TVNewser tipsters tell us CNN’s Lou Dobbs is entering into a deal with United Stations Radio Networks to host a three-hour daily radio show. The show is expected to launch in March and air from 3pmET to 6pmET. Currently, United Stations airs the Lou Dobbs Financial Report three times a day on the network.
On their website, United Stations boasts “some major announcements are coming soon.”
>Confirmed: The press release is after the jump…
>More: TVDecoder‘s Brian Stelter writes about Lou Dobbs Inc.
LOU DOBBS TO LAUNCH NATIONAL RADIO TALK SHOW IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNITED STATIONS RADIO NETWORKS, INC.
Prominent CNN Anchor and Best-Selling Author to Hit the Afternoon Airwaves
Each Weekday Beginning March, 2008
The Lou Dobbs Show Will Occupy Gap Between Conservative and Liberal Talk Radio
New York, NY – December 4, 2007 – Award-winning broadcast journalist and author Lou Dobbs announced today that he will be bringing his influential and popular point of view to a coast-to-coast radio audience with a new daily Talk Show. The show, tentatively titled The Lou Dobbs Show , will be produced, distributed to affiliates and sold to advertisers by United Stations Radio Networks, Inc. (“USRN”), a privately-held radio programming company based in New York. Dobbs, who is best known as the anchor of the nightly Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, has become an ideological flashpoint himself in recent years and is certain to bring his insightful journalism along with his provocative views to this new daily program. Lou Dobbs and United Stations Chairman/CEO Nicholas J. Verbitsky made this announcement today in New York City.
“Lou Dobbs brings a true independent voice to Talk Radio, occupying the vital middle ground between the conservative and liberal voices that dominate much of the segment today, particularly as we move
toward a critical election for our country,” said Verbitsky. “At the
same time, this announcement demonstrates the growing importance of the Talk Radio segment to the industry today, both on AM and increasingly on FM. We look forward to stirring up the competitive mix in Talk Radio.”
Commenting on the announcement, Dobbs remarked, “The political climate is rapidly changing. Independents are registering at an unprecedented rate and will determine the outcome of the 2008 election. I’m excited to be adding my voice to the talk show arena and have an opportunity, along with my listeners, to help enrich our national dialogue.”
United Stations, an independent leader in network radio programming, will collaborate with Lou Dobbs to create the daily content for this new Talk Radio series. The program is slated to begin daily broadcasts on March 3, 2008 and will be fed to affiliates live-via-satellite each weekday (Monday through Friday) from 3 – 6 pm Eastern Time. The format of the program is still in development, but both newsmaker guests and caller interaction are expected to be important components of the program along with stories brought to the forefront by Dobbs.
A new interactive website for the show is currently under construction at www.loudobbsradio.com .
For over twenty-five years, Lou Dobbs has been an innovator in the field of news programming and reporting. During his long tenure at CNN, Dobbs has earned a reputation as one of the most trusted voices in financial reporting. His broad range of expertise encompasses the most pressing developments in domestic and international business news, government policy, Wall Street, corporate crime and technology.
Dobbs has won nearly every major award for television journalism, including the prestigious Peabody Award, a Horatio Alger Association Award, and two Emmys, including one for Lifetime Achievement. He’s currently the anchor and managing editor of CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight and the author of three recent best-sellers, Exporting America, War on the Middle Class and the brand new Independents Day.
United Stations has a seven-year history working with Dobbs as the co-creators and distributors of his daily short-form features known as The Lou Dobbs Financial Report. The financial news pieces are one-minute headline capsules provided by Dobbs to affiliates three times each weekday, in the morning, the midday and at the close of the US markets.
But it’s the expansion by Lou Dobbs into the daily long-form landscape of Talk Radio that takes center stage as of today’s announcement.
Talk Radio (counting the News, News/Talk and Sports formats) is currently the format of choice on roughly 2000 commercial frequencies.
That makes it a close number two (behind Country Music) as the format occupying the greatest number of commercial dial positions in the US. Most headline-driven Talk Radio leans either to the conservative side of the political spectrum or the liberal. With The Lou Dobbs Show, Dobbs plans to take the same stance he has in his recent books, and that is the role of the independent pluralist, a stance from which he examines issues and promotes points of view that are in the common good of all Americans.
On the network side, USRN CEO Nick Verbitsky added that “United Stations is incredibly proud to be the radio partner for the new Lou Dobbs Show. Lou is a broadcaster of integrity and quality and plenty of charisma. Lou is also currently voicing exactly what most Americans are feeling, and when you combine that with his ability to entertain and engage listeners, in our medium, that’s a bulls-eye.”
United Stations Radio Networks, Inc., is the nation’s largest independently owned and operated radio network. The company currently distributes and produces dozens of format specific programs and services to over 4000 rated radio stations across the country.
Formats served by USRN include Adult Contemporary, Album Rock, Contemporary Hit, Country, Oldies, Smooth Jazz, Urban, All News and News/Talk.