History
D.H. "Buck" Long, vice president of WKRG, brought the idea of Congressional Report to the attention of Jack Edwards, who represented Alabama's 1st congressional district. The program would be a collaboration of Edwards, Trent Lott Mississippi's 5th congressional district and Bob Sikes of Florida's 1st congressional district. Sikes was reluctant at first, according to Lott, but he ultimately joined the program from its first broadcast. Sikes was a Democrat; Edwards and Lott were Republicans. Throughout the years, the hosts made sure the program would remain non-partisan and free of conflicts.
After succeeding Sikes as congressman in 1979, fellow Democrat Earl Hutto joined the program. Edwards retired from Congress in 1985, and fellow Republican Sonny Callahan succeeded him in the U.S. House of Representatives and on the program. Shortly after Lott was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988, the program’s multiple hosts format ended and Callahan was its only host. Lott and Hutto would reappear on the program during Callahan’s term in Congress. Hutto retired from Congress, but Lott was unable to continue co-hosting the program on a regular basis due to his status as Senate majority leader.
In 2002, Callahan announced his retirement from Congress and his Chief of Staff Jo Bonner became his successor. Like his former boss, Bonner also hosted Congressional Report on his own, and invited numerous guests. As an aide to Callahan, Bonner helped produce the program during the mid-1980s. In the July 2003 Nielsen ratings, the program in its 10:00 a.m. timeslot (following Face the Nation on CBS) still ranked higher in viewers than those of Mobile’s three other major network TV affiliates. It continued to be profitable for WKRG, which had estimated that it could earn $1500 or more for airing the commercial-free program.
Read more about this topic: Gulf Coast Congressional Report
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