there will likely be other additions to this article, as some other people connected with the matter have emailed me.

A virtual potpourri of tidbit goodness

Things have been somewhat quiet lately in medialand. Basically, just a bunch of little stuff. And I've admittedly been a bit lax in putting it up here. My apologies, as I often get sidetracked the last weekend in April when the NFL Draft comes around (and yes, I'm still giddy about Oklahoma blazing inferno Adrian Peterson in a Vikings uniform, though he still has to suffer through Brad Childress' boring-as-hell offense). So, here's some of the stuff you may have missed.

First, one comes, one goes. Sort of. Following the shuffling of Stone Broadcasting's stations in Western Michigan, the deal that sees WWKK (750AM) in Petoskey traded for a 50,000 watt signal in Traverse City has been consummated. Therefore, WWKK, which carried a mostly liberal talk format, is now simulcasting a country format of a Traverse City station, and Stone's conservative talker WJML (1110AM) is simulcasting in Traverse City on WLDR (1210AM). The new WJML combo combines the programming of both of Stone's Petoskey stations. Ed Schultz is on from 3-6P and Lionel from 10-Midnight. Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes air in the wee hours of the night, starting at Midnight. Of course, to get to that stuff, you'd have to put up with the likes of Neal Boortz, Glen Beck and Michael Savage. The good news is that Traverse City listeners can now hear liberal talk programming, courtesy of WLDR. So, welcome aboard!

And soon, a station will go away, if it hasn't already. Tiny WLFP (1550AM), formerly WURP, in Pittsburgh is not really a liberal talk station. They have carried The Young Turks for quite a few years, and even aired some weekend programming from Air America. But they also carried Tom Leykis, Don and Mike and G. Gordon Liddy, with Sporting News Radio filling in most of the other gaps. With a pending $225K sale in the works to BusinessTalkRadio.net, the station will soon air the feed of that network. The original plan was to bring Don Imus' syndicated show back to their morning drive slot, but we all know how that turned out. As far as I know, they're still working out a few bugs and the switch will be flipped anytime now. Currently, it sounds like they're running quite a bit of Sporting News Radio leading up to the flip, displacing their other programming, including the Turks. And they currently have a message on their website claiming that a format flip is imminent.

In addition, listeners in central Ohio, particularly around the Athens area can hear Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz on WAIS (770AM). The station is daytime-only, meaning they sign off from sunset to sunrise. But fans who miss WTPG in Columbus can now hear some of the departed programming straight outta Nelsonville, OH. The station has no web presence to speak of, but you can find out more about them at Radio Locator.

And don't count out new liberal talk stations on the horizon. Nova M Radio's Sheldon and Anita Drobny were in Boston last week appearing at an event designed to help work out a plan to bring liberal talk back to the city's airwaves. Thanks to the efforts of a swelling grassroots movement and Jeff Santos, who had the only local show on WXKS/WKOX before it's flip to "Rhumba," the Drobnys have taken an interest in their plight, and are exploring ways to do in Boston what they successfully accomplished in Phoenix. You can read more about the event and see pictures at Daily Kos. Incidentally, since the two Clear Channel stations dropped liberal talk, they have been nonexistent in the local ratings books. And Arbitron surveys have been known to be rather favorable to Spanish language radio stations.

Speaking of Nova M, they are offering listeners the opportunity to leave the country with Mike Malloy. Sort of. It's a seven day Mexican Cruise, departing October 7 and going to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. You can read more here. If Mexico doesn't intrigue you, you can also sail with Air America's Randi Rhodes to Alaska in August.

UPDATED ITEM: Wonder who WOR would hire to replace Lionel when he departs for Air America? Well, look no further - his replacement will be Steve Malzberg. Now, the name sounds vaguely familiar to me, but he was formerly on WABC and the old incarnation of WWRL. And judging by his website, which features links to NewsMax and Club For Growth, in addition to the typically hollow 'support the troops' mantra, he sounds like a run-of-the-mill conservojock. Anyways, Malzberg will also be syndicated in Lionel's slot on the WOR network starting May 7. Uh, I think I'll pass.

And finally, for people wondering who the hell is doing the 9-Noon shift on Air America this week, that is Dave Barber, formerly of WPRO in Providence, as well as the Michigan Talk Radio Network. The Flint, MI native has also worked at WWCK and WFDF in his hometown. And yes, he knows Michael Moore, featuring him on his shows from time to time. And no, Barber will not be hired by the network. In fact, he just got rehired by WWCK for the same time slot. So a double congratulations to Dave Barber. He continues at Air America for the rest of the week.

