Mark Levin (Groucho Marx on laughing gas).

[DonTheTrucker]

Are there really any Hannity fans that wouldn't like Levin? He seems to do well on the stations where Hannity also does well. I think WDEL's success over WILM is due to the fact that they're picking up an unserved market with local programming. WILM is just a weaker signaled WPHT for much of the day.

If I were Clear Channel, I'd flip WILM to liberal talk or something other than conservative (sports even).

 

[MikefromDelaware]

I agree with you that theoretically most folks who like Hannity should like Levin. I don't know, but where is Levin on the Talkers Top 100 talk shows? Rush #1, Hannity#2, etc. My guess is, that Mark Levin is further down the list, definitely not in the top 10. There are other conservative talkers like Levin, who all say the same thing as Rush/Hannity/Beck but are considered 2nd, 3rd tier shows (my guess is without the cramdown Levin would be in with that group). Their personality, style, the sound of their voice, etc, can make a big difference. Also, when the show is aired, and on how powerful of a station, what is the lead in show before, etc. I used to like Monica Crowley's show when it aired on WILM, but she's no longer on, so I don't get to hear her except if I catch on tape, when I remember to set up the VCR (which isn't often) before leaving for church, the McLaughin Group, which if I remember correctly is on PBS. Laura Ingraham, I also like, up to a point. She airs on WDEL at night, so it's not a live show, probably not as good of numbers as she might get for WDEL if she were on during the dayparts. Mark Levin airs at 10pm on WILM, so chances are his numbers won't be as high as the daypart shows. But my main point is, just because a talk host does conservative talk doesn't mean he/she will be good, or successful. Same with lib talkers. If WNTP 990 from Philly came in with a strong signal that I could get at work (can't get it at all) I'd probably listen to Michael Medved and Dennis Prager over Beck/Rush/Hannity, but that's just my taste (they'd be more like a conservative NPR talk show in my opinion).

WPHT has a stronger signal, but they do not penetrate the buildings as well as WILM does (WILM's transmitter/tower is in Downtown Wilmington about 4 miles from my workplace - WPHT's is in Philly much further away with more to interfere). I get WILM loud and clear in my building almost anywhere, and can get WPHT very poorly, if I place the radio in one certain place or in a window. So that does play into WILM's favor. Out in the car, both come in loud and clear. But my guess is Glenn Beck is making the difference for WPHT's grabbing WILM's daypart audience as I mentioned earlier for those who can pickup WPHT at work.

CC is using WILM to clear Rush/Hannity in the Wilmington market as they also do with their Dover station, WDOV. WDOV does have Beck as well.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

Levin was number 11 in 2009. Not that the Talkers list means anything. Ratings and ad sales are the only things that matter in the real world. That Talkers list is a joke. Mancow in the top 10? Puh-leeze.

WILM plays Levin in tape delay. That's just pointless, they should have some live Premier (or even better, local) talent in that slot. I'm pretty sure Levin wasn't "forced" on them, since they're a CC station. As much as I like Levin, I wouldn't listen to him on delay.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

Mancow is not available in my market, so I can't comment on how good his show is.
What criteria does Talker's Mag use to select the rankings? My guess would be ratings.

However, my point was Levin's higher ratings may be due to his show being forced on stations. If the market had decided, he might still be just a NYC talk show, which in itself isn't too shabby and better than I believe he deserves, but it's still not national. There may be better, more talented, more entertaining right wing talkers out there who'd be a real breath of fresh air, that don't have a network cramming their show down the throats of their affiliates.

Actually, WILM stuck it to Jim Bohanann's show as he used to be live at 10pm and now airs at midnight (WILM was one of the original Mutual stations that carried the then Larry King Show that became the Jim Bohanann show when Larry moved on to CNN), so my guess is WILM ticked off a bunch of listeners when they dump Levin on the public at 10pm. I used to be a loyal listener to Larry and Jim on WILM, but now I check Jim out online and just don't listen to WILM at night ( I have no interest in either Levin or Savage who airs at 7pm). Dr. Savage is a whiner and has got to be the most negative person on the air. He's never happy. Never seems to say anything uplifting or encouraging. After a long hard day at work, who wants to listen to all that doom and gloom? I sure don't. But, apparently someone does as he's still on the air.

