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Rick Roberts (radio personality)

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Rick Roberts (born 1954)[1] is an American conservative talk radio host who most recently hosted an afternoon show on WBAP (AM) in the Dallas/Fort Worth market.[2][3] He was formerly on KOKC AM and later KTOK AM in Oklahoma City during morning drive, 5am to 8am.[4] He has a law degree.

Early life and career

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Born in Oklahoma City, Roberts grew up there and in Texas.[1][5] Initially an oil and gas lease attorney, Roberts hosted seminars for other attorneys, leading to his first talk radio job around 1992 at KYGO, then at KOA in Denver.[6][1]

Radio career

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From 1994 to 1995, Roberts was a host at KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri. From 1996 to 1997, Roberts hosted a talk show on KRLD in Dallas.

Roberts began the first of two stints in San Diego in 1997 on KOGO with a show dubbed the Court of Public Opinion. In 2000, Roberts joined rival KFMB, first as afternoon drive host.[1] Roberts provided extensive analysis and coverage of the murder of Danielle van Dam in 2002,[7] including "sharp questions about the activities of the slain girl's parents."[1] (Ultimately, a neighbor was convicted of van Dam's murder.) In August 2002, after proceedings from a secret court hearing relating to the case were played on the Roberts show, an assistant producer for the show was removed from court proceedings.[8]

Roberts moved to morning drive on KFMB in 2003, replacing Ted Leitner.[9] In 2009, Roberts's KFMB show was among six local conservative talk radio shows in California measured by Arbitron to have a weekly audience of more than 100,000.[10] In January 2011, Roberts returned to his former afternoon drive slot as KFMB debuted a new morning show.[11] Roberts left KFMB in December 2011 after 11 years, with Roger Hedgecock replacing his show after moving from KOGO.[12][13][14]

After leaving KFMB, Roberts joined Talk Radio Network as co-anchor for its America's Radio News Network program.[6] He later hosted talk shows on KKFT in Reno, Nevada and KTOK in Oklahoma City. In 2014, the Council on American-Islamic Relations highlighted comments Roberts made on his KKFT show calling on American Muslims and mosques to be placed on a "watch list."[15][16][17]

In January 2016, Roberts returned to Dallas to host an afternoon show on WBAP.[2] Roberts departed WBAP on or about August 2, 2023. A job posting seeking talent for the time slot appeared on the company website.[3]

Roberts has been a guest host on national shows including The Savage Nation and Red Eye Radio.

Themes

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During his radio shows, he often makes a point to call out names of known sexual offenders living in the city from which he broadcast.

A monologue titled "I want my country back" has been a common theme throughout Roberts's radio career, described in 2016 by the Associated Press as "a 4½-minute rant that darts from fear of crime to outsourced jobs to political correctness."[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Wilkens, John (April 14, 2002). "Roberts' rules of order". San Diego Union-Tribune. pp. E-1, E-3. Archived from the original on April 16, 2002. Retrieved April 11, 2020. Roberts was 48 at the time of publication.
  2. ^ a b "Rick Roberts Joins WBAP/Dallas, Michael Savage Moves To KLIF-A". AllAccess. January 4, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Venta, Lance (August 2, 2023). "WBAP Seeks Afternoon Host As Rick Roberts Exits". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "News Radio 1000 KTOK - Oklahoma City's NewsRadio KTOK".
  5. ^ "News Radio 1000 KTOK - Oklahoma City's NewsRadio KTOK". Archived from the original on 2014-12-21.
  6. ^ a b "Rick Roberts Joins America's Radio News Network". AllAccess. August 15, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  7. ^ Lieberman, Bruce; Turegano, Preston (February 9, 2002). "Parents becoming focus of public's interest in case". San Diego Union-Tribune. p. A-1. Archived from the original on June 16, 2002. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  8. ^ Green, Kristen. "Radio producer tossed from court". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on August 20, 2002. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Posner, Jay (January 28, 2003). "Leitner's 25 years at KFMB now over". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on February 2, 2003. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  10. ^ Finnegan, Michael (March 15, 2009). "Conservative talk radio on the wane in California". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  11. ^ Dotinga, Randy. "STATIC: Local talk finally gets a boost". North County Times. Archived from the original on April 14, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  12. ^ Dotinga, Randy (November 9, 2011). "STATIC: KOGO goes FM, country goes bye-bye". North County Times. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  13. ^ "media bytes for thursday, november 10, 2011". SDRadio.net. November 10, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  14. ^ Bauder, Don (November 7, 2011). "It's Confirmed: Hedgecock to KFMB". San Diego Reader. Archived from the original on December 6, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  15. ^ "CAIR on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.[user-generated source]
  16. ^ Bauder, Don (October 22, 2014). "Rick Roberts goes on anti-Islam rant". San Diego Reader. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  17. ^ Trainor, Brendan (October 30, 2014). "Beware election fear-mongering". Reno News & Review. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  18. ^ Sedensky, Matt (October 19, 2016). "DIVIDED AMERICA: Seeing options shrinking, white men ask why". Associated Press. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
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