Conservative Icons Take Over Rush Limbaugh’s Legendary Radio Slot in Bold Move

Paul Riverbank, 12/18/2025Conservative talk radio’s key slot gets new hosts, blending legacy, fresh voices, and national impact.

On paper, the transition looks straightforward: Marlow will cover the noon hour, and after that, Jennings picks up the baton until three. But in the world of talk radio—a landscape as rich in tradition as it is in opinion—proximity to that microphone comes with enormous expectations. Think about it: These are the hours when listeners, lunch break sandwiches in hand, have historically found not only commentary but community, heated debate, and no small measure of influence on the national lexicon.

Jennings, who’s perhaps best known for his sharply tuned repartee on CNN, doesn’t treat the moment lightly. When I spoke with him recently, the weight of history in his voice was impossible to miss. He remembers growing up with “voices that didn’t just fill the airwaves but shaped what millions thought about politics, elections, or just the news of the day.” His show on Salem began in a single-hour format; now, with the expansion, he has “space and time to stretch out—give analysis some room to breathe,” as he puts it. It’s not lost on him that the seat he’s occupying is no ordinary chair.

Alex Marlow arrives with a considerable résumé of his own. For more than ten years, he’s been at the helm of Breitbart’s newsroom, navigating one of the most tumultuous and polarized periods in digital media. Marlow, who’s quick to recall the thrill of talk radio as a teenager, readily acknowledges the legacy he inherits. He tells me that, apart from Limbaugh and Kirk, it was the likes of Dennis Prager and Larry Elder who “made the difference in how I understood the world.” Not just ideology, but sheer love for the medium itself, animated his path. And yes, he credits Kirk—a gracious host, Marlow says—with setting a high standard.

Salem higher-ups, for their part, see the choice as both strategic and symbolic. Phil Boyce, Salem’s Senior Vice President of Content, stresses that this isn’t about filling time. “It’s about advancing the conversation at a national level—introducing hosts who challenge, provoke, and inform all at once.” The radio company has always valued “real seriousness in its voices,” Boyce explains, a tradition he believes both Marlow and Jennings will extend.

There’s also the matter of legacy—not only Limbaugh, who redefined the field for decades, but closer to home, Charlie Kirk. While Kirk’s departure from daily radio matters, it isn’t a disappearance. The Charlie Kirk Show, having built a following that extends well beyond airwaves, moves to a dedicated podcast and livestream format. His former colleagues, Andrew Kolvet and Blake Neff, keep the program running on Salem’s Podcast Network, making good on a promise to fans that Kirk’s voice—and the questions he posed—won’t vanish from the national scene.

Transitions like this rarely land with everyone. Loyalists to Kirk’s rhetorical style might initially greet the shift with skepticism, while others embrace the freshness Marlow and Jennings bring. Still, all signs point to an acute awareness—among the new hosts and Salem executives alike—that occupying this storied time slot means holding a public trust. It’s about more than ratings or advertising. It’s about shaping the daily conversation for millions of listeners, particularly as another fractious election cycle approaches.

For some insiders, the significance of this handover can’t be overstated. Jennings told me he sees himself as a “caretaker,” adding, “You don’t mess with the formula unless you’re sure you can do right by it.” Marlow, for his part, wears his influences openly and treats the position as a calling rather than just a job. The tone, in their view, is serious but not somber—spirited debate, but always anchored in facts.

By the time the first notes of their opening theme ring out in January, the stakes for conservative talk radio will have shifted once more—continuity and change, tradition and innovation, all in play. Salem, now in the business of blending familiar rituals with new voices, asks its audience for trust one more time. As ever, the real verdict will come—quietly, hour by hour—in living rooms, cars, and offices across the country, wherever those three critical hours help listeners make sense of the world and their place in it.

Change is brewing in conservative talk radio—a shakeup that, if you follow American media closely, you’ll sense right away. Just a handful of weeks from now, Salem Media’s noon-to-three time block, once dominated by radio giants from Rush Limbaugh to Charlie Kirk, will sound very different. Listeners tuning in on January 5 won’t find Kirk’s daily program in its customary slot. Instead, Scott Jennings and Alex Marlow are stepping in, tasked with guiding this highly coveted part of the broadcast day through a new era.On paper, the transition looks straightforward: Marlow will cover the noon hour, and after that, Jennings picks up the baton until three. But in the world of talk radio—a landscape as rich in tradition as it is in opinion—proximity to that microphone comes with enormous expectations. Think about it: These are the hours when listeners, lunch break sandwiches in hand, have historically found not only commentary but community, heated debate, and no small measure of influence on the national lexicon.Jennings, who’s perhaps best known for his sharply tuned repartee on CNN, doesn’t treat the moment lightly. When I spoke with him recently, the weight of history in his voice was impossible to miss. He remembers growing up with “voices that didn’t just fill the airwaves but shaped what millions thought about politics, elections, or just the news of the day.” His show on Salem began in a single-hour format; now, with the expansion, he has “space and time to stretch out—give analysis some room to breathe,” as he puts it. It’s not lost on him that the seat he’s occupying is no ordinary chair.Alex Marlow arrives with a considerable résumé of his own. For more than ten years, he’s been at the helm of Breitbart’s newsroom, navigating one of the most tumultuous and polarized periods in digital media. Marlow, who’s quick to recall the thrill of talk radio as a teenager, readily acknowledges the legacy he inherits. He tells me that, apart from Limbaugh and Kirk, it was the likes of Dennis Prager and Larry Elder who “made the difference in how I understood the world.” Not just ideology, but sheer love for the medium itself, animated his path. And yes, he credits Kirk—a gracious host, Marlow says—with setting a high standard.Salem higher-ups, for their part, see the choice as both strategic and symbolic. Phil Boyce, Salem’s Senior Vice President of Content, stresses that this isn’t about filling time. “It’s about advancing the conversation at a national level—introducing hosts who challenge, provoke, and inform all at once.” The radio company has always valued “real seriousness in its voices,” Boyce explains, a tradition he believes both Marlow and Jennings will extend.There’s also the matter of legacy—not only Limbaugh, who redefined the field for decades, but closer to home, Charlie Kirk. While Kirk’s departure from daily radio matters, it isn’t a disappearance. The Charlie Kirk Show, having built a following that extends well beyond airwaves, moves to a dedicated podcast and livestream format. His former colleagues, Andrew Kolvet and Blake Neff, keep the program running on Salem’s Podcast Network, making good on a promise to fans that Kirk’s voice—and the questions he posed—won’t vanish from the national scene.Transitions like this rarely land with everyone. Loyalists to Kirk’s rhetorical style might initially greet the shift with skepticism, while others embrace the freshness Marlow and Jennings bring. Still, all signs point to an acute awareness—among the new hosts and Salem executives alike—that occupying this storied time slot means holding a public trust. It’s about more than ratings or advertising. It’s about shaping the daily conversation for millions of listeners, particularly as another fractious election cycle approaches.For some insiders, the significance of this handover can’t be overstated. Jennings told me he sees himself as a “caretaker,” adding, “You don’t mess with the formula unless you’re sure you can do right by it.” Marlow, for his part, wears his influences openly and treats the position as a calling rather than just a job. The tone, in their view, is serious but not somber—spirited debate, but always anchored in facts.By the time the first notes of their opening theme ring out in January, the stakes for conservative talk radio will have shifted once more—continuity and change, tradition and innovation, all in play. Salem, now in the business of blending familiar rituals with new voices, asks its audience for trust one more time. As ever, the real verdict will come—quietly, hour by hour—in living rooms, cars, and offices across the country, wherever those three critical hours help listeners make sense of the world and their place in it.