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What shows do YOU like?

R

Ravens

These are the rules:

1. ONLY LIST SHOWS YOU LIKE. No negativity, no bashing what other people like. Just a list of what you like.
2. Keep your reasons for linking the show short. One sentence or so.
3. NO LISTS OF SHOWS YOU DO NOT LIKE
4. Shows do not have to be on the air anymore.

Here are a few of mine:

Bruce Williams - He's one of the guys who made me want to do radio
Early 90s Howard Stern - He's the other guy who made me want to do radio
Art Bell - Just so weird and more fun than his successor
Car Talk - I think it might be the public radio show with the widest audience. Everyone loves it.

I have a few others that I like parts of, but not enough to put them here.

So lets see how long this lasts before it degenerates into hate.
 
OK, I'll take you up on this. Noting you have limited this to news/talk programming...

Off the top of my head...

Brad Crandall, WNBC
Imus in the Morning, WNBC
Howard Stern, WNBC
Soupy Sales, WNBC
Michael Jackson, KABC
NJ 101.5
Thom Hartmann
Stephanie Miller
Dick Purtan, Keener13-WOMC
Bob Menefee, WCAU
Evening Edition with Taylor Grant, WCAU
Morning Edition, WCAU
Joey Reynolds, WOR

Happy?
 
FredLeonard said:
Noting you have limited this to news/talk programming...
Click to expand...



Bob Grant: Intelligence & Wit.
Rush Limbaugh: Still makes me giggle after all these years. Still impresses me with his use of the medium.
Love Phones: This show had everyone from teens to thirty-somethings glued to a nightly call-in program on CHR stations. Came at the right time in pop culture.
The Jesus Christ Show: Smartest use of the medium in a time when creativity has stalled.
The Shadow: This drama still holds up after all these years.
 
FredLeonard said:
OK, I'll take you up on this. Noting you have limited this to news/talk programming...

Off the top of my head...

Brad Crandall, WNBC
Imus in the Morning, WNBC
Howard Stern, WNBC
Soupy Sales, WNBC
Michael Jackson, KABC
NJ 101.5
Thom Hartmann
Stephanie Miller
Dick Purtan, Keener13-WOMC
Bob Menefee, WCAU
Evening Edition with Taylor Grant, WCAU
Morning Edition, WCAU
Joey Reynolds, WOR

Happy?
Click to expand...

Not a bad list. I think any spoken word format would be fine. Just hard to compare a modern talk show with music shows. It's a different skill set.

I'll add a general station to my list: The 1996ish lineup of WWDB was pretty strong, too.
 
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Ravens said:
Not a bad list. I think any spoken word format would be fine. Just hard to compare a modern talk show with music shows. It's a different skill set.

I'll add a general station to my list: The 1996ish lineup of WWDB was pretty strong, too.
Click to expand...

Agreed, before they started doing infomercials disguised as talk shows.
 
Ravens said:
I know Jim Corea was an infomercial, but he was a likable guy. I think he could have done a legit health show without the vitamin selling stuff.
Click to expand...

Beyond that they were doing pay to play guests; somebody with something to promote pays to be come on for a nice softball interview.

PS to above list:
Paul Harvey
George Putnam (KIEV)
KYW 1965-1980
Charles Osgood (1971 - c1990)
 
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John Gambling - Still a good listen, but even better on WOR with J.J. Kennedy.
Jerry Doyle - Feisty, funny, informed but not partisan. His varied careers and life experience make him an interesting guy.
Curtis & Kuby - The show is better balanced now than when they were on mornings. Curtis has calmed down. They sound like they're genuinely having fun.
John & Ken - Again, this show is fun! Great chemistry. Shannon Ferron who does news is an asset to the show. But I still can't tell the two hosts apart!
Doug McIntyre's Red Eye Radio (NOT the current Red Eye Radio) - This was an example of the magic that can happen when a PD (WABC's former PD Laurie Cantillo) takes a chance and gives a talented broadcaster relatively free reign. This may have been my all-time favorite radio talk show.
Noam Layden's "The News Hour" - (WABC's Imus lead-in.) An example of what can be done without a lot of gimmicks. It's a single host who sounds like he's talking one-on-one to listeners about the upcoming day's news and what happened overnight. This hour was formerly hosted by Doug McIntyre but it seems the perfect format for Noam. Red Eye was perfect for McIntyre.
Bloomberg Law / Bloomberg West / Bloomberg Business Week - These are three out of a number of excellent programs on Bloomberg Radio covering current legal, technology and business stories respectively.
Lisa Wexler (WFAS-AM) - Has a legal background, thinks for herself and has a sense of humor. Sounds like she loves doing radio. She should have a bigger forum.
 
Ravens said:
Bruce Williams - He's one of the guys who made me want to do radio
Early 90s Howard Stern - He's the other guy who made me want to do radio
Art Bell - Just so weird and more fun than his successor
Car Talk - I think it might be the public radio show with the widest audience. Everyone loves it.
Click to expand...

