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Ben Ferguson

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This article is about the American radio host. For the American snowboarder, see Ben Ferguson (snowboarder). For other people, see Benjamin Ferguson.
Ben Ferguson
Ferguson in 2023
Born (1981-08-28) August 28, 1981 (age 43)
Alma materUniversity of Mississippi
Occupation(s)Television and radio talk show host & political commentator on CNN
Known forConservative political commentator

Benjamin Grant Ferguson (born August 28, 1981) is an American cable television talk show host and a radio talk show host on 600WREC/Memphis, TN. His radio show originates from his home in Texas. His nationally syndicated radio show, The Ben Ferguson Show, airs throughout the United States Sunday nights on Radio America and is syndicated by ICON Radio Network.[1] Since 2018, his show The Ferguson File has aired middays on CRTV, which in December 2018 merged with BlazeTV to form Blaze Media.[citation needed] He is also a regular political commentator on CNN.

Early life and education

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Ben Ferguson was born to Bruce and Karen Ferguson on August 28, 1981. He has an older sister, Holly. Ferguson was homeschooled by his mother in Memphis, TN through the tenth grade. Ben has Scottish ancestry. A local talk-radio host throughout his teens, Ferguson attended Tusculum College, but later, graduated from Westminster Academy. He went on to the University of Mississippi,[2] intending to play tennis; he became a member of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity.[3] He graduated from Ole Miss in 2004. Ben married Anna Bradley Ferguson in March 2010.

Political activities

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Ferguson is a member of Students for Saving Social Security (S4). In July 2005, as S4's political director, Ferguson was selected by the White House to join President Bush and Ben Stein for a town hall meeting in an effort to educate the public on the issue of social security reform. Ferguson also spends several weeks a year on the road speaking at youth leadership conferences, high schools and college campuses nationwide. He has become a regular keynote speaker for several groups, including Congressional Youth Leadership and Lead America.

Ferguson is an avid critic of former Memphis Mayor W. W. Herenton. When Herenton resigned and then decided to run again for mayor not two weeks later, Ferguson entered the political scene and pulled a petition to run for Memphis City Mayor.[4] He withdrew from the election when Herenton also withdrew.

Broadcasting career

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At 13, Ben Ferguson became the youngest radio talk show host in the country, and the youngest nationally syndicated host at 20. Ferguson published his first book, a political work, “It’s My America Too,” published by William Morris/Harper Collins in 2004 which USA Today named a “top choice read.” [5]

In August 2007, Ferguson joined 600 WREC in Memphis as its morning radio host. He was then moved to the afternoon drive show from 4 to 7 pm CT.[4] On April 20, 2010, Ferguson resigned from WREC. In a statement he said, "I have left the station, effective today. I’m looking forward to a new market and a new show, in addition to my national show and my continuing appearances on such networks as CNBC, CNN and MSNBC."[6]

Later, it was stated that Ferguson left WREC after an impasse in contract negotiations. It was then announced that Ben Ferguson would take over the 4–7 pm slot on another local radio station, KWAM. Controversial radio host Thaddeus Matthews was fired to make room for Ferguson.

On April 1, 2012, Ferguson became the regular fill-in for Mark Davis on WBAP in Texas, as Davis was involved in contract disputes with the new owners of WBAP, Cumulus Media. When a new contract could not be reached between Mark Davis and Cumulus, Ferguson became the permanent host of the 9–11 am CT time slot. Ben currently lives in Dallas, Texas.[5]

Ferguson's national talk-radio show focuses on current events from a conservative point of view. The Ben Ferguson Show can be heard over ICON Radio Network weekly on Sunday evenings from 7 to 10 pm ET.

Ferguson hosted a local radio show in Memphis during evening drive time slot (from 4 to 7 pm) weekdays on WREC (600 AM) in Memphis until April 20, 2010.[7] On May 3, 2010, KWAM 990 announced that he would be their new evening drive time host.[8] On April 25, 2011, Ben moved to WKIM 98.9 FM, coinciding with a format change in the station to an all-talk network.[9]

In late 2018, Ferguson moved to CRTV, the channel founded by Mark Levin's Conservative Review, to host a midday talk show called 'The Ferguson File'. In December of that year, CRTV merged with Glenn Beck's BlazeTV to form Blaze Media, and Ferguson's show moved to the new combined channel, which is carried by numerous cable systems across the country as well as streamed online.[10] In January 2021, Ferguson announced a podcast deal with Premiere Networks that allowed his show to be part of the iHeartRadio podcast network.[11]

He also appears frequently on Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox Business, CNN, and CNN Headline News.

2004 presidential election

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At 21, Ferguson addressed a small crowd of young Republicans at the Republican National Youth Convention advocating for youth turnout during the 2004 election.[12] Also during his speech, Ferguson attacked Michael Moore, noted that young people were fighting the War on Terror, and made attacks on the media.[12]

Bibliography

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  • It's My America Too: A Leading Young Conservative Shares His Views on Politics and Other Matters of Importance, 2004, William Morrow (ISBN 0-06-059011-4)

References

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  1. ^ "Icon Radio Network". Icon Radio Network. Archived from the original on 2013-06-02. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  2. ^ Local, International Journalists Intrigued with Debate and University Archived 2010-05-31 at the Wayback Machine Ole Miss (accessed April 23, 2010)
  3. ^ Newsletter KAPPA ALPHA AT OLE MISS, June 2003 (accessed April 23, 2010)
  4. ^ "E.C. Jones, Sharon Webb, Ben Ferguson pull petitions for mayor's race - Eye on Politics". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  5. ^ "Ben Ferguson". News/Talk 95.1 & 790 KFYO.
  6. ^ Dowd, James (21 April 2010). "Radio talk-show host Ferguson leaves WREC". The Commercial Appeal. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2017 – via Highbeam.
  7. ^ Dowd, James WREC-AM talk show host Ben Ferguson leaves stationThe Commercial Appeal, April 20, 2010 (accessed May 3, 2010)
  8. ^ Dowd, James Radio show host Ferguson heads to KWAM 990The Commercial Appeal, May 3, 2010 (accessed May 3, 2010)
  9. ^ Dowd, James Memphis conservative talker Ben Ferguson jumps to Citadel's WKIM-FM 98.9The Commercial Appeal, April 26, 2011 (accessed August 11, 2011)
  10. ^ Rosenberg, Eli (July 24, 2018). "After a fake interview of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went viral, its maker said it was satire". Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  11. ^ Venta, Lance (12 January 2021). "Premiere Networks Adds Ben Ferguson's Sunday Show - RadioInsight". RadioInsight. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  12. ^ a b "User Clip: Ben Ferguson | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
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