Michael Savage plans radio comeback

SF Chron ^ | 10/9/12 | Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross

[raccoonradio]

San Francisco conservative talk show host Michael Savage - off the air since last month after winning a legal battle with his bosses - expects to be back behind a microphone within two weeks.

"I've got to get back before these (presidential) debates are over," Savage said Tuesday. "And when I do, it will be bigger than ever."

Savage's lawyer, Daniel Horowitz - who led the legal fight to get the nationally syndicated star out of his contract with the Talk Radio Network - said the hot-talk hotshot is in discussions with three "major players" he declined to name.

[faithhopecharity]

Savage is brilliant man and not afraid to call a camel a camel. Adds a lot to the national discourse. But yes, nobody cares what he ate for dinner. And he can scream too loud at times. We hear ya, Mike. Its the magic of radio amplification, no need to yell. I think maybe these over_emotive fits may be caused by too much treif in yer diet, Mike. Michael, are you listening? Your dear mommy didn’t raise you on calamari and ham sandwiches.

[terycarl]

Savage is an entertainer who uses current events as his schtick...he is pretty good at it (Limbaugh is far better) but when you’re traveling and have cirrus radio, and put it on talk shows.....it is far better that country western music!!!

[kenmcg]

Is there something fishy here. Granted it's great Savage won his lawsuit, but how come the court comes to a decision two months before election day to get him off the air? Savage is a great patriot and one of the most knowledgeable on our side.

[ExNewsExSpook]

It will be interesting to see where Savage lands and what type of syndication deal he can put together.

Savage’s feud with TRN was the stuff of legend, and he spared no expense in getting out of his contract, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that TRN is a low-budget operation compared to syndicators like ABC and Premier Radio Networks. Savage was the most popular host on TRN, but his paycheck pales in comparison to what Rush and Hannity make. I’d even venture that Neal Boortz has a better deal with Cox than Savage had with TRN. Make no mistake; Savage makes seven figures a year, but his old contract wasn’t nearly as lucrative as other hosts.

But who does he sign with now? His program once aired on many of the former ABC-owned stations (now part of the Cumulus chain), but Savage got himself taken off the air and then spent weeks criticizing ABC. Doubtful that stations like WABC and WLS want him back, especially since Mark Levin’s popularity has skyrocketed.

Same thing holds true for TRN, and I’m guessing Premier will take a pass on him, too. So, when Savage returns to the air, it will be on second-class stations with less signal coverage and lower ratings. And, if Savage’s new deal gives him a percentage of the ad revenue, he may actually make less money (at least initially), because his new affiliates won’t have as many listeners, meaning that Savage and his partners won’t be able to charge as much for advertising.

Savage is a unique radio talent; at his best, he’s one of the most compelling hosts on the air. But his nasty divorce from TRN may actually put him in a less enviable position, in terms of listeners, affiliates and revenue.

[rockabyebaby]

Holy Bleep! Nice to “see” you again! Hope all is well with you.

[iowamark]

I'll be back! And I'll be bigger than ever!

[luvbach1]

Why do so many insist on using the name Weiner when Mike Savage has used the name Savage for many years? Hmmmm?

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Savage is accused of being loud, hostile, adversarial.. Good job, Dr. Savage! I say.

Those are some of the positive aspects of his contribution to modern talk radio -- and Savage stated years ago that is what he intended to do:

Give it right back at 'em!

Those things are damaging to the conservative cause? Really?

Either those who believe that are too young to remember or weren't paying attention in the era of the "Fairness Doctrine" in the '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s; and also happening was newspapers were failing as the primary news source shifted to TV networks.

William F. Buckley's one-hour-a-week Firing Line on PBS was all the fairness conservatives needed said "the Establishment."

The loud, hostile, adversarial heavy-handed dominance over the silenced majority was filled with screams of RACISTS! NAZIS! MCCARTHYISTS! BIGOTS! BIRCHERS!; as well as conservative opinion flagged by the MSM with words like "controversial," "ultra-conservative," "divisive".

Conservatives tended to slink away protesting that they were none of those things -- if they even had a chance to respond on the MSM. Responding over radio put the station owner in jeopardy of losing his license -- if enough liberals complained to the FCC.

"You might also think that they would recall the notorious Fairness Doctrine, which was used to 'harass and intimidate' right-wing radio broadcasts, in the words of one unabashed Kennedy-Johnson operative. When that censorious policy was ended in 1987 by former broadcaster Ronald Reagan, there was an explosion of talk formats that gave voice to popular concerns (for a while, Rush Limbaugh even billed himself as equal time)."

As reported by Fred Friendly in his book appropriately entitled The Good Guys, the Bad Guys, and the First Amendment, this was part of a "massive strategy . . . to challenge and harass the right-wing broadcasters and hope that the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited, and decide it was too expensive to continue." This strategy was said to have been successful in almost all respects.

Give it right back at 'em!

[dynachrome]

Thanks Gargoyle! (good to “see” ya, infidel!)

