DirecTV has cancelled The Artie Lange Show; bringing an end to the late-night syndicated Sports/Hot Talk offering.
The network gave Lange a final episode to say goodbye, which aired this past Monday, April 29. Lange told listeners:
They were very amicable about it, very nice about it, very professional and generous. You know, we’re two years and seven months into a three year deal, so it was just a few months until the end of it. It would have been good to end it but, you know, you got to make business decisions. This is a business. I am no rookie at this. I’ve been in situations like this before. To be honest, I always thought we were a tax write-off for The Dan Patrick Show.
The stand-up/former Howard Stern sidekick debuted the program in June 2011 with then co-host Nick DiPaolo before going solo at the beginning of 2013. The Laugh Button reports that Lange will make his first post-cancellation appearance on DiPaolo’s podcast tonight.
The program had originated on DirecTV’s Audience Network and was syndicated via Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks to stations in the 10pm-1am eastern timeslot. The show was down to just a handful of affiliates including Cox’s “102.5 The Bone” WHPT Tampa, Clear Channel’s “Real Radio 94.3” WZZR West Palm Beach, and SiriusXM Channel 92.
Nick & Artie never got the megapush from Premiere, and in part because Hot Talk by and large died as a stand-alone format in terrestrial radio in 2004 (thanks FCC), getting clearances had to be a colossal pain both during and after the era of Nick DiPaolo being with the show.
When CBS Sports Radio rolled out another Howard 100/101 alum in Scott Ferrall heads-up in January 2013, Artie lost several clearances and any momentum he had in gaining new affiliates. As it was, the show seemed to be a DirecTV project from the drop, with radio as an afterthought. It’s too bad that’s how it played out.