John Loughlin Brings Campaign Charisma Back to the Radio

From  to from Republican Barry Hinckley's Senate campaign earlier this month, John Loughlin can still be heard on the Rhode Island air waves, and said this week he intends to get back into television production.

The former state representative and from Tiverton's been filling in for radio talk show hosts at 630WPRO and taking phone calls.

"I filled in on Friday the 13th, which is a huge radio day," he said, adding that he's done frequent fill-ins for John DePetro, Dan Yorke, Matt Allen and Buddy Cianci.

Loughlin said he will be back hosting tonight.

"He gives me three hours of solid radio," said Paul Giammarco, program director. "He's got an incredible radio voice. He's a hero."

Giammarco said Loughlin's life experience shows and he's able to engage with people who would normally be reluctant.

"As long as he's available, I'd absolutely use him," he added, saying less people call in when their normal host is away. "I don't regularly get emails when there's fill-ins, you know? But with John, I get a lot of comments."

Interest in television commercial production

Loughlin said he started a television commercial production company, Media-Rite, LLC, when he got elected to the General Assembly in 2005, and always ran it by word of mouth. He said he's done television work for Centreville Bank, , Fatima Hospital and Ocean State Job Lot, among others.  

The website is under construction, and Loughlin said he's currently looking through domain names and talking to interested developers.

"It's complex," he said. "I just have to showcase seven years of television production work."

Media-Rite will target "middle strata" production budgets, in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

"I'm not trying to build the next NBC, just make a comfortable living as a small businessman in Rhode Island and provide some jobs," he said.

Will Loughlin run for office again?

"I never say never," he said. "It’s entirely possible, if I feel as though there’s a need I can fill, and the willingness to commit the resources to another election."