I know you take objection to some of my disparaging comments about current personalities. As I look at your list, it your talking about shows from the past - personalities that made you want to get into radio. Past tense. "What shows DID you like?" My disappointment with the current state of radio comes because it seems there are few shows and personalities like you and I both listed around any more.
 
FredLeonard said:
I know you take objection to some of my disparaging comments about current personalities. As I look at your list, it your talking about shows from the past - personalities that made you want to get into radio. Past tense. "What shows DID you like?" My disappointment with the current state of radio comes because it seems there are few shows and personalities like you and I both listed around any more.
Click to expand...

There aren't a whole lot that I really like these days. Some of that is the fact that I don't have a lot of time to listen. I guess the difference is I don't think the guys these days are doing anything wrong, just not my style.

I'll also add Bill Handel to the list. His weekend show is great. Not a great voice, but a huge personality. At least I think he still does the "you don't have a case" show.
 
Ravens said:
There aren't a whole lot that I really like these days. Some of that is the fact that I don't have a lot of time to listen. I guess the difference is I don't think the guys these days are doing anything wrong, just not my style.
Click to expand...

Style - or generational style - is a big factor, of course. But radio has changed, too. I used to like Rush (1988-1992), believe it or not. Back then, stations (like WABC) were full service news/talk and the entire schedule was not conservative/tea party hosts doing some version of "Rush style." Stations had hosts of different backgrounds and hosts had to work harder to entertain people who didn't agree with them, to disagree without being disagreeable. And radio, in general, was more about personalities and not just format.

Probably the last three true radio personalities left are Imus, Howard and Rush and none of them is what he was.

FTR: Been enjoying this exchange with you. Maybe Eduardo's doctor can fit me in for a check-up, too. ;)
 
Very little radio news/talk, except for maybe some news updates.
One of the few NPR shows I listen to every week is "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!" Peter Sagal is HILARIOUS and so is the panel (especially when Paula Poundstone or Tom Bodett is on). They always add some funny news stories to the lightning fill-in-the-blank challenge - many of those stories I did not see in the Associated Press bulletins.
I do listen to a little Dave Ramsey here and there as well, maybe Clark Howard as well.

-crainbebo
 
Ravens said:
There aren't a whole lot that I really like these days. Some of that is the fact that I don't have a lot of time to listen. I guess the difference is I don't think the guys these days are doing anything wrong, just not my style.

I'll also add Bill Handel to the list. His weekend show is great. Not a great voice, but a huge personality. At least I think he still does the "you don't have a case" show.
Click to expand...

Yes, Handle is great. LA is lucky to have a compelling morning show. His weekday morning show can be streamed but it's on at the same Eastern Time as Gambling, Simone, Geraldo and Gallagher so there's no shortage of local stuff to listen to.

You say there isn't a whole lot you like these days -- but has that really changed? Thinking back I don't recall loving more than a handful of shows at any given time. There was a lot of awful stuff in between. The difference is that now I need to seek out shows from all over the country on the Internet. Talk Radio in NYC is far from what it used to be.
 
FredLeonard said:
Style - or generational style - is a big factor, of course. But radio has changed, too. I used to like Rush (1988-1992), believe it or not. Back then, stations (like WABC) were full service news/talk and the entire schedule was not conservative/tea party hosts doing some version of "Rush style." Stations had hosts of different backgrounds and hosts had to work harder to entertain people who didn't agree with them, to disagree without being disagreeable. And radio, in general, was more about personalities and not just format.

Probably the last three true radio personalities left are Imus, Howard and Rush and none of them is what he was.

FTR: Been enjoying this exchange with you. Maybe Eduardo's doctor can fit me in for a check-up, too. ;)
Click to expand...

See, we're not as far apart as you thought!

I never was a Rush fan. I have nothing but respect for him and know he's a master at what he does, but never really was a huge fan. I always liked shock jock hot talk more than political talk. I'll listen to it, but it's usually in one ear and out the other.

wadio said:
Yes, Handle is great. LA is lucky to have a compelling morning show. His weekday morning show can be streamed but it's on at the same Eastern Time as Gambling, Simone, Geraldo and Gallagher so there's no shortage of local stuff to listen to.

You say there isn't a whole lot you like these days -- but has that really changed? Thinking back I don't recall loving more than a handful of shows at any given time. There was a lot of awful stuff in between. The difference is that now I need to seek out shows from all over the country on the Internet. Talk Radio in NYC is far from what it used to be.
Click to expand...

You make a good point. There probably aren't more than a handful of "great" shows at any given time.
 
I sometimes enjoy The Prairie Home Companion. If the guests are good, I like Fresh Air. I used to like The War Room, but it's off the air.

What I really miss are radio shows. A block of programming isn't really a show just because the name of the main voice changes. When I've been stuck in situations where I had to listen to an entire day of conservative talk radio, there were no shows. There was one continuous day of programming with periodic changes in the main voice. Music format radio is pretty much the same thing.
 
One more I like. I don't get to hear as often as I'd like but I make a point to listen when I can:
Arnie Arnesen (WNHN, Concord, NH)
 
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