Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) is ready to shake up morning radio by introducing a new alternative format.
Beginning on Feb. 11, stand-up comedian Pete Dominick will take to the highly-listened morning hours and host a three-hour radio show from 6 to 9 a.m. ET. It will then be repeated for the West Coast.
Currently, Dominick has an afternoon program at 3 p.m. ET, STAND UP! With Pete Dominick, that offers opportunities for callers to phone in. He also interviews people on the SiriusXM’s Potus politics channel. His move to the morning will fall under new a male-oriented Indie channel (formerly called Stars Too), reported the New York Times.
So what can listeners expect from the new show? It will have the same name but the host recently said it will not be “stuck in the paradigm of politics.” Dominick will discuss religion, race, energy, education policy, veterans’ issues and parenting.
Yes, he is a father himself to young daughters.
He said his new radio show is “similar to NPR content, but — without taking a shot at them — with more of a heartbeat, with more of a personality.”
Dominick will interview celebrity guests and rather than discuss their personal lives, they’ll have a forum to talk about their causes. As the host likes to say, “Death to voyeurism and gossip.”
For those familiar with Dominick, he grabbed headlines back in 2010 when former CNN host Rick Sanchez was a guest on his program and had subsequently been fired after some remarks that had been interpreted as anti-Semitic. Dominick did not further discuss it and said he did not want to “exploit the incident” according to the New York Times.
To devote time to the new show and adapt to his new morning work hours, Dominick will quit his job for “The Colbert Report” which includes getting the studio audience ready for the popular Comedy Central show.
Dominick is not new to the satellite radio arena. He became the host of Raw Dog Comedy in 2006 and has seen his career expand since then.
On a personal level, the host’s political leanings are liberal, but look for him to ask questions on his show rather than share his opinions. He recently said, “The problem with political talk radio is that it’s mainly a farce, it’s mainly just theater. I longed for a discussion that I thought was real.”
While Dominick has a history and following on satellite radio, Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI), with its 24 million subscribers, will not share his audience size. Jeremy Coleman, senior vice president for talk and entertainment programming did say, “We track very carefully the enthusiasm, loyalty and passion of our audience and do everything we can to maximize it.”
But a morning talk show is a different animal.
