News

Call it unexpected, call it out of character, call it a programming diversion. But don't call it politically motivated. Sundance Channel's decision to carry highlights of Al Franken's daily Air America radio program has some people scratching their heads trying to find the connection between the politically oriented talk show and a channel devoted to all things indie film. Sundance president and CEO Larry Aidem says that they went after Franken because of his show's entertainment value, pure and simple. "Al Franken has been on the landscape in one form or another for 30 years," says Aidem, Sundance Channel's president and CEO. "The fact is, most people -- myself included -- like him or love him because he's funny, smart, irreverent and, more importantly, entertaining. He's perfect (for our audience)." And the reaction to The Al Franken Show -- an hourlong nightly distillation of Franken's daily three-hour radio show -- has been mostly positive since it debuted Sept. 7 for an initial eight-week run, Aidem says. (Nielsen Media Research does not provide ratings for the 8-year-old Sundance Channel, which has a subscriber base of about 20 million homes.) But Franken -- who spent nearly two decades on NBC's Saturday Night Live, both on- and off-camera -- is in the spotlight today perhaps more for his politics than his acting or writing skills.