Opie Radio Podcast Start Date, and Format Announced
After months of tweets about a planned podcast with Westwood One from Greg “Opie” Hughes, today Westwood One officially announced that they are launching a podcast on their network starring the former Opie and Anthony co-host. After Opie was fired from SiriusXM in July 2017- the platform that had been his radio home since 2004- it was unclear whether and how Hughes would return to the airwaves. On March 18th, Hughes announced via pop up video that he had signed a deal to host a podcast with Westwood One, and former SiriusXM executive, Tim Sabean. He had previously announced an April 17 start date but the date came and went without any official word.
The first episode of Opie Radio will air on Wednesday, May 9th, according to a statement released by the radio and podcast network earlier today. The network hosts about 30 shows and boasts 245 million listeners weekly with shows helmed by the likes of Kurt Warner, Jim Rome, D.L. Hughley and Jerry Springer.
The app describes Hughes as an undeniable curator of captivating conversation, promising a blend of current events and comedy. It seems that Hughes plans to leave his shock jock past behind him for the new show. “Opie has come a long way from his shock jock days,” says his show description. “Opie Radio is the original podcast for discovering new comics, varying viewpoints and hilarious comedy.”
Opie released a teaser trailer today as well, where he reveals that former Opie Radio show co-hosts Sherrod Small, Vic Henley and The Mad Cuban Carl Ruiz will be joining him on the twice-weekly show.
The teaser, which opened with a sample of Rage Against the Machine’s “Street Fighting Man” (which not coincidentally was played as an intro for “Opie and Anthony” for years) promised a big story for Opie’s first show, and says that he’ll be having big celebrities on the show. The show will not be recorded in a studio, says Hughes. He’ll be podcasting from places his friends hang out, or at the beach, fishing. “It’s going to be a podcast where I’m not going to be in a studio rotting. I’ve had it with being in a radio station rotting, day after day after day, so I’m going to be pretty much hitting the streets.”
No mention has been made regarding how far in advance the episodes will record or whether there will be any opportunity for listener participation. Throughout Hughes career, all of the shows he has hosted have had a significant listener phone call component.
Hughes ended his teaser asking fans to give him a five star rating.
Episodes will be released every Monday and Wednesday and can be downloaded via Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Westwood’s own Podcast App. The series will be free.
“Westwood One Podcast Network is the ideal platform for Opie to open up and tell his story,” said Suzanne Grimes, EVP/Marketing, Cumulus Media and President/Westwood One. “Opie is a star, with a massive following and great chemistry with our head of Digital Content, Tim Sabean. This is a new chapter for Opie and we’re giving him the creative freedom to develop a unique podcast that will reveal his true nature.
Opie has teased that he will be building a podcast network within the Westwood One platform, although today’s announcements didn’t address that.
Hughes was a host of Opie and Anthony show for 25 years before splitting with Cumia. A short lived show titled, Opie with Jim Norton followed Cumia’s departure from SiriusXM in 2014. He later formed Opie Radio as a solo show with recurring guests. That show ran until he was fired from the platform in 2017.
