Andrew Wilkow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (March 2008) |
| Andrew Wilkow | |
 |
|
| Born | August 18, 1972 Hollywood Beach, Florida |
|---|---|
| Education | University of Florida |
| Occupation | conservative political talk radio host |
Andrew Wilkow (born August 18, 1972 in Hollywood Beach, Florida) is a 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 calls himself the "next generation of great talk radio". Wilkow also is one of the founders and a contributor to the Web site Conservative Punk.
Wilkow was born to an unwed teen-age mother [1] and 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.
Before entering talk radio in 2002 (on the graces of his father in law 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.
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.
