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News Talk in Phoenix

A

azenergyfan

Guest
I wonder why news talk stations these days have to cater to a certain audience. As in they are either way left, way right, etc. What happened to news talk stations that were like CHR mainstream? What I mean is, why not carry a liberal show, a right wing show, a left wing show, etc. Give the listener some variety and also opposing view points. I am sure bush haters like certain shows on air america but I am sure they even get tired of hearing the same ol thing all day long every day. Just tossing it out there but I figure the answer is they want to appeal to a certain audience like fragmented music radio. Hot Ac, Modern Ac, Mainstream AC, Classic Hits AC, etc.
 
> I wonder why news talk stations these days have to cater to
> a certain audience. As in they are either way left, way
> right, etc. What happened to news talk stations that were
> like CHR mainstream? What I mean is, why not carry a liberal
> show, a right wing show, a left wing show, etc. Give the
> listener some variety and also opposing view points. I am
> sure bush haters like certain shows on air america but I am
> sure they even get tired of hearing the same ol thing all
> day long every day. Just tossing it out there but I figure
> the answer is they want to appeal to a certain audience like
> fragmented music radio. Hot Ac, Modern Ac, Mainstream AC,
> Classic Hits AC, etc.
>
Other the Air America (which is NO longer carried in Phoenix), who is FAR LEFT in the Phoenix market? There is no longer any diversity here in Phoenix. Everyone is FAR RIGHT, supporting everything that the right wing wants to do -- including turning over our ports to the so-called "evildoers".
 
> > I wonder why news talk stations these days have to cater
> to
> > a certain audience. As in they are either way left, way
> > right, etc. What happened to news talk stations that were
> > like CHR mainstream? What I mean is, why not carry a
> liberal
> > show, a right wing show, a left wing show, etc. Give the
> > listener some variety and also opposing view points. I am
> > sure bush haters like certain shows on air america but I
> am
> > sure they even get tired of hearing the same ol thing all
> > day long every day. Just tossing it out there but I figure
>
> > the answer is they want to appeal to a certain audience
> like
> > fragmented music radio. Hot Ac, Modern Ac, Mainstream AC,
> > Classic Hits AC, etc.
> >
> Other the Air America (which is NO longer carried in
> Phoenix), who is FAR LEFT in the Phoenix market? There is
> no longer any diversity here in Phoenix. Everyone is FAR
> RIGHT, supporting everything that the right wing wants to do
> -- including turning over our ports to the so-called
> "evildoers".
>

KFYI was once like this. They had Barry Young and Bob Mohan in the morning. (Barry was on AM drive and Bob in middays.) Leykis pulled down PM drive and late midday was a train wreck, usually, until Rush came along.

At the time, Leykis's schtick was political, not sex talk. He was, and is, liberal. Young and Mohan were, and are, conservative / libertarian.

The station wasn't getting a lot of ratings anyway, but the scizophrenic nature of the station wasn't helping, either. KFYI turned inexorably to the right when they got Rush and he got them numbers and revenue. But they didn't get rid of Leykis because of ideology. Uncle Fred the Beer Baron coulda cared less about politics. He wanted to be #1. If Leykis could have gotten him there, Leykis would have stuck around somehow. But Rush was the gold mine, so, you go where the gold is.

So here were are in 2006. I think left-right radio might work, but only if you had someone very entertaining. Leykis blew off political talk because it wasn't working for him. Ed Shultz is reasonably entertaining, but the biggest impediement to great liberal talk is the fact that most of them are more interested in preaching than entertaining.
 
Randi Rhodes was, in my opinion, the most entertaining of the Air America crew. I miss listening to her.

Until Air America jettisons the ideologues and fanatical hosts, they will never succeed. They need a Rush Limbaugh of the left- entertaining, yet politically oriented. (And no, Mr. Stuart Smalley is neither of these.)


> So here were are in 2006. I think left-right radio might
> work, but only if you had someone very entertaining. Leykis
> blew off political talk because it wasn't working for him.
> Ed Shultz is reasonably entertaining, but the biggest
> impediement to great liberal talk is the fact that most of
> them are more interested in preaching than entertaining.
>
 
> Randi Rhodes was, in my opinion, the most entertaining of
> the Air America crew. I miss listening to her.

Okay...

>
> Until Air America jettisons the ideologues and fanatical
> hosts, they will never succeed.


And now I've gotta go fix my irony meter!

IMO, liberal talk will never succeed if they present themselves as liberal talk.

Right wing talk succeeded because they presented themselves as an alternative to all the left-wing liberal media.

Of course, there's no such animal, but it worked anyway. Rush presented himself not as a conservative or a Republican, but as a rebel...an outsider...a voice of truth in the wilderness. He convinced people there was a disease (left wing bias in the media) and sold himself as the cure. He was entertaining to boot, so it worked. It was kinda brilliant, actually.

For Air America to succeed, they can't just be the other guys on the other side of the political fence parroting the format of their rivals. That's not so brilliant.
 
> > Randi Rhodes was, in my opinion, the most entertaining of
> > the Air America crew. I miss listening to her.
>
> Okay...
>
> >
> > Until Air America jettisons the ideologues and fanatical
> > hosts, they will never succeed.
>
>
> And now I've gotta go fix my irony meter!
>
> IMO, liberal talk will never succeed if they present
> themselves as liberal talk.
>
> Right wing talk succeeded because they presented themselves
> as an alternative to all the left-wing liberal media.
>
> Of course, there's no such animal, but it worked anyway.
> Rush presented himself not as a conservative or a
> Republican, but as a rebel...an outsider...a voice of truth
> in the wilderness. He convinced people there was a disease
> (left wing bias in the media) and sold himself as the cure.
> He was entertaining to boot, so it worked. It was kinda
> brilliant, actually.
>
> For Air America to succeed, they can't just be the other
> guys on the other side of the political fence parroting the
> format of their rivals. That's not so brilliant.
>
Have you ever listened to Air America? Most of the hosts present themselves as progressive, not liberal (although they will not deny that they are liberal). Rush is entertaining??? He is a big, fat drug abuser with a decidely right wing political agenda (and, by the way, I used to agree with him until I got tired of the right wing name calling).
 
it's npr's 91.5 kjzz for me, most of the time.

also,

charles goyette

michael savage

terry gilberg

matt drudge

phil hendrie ..on occassion

overnight i listen to 770 (savage) 640 (ziegler), 89.5, 1070, 1080, 1160 or 810
 
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