Why would TV execs want to put Bill Cunningham's hate speech on TV?

Right-wing radio host Bill Cunningham is getting a nationally syndicated television show, the Chicago Tribune reported today. One is left to wonder how the Tribune Co., which will syndicate the show, thought it would be a good idea to broadcast Cunningham's caustic commentary on TV.

Cunningham is no radio powerhouse in the mold of Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck, but what he lacks in audience size, he makes up for in sheer vitriol.

Vituperative remarks about President Obama are a staple of Cunningham's radio show. He has attacked Obama as a racist, alleged that the president wants to "gas the Jews," and invoked “six-six-six” and “the beast” in discussing “Barack Hussein Obama.” He's adopted the rhetoric of birthers and even made racially charged remarks about Obama's father, stating, “That's what black fathers do. They simply leave.”

The poor are also among Cunningham's favorite targets for attack: He has stated that they are impoverished "because they lack values, ethics, and morals," and advocated "beat[ing] the hell outta" homeless people with “a big old cane, Singapore-style.”

This is the guy Tribune wants to put on TV five days a week?