• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Bongino

You guys are talking about Rush in the 1980s and 1990s, not the 2000s.
The Fairness Doctrine was not repealed until late 1987. Limbaugh did not really "get into gear" until mid-1988. That is hardly "the 80's". He did not get significant affiliates until the 90's began.
The show was very entertaining and cutting-edge then, but time marches on
It's not as if he woke up one day and stopped being entertaining. He gradually became more politicized and less entertaining, reflecting certainly the national attitude.
It's hard to let go, I get that, but talk radio is as alive as ever if you know where to look and are willing to keep a open mind.
True. But there is no "anchor host" nationally that is a flag carrier for the whole format.
 

The nationwide vaccine mandates that's going to be in effect in January. Cumulus was right to be ahead of the federal mandate but in their case they had to comply with state level vaccine mandates issued by some governors like Newsom.
Still, their own person discouraging vaccines, promoting "alternative" cures, then ultimately dying of the disease (and the insurance costs). was more of a factor than any state mandate, which wasn't in effect. Most major employers were going to have those mandates regardless of any government mandates. They wanted everyone back onsite, and insurance companies didn't want to pay extra ICU bills.
 
More in the never ending saga.


He says he told the company it was illegal. If so, why doesn't he sue? Because he'd lose.
Also he's not an employee and likely never goes into a Cumulus facility
 
... all I hear is "The election was stolen" "Everyone has a right to infect co-workers with Covid" "Vaccines are bad". "Democrats are putting people in prison for opposing masks and CRT.""Everyone who voted for Joe Biden is a Communist"
You mean like Rush in recent years?
 
Tell that to WSB and a good number of similar stations around the country.
WSB is one of those talk stations that has tried to give an effort since the 1990s, successfully counterprogramming WGST with Neil Boortz and Clark Howard, and outdrawing WGST in the ratings by an order of magnitude.

A format like talk radio demands effort and care into programming, and that largely got lost as talk radio became more national in scope. It shouldn’t have been the case; CBC Radio One and BBC Five Live are excellent examples of nationalized talk formats that have compelling content. It could have happened here but there aren’t enough WSBs and KFIs and WLWs out there.
 
WSB is one of those talk stations that has tried to give an effort since the 1990s, successfully counterprogramming WGST with Neil Boortz and Clark Howard, and outdrawing WGST in the ratings by an order of magnitude.

A format like talk radio demands effort and care into programming, and that largely got lost as talk radio became more national in scope. It shouldn’t have been the case; CBC Radio One and BBC Five Live are excellent examples of nationalized talk formats that have compelling content. It could have happened here but there aren’t enough WSBs and KFIs and WLWs out there.
Would local NPR News/talk affiliates count and some of NPR's national programs count as good nationalized talk formats with compelling content.

Sure I don't expect that here for commercial talk radio from Iheart or Cumulus though.
 
More in the never ending saga.


He says he told the company it was illegal. If so, why doesn't he sue? Because he'd lose.
Dan Bongino, who returned to his Westwood One-syndicated program on Wednesday, continues to use the forum to battle the vaccine mandate instituted by parent company Cumulus Media.

On Friday (Nov.5), Bongino was joined by Doc Washburn, who, until Oct. 8, hosted afternoons at Cumulus news/talk KARN-FM Little Rock (102.9). Washburn recalled the circumstances leading up to his dismissal from the station for not being vaccinated.

Washburn spoke about the vaccine mandate announcement CEO Mary Berner made back in August. “So, the CEO of Cumulus Media, Mary Burner announced on August 11, that she was angry with people who were not vaccinated,” he told Bongino during the segment. “And she said, you know what? Everybody's got to be fully vaccinated back in the building by October 11. If you're not, you're terminated.”

Doc Washburn is another name removed from Cumulus over vaccine mandates. Wait of course the CEO was pissed off especially when she had to mourn the death of Phil Valentine over this. Also the CEO and Board at Cumulus was on the hook to meet the vaccine requirements of some states when they made a company wide mandate in October.
 
Would local NPR News/talk affiliates count and some of NPR's national programs count as good nationalized talk formats with compelling content.

Sure I don't expect that here for commercial talk radio from Iheart or Cumulus though.
No. NPR is a programming service, not a network. Public radio stations purchase programming from NPR, Public Radio Exchange and American Public Media on a largely ad hoc basis (along with Pacifica, although they have no CPB support). This includes NPR News and Morning Edition/ATC.

