Al Franken to leave Air America in February

Liberal network to be sold to New York real estate company

	Al Franken told the AP earlier this month that he had contacted Minnesota lawmakers to seek advice about a possible run for the Senate.
Haraz Ghanbari / AP

updated 12:19 p.m. ET Jan. 29, 2007

NEW YORK - Air America Radio, a liberal talk radio network, said Monday that it had reached a tentative agreement to be sold to the founder of a New York area real estate company. The network also said that Al Franken, its longtime headline personality, would depart next month.

The agreement with Stephen Green, the founder and chairman of SL Green Realty Corp., appears to rescue the struggling network, which has been seeking a buyer since last fall when it filed for bankruptcy reorganization after reaching an impasse with one of its creditors.

No terms of the sale agreement were disclosed. Any sale would have to be approved by the bankruptcy court.

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Green is the brother of Mark Green, a longtime New York politician who has also appeared frequently as a guest on Air America Radio.

The network said in a statement that Franken’s last day on the network would be Feb. 14, and that his 12pm-3pm ET time slot would be taken over by Portland, Ore.-based talk show host Thom Hartmann.

The network didn’t specify in a statement why Franken was leaving, but Franken told the AP earlier this month that he had contacted Minnesota lawmakers to seek advice about a possible run for the Senate.