 

[ropertex]

I hate the tone of his intro...broadcasting from his "command post" in an "underground bunker" we have "made contact with our leader."

It sounds like the white supremacist shortwave and pirate broadcasts from the 1990s.

Really seems to target the sickos who might be encouraged to blow up a federal building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbZJZ0BUhQ

Levin is head of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a far right pressure group funded by, among others, Richard Mellon Scaife (Mellon Bank heir - who funded the "Arkansas Project" to "get" Bill Clinton), John Olin (ammunition and ballistics) Charles Koch (oil and chemicals - Koch's father founded the John Birch Society)

Unlike Limbaugh, Hannity and even Beck, who had to work in radio some 20 years before being given a 3 hour a day nationwide show, Levin sudden appeared on the scene in 2003 and was "fast tracked" into a his own show which the Hannity affilates had to be arm-twisted to carry.


Can you imagine how fast conservatives would be calling to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine if the ACLU president suddenly got a 3 hour talk show?

 

[raykroc]

Why would conservatives care if the president of the ACLU got his own show? Wouldn't it be more fodder? Don't you think it's easier for a right-wing host to plan a show now than two years ago when they had to defend "W"?
That was a tough sell.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

Mancow is not available in my market, so I can't comment on how good his show is.
What criteria does Talker's Mag use to select the rankings? My guess would be ratings.

Mancow is awful, and the Talkers criteria are completely subjective. The guy has admitted on air when asked about it by Opie and Anthony that he makes the list to stir up talk about talk radio. He puts guys in certain spots to get them to talk about it. It's no more scientific than the Maxim Hottest 100 girls list.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

I hate the tone of his intro...broadcasting from his "command post" in an "underground bunker" we have "made contact with our leader."

It sounds like the white supremacist shortwave and pirate broadcasts from the 1990s.

Really seems to target the sickos who might be encouraged to blow up a federal building.

No, it targets people like you who think all conservatives want to blow up federal buildings.

This evil man also donates vast sums of money to animal shelters to save dogs from being euthanized. He's so despicable that his website has a "pet corner".

http://sprite.marklevinshow.com


In other words it's sarcasm and the joke's on people like you.

 

[Talk_Dude]

Why would conservatives care if the president of the ACLU got his own show? Wouldn't it be more fodder? Don't you think it's easier for a right-wing host to plan a show now than two years ago when they had to defend "W"?
That was a tough sell.

It is never a "tough sell" when your entire reason for existence is preaching to the choir. Reality is irrelevant. All that matters is saying what your audience wants to hear, just like a music disc jockey plays the songs the audience wants to hear. Talk, music, it makes no difference. Pandering is pandering, and whoever does it best, wins.

 

[FTL_Ian]

I guess our terms are confused. They haven't been trying to market Hannity/Levin, they are forcing stations that already carry Hannity to take Levin or lose Hannity. That's called coercion.

It doesn't quite meet the qualification of coercion, as no force is involved, but it's a nasty way to use one's clout. Not sure what the best word for it is. The affiliate station can always go its own way, as WDEL did.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

I'd still call it coercion. Sure there was force. Economic force. Sort of like your boss asking you to do a job you'd rather not do. You have a choice, do the job or economically be affected by being unemployed. So these fine radio executives essentially threatened each station's economic well being (as let's face it, the best ratings generally come from carrying the syndicated big 3 especially for the dieing band called AM radio), so many stations probably went along ONLY to keep Hannity, because of his ratings on their station. That is coercion, and shows what lack of ethics Hannity has. He had to know about it and the fact he went along with it says volumes to me. Mr. Hannity is such an ideolog that he sold his ethics down the river in order to insure another conservative talker, who has some interesting background if that earlier posting here is correct, got air time that he hadn't earned. A pretty lousy way to run a business. These folks demonstrate why we do need SOME government rules to keep the market driven people from going too far, because in regards to being ethical, the robber baron's have shown many times through out history that they'll anything to make the largest profit possibly with no regards to anyone else. The old expression still holds, he'd sell his grandmother to make a profit. The catch is, only having enough government rules and intervention, and not having government over controlling. The Dems want to go too far and the GOP doesn't want any. Both are wrong, in my opinion.

