Religious/political beliefs of talk programmers

[cm454]

How big a part do you think radio programmers religious or political beliefs play in their programming decisions?

 

[Slant]

unless you work for Salem...or a tradational christian network...NONE

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

unless you work for Salem...or a tradational christian network...NONE

Were you able to type that with a straight face?

You really think I am going believe that Limbaugh has NO political motives in what he says?

You really think I am going to believe that Hannity is not injecting his own religious views.... or not pandering to the religious crowd.

 

[ABQTom]

How big a part do you think radio programmers religious or political beliefs play in their programming decisions?

To a significant extent, no question about it. I won't name any names. Hosts get fired, especially local liberal hosts, when the PD is conservative.

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

unless you work for Salem...or a tradational christian network...NONE

Were you able to type that with a straight face?

You really think I am going believe that Limbaugh has NO political motives in what he says?

You really think I am going to believe that Hannity is not injecting his own religious views.... or not pandering to the religious crowd.

In all fairness, injecting one's own religious views and pandering to the religious crowd are two very different things. I have to wonder how much any of the wing-nut hosts really believe anything they say, any more than they really believe the spots they read.

 

[DaleGriffin]

unless you work for Salem...or a tradational christian network...NONE

Were you able to type that with a straight face?

You really think I am going believe that Limbaugh has NO political motives in what he says?

You really think I am going to believe that Hannity is not injecting his own religious views.... or not pandering to the religious crowd.

The question was programmers, not hosts. Of course the hosts do.

 

[DaleGriffin]

How big a part do you think radio programmers religious or political beliefs play in their programming decisions?

To a significant extent, no question about it. I won't name any names. Hosts get fired, especially local liberal hosts, when the PD is conservative.

Please name names.

 

[ABQTom]

I will only name names where I can find an article to back up that what I say is true....so in this case, Doug Basham KDWN/Vegas was fired in 2003 by KDWN PD Claire Reese because he was too critical of Bush.
(btw Basham does morning drive in Vegas weekdays)

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2003/MERC-Aug-14-Thu-2003/21892242.html

Oh - I forgot - there's a nasty discussion going on between various Vegas hosts and others at the Nevada board. Maybe Phil Boyce would like to chime in about his ALL NEW KXNT !

http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,85733.0.html

 

[DaleGriffin]

I will only name names where I can find an article to back up that what I say is true....so in this case, Doug Basham KDWN/Vegas was fired in 2003 by KDWN PD Claire Reese because he was too critical of Bush.
(btw Basham does morning drive in Vegas weekdays)

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2003/MERC-Aug-14-Thu-2003/21892242.html

Radio intolerance

Alternative viewpoints aren't welcome on KDWN 720-AM, as Doug Bashem found out the hard way. Basham had a talk show on the station, but his refusal to toe the station's conservative line left him without a forum. He says the station manager told him, "I don't like what you do on the air."

"I spent too much time bashing the president," he says.

"It was political," he says of his show, "but not from the right-wing perspective, as everything else was on this station. If you dare ask a question, they automatically assume you're on the left."

Basham says he lost his time spots in May, despite significant gains in ratings. As is the custom, the show was paid for by an outside party who remains anonymous.

Basham stayed on at KDWN as an engineer but then he landed a nonpaying talk show on KLAV 1230-AM, Mondays through Fridays from 8 to 9 a.m. "The breaking point started because of the other station," he says. "How dare me to be on another station."

He was fired as an engineer. Basham says his ratings are up at KLAV, but his pay is way down.

"I tried to present an alternative opinion to counterbalance the glut of right-wing rhetoric out there," he says of his on-air stint at KDWN. He says callers to KDWN who were critical of the Bush administration were cut off. "Sounds like censorship to me. They equate dissent with treason."

Bob Fisher, president of the Nevada Broadcasters Association, refused to categorize most local talk shows as right wing. "I'm uncomfortable putting a label on anything. But when it comes to talk shows, it's a slippery slope."

