The Mark Levin Show
 | |
| Genre | Conservative talk |
|---|---|
| Running time | 3 hours (6–9 p.m. ET and PT) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | WABC, New York City (2002–present) WMAL, Washington, D.C. (2006–present) |
| Syndicates | Westwood One |
| Hosted by | Mark Levin |
| Recording studio | Loudoun County, Virginia |
| Original release | May 5, 2002 (local); January 30, 2006 (national) – present |
| Opening theme | "Somewhere I Belong" (live show) |
| Website | www.marklevinshow.com |
The Mark Levin Show is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Mark Levin. The program is broadcast nationwide on Westwood One and reaches an estimated seven million weekly listeners, according to an estimate from Talkers Magazine. The Talkers estimate puts Levin's listenership in a tie with The Glenn Beck Radio Program for fourth-most-listened-to talk radio show in the United States[1] and, counting all radio formats, is the seventh-most-listened-to radio program in the United States.
History
Levin began his career as a radio host in 2002 in a Sunday afternoon timeslot on WABC.[2] WABC assigned Levin to fill in starting on June 16, 2003 after the station dropped The Savage Nation for the 7–9 pm.time period weeknights.[3] On September 2, 2003, his show moved to the 6–7 p.m. timeslot on WABC.[4] Levin's WABC program expanded to 2 hours starting May 17, 2004.[5]
On January 30, 2006, ABC Radio Networks began syndicating the show. Initially, ABC expanded the program to three other stations, including WMAL in Levin's local Washington metropolitan area.[6][7] On February 2, 2009, the program expanded to 3 hours (6–9 p.m. ET). ABC's radio assets later changed hands to Citadel Broadcasting in 2007, then to Cumulus Media in 2011; in 2013, Cumulus combined all of its radio assets under the banner of Westwood One. Levin signed a five-year contract extension with Westwood One in January 2015.[8]
The Mark Levin Show can be heard on over 150 stations and the SIRIUS XM Patriot channel. Levin's show has been rated number one in its time slot in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas–Fort Worth and Washington, D.C.[7]
On June 25, 2018, Levin was elected into the Radio Hall of Fame.[9]
Format
His radio show, a mix of political and social commentary from a conservative point of view, covers legal issues, including decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.[10] Levin follows the conventional talk radio model of taking listener calls throughout the show; he is often hostile to callers opposing his views, frequently cutting them off with words like "get off my phone, you idiot."
The show's program segments often feature Levin recounting contemporary news items and controversies. The pace of these segments starts as slow and brooding and eventually escalate into Levin angrily shouting questions at "Mr. Producer" (Rich Sementa, Executive Producer of the program), who does not have a speaking role on the show.[11]
Levin uses his own on-air jargon, some of which he invented and some of which he popularized. He uses disparaging nicknames for mainstream media outlets, such as "New York Slimes" for The New York Times, "Washington Compost" for The Washington Post,[12] or "MSLSD" for MSNBC.
References
- ^ http://www.talkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/audiencechart_march14.jpg [bare URL image file]
- ^ WABC forum post by program director Phil Boyce Archived June 25, 2002, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hinckley, David (June 22, 2003). "Contract War Deals Savage Blow At 'abc". New York Daily news. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ Hinckley, David (August 22, 2003). "Laura the Lip to WABC". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on December 31, 2005.
- ^ Edel, Raymond A. (May 14, 2004). "WABC tweaks its programming". The Record. Bergen County, N.J. Archived from the original on December 6, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ "ABC Radio Networks to syndicate the Mark Levin Show" (PDF). Cumulus Media. January 17, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ a b Jeffrey, Terence P.; Ryskind, Allan H. (October 2, 2006). "Mark Levin Takes Talk Radio by Storm". Human Events. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
- ^ "Westwood One Announces Long-Term Extension of The Mark Levin Show". MarkLevinShow.com. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ Bedard, Paul (June 25, 2018). "No. 1: Public votes Mark Levin into Radio Hall of Fame". WashingtonExaminer.com. The Washington Examiner. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
- ^ "Supreme Court Rules iPhone Users Can Sue Apple Over App Store Prices". marklevinshow.com. Westwood One. May 13, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
- ^ Phillips, Morgan (June 7, 2019). "Mark Levin Producer, Claiming to Speak Better Spanish Than 'All Out Crazy' AOC, Plans to Challenge Her in 2020". mediaite.com. Mediaite, LLC. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
- ^ "The Washington Compost has it all figured out". July 24, 2015.
