Several months ago, I wrote about the problems at Air America and noted that they all stemmed from one central problem — the conceit that they could run a radio network without anyone who had been successful doing radio. In that column, I said:
If you were starting a new restaurant chain, and hoping to have outlets in every major city in America, you probably wouldn’t hire a staff of people whose only experience was eating out on a regular basis. You’d want chefs and waiters who had not only worked in the food service business before, but were good at it. So why would anyone believe that model could work in radio?
In a NY Times piece today, Douglas Kreeger (former CEO of Air America, who may be part of a group that will take control of it again) admits their mistake:
I have come to understand very clearly that the radio component of this requires a radio professional.