Malloy coming to XM Radio

The comeback juggernaut of Mike Malloy is still chugging along, as the Nova M Radio-syndicated nighttime talker has added XM Radio to his growing list of affiliates.

Malloy's show will debut on XM effective March 1. What is not known is what channel he will be on, but the assumption is that it will be on XM167, aka the "Air America Radio Channel". The online on-air roster for XM167 currently omits all Air America shows airing after 9PM.

The addition of Malloy's show to XM167 is another step by XM in fleshing out a distinct lineup to go along with the Air America Radio programming. Yesterday, they moved Ed Schultz' show to a live slot there, bumping Thom Hartmann. As of now, no further changes have been publicly announced, though rumors have been flying about what XM will do, if they do anything at all, about other liberal talk shows, from the likes of Bill Press and Stephanie Miller. Some are saying they'll be added to XM167, which will further wipe out Air America programming on the channel. Still, there are no details available regarding any kind of contract Air America has with XM, as far as exclusivity and the direction of the channel.

Could there be a second liberal talk channel added, to accomodate the JRN programming (Press, Miller, Schultz) and other talkers like Lionel? After all, XM currently has two full-time conservative talk channels, with a couple more that incorporate conservative talk shows throughout their respective lineups. And there certainly appears to be enough shows to flesh out a second channel, with some rather creative scheduling, but as far as we all know, there are no plans for a second liberal talk channel. First and foremost in everyone's minds is the recently announced merger proposal that will unite XM and Sirius. However, considering all of the government agency approvals this bid will go through, and the technical aspects of the merger, a union of the two companies will not happen until later this year at the earliest.

In addition to picking up XM, Malloy gains two more affiliates, as KGOE in Eureka, CA and KTNF in Minneapolis both pick up the show. On KGOE, his show, which runs from 6-9PM on the West Coast, would replace or displace either Clark Howard's personal finance show or Jeff Rense, currently on from 7-10PM. KTNF will air him on delay from Midnight-3AM weeknights. As for future affiliates, one could possibly be KPOJ in Portland, which is currently running a replay of Sam Seder's show in the 6-9PM slot. Considering they are already running Seder in the late morning slot, this would appear to be an obvious place to add Malloy's show. They are hinting at further changes, so who knows?