Eric Stanger

Eric Christopher Stanger (born September 28, 1969 in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri) is the Director of Talk Programming for ABC Radio Networks in New York City, and the Director of Affiliate Relations for syndicated radio personality Sean Hannity.

Early Years and Education

Stanger became fascinated in radio at an early age while growing up in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. He spent his childhood listening to St. Louis Cardinals games on KMOX-AM, as well as the edgy rock music format of the legendary KSHE-95 FM. After he graduated from Parkway South High School, he attended Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, majoring in English and Communications.

Career

In 1988, Stanger's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia where Eric worked as a bartender and waiter. His co-workers at the restaurants complained when Stanger insisted on listening to his favorite radio host Rush Limbaugh while at work. By chance, he met and befriended the daughter of then WGST-AM Program Director Eric Seidel, Meredith, who was a co-worker at the restaurant. Meredith suggested to Stanger that he apply for an internship at her father's station. He eventually started an unpaid internship at the station in 1992 while keeping ends meet with his bartending jobs. It was there that he met Sean Hannity and eventually became his producer. He went on for 4 years there, becoming a news editor, entertainment reporter, traffic reporter, Executive Producer, and fill-in talk show host.

When Sean Hannity left WGST to launch "Hannity and Colmes" on the upstart cable news network Fox News Channel in 1996, Stanger left Atlanta and WGST for Los Angeles, California, to become the producer of syndicated radio personality Tom Leykis.

In 1997, he left Los Angeles and moved to New York City to work for the legendary talk station WABC-AM as Morning Drive Producer. When the station hired Sean Hannity to take over the afternoon drive slot, Sean and WABC Program Director Phil Boyce hired him as the Executive Producer of the show. It was during this time that Stanger developed a reputation in the radio business as an aggressive, "take no prisoners"-style talk producer. He successfully sneaked into the courtroom with a tape recorder during the famous Marv Albert sexual assault trial, as well as scoring several major exclusive newsmaker interviews for the show during the Bill Clinton impeachment era. Stanger is also noted for being the recipient of a famous threat by then NYC Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as a result of an interview gone bad on the Hannity show. Stanger also became the voice of several popular features of the show, including "Redneck Traffic" and "Ed from the Lake".

Four years later, Eric returned to Los Angeles to accept a promotion to become Assistant PD at radio station KABC-AM and in 2003 circled back to New York to become the Affiliate Relations Director for his friend Sean Hannity at ABC Radio Networks.

In 2004, Eric was promoted to the position of Director of Talk Programming for the network, enabling him to work with other ABC talk talent, including Bob Brinker. In 2006, Eric helped launch radio host Mark Levin into national syndication, as well as the ABC Radio return of Don Imus on December 3, 2007.

Personal

Stanger's grandfather was the legendary Chicago Cubs radio broadcaster Harry Caray, his uncle was Atlanta Braves broadcaster Skip Caray, and his cousins are national baseball broadcaster Chip Caray and WATG sports director Josh Caray, who calls the South Atlantic League Rome Braves and Rome High School football. Ironically, WATG is an ABC Radio affiliate, but is not a talk station.

Stanger enjoys collecting and building guitars, and is a passionate rock music aficionado and accomplished musician. He has played guitar and bass in several power-pop and punk bands in New York and Los Angeles.