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Radio Notes: Talk host Glenn Beck's tour stopping here

Radio Notes: Talk host Glenn Beck's tour stopping here

Syndicated talk-radio host Glenn Beck is coming to town for a live chat with listeners and fans. His 10-city "Midlife Crisis Tour" makes a stop at Heinz Hall Monday at 7:30 p.m.


Glenn Beck
Click photo for larger image.

Beck's daily talk show is one of the most-listened-to radio programs in the country, especially among the 25- to 54-year-old audience. It airs locally on WPGB-FM (104.7) weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon.

The host of "The Glenn Beck Program" is in line with other popular right-leaning talk hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage. But Beck's viewpoints, filtered through the host's wit and humor, are more than a conservative vs. liberal argument. Much of the content is personal, and Beck is more storyteller than pundit.

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That will be the essence of the 42-year-old Beck's appearance here. It's a look at life with family and career as one hits middle age.

Beck started his career as a successful Top 40 radio personality, working at stations in Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and New Haven, Conn. His life and career foundered during a period of drug and alcohol abuse. After going through a recovery program, he moved into talk radio in 2000, launching what would be come a popular show on WFLA-FM in Tampa. Fla. Premiere Radio Networks syndicated the show in 2002. It's now heard on nearly 200 stations across the country.

In May, CNN launched a topical talk show hosted by Beck on CNN Headline News.

Tickets are $32.50-$42.50. For information: 412-392-4900, 1-800-743-8560 or www.pittsburghsymphony.org.

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'Saturday Light Brigade'

When "Saturday Light Brigade" moved to Carnegie Mellon station WRCT-FM (88.3) in 2003, the weekly family-oriented radio series expanded to six hours (6 a.m. to noon Saturdays), but listeners in outlying areas who used to hear the show on WYEP-FM couldn't pick up WRCT's signal.

"We gained time, but we lost the ability to serve some communities," says "Brigade" host and executive director Larry Berger.

Gradually, some of those Tri-State-area listeners -- and some new ones -- are finding them. The reception problems are being addressed through a simulcast arrangement that has had the show airing on Grove City College's WSAJ-FM (91.1) since December. The Grove City signal carries the show north into Mercer, Butler and Lawrence counties, and to parts of Beaver, Clarion and Venango counties. Last month, talk station WURP-AM (1550) also began carrying it, restoring the show's reach into Westmoreland County, parts of the eastern suburbs and the city.

The stations are getting the program for no charge. "The radio business is hard enough as it is without paying for content," Berger says. "We're giving them something that serves their community. It's also good for our underwriters and supporters."

And it's good for local arts groups, organizations and attractions featured on the show, who are getting exposure to a wider regional audience.

Through its partnership with the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, "Brigade" also continues to connect to audiences in new ways. People can attend live broadcasts at the museum, and young visitors can learn how a radio studio works and go home with a CD they record themselves.

This Saturday's show will launch a special series, featuring eighth-grade students from Manchester Academic Charter School, who recorded their thoughts as they make the transition to high school. The essays will be played at graduation ceremonies tomorrow and compiled on a CD. "Saturday Light Brigade" will air the essays throughout the summer, starting Saturday, and will archive them on its Web site, slbradio.com.

First Published: June 7, 2006, 4:00 a.m.

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