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‘Dish Nation’ seeks to harness radio chatter for TV

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Can lively radio make for good television? The Fox Television Stations group is going to find out this summer with “Dish Nation,” a half-hour weeknight show that will package clips from four radio programs around the country.

It’s being billed as an “entertainment news program featuring … a fast-paced, unscripted take on pop culture, celebrity scandals and salacious, headline-grabbing conversations.”

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Among the radio personalities involved is Felli Fel of L.A. hip-hop station KPWR-FM (106.7), along with program hosts in New York (Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill of WPLJ-FM), Atlanta (Rick Smiley of WHTA-FM) and Detroit (Blaine Fowler and Allyson Martinek of WDVD-FM).

“Dish Nation” will get a six-week tryout on Fox-owned KTTV-TV Channel 11, starting July 25 at 6:30 p.m. It also will air on Fox stations in New York, Detroit, Baltimore, Atlanta, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

Putting TV cameras in radio studios isn’t completely untried, of course. Howard Stern’s old syndicated radio show was a staple on E! Entertainment from 1994 to 2005. Don Imus’ morning radio show used to be on MSNBC and now is on Fox Business Network. Dan Patrick’s morning radio show is seen on Fox Sports; ESPN Radio’s ‘Mike & Mike in the Morning’ is simulcast on ESPN2.

— Lee Margulies

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