WABC’s PSA for Saving AM Radio

[Delete My Account]

Centrists are very spread out, some are liberal socially and conservative economically, while others are the opposite. And there is more division among liberals than ultra-conservatives as the efforts at building left leaning talk stations and even a network have shown.

(Those who would disagree with my analysis of liberals and the failure of the liberal talk web will say that the hosts sounded like campaigners instead of entertainers; too much passion for the cause and not enough fun in each show).

As someone who's debated this here before, I've come to similar conclusions. There's the entertainment factor and there's the politics.

I recently spent some time listening to Civic Media, a Wisconsin network that programs a full slate of what some would call centrist and others would call liberal shows. It wasn't "bad" - it was technically proficient, wasn't nasty or adversarial per se. But it was just sort of "there." It was polite people talking. It didn't elicit much emotion in me either way. I could nod and agree with some of it, but there wasn't something where I had to tune back in.

Now, I think a lot of the right wing shows have elevated to a level of nastiness and bad faith arguing I don't appreciate either. But regardless of how "liberal" NPR may be, it's so dry to me I don't spend much time with it. I grew up hearing talk show hosts who had bigger personalities. That's what Rush did understand because he'd been a Top 40 DJ. He got that it was a show, and had entertainment elements. The Daily Show and Colbert Report understood that too on television.

Let's just say generically I'm a "liberal" - regardless of nuance, or subjectivity of political labels. At this point I've probably got reasons, intellectually and personally, why I believe what I believe and vote the way I vote. I'm not looking for an academic experience, the lecture. If I'm tuning in, spending my time with a commercial station, I want to be entertained. I want passion, humor, personality. It's why I have loved radio. You don't have to be nasty or angry, but entertain me. Make me feel something beyond intellectual exhaustion at the news cycle. Find the absurdity, present a personal story, talk to a caller or about a text that tells a story about how DOGE impacted their life or their family, do a montage of Trump's speech flubs and we'll have a laugh about it, talk about the long-shot progressive New York City mayoral candidate that's using social media and direct conversations with inner city Trump voters and bold policy proposals to attempt to change politics, and then talk about why those proposals could or wouldn't work in language working people can understand. Have some energy. You know what you believe, make it entertaining. Right-wing hosts don't have this crisis of confidence or sound insecure in their beliefs or water them down and they say some things at times, that are absolutely awful. Don't be a "shock jock" but don't worry about being "PC." Your opponents sure don't.

That would be my message to a hypothetical "liberal" talk show host.

 

[Bongwater]

The repeal of "Fairness" permitted Rush to be outspoken, and others followed. Many consider that Limbaugh alone gave AM radio another two decades or a bit more of productive life.

But seriously David, Was it worth it?

Was it worth the countless ruined family holidays across the nation every year since 1988 when Uncle Mike got going on the annual Things Rush Limbaugh Complained About This Year at the table? So much so that in 1995-1995, I saw a guest psychologist on a Seattle morning TV show advising how to deal with "politically difficult family members". I never saw anything like that in 1985. Mostly because we lived by a now long forgotten old rule; No politics or religion at the table. That disappeared with the Fairness Doctrine itself. She acknowledged "the rise of talk radio in recent years" as part of the blame, while directing it nowhere.

But more than anything else, was it really worth the decades of continuing national breakdown of political discourse? The hostility, the lies, broken careers, families and friendships and pain from back then to current times from What Limbaugh Hath Wrought?

Because if we could see the future back then, (and it really wasn't hard to find, Because Rush Limbaugh was openly and literally selling this current administration's agenda thirty plus years ago.) would we have done it differently?

Seriously, the last thing I want to see is this medium's tombstone. But especially one that reads "Yeah, we taught everybody how to rage farm before the internet. But for a few decades, wasn't it great?"

 

[Rusty Muck]

That's exactly what conservative talk radio has become within the past decade, or even longer. Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke the S-word in 2012 is when it jumped the shark, and it has never recovered since then. That was just insulting to be mean, not insulting to be funny.

