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10 Questions with ... Montel Williams
May 12, 2009
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NAME:Montel WilliamsTITLE:Talk HostSHOW:Air America RadioMARKET:NationalCOMPANY:Air America MediaBORN:New YorkRAISED:Linthicum, MD
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
12 years of Marine Corps service. Motivational speaker. Host, "The Montel Williams Show," 1991-2008. Actor, patient advocate, spokesperson for Partnership for Prescription Assistance.
1. After all you've done, what drew you to doing a daily radio show? Why radio, why now?
what's really strange about me starting a radio show right now after having just finished seventeen years of television is, it's almost taken me full circle in my entire life, and I'll tell you what I mean. It's really kind of crazy. It wasn't until I sat down and had a meeting With Air America that I went home and sat down with my high school yearbook. I recalled that, at Andover High School in Linthicum, Maryland, In 1973, I, an ambitious, brand new president of my class, convinced the principal to allow us to start a radio station at our high school Called "the Wand," WAND -- ANDover High School -- and I was the first DJ, The first person on-air, at this little radio station. So it's really kind of crazy. Right now, I've come full circle.Why? You know, as much as radio And television have been two fields in the entertainment business that haven't seemed to come together, I have a unique opportunity to bring the sensibilities of two different genres and put them under one roof and still entertain And inform . I'm really excited to have the opportunity to do this through the format here at Air America.
2. How is your show unique?
"Montel across America" has only been on the air for 21 days, and what's incredible about these first 21 days is, number one, we're not a radio show that Has come to the terrestrial space claiming to be one thing or another. We're not right, we're not left. We're doing what progressive radio promised it would do, And that would be to become a home for everyone's voice, all of America's voices. And, already, in less than 21 days... we've had Congressman Ron Paul on the show three times; he's already asked to come back. We've had people like Ali Velshi on the show. Kal Penn, the day after he announced that he was going to leave his top Television show and go to work as associate director in the Office of Public Liaison; he came to us. Jim Arkedis, director of the National Security Project for national policy. Sam Waterston, who is an acclaimed actor and star of "Law and Order." Ashley Banfield. Admiral Richard Gurnon. Guests and people from every walk of life possible, all coming to one location To share their views, to be heard, to be part of this national Dialogue on issues facing us every single day. And I think thats what makes the show different.And not only am I giving space for different voices, I'm allowing those voices to talk to each other. Most pontificators are full of themselves, and I'll say it this way clearly, That they don't understand that maybe America wants to hear other points of view and not just theirs. And I let those points of view stand up and be counted. I think that's what's going to keep this show different, Keep us as fast paced as we are, because By offering you a different guests, And different sensibilities, I'll also offer you in the same three hour show two or three different topics al under one core. That's going to set us apart. That's what already sets us apart, because everybody who's been on the show is calling to see if they can come back.
3. How will you attract your television audience, some of whom may never have listened to talk radio in the past, to talk radio?
What I'm so excited about is, you know, I was on television for seventeen years. Before I was on television, I spoke around the country to about a million, a million and a half young people a universities and colleges, arenas around the country, talking about the same things, the issues that affect our lives every single day. If you listen to Gallup or Zogby or Nielsen, Over the seventeen years of my show -- because I had people watch my show 1.5 times a week, so I had a different audience every single day -- the estimates were upwards of 90 million people sampled "Montel" for seventeen years at least twice. It's really kind of incredible. So that means if there's only ten, 15 million from the last years the show was on the air, I run into them all the time, everywhere I go. People stop me and asked me what I'm doing. I'm so excited to be able to tell them, You can catch me now every single day from 9 to 12 on Air America, and are starting to tune in. I have people calling in to the show from around the world. He's only been on the air 21 days, we've already gotten calls from Israel, From Holland, from London, from all across the United States. So it's clear that my voice has been missed, and when they find me, look out.
4. What do you like about radio? What don't you like about radio? What level of commitment to you have to this medium?
You know it's really relly funny, in my lifetime, people can look back on it, and sometimes I look in the mirror, I have to check myself and actually figure out if this is true or not. But I've had two seventeen year careers. I've been working for 34 years and, bang! I look like I'm 34 years old! So I started working when I came out! But, the truth is, I'm about to embark on my third seventeen year career. I love this medium, and I love it for a lot of reasons. One, I was very fortunate and blessed to have an opportunity to see Paul Harvey at a national convention on film when he received an award a year ago. And one of the things that Paul Harvey stressed was missing in radio -- and when he said it it was just as magical in his explanation as was his show for twenty plus years on the air -- he was saddened that a lot of current radio personalities don't understand that people, in essence, and I'm paraphrasing, that people listen to radio with more than just their ears. They're listening with their heart, they're listening with their soul, they're trying to see, and it's our responsibility as radio personalities to not just speak but to fill in all those other senses.So, I'm excited about the fact that I get to describe an event rather than just talk about an event. I'm happy that I get to share emotions of an event, to make people feel that emotion. I think radio is as a visceral as any experience there is on the planet if we, the personalities who are doing the talking, make it that way. So I'm excited about the opportunity to help people tap into their creative minds, to tap into that imagination, tap into those senses, and really viscerally walk away and the moved by what they heard.