 

[raykroc]

If memory recalls, Levin graduated from law school at 22 and was a constitutional scholar of great note. Sometime after serving in the Reagan administration and appearing on numerous radio and television political shows, he became a friend and
radio protege of Sean Hannity. Hannity has had a hand in Levin's exposure and success as a talk show host. You can bet that
there were some strong arm tactics used by corporate to get Levin on Hannity stations and then last year to add the third hour to the Levin show. However, it is not a tactic that is solely employed by the radio industry.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

You can bet that
there were some strong arm tactics used by corporate to get Levin on Hannity stations and then last year to add the third hour to the Levin show. However, it is not a tactic that is solely employed by the radio industry.

That is why we do need SOME government oversight, but there is a balance. As I said, The Democrats seem to want too much and the Republicans don't want any. The truth is in the middle somewhere. Which is why I have no interest in the likes of Rush as he call's moderates brain dead, etc. To be a moderate is to try to find a workable solution that works for most folks, not just your own personal interest. Rush is all about his own personal interests at the expense of everyone else. As with Beck/Rush/Hannity/Levin, etc, etc, you either are a total Conservative in every aspect of your view point or you're a bleeding heart liberal. The Democrats are just as bad. If you're not totally sold out to the lib agenda, then you're a stiff necked conservative. I've been called both.

Getting this back to radio, I agree that yes there was some pretty strong arm twisting. Just because others in other lines of work do that doesn't make it right for radio to do it (both are wrong). One would like to hope or believe that these so called morally superior Conservatives (that's how they see themselves) would also have the highest ethics. Apparently they don't making them no better than the liberals they despise.

 

[UpstateNYBill]

You can bet that
there were some strong arm tactics used by corporate to get Levin on Hannity stations and then last year to add the third hour to the Levin show. However, it is not a tactic that is solely employed by the radio industry.

That is why we do need SOME government oversight, but there is a balance. As I said, The Democrats seem to want too much and the Republicans don't want any. The truth is in the middle somewhere. Which is why I have no interest in the likes of Rush as he call's moderates brain dead, etc. To be a moderate is to try to find a workable solution that works for most folks, not just your own personal interest. Rush is all about his own personal interests at the expense of everyone else. As with Beck/Rush/Hannity/Levin, etc, etc, you either are a total Conservative in every aspect of your view point or you're a bleeding heart liberal. The Democrats are just as bad. If you're not totally sold out to the lib agenda, then you're a stiff necked conservative. I've been called both.

Getting this back to radio, I agree that yes there was some pretty strong arm twisting. Just because others in other lines of work do that doesn't make it right for radio to do it (both are wrong). One would like to hope or believe that these so called morally superior Conservatives (that's how they see themselves) would also have the highest ethics. Apparently they don't making them no better than the liberals they despise.

Conservatives morally superior? What a laugh.

 

[DToTheJ]

I hate the tone of his intro...broadcasting from his "command post" in an "underground bunker" we have "made contact with our leader..."

And don't forget, the "bunker" is located in the "brick and steel walls of a nondescript building"... which is actually his own residence in Northern Virginia.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

Well after all, he is doing radio. So he can add to image of the hoards of Liberals storming America with this mental picture of a command post and underground bunker in a brick and steel nondescript building on a hillside in Northern Virginia where he can see the Tomb of the Unknowns at sunset, as he sits there with his helmit on with his M-16 on his lap ready for action to defend our nation, etc, etc. The action is moving from left to right on your radio dial. Sort of a modern day radio picture of saying, we're coming to you tonight live from the Starlight Lounge in beautiful Downtown Wherever, for the music of Osgood Featherwinkle and his Orchestra....

