Dr. Laura shifts to satellite radio

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Talk-show host Laura Schlessinger won’t stay away from radio very long — only a weekend, in fact.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. said Monday it has a multiyear deal with Schlessinger to bring her “Dr. Laura” advice program to satellite radio in January. Specific terms were not revealed.

Schlessinger had said in August that she was quitting her syndicated radio program, a week after she apologized for using the N-word on the air 11 times while talking to a black woman, and activists demanded her ouster.

She ends her traditional radio program Dec. 31. On Jan. 3, her “Dr. Laura” show will begin live at 2 p.m. on Sirius XM. It will air for three hours a day Monday through Friday.

Schlessinger announced on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Aug. 17 that she was walking away from her radio show when her contract ended. The next day, Sirius talk programming chief Jeremy Coleman called her to discuss a switch, she said.

“The first and most important thing that appealed to me was the freedom to speak my mind without advertisers and affiliates being attacked by activist groups that just love to censor anything they don’t agree with,” she said.