Salem Media Group has announced it has reached a new contract extension with longtime Conservative Talk host Dennis Prager, but as part of the deal will shrink his show from three hours daily to two starting Monday, February 5.
Salem has syndicated Prager nationally since 1999 in the 12-3pm eastern/9am-12pm pacific time slot after a long run at 790 KABC Los Angeles. With his show cutting back to two hours, Salem will be offering an hour of Charlie Kirk’s show that airs in the same live timeslot to his affiliates. The company says the cut-back was at Prager’s request so he can complete his five-volume Bible commentary and three other books.
Salem Media Group, Inc. (OTCQX: SALM) announced today that SRN nationally syndicated host Dennis Prager and Salem Radio Network have reached an agreement on extending his show. At Dennis’s request, the show will be two, rather than three, hours, but each hour will contain six more minutes of talk than at present. Dennis decided to shorten his daily 3 hour show to 2 hours, beginning February 5th in order to complete his monumental five-volume Bible commentary, The Rational Bible, as well as three other books.
As part of the new agreement, Dennis Prager will do a monthly virtual “hangout” with subscribers to his Premium Club, Pragertopia +. This will provide listeners with even greater engagement with Dennis. “Listeners always want more content, and this gives me a chance to interact with listeners in a brand-new way,” said Prager.
The new agreement will keep the show on SRN for the foreseeable future, in the middle of the strongest conservative talk lineup on the air.
“Dennis Prager is a true talk radio icon and has been for the last 42 years since he first began on the radio at KABC in Los Angeles hosting the original ‘Religion on the Line,’” said Salem Sr. Vice President of Spoken Word, Phil Boyce. “Millions of listeners spend the day with Dennis, enjoying his wit, wisdom, and knowledge. He is one of the most viral talk hosts on the air today, and we wanted him to remain on the Salem Radio Network for years to come.”
Salem is offering third-hour affiliates the opportunity to take an hour of Charlie Kirk, who broadcasts in the same Noon to 3 pm Eastern time slot. To make up for the reduction of the third hour, Dennis will be adding new exclusive content at the start of each of the two hours, giving listeners an opportunity to hear what’s on Dennis’s mind straight up at the top of the hour. This new 5 minute-segment, offered at the top of each hour, has never been done before by any syndicated nationally host.
“I love Salem and have enormous gratitude for this partnership over the last 25 years when I became a nationally syndicated host with Salem,” said Prager. “I am blessed to have the daily opportunity to influence America’s culture for good. I think listeners will really appreciate the new added talk-time in each of my two hours.”
Prager’s longtime producer Allen Estrin will continue as the show’s producer. Stations who want to consider adding Dennis Prager to their lineups should contact SRN Affiliate Relations and ask for more Prager: Kelli DeShan (west of the Mississippi) at 214-385-7077 or Jim Bligh (east of the Mississippi) at 917-519-4026.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com