Start spreading his views: Walsh 'instantly bonded' with New York

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh, the former suburban Chicago congressman who morphed into a radio talk show host, is biting into the Big Apple.

While he continues to hold forth from 5 to 8 p.m. weekdays on news/talk WIND AM 560, parent company Salem Communications has added Walsh to the staff of its New York news/talk outlet, WNYM AM.

Formalizing an arrangement that’s been in place since January, the New York station will be airing Walsh exclusively at 5 p.m. (Eastern Time) and simulcasting the following hour of his Chicago show, according to an announcement Monday.

"We looked at a lot of options for late afternoons, but once we put Joe on the air in New York, something magical happened. He instantly bonded with the New York audience," Phil Boyce, vice president of Salem Communications, said in a statement. "Joe sounds like he was born and bred in New York with a fire-breathing attitude. New York politicians need to get ready for this guy."

Walsh, 52, a Republican maverick and tea party firebrand who served one term in Congress, turned to radio after he was defeated for reelection by Democrat Tammy Duckworth in November 2012. He signed on as evening host at WIND in March 2013, and moved up to afternoons in June when Steve Cochran resigned to join Tribune Broadcasting news/talk WGN AM 720 as morning personality.

Still sounding like a politician, Walsh clearly relishes his foray into New York.

"When Governor [Andrew] Cuomo said three months ago that conservatives weren't welcome in New York, I took that as an invitation," he said in a statement. "Other talk show hosts threatened to leave New York, but I told the folks at AM 970 I want to go where the enemy lives, and they took me in. I will be looking for anybody who would destroy an America of free men and free women. Every day I want to fight those people and wake the rest of us up before it's too late."

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, WIND tied for 32nd place in afternoons with a 0.6 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 75,900.