Counting FrankenNet's Hours II - Hurry

If I were working at FrankenNet right now, I'd be more than a little nervous.

Thankfully, the little double-wide in Eagan isn't run by a bunch of left-leaning business geniuses.

Here's the latest:

In yet another sign of trouble for Air America Radio, the liberal talk network's co-founder and chairman, Evan Cohen, resigned Thursday along with his investment partner and vice chairman, Rex Sorensen.

The company also failed to make its scheduled payroll Wednesday, leaving its staff of roughly 100 writers and producers unpaid until Thursday.

Two points:

1. They've been on the air five weeks. And they're already sucking pond water.
2. Let me read that again. Did it really say "100 writers and producers" to produce 17 hours of weekday programming (and maybe 8-10 more on the weekends)? No, I must have mis-read that...

   ...er, no, it does say 100 writers and producers. To produce six weeday and three weekend programs. A lavish commercial talk operation would hire, er, maybe six producers, four engineers, and maybe some interns to screen the calls.

Simply amazing.

From the Baghdad Bob archives:

"We're on a wild ride," said Jon Sinton, the network's president, acknowledging that Air America has suffered "the typical bumps and bruises faced by any start-up."

"But the bottom line," he said, "is that we are on the air to stay."

Last week, according to two sources familiar with the matter, paychecks to some of the network's talent--a group that includes Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, and Randi Rhodes--bounced, and Rhodes joked on the air about not being paid. [I bet she "joked" off the air about it, too - Ed.]

A scheduled payday for the staff on Wednesday came and went without checks, though the staff was paid on Thursday. Sinton chalked up both cases to "technical issues."Yeah. Technically, they don't know what they're doing, and they're doomed.

I predicted FrankenNet would last 18 months. I'm going to have to go back to my original post on the subject and start seeing who wins the big pool.

I think I'll have to hurry.

So the liberal challenge to conservative media hegemony will have to resort to NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, the NYT, the WaPo, the AP, Reuters, the BBC and the entire entertainment industry.

UPDATE: WMNN in Minneapolis is supposed to carry Franken's show until probably early June. Wouldn't it be ironic if the network folded before WMNN could bail on it?

Posted by Mitch at May 7, 2004 11:58 AM