Joan Hamburg (born August 12, 1935) is a radio personality on WOR, 710 AM, in New York since the early 1970s. She grew up on Long Island and attended Barnard College before embarking on an advertising career.[1] Hamburg started her radio broadcasting with small consumer (bargain shopping) segments on the long-running Rambling With Gambling morning show, eventually earning her own show.
Hamburg is extremely celebrity, society, and show-business-conscious, and is now billed as "New York Radio's First Lady." The orientation of her broadcasts has shifted dramatically to become a radio version of the Today Show, including the day's news, food and restaurant features, and celebrity and newsmaker interviews. Hamburg still takes consumer questions and gives listeners advice about restaurants, events, and the like. [2] Carol Channing, a regular listener, once called Joan Hamburg "The Yellow Pages of The World".[3] The highlights from Hamburg’s daily show are put together for a two-hour nationally syndicated weekend show, distributed by the WOR Radio Network.[4] Her daughter, Liz, contributes to the show twice a week and sometimes appears as a fill-in host.
Joan frequently broadcasts from her favorite places instead of a studio -- Sardi's,[2] the Hamptons, Canyon Ranch, The Villages, Florida[5] and so on. She works closely with her production staff to provide a seamless "I can find anything for you" expertise, sometimes discernible in a drawn-out "let me see" pause.
Her son is screenwriter John Hamburg (Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers and Along Came Polly).[6]