Interesting commentary from Barrett Media regarding audience alienation from right-wing talk content:
(quote)
Here’s the irony that nobody in the industry wants to acknowledge. Many news/talk hosts will tell you, with a straight face, that someone like Jimmy Kimmel is bad for late-night television because his liberal politics alienate half the audience.
They’ll say he’s too one-sided, too partisan, too focused on a narrow worldview that doesn’t speak to a broad audience. Then they’ll turn around and talk for three or four hours about Donald Trump. Without a hint of self-awareness that they’re doing the exact same thing from the other direction.
The audience isn’t waiting around for someone to notice. According to a Media Insight Project survey, 63% of U.S. adults say they either often or sometimes actively avoid news stories about Trump. That number climbs to 68% among Democrats. But here’s what should alarm news/talk radio hosts, programmers, and producers most: 69% of independents say they work to avoid Trump stories. Even 40% of self-identified Republicans report the same behavior!
(end quote)
Link: Why An All-Donald Trump, All The Time Approach is Bad for News/Talk Radio
I suppose the counter-argument could be that talk-radio listeners tend to listen for reinforcement rather than to learn anything new, but that's hardly a path for growth in a format whose practitioners already have to work hard just to keep from the audience from shrinking through attrition, diversion of attention to other sources, and outright alienation.
(quote)
Here’s the irony that nobody in the industry wants to acknowledge. Many news/talk hosts will tell you, with a straight face, that someone like Jimmy Kimmel is bad for late-night television because his liberal politics alienate half the audience.
They’ll say he’s too one-sided, too partisan, too focused on a narrow worldview that doesn’t speak to a broad audience. Then they’ll turn around and talk for three or four hours about Donald Trump. Without a hint of self-awareness that they’re doing the exact same thing from the other direction.
The audience isn’t waiting around for someone to notice. According to a Media Insight Project survey, 63% of U.S. adults say they either often or sometimes actively avoid news stories about Trump. That number climbs to 68% among Democrats. But here’s what should alarm news/talk radio hosts, programmers, and producers most: 69% of independents say they work to avoid Trump stories. Even 40% of self-identified Republicans report the same behavior!
(end quote)
Link: Why An All-Donald Trump, All The Time Approach is Bad for News/Talk Radio
I suppose the counter-argument could be that talk-radio listeners tend to listen for reinforcement rather than to learn anything new, but that's hardly a path for growth in a format whose practitioners already have to work hard just to keep from the audience from shrinking through attrition, diversion of attention to other sources, and outright alienation.
