Death of Radio or Not?

[mel]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

In his message, from which I quoted, the word "commercial" does not appear. You are claiming your own interpretation as fact.

Yep, in the original response I did mean "commercial" radio. Just forgot to write that down.

[Palolo lolo]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Rush has the Clear Channel health plan, so he will have some co-pay,but at @$40,000,000 a year,he can probably afford it. Too bad CC had to fire several hundred staff nationwide to pay Rush's contract . I'll bet they don't have insurance like his..but then Rush has never worried about the little people

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

In his message, from which I quoted, the word "commercial" does not appear.

In post #65, Mel does, in fact, say:

Also there is public radio which seems to be a bastion of liberal talk and ideology. That seems to be very successful.

Since Mel specifically mentions "public" radio, ergo, I think he must be drawing a contrast to the situation in "commercial" radio, where the conservative format has been very successful while the liberal format is not. I don't think that was an outrageous leap in logic.

But if you wanna argue it down to the nth degree, I will concede the point to you. Besides public and commercial radio, there's pirate radio, internet radio, satellite/subscription-only radio, etc. I suppose it is possible to interpret that Mel might have been referring to those types of radio stations. A tip of the hat to you in being very meticulous on this.

Still, I was fairly confident (and indeed, correct in my hunch) that Mel was referring to commercial, OTA radio, in context with the rest of the discussion in this thread and the radio shows he was talking about.

You are claiming your own interpretation as fact.

Let's put it this way. I bring my own perspective and understanding of what Mel said. And you had your own POV with the same exact statement. We shared each other's viewpoint and interpretation with the rest of the HT community by posting comments.

Yep, in the original response I did mean "commercial" radio. Just forgot to write that down.

FWIW, I knew what you meant, without your having to spell it out.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Hey, sure, whatever you want, Frankie, m'boy. Clearly, it's important to you to parse out your interpretations of every minute aspect of what others say, so you just go ahead and have fun with multiple quoting and being anal about everything. Enjoy yourself while the rest of us move on, 'kay?

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Hey, sure, whatever you want, Frankie, m'boy. Clearly, it's important to you to parse out your interpretations of every minute aspect of what others say, so you just go ahead and have fun with multiple quoting and being anal about everything.

*sigh!*

So much for being gracious after having the point conceded to you.

Fine, I'll take those shots from you. But henceforth, your complaints about me "not being nice" holds zero credibility.

Enjoy yourself while the rest of us move on, 'kay?

Part of my post was directed to Mel as well. Honestly, Leo. If you don't mind,.....

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Sure thing, brah! Whatever floats your boat!

[LikaNui]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

With all due respect to all of you who are squabbling and sniping at each other all the time:

STOP IT!!! ... JUST... STOP IT.

Many of us are getting really tired of looking at threads for information and mostly just finding your mini flame wars. If you're gonna write replies like that and try to prove who has the biggest pen*s, just do us all a favor and step away from the computer for 24 hours.
Nuff awready.



.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

I am cooperation and cheer incarnate, if you hadn't noticed.
(How's your glass house these days?)

[DaleP]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

I don't care for any of the conservative talk radio hosts, and I'm a unabashed liberal so I'm not supposed to. But, there is still free speech in our country. Nevertheless, the right of conservatives to be on the air has been dictated less by free speech than by the economics of commercial broadcasting. These performers are on the air because they are entertaining, they get listeners and the networks and their affiliates make money.

Can a liberal-based network get the same kind of listenership? Sure. But it can't happen overnight. It took Rush a lot of years to build his base. And owners used his program in the 1990's to boost audiences on their non-productive AM stations. At the time, they had nothing to lose.

Those days are over. None of the groups today can afford to take a chance on anything new.

And frankly, most liberal talk radio hosts are not very entertaining.

Air America is still kicking and has some pretty good hosts, but their stable of affiliates is still pretty weak.

But, as far to the left as the broadcast media (especially radio) was alleged to be in the 1960's and 1970's, I think it has shifted even further to the right today. There seems to be very little balance of opposing views on radio.

I know I can turn it off, but maybe I could start a real fight and advocate a return of the Fairness Doctrine.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

These performers are on the air because they are entertaining, they get listeners and the networks and their affiliates make money.

And frankly, most liberal talk radio hosts are not very entertaining.

You've nailed it there on two points, DaleP.

I still can't help but wonder if a prime reason that "liberal talk radio" (in the commercial realm, to be specific) isn't as successful is because most people who would consider themselves politically to the left just aren't attracted to that style of ranting, blathering fury.

As for myself, I don't want to listen to that kind of spew, even if the speaker matches my political views very closely - I just don't consider that kind of communication to be of any use (and before anyone attempts to interpret them as so, that comment is NOT meant as a veiled reference to earlier postings by anyone in this thread).

[ongre]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

There is absolutely no doubt the right wing radio commentators repeat the party line as do the FNN talking heads. The Progressives have no chance in that arena because it s a very big tent and there are many perspectives.

