Clear Channel New Home to Hannity & Limbaugh?

[joshzz]

Fred Leonard, Well said!

 

[Small Market Guy]

Even paranoids have enemies and sometimes there are conspiracies. It's easier to get calls made to order than to go through the process of screening calls to find the one you want. Plus you avoid the risk that the call you get may not be the call you thought you had. And callers often don't say it well. Consistency and quality control: Two of the reasons we have syndicated talk.

If this is so well known, please point out exactly WHICH calls are fake. Specific examples please.

 

[Small Market Guy]

Fred Leonard, Well said!

Well said, but not true.

 

[FredLeonard]

Fred Leonard, Well said!

Well said, but not true.

Thank you. Maybe not true in small markets but we are talking major market and national syndication. Small market talkers are often desperate for callers and maybe don't appreciate an extreme surplus of callers in a highly competitive market. Bad callers can kill a show (and a career). Callers who choke on the air. Callers who get on and start talking about something else. Callers who can't stop sucking up to the host. We can do a whole thread on show-killing callers.

 

[joshzz]

Fred is correct. Nationally syndicated programming is rehearsed radio.

Premiere Radio Networks (Clear Channel), which is responsible for a siginificant amount of syndicated programming has an entire staff of actors whose job is to call in nationally syndicated talk programs, not just morning zoos. They are told what to say. They are actors.

It's a business. The hosts need to look good for their fans. Real callers would expose their many weaknesses and cause their already weak ratings to tumble to 0.

 

[wadio]

It's a business. The hosts need to look good for their fans. Real callers would expose their many weaknesses and cause their already weak ratings to tumble to 0.

Assuming you're correct about staged calls, just the opposite would be true. A downward trend is a good indication that the status quo isn't working. If more spontaneous, less scripted, less predictable talk radio resulted in better ratings, it's time to return to that.

 

[joshzz]

That sounds like a logical answer but one has to look at the big picture.

Clear Channel is entrenched with the elite. Just think about it. Who pays for the advertising? The elite. Oil, bankers and those that benefit from the new "manifest destiny" agenda (taking over the middle east).

They're not going to allow people to start taking the position that the wars are bad, though more than 95% of Americans oppose the wars the trillion dollar wars. Same with Snowden. Most people recognize him as a hero for exposing a government that has decided to trash the constitution but you won't hear anyone from Clear Channel saying he's good for America and that is because the elite oppose him. They are ultimately in control.

I agree that it would be great to have real conversation instead of the propaganda that's being peddled by Clear Channel but that's not going to happen. At this point they are trying to figure out how to gain an audience for their message as it's not currently working .. they're losing more and more people every month.

 

[FredLeonard]

Or the elite is entrenched with Clear Channel. Bain Capital controls the company. However, the advertising on Premiere's talk programs is hardly elite. Blue chip advertisers left long ago. The advertisers today are bottom feeders. And you can tell who the target is by listening.

Yes, more spontaneous, less scripted, more spontaneous can work (assuming it's done well). Actually it's worked very well at NJ 101.5 for the last 20 years. Not only getting good numbers but much better demos (reflected in the spots they run). But Bain Channel and Cumulus won't touch their format, which is non-ideological talk.

 

[joshzz]

Fred, you made great points especially about NJ101.5. So the bottom line is, they're not as concerned about ratings as they are about putting out their message.

NJ1015 can work in any state but that's not in their script for their idea of America. Sad, very sad. The elite using national media to manipulate the masses. Syndicated talk radio, and of course the news, CNN, MSNBC and FOX.

 

[TheBigA]

wow...marx lives.

 

[joshzz]

BigA, This is actually no surprise whatsoever when you think about it. The Republicans and Democrats are falling all over themselves telling their constituency that no one is recording phone calls of private citizens while experts are insisting they are. S

People like Alex Jones were telling America that the government was spying on people in this way years ago but the government's answer was "he's a nut and no one is spying on anyone."

Now we know our government has taken a page or two or even chapter from Hitler's life and has implemented a massive spy program to spy on everyone worldwide. No one's privacy is protected.

 

[Small Market Guy]

Thank you. Maybe not true in small markets but we are talking major market and national syndication. Small market talkers are often desperate for callers and maybe don't appreciate an extreme surplus of callers in a highly competitive market. Bad callers can kill a show (and a career). Callers who choke on the air. Callers who get on and start talking about something else. Callers who can't stop sucking up to the host. We can do a whole thread on show-killing callers.

Which is why national hosts need better screeners. But there still isn't a shred of evidence that the national talkers use Premiere's On Call service. And like I said, I KNOW some of the people who used to call Rush regularly. They're NOT actors.

 

[Small Market Guy]

Premiere Radio Networks (Clear Channel), which is responsible for a siginificant amount of syndicated programming has an entire staff of actors whose job is to call in nationally syndicated talk programs, not just morning zoos. They are told what to say. They are actors.

Proof. Where is it?

 

[FredLeonard]

wow...marx lives.

Not any more....

Groucho d. Aug 19, 1977
Harpo d. Sep 28, 1964
Chico d. Oct 11, 1961
Zeppo d. Nov 30, 1979
Gummo d. Apr 21, 1977

 

[joshzz]

Small Market Guy, A few months ago if I told you that the government was recording all your cell phone calls, you would have called me a crazy man. Now we know from Snowden what is going on - The government is actually recording ALL calls.

Regarding paid callers, this is something we in the business of radio know it takes place. Just as pay for play is alive and well in the radio industry regarding music, paid callers are just something we all know takes place.