It certainly didn't help that his hearing loss in 2002 affected him in ways that cannot be quantified. I usually point to that as the moment when his show changed.

Since 1988, the vast majority of conservatalkers (especially today) merely imitate Rush but often failing to recognize the entertainment factor. And he actually had one, he was a top 40 deejay but substituted songs for politics.

 

[Bongwater]

I have no idea what they're aware of. I was just analyzing what I was seeing. Don't shoot the piano player messenger.

Oh, I thought that was a piano roll. Cost cutting and all. Play on.....

 

[Rusty Muck]

Seriously, the last thing I want to see is this medium's tombstone. But especially one that reads "Yeah, we taught everybody how to rage farm before the internet. But for a few decades, wasn't it great?"

As someone who used to listen to talk radio before experiencing a political 180 a decade ago (long story) ... I can't say I'll miss it. Even though I still am fascinated by the science of AM.

 

[delgriffith]

In an interesting comment, retiring WLW’s retiring morning man said:

“Talk has gotten harder to do with social media,” says McConnell, who turns 70 on May 16. Some experts and guests “don’t want to come on because they’d get too much flak (on social media). That’s why when most guests come on, they agree with the host. They don’t get as much flak. This started when I was in Chicago [2010-14]. The media is so divided.”

 

[Delete My Account]

McConnell makes a good point. There's a number of conservatives who probably won't go on NPR, and a lot of liberals who wouldn't go on Fox. In part, that's sometimes due to the host, not wanting to feel "assaulted" verbally or yelled at or over. Add social media to the mix, where a lot of the audience probably doesn't want to see that person they disagree with "platformed" and here we are.

 

[boombox4]

That is the most desperate ad I have ever seen for anything.

I suppose that hinges on what you call 'desperate'. To me, when I go to a news or magazine site and get slammed with pop-ups covering the screen, making it difficult to figure out which 'X' to click to switch them off, and then navigate through a sea of video ads and video popups in the corner -- to me, THAT'S desperate.

 

[radiofan2023]

I suppose that hinges on what you call 'desperate'. To me, when I go to a news or magazine site and get slammed with pop-ups covering the screen, making it difficult to figure out which 'X' to click to switch them off, and then navigate through a sea of video ads and video popups in the corner -- to me, THAT'S desperate.

There are different stenches of desperation. The WABC ad is like a dive bar at closing time.

 

[boombox4]

Right side, Left side and the truth.

The 'truth' often contains some of both. As for what constitutes 'fairness', when you're talking about a US statute or Federal regulation, it often depends on the actual definition of the term -- which is included in the law or regulation, and sometimes the popular name of the regulation is actually different from what is stated in the law itself.

 

[boombox4]

There are different stenches of desperation. The WABC ad is like a dive bar at closing time.

What I see on news sites is worse than people screaming you from all sides. But, then again, it's desperation. An indication of how starved many of these news sites are for actual ad revenues. They'll bomb your computer with crap that slows it down while you're trying to get it out of the way and actually read the article you went there for.

It's like tuning to a radio station and hearing irritating commercials all compressed to the maximum, for 50 minutes out of the hour. No way is WABC's web ad that desperate. Agreed, that it's degrees of desperation, though. I suppose it all goes with the territory.

 

[Rusty Muck]

There are different stenches of desperation. The WABC ad is like a dive bar at closing time.

No doubt a lot of it is buyer's remorse on Cats' part. Could you blame him? His 50,000-watt radio station, bought with the sole intention of being a political mouthpiece, is on the verge of total obsolescence.

 

[kevtronics]

No doubt a lot of it is buyer's remorse on Cats' part. Could you blame him? His 50,000-watt radio station, bought with the sole intention of being a political mouthpiece, is on the verge of total obsolescence.

There's a solution for that right in the middle of the FM dial, if he has the money for it...

 

[Rusty Muck]

There's a solution for that right in the middle of the FM dial, if he has the money for it...

WABC was a declining asset when Cats bought it (and clearly overpaid, much to Cumulus's benefit). Highly doubtful that he'd be able to overpay for an FM station even if he wanted one.

