In a clear victory for Christians, an atheist radio show in the U.S. has been pulled off the air and replaced by non-stop Christmas music to spread the joy of the season.
In a press statement, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist legal group, has announced that its "Freethought Radio" programme hosted by FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor has been removed from the air by local radio station WXXM 92.1 FM in Madison, Wisconsin.
The FFRF has gained prominence for suing public schools and local governments nationwide over any kind of perceived endorsement of Christianity.
It had been using its "Freethought Radio" programme to counter "the religious-right domination of our public airwaves." Evolutionary biologist and famed atheist Richard Dawkins and the late atheist writer Christopher Hitchens were among the notable names that had graced the show, The Christian Post reported.
"Freethought Radio" aired in cities in at least six states as well as in Alberta, Canada.
However, radio listeners were surprised last week when the show was suddenly taken off the air and replaced by a nonstop airing of Christmas and holiday music under the station's new moniker "Best FM."
The abrupt change came after the Nov. 8 presidential election that saw the Republican Party's Donald Trump beating the Democratic Party's Hillary Clinton.
"We opened up the Wisconsin State Journal the morning after the election to read the remarkable announcement that progressive talk had been banished forthwith on 92.1 FM and replaced with around-the-clock Christmas music," said Gaylor, who founded FFRF with her husband, Barker, in 1978.
She said the cancellation of the programme was not "too much of a surprise" and not "too big of a loss" for them since their programme still airs on Community Radio 103.5 FM WADR in Janesville, Wisconsin, which is about 45 miles from Madison.
There has been no reported official explanation yet for the change in radio format. However, Wisconsin State Journal columnist Chris Rickert wrote last Saturday that unlike conservative talk shows, "liberal talk on commercial radio has long failed to garner the audience and ad dollars."
