Air America Back on Radio in Chicago, Los Angeles
Thu Apr 15, 7:56 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York judge ordered the owner of two radio stations
on Thursday to put the 2-week-old, liberal radio network known as Air America
back on the air.

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MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting Inc, which owns radio stations in Chicago and
Los Angeles, pulled the plug on Air America on Wednesday. MultiCultural's
owner, Arthur Liu, told the Chicago Tribune the radio network "bounced a check"
and was in default.


Air America, which leases radio stations in 16 cities, filed a complaint in New
York State Supreme Court demanding it be restored to the air and compensated.


Judge Marilyn Diamond issued a temporary restraining order on the condition
that Air America post a $156,000 bond. The judge will hold a hearing on the
dispute on Monday.


"We won the first round. We'll be back on the air sometime before the end of
the day on Friday," Air America Chairman Evan Cohen said.


Liu did not return calls seeking comment.


"Arthur Liu received a clear message in court," Cohen said. "Temper tantrums
are not the way to conduct business."


Cohen said he purchased two months of airtime on KBLA in Santa Monica,
California, before Air America's March 31 launch, but the station owner resold
the time to a Spanish-language programer.


Cohen said the two sides had been in discussions until Tuesday, when talks
broke down and the station owner locked out Air America employees from KBLA and
Chicago's WNTD.


Air America, which features a program hosted by comedian Al Franken, was
launched to counter right-wing hosts who dominate daytime talk radio. Los
Angeles and Chicago were two of Air America's largest markets.