 

[radiofan2023]

No doubt a lot of it is buyer's remorse on Cats' part. Could you blame him? His 50,000-watt radio station, bought with the sole intention of being a political mouthpiece, is on the verge of total obsolescence.

Cats if the AM Radio bill doesn't get passed this year:

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Say it with me, everyone: Cats is CHEAP.

He's another wealth-hoarder who loves to make money but hates to part with it. Probably not on an Scrooge McDuck level, but it could be close.

Catsimatidis is not going to spend big money on an FM signal. If it hasn't happened yet in these past six years, it's not going to happen anytime soon. But if he does, he will pay for it dirt-cheap.

 

[gr8oldies]

As someone who's debated this here before, I've come to similar conclusions. There's the entertainment factor and there's the politics.

I recently spent some time listening to Civic Media, a Wisconsin network that programs a full slate of what some would call centrist and others would call liberal shows. It wasn't "bad" - it was technically proficient, wasn't nasty or adversarial per se. But it was just sort of "there." It was polite people talking. It didn't elicit much emotion in me either way. I could nod and agree with some of it, but there wasn't something where I had to tune back in.

Now, I think a lot of the right wing shows have elevated to a level of nastiness and bad faith arguing I don't appreciate either. But regardless of how "liberal" NPR may be, it's so dry to me I don't spend much time with it. I grew up hearing talk show hosts who had bigger personalities. That's what Rush did understand because he'd been a Top 40 DJ. He got that it was a show, and had entertainment elements. The Daily Show and Colbert Report understood that too on television.

Let's just say generically I'm a "liberal" - regardless of nuance, or subjectivity of political labels. At this point I've probably got reasons, intellectually and personally, why I believe what I believe and vote the way I vote. I'm not looking for an academic experience, the lecture. If I'm tuning in, spending my time with a commercial station, I want to be entertained. I want passion, humor, personality. It's why I have loved radio. You don't have to be nasty or angry, but entertain me. Make me feel something beyond intellectual exhaustion at the news cycle. Find the absurdity, present a personal story, talk to a caller or about a text that tells a story about how DOGE impacted their life or their family, do a montage of Trump's speech flubs and we'll have a laugh about it, talk about the long-shot progressive New York City mayoral candidate that's using social media and direct conversations with inner city Trump voters and bold policy proposals to attempt to change politics, and then talk about why those proposals could or wouldn't work in language working people can understand. Have some energy. You know what you believe, make it entertaining. Right-wing hosts don't have this crisis of confidence or sound insecure in their beliefs or water them down and they say some things at times, that are absolutely awful. Don't be a "shock jock" but don't worry about being "PC." Your opponents sure don't.

That would be my message to a hypothetical "liberal" talk show host.

Mike McConnell, who retired today from 700 WLW in Cincinnati, may have been one of the last of the centrists, still leaning right but wasn't afraid to laugh at and mix it up with MAGA callers.
In the real world we at used to be able to say "I like this policy from Column A and this policy from column B". Now it's "worship Trump or be a Communist".

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

WABC was a declining asset when Cats bought it (and clearly overpaid, much to Cumulus's benefit). Highly doubtful that he'd be able to overpay for an FM station even if he wanted one.

So, you think $12.5 million was too much? That price was right in Cats' wheelhouse.

 

[delgriffith]

Mike McConnell, who retired today from 700 WLW in Cincinnati, may have been one of the last of the centrists, still leaning right but wasn't afraid to laugh at and mix it up with MAGA callers.
In the real world we at used to be able to say "I like this policy from Column A and this policy from column B". Now it's "worship Trump or be a Communist".

He was the last sane host there.

 

[davideduardo]

No doubt a lot of it is buyer's remorse on Cats' part. Could you blame him? His 50,000-watt radio station, bought with the sole intention of being a political mouthpiece, is on the verge of total obsolescence.

I thoroughly doubt that he regrets buying the station. He has more than doubled the listenership and it appears that he has enough revenue to support it. And, more than that, he has a voice and appears often on the station himself.