KDWN General Manager Claire Reis did not return two phone calls last week.--LW

1. This source is questionable.
2. The boss who last fired me at WYDE in Birmingham AL did not like what I did on the air either. It was his airtime not mine.
3. The government censors, businesses do not.
4. You have not backed your wild accusations at all.
5. I am not shocked.

 

[smedge2006]

3. The government censors, businesses do not.

Except when the businesses get a special favor from government that others can't access -- a broadcast license.

 

[ABQTom]

1. This source is questionable.
2. The boss who last fired me at WYDE in Birmingham AL did not like what I did on the air either. It was his airtime not mine.
3. The government censors, businesses do not.
4. You have not backed your wild accusations at all.
5. I am not shocked.

Hhh? The source is questionable? What do you mean - The Las Vegas Mercury has now become the Las Vegas City Life, sister to the major paper, the Las Vegas Review Journal. Basham/Cornell advertise their program in both city life and the RJ.
http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/

 

[cm454]

GUYS:

Way to confuse a simple premise!

 

[cm454]

repost.

 

[DaleGriffin]

1. This source is questionable.
2. The boss who last fired me at WYDE in Birmingham AL did not like what I did on the air either. It was his airtime not mine.
3. The government censors, businesses do not.
4. You have not backed your wild accusations at all.
5. I am not shocked.

Hhh? The source is questionable? What do you mean - The Las Vegas Mercury has now become the Las Vegas City Life, sister to the major paper, the Las Vegas Review Journal. Basham/Cornell advertise their program in both city life and the RJ.
http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/

Oh so the guy advertises in the paper that you source about the political hit on him? I guess I got told.

Basham may very well have been a victim of politics, I don't know, but I do question the validity of this report.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Were you able to type that with a straight face?

You really think I am going believe that Limbaugh has NO political motives in what he says?

You really think I am going to believe that Hannity is not injecting his own religious views.... or not pandering to the religious crowd.

The question was programmers, not hosts. Of course the hosts do.

I must confess that after being absent from the broadcasting business for a few years, I have returned to viewing the broadcasting business like a listener would.

Listeners do not necessarily sit down and think: The on-air person is a distinct separate entity, the "programmer" is a distinct independent entity, the station management is another entity and the station ownership is another entity, and everything that comes in from the satellite is different that what is generated within the local studio.

No, it's like me going into the Quik-Trip to refill my coffee cup and pick up a Dixie-creme donut. If I get a BAD donut i'm going to be back in the face of Quik-Trip asking them to make it right. I don't want to hear: "well that's not my problem.... the wheat farmer in Kansas is who you need to talk to... it's her fault."

Can you really separate the host from the programmer in radio? Let's see: Does the FCC license the hosts? Does the FCC license the person with the title "programmer"? Does the FCC license the station manager?

As we say down in the country: Can you unscramble an egg after it has been cooked and placed on the plate in front of you?

And I ask: When the radio dumps it in your ear, can you unscramble the Limbaugh from the Dick Cheney from the Pat Robertson from the programmer from the station license? No, you get one homogenized ugly, stinky package called TALK radio. What we used to have was CONVERSATION radio. And the American Society is the loser in the change.

 

[DaleGriffin]

Were you able to type that with a straight face?

You really think I am going believe that Limbaugh has NO political motives in what he says?

You really think I am going to believe that Hannity is not injecting his own religious views.... or not pandering to the religious crowd.

The question was programmers, not hosts. Of course the hosts do.

I must confess that after being absent from the broadcasting business for a few years, I have returned to viewing the broadcasting business like a listener would.

Listeners do not necessarily sit down and think: The on-air person is a distinct separate entity, the "programmer" is a distinct independent entity, the station management is another entity and the station ownership is another entity, and everything that comes in from the satellite is different that what is generated within the local studio.

