Mike Hotaling’s Final Broadcast, “Earth Speaks” – 1300 WQBK Rensselaer NY | 1996

In what would turn out to be its final broadcast, Contributor Mike Hotaling hosts a uniquely local environmental program called “Earth Speaks”. Special guest is Ward Stone.

This show deals with the environmental movement and the political consequences of the then-recent elections. “Earth Speaks” was an important community program. Of all the areas which has had to suffer the terrible health consequences of corporate pollution, The Albany area ranks right up there with the Love Canal in Western New York. Environmentalists have been instrumental in getting corporate polluters to clean up the mess made from decades of toxic waste dumping. We won’t get into the company names here or the names and people associated with the environmental movement in this region. This website deals with radio and to that end, we’re presenting a particularly relavent TALK show.

Note the speculation that this will be the last show and that there are ‘big’ changes afoot at WQBK. Changes which indeed came to fruition upon the sale to Radio Enterprises, the firing of most of the staff and cancellation of all local programming.

Host Mike Hotaling was also heard on the FM side, as a Rock-jock on 103.5 WKBQ-FM “The Edge”

Addendum: Mike Hotaling checks in to say,

“…we did survive the format change BTW… arcura thought the show had appeal to sportsman… the show lasted untill 2000 when clear channel axed it.”