How long will Neal Boortz`s stale show last on WSB-AM 750?

[Goodtimesandgreatoldies]

I agree with the other posters here that Neal Boortz has gotten too arrogant and stale along with his co-hosts. The show was good years ago.... However, in my opinion, it has become a comedy showcase. That Belinda woman sounds like a female Gomer Pyle. Poor Royal Marshall (please don`t call me Royal Norman!) seems like he is tired also and just going along for the ride. Neal seems to drift off into rants about how rich he is and how many homes he owns.... I think that he has lost touch with his audience. The others don`t seem to care anymore either. I wonder how much longer he has on his WSB contract? I bet WSB could save alot of money and hire someone alot better. I think that Atlanta needs a friendlier- more audience friendly host. I remember hearing a long time ago that Tony Schiavone was interested in Neal`s timeslot. I don`t know about now.......

 

[deadman]

Who all cares about Oldies's opinion?

 

[the_widows_son]

goodtimesandgreatoldies and maybe Mr. Suleman?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Neal Boortz has gotten too arrogant and stale along with his co-hosts. The show was good years ago.... However, in my opinion, it has become a comedy showcase.

AT times I share your view. But in reading your post I came to realize something else: we as listeners grow older and stale. I first hear Rush in 1990 and wasn't sure if he was serious or doing sarcastic comedy. I don't listen to either one regularly now and I tend to tell myself that they are both "going to seed" as we say in Gomer Pyle/Belinda country.

In view of this conversation I have to ask: is it ME that is getting stale as a listerner along with the talkers?

Atlanta has a lot of churn, a lot of turnover in population. Some come and go. Some are part of the growth. The newbies in town may not see Boortz as being stale.... at least not yet. So, may his career can last as long as he is wanting it to last.... just by attracting the newcomers.

And that makes me ask: is that a factor in ALL radio formats? Do "rust belt markets" where there is no growth of the city, particularly the second tier markets where corporate moves do not churn the population as much.... do they have music formats/play lists that are different that cities that are churning?

 

[fortt3]

Even as a "moderate Libertarian" who agrees with most of Neal's political philosophy, I can see your point.

I can remember sitting my old 1979 Datsun B210 stuck in traffic on 285 about 1980 listening to Neal on WRNG. I think he was more entertaining when he was all local. He used to rant that he could never be syndicated because he would never joint AFTRA or whatever union the syndicators wanted him to join at the time. I don't know what happened, but I think Cox just decided to syndicate him themselves. (Corrections welcome.)

Now, only the 15 minutes that he is filler for the traffic reports between 8:30 - 9 is local. He won't get deep into national issues because he's saving that for 10 to Noon. He may get into a local issue between 9 and 10 but as more stations have signed up for all three hours, that is rare.

But back in the day, he could get into a local issue like nobody's business. Remember how he got into it with Mayor Bill Campbell? And he hasn't pulled any practical jokes, lately. Maybe he doesn't think they would be right for a national audience. He sometime would take a whole hour and play devil's advocate taking the opposite position on a issue just to rile folks up.

Someone else can tell the story of dihydrogen monoxide... and how he had the the head of Atlanta Water denying there wany of this killer chemical in the water system. I swear he had half of Atlanta going with that one.

Sigh... :'( ... Now, he has to be bland to be palatible to the rest of the country. I still listen, but I miss the local Boortz.

No, it wasn't staleness, t'was syndication that killed the TalkMaster (apologies to writer of King Kong).

 

[jabba17]

Even as a "moderate Libertarian" who agrees with most of Neal's political philosophy, I can see your point.

I can remember sitting my old 1979 Datsun B210 stuck in traffic on 285 about 1980 listening to Neal on WRNG. I think he was more entertaining when he was all local. He used to rant that he could never be syndicated because he would never joint AFTRA or whatever union the syndicators wanted him to join at the time. I don't know what happened, but I think Cox just decided to syndicate him themselves. (Corrections welcome.)

Now, only the 15 minutes that he is filler for the traffic reports between 8:30 - 9 is local. He won't get deep into national issues because he's saving that for 10 to Noon. He may get into a local issue between 9 and 10 but as more stations have signed up for all three hours, that is rare.

