USA: Salem Communications buys Hot Air

Christian radio, Contemporary Christian Music Christian publishing and radio giant acquires Michelle Malkin's blog Posted: February 18, 2010 By Chelsea Schilling © 2010 WorldNetDaily Salem Communications, a Christian publishing and radio giant that owns nearly 100 radio stations nationwide and calls itself the No. 1 Internet provider, has acquired Michelle Malkin's blog, Hot Air, for an undisclosed amount. Malkin, CEO, founder and sole owner of Hot Air, has been in negotiations with Salem for some time, Mediaite reports. According to the report, the acquisition announcement is expected to coincide with the Conservative Political Action Conference, which opens tomorrow in Washington, D.C. Malkin launched Hot Air on April 24, 2006. The website is managed by editors Ed Morrissey and a mysterious blogger who uses the pseudonym Allahpundit. Morrissey and Allahpundit are said to be part of the deal. A thread posted on Hot Air by Morrissey appeared to confirm the announcement. "Neither Allahpundit nor I will have any official comment on this until tomorrow," he wrote today, "but if you read our Twitter feeds last night, you already knew that a big announcement about Hot Air's business status was on the way. What I can tell you now is that Hot Air's current mission and direction will not change, and that both [Allahpundit] and I will continue being part of Hot Air for the foreseeable future." Morrissey said Malkin would soon be writing about the "acquisition." As WND reported, Salem Communications was branded a "bottom rung" company last year by Moody's Investors Service for struggling under the weight of $320 million in debt. Salem, which operates well-known websites OnePlace.com, Crosswalk.com and Christianity.com, boasts 3 million unique users hitting their websites with 40 million page views per month. Salem also owns and operates nearly 100 radio stations in 23 of the nation's top 25 markets and syndicates talk, news and music programming to approximately 2,000 affiliates in more than 300 markets in the U.S. Reaction to news of the acquisition has been mixed. Several users posted notes congratulating Hot Air, but many readers also expressed concern about new owners changing the website. According to Mediaite, Hot Air will remain the same for its users despite the change in ownership, though readers may expect to see cross-promotion between Hot Air and Townhall.com now that both are part of the Salem family. Source: http://bit.ly/9EhOsM Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia