SUNDANCE CHANNEL Hiring of Al Franken wasn't political, executive says

The digital cable network is partly owned by Robert Redford.
By GAIL SHISTER
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Al Franken gets apoplectic about President Bush, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, but his new radio show "is not a political statement," says a Sundance Channel executive.
Come again?
Franken "is first and foremost an entertainer and satirist," says Sundance CEO Larry Aidem, whose network will televise Franken's radio rants at 11:30 weeknights from Tuesday through November.
"He's an extremely smart, witty, irreverent guy," Aidem, 48, continues. "That's why we put him on the air, pure and simple."
Back to the "nonpolitical" part: Did we mention that Franken, broadcasting from the Republican National Convention, is urging listeners to dis Bush Thursday night when he accepts the nomination by screaming out their windows? He's calling it "the Great American Shout-Out."
Sundance, a digital cable network designed to showcase independent films, is partly owned by leftie Robert Redford. Launched in 1996, it reaches about 20 million homes.
About the show
Franken's five-month-old show, co-hosted by Katherine Lanpher, airs live from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays out of New York. It's distributed to 26 stations and two satellite services by the new liberal network, Air America Radio.
Sundance will run an hourlong edited version, looking to pick up viewers from Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" on Comedy Central at 11 p.m., Aidem says.
Aidem, a diehard Franken fan since watching him on "Saturday Night Live" when he was in college, says he would have hired the best-selling author of "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot" even if he weren't a liberal.
"We're trying to broaden our appeal beyond the independent-film fanatic," Aidem says. "They were our foundation, but it's too small an audience in an era of 200 channels.
"We're committed to a diversity of filmmakers, a diversity of points of view and a diversity of media. I think we define and embody the democratization of the arts."
"Aidem is convinced that Franken has a broader following than just libs. If the show succeeds, it will continue beyond November, he says.
Because of his TV background, Franken will make a seamless transition on Sundance, says Aidem.
"It's not that big a roll of the dice that he will translate well. He will become quickly facile. I have no concerns. Can every radio personality be a TV personality? Absolutely not."
It's a select club -- Don Imus, simulcast on MSNBC at 6 a.m., and Howard Stern, shown in a shortened, taped version at 11 p.m. on E! Entertainment Television.