Lefty talk radio is set to be purged in 3 major markets in 2014 in what is probably the beginning of a nationwide trend.And they are all solid Blue cities under Democrat rule.
In New York, WWRL 1600 AM is changing its format to to Spanish-language music and talk, which means that Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Alan Colmes are going to be tossed off the air. In Los Angeles, KTLK 1150 will be dumping Stephanie Miller, Rhodes, Bill Press and David Cruz in favor of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In San Francisco, KNEW 960 is getting rid of Miller, Hartmann, and Mike Malloy.
KTLK's Lefties survived for a very long time because of another station, KFI, which features shows like Rush Limbaugh, John and Ken, Brian Suess and Bill Handle. Both stations were owned by Clear Channel, and for a long time if you bought spots on KFI you also got spots thrown in on KTLK "as an extra". That arrangement appears to have changed.
This isn't just industry consolidation. Lefty talk radio simply doesn't get anywhere near the ratings conservative talk radio does. KTLK was ranked #41 in the market in November 2013, and WWRL's market share in the New York Market is practically non-existent. Even in terminally Left wing San Francisco, KNEW registered just an 0.4 in December 2013, placing it #31 in the market.
Why Lefty talk radio gets such horrid ratings is apparent if you ever listen to it for awhile.
When Air America first debuted in my local area, I was actually looking forward to it. I expected that there would be the same spirit of debate and give and take you find on Limbaugh, Hannity or Mark Levin's shows, and I wanted to see how the likes of Stephanie Miller, Randi Rhodes and the others of that genre would express and defend their ideas.
Instead, what I got was a deadly dull echo chamber repeating Leftist talking points and in Rhodes' case, actual calls in her abrasive Brooklyn bray for our troops in Iraq to desert and for President Bush to be treated like Fredo in the "Godfather"..."you take him out fishing and badda bing,badda boom, it's all over."
And yes, I actually heard her say these things on the air personally. And neither one got her fired or even suspended,nor did the media go crazy over them. It took her calling Hillary Clinton a whore to do that.
A FOX host talking like that about shooting Barack Obama would not only have been thrown off the air but brought up on felony charges.
And Ed Schultz makes Rhodes look positively genteel.
There wasn't any give and take of the sort that makes conservative talk radio sparkle,and you would never see a guest from the other side on these shows, let alone an intelligent caller who disagreed allowed in. Even Stephanie Miller, who used to have a really funny talk show long ago that combined satirizing politics in general with her own brand of racy humor succumbed to the boring, monotonous tone, either because her ideas changed or because she wanted the gig really badly.
So apparently the market place is speaking.What's left is MSNBC if they can manage to get a spot or government-sponsored NPR and Pacifica in a lot of major markets. I suppose you can decide for yourself if it's the ideas, the toxic personalities or a blend of both.
(h/t, Truth Revolt)
5 comments:
"...brought up on felony charges." This paragraph is quite correct. When a left of center politician is criticized, the people rush to defend him or her. when a right of center politician is criticized, nothing of the sort happens. It's not only the people but the media as well. These factors enable a left wing politician or pundit to be able to say and do things their right of center counterparts could never do or say.
Is it the ideas, the toxic personalities, or a blend of both? At this time, I'd say it is definitely the toxic personalities. Politically America is a left of center nation. As such, it's definitely not the ideas that have the listeners turned off. I say "at this time" because the more leftist ideas are tried the more people will realize they don't work and they may turn away from support for the ideas as well but for now America is a left of center nation politically. Any politician running for any national or state office will need to understand this.
I expected that there would be the same spirit of debate and give and take you find on Limbaugh, Hannity or Mark Levin's shows
There wasn't any give and take of the sort that makes conservative talk radio sparkle,and you would never see a guest from the other side on these shows, let alone an intelligent caller who disagreed allowed in.
This reads like a joke. Something you might see in the Onion. Rightwing conservative hosts (and bloggers such as yourself) certainly don't entertain debate or can prove that you are wrong on the facts. And Limbaugh, Hannity, and that screaming harpie Levin don't even know the concept of 'give and take'.
Just so you know, the reason that liberals don't listen to talk radio is because, unlike the unemployed rubes who make up Rush's audience, we actually work during the day. Also, we moved on to podcasts a long time ago. And does this mean that we don't have to hear any bellyaching about the 'liberal media'? I mean, as you point out, the market has spoken.
Oh, it's Anonymous!
Hi, did you have a nice, secular day off? I hope so.
One thing that's evident from your comment is that I listened to a lot more Lefty talk than you have ever listened to anyone who challenges your...ummm..worldview. You might just try it, just to challenge yourself. You'll see that Limbaugh, Hannity, Michael Medved (who even has a whole 'disagreement' day solely for people to call who disagree with him)and most others frequently take calls and have guests who disagree with their views. Levin does too (oh, and it's 'harpy' not 'harpie'). They do it because they know that this kind of give and take builds ratings, is entertaining to listen to and Rush and Levin in particular delight in finding the occasional Leftie open to being educated.
Take advantage of that opportunity and tune in for a few months.You've already made a start by visiting this site. You'll thank me later.
In fact, if you listen to someone like Rush Limbaugh, you'll find that he's actually a classic liberal.You, of course might CALL yourself a 'liberal' but we both know you aren't. It's simply that the terms was co-opted by the Left because it sounds good, you know. But Leftists have nothing to do with being liberal:
lib·er·al
a. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
b. open to new ideas and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
Certainly doesn't cover someone calling all of Limbaugh's 23 million daily listeners 'unemployed rubes'...who sure seem to have enough income to buy a lot of the products his advertisers push, or he would be off the air.
You don't need to admit it to me, but better admit to yourself you were wrong about that one.
"Also, we moved on to podcasts a long time ago. And does this mean that we don't have to hear any bellyaching about the 'liberal media'? I mean, as you point out, the market has spoken."
Podcasts? Now there's a real forum for debate and the exchange of ideas. Somebody streams and people listen and shut up. It's a Leftist's dream!
Oh, and please don't be mean about us complaining about the Leftist biased media. OK, we have talk radio because even Lefties couldn't abide how dull it was. And FOX is at least balanced out, although Lefties like Juan Williams and Susan Estrich and Democrats like Chris Wallace and Greta Van Sustern are there.
But YOU still have the ObamaMedia at CNN,MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, (although there are a few rumblings at a few of these places), The WAPO, The New York Times, The Nation, Salon, Huffington Post, TIME, The Atlantic, whatever's left of Newsweek, The Chicago trib, The LA Times, Politico, and all of the Soros media empire to name just a few that's still willing to peddle disinformation. True, some of them are trying to recover their cred by being slightly less effusive than they used to be about the New Order and the Obama Regime.But they still mostly shill for it.
So there's still plenty of biased nonsense to point out.
You have a nice day now!
-Rob-
we actually work during the day.
it is sort of difficult to listen to liberal talk radio in between uttering, "would you like fries with that?" i guess.
You'll thank me later.
no he/she will not.
Some are missing the bigger picture... Rwing hate radio has ALWAYS been more popular than Lwing hate radio... in fact the latter was basically a reaction to the former, and now it's fading... why? Exactly as the commenter says, he's sick of the tone... and so are other liberals across the country as Rwing haters will gleefully tell you.
Sooooooo..... what does that say about the Right and Left? Use your heads, it's not pretty for the Right!! They keep lapping this crap up! The left is actually saying ENOUGH ALREADY.... could they be smarter??? Duhhh!!!
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