Blair Garner
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Blair Garner is an American radio personality. He is the host of the syndicated Blair Garner Show heard overnight on scores of FM country music radio stations and syndicated by Westwood One. Garner is the former host of the syndicated radio program America's Morning Show for Nash FM.[1][2]
As a radio host and DJ, he won the Academy of Country Music's On-Air Personality of the Year award in 2004 and 2006. Garner has also been nominated for the prestigious Marconi Award and for Nationally Syndicated Air Personality by Billboard Magazine. Over his career, Garner has worked at stations across the country, including Dallas, Washington, D.C., Houston, New York City and Los Angeles.
The radio shows
Garner's programs focus on country music hits, along with recent music news and chat about pop culture. In addition, Garner is recognized as one of Nashville's best interviewers. Country music's top stars, including Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, and Reba McEntire have made it a point to appear on Blair's show to promote their projects. Garner has also interviewed stars outside of Nashville, including Kevin Costner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lionel Richie, Henry Winkler, Joan Rivers, Kathie Lee Gifford, and WWE and UFC stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena and Brock Lesnar.
From 1993 to 2013, Garner hosted After Midnite, an overnight program syndicated nationally by Premiere Networks. After Midnite was heard on about 250 affiliates across the United States and, at the end of its run on the WSIX-FM simulcast on Sirius XM Radio.
After Midnite first launched in 1993 from Los Angeles, airing six hours each night from midnight to 6 a.m. Eastern Time. As of 2009, Garner is now based in Nashville. Garner regularly takes his show on the road, broadcasting from the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, as well as several concerts around the country.
Beginning in 2006, Garner also had an evening program, The Blair Garner Show. A general lack of clearance among U.S. stations led to the show being reduced solely for distribution in Canada (where the name was used to distribute repackaged After Midnite segments with extra Canadian content).
In 2013, Garner was announced as the morning host for WNSH (New York City's Nash FM affiliate). WNSH owner Cumulus Media (whose syndication company Westwood One competes with Premiere) took the morning show, known as "America's Morning Show," into national syndication.[3] Garner honored the remaining portion of his contract with Premiere but left the network in August 2013 to focus on the morning show.
In 2016, Cumulus Media discontinued Garner's morning show, but returned him to his former overnight time slot on the Nash FM network.
In 2019, Cumulus Media blocked Garner from airing an interview with 2020 Democratic Party candidate Pete Buttigieg.[4] Buttigieg is the first major party presidential candidate in a same-sex marriage. While Garner has discussed the challenges of his coming out to a country radio audience, he said that was not part of his interview with Buttigieg.[5] Garner instead put the interview on SoundCloud.
Awards
Blair won the Academy of Country Music’s “On-Air Personality of the Year” Award in the national category three times (2004, 2006 and 2010). He has also been nominated for the prestigious Marconi Award.
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Blair Garner Announces Final Week". Retrieved 2016-09-07.
- ^ Hinckley, David. Life from Nashville, it's a New York morning show. New York Daily News. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
- ^ Miller, Hayley (July 21, 2019). "Cumulus Media Blocks Country Radio Stations From Airing Pete Buttigieg Interview". The Huffington Post.
- ^ WashingtonPost.com "Buttigieg Interview with Popular Country Radio Host Won't Air" July 22, 2019