So Who's Talking Now?

[DrAkbar]

Seems KT'R has given up on taking local phone calls as the station is now branding itself as "Arizona's Breaking News & Traffic Station". If you want to call in and sound off, fuhgeddaboudit. Bruce St James, Chuck 'n Chick, Dumber 'n Dumbest will acknowledge Tweets, emails and Facebook comments, but sorry..no local calls. That apparently ancient method of communication is reserved for their syndicated shows; weekend how-to's; and of course Luvable Jaybird. For a station that still calls itself Newstalk 92~Three and a web site that proclaims KT'R as Where The Valley Talks, the only talk we're hearing is hosts yukking it up with sidekicks, producers, news personnel, and board ops. Nurse Jeff and I ain't buyin' it. We'd call in to complain, but apparently all phones have been removed at 7740 N 16th Street. Wonder if they still get snail mail there ???

 

[MC]

Talk host say "I stopped taking callers because people who call just want to hear themselves talk..." Like the people on the air don't like to hear themselves talk...

 

[indieradioguy]

Talk radio without calls isn't talk radio. Their "post-debate" coverage was a joke. No listener calls even after a debate that brought national attention to the state? Really? That's not important enough to open up the phone lines? A reporter at the Mesa Arts Center who wouldn't even talk with anyone there? It's like we get our own Baghdad Bob. The more KTAR continues to give the middle finger to their listeners, a la M.I.A. and Adele, and the more they'd rather talk amongst themselves (to the point of simulcasting AM to talk with their sports hosts), the more people will continue to flee to KJZZ. Bonneville's 100th Birthday gift to our state is to further neuter a once-great brand: they should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[johndavis]

I can think of some good reasons to scale back callers:

1. You're trying to appeal to people in their 30's and the callers are all from Sun City and Seizure World.
2. You're tired of campaign operatives planting callers that spew talking points.
3. When was the last time a caller really brought something interesting to a talk show?

 

[logintoit]

Some valid points were made by John Davis. But, shouldn't ideas be shared between host(s) and callers? Listeners are your bread and butter. I'd much rather hear give and take between host and caller than mundane droning of a hosts opinion. Very lopsided and uninteresting. "Toaster talk" is a comfy way to pidgeon hole this type of alk radio, but isn't one fits all.
As far as demos go, a good host should be able to talk about lifestyles of a younger crowd if that's who you're after. Just some thoughts.
Anyway, listing to KTAR is a real bore. And a once proud and gentle giant is now a weak "wee man".

 

[landtuna]

I'd much rather hear a conversation between 2 or 3 knowledgeable in-studio people than hard-to-hear random callers who quite frankly don't know the time of day.

Unfortunately, both types are in short supply so I bypass talk radio entirely.

 

[Gregg]

You can't have a Talk Radio station with no phone callers. The audience just won't feel involved. Even NPR programs such as Talk of the Nation and Diane Rehm regularly take callers. Even weekend NPR shows such as Car Talk and Splendid Table take phone calls (although they are people who call an 800 number during the airing of the pre-recorded show and are called back when next week's show is being recorded).

Sure, no one wants to hear the same people over and over from retirement villages or campaign plants. But that's why you have screeners.

No one wants the hosts to over rely on their interns and board ops either. Howard Stern might make stars of Boy Gary and other assoicates but that's not for serious Talk Radio. Rush might be able to talk on and on with only minimal imput from callers and no guests. But few Talk hosts, even good ones, can sustain interest just by themselves, or off-mike responses to Bo Snirdley. (I hope no one who listens to Rush really believes Snirdley, or whatever his name is, is really asking Rush those questions. It's just a ploy for Rush to seem like he's responding to someone with a different idea.)

I suppose someone at KTAR-FM sees the falling ratings and figures that a no-calls policy might lead them out of the doldrums. For a time, it was called the Magazine format, a bridge between Talk Radio and All-News. But it didn't really work. A Talk station has to take phone calls. I can't say why KTAR-FM is down to #17 in the Phoenix ratings... but a no-calls policy isn't the answer.



Gregg
[email protected]

 

[landtuna]

What you are saying Gregg, is that talk radio needs to provide a forum for their audience to be heard. The problem with that is most callers have really nothing to say beyond "I really like your show.......".

With the Internet today one can join hundreds of thousands of blogs and respond until they die if desired. And I, a radio listener, don't have to listen to the marginally-informed callers until my ears bleed.

Just as with this forum I read only those posts that are of interest to me. I don't have to waste time, as required on the radio, while the caller blabs on and on.

I don't see taking live calls being a solution.

 

[logintoit]

So, is listener involvement a thing of the past for radio? It certainly propelled KTAR and KFYI to heights in their heyday. I seriously think everyone could learn a thing or two from a caller. Some are marginally informed, but many did contribute knowledge and became foils of the hosts, and part of the show.
With the trend now, we'll see how the stations perform. Taking a look at posts concerning the current crop of hosts, I don't think it's working out all that well.

 

[indieradioguy]

So, is listener involvement a thing of the past for radio? It certainly propelled KTAR and KFYI to heights in their heyday. I seriously think everyone could learn a thing or two from a caller. Some are marginally informed, but many did contribute knowledge and became foils of the hosts, and part of the show.
With the trend now, we'll see how the stations perform. Taking a look at posts concerning the current crop of hosts, I don't think it's working out all that well.

