19 May 2003
You'd Better Listen To Your Radio
It appears that Clear Channel has realized that if they have nothing but right-wing talk radio, they can only make so much from Phonics or motor oil manufacturers or whatever few other advertisers appeal to the knuckle-dragging(and usually broke) right-wing radio listener, whereas liberals tend to be educated and have money and can buy lots of things. Market saturation of right-wing radio has been reached and listeners are being lost, and however much Clear Channel may love the GOP, they love money more. They realize their responsibility as meme spreaders, but dammit, their owners want those cigarette boats and you can't get that on right-wing demographic revenues: Bubba's Old-Fashioned Christian Chaw can only buy so many spots.
So Clear Channel has announced at a recent seminar that they will start putting out stations that are all-liberal talk radio. Read more here in this very interesting article about the seminar written by the fine Thom Hartmann, who was there, and there's more therein concerning quite a bit of tension from the liberal contingent represented by Hartmann and Mike Malloy(a great host whose show, streamed weeknights 9pm-12 midnight EST, you should listen to).
At the same time, right-wing hosts are fading. For example, Bill O'Reilly's radio failures in Limbaugh-dominated markets, documented recently by Matt Drudge, imply the obvious: right-wing talk radio has reached market saturation and is no longer a growth industry. According to Geoff Metcalf on WorldNetDaily, the O'Reilly show is even paying stations - in one case over a quarter million dollars - to continue to carry the show.
The handwriting is on the wall for right-wing talk radio: To build profits, programmers must reach beyond diehard Republicans to unserved listeners. This means bringing in the center and left of the political spectrum.
It appears that Clear Channel has realized that if they have nothing but right-wing talk radio, they can only make so much from Phonics or motor oil manufacturers or whatever few other advertisers appeal to the knuckle-dragging(and usually broke) right-wing radio listener, whereas liberals tend to be educated and have money and can buy lots of things. Market saturation of right-wing radio has been reached and listeners are being lost, and however much Clear Channel may love the GOP, they love money more. They realize their responsibility as meme spreaders, but dammit, their owners want those cigarette boats and you can't get that on right-wing demographic revenues: Bubba's Old-Fashioned Christian Chaw can only buy so many spots.
So Clear Channel has announced at a recent seminar that they will start putting out stations that are all-liberal talk radio. Read more here in this very interesting article about the seminar written by the fine Thom Hartmann, who was there, and there's more therein concerning quite a bit of tension from the liberal contingent represented by Hartmann and Mike Malloy(a great host whose show, streamed weeknights 9pm-12 midnight EST, you should listen to).
At the same time, right-wing hosts are fading. For example, Bill O'Reilly's radio failures in Limbaugh-dominated markets, documented recently by Matt Drudge, imply the obvious: right-wing talk radio has reached market saturation and is no longer a growth industry. According to Geoff Metcalf on WorldNetDaily, the O'Reilly show is even paying stations - in one case over a quarter million dollars - to continue to carry the show.
The handwriting is on the wall for right-wing talk radio: To build profits, programmers must reach beyond diehard Republicans to unserved listeners. This means bringing in the center and left of the political spectrum.
Labels: fatboy mcfascist, hate war, politics, right wing
¶ May 19, 2003
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