First Light: Cast & Crew

FirstLight Show Bio

First Light is a friendly one-hour news/talk magazine show that provides in-depth coverage of the top story of the day with on-scene reports, actuality and analysis. Your host, Dirk Van, guides you through the early morning and prepares you for the day ahead with all the information you'll need to know. First Light features interviews with top celebrities and newsmakers.

Dirk Van

Dirk Van is the host of Westwood One’s First Light and The Week In Review. First Light, airing Monday to Friday from 5:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m. ET, is the news-talk show providing in-depth coverage of the top stories of the day with on-scene reports, actualities, analysis, as well as interviews with top celebrities and newsmakers. The Week In Review, airing Saturday and Sunday, provides listeners with a full recap of the previous week’s news events in a lively half-hour of memorable quotes and sounds.

Van traded a career in physical anthropology for broadcast journalism in 1978 when he became news director of WGCH, Greenwich, CT. He graduated to the "Big Apple" as a reporter for WCBS and then news director of WHN.

First Light is now in its 12th year and going strong, having won numerous awards from the International Radio Festival, Ohio State University and other prestigious organizations. Van can also be heard as the morning drive anchor on Fox News Radio.

Van joined Westwood One in 1980 and has been serving up his own brand of news and information ever since.

Chuck Rich

Chuck Rich is Westwood One's long-time entertainment reporter, appearing each morning on the network's First Light program and each weekend on the network's feature magazine show America This Week. Chuck began his broadcasting career in 1972 as a production assistant in the news department of Washington, DC's, Channel Nine, WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV). In 12 years there, he served as a news writer, film editor, talk show producer, interviewer and feature reporter as well as a movie critic. His film and home video reviews were heard on the Associated Press Radio Network from 1984 until 1990, when he joined Westwood One. From 1987 to 2001, Chuck served as film critic, writer, producer and reporter for the Voice of America. He is also a long-time contributing editor for Washingtonian magazine.

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