Michael Jackson (radio commentator)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Jackson is a radio talk show host based in the Los Angeles area. Jackson is best known for his political radio show, which aired on L.A. radio station KABC.

He was born in England, became a radio deejay in South Africa before coming to the United States. In the 1960's he started one of the first radio talk shows in the country on KEWB during the overnight hours, in the middle of spinning records. He received national acclaim in Time Magazine for saving the life of a suicidal person by keeping him talking on the phone until the police came. [1]

After that, he moved to Los Angeles, where he began hosting talk radio on KNX-AM in 1964 before beginning a 30 year tenure on heritage talk station KABC, occupying the 9 am to noon spot. The mid-day talk show drew guests from around the world but began regularly losing to The Rush Limbaugh Show on crosstown KFI. The show was deemed too liberal and serious for the new generation of talk listeners. He was then demoted to weekends (with his weekday spot replaced by Dennis Prager) and then released. He then ended up at stations KRLA (1110) and KLAC until those stations ended their talk radio format.

Most recently, he returned to all-news radio station KNX as a news analyst and interviewer until he chose not to renew his contract, citing a lack of a regular time slot. Ironically, he was fired by KNX in 1965 after giving commentary on the Watts Riots. [2]

He is not related to the singer of the same name.