The movement is away from real time linear programming towards more individualized content. Listen when you want, rather than must-see-TV.
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Could the election results shift talk radio's approach?
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The movement is away from real time linear programming towards more individualized content. Listen when you want, rather than must-see-TV.
Rush Limbaugh went national in the middle of an election year. After it was over, his critics said "Ha ha the election is over, now you have nothing to talk about!" In the next 4 years, he surged to about 500 stations. Then Slick Willie won and his critics said "Ha ha your guy lost. That proves your time is over!" And he went to well over 600 stations, with a #1 audience the whole time.
He often said "my success is not determined by who wins elections." It was even a chapter title in one of his books. If you do a compelling show, people listen regardless of who is in office. He often relied on the lunacy of the left, and they were craziest (and more "useful" to him) when out of power. They have become far more crazy since then (taxpayer funding of transgender surgeries for illegal immigrants was the topper - reminds me of a Buck Henry SNL bit where he plays a host getting crazier and crazier in an effort to make the phones ring).
I don't know why anyone expects election results themselves to have an effect on talk radio when it never has before. Broadcast radio has its growing challenges, but who won isn't one of them.
From upthread:
Rush's "tax the poor" was an April Fools Day bit. He was trying to satirize something about Perot supporters, but I don't think it landed.
Dennis Miller's radio show was on during midday (10 am ET). It wasn't a nighttime show, though some affiliates aired it on delay at other times throughout the day, with the hours sometimes out of sequence. But his show wasn't all about politics - he'd have authors, singers/musicians, comedians, including his old SNL friends (Dana & Norm among others), and sports figures (athletes and broadcasters) as guests. Rich Eisen, Peter Noone, and Orson Bean were frequent guests.
His contract ended in 2015, and having become noticeably disengaged, and not wanting to talk politics for another election cycle, he didn't renew. He fancied himself as an "inactivist" in that regard.
He often said "my success is not determined by who wins elections." It was even a chapter title in one of his books. If you do a compelling show, people listen regardless of who is in office. He often relied on the lunacy of the left, and they were craziest (and more "useful" to him) when out of power. They have become far more crazy since then (taxpayer funding of transgender surgeries for illegal immigrants was the topper - reminds me of a Buck Henry SNL bit where he plays a host getting crazier and crazier in an effort to make the phones ring).
I don't know why anyone expects election results themselves to have an effect on talk radio when it never has before. Broadcast radio has its growing challenges, but who won isn't one of them.
From upthread:
Rush's "tax the poor" was an April Fools Day bit. He was trying to satirize something about Perot supporters, but I don't think it landed.
Dennis Miller's radio show was on during midday (10 am ET). It wasn't a nighttime show, though some affiliates aired it on delay at other times throughout the day, with the hours sometimes out of sequence. But his show wasn't all about politics - he'd have authors, singers/musicians, comedians, including his old SNL friends (Dana & Norm among others), and sports figures (athletes and broadcasters) as guests. Rich Eisen, Peter Noone, and Orson Bean were frequent guests.
His contract ended in 2015, and having become noticeably disengaged, and not wanting to talk politics for another election cycle, he didn't renew. He fancied himself as an "inactivist" in that regard.
The current crop of radio talkers, as well as Fox News/Newmax/OAN/RSBN are going to not be heckling from the sidelines, but full house organs, defending absolutely everything the Trump/Vance/Elon administration says and does. They wanted absolute power, they got it, so there's no or very few "evil left Democrats" to deal with.
The real story is the podcasts. Rogan and other media targeting young males is credited with Trump's victory, and even the fact that Trump carried states that downballot Democrats won (the people who voted top-of-the-ticket only were the deciding factor).
I'm interested in The Onion does with Alex Jones' assets. The Dems need a media ecosphere (and I don't mean cable channels).
The real story is the podcasts. Rogan and other media targeting young males is credited with Trump's victory, and even the fact that Trump carried states that downballot Democrats won (the people who voted top-of-the-ticket only were the deciding factor).
I'm interested in The Onion does with Alex Jones' assets. The Dems need a media ecosphere (and I don't mean cable channels).
I wouldn't compare any of the current hosts with Rush. He had a background as a DJ in radio. I don't know any of the current national hosts other than Clay Travis who's ever done anything but talk about politics. They aren't entertainers.
Conservative Talk radio will continue to do just fine no matter which party is in control. It did okay under Bush and every Republican president forward. The format is not based on who wins an election. There will be just as much to talk about the opposing political party will attempt all with the presentation of just enough facts to shade it to be a topic for conservative talk radio.
Glenn Beck used to be a morning zoo-crew guy in places like Phoenix and... Baltimore, I think?
The point about Rush also leaves out that he was in opposition. There's not hosts in most markets or nationally significant that are in "opposition" to Trump, in fact Salem purged them from their offerings, and those were conservatives that didn't go for the Trump antics.
The point about Rush also leaves out that he was in opposition. There's not hosts in most markets or nationally significant that are in "opposition" to Trump, in fact Salem purged them from their offerings, and those were conservatives that didn't go for the Trump antics.
That still doesn't solve the aging of the talk radio audience. The new conservative talk isn't on the radio.
The Democrats have an ecosphere. The NY Times, WA Post, the major TV networks favor them more than the MAGA party. And they've got podcasts, too. David Pakman, Young Turks, Democracy Now!, that's just a few of them. I'm sure there are many more. A lot of them left Twitter long ago for Discord. Not sure how that worked out. I sort of doubt the Bluesky will be any more successful, but it's really wait and see on that.
