MaddowFans.com | The Unofficial Rachel Maddow Fansite

May 19, 2005

Valley Advocate

A Valley Homecoming

by Andrew Varnon

The Rachel Maddow Show debuted on WHMP in Northampton on Monday, May 9. WHMP is not a full-on Air America Radio affiliate, but rather picks up several Air America programs in syndication. Although it had run Maddow's previous Air America Radio show, Unfiltered, news director Chris Collins said WHMP didn't pick up Maddow's new show right away, because it conflicted time-wise with the station's locally produced Morning News Watch show, featuring Collins and Dennis Lee.

Instead of running Maddow's show live, it runs from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. every weekday on digital delay. It is replacing the first hour of Springer on the Radio, which now runs from 10 a.m. to noon, and runs right after Morning News Watch . News Director Chris Collins said the station was inundated with calls asking for Rachel Maddow, who had been off the air for several weeks after Jerry Springer's show replaced Unfiltered .

"She has a huge following in the Valley," Collins said. "She's a rising star. She has tremendous ability and tremendous potential. I don't think we've even begun to see what (Maddow can) do in this business."

Collins said he waited to find the right fit on the station, which is why he didn't pick up the show right away. "It was never my intention to not bring her back," Collins said.

Maddow still spends her weekends in the Valley, in Cummington with her partner, Susan Mikula. Before Maddow left for Air America Radio a little over a year ago, she was the host of The Big Breakfast on WRSI. Although WRSI is an FM music station, Maddow had crafted the morning show into a blend of music and news. When she left, the show was briefly taken over by frequent guest Bill Dwight. The morning show on WRSI is now hosted by longtime WRSI and WPVQ personality Kelsey Flynn.

When Maddow was the host of The Big Breakfast show on WRSI, Collins and his co-host Dennis Lee had just started the Morning News Watch program in the same time slot, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

"I spent a lot of time competing against her for the Northampton market," Collins said. "It's nice when we ended up on the same team." He added, "Rachel is like family: She's one of us; she started here."

To support his claim that Maddow is a rising star in the business, Collins pointed to Maddow's appearances on TV political talk shows. Appearing on CNN was "huge," Collins said, and, having only been on the air for about a year on Air America Radio, Maddow is getting "regular hits on MSNBC." These appearances created a buzz, according to Collins. "Rush Limbaugh has cracked on her a couple of times," he said.

What Maddow brings to Air America Radio is credibility, Collins said.

"I don't always agree with Rachel's positions," he said. "I don't always agree with her issues." But he said Maddow was somebody who he knew was thinking about what she was saying, not just blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. "There are too many people out there who are just playing radio host," Collins said. "Rachel doesn't fit into that."

Link to Source