One of the reasons I don't bother responding a lot of the drivel here is that it is just conservatives talking to each other patting themselves on the back for their perceived reality... the same one that said Air America was going off the air in 2004, then 2005, then 2006, and now 2007. And there it still is, right along with Jones (which was told 'nobody wants to hear libtalk') with more stations running Randi and Schultz live, with Stephanie Miller picking up stations right and left (along with ratings), and Air America getting refinanced and renewed.
Even Lionel, who hates political talk radio, is adding stations.
And is there a clear illustration that the money demo is clamoring for conservative talk? Nope. Is it a surprise the 55+ audience that advertisers beyond Oreck aren't interested in are conservative? Nope. Are new stations rushing to pick up Blanquita, Laura, Dennis, and Son of Reagan? Not from where I am sitting. If your show is good, people will listen. Lionel's show (as an example) is good because he doesn't waste a lot of time defending political positions on either side.
Limbaugh's glory days are in the past - he and the second stringers have more and more been reduced to water carriers for TeamFailure, and Rush admitted as such after the midterm elections. And although that may be fine for the 29% of Americans who are delusional enough to believe in Dubya these days (perhaps fewer now that they've brought that special TeamFailure touch to Walter Reed), it's sounding more and more desperate for the reality-based community, not entertaining. Even that ethnobotanist vitamin peddler-turned angry white man "Dr." Savage has stopped bailing Dubya's water over the side and has begun throwing him under the bus instead. What would Sean Hannity say... with us being in the middle of a war and daring to criticize the commander-in-chief and all?
And what defines "entertaining" to the angry white man conservative these days? I didn't hear any boos coming from CPAC when Coulter dropped another one of her delights on the audience. I heard applause and laughter because, for that audience, calling people like John Edwards a slur word for gay -is- funny. Or take -any- of the Fox News Channel's weekend lineup of shows. I am sure there are plenty of conservatives who think there is funny to be found in the "Half Hour News Hour," even if the rest of America perceives this as the worst show on television ever (which is one reason I hope they keep it on the air - it will inevitably be treasured for the same reasons why The Anna Nicole Show drew audiences to that train wreck.) And the artificial laugh track to let the audience know where the funny is is probably the best part.
Back during the first three years of conservative political radio post-Fairness Doctrine, Limbaugh was broadcast on the same kinds of stations airing Air America these days. A lot of the rest of the country was spending their time with NBCs Talknet lineup which was on the 50kw blowtorches. It took several years to build an audience and learn what worked and what didn't. And the same thing happens today. Folks like Stephanie Miller have learned that a well-produced talk program will attract audiences far more than the guy who reads talking points for three hours, no matter where they come from.
