Dial Global syndicates both Ed Shultz and Thom Hartmann, and for about a year has been syndicating both shows live at Noon-3PM, forcing so-called Progressive radio stations to choose and carry one show live and carry one show on delayed broadcast.
Randi Rhodes is syndicated by Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Network from 3-6 PM with no live competition from Dial Global.
So while some fans of Thom Hartmann are already screaming it’s some conspiracy by the Koch brothers and Haliburton, it’s a pretty straight forward business decision – Hartmann is moving as of today to3-6 PM so both shows can be carried live, which is going to affect pretty much every progressive talk radio’s station schedule.
After running down the short list of Progressive Stations, most stations that had been carrying Hartmann live were carrying Ed Shultz following Hartmann – so they have just swapped the two programs – most of the stations don’t probably even know about the change yet 🙂
The one exception is KTLK-AM, Clear Channel’s station in Los Angeles. They have dropped Pasty White Guy Thom Hartmann and replaced him with Diverse comedian George Henry Wallace who made his career in the 1970s saying “No, I’m not that George Wallace”. Out of the box, the theme of his program was that if you criticize President Obama, you must be a racist. Get used to it.