Glenn Beck Gets Slot at WILM Wilmington

Clear Channel GM says move not influenced by Philly affiliation drop

1450 AM WILM  is adding controversial conservative talk show host Glenn Beck to nine to noon  line-up, while moving long-time morning host John Watson to the 9 p.m. to midnight slot. The move becomes effective on Monday, according to Doug Rainey at mydailybiz.com.

Clear Channel Delaware General Manager Chris Walus said the move by the AM radio station was a business decision. " It's something we do in the radio business," he said. He said the switch was driven by the fact that the line-up of Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity is considered to be the strongest in talk radio. Limbaugh and Hannity occupy the afternoon time slots for WILM.

Walus said the decision was not tied to a move by a Philadelphia station to drop Beck and Hannity from their line-up, although he added that the decision would be a plus for WILM. WILM's daytime signal does reach some western portions of the Philadelphia area, including the area around the airport.

Moving Watson to the 9 a.m. to midnight time slot would allow the host to hear from more callers on his talk show, according to Walus, who added that the station is committed to having a diversity of opinion. He claimed that Watson sometimes has trouble getting enough callers in his current time slot. Talk shows in smaller markets often have a small group of callers who check in daily. In larger markets, callers are often limited to once or twice a week.

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