The Larry King Show was an American overnight radio talk show hosted by Larry King. It was broadcast nationally over the Mutual Broadcasting System from January, 1978 to May, 1994. A typical program consisted of King interviewing a guest, then taking phone calls from listeners for the guest, and then taking phone calls on any topic. [1] In 1982, the show won a Peabody Award. [2]
In January, 1978, the virtually unknown King went from hosting a local radio talk show on station WIOD in Miami, Florida to a national show, inheriting the nightly nationwide talk show slot on the Mutual Broadcasting System, that had previously been hosted by "Long John" Nebel and Candy Jones on the network and had been pioneered by Herb Jepko in 1975. [3] [4] The main reason King got the Mutual job is that he had once been an announcer at WGMA in Hollywood, Florida, which was then owned by C. Edward Little.[ citation needed ] Little went on to become president of Mutual and he hired King as Nebel's replacement.
King's debut program on Mutual was broadcast from Miami on January 30, 1978, where his first guest was Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula. After nine weeks, production of the show moved to Mutual's main studios in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia near Washington, D.C. [5] [6] [7] The program was initially carried by 28 stations [8] and rapidly developed a large and devoted audience [9] who became known as "King-aholics". [6] The show was initially "offered on a barter basis so stations could trade advertising time for the opportunity to carry the show", providing stations with a low cost overnight program. [10]
Mutual broadcast The Larry King Show live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. King would interview a guest for the first hour, with callers asking questions that continued the interview for another 2 hours. [1] When he interviewed authors, King said that he would not read their books in advance, so that he would not know more about the book than his audience. [11] [12] King said "The less I know, the better I feel about a person or book." [6]
King recalled that due to the number of calls coming in during the early days of the show "there was more than one occasion when [area code] 703 blew". [9] King said that he originally wanted a toll-free telephone number for call-in, but came to believe that he got a better quality of calls when the callers had to pay for them. [6] The show was successful, starting with 28 affiliates in 1978 and eventually growing to more than 500, by the time King retired from the program in 1994. [13] In 1985, King began appearing on television with the interview program Larry King Live for CNN; he continued to broadcast his Mutual radio show later in the evening. [12]
During the 1980s, C-SPAN would annually record, and then repeatedly show, an entire broadcast of the Larry King Show on cable TV. [14] Some years, C-SPAN would simulcast the Mutual radio broadcast, so that TV viewers could watch the show live (as radio listeners normally heard it). [15] [16]
King said that his two most difficult interviews were Demond Wilson and Robert Mitchum. Wilson apparently did not want to be there, and Mitchum gave one word answers, said King in a 1990 interview. [17] [18] Interviewee Rod McKuen offered to send a copy of his latest album to any listener who proved they bought the book by sending him the inside cover flap; he ended up receiving 289,000 flaps. [19] The show had attempted to book Ted Turner, when he did appear on the show he recruited King to come to CNN and do a show that would become Larry King Live. [7]
At one point in the late 1980s, King's show was the most-listened-to talk radio program in America; it was supplanted by The Rush Limbaugh Show in 1991. [20]
At 3 a.m., King would allow callers to discuss any topic they chose with him, [9] until the end of the program, when he expressed his own political opinions. That segment was called Open Phone America. [21] Most stations in the western time zones would carry Open Phone America live beginning at 12:05 a.m., followed by the guest interview on tape delay. Thus listeners from across the country could call into Open Phone America. [22] As the show became successful, King was able to favor stations which carried his whole show live, as when he switched his Los Angeles carrier to KMPC from the more powerful KFI. [10]
Callers to the show would be told (on air) to call the number and "Let the connection ring. We'll answer when it's your turn." [23] [24] Some of King's regular callers used pseudonyms, or nicknames given by King such as "The Numbers Guy", [25] "The (Syracuse) Chair", [26] "The Portland Laugher", [9] [27] "the Whittier Whistler", [21] "The Scandal Scooper", [6] and "The Miami Derelict". [28]
King would occasionally entertain his audience by telling amusing anecdotes from his youth and early career in radio, such as a story about when he and his friends faked the death of a schoolmate. [29] [5] [30] In another, King told of his misadventures trying to sell a baby walker. [31]
King put future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax into his popular Carvel ice cream story. [32] This was later proven to be untrue (although King and Koufax grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, Koufax stated that he didn't meet King until the late 1970s), as was another popular story where King, as a young disc jockey, left the radio station while on the air to romance a lady across town. [33] [34] Regarding the spurious stories, King later stated "I should never have done that. I used to do it just to improve my own ego." [35] In his 2009 autobiography, King repeated the Carvel story but replaced Koufax with "Howie Weiss". [36]
The show also occasionally featured a "fictional alien, Gork of the planet Fringus", [37] "a Brooklyn-accented intergalactic Donald Duck" [21] "who supposedly existed [31 days] in the future, giving highlights of the coming [month] [38] on Earth". [39] Gork was voiced by King's long-time friend [21] Herb Cohen. [40] [41] During the early years of the program, King would occasionally play music featuring the "Mutual Symphony Orchestra". [42]
Since 1981, King's primary guest host had been Jim Bohannon, who began hosting his own Saturday evening call-in show on Mutual in 1984, with a format identical to King's program. [43] In 1993, [4] in accordance with King's desire to reduce his workload, Mutual moved The Larry King Show to a shorter afternoon time slot; King's original late evening time slot was taken over by Bohannon. Most radio stations with a talk show format at that time had an established policy of broadcasting local programming in the late afternoons (3 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time) that Mutual now broadcast King's program. As a result, many of King's overnight affiliates declined to carry the daytime show [44] and it was unable to generate the same audience size.[ citation needed ] After sixteen years on Mutual, King decided to resign from the program, with his final broadcast heard on May 27, 1994. Mutual gave King's afternoon program to David Brenner which Brenner hosted until 1996. [45] [46] Mutual affiliates were given the option of carrying the audio of King's new CNN evening television program. Westwood One (owner of the Mutual Broadcasting System since 1985, retired the Mutual name in 1999) continued to air a radio simulcast of King's CNN show until December 31, 2009. [47] Bohannon continued to host the late night slot until shortly before his death in November, 2022. [48]
The George Washington University, in Washington D.C., holds the archives of this show. [49]
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)Or Larry King pressing the flesh with Limbaugh-the man who unseated him as the grand poobah of syndicated talk radio, with almost twice as many stations now carrying his program.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, Mutual was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow. For many years, it was a national broadcaster for Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. From the mid-1930s and until the retirement of the network in 1999, Mutual ran a highly respected news service accompanied by a variety of popular commentary shows. In the late 1970s, Mutual pioneered the nationwide late night call-in talk radio program, introducing the country to Larry King and later, Jim Bohannon.
