I read in the Chicago Tribune today that Al Franken will be hosting a radio program in Chicago.
It will air on WNTD-AM 950. Which is right now a spanish speaking program.
He will be aired against Rush Limbaugh. 11A.M. to 2P.M.
He is supposed to have a co-host but they would not disclose who it was.
In a Statement he was quoted as saying "Quite simply, my plan is to alter the political landscape, drive this radical right-wing president from office & stand as a beacon for ordinary Americas who work hard and play by the rules"
No launch date has been disclosed.
Should be some interesting radio with Rush and Al against each other.
What are your thoughts? Will you listen? Are you interested in what Rush would think of this?

He is going to get slaughtered. I think Rush is a hypocrite but you cannot deny he is the best in the business of Talk Radio. Really he invented it. He is great at giving his listeners exactly what they want to hear, exactly how they want to hear it.
Al Franken's best work is when he writes for others. He does not have the temperment to handle debate. He gets to easily upset. He is far too combative with those who disagree with his veiws and his show I fear will quickly devolve into at best a weak copy of Rush.
This isn't going to be pretty.
Besides Radio is dead.

Al Franken has too much integrity for talk radio. His book, Lies and the lying liars who tell them, is a very funny and thought provoking but talk radio is for conservatives, period.

Not quite true, really, Howard Stern and Don Imus pioneered talk radio, Rush just found a different niche, while basically copying thier formula.

Non-conservatives and debaters such as here don't tend to recieve thier info via radio. However, Al Franken is funny enough to make it interesting and entertaining, so he does stand a chance IMO, by being a crossover, more like Don Imus or Howard Stern.

I guess I don't veiw Stern or Imus as Talk Radio (Honestly they both just really annoy me) I veiw them more as overinflated disc jockeys.
Rush really created the whole political talkshow format. Almost every attempt at it by anyone is a mirror of his formula.
I do think Al is funny but I don't think he has skill at the live talk type of forum.
But again Radio is dead.

Imus was really the first modern style talk radio, followed by Stern- at least on the national scene. But the format of Rush still comes down to Imus and Stern. Stern and Imus have both talked about this, in thier own brash way. Rush just found another, though actually smaller than Stern, outlet. I know 2 maintainence guys at the hospital that always have on all-talk radio while they work. Niether listen that closely though. But the funny thing is, all talk radio, regardless of genre', seem to be almost exclusive male in audience demograph.

It's worth a listen; perhaps we'll be able to pick up the program here in West Michigan. Al Franken is witty and pretty well-informed. He might fit in well for this genre.

Talk radio is dead to those who do not listen to it. I don't listen to it either, but I would be willing to give Al Franken a try.

Al Franken knows as much about politics as Hilary knows about New York. Running against Rush [who I don't like, btw], that is suicide! There is no WAY he lasts for any period of time. He doesn't have the fan base, and he is unbelievable predictable, hmm, what's on schedule for day one, making crappy jokes about O'Reily, day two, hmmm, more crappy jokes about O'Reilly.... He's a failed comedian, and a soon to be failed talk show host.

CP

Having read through some of Franken's work, it would appear he is adequately informed on politics to discuss and debate it over the airwaves. His humor, while not hilarious, seems as though it might be suited for lengthy discussions. I don't know that he could sustain a comedy show on a daily basis, but I do think his humor will make him inviting to listeners.

I think he has a fan base judging from the success of his books and certainly there is no better time to make an attempt than while he's still riding high on the success of his bestseller, "Lies." I'm not sure, however, if he'll be able to compete with the long standing success of Rush Limbaugh. I think there are perhaps quite a few "liberal" listeners of Rush who listen because they have nowhere else to turn or enjoy the torment provided by a primarily one-way communication system (their radios). If that's the case, perhaps some of them will then switch the station... or perhaps some "conservatives" will tune into Franken for the same frustration or curiosity that liberals do with Rush...

Hello all, this is my first posting on this site

I'm not making any predictions myself on the success of Al Franken on the radio. It may very well be true that there just isn't enough of a market out there for a liberal host to get the same stature as Limbaugh or Hannity(my fave pet-hate these days).

Ya know what else, though? I don't really care if he gets as big as those 2 jerks! What I want is more voices on the radio to provide an alternative to the blather that conservatives are spewing out. Right now, it seems most Liberal talk-show hosts are mainly local, so these guys don't have to pay them too much mind, since they're nationally syndicated. I'm hoping that since Franken is already a pretty big figure in his own right, his mere presense on the airwaves will give the "Big 2" (Limbaugh and Hannity, that is) some pause and make them have to address (and defend) some issues that they didn't have to worry about in the past because they've been controlling the debate (at least in talk radio).

To reply to ConservPat:
I also concur completely with Abs Like Jesus. Franken has shown he knows quite a bit about politics, and his humor goes far beyond just Bill O'Reilly-bashing. He's also shown he can use a little self-deprecating humor, as well. Something the other guys don't seem to be very good at.

I suppose that depends on how you define failure, CP. He's won five Emmy Awards. Every book he's written has spent months on the best-seller lists, frequently in the number one spot. He's created and written for numerous TV series (including, of course, ten years on SNL). He's been a political correspondent for Newsweek, The Nation and Rolling Stone, among others. He's worked for CNN as a commentator at the Democratic National Convention. He's an active and much-sought-after speaker, having given the keynote address at two White House Correspondents Dinners, the National Press Club, countless corporate events, and the 2002 Harvard commencement. He has also done several USO tours and proved very popular with our troops. And he knows more about politics than Bill O'Reilly could ever hope to know.

I should be such a failure!