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Springer live in Independence

B

BizDecision

Guest
A review from a non-WTAM employee/audience member...
I was one of the 30 or 40 in Independence for the Jerry Springer show today. The "auditorium" does exist. When you walk in the doors, there's a hallway that goes down to the left. The auditorium has 11 9-seat rows. Air America (WCKY) was being piped through the auditorium house speakers. Springer was very gracious and joked with the crowd, bragged/talked up Cleveland. Dawn Kendrick from ACTION NEWS was there to file a report for the afternoon news. Congrats to the WTAM staff. It was well-run and professional. It was good time and the people enjoyed themselves. A three-hour show goes very fast.
 
> A review from a non-WTAM employee/audience member...
> I was one of the 30 or 40 in Independence for the Jerry
> Springer show today. The "auditorium" does exist. When you


30 or 40 people to see/hear Jerry? Looks like quite the lib-talk following in NorthEast Ohio. KM must be so very happy about sliding Glenn over to WHLO... [/sarcasm]
 
> > A review from a non-WTAM employee/audience member...
> > I was one of the 30 or 40 in Independence for the Jerry
> > Springer show today. The "auditorium" does exist. When
> you
>
>
> 30 or 40 people to see/hear Jerry? Looks like quite the
> lib-talk following in NorthEast Ohio. KM must be so very
> happy about sliding Glenn over to WHLO... [/sarcasm]
>

Not to defend Jerry or Kevin, but the WTAM Auditorium, from what we learned here, is only so big--and there may have even been a limit on the audience they wanted for a live show.
 
> 30 or 40 people to see/hear Jerry? Looks like quite the
> lib-talk following in NorthEast Ohio. KM must be so very
> happy about sliding Glenn over to WHLO... [/sarcasm]

Right, who was that fat cow writing for the Plain Dealer that decried Beck's event as a "miserable failure" because he only filled one of Cahoon Park's fields? I was there, along with plenty of other people in sweltering heat almost two years ago... WTAM must be thrilled with their new decision. Face it, would they have expected Springer to draw a larger audience, they would have held the event somewhere with a larger capacity. It's like a political campaign... keep plenty of room dividers on hand to partition out the part of the auditorium no one's sitting in to create the illusion of success.
 
If Wtam and Jerry's network wanted to get thousands of listeners to show up at a larger venue, they could have. If you're really trying to gauge lib talk's following by this event - then you're not very bright...It's like me telling everyone how terrible MTV is doing b/c it's countdown show only draws 30-40 people in their Times Sqaure studio.
 
> > > A review from a non-WTAM employee/audience member...
> > > I was one of the 30 or 40 in Independence for the Jerry
> > > Springer show today. The "auditorium" does exist. When
>
> > you
> >
> >
> > 30 or 40 people to see/hear Jerry? Looks like quite the
> > lib-talk following in NorthEast Ohio. KM must be so very
> > happy about sliding Glenn over to WHLO... [/sarcasm]
> >
>
> Not to defend Jerry or Kevin, but the WTAM Auditorium, from
> what we learned here, is only so big--and there may have
> even been a limit on the audience they wanted for a live
> show.
>
Anyone wonder if they were just testing what it would be like for Springer to do a live, remote show? Both technically speaking and from an appeal standpoint. One thing about Progressive talk so far is that it seems they are much more likely to do live auditorium type shows.

Al Franken and his sidekick have been doing them for a year very successfully. Ed Schultz has also been doing them. If done right, they sound good and are very solid for the local listeners. With Springer's name he could have filled a large venue just based on his TV show. Obviously they were not going for the masses.
 
Live Audience Talk

> Anyone wonder if they were just testing what it would be
> like for Springer to do a live, remote show? Both
> technically speaking and from an appeal standpoint. One
> thing about Progressive talk so far is that it seems they
> are much more likely to do live auditorium type shows.
>
> Al Franken and his sidekick have been doing them for a year
> very successfully. Ed Schultz has also been doing them. If
> done right, they sound good and are very solid for the local
> listeners. With Springer's name he could have filled a large
> venue just based on his TV show. Obviously they were not
> going for the masses.
>

It's become a trend in talk radio, as liberal hosts like Franken, Schultz, and now Springer, and conservatives like Hannity and Beck have done live audience shows.

For some of these guys, it makes sense to put them where they're comfortable: Franken was an SNL guy for a while, so he's used to the live audience. His jokes also tend to need that "reassurance" from an audible chuckle. Springer's the same way. Although he was a TV news guy, that was over 15 years ago. In the time since, he's done a recorded TV show, but still has a live audience.

It is there that you really have to worry with Springer. All you need is to have a packed auditorium and a live mic, and have some knucklehead audience member scream "Show your t*ts" to be a showoff.

I always locked the door to the studio and covered the main studio window in college--why? Because I don't like having the distraction of a live audience unless they're going to participate in the show; and often times, my show was so tightly programmed, there wasn't room for anyone else in the format.
 
