Gulf Coast Congressional Report

infobox television
show_name = The Gulf Coast Congressional Report


caption =
format = Talk show
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = D.H. 'Buck' Long
starring = Jack Edwards (1973-85)
Trent Lott (1973-89)
Bob Sikes (1973-79)
Earl Hutto (1979-89)
Sonny Callahan (1985–2003)
Jo Bonner (2003-06)
country = USA
network = WKRG-TV
first_aired = 1973
last_aired = 2006
num_episodes = |

"The Gulf Coast Congressional Report", or "Congressional Report", was a public service television program broadcast by WKRG-TV in Mobile, Alabama from 1973 to 2006. Originally hosted by U.S. Representatives from the congressional districts within the reach of WKRG’s signal, the commercial-free talk show gave viewers a local perspective of Washington, D.C. and the central Gulf Coast from their congressman’s standpoint. The program was free to broadcast and was paid for by tax dollars. It was recorded in one of the U.S. Capitol’s recording studios and in Mobile.

History

D.H. ‘Buck’ Long, vice president of WKRG brought the idea of "Congressional Report" to the attention of Jack Edwards, who represented ushr|Alabama|1. The program would be a collaboration of Edwards, Trent Lott ushr|Mississippi|5 and Bob Sikes of ushr|Florida|1. Sikes was reluctant at first, according to Lott, but he ultimately joined the program from its first broadcast. Sikes was a Democrat; Edwards and Lott were Republicans. Throughout the years, the hosts made sure the program would remain non-partisan and free of conflicts.

After succeeding Sikes as congressman in 1979, fellow Democrat Earl Hutto joined the program. Edwards retired from Congress in 1985, and fellow Republican Sonny Callahan succeeded him in the U.S. House of Representatives and on the program. Shortly after Lott was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988, the program’s multiple hosts format ended and Callahan was its only host. Lott and Hutto would reappear on the program during Callahan’s term in Congress. Hutto retired from Congress, but Lott was unable to continue co-hosting the program on a regular basis due to his status as Senate majority leader.

In 2002, Callahan announced his retirement from Congress and his Chief of Staff Jo Bonner became his successor. Like his former boss, Bonner also hosted "Congressional Report" on his own, and invited numerous guests. As an aide to Callahan, Bonner helped produce the program during the mid-1980s. In the July 2003 Nielsen ratings, the program in its 10:00 a.m. timeslot (following "Face the Nation" on CBS) still ranked higher in viewers than those of Mobile’s three other major network TV affiliates. It continued to be profitable for WKRG, which had estimated that it could earn $1500 or more for airing the commercial-free program.

Hiatus

On June 4, 2006, WKRG halted further airings of "Congressional Report" in response to an equal-time complaint by Jo Bonner’s opponent in the 2006 election for Congress. Mobile lawyer Vivian Beckerle also accused the program of being a political promotion for Bonner’s campaign. The station had planned on putting the program on hiatus August 6 due to federal rules requiring that such programs not air 90 days or less before an election, but the May 26 letter to WKRG made station officials put the program on hiatus two months earlier than expected.

The last pre-recorded program, which never aired, featured not a politician, but two emergency management officials from Mobile County and Baldwin County discussing hurricane preparedness. In exchange of the hiatus, Beckerle was offered two 30-minute segments of airtime. The segments aired respectively on June 11 and June 18 in "Congressional Report’s" former timeslot. Bonner was re-elected in November, but he has never received word on when his program will return to WKRG. In February 2007, Bonner’s spokeswoman Nancy Wall acknowledged that her boss has accepted WKRG’s decision to drop his show as a permanent one and that he is looking at alternative means of getting "Congressional Report" back on the air.

External links

* [http://www.wkrg.com WKRG-TV]
* [http://bonner.house.gov/HoR/AL01/Press+Office/TV+Show/ Jo Bonner's "Congressional Report" page]
* [http://www.lagniappemobile.com/article/331 "Lagniappe" article on "Congressional Report"]
* [http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/100403/D7TV4BV00.shtml “Alabama's Bonner advances tradition of longest-running congressional talk show” ("Florida Times-Union" article)]