Move Over, Right Wing Radio - the Liberals Are Coming

un-commondreams.org/ ^ | May 19, 2003 | Thom Hartmann

[krb]

I think liberal talk radio will do good things for conservatives.

It will dilute the NPR audience and weaken their fund raising and political support.

[PeterPrinciple]

is to bloviate and prevaricate.


I have a BIG dictionary and I couldn't find the word bloviate...........but I kinda like the word.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Let 'em talk. We can call up and make mincemeat out of the hosts such Nancy "Dumba$$" Skinner. WSL in Chicago lets her yammer on on Sunday afternoon at 1 with another brainstem but few listen.

[P.O.E.]

Can't wait for the drive-time morning zoo crew spouting "war is peace", "freedom is slavery", and "ignorance is strength" with kazoos, slide whistles, and a-oooga- horns.

[rocky88]

When I am in the NYC area visiting, I sometimes listen to WBAI 99.5 just for giggles. Aren't they a commercial radio station? Is the author telling me that they're not successful because it's the FCC's fault? They've been around for years and 95% of the area doesn't even know that they're there. They must make very little profit because they do no marketing like the other commercial stations do.

If I am wrong on this, someone please set me straight.

[zeugma]

It will dilute the NPR audience and weaken their fund raising and political support.

That's the most insightful thing I've seen in this whole thread.

[Bush2000]

Great post.

[liberalnot]

right.

the dems haven't a clue why they're not popular.

[Timesink]

When I am in the NYC area visiting, I sometimes listen to WBAI 99.5 just for giggles. Aren't they a commercial radio station? Is the author telling me that they're not successful because it's the FCC's fault? They've been around for years and 95% of the area doesn't even know that they're there. They must make very little profit because they do no marketing like the other commercial stations do.

WBAI is owned by Pacifica Radio, which is a non-profit corporation, and thus WBAI is itself operated as a non-profit "public" radio station, one on the far FAR left, as you have noticed. But yes, as far as the FCC is concerned, it's just another commercial radio station, and they could start selling commercials - or at least attempt to, heh heh - whenever they wished, if they didn't think it would be Selling Out to The Man ... though they'd have to put all the money to "nonprofit" use, of course.

New York radio discussion groups routinely bemoan the utter waste of a good signal that WBAI is, and they estimate that Pacifica could get well into the nine figures in less than a week if they'd just put the station up for sale. With that kind of money, they could probably buy a few dozen small stations all over the country and "spread The Word of Socialism" far wider than they are right now (Lord knows nobody in NYC is listening to them). But they're way too stubborn to do that.

If it ever does happen, it'll be because the staff of WBAI is even further to the left than Pacifica is, and routinely hold "strikes" and generally raise hell whenever the national organization dares to make any attempt at actually managing the station rather than just abandoning the entire station to the anarchists that currently make up the staff. Eventually those jerks are going to push it too far, and Pacifica is going to sell just to spite the WBAI psychos.

[gracie1]

The only thing Bill O'Reilly's crappy ratings prove is that Bill O'Reilly's schtick doesn't translate well to radio. It may also imply that Rush simply has all the good talk stations locked up during the 12-3 time slot (which he does; Rush has the 50,000-watt flame throwers, and O'Reilly tends to be on 1,000-watt wimp stations that barely reach the suburbs), though again you'd need more examples than just O'Reilly to make that argument stick either.

Well, in this market O'Rielly is on at 8-10 pm. Not exactly the prime time for AM radio. I only listen at that time because I have a class 2 nights a week that end at that time. It is a high power station that reaches the entire central valley, though.

[weegee]

Get ready for liberal/progressive talk radio, coming to a commercial station near you.

Liberal/progressive left wing hate radio IS already on the air nationally, but being socialists, they get YOU, the tax payer, to pay part of the bill.

Networks include NPR (National Public Radio) and Pacifica (which also gets Federal funds). 501c3s are prohibited from supporting/campaigning against a candidate/party but left wing commercial free radio doesn't get prosecuted for this.

Will an SUV dealer by airtime on a program that is going to slag his product? Will the yellow dog Rats actually tune in to hear the constant cheese and whine of the looney left (I know some who, unprovoked, have told me that they can't stand to hear the more extreme elements of the left's positions aired). Socialist radio may turn off some of the party faithful and get them to question just what it is that they support.

I've known that Clear Channel has not been a friend of conservative talk radio. They bought up Rush's contract because there was money to be made off of him. But locally, they fired the staff at a 10 year old conservative station (who carried Rush all of those years) and didn't want talk of local bills or religion on the station.

[weegee]

They may find an radio audience (Larry King held his late night show for a long time until his health made it difficult for him to continue the show). Eventually he was given a daytime slot and sank like a rock (he insulted many of his callers, calling them "dumb!" and hanging up on them).

Larry's old time slot is now ruled by the followers of Art Bell. They don't seem to be a particularly choosey crowd.

[ChadGore]

WLS in chicago had these 2 shrill libs on weekends called "ski and skinner" and they bombed big time.

Where are they now ?

[Young Werther]

Rush had mentioned that he was given a REMCO radio station and it was this "toy" which would become the foundation of the EIB network. Would anyone care to donate one of these to the Libs?

1954 Remco Electronic Radio Station. "Sends and receives voice and code up to a half mile" Poor condition. Has missing and broken parts on search light and clock. Box is in pretty good condition.

[tuna_battle_slight_return]

"The democratic base will not ever listen to talk radio."

Democrats almost always need pictures to accompany words. This is why liberal talk radio will never be successful.

Curious George is a liberal.

1 JFK Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02138

[cookcounty]

Radio ( think "conversation"), is about ideas, about thinking

. Television ( think "image" ) is about feelings, emotions.

Radio is the Conservatives' best medium. Therefore they dominate it. TV is the Liberals' best medium. Therefore, they dominate it.

[Woahhs]

Liberalism can only exist and propagate as "soundbytes." As talk radio requires actual cohesive thought and verbal expression of that thought to fill minutes, liberalism will never get a foothold in talk radio.

Besides, liberals need the moving pictures to keep their constituent's interest from wandering.

[anonymous86]

Thom Hartmann is a nut case. He's not worth our time. I read one of his articles, and my childhood blanket has a better understanding of economics than him.

[metesky]

Who the F are you?

[VeniVidiVici]

Geez, ya'll are resurrecting the dead here.

That CMClay acct was banned.