Air America audience rallies in Portland

[Mark Laurence]

Air America will remain on the air in Portland ME after listeners 
rallied to save the station.

According to the Portland Press Herald, listener support in the form of 
messages and phone calls convinced management to stick with the format 
for another 5 weeks.  Their article of about a week ago said the format 
switch to sports talk would still happen shortly after the election.

But the station hosted a public meeting last night in their sales 
offices in Portland to talk about the format switch proposal with the 
Air America supporters.  The Press Herald quoted GM Patrick Collins 
saying "The response really caught us off guard."  Here's the Press 
Herald story written before the meeting:  
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/040930airamerica.shtml

Al Franken's wife Franni appeared on the Randi Rhodes show this 
afternoon and said the network has now been signed up for a longer term 
in Portland, after the enthusiastic support of listeners at the 
meeting.

Mark