So the ecosphere is out there. All the memes I see on social media that -- even now, after the election is over -- still are pro-D, sent out by various pro-D influencers and "The other 98%" and the like -- are part of that ecosphere. So it exists. It doesn't exist much, if any, on radio though. But online it's a different story.
You are correct that this was a "podcast election". I think the WA Post or NY Times even called it that. It's an example of the direction news and opinion media is heading.
The mainstream media is in favor of whatever gets them the most clicks and views. They loved Trump's first term because his daily barrage of crazy antics and 5 AM Tweets made for perfect headline fodder and a steady supply of "you gotta see this!" news coverage. They hated Biden because quiet, competent governance is incredibly boring, leaving them resorting to acting as if every little verbal stumble or gaffe was a huge scandal, just like Obama's tan suit or coffee cup salute.
The Democratic Party absolutely does not have a house organ on the level of the conservative media ecosphere. NYT/NPR/WaPo and the like will trip over themselves to appear "neutral" in hopes they'll avoid the "biased" label that the other side will slap on them anyway. Most podcasts and the online left, meanwhile, hate the Democratic Party for not being as far-left as they are.
And the hopes that Trump would spike ratings and subscriptions is showing to be sadly mistaken as people are showing they have no desire to engage with it. You don't think MSNBC isn't sweating those viewer drops? How the heck does WaPo fix its reputation after the Bezos blunder?
I know I've pulled way back on my news consumption (not that I was a MSNBC watcher) after the election, and I'm not finding I'm missing much.
As for talk radio, it'll continue to talk to the one audience it's always talking to, while giving empty platitudes that "all are welcome" while they happily slam, slander and vilify anyone who does not walk the Trump line, while shilling limp-you-know-what pills and GOLD GOLD GOLD.
And the hopes that Trump would spike ratings and subscriptions is showing to be sadly mistaken as people are showing they have no desire to engage with it. You don't think MSNBC isn't sweating those viewer drops? How the heck does WaPo fix its reputation after the Bezos blunder?
I know I've pulled way back on my news consumption (not that I was a MSNBC watcher) after the election, and I'm not finding I'm missing much.
As for talk radio, it'll continue to talk to the one audience it's always talking to, while giving empty platitudes that "all are welcome" while they happily slam, slander and vilify anyone who does not walk the Trump line, while shilling limp-you-know-what pills and GOLD GOLD GOLD.
Well likewise some governors will get more national attention by the mainstream media like Ron DeSantis there was lots of focus on him when Trump was out of office the first time because of him positioning himself as the next Trump. Likewise I expect Fox News, Newsmax and Salem to send their pundits here to Sacramento because of Gavin Newsom for the same reasons but in this case being compared to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Same here. Art Bell warned us that all-politics all the time isn't a good recipe.
That's a great station. I can't recall any local hosts bringing up political topics, except maybe local stadium taxes, etc.
It's never "the Dems are always wrong" type of thing.
It's refreshing to have such a great station formatted that way. And it's one of the metro's most powerful FMs.
The all-politics all the time blows.
Mitt Romney said he doesn't feel comfortable being in the party.
Like it's not welcoming of different viewpoints.
As a longtime R. who voted R. in all elections 1980-2016, except for Perot, I'm embarrassed about the state of the party that's so full of hate for anyone not like them.
I listened to many of those. Reagan had good conversation. It wasn't like today's.
Ken Hamlin was unique.
Liddy's show was No. 3 or No. 4 nationally. I liked it until I wised up about his criminal "I will do ANYTHING for the president" past -- inckuding going to jail for him.
Sean "Stupid" Hannity isn't funny, not in the slightest.
Dry and dull as a donut. He sounds more like an RNC p.r. man.
His show wasn't at night, though your station may have aired it then.
His show was 9 am-12 pm ET, which meant he had to arise early from Southern California, which got old for him.
It was successful. It ran 5-7 years.
It was a good show, but not at all like today's narrow-minded partisan national hosts.
You're living in the world of 20 years ago. It's a myth that the New York Times is all Democrat, all-the-time. Have you seen liberal criticism of Maggie Halbertson? There's even a parody account called "New York Times Pitchbot" spoofing their sanewashed headlines, papering over some of Trump's unhinged rants. It's been argued they led the charge for Biden's ouster. The Washington Post's ownership spikes the Post's planned endorsement of Vice President Harris. A day later Jeff Bezos and Trump met. The Los Angeles Times also spiked its endorsement of Harris, as well as a week of stories about the dangers of Trump 2.0.
A lot of the right-wing memes and stories you see originate with Russian troll farms, then are picked up by Fox, talk radio and your Mom on Facebook. Then enter Elon Musk. Meidas Touch and David Pakman are no matched for podcasters being funded from Russia through Tenet Media.
How Elon Musk amplified content from a suspected Russian election interference plot
Musk, apparently unaware of the company’s Russia funding source, engaged with content from Tenet Media and its creators at least 60 times.
www.nbcnews.com
The Onion lampooned both the Harris/Walz and Trump/Vance tickets this past election season. Why would you expect the Onion's owners to set up a dead-serious, left-wing extremism/conspiracy theory operation on Jones' old dead-serious, right-wing extremism/conspiracy theory website? Or ANY sort of serious news operation, for that matter.
The Onion couldn't even make up what's actually happening now in our idiocracy.
Answer is, I wouldn't.
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