AM radio fights for survival

[Laura]

There are three, interlinked ideas relative to that issue.

First, as Limbaugh said "I am equal time".  No, that is not just some phrase.  The mainstream media is at the far left edge of political thought.  It, for nearly 80 years, has developed a style where it couches its commentary as flat reporting.  There are, therefore plenty of sources for left wing thought, from government subsidized PBS/NPR to the monolithic ABCNBCCBS, to your local newspaper.  AM talkers found an unserved niche.  One called, most people.

Second, Conservatism is about facts and logic.  Liberalism (actually socialism, used correctly liberal in the 19th century context is what we now call conservatism) is about emotion.  I want everybody to have *.  Well, OK, nice but in the real world (insert here an unlimited amount of discussion as to why you cannot just give * to "everybody" ) Oh, you are mean, and greedy, and ignorant.  Everybody should have *. * now. * now. * now.  Occupy.  Boycott.  Burn.  No facts.  No logic.  No reason.  And, relative to radio, not much time filled and not much said you haven't heard before.

Third, as Limbaugh's 23 Updated Undeniable Truth of the Universe says "The only way liberals win national elections is by pretending they're
not liberals".  Look at the upcoming Senate races.  West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Kansas, Alaska, on and on.  A far-left liberal who is running as a "moderate" who wants to "work together" and blah, blah, blah.  They really cannot remember who their party's leaders are, or why they are members of such a party with which they "disagree" with so much.  The last thing they want is some AM talker talking about what they really believe.

Limbaugh is so full of himself he's become a parody of the architypal reactionary nut-case rightie.  What he once was...a humorous, self-deprecating voice of a POV previously ignored as too radical for most...was long ago subordinated to the loudmouth "blame everything on the left" true believer...in his own PR.  Conservatives can, believe it or not, be articulate, brainy advocates for their POV with a sense of humor to boot.  Limbaugh is everything but, and IMO damages the cause.  He's nothing but perpetual anger and "everything bad is Obama's/Clinton's/Gore's/Pelosi's/Reid's fault."  Sorry, but *nothing* is ever so black-and-white.

I can take everything you just posted, turn it 180 degrees, and it would be just as valid to a leftie.

And just to keep this thread on track:  Several separate studies have shown that political talk on radio (almost all of it right-wing) are a large part of what's turning off the electorate.  Shrill, perpetually angry voices calling the other side "traitors" and claiming the other side "hates America" ad nauseam don't contribute to a well-informed electorate and do nothing to stimulate intelligent debate.

Yep. I am one of these people. I hardly ever listen to talk radio, but when I do, I want intelligent radio. If I want to listen to people yelling about how much Obama sucks and omg Benghazi, I can get that from a few friends and family members on Facebook. Intelligent conversation is harder to find. I'm in graduate school, I engage in intelligent conversations in my classes. I expect intelligent conversation in real life, not a bunch of yelling.

I don't know why republicans can't catch on to this fact. My generation has much more college education than past generations. Yelling makes you sound uneducated. We will not pay attention to you if you sound uneducated. Also, stop making stupid comments pretending to be gynecologists. Only Ron Paul has that luxury because he has actually delivered babies. Also, stop nominating racists into office.

In reality, democrats and republicans are the same and most Americans are moderates. The democrats just package themselves better to younger people. I like This American Life on NPR because it covers real topics that engage me into thinking about the top issues. I feel like I could have a conversation with the hosts. I can't stand republican radio because it's a whinefest.


iPhone

[Pete from Boston]

Not long ago I used to catch a lot of WABC in New York, a very right-wing station.  There's not much to say about it that anyone who has listened to that kind of station doesn't already know, but what always intrigued me was the number of male sexual enhancement scams advertised on it.  I mean, didn't they get the joke all the rest of us did (i.e., audience is a bunch of sexually frustrated dudes)?

