Is Political Talk Talked Out?

[starboy]

Let me qualify, I'm in radio and have listened to more talk radio than doctors might recommend. Having said that, about 6 months ago I started listening less. Now, I go for days without listening at all. Being a radio lifer, I thought I would at least make a professional observation, so I did. I've concluded that most talk, not all, has become way too predictable and frankly, boring. I can read Drudge and pretty much know everything they'll say that day, and darned if they don't. For instance, after this week's Clinton/Wallace deal, I knew that would be Monday and Tuesday's shows. Right again (Lord, it's Thursday and it's still all clinton, all the time)

My question is, by the fact we know that conservative talk will say everything conservatives do is perfect, and liberal talk will bash everything conservatives do, what's the point of listening? Are we really learning anything? Are we really being entertained? Is hearing Cheney or Gingrich as guests really going to motivate listeners to listen more. In fact, are politicians as guests really all that special anyway? And my God, if Ann Coulter, Dick Morris or some other genius is on again, I'll buy satellite and listen to Calypso music.

I can imagine your argument may be that political talk still wins. It does. But is it growing? In fact aren't it's numbers are trending downward? Have other people begun to realize that it's the same old c--p day in an out, or is it just me?

Bear in mind, I love talk. But I'm bored to tears with the same old talking-points ad-nauseum. Am I alone here. Are there any programmers or real talk radio people reading this that shed some light on this? Tell me where I'm wrong?

 

[Infidel]

There are still plenty of (well, a few ;D) hosts that are not 100% to the party line, one side or the other. IMO, those are the ones worth listening to, because they won't try to defend positions on an issue that don't make sense.

 

[starboy]

Still too many lap-dancers. I like Hannity, but when he's got on Condi Rice, Cheney, Gingritch etc., he's all but smitten.

 

[Infidel]

Maybe try some other hosts. Hannity is arguably the most partisan of all.

 

[The RadioFan]

Mike Savage, Larry Elder and Glenn Beck seem to stay away from the predictable 100% party talk. These Ohio Valley local guys tend to do less of the party talk as well: Francene and Joe Elliot on WHAS-AM Louisville, Abdul in the Morning on WXNT-AM Indianapolis and Bill Boshear on WLW-AM Cincinnati.

 

[KeithE4]

Maybe try some other hosts. Hannity is arguably the most partisan of all.

You can add Limbaugh to that list. Even though he's always been a Republican Party mouthpiece, he was known to disagree with both Bushes - mostly on fiscal issues - when they veered away from his conservative beliefs.

Not so much anymore. He's becoming as bad as Sean "My party right or wrong" Hannity and his act is suffering for it.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Maybe try some other hosts. Hannity is arguably the most partisan of all.

That's easy to say if you're retired, out of work, or otherwise able to sit at home listening to webcasts all day. In most markets I'm aware of, there are seldom alternative news/talk programs on the air. If you don't want to listen to Hannity, then your option is either "All Things Considered" or re-acquainting yourself with music radio.

 

[fred flintstone]

In most markets I'm aware of, there are seldom alternative news/talk programs on the air. If you don't want to listen to

Fact Check: Not True. Almost all large and major markets have two or more political talk stations.
Even Pittsburgh.
Which markets are you "aware of?"

 

[clichemoth]

What would work for talk, then? Yeah, the political thing is played out, but every alternative option isn't doing so well either. Free FM is a titanic failure in pretty much every market and it wouldn't work any better in most of the ones it isn't in. Sports talk doesn't work in markets without multiple pro teams to talk about and people who aren't rabid fans don't listen anyway. No attempt at female-centric talk has ever done well and I doubt Greenstone will be an exception to this, especially now that I've actually heard them...Damn, it's like Randi Rhodes on a bad day 24/7 except with people who don't know how to do radio.

Maybe someone will take a big chance and return radio drama to the airwaves. A block of horror/SF shows leading into C2C would almost have to do better than most of the political stuff buried in that timeslot.

 

[mouthoff]

I think the problem with Greenstone is their talent, not the concept. Bob & Sherri in Charlotte, who do a female-targeted show, do quite well. There are others, too. The PM drive show at Star 94 do pretty well and in that same bag.

 

[Radio_Realist]

"Fact Check: Not True. Almost all large and major markets have two or more political talk stations.
Even Pittsburgh."

Pittsburgh's other talk stations don't have a news/talk program opposite Hannity. WPTT airs a "happy talk" program in PM drive, not a political news talk program. KDKA airs a news program.

 

[kaufcom]

"Fact Check: Not True. Almost all large and major markets have two or more political talk stations.
Even Pittsburgh."

Pittsburgh's other talk stations don't have a news/talk program opposite Hannity. WPTT airs a "happy talk" program in PM drive, not a political news talk program. KDKA airs a news program.

Hey RR...There's more to the US talk radio business than the talk stations in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh market contains about 1% of US radio listeners. There are over 2,000 talk radio stations around the country. Many of these stations can be listened to online. Many of them are discussed on this board and in other media outlets. You spend a lot of time posting on this board. It is not the Pittsburgh board -- it is the News/Talk board. May I suggest that devote some of time that you spend posting to listening to talk stations outside of Pittsburgh. Who knows you might even post something that other people may be interested in.

 

[clichemoth]

I think the problem with Greenstone is their talent, not the concept. Bob & Sherri in Charlotte, who do a female-targeted show, do quite well. There are others, too. The PM drive show at Star 94 do pretty well and in that same bag.

