Posted on 03/07/2005 6:48:28 AM PST by rface
Air America is adding radio stations to the stable as Clear Channel attempts to promote what they are calling "Progressive Radio." But the liberal radio network still can't get a host to crack the "not quite top ten list" of talk radio personalities. In fact, it's not even close. Conservative hosts are still dominating the talk radio scene and they continue to dominate the list for one reason--they have fun on the radio.
Each listen to Air America reveals bitter complaining, very little laughter and absolutely no fun. Angry radio just won't sell.
One thing, liberals don't have the material the conservative hosts are presented on a daily basis. It's hard to run out of subject matter when the Robert Byrd, Ted Kennedy and Howard Dean left fringe types are getting all the press for the Democrats. And when you factor in Eason Jordan and Dan Rather and pit them against Jeff Gannon (who?) it's not really a fair fight. Regardless, at some point the left wing radio hosts will want to learn that bitter just doesn't play well on air and they would be wise to copy these conservative hosts only with a liberal slant.
Here’s my second annual “not quite top ten.” (That’s why there’s only nine.) Last year's rank is in brackets.
9) Bill O'Reilly [6]: I really didn't believe that Bill O'Reilly on the radio would play well. Three full hours seemed like a bit much, but O'Reilly made the adjustments and pulls it off most of the time. It's far from the usual talk radio fare, but is still a decent listen.
8) Neal Boortz [7]: Neal Boortz has been doing talk radio forever. And when you give his show a listen it really shows. He's the perfect combination of entertainment and information and as his tagline says, [He's] not here to support your viewpoints. [He's] here to inform, challenge and entertain. He does that daily.
7) Don Imus [NR]: Don Imus leads every other MSNBC show in ratings with his morning radio/cable TV show. (Chris Mathews' numbers are close, even though he's in primetime) Imus gets tremendous "A" list guests and delivers nearly each day. He's a brilliant interviewer and his show would benefit from a later time slot so that the West coast could actually listen.
6) Sean Hannity [3]: Another good interviewer that presents "A" list guests nearly every day. Sean is a shameless self-promoter, but he still gets it to work and his show is wildly popular. Hannity's newest must listen is a Friday segment from a voice guy that features Bill Clinton, Bush 41 and 43, Michael Jackson, Phil Donahue and more. It's a classic segment and Hannity has a blast with it.
5) Tony Snow [2]: Tony Snow is on "injured reserve" as he recovers from cancer surgery. Our prayers are with him and his family. His show is a near flawless conservative presentation as he uses his experience and contacts to deliver a stellar program despite the fact that the show is only a year old.
4) Hugh Hewitt [NR]: Hugh springs into the "not quite top ten list" with an unashamed "new media" feel. His guests range from Mark Steyn to James Lileks to Ed Morrissey. (If you don't recognize these guys look them up, you are really missing out.) It makes for great radio, and proves that Hewitt gets the incredible power of the new media.
3) Michael Medved [4]: Medved continues to deliver the most intelligent radio in the business. He welcomes callers that disagree and even sets up a "disagreement day" for them to line up. His conspiracy theory segments are priceless. His audience ranges from critical thinkers to complete moonbats, but somehow he makes it entertaining.
2) Laura Ingraham [5]: Laura Ingraham's talk radio show has matured into a can't miss listen each day. She was always entertaining, but has now developed a routine that presents the absolute best TV sound bites for her to dissect. She gets extra credit for hammering away at Chris Mathews and Katie Couric with their own clips nearly every day. Lee Habeeb and her producer Matt Fox complete the package with their comments. This show is a blast.
1) Rush Limbaugh [1]: Limbaugh is still the best. His claim that he is the "crown jewel of the new media" is accurate. In fact, without Limbaugh, there likely wouldn't even be a new media. A cut and paste from last year's column still works. "His operation is now a media empire and his resources seem endless. He has unlimited sound bites available and is quick to offer his EIB analysis to each and every one. Until he retires or unless the keystone Palm Beach cops can round him up, it’s hard to see him ever leaving the top of the heap. It doesn’t hurt to have the best parody guy in the biz on your side either. Paul Shanklin never misses. Everyone in the business strives to be El Rushbo."
CK Rairden is the managing editor of the National Ledger.
This morning she aired a poem by Max Cleland (read by Cleland) that served as an ode to the departing Tom Daschle at little Tommy's farewell banquet last week. I was laughing so hard I was crying. I hope she posts a transcript of that rancid doggeral, it is a parody of itself. Heh heh heh
If you have broadband, she can be streamed on ksky.com from 9-noon et or ktkz.com noon-3 et. Also, try XM 166 at noon.
What's interesting about Ingraham is taht a few years ago she had a one hour show on MSNBC. It was just awful. Only saving grace was that since it was on MSNBC, nobody saw it...So, even though she's very atractive, some personalities work best on the radio..like Drudge, and Rush..whose TV shows were really bad..The problem with radio today is the incessant commercials...I thnink that a few of these guys will soon make the jump to satellite radio..
I believe that Neal Boortz is a libertarian & have no idea what Imus is...other than he voted for Kerry. My favorite is Mark Levin.
http://www.ksky.com/
KSKY-AM 660 : News Talk - Where your opinion counts
You all might be interested in this.
Michael Savage can be an idiot, but sometimes his rants are right on the money.
You can listen to Ingraham, Medved and Bill Bennett online
here: http://www.krla870.com
Oh, yeah, Dr. Savage rocks! MOST of the time. Laura I. and Rush also top my list of favorites.
Tony Snow's radio show doesn't do a thing for me; I think it's his voice. I liked him better on TV.
Sean Hannity is one of my least favorite conservative radio talk show hosts. The vast majority of the three hours is talking about and promoting Sean, and the interviews don't last long enough to get to any "meat." Plus he sucks up to liberals (which he calls being "civil" and "nice") when they are on his show, which drives me nuts. The best part of his show is when Mark Levin is on.
I can get the Sacramento station that carries it. I tune in from time to time and I have noticed that they have real advertisers now. The same ones as conservative talk it appears.
In the mornings sometimes when I cannot get San Francisco's KSFO and I am not up to listening to mainline Republican Party radio (all Arnold, all the time; "don't be a knuckled dragger, go Bush!") out of Sacramento I listen a few minutes to the morning guys on the station that carries Err America.
I don't know who they are, national I think, but they are entertaining and funny. Do they work for Err America? I don't know. They don't seem to take their ideological feeeeeeeeeeeeelings so seriously and even poke a little fun at their own kind.
Mike Gallagher (ranting 'conservative' blowhard) will be deeply saddened by this list. Thankfully, back when the Tony Snow Show debuted, my local station dropped Gallagher immediately. I don't wonder if anyone misses him.
Savage needs a mention.
Where's Michael Reagan? Don ImAss isn't worthy to carry Reagan's coffee cup.
Laura is fantastic - the sound effects she uses are hillarious. (Right now she had a crow cawing over Hillary spouting some bs.)She is very sharp in the guest interviews and doesn't let her guests get by with crap.
Glenn Beck should be on here as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.