A minor correction: WWCK program director John Roman has set LTR straight. They haven't rehired Dave Barber, but are running his Air America fill-in appearance this week. Their schedule goes back to normal starting next week. My bad.

Air America Radio sale: The plot thickens

Two days ago, Air America Radio got the go-ahead by the court to start auction proceedings for the network. Of course, these things rarely go smoothly.

According to former Air America investor and current Nova M Radio chairman Sheldon Drobny, lawyers representing unsecured creditors filed an objection to the proposed sale of Air America's assets to a group headed by Stephen and Mark Green. Drobny is apparently furious over the whole deal:

They are not the least bit concerned about who they screw in the process despite the fact that they are supposed to be liberals and fair minded. If the judge in this case grants permission for this sham sale, it will confirm again the fact that the Bankruptcy Court is the worst example of crony capitalism.

The objection claims that the sale is a sham, and the only creditors that will benefit from it are the ones currently running the network. Drobny claims that three current Air America executives will, in fact, be part of the minority ownership group, with SLG Radio, owned by the Green brothers, as the controlling faction.

Drobny accuses them of abusing the Bankruptcy Court unfairly, and of basically trying to screw their creditors:

...The AAR directors that are doing this are collectively worth at least a billion dollars. And the shame of them doing this in the name of progressive talk radio is hypocritical. The Greens and the "3 amigos" will be joined together to try to give AAR a new life. Should anyone trust these people again given their recent behavior?

In addition, Drobny is calling for Congressional hearings to change the current abuses that plague the current Bankruptcy laws. "It would be poetic justice for these investigations to be prompted by the insolvency of what was supposed to be a liberal media company."

It should be noted that Drobny has long had serious differences with the current management of Air America. Regular readers of LTR know that many of AAR's executive office are often at odds with each other. Drobny made an offer for the network last fall, prior to their bankruptcy filing. They turned it down and opted for Chapter 11. The figure was far less than what the Green brothers offered as the winning bid. As for who would have assumed the network's debt, provided that there was indeed no bankruptcy filing, is uncertain.

As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Yes, the current execs are sleazeballs (just like most other outrageously rich businessmen). I still don't understand why Rob Glaser and company don't just cut a few checks and put this whole thing behind them. They accomplished what they wanted to do, in establishing a liberal talk radio network, so why don't they just take the loss and claim it on their taxes? And why doesn't Drobny finally just say 'piss off' to these guys, build up Nova M, and give them some real competition? All this rich guy warfare is what helped cripple Air America in the first place. Methinks he's spending way too much time bitching about them at HuffPo, when he could be channeling his energies in a much more constructive fashion. Stop the corporate dick-swinging and get back to work on your original mission. I already read the riot act to Eddie and Sammy earlier today. Don't make me come over there!

Sheldon Drobny on Air America Radio: An example of ego and crony capitalism

From Sheldon Drobny at Huffington Post:

When my wife and I conceived of the idea of forming a liberal radio network in 2001, we had no idea what was in our future. As socially responsible venture capitalists (usually an oxymoron) we hoped that we would help to balance the media bias that led to the stolen election of 2000 that has so negatively impacted all Americans.

You can read about this in my non-best selling book: Road To Air America. Unfortunately, AAR reached a dead end as a result of cronyism and ego which is usually a disease suffered by many mega millionaires of either political persuasion. My next book, Defying The Distortion, has a final chapter still waiting to be written and will be published when the AAR final chapter is known.

The positive news is that about 100 radio stations have now committed themselves to progressive talk radio and many of the listeners have demanded that their communities continue to carry non-conservative talk radio. AAR established a beachhead for the concept and the follow on content companies, if run well, will make non-conservative talk radio the wave of the future so that our country can re-establish itself as a shining light for democracy and human rights. But, the inside story of the major shareholders of AAR is the worst example of predatory greed and vanity. It was surprising to me as one who originally believed that rich liberals would somehow be different.

You can read more of this interesting article at Huffington Post.

Nova M to add another weekday show

Nova M Radio Network founder Sheldon Drobny reports that the upstart liberal talk syndicator will add author and former Justice Department prosecutor John Loftus for a daily talk show.

According to Drobny, Loftus had an impeccable record at the Justice Department and co-wrote "The Secret War Against the Jews" with Mark Aarons. John will be doing a daily show about the intelligence community and other government matters that need to be brought to the public attention. Like the upcoming John Zogby weekend show, the content will be non-partisan.

