 | |
| Genre | Talk radio |
|---|---|
| Running time | Weekdays: 3 hours (ET) (6:00 pm – 9:00 pm) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language | English |
| Home station | KPRC,Houston |
| Syndicates | Premiere Networks |
| Hosted by | Andy Dean (2011–2014) Joe Pags (2014–2015) Meghan McCain (2015–2017) Buck Sexton (2017–2021) Jesse Kelly (2021–present) |
| Original release | August 8, 2011 – present |
| Website | www |
The Jesse Kelly Show (formerly known asAmerica Now andThe Buck Sexton Show) is a three-hour early evening conservativetalk radio show hosted byJesse Kelly, and carried byPremiere Networks, asubsidiary ofiHeartMedia, Inc. It is broadcast live 9p.m. to 12a.m.Eastern Time on weekdays. The show mainly covers politics, and under former hosts, was intended as a broad-audience rundown of the day's news events, including entertainment topics. It airs on its affiliates either live or on tape delay, along with distribution through theiHeartRadio app and podcast providers.
Originally hosted byAndy Dean,America Now debuted on August 8, 2011.[1]Joe Pagliarulo (known as "Joe Pags" and based atWOAI inSan Antonio) replaced Dean as interim host beginning August 11, 2014.[2] Pagliarulo ceded hosting duties toMeghan McCain (daughter of SenatorJohn McCain) on July 15, 2015. McCain left the program on January 31, 2017, deciding to focus on television work instead.
Premiere Networks announced on February 1, 2017, that Buck Sexton would become the new host. He began hosting the show on February 6.[3] The show completely abandoned its general audience focus to become a more traditional conservative talk show during his run. In early 2018, theAmerica Now title was removed, and the program was rebranded asThe Buck Sexton Show, a title previously used on his radio program with a video simulcast forTheBlaze from 2014 until 2017. Sexton's video simulcast moved toThe First TV in October 2019.
On May 27, 2021, Premiere Networks announced thatClay Travis would be teamed with Sexton, and that the two would take over the noon–3 p.m. ET timeslot on June 21, 2021, asThe Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. The new program serves as the official replacement forThe Rush Limbaugh Show, following a transitional period afterRush Limbaugh died on February 17.[4][5][6]
On June 28, 2021, Jesse Kelly took over the timeslot under the titleThe Jesse Kelly Show. Since 2020, Kelly has been based atKPRC inHouston, a station owned by Premiere Networks parent company iHeartMedia, Inc. He had been in limited syndication through Key Networks.[7]
In a December 2021 interview withTucker Carlson, he criticized President Biden's Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffChristopher W. Grady further stating, "We don't need a military that'swoman-friendly, that'sgay-friendly; we need men who want to sit on a throne ofChinese skulls."[8][9][10]
SenatorJames Lankford (R-OK), who negotiated a bipartisan border bill on behalf of the Republican caucus over four months from November 2023 to February 2024, said on the floor of the Senate in February that a right-wing media personality had told him, before any contents of the bill had been released to the public, "If you try to move a bill that solves the border crisis during this presidential year, I will do whatever I can to destroy you, because I do not want you to solve this during the presidential election." Lankford added, “[They] have been faithful to their promise and have done everything they can to destroy me in the past several weeks.” Jesse Kelly then asserted on X that he was the person who had threatened Lankford, and called Lankford a eunuch.[11][12]
In April 2024, Premiere renewedThe Jesse Kelly Show into 2027.[13]