Is Conservative Talk Radio Losing Its Influence?

WNYC ^ | March 25, 2016

[kevcol]

Ted Cruz has few friends on Capitol Hill, and the establishment is starting to line up behind him to take out Donald Trump.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham have endorsed Cruz, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Senator Marco Rubio have hinted that they also might come along.

Cruz's base of support comes from conservative women, educated evangelicals, older voters and nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show hosts. Mark Levin and Glenn Beck have endorsed him, and he gets strong support from Rush Limbaugh.

Though Cruz has a friend in right-wing media, Donald Trump is still winning. Is conservative talk radio, once a powerful force in Republican politics, losing its influence? For answers, we turn to Darryl Parks, a media consultant and former talk radio host.

[poconopundit]

I think the problem is the messengers and not the message.

I have always like Mark Steyn when he substitutes for Rush. And Michael Savage is still good IMHO.

I think the current Levin, Hannity, Rush triangle is the problem. They have a monopoly that needs to be broken up. And I suppose the only way to break it up is to stop listening.

[grumpygresh]

Yes. Especially the ones that support the GOPe.

“Vote for the lesser of 2 evils!”
“The GOP candidate can’t win if they’re not electable”

Although conservative talk show hosts profess a belief in free markets, many conservatives are re-thinking other positions and seeking answers for rarely discussed topics.
The necessity for military interventions in almost every corner of the world.
Multi lateral trade deals, multi-national crony capitalism and monopolies, corruption and black ops at the CIA, DEA etc, Shadow government, government conspiracies and cover-ups. Vaccines, GMOs, emerging police state.

Because most talk shows are broadcasted by large corporations such as Clear Channel, talk show hosts are not free to expose government corruption because of government licensing concerns and opposition by certain advertisers.

[semimojo]

Talk radio has never had much influence. Popular programs are simply a mirror of public sentiment, as manifest in the silent majority. The hosts give words to what, in the multitudes, are nothing more than sentiments.

Well stated. The most successful hosts simply amplify and give voice to what their audience is feeling. They don't lead.

[poconopundit]

There's a big market for a pro-Trump only radio program! Let's build support for that and maybe some enterprising radio stations will start revolutionizing in that area.

And forget about the conservative labels. It's about being pro-America, pro-Self-Reliance, pro-Main Street, and no Cheap Labor Express.

There's probably an opportunity for a Trump Radio station on Sirius.

[Pelham]

“I wouldn’t mind a fair discussion, but the contempt puzzled me coming from Medved”

Medved is a neocon who hates anyone who sounds remotely “isolationist”, whether that’s Ron Paul, Pat Buchanan or Donald Trump.

Once Medved gave up dodging the draft and helping America’s Communist enemies during the Vietnam war he apparently decided that other Americans should go around the world invading countries that neocons don’t like. Wars are a lot more interesting to old ‘60s war protestors when none of their kids are doing any of the fighting. Then it’s more fun than a game of Risk with them getting to pretend that they are Trotsky.

[SaraJohnson]

Talk radio is doing itself in. I have never seen them take sides beyond dem vs rep. like they are doing now.

[RKBA Democrat]

It’s pining for the fjords. Why listen to the blabber when you can read 10 times the info in the same amount of time.

[GBA]

Too early to tell, but I don't see how Beck and Levin, and to some extent Rush, come out of this election in better shape than in their "Before" pictures.

Trump has done a remarkable job as an IFF detector/receiver this election season!

No previously undetectable political stealth tech works anymore, not since The Donald showed up.

Broadcast the "Trump!" transponder code and all hell lights up in response, just like that first night over Baghdad!

Wahoo! I haven't seen anything work this well at getting hidden political truth to self-identify since Reagan left the building.

Trump clearly has raised that art form a notch or two and we're still in the primary!

[Just mythoughts]

There's a big market for a pro-Trump only radio program! Let's build support for that and maybe some enterprising radio stations will start revolutionizing in that area. And forget about the conservative labels. It's about being pro-America, pro-Self-Reliance, pro-Main Street, and no Cheap Labor Express. There's probably an opportunity for a Trump Radio station on Sirius.

