Conspiracy theory?

[wadio]

Rush Limbaugh is not dead! Conspiracy theory? I think not.

Here's the evidence:

• Stations are still running promos like, "Rush Limbaugh, coming up at Noon!" Not "The Rush Limbaugh Show coming up at Noon."
• The "Limbaugh Minute," or whatever it's called, is still running on many stations with no mention that it's "previously recorded."
• Rush is still doing Lifelock commercials. Is there a hidden message there? "Life ... Lock?" Hmmm?

And I predict there's no end in sight. Evidence: Art Bell and Car Talk are still alive and well on some stations.

I realize that many people are saddened by Rush's death. It's the end of an error. But at some point isn't it time to move on? There's a three hour slot waiting to be filled by one of the many talented talk radio hosts out there who can keep talk radio vibrant and current. Let's not let talk radio die along with Rush.

 

[CTListener]

It's the end of an error.

Intentional humor, or actually not knowing the expression is "end of an era"?

 

[wadio]

Oops! Unintentional typo. But I like it. 😁

 

[gr8oldies]

Art Bell is on a Saturday night slot, not his previous weekday slot. Consultant Holland Cooke says clusters should take one of their also-ran AMs and run Rush 24/7. (His suggestion of Mike Lindell is nuts....Premiere nor affiliates want those lawsuits) Monday Memo: #Rush4ever

 

[TheBigA]

But at some point isn't it time to move on? There's a three hour slot waiting to be filled by one of the many talented talk radio hosts out there who can keep talk radio vibrant and current. Let's not let talk radio die along with Rush.

Like who? There's nothing magic about the particular timeslot. It's the person who occupies it. Just moving Buck Sexton into that slot isn't going to get the kind of numbers that Rush got year after year. So why not keep running him, and hope the dittoheads forget that he's gone? There are stations still running "Rock Roll & Remember" with old Dick Clark voice tracks and AT40 with Casey Kasem.

 

[Kelly A]

As despicable as the thought; All Conspiracies All The Time, could be an interesting AM radio talk format. It would combine the old Art Bell sleep deprived crazy's with not-dead yet shows like Alex Jones. Securing business insurance could be a challenge, and the legal fees would be astronomical. But hey, considering how many Anti-Vaccer's, QAnon freaks, and believer's of The Big Lie there are out there...

 

[CTListener]

Like who? There's nothing magic about the particular timeslot. It's the person who occupies it.

In stations with music formats, that time slot now is either voicetracked or jockless. In the "good old days," stations would put their blandest, most generic-sounding jock in that slot, figuring the stay-at-home wives who made up much of the audience were just looking for background musical entertainment, presented in a pleasant, unobtrusive manner.

 

[frankberry]

Oops! Unintentional typo. But I like it. 😁

I was going to correct the spelling but I'm glad that I decided not to do it.

 

[wadio]

As despicable as the thought; All Conspiracies All The Time, could be an interesting AM radio talk format. It would combine the old Art Bell sleep deprived crazy's with not-dead yet shows like Alex Jones. Securing business insurance could be a challenge, and the legal fees would be astronomical. But hey, considering how many Anti-Vaccer's, QAnon freaks, and believer's of The Big Lie there are out there...

You may be onto something! As long as it's billed as pure conspiracy theory it could be hard to make a legal claim. Kind of like Bill Handel's "marginal legal advice" disclaimer.

 

[Mediafrog+]

As despicable as the thought; All Conspiracies All The Time, could be an interesting AM radio talk format. It would combine the old Art Bell sleep deprived crazy's with not-dead yet shows like Alex Jones. Securing business insurance could be a challenge, and the legal fees would be astronomical. But hey, considering how many Anti-Vaccer's, QAnon freaks, and believer's of The Big Lie there are out there...

Such stations already exist. Checked out any of the U.S. private shortwave operations (WWCR, WBCQ, WRMI, etc.) ?

For those of you unfamiliar with those shortwave stations, a thought exercise: Imagine the worst of the worst AM talk stations. Then go several levels beneath that. Then you have an idea of the programming on U.S. private SW broadcasters.

 

[davideduardo]

Such stations already exist. Checked out any of the U.S. private shortwave operations (WWCR, WBCQ, WRMI, etc.) ?