But back in the day, he could get into a local issue like nobody's business. Remember how he got into it with Mayor Bill Campbell? And he hasn't pulled any practical jokes, lately. Maybe he doesn't think they would be right for a national audience. He sometime would take a whole hour and play devil's advocate taking the opposite position on a issue just to rile folks up.

Someone else can tell the story of dihydrogen monoxide... and how he had the the head of Atlanta Water denying there wany of this killer chemical in the water system. I swear he had half of Atlanta going with that one.

Sigh... :'( ... Now, he has to be bland to be palatible to the rest of the country. I still listen, but I miss the local Boortz.

No, it wasn't staleness, t'was syndication that killed the TalkMaster (apologies to writer of King Kong).

I think you hit the nail on the head. When Hannity was local on WGST he was a LOT better than he is now. Now he bores me stiff.

Re: Boortz, setting aside some ideological pet peeves (such as when he sets his libertarianism aside to say we need to legalize dope but strictly enforce the 21 drinking age, or bash GenXers as just "kids"--GMAFB, the oldest of us are in our friggin' 40s, now--among other issues) he comes across more like an Andy Rooney. That is, an old-phart curmudgeon who complains just to hear himself talk and think himself funny, as opposed to someone who will discuss and make you think about an issue from all angles.

It's one thing to do what the Kimmer called a "booger show" (taking an extreme, sensationalist viewpoint just to stir the pot and get calls), it's another when you do it because your mind is closing up, you've gotten intellectually lazy, and you are obviously shilling to a thin slice of your audience (and maybe because some syndicator doesn't want you to be considered, rightly or wrongly, a Savage clone).

We're all getting old, I know--I'm in my early 40s. But is it too much to ask for some surprises and not the SSDD? I used to not know just how he was going to play an issue. Now I know his songbook by heart, and he don't play them all as well as he used to.

IMO he jumped one shark when he went national, and another about 3-5 years ago when he started becoming a FairTax monomaniac.

Scary thing is, he and Hannity now make freakin' RUSH look edgy. Used to be the other way around. Another scary thing is I get more edgy politics and political thought on the freakin' REGULAR GUYS than on Boortz now.

 

[Biz Listener]

I agree with the other posters here that Neal Boortz has gotten too arrogant and stale along with his co-hosts. The show was good years ago....

You're right. Put Boortz right up their with Spiff as being someone who used to be good, but who has lost it.

 

[Mitchell]

Sorry to bust your bubble, but all of you better get used to the fact that he ain't goin nowhere for a long time. He's only getting bigger.

 

[70sdj]

As one famous President said, "It's the economy stupid."

When will all of you haters realize that he is still raking in the numbers and the big $$$ for Cox and WSB.

It hasn't mattered that Belinda is, and sounds like a rube. He will be there as long as the cash flow continues.

 

[Biz Listener]

Sorry to bust your bubble, but all of you better get used to the fact that he ain't goin nowhere for a long time. He's only getting bigger.

Yew ain't a-bustin no bubble fer me. I din't say that he was a-going sumwheres. I said that he weren't as good as he wuz afore now. Yew must be sum damnyankee whut cain't tell no difference 'twixt "bigger" and "better".

 

[TheGreenskeeper]

His show is too popular these days. Nobody listens anymore.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

When will all of you haters realize that he is still raking in the numbers and the big $$$ for Cox and WSB.

I don't know that "haters" is the accurate word. Loyal listeners to talk radio see the "message" as accurate and a service to society. Or maybe in some case, just entertaining. Some of us who are critical of the current state of talk radio look at what we presume the result and outcome for society to be: A number of listeners being bombarded with a "slanted" version of what is happening and a slanted version on the political process, which we fear will result in people voting for candidates and issues that are "slanted".

Granted, Bill Moyers is no middle-of-the-road commentator but on his show last night they did a feature on talk radio as it may or may not relate to the wacko up in Knoxville that walked into a Unitarian church a couple of weeks ago and began killing liberals. People he didn't know. All he knew was that liberals are the cause of everything wrong in the world today, so he felt compelled (and justified) to go somewhere there were bona-fide liberals and kill as many as he could.

