Is there a decent market for Liberal Radio?

[BeachBuckeye]

I'm talking about real, Liberal, political radio. I'm not talking comedians here. I'm not talking about faux Liberals who had a "recent" conversion in order to get syndicated. I'm talking about radio from a dyed in the wool, Yellow Dog Liberal Democrat? Recent events with AAR and Nova M seem to make one think a decent market does not exist. Why can Hannity, Limbaugh, Boortz, Levin, Glenn Beck and others gather a large audience but Liberals cannot? I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on my show today from 3 to 5pm Eastern. 866-546-5254 or 304-574-7813 , 14 or 15. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best,
Guy James
www.theguyjamesshow.com
www.headonradionetwork.com

[JuniperLea]

1. Have you looked at the recent Arbitron figures?

Those RW blowhards are only doing well in their minds.

[BeachBuckeye]

8. Yes, I have seen recent ratings.

Beck and Limbaugh are soaring.

[JuniperLea]

23. Soaring? Where?

I'm not seeing it.

Edited to provide link:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/05/rush-limbaugh200905

snip

... and Rush’s much-vaunted audience of 14 million was down from its high of 20 to 25 million during the Clinton years to closer to cable-TV size. The view at MSNBC was that, on a minute-by-minute basis, Limbaugh’s audience was now no bigger than that of its liberal stars, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.


Soaring in a downward direction isn't really soaring.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dbonds]

3. Conservative radio is basically aimed at people stuck in their car all day.

They are unhappy with things in general and conservative radio uses that to manipulate them and to feel like they are smarter than the rest for listening to the show.

Liberal radio doesn't have that captive audience. I don't think radio would be the right media outlet either.

[guitar man]

4. I don't know

But most liberals I know don't like to be told what to think, unlike their counterparts with the underdeveloped frontal lobes. If liberal radio is to make a serious go of it, the programmers and hosts must understand this basic precept. Simply making a carbon copy of what right wing radio and just flipping the talking points to the left isn't going to cut it IMO.

[myrna minx]

5. I think so, but it's difficult to compare it to conservative radio, because they

have had years of infrastructure building. Their investors spent years pouring money down the drain to prop up Limbaugh and his ilk. Liberal radio is having it's growing pains, but I think in the long run, it can and will succeed.

[Oregone]

6. Are liberals stupid enough to listen to what some narcissistic asshole blowhard on radio has to say?

Maybe its just a different market? Maybe liberals are more interested in turning on some Beatles or Dylan than a talking head (liberal or not).

[jobycom]

7. Audience, yes. Corporate sponsors, not as much.

As elections easily demonstrate, there is at least as much audience for liberal as conservative radio.

But conservative radio dominates not because more people want to hear them, but because more corporate sponsors want their message on the airwaves. Those sponsors include radio stations owned by conglomerates like Clear Channel.

That's our problem--finding enough corporate sponsors willing to pay outrageous, disproportionate (to the number of listeners) advertising fees to support liberal radio. And there are two reasons for this. The first is simple--corporations want the tax cuts and deregulation the Republicans offer, even though time after time these cuts have hurt the economy and corporate profits. So they pay more to get their message on the air. The second is simple but controversial--some liberals actually do hate corporations, even wealth. GM won't advertise on a station that calls for its nationalization, so a radio host trying to sell what some perceive as a liberal anti-corporate message is DOA.

Local business is rarely enough to keep a station going, so stations pick up people like Limbaugh and O'Reilly to pay their bills. Stations that do otherwise, with some exceptions, fail. Here in Austin, where Bush got maybe a third of the vote in both elections despite living here for six years, we have several conservative stations, and no liberal stations. We had an Air America affiliate for a while, but it couldn't get advertising, and lived off of the benefits AA gave them. When those ran out, it folded. If you can't make it in Austin, a mid-size city where two thirds of the population is liberal, you are going to have trouble most places.

[Juche]

17. That is a really good point

I didn't even think of the fact that marketing may be harder in a liberal station because liberals tend to pursue anti-corporate agendas. Its a double whammy.

