We're going to be getting another hour of Jamie Markley and Phil Luciano on WMBD 1470 every day. I consider that good news by itself. Even better we're getting an hour less of Sean Hannity. In fact, he'll be on for onely one hour ever day. Why they don't dump the clown all together is beyond my understanding.

Here's the press release:

Riding the wave of increased listenership from recent Arbitron radio ratings, WMBD's Jamie Markley and Phil Luciano are expanding their show one additional hour. The show will now run from 3-to-6pm instead of 4-to-6pm.

“We wanted to expand the show to three hours because of our desire to be more local in drive times” said WMBD General Manager Mike Wild. “After the recent Arbitron results, the decision to expand became a real no-brainer. In the past, our syndicated mid-day shows had easily out-performed our
local afternoon show, but Markley and Luciano have turned that scenario upside down.”

In the key 25-54 demo, Markley & Luciano's numbers are 245 percent higher at 4pm than popular nationally syndicated talk-show host Sean Hannity at 3pm. “The amount of new audience that comes to WMBD when Jamie and Phil go on the air is unprecedented,” said Wild. “At 3pm, we're 10th in the
market with males 25-54. At 4pm, with Markley and Luciano, we're 2nd with a 9.7 share. We're also seeing huge gains in our female listenership during The Markley and Luciano Show.” The gain with females 25-54 on WMBD is over 250 percent from Sean Hannity to Markley & Luciano.

“This is the most fun I've ever had doing a radio show,” said Jamie Markley. “We really are just your common everyday guys doing a radio show. We want people to feel like if they don't turn on our show, they might miss out on something. People get tired of the same rhetoric or the same lame tired songs everyday. We want people to think, 'I don't know what those guys will be talking about today, but I know it'll be interesting'.”

Phil Luciano, who is also columnist for the Peoria Journal Star, had a one word reaction to the announcement of the show's expansion: “CANNONBALL!” -- an apparent reference to the duo's popular “Cannonball Friday” feature. Sean Hannity remains on WMBD from 2 to 3pm. The expansion of The Markley & Luciano Show starts this Monday, September 26th.

I think it's a good thing for the show. These guys talk about a lot of stuff, and sometimes they seem rushed.

jamie markley,phil luciano,wmbd,sean hannity,local radio,peoria