I can remember doing a top 40 show phone in request show on (AFRN 1490) Armed Forces Radio in Alaska at Eielson AFB, back in 1972-73, where I'd tell the kids (we had a large base with plenty of dependents living on base) that we had all the records in the record cave. We had Irving Glick and the Cornhuskers as our studio orchestra and chorus (remember all the top 40 jingles used back then). Every once in a while some of the kids from either Eielson Junior High or Senior High would come by the studio and be shocked to see a tiny room with me, all the records, and the student co-host who read many of the requests, found the records who was my sidekick - sort of more vocal version of Snerdly, co-hosting the show. They'd be in shock as we had created the image of us being in the large place with caves that held the records, and a bunch of people there doing the jungles, etc, etc. For some reason, they always pictured me being a lot taller than my 5 foot 6 inches. Ah, the magic of radio.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

I hate the tone of his intro...broadcasting from his "command post" in an "underground bunker" we have "made contact with our leader..."

And don't forget, the "bunker" is located in the "brick and steel walls of a nondescript building"... which is actually his own residence in Northern Virginia.

I'm also pretty sure the "Batmobile" that he refers to as his car is also a run-of-the-mill Corvette.

 

[MattParker]

You all mean, I think, Groucho on helium. Helium is a lighter than air gas used to inflate floating balloons. Helium is a perfect metaphor for Levin. Groucho, on the other hand, like laughing gas made people laugh.

Among other things Levin claims and advocates unlimited power for the federal chief executive. Conservatives are supposed to favor limited government but Levin wants a dictatorship (as long as a Republican gets to play Julius Ceasar).

Sorry, folks, but what ABC/Disney/Citadel did was not coercion ("use of force or intimidation to obtain compliance"). The Wilmington station that carried Hannity did not take Levin (compliance was not obtained). The contract was up for renewal. One station would take both Hannity and Levin, the other would not. ABC took the better offer. Sounds like WDEL dropped the ball. They should have agreed to Hannity and put him on at 10pm like Clear Channel did. In the long run, this might not have made any difference since CC now owns half of Hannity any way.

I keep reading Hannity is a great intellect. C'mon. Temple Law School?

 

[MikefromDelaware]

WDEL is doing better both ratings wise and local spot wise when WILM, the CC station that ended up with Hannity and Levin. WDEL went live and local. They have become the news/talk station in Wilmington to listen to. CC has cut and cut staffing at WILM so that there is a handful of people working hard to compete with WDEL. Just a few years ago, WILM was the news/talk station to listen to in Wilmington. CC tore out the guts out of WILM and it's a shell of its former self ( I ought to know, I used to work there weekends). So they may have won the battle in getting or keeping Rush/Hannity/Levin, but they lost the ratings battle, and more importantly, the local advertising battle as during those three shows you'll hear very few local spots, but you'll hear plenty of PSA's. Whereas WDEL is flush with local spots. So who was smarter?? I say WDEL's management deserves a lot of credit for not bowing to the demand that if you want to keep Hannity in the new contract, you have to fill another 3 hours with the far lesser ratings getter Levin (especially in a Blue County - New Castle- that Wilmington is located).

 

[Rusty Muck]

Just another shouting conservaclone. Oh, and if he were so "great", he wouldn't have to be crammed-down affiliates' throats. (As you may know, if a station wants Hannity, they are typically made to also play Levin.)

Why would Clear Channel (Hannity's syndicator) push a Citadel (Levin's) show on people?

Before you make stuff like this up, you should at least know the basic facts.

Hannity was an ABC/Citadel talkers until recently .

Per the recent deal, Citadel Media only distributes Hannity to the Citadel station group and the legacy "ABC Radio" O&Os. Clear Channel/Premiere distributes Hannity on all the other stations. I can't remember if both groups handle ad sales in a joint-venture, or if it's only just Citadel.

The deal was arranged to keep Hannity from bailing out on Citadel altogether, which was close to happening. That would have been very bad news for both Hannity (he would have lost the high-profile clearances in NY, LA, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, SF and DC) and Citadel (who would have lost their most successful program).