Posted on 04/23/2012 6:46:21 AM PDT by raccoonradio
In the upcoming May 7th issue of Radio Ink magazine talker Neal Boortz discusses the recent push by Cumulus and others for a more toned down type of talk radio. Cumulus launched Mike Huckabee April 9th pushing the show as a friendlier conservative talk host. Boortz isn't buying that consumers have tired of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others and they want to see more talkers like Huckabee and Michael Smerconish. Boortz says listeners want to be entertained. "Mike Smerconish is immensely talented. Barack Obama likes him. But on the radio, he is not compelling or exciting. He is methodical and dependable. The listeners are not going to react with overwhelming enthusiasm to somebody like that."
Boortz adds, about Smerconish, "I can see where he would want to go on the air and say "The type of talk radio I do, that's what the consumers want. That is what they are going to be looking for in the future." It's a great sales pitch to get people to sign on to your show. I still think what the consumers are looking for is, number one, entertainment. They want to be entertained. It can be a liberal, a libertarian, or a conservative. It can be far-left or far-right. If they are entertained, they are going to tune in. The ratings are going to be there and the advertisers are going to be happy." Smerconish is syndicated by Dial Global.
In our interview with Boortz, he also says, "syndication is really destroying the supply of good local talk show hosts. The talent pool is very shallow. So, the wonderful world of syndication, while it's been marvelously lucrative for the few hosts that manage to really get into it, it has really smothered the development of local talk radio talent." Neal Boortz has now been on the air for over 40 years and is heard on over 200 radio stations.
Equivocation radio is what I call them. They never seem to take a stand and are always saying, “I can see the other side’s point of view”. Bunch of wishy-washy poltroons.
SMERCONISH IS A ONE-TIME RINO WHO HAS GONE COMPLETELY IN THE TANK FOR 0BAMBI.
Anyone who buys his “Conservative” act is a fool.
I do agree with what he says about local talk show hosts getting squeezed.
I really learned a lot about conservatism in the People’s Republic of Maryland by listening to Ron Smith (RIP) and Tom Marr. I live in York now and the local guys here on WSBA (Gary Sutton and Jim Horn) have a GREAT morning show. They talk about local issues AND national issues, and are very entertaining. They have great guests and ask really good questions, not allowing their guests to “spin” things, but not talking over them like Bill O’ Reilly or Hannity.
Smerconish is worse than boring. He is going to get Limbaugh’s time slot here in Philly. When Limbaugh relocates (rumor is to FM) he will overrun the nancyboy on 1210 AM. He is a wannabe and never was. A RINO.
Easy:
After 3 months count the number of listeners gained, lost or remained relatively consistent.
Those who lost are losing the radio stations money.
Let the listenership decide. It worked with Air America.
Huckabee is on now in Silicon Valley opposite Limbaugh. Nice to have a new voice now and then, especially when Rush gets a little lax and has repeated his talking point for the seventh or eighth time in the same segment.
A perfect example of why this radio won’t work surfaced almost immediately with Huckabee. He was having a Love Fest for Dick Clark, a man who was celebrated for doing the exact same thing Alan Freed was jailed for doing.
Good job, Huck!
See my tagline.
I tried listening to Smerconish a couple of times and found him to be a complete bore. Never bothered with him sense.
I can’t stand that guy, his show was boring. I assume his ratings tanked and that’s why they took him off WOR in NYC.
For the past year or so I have seen the stations I listen to, moving to more moderate (boring) talk show hosts. I simply turn off the radio and put in an audio book.
Um, “since”.
I wish potato-faced Schmuckabee would just fade into oblivion.
I’ll say one thing for Huckabee...he’s a great cure for insomnia. I started watching his tv show one time, and the old eyelids started drooping after about one minute.
Yes, what is known at least for now as “Hannity 106.9” WWIQ will probably be his new home, within days or weeks. There was a 90 day opt-out clause and Rush’s syndicator does plan to put him elsewhere, with 1210 going for Smerconish.
It will take time for the move but it will happen
I am not necessarily sold on Huckabee. But I can relate to the need to have a better level discussion.
Rush and Hannity, while sometimes offering new information, do it in a manner that to me has gotten very tiring.
I haven’t heard Huckabee’s show, so I can’t respond to his radio style.
But yes, I would like to see a conservative radio show that is less bombast and more substance.
In Boston and New England it’s newspaper columnist and author Howie Carr who talks about corruption, high taxes and fees,
immigration, EBT card abuse, elections, pop culture, etc.
http://www.howiecarr.us
It does pretty well (heard in much of New England and online)
If being intelligent, non-confrontational and funny was the winning formula, Dennis Miller would be the undisputed king of talk radio.
Talk radio is the voice for Americans continually ridiculed and mocked by elite media and popular culture. It's a daily expression of the anger and frustration felt by those who are tired of the non-stop assault on our traditional values.
Metaphorically speaking, we don't want to have an Oxford-style debate about it, we want to beat the crap outta someone.
Interesting point. Last night on the Bill Cunningham Show, he interviewed the head of Talker Magazine, who said it's kind of a chicken and the egg argument. Before the end of the fairness doctrine and the spike in the popularity of talk radio there were only about 75 talk stations in the whole country, so there weren't a whole lot of opportunites for local talkers. With Rush's boom and all those that followed in his wake, the number of talk stations grew to accomodate the market, which actually expanded the job opportunities for local talkers.
What he stated was, yes, the nationally syndicated biggies, do take time slots that could theoretically be filled by local talent, but without those nationally syndicated personalities, their shows and the money they bring in, many of the local talk stations would fold or go to an other-than-talk format (as they were before syndication of Rush, Hannity, etc.)
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