Living Well is the Best Revenge

Late last year, when we found out that Air America CEO Danny Goldberg had decided to cancel Morning Sedition, and we later found out that Marc Maron was going to be doing a new show out of L.A., I said to Mr. Brilliant, "You wait. Marc Maron will be on AAR long after Danny Goldberg is gone.

Looks like I may have been right:

Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network that features comedian Al Franken, announced late Wednesday that Danny Goldberg is giving up his role as CEO and will be replaced by an executive from a management consulting firm.

Goldberg, a longtime music industry executive, joined Air America as CEO in February of last year. He will remain with the company as vice chairman.

Jim Wiggett will become interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent replacement, the company said in a statement. Wiggett is president and CEO of the Jackson Hole Group, a management consulting firm in San Francisco.

Rob Glaser, the chairman of Piquant Ltd., the company that owns Air America, said in a statement that Goldberg's appointment "reflects Air America's desire to strengthen its outreach efforts to the progressive community .... These are areas where Danny brings unique skills and experience."

The statement did not go into further detail about Goldberg's departure from the CEO role. A spokeswoman for the company said Goldberg wanted to concentrate on Air America's programming and relations with members of the progressive political community.

Former Morning Sedition producer Jon Larsen points us to the hardly unbiased Brian Maloney's take on the situation, which makes it sound very different from a promotion:

While exiting day-to-day operations at Air America, Goldberg will continue in a minor, contractually-based role, working one day a week from home. Through the end of 2006, he'll be paid $400,000 on an annualized basis for his temporary role as "Vice-Chair".

In addition, he'll receive $400,000 in deferred compensation covering 2005, $100,000 to cover 2006 travel and entertainment, plus ongoing clerical support. An initial share award representing 2% of the company will now become fully vested.

Maloney continually refers to AAR as if its full name were "financially troubled Air America", so the axe he has to grind is pretty clear. He overestimates Goldberg's progressive cred, as far as I'm concerned, for axing the best morning drive show on radio because of a personal grudge against one of its hosts is hardly the stuff of which liberal dreams are made.

Larsen cryptically comments:

Whether Goldberg's departure comes in time to save Air America, I have no idea. A lot of it will depend on whether the board is smart enough to bring in someone who knows what they're doing and is willing to work closely with the people -- those who are still left -- who made Air America a success, rather than continue to be bamboozled by the people who excell at claiming to have made Air America a success.

Regardless of the ultimate fate of AAR, Marc Maron has landed on his feet at KTLK, which is a Clear Channel station. AAR's syndication arm is set to syndicate the show beginning April 17, but any affiliation with AAR notwithstanding, Maron is back on the radio with a loyal listener base.