nope, but the show is way more advice based .. CT was as much comedy as it was anything else in later years...
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Other consumer advice/help shows like Clark Howard/Tom Martino?
- Thread starter radiofan2023
- Start date
I tried listening to Ron's show, but he seemed too serious and kind of arrogant so I stopped. I still enjoy old Car Talk shows.
Not at all... hes just a bit short and right to the point.. there isnt alot of dilly dallying going on.
Yeah I enjoyed Car Talk's hosts joking with each other on their way to answering the question.
Yeah, Ron doesnt fiddle fart around, this is hard core nitty gritty, down to the specifics, minutia detail. its a good show for those who are serious about repair and less about the comedy from CT
In the 1980s, as AM stations were realizing they couldn't make it on music anymore, NBC Radio came up with a network called "Talk Net." It aired in the evening. Bruce Williams gave financial and practical advice from 7 to 10 p.m. Sally Jesse Rafael gave relationship and personal advice from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Then the shows repeated till dawn. There were some hosts who did it on weekends, too. It was all about advice, years before the talk format became almost exclusively about conservative politics.
Talk radio also had syndicated advice shows about psychology and relationships from Dr. Toni Grant, Dr. Joy Browne and Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Williams, Browne and Grant have passed and Rafael is retired. But Dr. Laura remains on Sirius XM.
I am mostly positive about Dave Ramsey. Yes, he has some faults. But overall, his advice about getting out of debt as quickly as you can... and don't get in debt in the first place... is a message most Americans could benefit from. (If you can't pay cash for the car, vacation or washing machine, don't buy it.)
Except for Ramsey, about family finances, and overnight George Noory doing shows about ghosts and UFOs, all other popular syndicated talk shows on American radio are about one topic only: Conservative National Politics. How did we get to the point where multiple stations in each market have only one topic 24/7, Conservative National Politics?
Talk radio also had syndicated advice shows about psychology and relationships from Dr. Toni Grant, Dr. Joy Browne and Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Williams, Browne and Grant have passed and Rafael is retired. But Dr. Laura remains on Sirius XM.
I am mostly positive about Dave Ramsey. Yes, he has some faults. But overall, his advice about getting out of debt as quickly as you can... and don't get in debt in the first place... is a message most Americans could benefit from. (If you can't pay cash for the car, vacation or washing machine, don't buy it.)
Except for Ramsey, about family finances, and overnight George Noory doing shows about ghosts and UFOs, all other popular syndicated talk shows on American radio are about one topic only: Conservative National Politics. How did we get to the point where multiple stations in each market have only one topic 24/7, Conservative National Politics?
Ramsey is conservative and so is Coast to Coast, they've had Jerome Corsi and other right wing commentators on. Plus the news segment on Coast to Coast is all conservative stories.
And Covid brought out some stories that Ramsey is not so pleasant to work for, stories related to covid and not covid.. but still a bad place to work
Ramseys good filler and is on the satellite 24/7 so its easy for stations to plug him in.
Kim Komando still has her show answering questions about computers, smartphones, and other tech-related topics.
Her show isn't as good as it used to be, it seems like now there's a lot of segments talking up certain companies. I don't remember if those companies sponsor the show or not.
Yes, and sometimes that gets in the way of otherwise decent shows. Why do these guys comment on politics? Why not just stick to the formula? I had no idea about Bruce Williams' politics or Dr. Joy Browne's. In fact, I think politics is why Dr. Laura started getting removed from some stations.
Do you remember, in her early days of syndication, she never commented on political matters. But I guess she saw many stations ran her just before they ran Rush Limbaugh. So she started mixing in conservative politics. For instance, she had no problem with talking about gay relationships at first. But then she did. On the other hand, many stations she was on eventually got rid of all weekday shows that weren't about conservative national politics to match Limbaugh. She eventually left broadcast radio syndication and found a home on Sirius XM.
While Noory and Ramsey sometimes inject politics into their programs, it isn't often. It should be zero. And I'd say the same if it were liberal politics too. But I guess they both have big egos and nobody is going to tell them otherwise. So if it pops up, switch to something else.
Chuck Harder from Florida had quite a few affiliates for His People's Radio Network back in the 90's. But other than His daily three hour "For the people" program and one on Saturday morning called "Fishin and wishin", I can't remember any of the other shows that were on the network. Anyone else?
Rich DeMuro who took over Leo Laporte's tech show is doing a good job.
At first he would let a caller ask a question, then ramble on for a couple of minutes while the caller disappeared. Now he's engaging the callers in conversation which is much better.
He brings up good topics and has a sense of humor. Much better show than Komando's, IMO.
I always thought of Dr. Laura as more religious than political. I don’t listen to Noory or Ramsey any more because of the politics talk/segments.
I was mostly talking about weekday shows. Other than Noory and Ramsey, no weekday non-political shows come to mind.
But for weekend shows, Premiere Networks has four...
--Rich on Tech with Rich DeMuro (formerly Leo Laporte, The Tech Guy) from KFI
--Handel on the Law with Bill Handel from KFI
--At Home with Gary Sullivan from WKRC
--In The Garden with Ron Wilson from WKRC
Then as mentioned above, there is The Kim Komando Show, independently produced. There's The Money Pit Home Improvement Show, also independently produced. There's the Car Doctor with Ron Ananian.
And CBS Radio has two
--Jill on Money with Jill Schlessinger
--Eye on Travel with Peter Greenberg
I've listened to Eye on Travel before on WCCO, it's interesting. I'll check out Rich on Tech, I didn't know he took calls.
I'd rather listen to a network spot feed going out over the air than Dave Ramsey. "Alka Seltzer, cut 4, in 3-2-1!" 🤣
Chuck Harder was great. He was about the only national radio host who expressed big concern about factories going overseas and gutting the Middle Class.
Agree, he could be tiring on the pity part, but his show wasn't strictly speaking, about financial advice. It was life advice and his thoughts.
Bruce Williams' show was completely different from Chuck Harder's. He was excellent and I do listen to his Youtube shows.
There were other shows. Most of the shows weren't hardcore political. Like Harder, most were hardworking Americans trying to make things better for the country. A station in my area ran most of the network.
Some were highly entertaining, like the one hosted by Howard Hewes (Joel Vincent) out of Atlanta, IIRC.
There was another by a host that many would've considered "liberal" at the time, but he wasn't an in-your-face type.
Jack Ellery gave an easy Thanksgiving turkey recipe for us many single guys at the time. Great host who passed on. Ellery was considered a talk radio pioneer.
Paul Gonzalez was another host who hosted a non-political and non-confrontational show. Not that it was boring, but wasn't political.
Another was this wacko "constitutional" type from Lakeland, Fla. "We The People" or "Straight Talk," by Jerry Hughes. Actually, I liked him but looking back, his topics fall more in line with these Montana "Freemen" and those types that don't want the government to do anything and want to secede.
Kind of like how I use to enjoy G. Gordon Liddy's show. Years later, as I changed my political outlook, realized what he did for a president -- and was prosecuted and imprisoned for -- wasn't anything honorable and maybe I shouldn't have looked up to him. Am embarrassed that I liked him as I don't like people that sell their souls to politicos and do even violent things for them.
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Methinks the sex scandal Dr. Laura was entangled in played a big role of her show's demise.
She constantly lectured and harangued people for their sexual preferences and acted superior to others. Then, it was discovered she had some skeletons in her closet... ala nude photos.
I remember the lawsuit and how she was forced, on air, to state an apology or something. Recall how striking that was. Out of the blue, she made her apology. The show went downhill from that.
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