Is Right-Wing Talk Dying?

[Robert_S]

Is Right-Wing Talk Dying?

by John Avlon

Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh are losing fans in a key market. John Avlon on why listeners and station managers are sick of anti-Obama tirades—and who bucks the trend.

Here’s another sign that the tide might be turning against the Wingnuts—Glenn Beck’s TV ratings are down 50 percent and major market radio stations are dropping him.

That’s not all—a look at radio ratings shows that hyper-partisan talk has been declining or flat-lining between ‘09 and ‘10, despite the intensity of the election year. There’s a demand for something different—smart, un-predictable, non-partisan news is gaining market share because it stands out from the pack. And leading industry analysts say there is a market for more independent voices.

“There are a lot of program directors whose radio ‘spider-sense’ is tingling,” says Randall Bloomquist, a long-time radio executive and president of Talk Frontier Media. “They're thinking ‘this conservative thing is kind of running its course. We're saying the same things from morning 'til night and yes, we've got a very loyal core audience—but if we ever want to grow, if we want to expand, we've got to be doing more than 18 hours a day of ‘Obama is a socialist.’”

A look at radio’s PPM ratings for the largest talk radio market in the nation bears this out. An apples-to-apples comparison of ratings between November ’09 and November ’10 in the New York area shows that Rush Limbaugh’s ratings on WABC declined from 5.4 to 5.0—despite the crescendo of a GOP election year landslide. Likewise, year-end to year-end comparisons of the crucial 24 to 55 demographic show that Rush declined from 3.7 to 2.6—while his packaged follow-up acts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin narrowly declined and flat-lined, respectively. And Hannity was dropped from his Philadelphia radio station along with Beck last month after being dropped from his syndicator in Salt Lake City (!) last year before finding a new home in the area.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and- ... is-dying/#

[hadespussercats]

Damn, I hope so.

Still, I'm curious what sort of views qualify people as having "independent" or "non-partisan" voices.

[Warren Dew]

I'd be interested in who is gaining that ratings share.

Not that Beck and Hannity are actually right wing - more like center right.

[.Morticia.]

demagogy is not talk

[redunderthebed]

demagogy is not talk

Agreed morticia interesting it lists that anti-communist shitbag mccarthy.Talkback radio has always being the preserve of the right i would love the day to see a station employ of left-wing talkback host just for a day to see the old dears and grumpy old bastards froth at the mouth.


Its well and truly alive in Australia with alan jones further disappearing up the arse of the liberal party and of course in my home state of SA fiveAA talkback with Leon Byner and every labor policy and decision being a giant conspiracy to defraud the good people of South Australia. No wonder the federal liberal party leader Tony Abbott made himself available for an interview when he came to SA, its the populist dogwhistling horseshit that almost got that lowlife weasel into office.

[Warren Dew]

Agreed morticia interesting it lists that anti-communist shitbag mccarthy.Talkback radio has always being the preserve of the right i would love the day to see a station employ of left-wing talkback host just for a day to see the old dears and grumpy old bastards froth at the mouth.

There is a leftist equivalent: NPR.

[hadespussercats]

Agreed morticia interesting it lists that anti-communist shitbag mccarthy.Talkback radio has always being the preserve of the right i would love the day to see a station employ of left-wing talkback host just for a day to see the old dears and grumpy old bastards froth at the mouth.

There is a leftist equivalent: NPR.

Bullshit NPR is leftist. Sure, there's a college-educated liberal tone to some broadcasts-- others are just as influenced by corporate America as anything in broadcasting. And what's lefty about Car Talk?

I think the honest-to-goodness lefty talk radio attempt was Air America-- Al Franken, Janeine Garofalo, and I think Rachel Maddow were all represented there at one point. I listened for a while-- but I have to admit talk radio just isn't my favorite, no matter who's doing the talking.

[Santa_Claus]

I blame the Jews.

[hadespussercats]

I blame the Jews.

You would.

[.Morticia.]

Agreed morticia interesting it lists that anti-communist shitbag mccarthy.Talkback radio has always being the preserve of the right i would love the day to see a station employ of left-wing talkback host just for a day to see the old dears and grumpy old bastards froth at the mouth.

There is a leftist equivalent: NPR.

Bullshit NPR is leftist. Sure, there's a college-educated liberal tone to some broadcasts-- others are just as influenced by corporate America as anything in broadcasting. And what's lefty about Car Talk?

