TV-RADIO

Charlie Sykes to co-host public radio show

Chris Foran
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes, who retired from WTMJ-AM (620) in December, will co-host a new national nightly call-in show on public radio.

Milwaukee conservative talk-radio host Charlie Sykes, who retired last month from his long-running show on WTMJ-AM (620), will be one of four co-hosts on a new national nightly call-in on public radio.

The show, called "Indivisible," is a joint venture of WNYC-FM in New York, Minnesota Public Radio and The Economist. According to the fledgling show's new website, the show will be "public radio’s national conversation about America in a time of change."

The site lists as the show's hosts Sykes; Brian Lehrer, who has a political talk show on WNYC; Kai Wright, features editor for The Nation; and Kerri Miller, who hosts a news-talk show on Minnesota Public Radio.

According to the site, "Indivisible" begins airing Jan. 23.

The show won't be airing in Milwaukee, however. In an email, Dave Edwards, WUWM-FM (89.7) director and general manager, said the Milwaukee public radio station had been interested in carrying "Indivisible," and "even volunteered to produce the show at WUWM at no cost." But Edwards said, the station was informed that, under the terms of Sykes' retirement from WTMJ, any program he hosts can't be broadcast on another station.

In an email late Friday afternoon, Valerie Miller, manager of external communications for WTMJ owner E.W. Scripps Co., said "WTMJ Radio and Charlie have an agreement that any radio program in which Charlie participates in markets near Milwaukee for a period of time can only be aired or streamed on WTMJ."

WTMJ "would like to air the shows featuring Charlie and have offered to do so, since he has an agreement with WTMJ Radio, but NPR (National Public Radio) declined," Miller wrote. " … Our hope is that NPR will rethink this decision and decide to air this new show on WTMJ."

WNYC and Minnesota Public Radio both stream their content online, and many of their shows are available as podcasts.