Now. Someone who would go into a church and kill people is nuts. Maybe talk radio and the books those folks write helped agitate a sick man. and maybe not. The bigger concern is: how many people walk into the voting booth and cast a vote that is not logical because they are enamoured by some mouth on the radio who is saying "stooopid stuff" because it is a legitimate way to make lots of money for himself.

No, we're not haters. We have our vision of what is a healthy and sane society and political world. Other folks have a different vision. We worry what the long term effect it has on civilization for radio to legitimize toxic speech. You and I have a right to (personal) freedom of speech. I think the constitution may be a bit silent on the freedom of "the press" to amplify, legitimize and fertilize the efforts of the individual.

It hasn't mattered that Belinda is, and sounds like a rube. He will be there as long as the cash flow continues.

Belinda's contributions to the program may be the saving grace of Boortz. About the time you convince yourself Boortz is a obsessive-compulsive one-track-mind non-human entity, Belinda throws in her two-cent's worth from... can I use the term? ... from left field, and Boortz then gets honest enough to admit that are other views on the topic and admit he is chasing one of those ideas just to... as he would say it... see who else I can 'piss off'. Aha: He is human after all.

For listeners in GEORGIA to get all upset that Belinda has an accent... Go figure!

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

As long as Boortz brings in $$$ to the syndicator he will stay on the air. The next four years will be a boon to talk radio. McCain, the true American Patriot who graduated 894/900 from the Naval Academy & crashed five US Navy planes before getting captured by the Vietnamese (look it up), is disliked by conservatives so if he wins, there will be plenty of material for Boortz and his ilk. If the Muslim guy with less executive experience than the Hockey Mom from Alaska wins, it'll be like manna from heaven for right-wing talkers.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

........ If the Muslim guy with less .........

Everybody is a talk show host wannabee.

Look it up. (That was your line!)

Telll me how how he is Muslim.

This is what talk show mania does to an otherwise functional society.

Since talk show mania has caused our populace to often be "anti-Muslim" as compared to "anti radical-Muslim" or "anti fundamentalist-Muslim"... to paint someone as "the Muslim guy" is an extremely HARSH condemnation.... if you can't back it up.

P.S. My Daddy grew up Lutheran. I have been in one Lutheran church one time when maybe I was 11 years old. Does that make me "the Lutheran guy" ? I think that was the only time my Dad was in a Lutheran Church after he left home. Does that make him "the Lutheran guy" ?

 

[Biz Listener]

The bigger concern is: how many people walk into the voting booth and cast a vote that is not logical because they are enamoured by some mouth on the radio who is saying "stooopid stuff" because it is a legitimate way to make lots of money for himself.

My guess is maybe half a dozen, though that might be a generous estimate. Generally, people listen to news/talk radio to hear someone that they already agree with. As many, many people have pointed out (including me), news/talk in the 3rd millennium is all about preaching to the choir.

At best, current news/talk hosts might encourage people who already support one candidate or another to get off their butts and actually vote for the candidate that they already favor. It's called "energizing the base", which is what cheerleaders have always done.

Face it. Regardless of what talk radio might have been decades ago, today's news/talk show hosts are nothing more than political cheerleaders. The odds of any news/talk show convincing an Obama supporter to switch to McCain (or vice-versa) are about the same as a Dallas Cowgirl's gyrations on the sidelines will convince a Steeler fan to switch allegiance. And I make that statement as a heterosexual man who genuinely enjoys the pulchritude of the Dallas Cowgirls and as a loyal citizen of Steeler Nation.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

........ If the Muslim guy with less .........

Everybody is a talk show host wannabee.

Look it up. (That was your line!)

Telll me how how he is Muslim.

This is what talk show mania does to an otherwise functional society.

Since talk show mania has caused our populace to often be "anti-Muslim" as compared to "anti radical-Muslim" or "anti fundamentalist-Muslim"... to paint someone as "the Muslim guy" is an extremely HARSH condemnation.... if you can't back it up.

