Rating the radio talk show hosts

[EveningStar]

Since I retired several months ago, I've had plenty of time to listen to talk radio and I've been able to come up with my own factors for rating some of the hosts.

It is this: Who provides depth and insight and who doesn't?

To me, those who provide depth and insight include: Rush Limbaugh Dennis Prager Michael Medved Larry Elder

Those who fall into the "No **** Sherlock / Captain Obvious to the Rescue" category include: Laura Ingraham Sean Hannity

That's my opinion. What's yours?

[The Drowning Witch]

The Kimmer (WGST-Atlanta) is better also Gary Burbank (WLW_Cincy) is funny.

KIMMER RAWKS. Someone has to get him and Gunney Bob together.

[B-Chan]

Rush - Pompous blowhard with a God complex. His mother thinks he's funny. Big on law & order except when it comes to buying drugs; eats pills like most people eat M&Ms. Can't seem to stay with one woman. Who'd he play golf with this week?

Boortz - The Hunter S. Thompson of the radio Right. Drank the libertarian Kool-Aid long ago. Speaking style reminescent of a flea-market Jacuzzi salesman.

Hugh Hewitt - Soothing the heart of the confortably numb professional Republican middle with his honeyed tones of reason. If the Chinese were landing tanks on the beach at Del Mar he'd be cautious about condemning it for fear of sounding "fringe". Lileks lifestyle guest spots far more interesting than bulk of show. The John Wesley of conservative talk radio.

Hannity - The hairdo that walks like a man. Sears credit department manager masquerading as a serious political thinker. Less intellligent and less entertaining than hopeless liberal co-host Alan Colmes.

Beck - Entertaining Scandy-Midwesterner whose enigmatic lyrics streched over modern beats by way of Dylan provide interesting entertainment. Oh, wait, you mean Glen Beck, the radio guy. He's inoffensive, I guess.

Savage - Catskills comedy schtick meets West Coast conservative schizophrenia. Manic-depressive episodes provide creative frisson: occasional bulging-eyed rants equal entertaining word-jazz, but frequently unlistenable during down phases. Smart; well-read; might as well be from Jupiter. Does not pander to GOP Uber Alles mentality of talk radio audience, but fails to realize that intellectual approach is utterly lost on most Rush Limbaugh conservatives, who tend to drink Coors Lite and hang drywall for a living. He's right about borders, language, and culture, thus guaranteing he will never have any real influence in US politics -- too inimical to GOP "chamber of commerce" conservatism. If he were a hot chick instead of a grouchy bearded guy he'd be #1 in every market.

Mike Reagan -- Mainstream Republican mouthpiece with a loud voice. Too frequent invocations of Great Communicator only serve to point out his own less-than-great skills in same area. Harmless.

Jerry Doyle -- Angry, appealing ex-sci-fi actor with Something To Prove. Throbbing vein in forehead makes for interesting radio, but too tiring over the long haul. Should probably consider decaf, pot.

Laura Ingraham -- Smart, peppy, humorous pundette with solid Prep background and connections. Fond of name-dropping and sound effects; constant on-mike banter with wacky guy sidekicks sometimes sounds like dormroom bong session sans bong. Occasionally brilliant, usually entertaining, seldom deep, but that's okay.

Tony Snow -- Beltway insider; laid-back Establishment style like Art Buchwald on Haldol. Brown-shoe Republicanism at its sleepy best; should probably consider nationwide Kiwanis Club speaking tour over stressful radio gig.

Mike Medved -- Probably not as smart as he thinks he is, but occasionally correct anyway. Better as a movie guy than a political guy.

Dennis Prager -- Radio's secular rabbi. Annoyingly pedantic style often obscures correct positions on issues. Too "nice" and soft-spoken to have any real impact. One mile wide, one inch deep.

Bill Bennett -- The soporofic sage of the Reagan era mumbles and bumbles his way into whatever the GOP talking points are talking about on any given day. Always sounds as if he's in his robe and slippers. Avoid.

The few left-wingers on talk radio are so uniformly awful that they don't rate discussing.

Talk radio blows.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Agree with the caller, though I will say, it depends on the GPS system. A receiver is one way (it receives only), a transceiver is two-way.