5. Some listeners might expect you to be all the way to the left or take a stand following a particular party on certain issues. How will you be different from that?
I think part of the reason why I was able to navigate the landscape of television and stay on the air for seventeen years in a show in a genre of television where 96 other people came and went and I lasted -- and won an Emmy as best talk show host -- is that one of the things I learned and took away from my military experience is to never approach a mission knowing its outcome. You always approach a mission prepared, determine, have a plan, research, study, find out as much as you can, to ensure that you can be successful in your objective.But you always have to look at it organically, as it continues to change in front of you, and be prepared for any change. You can only prepare that way with knowledge. So one of the things that I'm doing, and what the show will do, is that... I will ensure that I will bring you in my listeners along so that we're all educated, and we have all the facts and that we put them all on the table, and let's talk about them. And at the end of the day, Some issues, I may be really, really, really far on the left. Some issues I may be really, really far on the right. Some issues, I may be right down the middle, but here's the thing: it's different. I get to talk about the United States military and what we do in support for our troops because I lived it. I'm not just out here spitting a lot of garbage but was afraid to enlist myself. I'm out here and talking about a lot of issues that can make people's lives better, because I tried to live it, by trying to make my life better. I've been a patient advocate for the last twenty years because I understand the need for someone standing up for the least of us.... I think the difference in what you're going to get from the show is the fact that you're getting me, and you're getting me the way I believe most Americans should approach any issue that's facing us today. Get the facts, discuss them, but come up with a solution; let's not just argue about the individual issues and not get anywhere.
6. What kind of topics are you going to address on the show?
I know for a fact that the show will, once you pick this up, once your station picks us up and once we're up and running and people find me, number one, You have anywhere from ten to 90 million people who know who Montel Williams is and are looking for an opportunity to come back and hear what I have to say. They were avid watchers and viewers of the Montel Williams show and they'll be avid listeners to "Montel Across America."
One of the things that I know they're going to take away is my passion for issues that can make our lives better. We incorporate every single day a "living well" segment, an hour really talking about those things that are affecting our lives that can make our lives better. I'm gonna hit issues that'll make your life better financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically. I'm gonna make sure I keep to that so, at the end of the show, I think we're going to actually change a nation and make people start to understand that your health is as much your responsibility as it is (that of) anybody you seek out answers to your health from. So, I'm gonna give you information that can help you assume some responsibility by taking care of yourselves physically, taking care of yourself through getting good tips on things that you should be putting in your body and things you shouldn't.I'm going to address those issues that affect us on a daily basis, and I will also keep up with the news of the day and help interpret the news of the day, not only from my perspective, but I'll bring you the experts that can help you form your own opinion, because that's the most important reason why progressive radio is here. It's not so that we can become one viewpoint or another. It's so that everyone gets an opportunity to be heard, and everyone participates in the decision-making process, 'cause guess what? The basic law of inclusion is, those who are included will follow the rules once they are made. Those who aren't will never follow.
7. About what are you most passionate these days?
I'm really most passionate about, number one, making America understand that labels are a thing of the past. Separation is a thing that too many people fought to end, and there's no reason to go back to it. I'm really passionate about the fact that the Constitution starts with three words: "We the people," not "We the Democrats," not "We the Republicans," not "We the centrists." "We the people," so "We the people" are the ones who really set the tenor and tone of the nation, and until "We the people" are heard, I don't believe we'll ever really live up to the expectation of liberty and justice for all.I'm passionate about "We the people" assuming and taking the responsibility that they have to take, and I'm trying to convince them to stop delegating it to someone else, in every aspect of your life: emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially. And I'm most passionate about us maintaining the integrity of a system that was developed to allow my children and my children's children to live free. And freedom only belongs to those who include everyone within their borders. When one person within your borders is not free, it's like one cancer cell.
8. What differences are there between TV and radio? Are the things that you can do on television that you can't do on radio, or vice versa?
I'm the same person, whether I'd be live on television, were Memorex. You're going to get the same intensity, the same passion, the same approach to every topic and every issue that I feel the need to respond to. I'm going to get the information, I'm going to educate myself, I'm going to educate you, That we will come to a conversation, put all the table, and hopefully worked words solutions rather than just dirtying the table.
9. You've been in the military, a TV talk show mainstay, an actor, an author, now a radio host... what, if anything, is there that you want to accomplish but haven't done yet?
Every single day on this planet, every single morning that I wake up, I wake up and I read what I wrote the night before, which is what did I do that would be worth talking about the next day; I walk out my front door looking for something I don't know. Looking for something I can make better, looking for some way to better mankind. Period. I walk out my door, that's what I believe because at the end of the day I find that if I accomplish those things, I make my life better. So, I don't even know what's left for me to accomplish, but it's endless, because I'm just starting to get warmed up.
10. Of what are you most proud?
You know, I'm most proud of the fact that , in spite of curves that have been thrown my way, that , not to compare myself with others, but then I know after having talked with other people, those curves could have derailed them in their quest for life's excellence and whatever that means for them. I am most proud of the fact that every day, I look at those curves and try to figure out a way to stay on track.
Bonus Questions