P.S. My Daddy grew up Lutheran. I have been in one Lutheran church one time when maybe I was 11 years old. Does that make me "the Lutheran guy" ? I think that was the only time my Dad was in a Lutheran Church after he left home. Does that make him "the Lutheran guy" ?

1) If you have 600 posts you should know me by now.
2) I wrote "look it up" about McCain.
3) As for Obama being a Muslim, I am going with the "Monty Python & The Holy Grail" defense - He looks like one.
4) Since you are obviously Lutheran, stay away from my front door.
5) Do you watch "The Colbert Report"? It may help you get the jokes.

 

[LarryWachs]

How inventive do you think you'll be when you're over 60 and more or less playing out the string?

And Sean Hannity makes me want to throw up, and I am most definitely on the right. I recall him locally and remember thinking there was no way in hell he would ever make it big. It still baffles me. He is the worst, humorless, phony party hack in world history.

 

[Biz Listener]

P.S. My Daddy grew up Lutheran. I have been in one Lutheran church one time when maybe I was 11 years old. Does that make me "the Lutheran guy" ? I think that was the only time my Dad was in a Lutheran Church after he left home. Does that make him "the Lutheran guy" ?

That depends on whether he was ULCA, ALC, LC-MS, or WELS.

(Note: That's an inside Lutheran joke)

There's also a bit of seriousness to the issue. We're accustomed here in America to someone's religious affiliation being totally a matter of personal choice, and that one can change one's religious affiliation from one religion to another, or from one denomination within a religion to another. That's part of our national culture.

To Europeans, and people of European ancestry, one's ethnicity refers to the nationality of one's ancestors, while one's religion is something different. I am ethnically German and my religion is Christianity, in the Lutheran denomination. If I were to convert to a different religion, and become a Hindu, or to a different denomination and become a Methodist, I would remain ethnically German.

To many people in the Muslim world, "Muslim" refers to both an ethnicity and to a religion. If one is born to a Muslim father, one is an ethnic Muslim until one dies, even if one changes one's affiliation to a different religion.

By that understanding, Obama is an ethnic Muslim who practices the Christian religion, as a member of the United Church of Christ denomination.

Maybe if news/talk radio hosts were more careful in explaining things, and saw their position as including teachings as well as demagoguery, more people would have a clearer understanding of such things. But, if they did that, they're ratings would go down the tubes, so don't expect it to happen.

And please, O guardians of Radio-Info, don't relegate this aside to the nether regions of "Take it Outside". It was not posted to steer the discussion towards religion, it was posted with the intention of stopping thread drift into the area of the one candidate's ethnicity/religion.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Thank you Mr. Millman and biz listener for the thoughts.

All of the talk radio people do inject humor into their presentations, and Boortz may be the best at doing that when that becomes his focus. And as talk radio continues to evolve it will be interesting to see if Boortz recaptures his capacity for humor or if he, like some of the 2nd and 3rd tier talk folks, gets so focused on a few "hot button" issues that he forgets to be well rounded.

One of my curiosities would be to know if the key talk radio people and their agents and their consultants get together now and then discuss "where is the brick wall" on discussing and using religion in these public forums. For people who are brittle and narrow-minded on their faith issues, it takes very little to offend them. Boortz takes pride in making sure some of the major groups know he is poking around their soft under-belly from time to time.

Somewhere out there I am assuming there is a limit which even the laid back, the open minded would say to talk-radio..... "maybe we ought to not go quite that far." I guess if I were on a panel put together for feedback to a group of talk radio people, I would offer the following: "Once in a while when topics in play take the conversation to the "religious breaking points" just back off for a minute, remind your listeners that you are aware these are topics that are offensive to some, and that we all need to have a little sense of humor in this area, and I assure you I am aware of that." Then go on back to conversation on the topic, harsh as it might be.

No, No, Neil. It's the Watchtower people who come to your door, not the Lutherans.

 

[Biz Listener]

No, No, Neil. It's the Watchtower people who come to your door, not the Lutherans.

But, in the unlikely event that a Lutheran does come to your door, offer him coffee.

(That's another inside Lutheran thing)