These radio jocks have bastardized the word conservative... it means only to them 'wall street' dividends... and cheap labor illegals. They are crony capitalists... using the word conservative to deceive. When Levin and Rush stopped claiming Cruz follows the 'original intent' of the Constitution they exposed their crony capitalism.... Rush dining secretly with Schumer and Graham to get 'amnesty' talking points back in 2011... ended his career as a conservative spokesman. The Constitution is meaningless to them.

And you can read on any given post how Trump is not getting the conservative vote... Poppycock...

My description of this campaign season is... Some people are born to deceive and some people are born to be deceive... Election of mass deception.

[KarlInOhio]

Likely because it’s getting same-old same-old. Beck is a nut. Hannity is about as interesting as a parrot. Rush is a bit like the Uncle who tells the same stories every Thanksgiving, really phoning it in.

I wish Mark Steyn had a daily show. I go out of my way to listen to Rush's show when it's three hours of Canadian immigrant radio stealing the jobs of American radio hosts. :-)

[VerySadAmerican]

educated evangelicals support Cruz.

It’s been my experience that when people become “educated” their faith diminishes. The smarter they are, the dumber they become. Remember the old saying “You’ll never be as smart as your father.”

[VerySadAmerican]

If you don’t have respect for the people who listen to you,

Michael Berry makes fun of people he doesn’t agree with by mocking them. And he always does it in a phony “country redneck” voice. In other words, all people with country accents are stupid. Yet they pay him dues to be a member of his redneck country club. So, I guess the ones who listen to him are stupid.

[stillfree?]

“Internet is killing talk radio.

Who really wants to listen to give minutes of talk, followed by ten minutes of commercial?

I get my info from FR, Drudge, and other sources.”

DITTO

[Neu Pragmatist]

Yeah it’s very strange .. Savage has been very favorable to Cruz in the past week ... you might be right , perhaps they are making him be favorable to Cruz ... that’s not good if they can control Savage too

[douginthearmy]

Not sure if it is just a vocal minority or if most here are just total bridge burners.

My take is this:

• Rush - still the great one. Very entertaining, usually right, and often insightful analysis of the left.
• Hannity - right wing talking points memo. Tune in occasionally to brush up on the talking points. Only takes a few minutes because he will repeat them (repeatedly).
• Levin - very sharp, very opinionated. If you can't handle being yelled at by someone you will occasionally disagree with, then don't listen.
• Beck - Clearly an off the rails nutball. This guy could literally have a mental break at any moment. The only "libertarian" I ever heard use the word "must" in practically every sentence.

I don't listen at work so I only get bits an pieces when I am in the car or at lunch. I still don't get the rush haters, he is the only one I have never had to tune out.

[poconopundit]

...We are in a massive new paradigm shift in politics.

Very wise commentary there.   And your position is rational and smart, not "extremist" as your name might suggest.

I concur that Pat Buchanan kind of started this movement.  And we need new voices who understand and can interpret this new movement.

FR is the perfect place to begin that conversation since it appears 80% here are Trump supporters.

Personally I think the term "conservative" must be abandoned and we must move to "self-reliant" or something like that.  Return to the mid-19th century America where self-reliance was the philosophy.

The term conservative has been co-opted by Rush and Levin.  And it now has a Bushie smell to it.

When Trump destroyed Bush in the CBS debate, that was a pivot point in the transition to a new party.  It signaled we are no longer going to listen to the Bush neocons who send our young men and women out to fight stupid wars that never end.  If we fight, we get the job done quickly and get the hell out.

And we are not going to be led Golden Sacks, Apple, Google, and Microsoft control our lives and keep a watchdog over us.  Trump hasn't mentioned anything about this, but I have a mind that his second wave of changes will be to ensure our security and privacy on the internet.

[VanDeKoik]

I will definitely check this out! Thanks!

[RegulatorCountry]

I think several election cycles of putting so-called true conservatives into office, only to have them support the very policies they were elected to oppose has led to both a decline in influence of conservative media and a core of support for Trump that won’t be swayed by anyone, because the level of distrust has gotten so high. Is Trump deserving of it? Many believe so. I’m willing to roll the dice, myself, at this point.

[xzins]

Their track record is a losing record

4 years of lib repub. GWBUSH
8 years of lib Clinton
8 years mod repub GWBUSH
8 years of hyper socialist fascist Obama

[TexasTransplant]

Nice List