CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 20, 2025--
Salem Media Group, Inc. (OTCQX: SALM) announced today that Salem Radio Network host Charlie Kirk has agreed to move onto the Dennis Prager affiliate stations, effective Monday, March 31st. Charlie Kirk has been doing his show in the same Noon to 3pm ET daypart as Dennis Prager since October of 2020. Today Charlie is on 195 radio stations, with 500 total affiliates across the country. Since both Charlie and Dennis have aired live in the Noon to 3pm ET daypart, it will be an easy transition for most stations. Dennis suffered a debilitating injury last November when he fell in his home and suffered a spinal cord injury.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250317049632/en/
Dennis is going through extensive rehabilitation because of the injury, and Salem wishes him a complete and full recovery. With that in mind, Dennis and Salem have agreed on his return for one hour a day, airing 2-3pm ET, starting Tuesday, June 3rd.
“Dennis may have some physical limitations at the moment, but his wit, wisdom, insights and passion are as strong and as clear as ever and we are delighted at his spirit and resolve to return to his audience,” said Salem Senior VP of Spoken Word, Phil Boyce. “We want Dennis to remain a part of the Salem family and want his millions of loyal fans to continue to hear his voice. Affiliates of Charlie will continue to get the Kirk show with no interruption, and affiliates of Dennis will soon get Charlie Kirk as a strong and able replacement.”
From now until June 3rd, Salem will continue to use Jack Posobiec as the substitute host in the third hour for Charlie Kirk and Dennis Prager affiliates. Posobiec is a podcast sensation, with over 3.1 million followers on X. Dennis will take over that hour and return to his seat as a national radio talk show host. He will continue with his insight and wisdom on the day’s top issues, as well as his passion for “The Happiness Hour” and “The Male Female Hour.”
Dennis joined the Salem Radio Network 25 years ago, after launching his radio show on KABC in Los Angeles. He has authored over 10 books, including his current series “The Rational Bible” explaining the first 5 books of the Bible. He and his producer Allen Estrin founded PragerU in 2009, which today records over one billion downloads per year, teaching our young people what is not taught in most schools.
Salem hosts Dennis’ subscription site PragerTopia, where all of his archived materials can be found. As Dennis continues his recovery, Salem will continue to maintain this site and use it to host new unique material as Dennis is able to create it.
Charlie Kirk has over 26 million social media followers and is well known for creating his youth based non-profit, “Turning Point USA.” He started the organization when he was 18, in his parents’ garage in a suburb of Chicago. Today, TPUSA has 2 million members, with presence on over 4,000 college and high school campuses. He is credited with a massive get out the vote effort that helped Donald Trump win a second term in the White House. His podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show,” is one of the top-rated conservative podcasts in the USA. While his podcast and national radio show are enjoyed by listeners of all ages, according to TikTok, Charlie is the most trusted voice for voters under 30, and his account was the third most engaged handle behind only Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and ahead of Kamala Harris.
In January of 2025 the New York Times gave credit to Charlie for helping Trump win the presidency, referring to him as “the youth whisperer of the American right.” Salem will continue to syndicate Charlie’s radio show, as well as Charlie’s podcast, on the Salem Podcast Network. His show will continue to be seen on Salem News Channel, 1pm to 3pm ET weekdays, as well as 8pm ET in primetime.
About Salem Media Group, Inc.:
Salem Media Group is America’s leading multimedia company specializing in Christian and conservative content, with media properties comprising radio, digital media and book and newsletter publishing. Each day Salem serves a loyal and dedicated audience of listeners, readers and viewers numbering in the millions nationally. With its unique content focus, Salem provides compelling audio and video programming, text content, fresh commentary and relevant information from some of the most respected figures across the Christian and conservative media landscape. Learn more about Salem Media Group, Inc. at www.salemmedia.com.
Dennis Prager
Charlie Kirk
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
