Former U.S. Senator from New York, Alfonse D’Amato, is joining 77 WABC as a regular contributor. D’Amato will share political insights on 77 WABC’s talk programs, including Cats & Cosby, co-hosted by Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby.

In a release, John Catsimatidis, owner of 77WABC and Red Apple Media, called D’Amato, is one of the most knowledgeable people he knows.

“From his many years in the U.S. Senate, Al has a deep understanding of the underpinnings of politics — local, national, and global – and will help 77 WABC listeners discern the truth about what’s really going on in Washington and the world.”

Senator D’Amato expressed his pleasure in being a part of one of the country’s top news and talk programming, highlighting 77 WABC’s reputation for openly discussing issues without being affiliated with any political party but dedicated to promoting what is best for America.

“I am pleased to be part of the greatest news/talk programming in the nation,” Sen. D’Amato said. “77 WABC is a station whose people call it the way it is and aren’t wed to a political party but are wed to doing what’s right in America,” he said. 

Alfonse D’Amato had an impressive political career, serving as a New York representative in the U.S. Senate from 1981 to 1999.

During his tenure, he chaired the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and was a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the President’s Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism.

He was instrumental in New York Republican politics and helped to recruit George Pataki and secure his Republican nomination in the 1994 gubernatorial race. After leaving the Senate, D’Amato founded Park Strategies, which is now a well-known lobbying firm.

The decision by Rupert Murdoch to step down from his role leading Fox Corp. and News Corp. and hand the reins to his son, Lachlan, has many media members, like Kara Swisher, buzzing about the company’s future.

Swisher, who used to work for Murdoch and has become a critic, shared her prediction for the future of Fox Corporation and News Corp. She boldly predicts that Lachlan will have a short reign before eventually selling the company to a familiar name.

“Prediction: It will be a short reign of the crown prince — after the old man goes, the other siblings will have the con and it will all be sold off (Elon? Right leaning PE firm or media org?),” Swisher wrote on the platform X, formerly Twitter.

Elon Musk purchased Twitter last year and has gone through a complete rebrand since the Tesla CEO purchased the outlet. However, early this summer, The New York Times reported that the social media outlet’s ad sales had plunged 59 percent. So the question is whether Musk wants another media platform despite his struggles with X. 

As for Murdoch, he has been in the news recently after a new book claims that the media mogul believed Fox News could settle its defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $50 million.

The network eventually paid a $787.5 million settlement with the voting machine company after it was accused of purposefully airing falsehoods regarding the validity of the 2020 presidential election.

CNN had one of its worst ratings weekends of all time recently, and 1210 WPHT morning host Nick Kayal showcased just how bad the outcome was for the cable channel.

During Kayal and Company Thursday, the news/talk host noted that an average of 55,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic tuned into CNN on a recent weekend.

“I’m convinced that Matt Rooney and anybody else who does a weekend show here on 1210 can amass 55,000 listeners,” Kayal said before Program Director Greg Stocker noted that is factual information.

“When the bar is so low, you can’t go anywhere but up from there, I would think, but then again, I didn’t think they would get this low,” continued Kayal. “So who knows that could be 47,000 in the next month or something.”

Kayal then turned his attention to Anderson Cooper’s new Sunday program, and asked listeners what they would get out of viewing the program.

“What do you gain out of watching Anderson Cooper? when you sit down and watch that show, is he entertaining? Does he have any energy? No. Does he look like he had blood drained from his body? Yes. He is low energy,” Nick Kayal concluded. “He is the most uninteresting man on television on that network. And that’s saying something because there’s nobody that’s interesting on that network.”