I really hoped that Air America would have the sense to give Sam Seder the 3 - 6 p.m. [EDT] slot formerly occupied by Randi Rhodes, but it is not to be.
Instead, AAR has hired Ron Kuby, who spent a week recently as one of the American Afternoon guest hosts.
Kuby will be on Air America from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time, the network said Tuesday.I downloaded the podcast of Kuby's first day as a guest host. He was unbelievably boring, and I didn't listen past the first two minutes.
In a statement, the former WABC-AM morning host said he will have "a few things that listeners haven't thought of yet, or don't want to think about."
WABC dumped Kuby for Imus, who returned to radio last December. CBS Radio fired Imus in April 2007 for making offensive on-air remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
At WABC, the left-leaning Kuby had sparred with Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa since May 2000.
The way that network has treated Sam Seder is a disgrace. He is a talented, engaging host with a loyal, enthusiastic fan base. He is respected by listeners and progressive leaders alike. He earned that afternoon time slot, and it makes me angry that he didn't get it. And that is to say nothing of the inexplicable decision to cancel Seder on Sundays. All they're letting him do now is edit the website. Shameful!
Likewise, I cannot stomach the disrespect they have shown Marc Maron. He did outstanding work previously on Morning Sedition and The Marc Maron Show. He was great during his three-day run on American Afternoon last week. I hoped that it was leading up to him possibly getting the regular gig, if not Sam.
Oh, and have I mentioned how much I hate the simulcast of MSNBC's Race for the White House during the first hour of The Rachel Maddow Show?
One by one, I am running out of reasons to keep my subscription to AAR Premium the next time it comes up for renewal.
UPDATE
Lots of love for Sam (and some for Marc, too!) at the NYT's TVDecoder blog.
