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| Genre | Talk show |
|---|---|
| Running time | Weekdays: 3 hours (1:00 am – 4:00 am) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language | English |
| Home station | WBAP News/Talk 820 inFort Worth, Texas |
| Syndicates | Westwood One |
| Starring | Eric Harley andGary McNamara |
| Created by | Bill Mack |
| Original release | 1969 (1969) |
| Website | www |
| Podcast | omny |
Red Eye Radio is atalk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley andGary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide byWestwood One,[1] and originates fromWBAP in theDallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history through several predecessors, beginning withBill Mack's overnight truck show in 1969.
Bill Mack was the founder of WBAP's overnight program, theU.S. 1 Trucking Show. Mack started the show in 1969. The show, as the name implied, was geared toward the Americantruck driver and featured a lot ofcountry music. The show briefly attempted an excursion into Mexico onborder blasterXERF, but that arrangement ended after it was clear that Mack would not be able to host the show from his home in Fort Worth.
Eventually, the show's name changed to theMidnight Cowboy Trucking Show and theMidnight Cowboy Radio Network and was syndicated byABC Radio, who carefully selected the affiliates to give maximum coverage of the country.
Mack left the show in September 2001[2] to join theOpen Road channel onXM Satellite Radio.
After Mack's departure in 2001, ABC changed the name of the show toMidnight Trucking Radio Network.[3] The network tapped WBAP producer Eric Harley, along with Joe Kelley, to host the show. In addition to Mack's old network, MTRN absorbedDave Nemo's oldThe Road Gang network when Nemo left for XM as well.
ABC turned over syndication of the program toJones Radio Networks in 2005, and Kelley left the show. Jones turned to Gary McNamara, a conservative talk radio host, to fill Kelley's seat. With the change in focus from solely truckers to a more general purpose program, the show changed its name yet again, to theMidnight Radio Network. Under Jones, the number of affiliates grew from about a dozen stations, mostly 50,000-watt clear-channel "flamethrowers," to 38. Seven clear-channel stations - WBAP,WJR inDetroit;KXL inPortland, Oregon;KXEL inWaterloo, Iowa;WLS inChicago;KBOI inBoise; andKOKC inOklahoma City, as well as regional stationWMAL inWashington, D.C. - front the network, which claims to reach all 48 contiguous states plusHawaii.
The show now also broadcasts on XM Satellite Radio (channel 171) after a long run onSirius Satellite Radio (Road Dog Trucking) ended in 2007. With the change, the Midnight Radio Network joined former hostBill Mack along withDale Sommers andDave Nemo on the channel.
By 2007, many references to "Midnight Trucking" had returned to the show, and by early 2009, to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary, it reverted to the "Midnight Trucking" name.
In April 2008, parent syndicator Jones Radio Networks was sold toTriton Media Group, which integrated Jones into Triton'sDial Global network. Some changes were made in the months following. One of the first was the removal of the show from satellite radio, as Open Road merged with Road Dog Trucking.
The nameRed Eye Radio came fromCumulus Media Networks' existing overnight talk show, which at the time of Cumulus's acquisition ofCitadel Broadcasting was hosted byDoug McIntyre (who originated the name and had previously used it on a local Los Angeles-based show prior to changing time slots) on weeknights andMarc Germain on weekends. Upon Cumulus' acquisition of Citadel (and, by extension, WBAP and the rest of the former ABC Radio assets), Cumulus also reassumed syndication of Harley and McNamara, reassigned McIntyre to a local show in Los Angeles, and rebranded Harley's and McNamara's show under theRed Eye Radio name. As a result of the reorganization, the show also gained several major market affiliates, including New York City and Los Angeles, whereRed Eye Radio had established itself, and refocused the program as a competitor toPremiere Networks's ubiquitousCoast to Coast AM, eventually moving towards a genericconservative talk direction, though trucking news and content remains a major part of the show. A toll-free phone line was available for calls, but was rarely used on the show, and was finally retired in October 2025.
On December 21, 2012, just before the first anniversary of the Harley-McNamara version of the show, the hosts announced on air that they had signed a new multi-year contract to host the show.
On January 18, 2017, the show was simulcast onC-SPAN as part of a series of radio programs on the air leading up to the first inauguration ofDonald Trump.
Since October 2025, the show runs three hours each night, from midnight to 3 am Central Time. Harley and McNamara primarily address political issues, most commonly promoting libertarian and conservative viewpoints. The show is available seven days a week, but a "best of" program airs on weekends.