> If Wtam and Jerry's network wanted to get thousands of
> listeners to show up at a larger venue, they could have. If
> you're really trying to gauge lib talk's following by this
> event - then you're not very bright...It's like me telling
> everyone how terrible MTV is doing b/c it's countdown show
> only draws 30-40 people in their Times Sqaure studio.
>

It was intended as a flip comment. (Although, it is amusing to see how easy it is to jerk some chains...)

That said, WTAM sure did promo the hell out of it for such a small venue. It felt like I couldn't get through an hour without hearing about it at least once.
 
> It was intended as a flip comment. (Although, it is amusing
> to see how easy it is to jerk some chains...)

Yeah sure it was. Just trying to save face from being told everything short of learning to read and brushing up on your math skills, huh?

> That said, WTAM sure did promo the hell out of it for such a
> small venue. It felt like I couldn't get through an hour
> without hearing about it at least once.

You must be a newbie. Even if the show was being broadcast from a broom closet, it's normal for a station to "brag" about a NATIONAL show originating from their station/city that day. Not to mention where Springer is from. They did the same thing for Glenn Beck. It IS a big deal, whether you like the host or not is not the point.
 
Re: Live Audience Talk

Hannity has done live shows for some time now..sometimes they work..other times they don't..Beck has done a couple of shows for WHLO from Kent and other locations..if you have a good engineer and a good day as far as weather, it can work if you're doing something outdoors..if something goes wrong, it can become a train wreck in a matter of minutes..
>
 
Live Audiences - Left and Right

> For some of these guys, it makes sense to put them where
> they're comfortable: Franken was an SNL guy for a while, so
> he's used to the live audience. His jokes also tend to need
> that "reassurance" from an audible chuckle. Springer's the
> same way. Although he was a TV news guy, that was over 15
> years ago. In the time since, he's done a recorded TV show,
> but still has a live audience.

And other hosts, like AAR's Randi Rhodes, do NOT do live audience shows. That kind of fits her personality...she's a very "old style" intimate audience contact only via listening/calling kind of host.

I've heard Stephanie Miller (Democracy/Jones/WARF) do a live show or two, one most recently in Asheville, NC, but she sounded a little less comfortable than she does in a studio. Like Randi, Stephanie is a radio veteran who probably feels more at home in a studio without an audience. I get the idea she did the remote because the syndicators wanted her to do them (like her Democracy/Jones stablemate Ed Schultz).

On the other side of the talk radio divide, someone mentioned Glenn Beck's relatively frequent tours and remote shows, and I think he mentioned one in Kent. That wasn't Beck... that was WHLO's morning team Quinn and Rose (WPGB/Pittsburgh-based).

But like Randi on the liberal end of things, Rush Limbaugh, as far as I know, has never done a remote live broadcast for an audience since he started his national show in 1988. He did the "Rush to Excellence" tours back in the 90's, but those were nighttime off-air shows.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
My NEW blog is at Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
Re: Live Audience Talk

Before he went on the air, Springer thanked the "crowd" for coming and said that he prefers doing his show in front of an audience because he is used to an audience. He said it feels strange in a studio.
 
Re: Live Audiences - Left and Right

> I've heard Stephanie Miller (Democracy/Jones/WARF) do a live
> show or two, one most recently in Asheville, NC, but she
> sounded a little less comfortable than she does in a studio.
> Like Randi, Stephanie is a radio veteran who probably feels
> more at home in a studio without an audience. I get the
> idea she did the remote because the syndicators wanted her
> to do them (like her Democracy/Jones stablemate Ed Schultz).

IIRC she was in Cleveland and Boston a month or so ago as well.

> But like Randi on the liberal end of things, Rush Limbaugh,
> as far as I know, has never done a remote live broadcast for
> an audience since he started his national show in 1988. He
> did the "Rush to Excellence" tours back in the 90's, but
> those were nighttime off-air shows.

And don't forget Dan's Bake Sale.
 
Re: Live Audiences - Left and Right

> IIRC she was in Cleveland and Boston a month or so ago as
> well.

Stephanie Miller was in CLEVELAND?!?!?

Nah, I doubt it...I think she was in Columbus. Remember, she hasn't been heard in Northeast Ohio until very recently, when WARF/1350 launched.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
My NEW blog is at Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
Re: Live Audiences - Left and Right

> > IIRC she was in Cleveland and Boston a month or so ago as
> > well.
>
> Stephanie Miller was in CLEVELAND?!?!?
>
> Nah, I doubt it...I think she was in Columbus. Remember,
> she hasn't been heard in Northeast Ohio until very recently,
> when WARF/1350 launched.

Sorry, I typed wrong.
 
Re: Live Audiences - Left and Right

> Sorry, I typed wrong.

Oh, no problem...I just was wondering if I missed her in Northeast Ohio.

If Keith and company manage to get her to Akron at some point, I'll bug 'em for a ticket!

-OA <P ID="signature">______________
My NEW blog is at Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
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