Expanding toward a 24/7 progressive news network, Current TV announced on Monday that it is launching a morning news block. “Full Court Press: The Bill Press Show” and “Talking Liberally: The Stephanie Miller Show” — two progressive radio programs — will be simulcast on Current between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. ET.
Six additional hours of content represent an aggressive expansion for a network that hired Keith Olbermann to build out its primetime programming only a year ago. It triples the amount of content on the network, which currently has prime-time news shows between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET.
There’s a “voyeuristic” appeal in watching a radio program simulcast on television, said David Bohrman, Current TV’s president and the man who put Don Imus’ radio show on MSNBC in a similar style years ago. The new programs will “give voice to our viewers and the radio listeners, and I think it’ll be a really helpful, interesting program for our viewers,” Bohrman told TPM. Current co-founder and CEO Joel Hyatt agrees with Bohrman that the audience participation built-in to the radio programs is key for Current’s brand development. “That’s something that we’ve long believed in at Current,” Hyatt told TPM. The new morning shows are “ready-made for those formats.”
And putting Press and Miller on TV is a “vote of confidence” in their programs, Hyatt said. The hosts will control the content, Hyatt said, but Current will have a “very collaborative and productive relationship” with them.
Bohrman is confident that viewers will enjoy watching a television broadcast of a radio show. People don’t need to be entertained with “glitter” 24-hours a day, he said, adding that viewers use their TVs differently in the morning than at night. It could be on in the background as people move about the house and get ready for the day. A talk radio format complements that approach, Bohrman said.
It’s certainly cheaper, too. But Bohrman insists that putting the radio shows on Current wasn’t a budget decision. “The goal wasn’t to produce the cheapest program,” he said. It’s also faster to put these shows on Current than to produce from scratch a TV-based program. In a fierce election season, time is of the essence, and Current hopes to have the shows on air by the end of March or early April.
Press — a former political commentator for MSNBC and CNN — said hooking up with Current will give his show much wider exposure. There are almost 2,000 right-wing radio networks across the country, and only 60 progressive stations, Press said. Current will bring his show into millions of homes. “It’s a kick ass way to start the day for liberals and progressives,” Press told TPM. “We’re the only ones that provide that.”
Miller — who describes her program as “The Daily Show” on the radio — said the program will be more like a “reality show” than cable news show. “It’s really taking the radio show in its purest form” and putting it on TV, she said.
Press’ studio is in Washington, D.C. and his show airs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET. Miller broadcasts out of Burbank, California, and her show airs between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. ET. Hyatt said that Current is still expanding programming quickly. In a few weeks, he expects the network will make an announcement on a Sunday morning show.
