Maddow's first job as a radio host was in 1999 at WRNX (100.9 FM) in Holyoke, Massachusetts, then home to "The Dave in the Morning Show". She entered and won a contest the station held to find a new second lead for the show's principal host, Dave Brinnel.[25] After the WRNX show, she hosted Big Breakfast on WRSI in Northampton, Massachusetts, for two years, leaving in 2004 to join the new Air America radio network.[23] There she hosted Unfiltered along with Chuck D (of the hip hop group Public Enemy) and Lizz Winstead (co-creator of The Daily Show) until its cancellation in March 2005.[26]
Two weeks after the cancellation of Unfiltered in April 2005, Maddow's weekday two-hour radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, began airing; in March 2008 it gained a third hour, broadcasting from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with David Bender filling in the third hour for the call-in section, when Maddow was on TV assignment. In 2008, the show's length returned to two hours when Maddow began the nightly MSNBC television program, also called The Rachel Maddow Show. Early in 2009, after renewing her contract with Air America, Maddow's radio show was moved to a one-hour timeslot at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time. This iteration of the show began with a short introduction from Maddow followed by a broadcast based on the audio from the previous night's MSNBC broadcast of Maddow's television show. Little explanation or warning was given for this shift except for Maddow's comments that doing two daily shows was far too taxing.[27][28] Maddow's radio show ended on January 21, 2010 when Air America ceased operations.[29]