A little background on Loftus, from his site:

As a former Justice Department prosecutor, John Loftus once held some of the highest security clearances in the world, with special access to NATO Cosmic, CIA codeword, and Top Secret Nuclear files. As a private attorney, he works without charge to help hundreds of intelligence agents obtain lawful permission to declassify and publish the hidden secrets of our times. He is the author of four history books, three of which have been made into films, two were international best sellers, and one was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Here is a link from an interview Drobny did with Norman Mark of KNWZ-AM in Palm Springs about Nova M Radio. Segments 3 and 4 of this FTP link contain his interview with Mark on October 26, where Drobny spells out his philosophy about Nova M's unconservative talk radio.

Malloy, Nova M take to the airwaves today

It's been two months since Air America Radio cancelled Mike Malloy's late night radio show. Tonight, he's back with a vengeance.

Nova M, Sheldon and Anita Drobny's upstart radio network, inserts the latest piece of their puzzle tonight with Malloy's comeback.

Malloy's return will be confined to one station at the start, Nova M's flagship station KPHX (1480AM) in Phoenix, where it will air from 7-10PM locally (9-Mid ET). The show will roll out in syndication in the next week or two, once technical limitations are resolved.

As with Air America Radio, his former employer, Malloy will still be doing the show from his from his studio in the Atlanta area.

"The Drobny's are good hearted people," Malloy said. "There are very few people in radio who I consider to be 'good hearted.' which I consider to be one of the highest compliments, and I consider Shelly Drobny to be one of them. He's very idealistic, decent man."

What is the future for Nova M?

Malloy replied, "I'd like to see NovaM expand. I'd like to see them bring on more liberal talent-- people who are really didicated to liberal causes... I'd like to see NovaM oick up affiliate stations in major markets throughout the country, who are run by individuals who understand that if you take Chicago, New York, Miami or Houston or LA or where ever, that half of the audience has left talk radio because of all the right wing bullshit... and that it is you-- the program director or sales manager of the radio station-- if you really want to get your audience back, then include liberal programming, because more than half this country (is responsive to the liberal message.)"

Malloy will initially be broadcast on Nova M's, KPHX. The network also controls KXDE (1380AM) in Little Rock AR, which will soon pick up the show. Radio stations in other markets, including San Diego, Madison, Ann Arbor and Portland have reportedly inquired about the show, and KPTK (1090) in Seattle has gone so far as to announce his pending arrival on that station in the coming weeks.

"We love Mike Malloy," said Sheldon Drobny, co-founder of the new NovaM Radio Network. "The response we've had from many of the liberal talk radio slash Air America stations has been tremendous. They want Mike Malloy back. So we're really thrilled that we've got one of the best liberal talk radio hosts, and we're going to build upon that and we're talking to others."

Unlike Air America, Nova M will not be a full-service 24/7 network. They will start with only a few shows, including Malloy, Mike Newcomb's local Phoenix morning show, Peter B. Collins' established self-syndicated show, and a new weekend offering by pollster John Zogby. They are also talking with other hosts from around the country.

Nova M's two current stations will continue to air a mix of local and syndicated programming, including shows from Air America.

Malloy has not been keeping a low profile since his departure from Air America. He has appeared on other radio shows, most recently that of Alex Jones (mp3 link), where Malloy put the blame of his firing on Air America CFO Bob Ennis, formerly of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., owner of the FOX network and FOX News. He also complained about Air America management, who he and his union representative at AFTRA sparred with over unpaid money. The negotiations resulted in a pending two year contract, only to be thrown out by Ennis soon after. Malloy also ripped into former CEO Danny Goldberg and his replacement, Jim Wiggett, who's previous managerial experience was in the cosmetics industry.

As for the present, Malloy will start out on KPHX, which will offer streaming capabilities available to listeners worldwide. His show will likely still be archived at White Rose Society, which currently contains archives going back to before his I.E. America days. It appears that Nova M may also archives some programming.

Nova M to start new liberal talk radio network with Mike Malloy

Venture capitalish Sheldon Drobny, a co-founder of Air America Radio, is starting a new radio network. Most noteworthy of this new venture will be the return of Mike Malloy.