'

[Roadrunner75]

A few months ago I was doing radio roulette one afternoon in the NYC area on AM, and stumbled on some older loud ranting guy that sounded like the typical ultra conservative Limbaugh-like stereotype.  For whatever reason, I listened for a few minutes and was shocked to hear him spouting off a very liberal point of view.  Apparently they do exist.  I don't remember who it was and I'm too lazy right now to figure it out, so I will leave that to somebody else: Go!

[Brandon]

A few months ago I was doing radio roulette one afternoon in the NYC area on AM, and stumbled on some older loud ranting guy that sounded like the typical ultra conservative Limbaugh-like stereotype.  For whatever reason, I listened for a few minutes and was shocked to hear him spouting off a very liberal point of view.  Apparently they do exist.  I don't remember who it was and I'm too lazy right now to figure it out, so I will leave that to somebody else: Go!

They exist.  Ever hear Chris Matthews?

As far as I'm concerned, almost all talk radio (right wing, NPR, even ESPN) is crap.  Even talk TV is crap (The View, etc).

[freebrickproductions]

A few months ago I was doing radio roulette one afternoon in the NYC area on AM, and stumbled on some older loud ranting guy that sounded like the typical ultra conservative Limbaugh-like stereotype.  For whatever reason, I listened for a few minutes and was shocked to hear him spouting off a very liberal point of view.  Apparently they do exist.  I don't remember who it was and I'm too lazy right now to figure it out, so I will leave that to somebody else: Go!

They exist.  Ever hear Chris Matthews?

As far as I'm concerned, almost all talk radio (right wing, NPR, even ESPN) is crap.  Even talk TV is crap (The View, etc).

And liberals like that are the reason why I'm an independent.
Also, Tumblr is full of people like that, so I get to deal with people like them a lot.

[on_wisconsin]

And here I thought the fun of Amplitude Modulation was being able to pick up, say, a station from Denver crystal clear in northern Wisconsin (or WGN through out the majority of the Upper Midwest even during the day).

[kurumi]

Left-wing current-affairs talk radio fills a lot of NPR (not every station, but weekdays on the big ones).  The content, for me, eventually gets drowned out by the weird, inhuman cadence and tone and feel of the hosts.  They are not of this earth! 

Some people are really into Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), and NPR can be their fix. Seriously.

[The Nature Boy]

Most of MSNBC's hosts are Limbaugh style loud liberals. It's weird that the liberals on radio are also not like that.

[bandit957]

Right-wing talk radio comes across as the 11-year-old schoolyard bully who's now 60. People can't stand bullies.

[bandit957]

They exist.  Ever hear Chris Matthews?

Chris Matthews is liberal???

[Brandon]

They exist.  Ever hear Chris Matthews?

Chris Matthews is liberal???

To the vast majority of people in this country, yes, Chris Matthews is considered left-wing, as Rush Limbaugh would be considered right-wing.

[GCrites]

I'd say another reason liberal talk radio hasn't done well is that liberals listen to a lot of music and they don't participate in long car rides as often as conservatives.

[The Nature Boy]

Right-wing talk radio comes across as the 11-year-old schoolyard bully who's now 60. People can't stand bullies.

Limbaugh has one of the highest rated talk shows in the country so his style does work. I do not agree with it but it works.

[bandit957]

Right-wing talk radio comes across as the 11-year-old schoolyard bully who's now 60. People can't stand bullies.

Limbaugh has one of the highest rated talk shows in the country so his style does work. I do not agree with it but it works.

The rest of them just aren't that popular though.

[hbelkins]

The rest of them just aren't that popular though.

Hannity is second and I believe Levin is fourth. Not sure who's third; possibly Beck, to whom I don't listen.

[Scott5114]

The media is, by and large, neither right or left wing. It is apathetic. It merely publishes whatever soundbites or press releases are emitted by anyone on its radar at face value, without fact-checking what is said. Someone can be quoted and say the sky is green on TV news and at most the best that they will do is to half-ass it by including a rebuttal from someone else saying that it's blue, out of the interest of "fairness". It does no fairness to the viewer to not call a liar on their lies, but of course by taking refuge in neutrality they avoid pissing the wrong person off and lose their access to more soundbites.