No, it's like me going into the Quik-Trip to refill my coffee cup and pick up a Dixie-creme donut. If I get a BAD donut i'm going to be back in the face of Quik-Trip asking them to make it right. I don't want to hear: "well that's not my problem.... the wheat farmer in Kansas is who you need to talk to... it's her fault."

Can you really separate the host from the programmer in radio? Let's see: Does the FCC license the hosts? Does the FCC license the person with the title "programmer"? Does the FCC license the station manager?

As we say down in the country: Can you unscramble an egg after it has been cooked and placed on the plate in front of you?

And I ask: When the radio dumps it in your ear, can you unscramble the Limbaugh from the Dick Cheney from the Pat Robertson from the programmer from the station license? No, you get one homogenized ugly, stinky package called TALK radio. What we used to have was CONVERSATION radio. And the American Society is the loser in the change.

Let me paraphrase - I hate talk radio because I disagree with the politics of the hosts.

 

[del_griffith]

He could very well disagree with some of the hosts. That's not the point. And he's right about what the average listener thinks about his/her local station. There are some who believe Rush/Hannity orignate from the local studio.

I was a rabid Rush listener for many years. Before Rush came to my local market , I used to go out at lunch and try to find a distant signal to listen to so I could hear his show. When he finally found an affiliate in my market, I was thrilled. I listened everyday for all three hours. While I'm a bit more moderate than Rush, I still enjoyed what he did on the air.

About a year or two prior to his drug problems, I began to burn out. About 3 or 4 years ago, I finally got tired of it completely. I bet I've listened only to a handful of shows each year. And then it's only to hear his spin on something when a conservative or liberal does something stupid or his explanation of the latest election cycle. I've noticed that more folks are listening to our local sports talk station, motivational materials or other audio programs. They too have said they have grown tired of it. Some say they only listen because he's on the heritage station in the market (meaning they only have one or two AM presets) and then it's for news updates more than programming.

Part of it is I believe it's easier to be on defense than on offense when doing conserative talk radio. The other part is it's become the same old some old. Day after day, week after week. Hearing someone called Dingy Harry for the umpteenth time or the latest spin from the VP simply gets old. Having the host always have the last word, especially when they have a caller from either side who is articulate and can keep up with the host gets old too. You can listen especially to Rush and almost know when the caller no longer is able to talk back. Sometimes that good with an idiot caller. Other times, we've lost too many a good conversations.

And let's face it, we had 6 years of republican control and things really didn't change all that much. Throughout the 90's, that was the cry of talk radio. Give us the executive and the legislative and all will be well. Jupiter aligned with Mars and nothing much happened.

 

[jimwalsh2001]

Squawk radio does indeed have a serious problem with the godawful sameness and total predictability of it all. But don't kid yourself: it has nothing to do with advancing a political, religious, or any other kind of agenda. It's due to to the follow-the-leader mentality of many (most?) hosts and programmers. 8)

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

But don't kid yourself: it has nothing to do with advancing a political, religious, or any other kind of agenda.

Tell me, JimWalsh. How deeply involved are you in church and the struggles church denominations are going through today, and can identify which ones of them are boot-strapped to certain political movements?

Those of us who are deeply involved may be hearing connections and "power sources" that are not coming to the attention of people who are simply focused on broadcasting alone. What an interesting trio when you look at Grover Norquist, Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed. Take a look at who attended the Wednesday morning breakfasts. Gives a whole new meaning to "Follow the Leader".

 

[DaleGriffin]

But don't kid yourself: it has nothing to do with advancing a political, religious, or any other kind of agenda.

Tell me, JimWalsh. How deeply involved are you in church and the struggles church denominations are going through today, and can identify which ones of them are boot-strapped to certain political movements?

Those of us who are deeply involved may be hearing connections and "power sources" that are not coming to the attention of people who are simply focused on broadcasting alone. What an interesting trio when you look at Grover Norquist, Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed. Take a look at who attended the Wednesday morning breakfasts. Gives a whole new meaning to "Follow the Leader".

What is the implication here?