Second, a new Fairness Doctrine would drive political talk radio off the dial. If a station ran a big-audience conservative program like, say, Laura Ingraham's, it would also have to run a left-leaning alternative. But liberals don't do well on talk radio, as the failure of Air America and indeed all other liberal efforts in the medium to date show. Stations would likely trim back conservative shows so as to avoid airing unsuccessful liberal ones.
Then there's all the lawyers you'd have to hire to respond to the regulators measuring how much time you devoted to this topic or that. Too much risk and hassle, many radio executives would conclude. Why not switch formats to something less charged - like entertainment or sports coverage?
>>If a station ran a big-audience conservative program like, say, Laura Ingraham’s, it would also have to run a left-leaning alternative.
Exactly—I’m listening to Laura Ingraham right now (on
her new Boston affiliate, WRKO 680) and thought, so
they’d have to follow it up by running three hours of
Stephanie Miller—instead of Rush. Then later on, they would have to run four hours of lib talk to make up for their
four hours of Howie Carr. Not good. They would rather change the format.