Written in of all places... the Miami Herald, by Glenn Garvin. The one market that disproves everything said in the article.
In the "bad" old days of FD, Miami and South Florida had some of the liveliest talk radio in the country. Three full-time stations that were news with talk at night, talk everywhere but morning drive, and a full-service format that was mostly talk. Two more in the West Palm Beach area. The radio home base of Larry King. Miami was the best talk radio market in the country in the 70's and the early 80's. Miami's own history is a direct refutation of the idea that FD stifled talk radio. If anything, Miami's talk radio scene went into decline in the 10 or 15 years after FD repeal, as programmers tried to cram Rush Limbaugh and nationally syndicated shows instead of liberal and local flavor that South Florida has always preferred over the years -- even as recently as this spring, when Nicole Sandler's liberal talk on WINZ beat WIOD in the ratings, only to get axed.
If Glenn Garvin had gotten in his car and talked to people who were in talk radio in the 70's/80's and still live in the market (and in the case of Neil Rogers, still work in the market), instead of regurgitating talking points, it would have made for a much more interesting article.
Even the few quotes the reporter got -- from WFTL PD Ken Pauli and WJNO/national host Randi Rhodes -- undercut the story. Pauli claims his experience with a liberal host "taught" him not to program liberals and conservatives on the same station. Yet WJNO, which has both Randi and Rush -- definitely a mix of liberal and conservative -- still clobbers all-conservative all-the-time WFTL in the West Palm ratings. So what did Pauli "learn" from Jim DeFede -- other than typical radio slash-and-burn accounting? (Cut the salary.)
In the "bad" old days of FD, Miami and South Florida had some of the liveliest talk radio in the country. Three full-time stations that were news with talk at night, talk everywhere but morning drive, and a full-service format that was mostly talk. Two more in the West Palm Beach area. The radio home base of Larry King. Miami was the best talk radio market in the country in the 70's and the early 80's. Miami's own history is a direct refutation of the idea that FD stifled talk radio. If anything, Miami's talk radio scene went into decline in the 10 or 15 years after FD repeal, as programmers tried to cram Rush Limbaugh and nationally syndicated shows instead of liberal and local flavor that South Florida has always preferred over the years -- even as recently as this spring, when Nicole Sandler's liberal talk on WINZ beat WIOD in the ratings, only to get axed.
If Glenn Garvin had gotten in his car and talked to people who were in talk radio in the 70's/80's and still live in the market (and in the case of Neil Rogers, still work in the market), instead of regurgitating talking points, it would have made for a much more interesting article.
Even the few quotes the reporter got -- from WFTL PD Ken Pauli and WJNO/national host Randi Rhodes -- undercut the story. Pauli claims his experience with a liberal host "taught" him not to program liberals and conservatives on the same station. Yet WJNO, which has both Randi and Rush -- definitely a mix of liberal and conservative -- still clobbers all-conservative all-the-time WFTL in the West Palm ratings. So what did Pauli "learn" from Jim DeFede -- other than typical radio slash-and-burn accounting? (Cut the salary.)