Topic: Media Research Center
Looks like the Media Research Center has a new right-wing radio love, and it is Ben Shapiro. Gabriel Hays issues what is effectively a press release for Shapiro's new radio show in the form of a March 29 post:
Popular conservative intellectual Ben Shapiro is making the switch from podcast to conservative talk radio next month. A leading voice for the younger generation of conservatives, he hopes the transition will allow him to become a fixture for all conservative listeners.
Politico reported Thursday that Shapiro will air his first official radio program on April 2. Called The Ben Shapiro Show, it will be syndicated by audio broadcast network Westwood One. A one-hour program, the production will premiere in all major markets, including New York, Washington, and Los Angeles.
The 34-year-old Shapiro sees this as the next step in a career that already has gained massive social media support. He boasts 1.27 million Twitter followers, and, on average, his podcast is downloaded 15 million times a month. The momentum he has gained as a rising star in the young conservative movement, including as The Daily Wire’s editor-in-chief, makes this an opportune time for him to step into a larger arena – one dominated by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
Still, he says he doesn’t want to directly compete with the conservative radio giants, but hopes that the move to radio will expand his listening demographic.
“If I’m known as the up-and-coming young conservative, at a certain point I’m going to age out of that, right?” he asked. “Being in a place where I’m seen as a leading voice for conservatism generally, not just for young conservatives is something I’d certainly like.”
How will the MRC's main radio squeeze, Mark Levin, take this flirtation with another host? We don't know, but it may or may not be a coincidence that the column this week from MRC bigwigs Tim Graham and Brent Bozell slobbers all over Levin's new Fox News TV show for being "more intellectual than anything produced on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN or MSNBC," sycophantically adding: "It's substance over sizzle. It serves to enlighten, not to entertain. ... It takes a nanosecond for Levin to go further than today's typically superficial television interview."
Needless to say, Graham and Bozell didn't disclose their history of cross-promotional business deals with Levin, which leaves open the question of whether this column is part of that as well.
