A. J. Hammer (born Andrew Goldberg on October 31, 1966)
is an American television and radio personality who most recently hosted the HLN channel's former evening entertainment show, ''

Showbiz Tonight ''Showbiz Tonight'' is a defunct American entertainment news program that aired from February 20, 2005, until February 6, 2014, on HLN. ''Showbiz Tonight'' was hosted by A. J. Hammer at CNN New York at the time of its cancellation. The show ...

''.

Biography

From 2001 to 2005, Hammer hosted

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cover ...

's ''

Hollywood Heat Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

'', a program focusing on crime and justice in the entertainment business. He also hosted several programs on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

. Hammer also was a correspondent for several programs including: the daily morning program ''Good Day New York'', the entertainment news program ''Extra'' and E! channel's ''News Live''. During most of the 1990s, he was a host of

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's ''Top 10 Countdown''. Hammer is a 1984 graduate of White Plains High School,

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

. He graduated with a degree in philosophy from the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

in 1988. He was involved with the

Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at New York University in 1913. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Israel ...

fraternity. Hammer began his broadcasting career at the age of 15, at

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...

radio in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. While in college he worked at

WTIC-FM WTIC-FM (96.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format. The station's studios and offices are located on Executive Drive in Farmington. WTIC ...

(

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

). He later worked for

WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, licensed to New York, New York. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), based in Franklin, Tennessee, it broadcasts EMF's Christian adult contemporary formatted p ...

radio and Z-100 (

WHTZ WHTZ (100.3 FM) is a commercial contemporary hit radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia. WHTZ is the flagship station for ''Elvis Duran and the Morning Show' ...

) radio, both in

. Hammer appears as a model in the book ''Heartthrob: A Hundred Years of Beautiful Men'' (in which he is described as possessing "almost-too-good-looking-for-words attractiveness") and the October 1999 issue of ''Gym'' magazine. He also appears in ''The Mane Thing'', a book by stylist Kevin Mancuso. Hammer also was the spokesperson for

Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with Milton Bradley Company, his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased ...

's promotional tour of the

Planet Hollywood Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl E ...

board game. Hammer was also a model in the

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album ''Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album), Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The a ...

's " What You Want" music video (2001) which involved a bathtub scene. The two were wearing clothes and the tub was filled with cold water 1/4 of the way up (no hot water available) and bubbles to the top.

References

External links

Official website
at CNN.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammer, A.J. 1966 births Jewish American journalists American television personalities American male journalists 21st-century American journalists University of Hartford alumni Living people People from White Plains, New York CNN people 21st-century American Jews