Alert the (Bill) Press: Nova-M goes under (Air America founder suicide attempt; Rhodes off the air)

Radio Equalizer ^ | Fed 17, 2009 | Ed Morrissey

[tlb]

Libtalk network Nova M Radio has been shut down, according to the attorney for Randi Rhodes, Robert V Gaulin of New York. … Moments ago, Gaulin sent this letter to your Radio Equalizer:

Randi Rhodes’ on-air home for less than a year will shut its doors. In an email message of February 17th from counsel for Nova M Radio, Inc. to Randi’s entertainment attorney, Robert V. Gaulin, the company is said to have been advised to file for bankruptcy protection next week. All payroll deposits were reversed on Tuesday, leaving Nova’s employees unpaid for the past two weeks.

On Sunday, Nova received a letter from Mr. Gaulin asserting that the contract with Ms. Rhodes was terminated due to material breaches and other reasons. Ms. Rhodes had not broadcast for over a week prior to this time, a situation which was diplomatically referred to as a “problem” that was solely within Nova’s control to solve. A few days earlier, Sheldon Drobny, founder of Nova M, and a co-founder of Air America Radio, attempted suicide and is hospitalized in Chicago.

[LizzyD]

So I’m traveling in sw florida this week for work and on sunday afternoon I was driving thru the everglades desperate for any radio to listen to and landed on a local air america station . At every commercial break there would be one or two ads...then three or four minutes of music...all unsold ad time. Most of the ads they did run were for progressive insurance...obviously ad buys based on progressive’s lefty ceo’s politics, not based on a business decision...I as probably one of about ten people listening (the other nine called in to talk about how wonderful the obamassiah is...)

[raccoonradio]

The libs at LiberalTalkRadio.blogspot.com are pooh-poohing Brian’s report...

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>>3. Rumors are swirling right now that Nova M has folded. Proving that he’s in a world of his own, the Tranquilizer [their nickname for Brian M.’s Radio Equalizer blog] is claiming that Rhodes’ lawyer sent him a letter claiming that Nova M didn’t make payroll and is about to fold, that Mike Malloy’s show has been cancelled and that the network’s co-founder, Sheldon Drobny, is in the hospital after an apparent ‘suicide attempt.’ Suicide??? Basically, Brian Maloney has topped himself on the crass-o-meter.
Sheldon’s wife, Anita, confirmed that her husband was in the hospital, but it was a ‘nervous breakdown’. So, like anything regarding either Nova M, Randi Rhodes or, heck, most liberal talk radio in general, there are a lot of mixed signals here...

>>4. So, if Nova M is totally and completely kaput and the Malloy show has been outright cancelled, then that’s news to Mike and Kathy Malloy. The show should go on as scheduled tonight.

>>5. Radio & Records, a more reliable source for industry news than right-wing blogs run by crazy people(sic), cites Nova M’s general manager, Eric Reinert, who said that Nova M is no longer an entity and that a new company called On Second Thought LLC has been formed and is moving forward. Reinart also confirmed that Rhodes is officially out. The new network will continue to offer Mike Malloy, Phoenix host Mike Newcomb and a new show from Nancy Skinner, who had been filling in for Rhodes.

6. Oh, and that lawsuit brought against Nova M by former CEO John Manzo? Reinart wouldn’t comment on that. The 16-page complaint alleges, among other things, that the syndicator breached Manzo’s contract, failed to pay state and federal taxes on his behalf, defamed his character and cast him in a false light.