Derek Hartley

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Derek Hartley (born on October 28, 1969) is an American talk show host of the Derek and Romaine Show, a talk radio show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's Sirius OutQ channel. The show has a national audience with a potential reach of 1,000,000 listeners though nothing compared to Howard Stern's show also heard from the same satellite provider[1]. The popular show can also be heard worldwide on the internet.

Hartley is a pioneer in satellite talk radio. He joined SIRIUS before Howard Stern, when the service had approximately 350,000 subscribers. Sirius is the only satellite radio service to offer a channel primarily focusing on gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual issues. His show, co-hosted by Romaine Patterson, is enjoyed by both straight and gay listeners.

Hartley, is described by his listeners as witty, hilarious and highly knowledgeable, especially in the entertainment industry. His relationship with Ms. Patterson has been compared to that of the late Burns and Allen. He travels frequently as to serve as emcee/host of various Gay Pride events around the country and has served as a spokesman for various products and services. Hartley was one of the first openly gay talk show hosts on a national (now international) satellite service.

The name Derek Hartley is a pseudonym and he has yet to reveal his birth name. Hartley was born at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia. [2] He has two siblings: Tiffany, a younger sister, and a younger brother, Zach. A military brat, he lived in several states before the age of four. He attended kindergarten in Utah and first through third grades in Sebastopol, California at Apple Blossom Elementary School.

His parents divorced and Hartley and his sister divided their time and school years between California and Utah. [3] Between fourth and ninth grade, he attended almost a dozen different schools. He graduated from Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California in 1987 and attended the California State University at Los Angeles.

Hartley joined PlanetOut.com in May 1996 as a volunteer in the PopcornQ area on America Online. He hosted online celebrity interviews for PlanetOut on AOL in 1996 and 1997. In March 1997, he created FantasyMan Island, [4] an online dating area for PlanetOut, which ran until January 2005, and wrote a popular weekly relationship advice column there. From 1997-1999, he also worked directly for America Online, developing entertainment content for their Entertainment Asylum area.

In December 2000, Hartley was introduced to Fred Seibert by former AOL co-worker Emil Rensing and joined Frederator in January 2001. While there, he developed online marketing campaigns for Seventeen magazine, Tiger Beat and The New TNN (later Spike TV) for Viacom.

In late 2002, John McMullen, who met Hartley at the PlanetOut launch party in September 1996 in San Francisco, California, offered Hartley a dating/relationship show on a proposed gay talk channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. In March 2003, while searching for a producer for the show, McMullen hired former activist Romaine Patterson to serve as producer and co-host of the show. The two met only once before beginning work together as a radio duo. It was to be radio magic[5] The Derek and Romaine Show launched in April 2003 as a three hour talk show airng from 6-9pm ET each weekday. [6] Later the show was expanded to four hours from 6-10pm ET. Guests on the show have included: Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Meredith Vieira, Charo, Olivia Newton John, Samuel L. Jackson, kd lang, and Jenna Jameson.

In 2007 Derek Hartley was nominated for a GAYVN Award [7] for Best Non-Sex Performance.

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