Elder reups at KABC, nears syndie deal
Top-rated radio personality may hit nat'l auds this year
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Elder has reupped with Disney-owned KABC-AM Los Angeles under a new four-year deal that gives Disney's ABC Radio Network the first-look option on Elder's services and the right to match any offer from rival radio syndicators.
Elder, who has already been approached by a number of national distribs, is expected to finalize a syndication deal within the next few months. The firebrand libertarian has been with KABC since March 1994. He is repped by Endeavor.
Elder is KABC's highest-rated personality, and station execs were eager to keep him in the fold. Ratings for Elder's 3-7 p.m. weekday call-in block dwarf the direct competition on KABC's primary talk radio rival, KFI-AM, even though KFI is L.A.'s highest-rated talk radio outlet overall, according to the most recent Arbitron survey.
A portion of Elder's KABC show is simulcast daily on KCAL-TV's 3:30 p.m. news report. Elder also recently began penning a weekly syndicated newspaper column.
Elder, an L.A. native, hosted issue-oriented TV series for the local Fox and PBS affils in Cincinnati for several years before returning to Southern California in 1994. Prior to breaking into the broadcasting biz, Elder worked as a trial lawyer and later headed his own executive search firm specializing in attorneys.
Elder made a name for himself in the sprawling Los Angeles radio market through his provocative ideas on everything from limiting the power of the federal government to legalizing prostitution. He describes himself as "a fiscal conservative and social liberal"; as such, he's often out of step with both left and right ideological camps on controversial issues like abortion and social welfare programs.
"The fact that I'm a black man opposed to some of the positions that many black leaders have taken was something of an eye-brow-lifter when I started," Elder said Thursday from Phoenix, where he was attending the annual "Dark Ages" GOP conservative leadership conference.
"Now, I think our success has come more because the show is entertaining, provocative, humorous and even uplifting," he said. "We've got all four of those things going on, though not necessarily all at once."