Larry King was an American author, radio and television host. He earned his awards and nominations included two Peabodys, an Emmy, and 10 Cable ACE Awards. During his career, King conducted over 50,000 interviews on radio and TV.
Larry King Live was an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly.
James Everett Bohannon was an American broadcaster who worked in both television and radio. He is best known for hosting the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show The Jim Bohannon Show originally broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System and later the Westwood One Network from 1985 to 2022. For 31 years, he also hosted America in The Morning, a nationally syndicated radio news show, stepping down in December 2015.
The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 and Howard 101, Stern's two uncensored channels on the subscription-based satellite radio service SiriusXM, since 2006. Other prominent staff members include co-host and news anchor Robin Quivers, writer Fred Norris and executive producer Gary Dell'Abate, along with former members Jackie Martling, Billy West, John Melendez, and Artie Lange.
NBC Talknet was a nighttime programming block on the NBC Radio Network from the 1980s to the 1990s. It comprised several advice-oriented call-in talk shows, the most notable personalities being Bruce Williams and Sally Jessy Raphael. At a time when talk radio was a mostly local format, Talknet, among similar services, brought the format to a national level.
Long John Nebel was an influential New York City talk radio show host.
Herbert Earl Jepko was an influential radio talk show host in Salt Lake City from 1964 to 1990. He was the first radio talk show host to do a nationally syndicated, satellite-delivered program.
WFED is a 50,000-watt Class A radio station in the Washington, D.C. region. The station, branded as "Federal News Network", broadcasts a news talk format focused on issues and news pertaining to members and staff of the United States government. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the current WFED is the second in the Washington area to carry the Federal News Network format as WFED, as from 2004 until a transfer in 2008, this format and related call letters were used by a Silver Spring, Maryland station broadcasting on 1050 kHz.
WILM is a news/talk AM radio station broadcasting in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. WILM is known as the station where radio and television talk show Joe Pyne developed the confrontational style now standard in radio and TV talk shows. Another well-known WILM personality was Tom Mees (ESPN) who worked at the station in the 1970s.
The Bob & Tom Show is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premiere Networks, the show moved to Cumulus Media Networks at the beginning of 2014.
Sports Byline USA is an international sports radio network based in the United States. Sports Byline USA is also the name of the flagship program on the network. It was the first national sports talk show and was launched on October 24, 1988. Sports Byline USA is located in San Francisco, California. Nationally, the network claims programming is heard on 200 satellite radio stations, was on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 122, and on CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks channel 2. The station is also available on several international stations and is the main sports programming of the American Forces Network which broadcasts on 500 radio stations in 177 countries. Sports Byline USA is no longer on Sirius XM 122 which is now CNBC, but its sister program, Sports Overnight America is on Sirius XM 203.
Brokered programming is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot commercials. A brokered program is typically not capable of garnering enough support from advertisements to pay for itself, and may be controversial, esoteric or an advertisement in itself.
WDIG is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format in Dothan, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Larry Williams. It is also simulcast on FM translator W271DN in Dothan.
KWBF is a Christian Contemporary formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Lubbock, Texas, serving the Lubbock metropolitan area. The station is owned and operated by Victor Flores, through licensee Flores Communications, LLC.
WJAM is a radio station licensed to serve Selma, Alabama, United States. Originally launched in 1946, the station is currently owned by Scott Communications, Inc., and the WJAM broadcast license is held by Scott Communications, Inc.
KSCJ is a radio station licensed to serve Sioux City, Iowa, United States. The station is owned by Powell Broadcasting and licensed to KSUX/KSCJ Radio Broadcasting Co. It airs a news/talk radio format.
Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough that libertarian talk show hosts are also included in the definition. The format has become the dominant form of talk radio in the United States since the 1987 abolition of the fairness doctrine.
KUMA is a radio station licensed to serve Pendleton, Oregon, United States. The station is owned by Randolph and Debra McKone's Elkhorn Media Group and the broadcast license is held by EMG2, LLC.
America in The Morning is a news program airing on numerous talk radio stations, syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. The one-hour live program airs weekdays at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is hosted by John Trout. The show features reports from AP Radio News, as well as a national forecast from AccuWeather, a look ahead to the day on Wall Street from CNBC, and the short-form feature Offbeat. The program originally debuted on the Mutual Broadcasting System on September 17, 1984. Jim Bohannon hosted the broadcast until December 2015. At that point, Trout took over the hosting chores after Bohannon decided to cut back his schedule, concentrating on his nightly Westwood One talk show. Before his death in November 2022, Bohannon continued to contribute feature stories and interviews to America in the Morning.