I agree talk radio without callers isn't talk radio at all. Why would it be a "thing of the past" for the locals, but not for the syndies? It's ok for callers to ask Ramsey about baby step whatever, but when it's a local issue - then, no, it's not ok anymore? That makes no sense at all. I hate to be the one to point out the obvious, but the reason some of us LIKE hearing the geezers in Sun City and in Seizure World, particularly the ones who don't know the time of the day - especially them - is because it's ENTERTAINING. No offense, but if you don't find "toaster talk" the least bit entertaining, you have no business listening to talk radio. At all. And I really find it incredulous that campaign operatives would want to wait 45 minutes for 45 seconds of airtime, after having to get through a call screener (remember call screeners? they're like those carts stations used to have) when they have immediate access to the comments section of any web page. KTAR - and, to a lesser extent, KFYI - are really making a determined effort to kill off "real" talk radio in this market.

 

[indieradioguy]

I can think of some good reasons to scale back callers:

1. You're trying to appeal to people in their 30's and the callers are all from Sun City and Seizure World.
2. You're tired of campaign operatives planting callers that spew talking points.
3. When was the last time a caller really brought something interesting to a talk show?

It's a matter of opinion that those are "good" reasons:
1. That's entertainment. People in their 30's have no problem with Tony Bennett and Leonard Cohen on their iPods. Why would they have a problem listening to geezers wax political as long as it's entertaining?
2. Can't say I'm tired of that.
3. Today, that's when. (Hey, you asked.)

 

[OneHorseTown]

So are you guys (and gals) saying that even the Sports talk shows won't take local calls?! If so, that's craziness! Part of the fun of fandom is listening to passionate fans arguing with hosts, etc!

I mean, where would Jim Rome be without his clones?

 

[indieradioguy]

So are you guys (and gals) saying that even the Sports talk shows won't take local calls?! If so, that's craziness! Part of the fun of fandom is listening to passionate fans arguing with hosts, etc!

I mean, where would Jim Rome be without his clones?

Sports talk is inexplicably exempt from the apparent "no-locals-calls" rule. That's why KTAR-FM can routinely pre-empt Jaybird for all-day coverage of Cards and ASU games - because there's nothing more *entertaining* than listening to *those* callers. Right? :-\

 

[DrAkbar]

I'd much rather hear a conversation between 2 or 3 knowledgeable in-studio people than hard-to-hear random callers who quite frankly don't know the time of day.

Unfortunately, both types are in short supply so I bypass talk radio entirely.

Got that right...especially between 3-7, 3-7, 3-7.

 

[urmanega]

Rarely are the callers interesting, provocative, or stimulating. Personally, I don't listen to talk shows to hear debates and arguing. I can hear that at home. I prefer to listen to the host(s) ramble on about various topics. An occasional call is okay. But Limbaugh's show really takes a dive when he takes callers. Savage's callers are sometimes interesting but only because he talks over them most of the time. And please. Would someone tell these callers to stop saying "thank you for taking my call" and "I was told to make this quick..." Just get to the point!!!

 

[desertskies]

I'd much rather hear a conversation between 2 or 3 knowledgeable in-studio people than hard-to-hear random callers who quite frankly don't know the time of day.

Unfortunately, both types are in short supply so I bypass talk radio entirely.

Got that right...especially between 3-7, 3-7, 3-7.

But that's how they roll, don't cha know?

 

[OneHorseTown]

because there's nothing more *entertaining* than listening to *those* callers. Right?

I hear ya, brother...but sometimes Drunky McDrunk calling up and making no sense is a few minutes of comic relief...at least for me, when you're in a bad mood after your team loses!

 

[Gregg]

Some here are saying callers to Talk Radio are not interesting and add nothing. I wonder what shows you're listening to.

A good screener separates the wheat from the chaff. Callers to NPR's Diane Rehm or Talk of the Nation seem to be informed and don't slow down the show. Of course, those are national shows and only a fraction of the callers get on.

You might say some callers to Larry King were clearly dumb and uninformed. But however you may have felt about Larry, he quickly got those callers off the air and re-asked the question in a better-framed manner.

I can't always figure out the age of the caller. Again, a good screener will make sure someone who sounds like your grandmother stays off the air if she has nothing interesting to say. If a caller starts by saying "Hello so-and-so. I really like your show" the host quickly thanks them and prompts their question so little time is wasted. Sometimes the phones are dead and maybe a screener lets a so-so caller get on the air. But again, a good host can make lemonade out of lemons.

When Rachel Maddow was doing a nightly show on Air America, she NEVER took phone calls. I have the feeling she pre-taped the show so she'd be available for TV work in the evening. I think Maddow is great but the show suffered because it was only her or her and a guest. It just wasn't good radio.


Gregg
[email protected]

 

[landtuna]

When Rachel Maddow was doing a nightly show on Air America, she NEVER took phone calls. I have the feeling she pre-taped the show so she'd be available for TV work in the evening. I think Maddow is great but the show suffered because it was only her or her and a guest. It just wasn't good radio.
Gregg
[email protected]

Rachel is literate, intelligent and can be funny as hell. Her guests, even those on the other side of the political aisle, were almost always the same. She didn't interrupt them or talk down to them. It was almost always a good exchange of ideas, opinions and sometimes emotion.

I really doubt it would have been the same with call-ins from her audience at large.

 

[pattiwacki]

I remember one night Jay Lawrence was doing open lines and a man, easily Sun-City eligible, called in to share that he'd worked in the background of the music industry. Jay drew him out a little, and it turned out the caller had been a member of the motown Funk Brothers! it was an amazing conversation, a gift to listen to. There are a lot of young people who call in with insight from their military experience, technology and financial jobs and even small business owners who are pretty interesting. Old or young it's ok. If this is going to be a trend, it'sad.