The announcement comes after Drobny was rebuffed in his offer to purchase Air America Radio, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday. Unlike Air America, Drobny's new network will not be a full-service operation. And Nova M-controlled stations in Phoenix and Little Rock will be the flagship stations for programming. It is assumed that their shows, particularly Malloy, will be offered for general syndication. KPHX in Phoenix does offer web streaming.

From Nova M:

We the People,

It is with great excitement and optimism that I announce today the formation of a new progressive talk radio network. Myself along with my partners, Anita and Sheldon Drobny; the original cofounders of the Air America Radio Network, want to be the first to tell all you “truth seekers” that the original truth seeker himself Mike Malloy will be born again live on the public airwaves. The planned second coming (barring any apocalypse) is scheduled for October 30, 2006. The Mike Malloy Show will initially broadcast live, from 9PM -12 Midnight (EST) on Nova M Radio affiliates 1480-AM KPHX Phoenix (and 1380-AM KDXE in Little Rock).

In addition, I’m equally excited to announce our strategic partnership with Joe Trippi and associates. Joe Trippi revolutionized electoral politics in America with his instrumental role in Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, raising over $40 million in small donor contributions over the internet. Joe created a new paradigm in how campaigns locally and nationally are conducted by leveraging the scope and breadth of innovative internet-based technologies and digital tools. Joe and his team will help us reach out to millions of us who share common values and common goals.

Also joining our team will be internationally renowned pollster John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International. John will be co-hosting a weekly one hour show, “The Pulse of the Nation” where John polls particular hot button issues from politics and pop culture to the War in Iraq and stem cell research. Each program will include expert guests and audience participation. At the end of each show John will reveal the secret results of the poll and each listener will then know whether or not they have their finger on “The Pulse of the Nation”!

We will continue to build upon the foundation laid by our predecessors and will work tirelessly to fulfill our fiduciary responsibilities to our investors. Equally important, we will with the millions of faithful progressive listeners uphold our vision to promote freedom, social justice, economic justice and peace worldwide.

We have many more exciting announcements to make; new talent, name of new network and so on. So stay tuned and keep up to date at our web site, http://www.novamradio.com/ ! And as always, from the bottom of my bleeding liberal heart, God Bless America!

In Solidarity,

Mike Newcomb, MD CEO & Chairman,
Nova M Radio, Inc.

Sheldon Drobny predicts profitablility for Air America

Nine months after Air America Radio's birth, venture capitalist Sheldon Drobny remains bullish on the liberal talk network he helped launch.

"I would not have invested in it unless I believed that it was a good business model," Drobny tells Inside TV & Radio, predicting it will start turning a profit in a year.

Is there irony that Clear Channel has been picking up the format for quite a few of their stations?

"I don't find it to be ironic," says Drobny, who has written a book, "Road to Air America" (Select Books, $19.95). "I find it to be a testimonial to our product. The profit system is the greatest enhancement to anything successful."

(more)

New book: 'Road To Air America'

Coming at the end of the month is a new book from Air America co-founder Sheldon Drobny. Here's a summary from Amazon:

At last, from the man who built it, comes the first-hand account of the rocky road that led us to our nation’s first liberal talk-radio network.

After years of listening to monologues from right wing radio ideologues, Sheldon Drobny had enough. He decided the public airwaves needed balance, and that the way to get that balance was by starting his own full time, liberal radio network--what would become Air America Radio.

In Road to Air America, Drobny tells the story of the obstacles he and his wife Anita faced as they tried to make their concept for a progressive radio network a reality. Their journey took them through a world of politics, money, and media as they were helped by some of America's most powerful political figures. Determined to get his liberal radio network on the air, Drobny sold his concept to a team of radio executives only to have it fall back in his lap, nearly undone, five months later.

Today, after a high profile and bumpy launch, Air America is growing and going strong, on the air in 31 markets nationwide. Road to Air America is a story of determination and creativity, and it gives a first hand account of what it takes to get a progressive voice heard in a time when the conservative right dominates the radio airwaves. Drobny, a Chicago-based venture capitalist, philanthropist, and political activist, also has plenty to say about the destructive self-interest of today's corporate-owned media, and how it inspired his concept for a more balanced public discourse.

The book is slated to be released on October 30, and at $13.97 for hardcover, it's a pretty inexpensive read. You can find the book by clicking the headline link.

Liberal talker Ed Schultz also has a new book out, Straight Talk from the Heartland : Tough Talk, Common Sense, and Hope from a Former Conservative, and he's on the road promoting it now. Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060784571/qid=1098194707/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-7830167-0200747