Fred and I explained to you why it takes place but you're just refusing to believe the truth. We can't make you believe anything. We can only educate. There is absolutely no way that Fred and I are going to take you to visit Rush Limbaugh's studio. It's not going to happen. Even if it was possible do you think Rush would admit the truth that it is all a charade for your entertainment and for ratings? That would be like the mall Santa Claus telling a 5 year old child, there's no Santa Claus.

 

[Small Market Guy]

Regarding paid callers, this is something we in the business of radio know it takes place. Just as pay for play is alive and well in the radio industry regarding music, paid callers are just something we all know takes place.

Fred and I explained to you why it takes place but you're just refusing to believe the truth. We can't make you believe anything. We can only educate. There is absolutely no way that Fred and I are going to take you to visit Rush Limbaugh's studio. It's not going to happen. Even if it was possible do you think Rush would admit the truth that it is all a charade for your entertainment and for ratings? That would be like the mall Santa Claus telling a 5 year old child, there's no Santa Claus.

So I take that as an admission you don't have proof. "We in the business of radio" includes me. How many times do you have to be told? I'm willing to believe you if you provide ANY kind of proof, instead of just regurgitating what you read on a blog somewhere.

Once again, I personally KNOW some of Rush's callers. They used to call my old station. They are NOT paid actors. Clear Channel's On Call service does not provide callers to the kind of show we're talking about. All you need to do is provide an example of one of these paid callers.

Let me guess, every major syndicated host uses fake callers except Alex Jones, right? And that's just because you like him, right?

 

[joshzz]

Smallmarketguy,

I don't listen much to talk radio. The only reason I may have mentioned Alex Jones is that he is coming from a different paradigm than the establishment hosts. The real story is that Republicans and Democrats are in agreement that they desire to trash the constitution and continue to invade our privacy in their newly created Orwellian society. I listened to Hannity today for about two minutes and all he did was rant about the targeting of nonprofit conservative groups by the IRS.

Let our legislators both Republican and Democrat handle that issue. They are odds with each other on that so the talk hosts don't need to spend weeks discussing that. On the other hand, spying on people is the biggest topic over the last ten years. Yet, Limbaugh, Hannity, Maddow, Savage and company all purposely ignore it because they are in favor of a Germany. World War II Version, Type Government.

It's not conservative talk. It's establishment government talk. Whether right or left they are on the same team relating to matters that affect Americans.

 

[FredLeonard]

So I take that as an admission you don't have proof. "We in the business of radio" includes me. How many times do you have to be told? I'm willing to believe you if you provide ANY kind of proof, instead of just regurgitating what you read on a blog somewhere.

Once again, I personally KNOW some of Rush's callers. They used to call my old station. They are NOT paid actors. Clear Channel's On Call service does not provide callers to the kind of show we're talking about. All you need to do is provide an example of one of these paid callers.

Let me guess, every major syndicated host uses fake callers except Alex Jones, right? And that's just because you like him, right?

So, where is your proof? You suggest Josh is a liar but why should we believe you? You claim you "personally know" some of Rush's callers? What are the odds? You say they called your show where you used to work. That qualifies as "personally know?" Not hardly. And did you actually hear these people (you don't say how many)? Or did they just say they called Rush? Did they say they got through? Got on? How long ago was this? Did you demand "proof" from these callers (or is that just when somebody presents information that does not fit how you want to view the world)?

You say you work in radio. Can you prove it?

You have made lots of assertions of fact on this board but I have yet to see "proof" of any of them.

 

[northwoods]

With regard to real callers or paid callers getting on talk radio, I for one did manage to get on one daytime national snow either twice or three times (and I was far from being a paid caller). That show was the Radio Factor (usually when Bill had someone filling in for him. Once was Mike Smerconish and the other was Dom Girodano co hosting with Lis Wiehl). I also got on the air with Lou Dobbs radio show when it was on the air, and earlier this year I was on the air on the Herman Cain show. Some of the other local/regional show I called into and got on the air were Marty Griffin in Pittsburgh, Matt Allen in Providence, JD Hayworth in Phoenix (when his show followed Hannity), Mike Garfield in Houston, Lynn Wooley in Lubbock, Rick Hamada in Honolulu, Jason Lewis (when his show was still locally based) in Minneapolis (twice), Joyce Kaufman in Ft. Lauderdale, Tom Marr in Baltimore, Rocky D in Charleston, SC, Matt Mittan in Asheville, Bob McLain in Greenville, Jen Brien in Boston, Ken Pitman in New Bedford, MA (when his show was on the air), Bud Hedinger in Orlando (twice), Martha Zoeller (when she was syndicated throughout the state of Georgia), Vicki McKenna in Madison, Brian Sussman in San Francisco, Alan Autry (when his show was on the air) in Fresno, Tom Tancredo (when his show was on the air) in Colorado Springs, and even in far flung shows such as John Gormley in Sasketewan, Christy Clark in Vancouver, BC, and Travis Coffman in far flung Guam. Also on two or three occasions I was on the air on Doug McIntyre's Red Eye Radio.

So with regard to national shows, it probably all depends on the show itself individually and not lumped all in one basket on which callers get on the air.

 

[del_griffith]

I don't have a specific example, but generic. I've listened to Rush off and on for years. I've made it on his show 3 or 4 times. I'm not paid, sadly.

Where I believe it happens (using Rush as an example) is when Rush changes a topic, only briefly touches on it and suddenly there is a call that ties in with exactly what he is talking about and usually in an articulate manner.

It's very difficult to get through the busy signal. But to have an articulate caller who just phoned in, was screened and ready to go after just a few lines is in one word; amazing.