“NPR” is a catch-all phrase (and in some cases, a political pejorative) for anyone who is trying to summarize a wholly parochial environment of public radio stations. To compare it to the CBC or BBC is like comparing a jar of mayonnaise to a step ladder.
 
No. NPR is a programming service, not a network. Public radio stations purchase programming from NPR, Public Radio Exchange and American Public Media on a largely ad hoc basis (along with Pacifica, although they have no CPB support). This includes NPR News and Morning Edition/ATC.

“NPR” is a catch-all phrase (and in some cases, a political pejorative) for anyone who is trying to summarize a wholly parochial environment of public radio stations. To compare it to the CBC or BBC is like comparing a jar of mayonnaise to a step ladder.
Good point if the USA had their equivalent of the CBC and BBC it would be more on the lines of the VOA if they were allowed to have affiliates domestically.
 
The Fairness Doctrine was not repealed until late 1987. Limbaugh did not really "get into gear" until mid-1988. That is hardly "the 80's". He did not get significant affiliates until the 90's began.

It's not as if he woke up one day and stopped being entertaining. He gradually became more politicized and less entertaining, reflecting certainly the national attitude.

True. But there is no "anchor host" nationally that is a flag carrier for the whole format.
I don't disagree with any of that.

As I see it, Rush's popularity gradually ramped up into and through the 1990s and, because his show dominated the time slot, many listeners developed a Rush habit that continued into the 2000s while his uniqueness and sense of humor gradually declined.

The lack of competition in his time slot didn't give listeners much choice other than to stick with him. In many markets you could tune around and find Rush in multiple locations on the dial with little if anything else to pick from.

And isn't not having a national anchor host a good thing? It leads to more diversity and more choice. Rush's ratings were already in decline. Time will tell how the cumulative ratings for the time slot will compare.
 
The difference is the CBC and BBC are non-commercial. The thrust for commercial radio is to drive passion, not information.
That's what programmers like Salem and past networks like Air America didn't get. Simply doing ideologically-based talk for the sake of it doesn't evoke passion if you don't try to challenge the status quo.

Two recent great examples of this are Eric Erickson and Charlie Sykes, who went full-on "Never Trump" in defiance of their audience. Sykes left radio entirely, but Erickson more than weathered the storm. Both instances were taking a chance and being creative and invoked passion, and that's largely been missing from the format.

People forget that Rush's show presentation was totally unlike any other talk radio show of its kind in the mid 1980s. No other talk show host did their show in the style of a late 1960s top 40 jock, they never played pop and rock tunes as bumper music, etc. He took a ton of chances and that's why Ed McLaughlin wanted to help syndicate him.
 
Bongino is irritating to me. I can only speak for myself. However, his ratings will drive whether he survives. Again, his NYC style is not really appealing to listeners west of the Hudson, IMO.
 
That's what programmers like Salem and past networks like Air America didn't get. Simply doing ideologically-based talk for the sake of it doesn't evoke passion if you don't try to challenge the status quo.

Two recent great examples of this are Eric Erickson and Charlie Sykes, who went full-on "Never Trump" in defiance of their audience. Sykes left radio entirely, but Erickson more than weathered the storm. Both instances were taking a chance and being creative and invoked passion, and that's largely been missing from the format.

People forget that Rush's show presentation was totally unlike any other talk radio show of its kind in the mid 1980s. No other talk show host did their show in the style of a late 1960s top 40 jock, they never played pop and rock tunes as bumper music, etc. He took a ton of chances and that's why Ed McLaughlin wanted to help syndicate him.
Salem is doing fine with all of its associated websites, news networks, and Christian Talk/Teaching networks, even with their talk stations being in the bottom tier.
 
Salem is doing fine with all of its associated websites, news networks, and Christian Talk/Teaching networks, even with their talk stations being in the bottom tier.
Salem's talk stations are truly bottom tier. More like bottom of the barrel.
Last I looked, the Salem station doesn't even appear in the ratings in Tampa.
All sorts of stations place higher than Salem's boring Angry White Men Talk Radio station, like salsa, etc.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, pays much attention to the station.

They really liked me telling them that on their station FB page. They liked it so much they banned me from their page.
I was not reticent at all to express my disdain for their boring, one-sided programming appealing only to a small section of the population.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: drt
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom