Pros and Cons on Dave Ramsey

[del_griffith]

What are the pros and cons of carrying Dave Ramsey> Not his methodology, but his show.

Holland Cooke, would appreciate your insights.

For a small market.

 

[dustintv]

Pros:

-He's nice and friendly and can have some intelligent discussion.
-Provides something different than the usual right-wing political talk stuff.
-Has a timeslot that still allows for local programing in the afternoons.

Cons:

-Show often lags. Financial talk can often be boring, and his solutions are often just a band-aid not an exact fix.
-A good majority of his callers seem to live in an upscale trailer park.
-Doesn't seem to play well outside of the south.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

Some pros on the technical side:
- His affiliation contract. Very simple and one page. Stations play the show and the 5 minutes of spots per hour, and keep the remaining 15:50. No cramdowns, no best-ofs, no run-of-schedules.
- The show is fed via satellite 24/7, and all breaks are hard timed, making it very automation friendly for any daypart.

 

[john23]

-A good majority of his callers seem to live in an upscale trailer park.

Some perhaps, but I wouldn't call it a 'good majority'. In fact I once had a listener complain to me that his callers were all rich, therefore his advice was useless. If a caller does live in a trailer, Dave is quick to tell them to sell it!

 

[dustintv]

Ok if not upscale trailer park they must live in modular McMansions ;D While I know the majority of Ramsey's listeners and probably callers don't fit the stereotype, a lot of frequent callers seem to so called "white trash" and simply overextended themselves in their trendy move from South Carolina to Phoenix. It's people like that I have not much sympathy for.

 

[toddort]

We are a very northern talker that runs Dave for two hours each afternoon. He's actually outpacing anything else we've ever put in the time slot and we get more complaints about his show being pre-empted for sports than any other show (including our local, drive-time news hours). He can do well outside of the south in the right spot with a good lead in and follow. In our case we have a well established local host and drive-time news follows.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Ramsey also offers lots of chances for cross-promotion.

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University is offered regularly by a number of churches in this area. A couple of insurance agencies and stockbrokers advertise being endorsed by Dave. That seems to translate into good sales opportunities.

 

[DToTheJ]

Some of these agencies even advertise right on Dave's show.

 

[YoungRadioBlood]

Dave Ramsey is horrific radio. How anyone listens to this show is mind boggling.

He offers the most simplistic financial advice that is more or less common sense to the average American, he promotes his Financial Peace University and events practically every show, he's been caught being a fraud as a columnist in a Tennessee newspaper, and of course he's a praising jesus christ every half hour.

If you're not in the South Dave Ramsey doesn't exist. Someone else also made a fantastic point about the 24/7 satellite feed. A lot of stations that carry him have him for nearly 6 hours a day. Either 2 in the morning and 3 at night or vice versa. He's perfect for a station that is in the south and doesn't want to spend a lot of money. But for real talk or news radio listeners this guy is an insult.

 

[storrs19]

Actually it's UNcommon sense which is why so many people are in debt up to their eyeballs. They just spend spend spend and put it all on credit cards along with the two car payments and two mortgages waiting for the government to bail them out as they know it will. I haven't listened to Dave for several years but then I don't need to since I only spend what I have and owe nobody anything. I learned this from my parents who learned it from their parents. It amazes me how many broke people I see spending endless credit in the stores every day and night. Nuts!

 

[dustintv]

Actually it's UNcommon sense which is why so many people are in debt up to their eyeballs.  They just spend spend spend and put it all on credit cards along with the two car payments and two mortgages waiting for the government to bail them out as they know it will.  I haven't listened to Dave for several years but then I don't need to since I only spend what I have and owe nobody anything.  I learned this from my parents who learned it from their parents.  It amazes me how many broke people I see spending endless credit in the stores every day and night.  Nuts!

I knew this kid who's parents gave him a debit card set him up with his own bank account...he used it like a credit card because they didn't bother tell him the difference or explain it and he ended up with so much overdraft fees he had to wait two years before he was eligible to get one again. So I believe it.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

Someone else also made a fantastic point about the 24/7 satellite feed. A lot of stations that carry him have him for nearly 6 hours a day. Either 2 in the morning and 3 at night or vice versa. He's perfect for a station that is in the south and doesn't want to spend a lot of money. But for real talk or news radio listeners this guy is an insult.

What stations have him 6 hours a day? I'm not familiar with them. Our local one, KFWB, does delay him into evenings at 9 PM, but it's a Los Angeles station so for Dave it's a gain. They only play 3 hours too. Dave's show doesn't leave open much inventory for local stations in PM drive, a mere 15 min 50 sec, so I understand stations wouldn't want to carry him live.

 

[upstate29651]

While I know the majority of Ramsey's listeners and probably callers don't fit the stereotype, a lot of frequent callers seem to so called "white trash" and simply overextended themselves in their trendy move from South Carolina to Phoenix.

Can you smell the stereotyping? :

It's easy to sort out the hobbyists from the professionals on this board with trite comments such as the one above.

G

 

[DToTheJ]

Our local one, KFWB, does delay him into evenings at 9 PM, but it's a Los Angeles station so for Dave it's a gain. They only play 3 hours too.

Currently, Ramsey has no New York affiliate. The financial news WBBR-AM (Bloomberg 1130) would be a perfect fit, most likely tape delayed to 7PM or 8PM.

I believe there is a section on Dave's website asking listeners to contact stations in top markets requesting that they carry his show.

 

[smedge2006]

Currently, Ramsey has no New York affiliate. The financial news WBBR-AM (Bloomberg 1130) would be a perfect fit, most likely tape delayed to 7PM or 8PM.

There is no perfect fit for Ramsey in NY unless it's a Salem station -- and Ramsey and Salem have burned their bridges. Mayor Mike would have a fit if he ever heard Dave-O on his station.

 

[NewsStud]

Dave Ramsey is the latest in non-political talk show hosts whose M.O. is rooted firmly in politics.

We can trace this back to Dr. Laura. Hers is not a politics show, but her psychology is based in Conservative Christian mantra (even though she is a late-in-life covert to Judaism) Dave Ramsey is no different. He talks personal finance to you, but he finds his methods in-between the lines of Reaganomics and the Bible.

What bugs me about hosts like Ramsey is that they usually are speaking from a personal point of failure in their life and are now urging their listeners to walk a narrow line in order to not follow in their failed steps. It sounds like a recovering alcoholic: They couldn't handle their booze, so now you (who has no drinking problem) should not be allowed to drink.

With Dr. Laura, it was having pre-marital relationships. With Ramsey, it's the use of credit.

Ramsey couldn't handle taking out a loan and using credit cards, therefore he "recommends" never borrowing money outside of a mortgage. But for those of us who never had a problem paying our debts and who use our credit responsibly, this is a stupid way to live life. I shouldn't have to drive a beater simply because I can't buy a new car outright. While I won't buy myself a Rolls Royce, I have no problem making payments for a few years on a new car in my affordability range. I also rely on a credit card in the case I need to make a major purchase and don't have the cash on hand but will have it next paycheck. (My printer/fax/copier/scanner died and I needed a new one, pronto).

But, that simplistic way of looking at the world infects most (if not all) of talk radio. So I guess the timid program directors are not afraid to put him on; they don't fear he'll scare away their conservative audience members since his talk tactics are the same.

 

[smedge2006]

NewsStud makes the same point I made in another post: ideological print-through has affected the entire AM band. Every variation of the AM spoken word format -- business talk, sports talk, etc. -- has bleed-through
right-wing ideology, thanks to syndication oversupply, self-selection and program director groupthink.

 

[gr8oldies]

How would you do liberal business talk? "Business people stink! If you had any self respect you'd be working in government!"
Lib money talk? Make sure you pay the highest taxes possible

 

[NewsStud]

How would you do liberal business talk? "Business people stink! If you had any self respect you'd be working in government!"
Lib money talk? Make sure you pay the highest taxes possible

You miss the point. Entirely.

These program directors who program ideology (as opposed to entertainment and information) feel that an advice show such as Ramsey's can fit into their "Conservative" and "Religious Right" talk lineup because when Ramsey says: "Don't spend money you don't have" he claims it's a Christian biblical concept. In the programmers' minds, it makes the advice show potentially palatable for an audience they are under the impression of wants nothing more than to be told "Good=Republican & Christian."

Kind of like Dawson McAllister. I can't imagine most sane parents allowing their teens to call up some creepy middle-aged man for advice on their lives. But because he was once a Christian youth pastor, it's permissible.

 

[1st of 5]

This guy is a just another self promoting fraud. He comes across as arrogant and condescending with his "better than I deserve" quip. It seems that he's always giving away his self help course, which I guess some mindless people actually pay for. Here in South Texas, he does commercials for anyone who will pay him to mouth out their sales pitches. There are some commercials, which do not air during HIS show's timeslot, which are somewhat contradictory to the 'advice' he vomits out. Its sort of like announcing an open bar in the lobby during a break at an AA meeting. But it is something different from all of those political rant shows. Its also quite hilarious to hear all of those helpless adult juvenile morons who make over 250K a year, can't pay their bills and can't stop spending $$$ they don't have just to keep up with the neighbors. No common sense, no self discipline, never had never will. You can lead a horse to water, but if he doesn't have enough sense to drink it, then turn him into dog food. Then at least it will serve some useful purpose.