Two New National Talk Shows Launch Tuesday

Chris Plante

In talk radio, where some think American politics often begins, two new national talk radio shows launch this week, one from the world of conservative talk radio, and one from National Public Radio.

Both also feature broadcasters of color — one Hispanic, one African American — moving into prominence with new national radio shows.

The new conservative show, at 9 am Eastern, aims to join radio stars like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. It’s hosted by Washington, D.C. area broadcaster Chris Plante, whose “Chris Plante Show” has run on WMAL radio at 9 am for several years.

Plante, a former CNN reporter who covered the Defense Department, is from a family of broadcasters, including both brothers and his step-father, CBS reporter Bill Plante. He has two recurring themes for which he has two tag lines: political hypocrisy – “if they didn’t have double standards, liberals would have no standards at all,” and media bias – “Democrats, and the media…but then, I repeat myself.”

Joshua Johnson

According to Brietbart.com, Plante has described himself as being somewhat libertarian. He has been appearing occasionally on FOX News paired with a liberal in point/counterpoint panels, or as the “one lucky guy” on “Outnumbered,” FOX’s newsy all woman noon answer to “The View.”

Hannity and Limbaugh are at the top of the talk radio firmament, each along with NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition” having an audience of more than 13 million people daily. For comparison, the most popular cable news shows, such as “The O’Reilly Factor,” reach 3 million people, and major morning broadcast shows “Today” and “Good Morning America” reach an audience of fewer than 5 million.

One hour later, at National Public Radio, Joshua Johnson, launches a new show, at 10 am Eastern time, “1A,” the show’s name referring both to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and to the front page of newspapers “1A” replaces the almost 37-year-old old “Diane Rehm” show, which had an audience of 2.8 million.