Savage ping!

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Give it right back at ‘em! “

Savage’s best character trait.

[fishtank]

Savage's website

[fishtank]

Savage’s Books

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_adv_b/?search-alias=stripbooks&unfiltered=1&field-keywords=&field-author=michael+a.+weiner&field-title=&field-isbn=&field-publisher=&node=&url=&field-feature_browse-bin=&field-binding_browse-bin=&field-subject=&field-language=&field-dateop=&field-datemod=&field-dateyear=&sort=relevancerank&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=0&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0

[fishtank]

Books as Michael Weiner

* Plant a Tree, New York: Collier Books, 1975, ISBN 0471571040
* Bugs in Peanut Butter, Boston: Little, Brown, 1976, ISBN 0316928607
* Man’s Useful Plants, New York: Macmillan. 1976, ISBN 0027926001
* The Taster’s Guide to Beer: Brews and Breweries of the World, Macmillan, 1977, ISBN 0026256002
* Earth Medicine, Earth Food, New York: Macmillan Pub. Co., 1980, ISBN 002625610X
* The Way of the Skeptical Nutritionist, New York: Macmillan, 1981, ISBN 0026256207
* The Art of Feeding Children Well (with Kathleen Goss), Warner Books, 1982, ISBN 0446978906
* Nutrition Against Aging, Bantam books, 1983, ISBN 0553236423
* Secrets of Fijian Medicine, Quantum Books, 1983, ISBN 0912845023
* Vital Signs, San Diego: Avant Books, 1983, ISBN 0932238203
* Getting Off Cocaine, Avon Books, February, 1984, ISBN 0380679000
* Dr. Savage’s High Fiber Counter, Pinnacle Books, May, 1984, ISBN 0523422113
* Maximum Immunity, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986, ISBN 0395379105
* Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer’s, New York: Stein and Day, 1987, re-published under the name Michael Savage, Ph.D., in 2007, ISBN 0946551537
* The Complete Book of Homeopathy, Garden City Park, N.Y.: Avery Pub., 1989, ISBN 0895294125
* The Herbal Bible, San Rafael, CA: Quantum Books, 1992, ISBN 0912845066
* Healing Children Naturally, San Rafael, CA: Quantum Books, 1993, re-published under the name Michael Savage, Ph.D., in 2007, ISBN 0912845104
* Herbs That Heal: Prescription for Herbal Healing, Mill Valley, CA: Quantum Books, 1994, ISBN 0912845112
* The Antioxidant Cookbook, Mill Valley, CA: Quantum Books, 1995, ISBN 0912845139

[edit] Books as Michael Savage

* The Death of the White Male, Mill Valley, CA: Quantum Books, 1991, ISBN 0-9128-4508-2
* The Savage Nation, Nashville: WND Books, 2002, ISBN 0-7852-6353-5
* The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on our Schools, Faith, and Military, Nashville: Nelson Current, 2003, ISBN 0-7852-6102-8
* Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder, Nashville: Nelson Current, 2005, ISBN 1-59555-006-2
* The Political Zoo, Nashville: Nelson Current, 2006, ISBN 1-59555-042-9
* Psychological Nudity, 2008, ISBN 1-4276-3401-7

* Banned in Britian (2009) ISBN-10: 1427642532
* Trickle Up Poverty (2010) ISBN-10: 0062010972
* Abuse of Power, (2012) ISBN-10: 0312553013
* Trickle Down Tyranny (2012) ISBN-10: 006208397X

[Chuckster]

I’ve listened to Jerry Doyle. He’s not bad but, for Savage fans, a pale substitute for sure.

[MaryLou1]

Hi GARGOYLE!

[MaryLou1]

How many of you all think he will have some sort of money making angle with this? I can’t see him just going back on the air for another syndicate-have a feeling it will be online ppv , I hope not tho

[dynachrome]

And don’t fergit “Train Tracks” coming next month.

[Gabz]

I’ve missed Savage on our local Clear Channel Station, 104.7 FM. They’ve put some guy named Jerry Doyle in his time slot. Slightly more sane than Savage but nowhere near as interesting.

I don't miss Savage in the least and am very thankful the station I listen to replaced him with Doyle. Jerry got bumped to the AM station to make way for Hannity on the FM - I can't get the AM station in, so am happy to have Doyle back where I can hear him.

[3Fingas]

I think that Michael Savage is very entertaining. He definitely goes off on a tangent at times, but that is part of his appeal. Savage, at his worst, is a braggart who talks about himself and his academic credentials far too much. However, Savage, at his best, can excoriate the left using sarcasm and ridicule like no one else on radio, save Mark Levin. Savage is very effective in doing this because he use to be a leftist himself and he knows exactly how to get under their skin. I also like his reflections on New York in the old days when Democrats were blue collar types who loved America, people drove muscle cars, and political correctness had yet to be created. So, I know that he is a blowhard and a person of erratic temperament, but I still like his show.

[Leep]

Could someone tell me what his beef is/was with Levin and Limbaugh?