For the longest time, the sense among media people was that Air America, the liberal talk radio network, was cooked even before it began, hobbled by a poor business model.

And that was even before all its money problems, bad press and, last fall, its tumble into bankruptcy.

But in what may be a sign in these politically charged times, Air America will live, thanks to a deal reached yesterday with wealthy New York real estate entrepreneur Stephen Green, brother of Mark Green, the longtime New York political figure and perpetual candidate.

Steve Green has been kicking money in to keep the network alive and soon, the bankruptcy court willing, his SLG Radio LLC will be majority owner.

"Because I'm a businessman who enjoys creating and growing companies, I'm purchasing a majority ownership in Air America with the intention of making it a successful business that returns a profit,” Green said in a statement.

Green says his priorities are three: stabilizing Air America financially, building up its programming, and developing other platforms for Air America content.

One thing will change at the radio network. Liberal talker Al Franken will leave and his "Al Franken Show," which airs weekdays from noon to 3 p.m., will cede that timeslot to "The Thom Hartmann Program." Hartmann is a Portland, Ore., talk show host.

Franken has been the big name attached to Air America, and the source of much of the positive coverage of the network since its launch, largely because of his witty attacks on right-wing commentators like Fox's Bill O'Reilly.

But Franken has been rumored to be on his way out for some time, in part over unpaid salary but also because of plans he's been nurturing to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.

"I'll miss coming in and working with the best staff in radio, talking with my amazing coterie of guests, and, of course, my national audience," Franken is quoted as saying in the same statement.

“But they'll be in good hands with Thom Hartmann, a great progressive and a terrific host. And the network will be in good hands with the Green brothers: Mark, my friend for years and a committed liberal who understands the mission of Air America as well as anyone, and his brother Steve, who is very wealthy."

Steve Green is indeed wealthy. His SLGreen Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust, claims to control 27 million square feet of New York commercial real estate, much of it office buildings in Manhattan. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The challenge for Green will be to tighten up Air America's creditors as a short-term fix but also to rebuild the network from the ground up. According to media people, Air America's problem was not with its liberal agenda but a poor business plan. Its launch crew was top-heavy with politically wired Democrats but light on experienced radio people.

As with so many struggling media launches, when Air America went on the air in 2004, it was so consumed with staying on the air that it never had the opportunity to address deeper business issues.

For one it never really had a network structure, though it called itself a network, merely a string of affiliate relationships, and weak ones at that. For Air America to succeed, it must now build a true organic network and from that build an audience it can sell to advertisers.

"To build a radio network you need to start from a solid base and then expand," says Andrew Ettinger, media supervisor at EarthQuake Media in New York, who talked to Media Life about Air America's woes back in October.

"Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Sean Hannity, etc. did not appear overnight as dominant radio personalities. Rather, they built their following one station at a time, one market at a time. By doing so they grew from strength, not artificial station clearances."

At launch, the network had just three stations lined up, none big, and that all but doomed it right off. In radio, poor distribution equals low ratings equals little advertising and less revenue. While Air America was able to add stations--it now has some 80--it was a slow build, marked by turmoil, lawsuits and defections, and it all came too late.

One thing Air America and Green will have going for them is the changing political climate, with the 2008 elections approaching and the shift of power in Washington to the Democrats. Liberal thought is increasingly back in vogue.

But to capitalize on that, Air America will have to move quickly to build up its infrastructure of networks, which is still weak compared to the dominance of right wing talk. A receptive audience won't make a whit of difference if those voices can't be heard.