[Ron Green]

9. It's all about entertainment.

Shouting is entertaining; reasoned discourse is not. Right-wingers play the "ain't it awful" game, the "look out behind you!" game, the "s/he looks stupid" game, and on and on. Liberals, whose world view depends on complex relationships among people and systems, as well as on facts, can never deliver the screaming sound-bites like fear-based windbags can(and must)do. Witness the uneven success of Randi Rhodes to know that sense and screaming don't mix.

[keith the dem]

10. I think that it would be needed to be aimed at working class

union people.

Most of us here are educated and would rather hear relative straight information and develop our own opinions (NPR?) rather than blow-hard opinion; however a rather large part of the less educated working class could use a voice that caters to their interests. Because there is a void, the inannitya and limpballs skillfully convince these people to vote against their own interests.

[MissMillie]

11. Probably not... because liberals are working people

We can't be sitting around all day listening to talk radio. We need to be working to pay for illegal invasions and billion $ tax cuts for the oil industry.

:evilgrin:

[NightWatcher]

12. I think progressive radio works best online, from streaming to podcasting

clicking on the horn right now

[Joe Fields]

13. I definitely belive there is a market for liberal radio, but...

I say in all sincerity that 99 percent of liberal radio/t.v. bores me to sleep. If it were more pure, more fire breathing liberal radio, patterned after some of the fire breathing conservatives, then they would draw the ratings.

[GreenTea]

14. It's called sponsors, why would large corporate advertisers want to sponsor liberal radio??

When most liberal including my self despise most of the corporations hatred of unions, and many other progressive ideology.

The excellent and arguably the best best progressive on the air Peter B Collins was forced to quit because of lack of stations which is a direct result of lack of advertisers.

You look at Limbaugh and the rest of the republicans on the radio. they all support management & corporations over the workers 100% of the time, and receive loads of corporate sponsorship in return because of it...

When liberals do find a station that will allow their voice on the air it's usually some small wattage station very few can pick up, no money to advertise, (billboards, newspapers. etc.) then as we've seen many times, the republicans who own the stations will hate progressive talking liberal truth they don't believe in and decide they won't renew the liberals contract for any amount liberals are willing to pay, and in some the cases republicans prefer and can afford to take a lost, putting on Christian radio or a sports format instead in market already jammed with the like.

It an uphill battle, especially when a few corporations own most of the radio stations and most of the corporations are absolutely republican right-wing ideologues with an agenda and who are willing to pay & support their right-wing agenda.

They is no doubt liberal radio helps with getting information out there, helping our candidates and a democratic agenda as seen in the last couple election cycles, but it still just a handful of stations going against over 90% of republican hate radio 24/7 365 days, coast to coast, border to border.

I do however believe liberal radio can work, just as we see it working on TV most notably MSNBC, growing steadily with a liberal prime time format...Liberals can't depend on and keep waiting for people (everyone seems to be pointing to, to help & finance) like George Soros to help out because they certainly would have by now if they really cared to.

I don't know what the answer is, but if democrats don't think it's extremely important to have a much strong voice over the airwaves 24/7 than they have now, going up against the huge republican media machine then these Dems are completely ignorant, stupid and fucked!

Just look at the way Sirius radio (and it's right-wing republican CEO treats talk radio...Sirius gives at least three channels exclusively for right-wing talk, and even calls one of the republican channels the "Patriot Channel" (as if liberals & progressives aren't patriotic only wingnuts).

In return Sirius has only one channel of liberal or progressive talk radio called "Sirius Left" and it's purposely so diluted with the likes of not really liberal, i.e. Lynn Samuels, Alex Bennett, or the somewhat uninformed voices like Mark Thompson, or taped delayed shows in the middle of the day (Stephanie Miller), while Sirius offering only the first hour of the Thomm Hartmann show each day. At least Mike Malloy is untouched the only real liberal show that is...but he comes on at night so the Sirius republicans don't seem to be too concerned about Malloy.

Liberals get no respect on Sirius or anywhere else, and like Sirius it's done purposely to dilute or silence the progressive messages of truth....You see the republican do this because they know the value of what radio and media can do.

