Andrew Wilkow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andrew Wilkow (born August 1972 in Hollywood Beach, Florida) is a young conservative political talk radio host on the Sirius Patriot channel of Sirius Satellite Radio (ch. 144). Until July 2006, Wilkow had been on WGY in Albany, New York, (weekday mornings) and WABC in New York City (Sunday mornings). He dubs himself the "next generation of great talk radio". Wilkow also is one of the founders and a contributor to the Web site Conservative Punk.

Adopted at birth, Wilkow was raised in the Long Island town of Bellmore, New York. Wilkow's interest in radio began during his freshman year of college at SUNY Delhi at that college's campus station, WDTU. After transferring from Delhi to a local community college where he obtained his associates degree, he finished his college education at the University of Florida, graduating in 1996 with a degree in Communications; while there, he held an airshift at that school's commercially run WRUF-FM and was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity.

Of special note, Mr. Wilkow refused to allow his photo to be taken for many years, at least into his mid 20's. Searching the internet for photos of Mr. Wilkow from that time period would prove to be fruitless. The reason for this fear of photography may not be truly known, but it may have something to do with his not wanting to be found by his biological parents. Now, at age 34, he has several pictures posted on his Myspace page.

Prior to entering talk radio in 2002 (on the graces of WABC program director Phil Boyce), he had stints as a disk jockey at WCLG in Morgantown, West Virginia, (as "Andrew Steele") and at WMRQ in Hartford, Connecticut (as "Wilkow"). Originally doing off-hour test shows, Wilkow became a regular Sunday morning host at WABC while keeping his air shift at WMRQ. When WMRQ switched format from alternative rock to hip hop, he moved into talk radio full time when he filled the 5-7 p.m. shift on WGY in October 2003. After becoming a ratings success, Wilkow moved to the 9-11:40 a.m. slot in May 2005, replacing Glenn Beck, when WGY wanted to clear the third hour of Sean Hannity. At WGY, Wilkow became known for being a vocal rival of the entrenched "Democratic Machine" in Albany, various area social activists, and an opponent of social welfare programs, and the usage of them to attract immigrants to the area, especially those who were encouraged to enroll in the Albany City Schools. He also spoke out against what he perceived to be the threat of subsidized public housing in Saratoga Springs, among other issues.

In June 2006, Wilkow announced his departure from both WGY and WABC in order to host a talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio; his last show on WGY was July 14, and his last show on WABC was on July 30. Since August 9, 2006, Wilkow has hosted his own program on the Sirius Patriot channel on Sirius Satellite radio, "The Andrew Wilkow Show." This program is rooted in "one thing and one thing only, and that is rational thought."

On August 23, 2006, Wilkow returned to the airwaves of WABC, where he filled in as a substitute for regular Mark Levin who hosts a two-hour program on WABC every weekday.

After gaining popularity while pursing to become the best talk radio show on Sirius programming, Wilkow now plans to relaunch the show as "The Wilkow Majority" sometime in February 2007. He currently hosts a 3-hour session beginning at 9 A.M. West/12 P.M. East Monday-Friday, with replays after Cam and Company in the evenings and on weekends.