Politically themed TV show launching Tuesday

Published 4:00 am Saturday, July 8, 2017

In a sea of politically themed television programming, Jamie Cooper hopes his new venture will stand out.

Cooper, the longtime host of “Cooper & Company” on Athens-based ZTV, is launching a new show starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday — “Yellowhammer TV Live With Dale Jackson.” As the name suggests, the program represents a partnership with radio talk show host Dale Jackson and Yellowhammer TV, a division of Birmingham-based Yellowhammer News.

“There’s nothing like this based out of Athens that would also be statewide,” he said. “This is not going to be like Fox News.”

The show will air live from 5-5:30 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 5-6 a.m. on Friday. The shows will also be available online via Yellowhammer TV and Facebook.

If the show is successful, Cooper hopes to increase that time to two hours on Friday and include a town hall component where members of a studio audience can ask questions.

He said the new show is not replacing “Cooper & Company,” which has been on the air about 14 years.

The idea for the show began as a means to increase ZTV’s bottom line, but also give his station something it hasn’t had — news-oriented programming. Candidates who appear on the show will have to pay for airtime. And despite paying for airtime, Cooper said candidates won’t be allowed to say whatever they want.

“We’ve still got (Federal Communications Commission) rules to follow,” he said.

Cooper said the decision to launch the show was also inspired by his friend and former Limestone County Probate Judge Stan McDonald, who convinced Cooper to run for probate judge in 2012. Cooper was a candidate for all of about two weeks.

Cooper and Jackson have known each other for several years, because their places of work — ZTV and Jackson’s studio at WVNN — are within close proximity. Cooper has also appeared on Jackson’s show over the years.

“Dale’s got a huge following,” Cooper said. “He’s the Paul Finebaum of politics.”

An attempt to reach Jackson for comment was unsuccessful Friday.

On mornings where no political candidate is set to appear, the show will feature Jackson and a panel of area political experts who will weigh in on local, state and national politics. Cooper said he will stay behind the scenes and will act primarily as a facilitator.

He doesn’t know how the program will be received, but he’s hopeful local political junkies will tune in.

“I hope it will be well received,” he said. “I’m excited about it.”