For those of you unfamiliar with those shortwave stations, a thought exercise: Imagine the worst of the worst AM talk stations. Then go several levels beneath that. Then you have an idea of the programming on U.S. private SW broadcasters.

The good thing is that the world-wide use of shortwave has dropped to nearly nothing, so I suspect those transmitters have about 1000 watts per listener!

 

[Kelly A]

The good thing is that the world-wide use of shortwave has dropped to nearly nothing, so I suspect those transmitters have about 1000 watts per listener!

"The listener called." "They wondered what time you would be home for dinner?"

 

[davideduardo]

"The listener called." "They wondered what time you would be home for dinner?"

I've told this story before, but in 1967 I bought a station licensed about 60 miles outside of Quito, Ecuador. It was on 595 AM and in the 3.3 mHz band on shortwave. They had a working 250 watt AM rig and a SW transmitter that had been used for parts for the AM. Oh, the transmitter room had compacted dirt floors and adobe walls!

I did one of the world's first move-ins and took 595 to Quito and set it on 590. The SW transmitter was tossed in a dump and the license cancelled. That was about 55 years ago, and even then shortwave was not viable.

 

[Kelly A]

I've told this story before, but in 1967 I bought a station licensed about 60 miles outside of Quito, Ecuador. It was on 595 AM and in the 3.3 mHz band on shortwave. They had a working 250 watt AM rig and a SW transmitter that had been used for parts for the AM. Oh, the transmitter room had compacted dirt floors and adobe walls!

I did one of the world's first move-ins and took 595 to Quito and set it on 590. The SW transmitter was tossed in a dump and the license cancelled. That was about 55 years ago, and even then shortwave was not viable.

Exactly. SW is relegated to a handful of religious broadcasters and what is left of VOA and Radio Marti.

 

[CTListener]

Exactly. SW is relegated to a handful of religious broadcasters and what is left of VOA and Radio Marti.

And Radio Habana Cuba and, bizarrely, Radio Romania International, which is still using the same news/comment/tourism feature/mailbag template that every international broadcaster was using 50 years ago.

 

[KeithE4]

And Radio Habana Cuba and, bizarrely, Radio Romania International, which is still using the same news/comment/tourism feature/mailbag template that every international broadcaster was using 50 years ago.

The BBC is still a strong presence on shortwave, but I hear much more Chinese than English these days.

 

[davideduardo]

The BBC is still a strong presence on shortwave, but I hear much more Chinese than English these days.

The real issue is not "who is broadcasting?" but "who is listening?". With the content formerly limited to SW now all over the internet, who would listen to low-quality AM with static and fading on SW?

 

[gr8oldies]

Such stations already exist. Checked out any of the U.S. private shortwave operations (WWCR, WBCQ, WRMI, etc.) ?

For those of you unfamiliar with those shortwave stations, a thought exercise: Imagine the worst of the worst AM talk stations. Then go several levels beneath that. Then you have an idea of the programming on U.S. private SW broadcasters.

We have one locally I call Conspiracy Talk 1470.

 

[Miss Tuned]

Such stations already exist. Checked out any of the U.S. private shortwave operations (WWCR, WBCQ, WRMI, etc.) ?

For those of you unfamiliar with those shortwave stations, a thought exercise: Imagine the worst of the worst AM talk stations. Then go several levels beneath that. Then you have an idea of the programming on U.S. private SW broadcasters.

There's an AM station, WBCR in Alcoa TN, which runs this sort of all-conspiracy, all-the-time junk - Alex Jones and the like. The station's website is kerrazy-town, lots of posts selling weird miracle supplements and the like.

I turned it on for a laugh via a local Knoxville SDR. There's a man with a laughably fake English accent, pretending he lives in "Ba'ersea", talking about the British Covid-19 lockdown.

 

[Kelly A]

The real issue is not "who is broadcasting?" but "who is listening?". With the content formerly limited to SW now all over the internet, who would listen to low-quality AM with static and fading on SW?

In theory, under-developed countries that have never heard-of, let alone heard anything off the Internet. As VOA and alike have struggled with, there is no way to know how many listeners fall under that category. So instead, VOA and alike just assume everyone in the .5mV/ calculated pattern is listening. At least that's what they tell Congress..