[Nowhere Man]

'I thought Rush's move from KDKA to WPGB was going to make the earth move and tank KDKA. Latest trends released today shows KDKA down half a share from 9.8 to 9.3 while WPGB rose from 4.8 to 6.3. And WPGb has a who's who of conservative talkers. What gives

I doubt you will make KDKA-AM go into the tank, I mean, it is quite famous in its own right. KDKA-AM does carry Bill O'Reilly in the place of Rush so I would be interested in ratings of that given time slot. Maybe the ratings you give are for the time slot but I'm afraid I don't know that to comment further. Still, WPGB taking on Rush, that is a really big coup especially when the station in its present form was less than a year old. I think WPGB did have a good advertising blitz where it took potshots at KDKA-AM for being an "old geezer's station," I liked the one commercial that featured an old woman saying "I can't find my dog!" pretending she is calling a talkshow on KDKA-AM. I busted out laughing everytime. 6.3 rating though from a 4.8, still a good jump nevertheless.

Still, it's funny listening to Art Bell/George Noory and Michael Savage without hearing Cuba's "Radio Reloj" (Radio Clock, Cuba's version of CNN on the radio) in the background. I used to listen to them out of WKBN, 570 kc, out of Youngstown, Ohio, at the top of every minute at night when the skip comes in, "Radio Reloj" would broadcast "RR" in CW (Morse Code). DIT-DAH-DIT DIT-DAH-DIT. .-. .-.

[lawdude]

"Agree with the caller, though I will say, it depends on the GPS system. A receiver is one way (it receives only), a transceiver is two-way."

I do too. I worked on some of the original GPS satellite equipment at Motorola and have been building and working with electronic equipment for 50 years.

[Just A Nobody]

"What did he do to turn you off?"

Medved was going off regarding 16 year olds driving, how their brains are not fully developed, quoting all the "junk science" to back that opinion, downright rude to callers...is that enough? I don't know, maybe I was just having an aggrevated day. I think it should be up to parents to decide if their child is ready to drive. He started going on & on about different regulations for different ages, blah blah blah. Just more government involvement in our lives, is how I heard it. I turned him off.

[Just A Nobody]

Thanks for the links. I travel so it is hard to keep up. Do you know if Ben is Bill Bennett's son?

[k2blader]

Where is the vanity tag?

[ratemy]

Funny post, witch...

My list:

Drudge - dominates all

Savage - great entertainment, super-honest though quasi-fascistic sounding at times, also sounding way too religious of late, sometimes hard to listen to, but sometimes the best show on radio too.

Boortz - a rock, very reasonable and sounds like he enjoys his job more than most

Art Bell (weekends) - sometimes has amazing guests and is one of the best interviewers going.


Shows I can't stand:
Rusty Humprey
Hannity
Dr. Laura
Liddy
Ingraham (sometimes)

[Falconspeed]

Post 87 = Excellent. Thanks.

[Falconspeed]

Big Ed LB : Great post 151 for Art Bell. Totally funny. Thanks.

[willyboyishere]

I wish we got Hewitt here in the Northeast NY<NJ market, so I could see what all the shoutin's about, but I've never heard him. Virtually ALL the shows wear on me for their predictability , especially Hannity and now O'Reilly.I've listened to Rush longer than any of them and the phrase "deep but narrow" keeps coming to mind when I listen to him. He simply seems like a rhetorical machine after awhile, and is too much a committed, broken-glass Republican to be inspiring or offer anything startling, or new, or original. But I do still enjoy both Bob Grant, and Michael Savage, who are NEVER predictable, and are ALWAYS independent.

[nutmeg]

bookmark bump

[TheBrotherhood]

"To me, those who provide depth and insight include: Rush Limbaugh Dennis Prager Michael Medved Larry Elder"

Ever heard of Bob Grant, WOR Radio?

[TheBrotherhood]

"Bob Grant
Steve Malzberg (at least until he moved away from WABC)"

You're putting Steve at par with the King of TalkRadio, ie Bob? Pleeease!! Not even close.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Is there such a thing as Internet radio anymore?

[Falconspeed]

George Putnam : Started at KTTV in L.A. in 1951. A classic.

[tai-pan]

I think so.

[backhoe]

"Is there such a thing as Internet radio anymore?"

Yup!

http://www2.krla870.com/listen/

http://www.wjgr.com/default.aspx

http://www.wlsam.com/listenlive.asp#

http://mediahopper.com/portal.htm