I think the honest-to-goodness lefty talk radio attempt was Air America-- Al Franken, Janeine Garofalo, and I think Rachel Maddow were all represented there at one point. I listened for a while-- but I have to admit talk radio just isn't my favorite, no matter who's doing the talking.

not supporting any particular view is not being leftist

presenting a left view is leftist

[Ian]

Agreed morticia interesting it lists that anti-communist shitbag mccarthy.Talkback radio has always being the preserve of the right i would love the day to see a station employ of left-wing talkback host just for a day to see the old dears and grumpy old bastards froth at the mouth.

There is a leftist equivalent: NPR.

Bullshit NPR is leftist. Sure, there's a college-educated liberal tone to some broadcasts-- others are just as influenced by corporate America as anything in broadcasting. And what's lefty about Car Talk?

I think the honest-to-goodness lefty talk radio attempt was Air America-- Al Franken, Janeine Garofalo, and I think Rachel Maddow were all represented there at one point. I listened for a while-- but I have to admit talk radio just isn't my favorite, no matter who's doing the talking.

Agree with everything here.

NPR isn't remotely leftist. I listen to it every morning - there's definitely some elitist, liberal-leaning talk, but that's the audience it caters too. I find the reporting and feature presentations to be very well researched, insightful and about as objective as news can be.

Air America was different. It was a direct response to all the right-wing radio shows, intended as a counterbalance. Eventually, it folded - liberal trypes in America, myself included, just don't like to listen to anything that can be construed as angry, partisan ramblings as much as conservative types.

I might've enjoyed it if I ever tuned in. When I occasionally turn on Rachel Maddow, I enjoy it. But before I even turn MSNBC on, I know it's partisan. I try to keep my news sources as reasonable and objective as I can. That means no steady stream of Fox News, and no MSNBC monopoly either even though I'd enjoy hearing what they say more. And it means reading things I don't necessarily want to read. A couple weeks ago I read an opinion piece on Guantanamo written by Karl Rove. Rove is someone I'd personally like to see beaten to death by a baseball bat, Inglourious Basterds-style for what he's done to the campaigning landscape in the US. But his opinions in the article aside, he brought up a few very important facts I almost certainly wouldn't have read about from a liberal source. Totally changed my outlook on the issue.

[Tero]

They are running out of conspiracies. Birthers, 9-11 nuts etc only have entertainment value for 4 years. Plus tea party has lost grass roots as it went to bed with Koch brothers.

[sandinista]

Agreed morticia interesting it lists that anti-communist shitbag mccarthy.Talkback radio has always being the preserve of the right i would love the day to see a station employ of left-wing talkback host just for a day to see the old dears and grumpy old bastards froth at the mouth.

There is a leftist equivalent: NPR.

Bullshit NPR is leftist. Sure, there's a college-educated liberal tone to some broadcasts-- others are just as influenced by corporate America as anything in broadcasting. And what's lefty about Car Talk?

I think the honest-to-goodness lefty talk radio attempt was Air America-- Al Franken, Janeine Garofalo, and I think Rachel Maddow were all represented there at one point. I listened for a while-- but I have to admit talk radio just isn't my favorite, no matter who's doing the talking.

NPR isn't leftist. Agreed, I've listened to air america and really don't think that was leftist either, "liberal" perhaps, but not leftist in any sense.

[.Morticia.]

Agreed morticia interesting it lists that anti-communist shitbag mccarthy.Talkback radio has always being the preserve of the right i would love the day to see a station employ of left-wing talkback host just for a day to see the old dears and grumpy old bastards froth at the mouth.

There is a leftist equivalent: NPR.

Bullshit NPR is leftist. Sure, there's a college-educated liberal tone to some broadcasts-- others are just as influenced by corporate America as anything in broadcasting. And what's lefty about Car Talk?

I think the honest-to-goodness lefty talk radio attempt was Air America-- Al Franken, Janeine Garofalo, and I think Rachel Maddow were all represented there at one point. I listened for a while-- but I have to admit talk radio just isn't my favorite, no matter who's doing the talking.

NPR isn't leftist. Agreed, I've listened to air america and really don't think that was leftist either, "liberal" perhaps, but not leftist in any sense.

neither is air pacifica

it's social democrat at most

What annoys me is that even alternative media take their discussion points, news and format from the msm and press release organisations

[Tero]

There is some confusion here.

Right wing talk makes man look good, patriotism is good, smashing enemies is good.

Leftist talk: taxes ate good, growth is evil, man is evil. Some of that is green party talk as well.