Many progressives as well as most of our Dem leaders don't have a fucking clue....this 90% republican talk radio is really the vast right-wing republican conspiracy and the Dems and liberals are oblivious or ignorantly ignoring it.

Down the road we will all pay for the ignorance,indifference and do nothing, again, as the soulless, lying, hateful, greedy republicans creep back in....Yet the question remains, what?

[LeftinOH]

15. Liberals like to read, to learn, to interact.. I can't stand listening to anyone on the radio

for very long- too sedentary.

[LaPera]

22. You don't see any value in progressive radio?

Let the republicans have 100% of right-wing radio around the country would be fine with you? Cuz you don't like it, nor support it and never will?

"Liberals like to interact" - Get real!!

It seems to me some liberals love to sit back behind their keyboards and smugly pontificate what they don't like and disregard & disrespect anything they don't care about...uh, like liberal radio for one.

[Juche]

16. In some ways I doubt it

Liberals tend to be more nuanced than authoritarian conservatives. I think there is a massive market for liberal message forums (obviously) because those involve in depth discussion of policy and allow individuals to contribute whereas radio involves soundbites and a talker-listener relationship rather than a real debate where ideas are prodded and discussed. I remember a few months ago reading a blurb on KOS, a journalist noted that conservative message boards lack the serious policy discussion you see in liberal boards. Plus liberals tend to be younger than conservatives, and as a result are likely more open to new media outlets.

I may not listen to liberal radio, but Obama's facebook and twitter page had far more followers than McCains. He probably had far more text message subscribers too.

So maybe radio isn't the best format for liberals, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

[tech3149]

18. Is there a decent market? I'm not really sure

but there sure is a demand. In the local market, Pgh area we had one station pick up Hartmann when he filled in for a local host. That lasted almost two years and they replaced him with a local host who only does BS schlock that at best is entertaining but not damned informative. I contacted a few local stations, really low power local stuff to try and sell intelligent talk radio. All of the stations were nothing but automated rebroadcasters of syndicated junk. I think Peter B described it best. When he decided to stop the terrestrial broadcast, he said it cost $5K a month to keep the show going and would need 60 affiliates to break even. As long as the ownership is in the hands of a few banksters that are risk-averse, we aren't going to see a change.

It's sad to say but those with a more progressive mindset are more involved in living their lives than trying to convince others our ideas have merit. Glad to hear you back, afternoons have gotten pretty meager over the last few months.

On the bright side the weather is starting to turn, so I'll be busy getting the garden going.

Jeff in Pa

[sweetpotato]

19. It would be nice to have some sort of news reporting again

I'd go for that - unbiased, investigative journalism - no more reading press releases.

We don't need liberal or conservative radio - we need the truth.

[Fuzz]

20. I really don't care for it to be honest, I don't need to be preached to.

[GreenTea]

21. Propaganda lies, repressed information, keep fascist ideologies in power....

They fascist may come and go...for a while, but they ALWAYS come back through media. And radio was and still is a strong & important medium for this, reaching the "common" people, voters.... which the fascist republicans control this medium, they starting accumulating radio and all sorts of media years ago, knowing very well this would be the only way for the republicans to survive, through lies via media and no counter voices allowed and the liberals dumb as fucking lamppost don't fucking get it, their ego always gets in the way.!

Just as many progressives as well as most of our Dem leaders don't have a fucking clue....this 90% republican talk radio is really the vast right-wing republican conspiracy right in front of our eyes and the Dems and liberals are oblivious or ignorantly ignoring it's importance.

Down the road we will all pay for the ignorance,indifference and do nothing, again, as the soulless, lying, hateful, greedy republicans creep back in, again.

[MissMarple]

24. I heard recently that NYC doesn't have progressive stations. Is this true?

Hillaryland doesn't have liberal talk radio????

And I definitely think there is an audience for intelligent, relevant talk radio. And pretty much right now, that means progressive radio. Right wing radio sounds like a broken record, an unintelligible one that keeps repeating the same brain dead dreck.

[fascisthunter]

25. No Funding Guy

it appears the people on the left with money don't want liberal views being aired. I guess those with money, like the way this way.


Is there a market? Absolutely.... a huge one at that.