Ed Schultz Going Off The Air
I’m getting a lot of celebratory emails from my conservative readers today on the news that Ed Schultz is ending his nationally-syndicated three hour radio show, opting instead to do a one hour a day show strictly on the internet in addition to his daily MSNBC show.
The move from radio to online means that instead of hosting a three-hour radio show each day, in addition to his daily TV show on MSNBC, Schultz will only produce one additional audio hour on a daily basis. The host said the change would go into effect next Tuesday after Memorial Day and that the new one-hour show will stream for free on his website, Monday through Friday from noon – 1 p.m. ET.
“Really this change will give me more flexibility to be on the road to do the kind of shows I want to do here for The Ed Show on MSNBC,” Schultz told his audience, putting a positive spin on the change. “This is on me, you know. I just don’t want to do a three-hour talk show anymore.”
It’s tempting to suggest that Schultz’s career is cratering – his talk of new “flexibility” sounds suspiciously like spin he tried to put on that time MSNBC decided to exile him to the wilderness of weekend cable news programming – but honestly this move makes sense at this point in his career.
He’s done talk radio since the late 1980’s. He’s still got a modestly successful show on MSNBC. He’s also now entering his sixties.
Maybe he just wanted to slow down a little bit.
I tend to think that Schultz wouldn’t end his radio show unless there was a business reason for it. If we know anything about this man, it’s that he’s ruthless when it comes to his career. He’ll follow the money, as he did when Democrat politicians fundraised to launch his national show, and maybe the money isn’t there for him in talk radio any more.
But who knows.
I’ve never spent a lot of time listening to or watching Schultz. He’s the sort of guy who things bluster and bombast are reasonable substitutes for logic and reason, though admittedly his antics can be amusing at times.
In the way it’s amusing when the monkeys at the zoo jump up and down in their cages and howl.
Anyway, I’m sure Schultz haters will see this as a portent that his career is cratering, and Schultz lovers will think it’s a reasonable step toward prioritizing his time.
I’ll continue not to care very much one way or another.
