Cumulus Media’s WABC-AM NYC will launch “Geraldo” as a daily talker beginning 1/3. He’ll host the 10a-noon (ET) M-F slot formerly occupied by Joe Crummey, who left the station last week. The show will focus on the day’s biggest talking points, ranging from national politics to shocking crimes to social issues. The tagline of the show, Rivera’s first on the radio, will reflect his dedication to patriotism and candid discourse — “Not Red. Not Blue. But Red, White & Blue.”
It will include listener calls, with emphasis on the kind of intelligent, energetic and controversial talk that Rivera is known for. While it’s his first radio show, this is not Geraldo’s first foray into radio. He contributed a radio commentary on WPLJ and the ABC-FM radio network from 1973 to 1976.
Geraldo will keep his Sunday prime time show on Fox News, where he will remain a frequent contributor to weekday programming throughout the day and during prime time. This year, Rivera’s “Geraldo at Large” on Fox was cut back from two nights a week to one. Rivera said he gave up the Saturday time slot to spend more time with his children and to prepare for the radio schedule.
However, Rivera has increased his daytime reporting and now regularly appears on ‘Happening Now,’ Fox’s midday show.
“This is a lifetime dream come true, hosting a talk radio show in the city where everyone has an opinion on everything,” Rivera said. “I want this show to provide a marketplace for the unpredictable, and also add some much-needed balance on talk radio during this heated election cycle. My slogan is, ‘I’m Geraldo and I’m not always right.’”
John Dickey, Cumulus COO, told the NY Times the talker was solely for WABC for now. No syndication plans are on the table of yet.
A member of the original casts of ‘Good Morning America’ and ABC’s ‘20/20’, Rivera is a veteran correspondent who also worked on NBC News ‘Dateline’, hosted the syndicated ‘Geraldo Rivera Show’ for 11 years, and hosted CNBC’s top-rated program ‘Rivera Live’, which led the nation’s coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trials and the Clinton Impeachment.