I listen a lot to NPR and I don't feel they are all that liberal. In journalism classes many years ago it was mentioned that a true journalist would automatically try to present the underdogs side which is actually a liberal stance. NPR has quite a few not very liberal commentators and their general journalistic stance is really neutral.
Radio World had a story about NPR's aging demographic last month, it is a real problem for classical music formats. There are several really good youth oriented music formats around the country, other than college radio, and their news seems to be featuring subjects and reviews that skew towards younger listeners of late.

I am truly surprised no "commercial" entity has tried a long form news format on radio. It works so well to capture listeners, we hear quite a few series on NPR on many, many subjects that keep us coming back for more. They even released a series of "drive way moment" CDs of popular stories that kept people sitting in their cars listening to the end of a story after reaching their destinations. I have repeated that behavior many times.

Of the progressive radio talk shows, I really like Thom Hartmann but I don't think Hawaii's radio listeners could handle his show, its to smart. Every caller does not have to agree with him, he has some smart discussions with people with opposing views; usually they don't yell at each other. Amazing actually.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

With all due respect to all of you who are squabbling and sniping at each other all the time:

STOP IT!!! ... JUST... STOP IT.

Many of us are getting really tired of looking at threads for information and mostly just finding your mini flame wars. If you're gonna write replies like that and try to prove who has the biggest pen*s, just do us all a favor and step away from the computer for 24 hours.
Nuff awready.



.

My name is Big Todaknee, and I approve this massage.

[DaleP]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

In journalism classes many years ago it was mentioned that a true journalist would automatically try to present the underdogs side which is actually a liberal stance.

You are correct. And a "liberal" reporter should not be confused with a liberal commentator.

A good reporter should follow the textbook definition of liberal, which is "one who is broad-minded and not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy or traditional forms.

On the other hand, a liberal commentator is one who follows and espouses liberal political principles, ideas or ideals.

The two shouldn't be confused.

Over the years, many broadcast network reporters have been blasted by conservatives as being liberal, when, in truth, they were just being good reporters.

I am truly surprised no "commercial" entity has tried a long form news format on radio.

Back in the 1970's, NBC Radio tried their 24-hour News and Information Service. Longer stories were woven in to the format from time to time. And NBC Radio's weekend Monitor program in the 1950's, 60's and early 70's presented long-form stories interspersed with its entertainment programming.

Today, however, it would cost too much money to do it right. Also, the radio networks no longer have the resources of the TV news divisions available to them.

[Kalalau]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

The key error was deregulating the industry so monopolists could take charge. They overpaid for the stations they bought and the only way to make the figures work was to can the staff that made radio attractive to listeners (and advertisers) in the first place. In San Diego Clear Channel dumped the Air America format which had drawn a minimum of 1 and up to a 2in favor of the area's third sports station which has drawn for the first time ever in local radio history a zero.

It was a much better medium when the networks were owned by the likes of the Sarnoffs and the Paleys and independent stations existed which had the resources to experiment and develop. The public interest was much better served. You cannot imagine a Paley or a Sarnoff pumping out bilge like "Clinton was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing" or other such ridiculous nonsense.

[DaleP]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Hate radio is nothing new.

Back in the 1930’s Father Charles Edward Coughlin was priest at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Church in Michigan. More than 40-million listeners (almost four times the audience of Rush Limbaugh today) tuned in to his politically-themed radio program each week. He received over 80,000 letters every week. Although Father Coughlin was initially a supporter of President Roosevelt, he later became one of administration’s harshest critics of New Deal policies. His talks were also extremely antisemitic and expressed sympathy for the policies of Hitler and Mussolini. Many times he would rail against the President, capitalists and what he called "Jewish conspirators". At one point, the Vatican tried to silence him.

Originally, the CBS Radio Network gave him free time each week as a public service, but later became concerned about his commentaries. The network asked him to tone-down the broadcasts and, when he refused, CBS did not renew his contract. Undaunted, Father Coughlin started his own ad hoc network of stations. He continued blasting the President, Wall Street and Jews until the late 1930’s.

As war began to break out in Europe, broadcasters and the administration became more concerned about Father Coughin’s hateful rhetoric. The National Association of Broadcasters imposed rules on its member stations requiring commentators to submit scripts to stations in advance of their broadcasts. Stations were threatened with having their licenses revoked if they did not comply. Futhermore, the FCC began requiring all regular radio broadcasters to hold special permits. When Father Coughlin's permit was denied, he was taken off the air for a short time. To work around the rules, he recorded his commentaries and bought time on radio stations, which quickly depleted his resources.

By the start of World War II, Father Coughlin’s rantings fell out of favor with the American public and his popularity faded away.

While his views certainly were much more extremist than many contemporary political talk show hosts, he does share a common thread of “hate mongering” with many of today’s “popular” broadcast commentators.