Bob and Sheri are an AC morning drive show that just happens to be on one station that dropped music. For all of JP/Lincoln Financial's attempts to push the format as a whole, no other station has adopted it. Could it work outside Charlotte? Maybe, But it hasn't.

 

[FightingIrish]

I think the problem with Greenstone is their talent, not the concept. Bob & Sherri in Charlotte, who do a female-targeted show, do quite well. There are others, too. The PM drive show at Star 94 do pretty well and in that same bag.

Bob and Sheri are an AC morning drive show that just happens to be on one station that dropped music. For all of JP/Lincoln Financial's attempts to push the format as a whole, no other station has adopted it. Could it work outside Charlotte? Maybe, But it hasn't.

WFMP in Minneapolis/St. Paul is female-oriented talk:

http://www.fm107.fm/

 

[mouthoff]

Bob and Sheri are an AC morning drive show that just happens to be on one station that dropped music. For all of JP/Lincoln Financial's attempts to push the format as a whole, no other station has adopted it. Could it work outside Charlotte? Maybe, But it hasn't.

[/quote]

Are you aware that Bob & Sherri are syndicated on about 60 stations?

 

[clichemoth]

Bob and Sheri are an AC morning drive show that just happens to be on one station that dropped music. For all of JP/Lincoln Financial's attempts to push the format as a whole, no other station has adopted it. Could it work outside Charlotte? Maybe, But it hasn't.

Are you aware that Bob & Sherri are syndicated on about 60 stations?
[/quote]

Yes, but all their affiliates are AC stations, not talkers. The rest of the shows on WLNK have what, 2 or 3 affiliates each?

 

[mouthoff]

You're right, but it's marketed as a female-targeted talk show, not AC. They've done this now for a couple of years. This raises one of the questions being discussed today concerning the definition of talk. That is, it doesn't have to be on talk station to be talk. One of the problems is that the term "talk radio" seems to resonate politics. Free FM was/is an attempt to change that perception, but it's still struggling to find legs. There are successful, non-politcal talkers. B.J. Shea and Bob Rivers in Seattle, Michelle McKormick in Detroit, etc. The problem again, is talk only talk if it's on a talk station and only talks politics. That apparently is a radio perception, not public.

As for FM talk, don't even give its failure or demise another thought. It's growth and success are inevitable. It better be, cause if it fails, terrestrial radio may as well fold up the tent cause music won't get 'em where it once did. And by the way, look for female-targeted talk to realize steady growth over the next couple of years.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Hey RR...There's more to the US talk radio business than the talk stations in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh market contains about 1% of US radio listeners. There are over 2,000 talk radio stations around the country. Many of these stations can be listened to online.

I was making a specific response to a specific point made in a specific post by a specific person. I had also made the point that unless one is retired or unemployed, listening to talk radio online can be difficult, unless one has a really long wire for one's laptop in order to listen in one's car.

Maybe you might considered reading posts before you reply to them.

 

[kaufcom]

Hey RR...There's more to the US talk radio business than the talk stations in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh market contains about 1% of US radio listeners. There are over 2,000 talk radio stations around the country. Many of these stations can be listened to online.

I was making a specific response to a specific point made in a specific post by a specific person. I had also made the point that unless one is retired or unemployed, listening to talk radio online can be difficult, unless one has a really long wire for one's laptop in order to listen in one's car.

Maybe you might considered reading posts before you reply to them.

Unforturnately, I've read most of your posts. As you know, for awhile I was counting your obsessive rantings about the differences between "liberal" and "progressive" talk radio. I stopped counting at 43 posts. I've also been intrigued by how you reference Pittsburgh talk radio to make a point about national talk radio. I remember one time you were saying that you could not listen to AAR hosts because there was no AAR station in Pittsburgh. Someone suggested that you could listen on line, to which you replied that you didn't have the time to do this.

 

[fred flintstone]

Unforturnately, I've read most of your posts. As you know, for awhile I was counting your obsessive rantings about the differences between "liberal" and "progressive" talk radio. I stopped counting at 43 posts. I've also been intrigued by how you reference Pittsburgh talk radio to make a point about national talk radio. I remember one time you were saying that you could not listen to AAR hosts because there was no AAR station in Pittsburgh. Someone suggested that you could listen on line, to which you replied that you didn't have the time to do this.

Baroosk,
Reportedly, a quarter of AAR's audience comes from satellite radio and Internet audio listeners, clearly there is a potential for progressive talk outside the usual terrestrial radio channels (maybe even more outside than in).
If (as seems likely):
People in cars can't access Internet audio (not yet, although that's coming).
Many people in offices can't access satellite radio, Internet audio (through corporate network firewalls) or the weak-stick AM stations that mostly carry progressive talk programming.

Maybe AAR was short-sighted in whatever deal they made with XM, which cut off Sirius (and all Sirius subscribers). And short-sighted in charging a "premium" fee for podcasts. Given AAR's poor distribution via terrestrial radio (bad signals in some markets; no signals in most), they need to remove any barriers to people listening by newer media (especially convenience and price). They could pick up a nice extra chunk of audience (and they can't sell people who aren't listening). They should also be making deals with major cable MSOs, DirecTV and Dish to get progressive talk programming on cable/satellite audio.

All that said, I fail to see how someone who spends a good deal of time on this board does not have the time to listen to talk radio online.