Some politicians have figured this out and play the media like a fiddle. They say what they want people to think because they know no media source will dare question it before they put it on the air. They know that it's their opponents that will have to debunk them, and that debunking will not be questioned either, just put next to the original lie and presented as two equally valid opinions. And that some viewers will choose to believe them over the debunker.

The media realizes this too, but they don't care because showing the two sides fighting is an excellent spectator sport and draws ratings. People get fired up about the other side saying something they choose to disagree with and watch to hear more. And the media outlet washes their hands of it. If they get called on it, they're innocent, because they weren't the ones that lied, they just quoted Sen. Whosit (J-CM), make up your own mind and decide who's right!

Every for-profit news source does this. I have even caught NPR at it, although it seems less frequent there than other media. I am all for not endorsing a particular point of view but the media needs to do a better job at helping people to form an informed opinion by pointing out when a speaker commits a provable error of fact.

[PHLBOS]

Hannity is second and I believe Levin is fourth. Not sure who's third; possibly Beck, to whom I don't listen.

If it's not Beck; third might be Laura Ingraham.

[roadman65]

I'd say another reason liberal talk radio hasn't done well is that liberals listen to a lot of music and they don't participate in long car rides as often as conservatives.

What about Tom Joyner?  He is definitely not conservative and is been syndicated for many years.  He may be classified as a Shock Jock, but his program deals with controversial topics and has Sharpton on it who is the most Liberal person around.  People cannot truly say that his tone is that of Howard Stern.

[Henry]

And here I thought the fun of Amplitude Modulation was being able to pick up, say, a station from Denver crystal clear in northern Wisconsin (or WGN through out the majority of the Upper Midwest even during the day).

Yes, and wasn't there a Charlotte station who boasted that it could be heard from ME to FL at night? I believe it was WBT who made that claim.

[vdeane]

I'd say another reason liberal talk radio hasn't done well is that liberals listen to a lot of music and they don't participate in long car rides as often as conservatives.

There's also audiobooks to factor in.

[Scott5114]

I'd say another reason liberal talk radio hasn't done well is that liberals listen to a lot of music and they don't participate in long car rides as often as conservatives.

There's also audiobooks to factor in.

That and podcasts. I listen to Welcome to Night Vale on the way to work whenever there's a new episode.

There's very little fictional programming like that on the radio these days, as far as I know; I'd be much more inclined to listen to that than news, sports, or politics if I were forced to listen to something other than music.

[Stephane Dumas]

There's very little fictional programming like that on the radio these days, as far as I know; I'd be much more inclined to listen to that than news, sports, or politics if I were forced to listen to something other than music.

Speaking of fictional programming. Some of the late soap-operas like the Guilding Light beginned as radio series before is move to the television.

Also, in the 1980 GM, Ford and Chrysler offered once in their car radios, the AM stereo option but it didn't caught but what if AM stereo had caught and became "in"?

[PHLBOS]

Also, in the 1980 GM, Ford and Chrysler offered once in their car radios, the AM stereo option but it didn't caught but what if AM stereo had caught and became "in"?

During the 90s & even early 2000s; at least two AM stations in Philadelphia actually advertised that they were in AM stereo; one of them being KYM 1060 (yes, the all-news station) the other another was a contemporary Christian music station (AM 990 WZZD) that existed at the time.

[Roadrunner75]

During the 90s & even early 2000s; two AM stations in Philadelphia actually advertised that they were in AM stereo; one of them being KYM 1060 (yes, the all-news station) the other was a contemporary Christian music station (AM 990 WZZD) that existed at the time.

I remember KYW advertising that they were in AM Stereo.  Not that anyone had an AM stereo receiver to find out what it sounded like, but I could never see the point of a news station offering that.  Do they pan the announcers around - traffic to the left of me, sports to the right, here I am - stuck in the middle with news.

[02 Park Ave]

WPEN broadcast in AM-Stereo for quite a while.  Also, 1210 was in stereo, at least for Sid Mark's programmes.  I had a Ford and the stereo indicator came on for both AM and FM bands.