New York, NY - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 - Westwood One (WWON:OB) is pleased to announce that The Fred Thompson Show will debut on March 2nd on more than 125 stations including key market clearances in Washington D.C., Dallas, Houston and Minneapolis.
"Of all the radio talkers out there, how many can say they've debated in the Senate; campaigned for President of the United States; had a successful TV career on Law and Order and shared the screen with Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Robert De Niro and Sissy Spacek?" said Bart Tessler, EVP Westwood One News & Talk Programming. "Thompson is as unique as they come and that will make for exceptional radio."
"This will be the biggest talk radio launch since Bill O'Reilly," said Dennis Green, Westwood One EVP Affiliate Sales. "We have not even hit the air and radio stations from coast to coast are ready for Fred Thompson to speak to their audiences about the issues that matter."
Former US senator and 2008 presidential candidate, Fred Thompson will share his views on politics, topical issues, pop culture and water cooler stories, as well as welcome guest interviews and take listener calls. The Fred Thompson Show will be a two-hour daily talk show and will air live Noon-2pm, Monday - Friday from the Westwood One studios in Washington DC. Westwood One will hold all broadcast and digital rights to The Fred Thompson Show including its official website.
About Senator Fred Thompson:
Fred Thompson is one of the most respected and visible figures in politics today. Thompson served eight years as a Senator from Tennessee, and in 2008 sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States. First elected to the United States Senate in 1994, the people of Tennessee returned him to office two years later with more votes than any candidate for any office in the state's history at that time. Serving as Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and as a member of the Finance Committee and Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Thompson focused on lowering taxes, strengthening national security, and cutting wasteful government spending. In March 2002, Senator Thompson announced that he would not seek re-election to the Senate, although he would have been re-elected easily. He has three sons, one daughter and 5 grandchildren, and wanted to spend more time with his family.
Prior to his election, Thompson maintained law offices in Nashville and Washington. Earlier in his career, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Tennessee. In 1973, he was appointed by Senator Howard Baker to serve as Minority Counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee where Thompson first gained national attention for leading the line of inquiry that revealed the audio-taping system in the White House Oval Office. He detailed his Watergate experience in his Watergate memoir, At That Point in Time. In 1974, after the Watergate hearings concluded, Thompson returned to the practice of law.
Senator Thompson first appeared on screen in the film Marie in 1985, portraying himself in the fact-based story of a high-profile public corruption case he handled in Tennessee. Since then, he has appeared in numerous movies and television programs, including No Way Out, In the Line of Fire, Die Hard II, Days of Thunder and The Hunt for Red October and the television series China Beach, Wiseguy, and Matlock. Recently, he has become known for his portrayal of New York District Attorney Arthur Branch on the Emmy Award-winning NBC drama, Law & Order.
In 2005, Senator Thompson was named by President Bush as an advisor to Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts, helping to move his nomination through the Senate confirmation process. Thompson continued his public service as Chairman of the State Department's International Security Advisory Board.
In all this, Thompson has been a man of the times, adapting his unique abilities and leveraging today's communications technologies to speak to the American people about issues he feels are important to the nation. Whether it's on the radio, filling in for Paul Harvey on the ABC Network with news and commentaries, on his own "Fred Thompson Reports" commentaries and broadcasts, online blog posts or TV appearances, Senator Thompson has focused on the issues of the day throughout his career. For more info on Senator Fred Thompson please visit fredpac.com.
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About Westwood One
Westwood One is the largest independent provider of network radio programming and the largest provider of traffic information in the U.S. Westwood One serves more than 5,000 radio and TV stations in the U.S. The Company provides over 150 news, sports, music, talk and entertainment programs, features and live events to numerous media partners. Through its Metro Networks division, Westwood provides traffic reporting and local news, sports and weather to over 2,200 radio and TV stations. The Company also provides digital and other cross platform delivery of its network and Metro content |
