Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Return to "Fairness"

You have got to be kidding me. I thought that it was a joke, that no one was serious about this.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gop-preps-for-talk-radio-confrontation-2007-06-27.html


Last I looked no one was holding a gun to anyone's head and forcing them to listen to talk radio. Stupid-ass liberals. Almost no one likes to hear their whiney, bizarro-world shit so they try to find ways to force them to.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting article. I guess the author hasn’t realized that Al Franken no longer has a radio show. My personal take on Air America is that it was grossly mismanaged and faced challenges trying to find stations in a large corporate conservative dominated radio ownership market. But they do quite well in markets where they are broadcast. Because of their large start-up costs, to make ends meet, Air America needed a minimum number of stations just to break even. They weren’t successful in achieving this due to barriers of entry imposed by existing conservative dominated talk show radio. Good luck finding a liberal radio show anywhere in the heartland. I know you disagree but those are the facts.

As to your quote: “Last I looked no one was holding a gun to anyone's head and forcing them to listen to talk radio.”

I think the main issue is that certainly no one is forcing you to listen to talk radio, but rather that in the public air waves (subsidized by tax payers), there should be balanced viewpoints for talk radio. Conservatives are spreading hype regarding the Fairness Doctrine in that they are falsely stating that it is intended to get rid of and censure existing Conservatives like Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, etc. The reality is that all it is meant to do is provide opportunities for add’l viewpoints that counter-balance the conservative ones. Maybe the folks (Limbaugh) who are complaining the loudest are really the ones wanting censorship (of progressive radio)?

Gonzo said...

Air America didn't allow stations to cherry-pick which shows to air ... you had to take all shows or nothing. Don't know if they are still like that.

Sounds kind of like what you were saying about Limbaugh and Hannity.

The airwaves are not taxpayer funded except for regulatory functions; almost all regulatory bodies are taxpayer funded anyway.

I've brought this up before and never got a good answer but why is it that liberal talk radio fails except for some individual shows? I mean, most polls show America is purportedly pretty even split in viewpoint so what is it? I don't think it's conservative dominence so to speak but I'm willing to admit I could be wrong there. In an informal look at some AM talk radio station lineups on the web, I found several with both conservative and liberal shows.

Still, though, if Al Franken had started his own show and allowed it to grow without the baggage of those other bozo shows at AA I firmly believe he would now be in the top 5. He was funny and acerbic without being venomous.

Don Imus was not exactly a conservative. And what about Howard Stern before he went satellite. Clearly not a conservative and he absolutely dominated morning drive.

The right has Michael Savage for ranting and raving but too many of the left shows are ranting and raving I think. Savage's popularity has been in deep decline recently.

Personally, I like Glenn Beck. He's funny and a common-sense type of guy on the radio...his TV show is different and I'm not big on it.

SeattleSusieQ said...

I've told you before but you still refuse to believe it. There are owners that refuse to carry progressive talk radio in spite of demand.

Here's an example of the why I say your spewing is a BIG LIE.. There was a progressive talk radio station that changed format last year (in Columbus). It is now conservative talk radio - and ratings have gone DOWN!

You have to KNOW there's more of that. The conservatives are simply lying about what is really wanted out there. And do you refuse to believe that in a 50-50 country there is no demand for progressive talk radio. If you do you MUST be drinking the same pee the repugs are drinking.

They're afraid that they'll lose power when people here RATIONAL discourse.

ratings
At the very bottom of the list, you'll find WYTS. You can see on the graph that a year ago, the station was at a 1.4 share (back when they were Progressive Talk), and their latest ratings were at a 0.4... down an entire ratings point. You gonna tell me this was a rational business decision?

SeattleSusieQ said...

Hunter wrote: Maybe the folks (Limbaugh) who are complaining the loudest are really the ones wanting censorship (of progressive radio)?


BINGO!!!!!!!!

Gonzo said...

Suze, show me concrete proof of an owner who has declined marketshare in favor of an ideology or otherwise STFU.

I've already said, and I'll repeat it, that I don't know why progressive radio fails. If one assumes a balance in the general populace it makes no sense.

As to a BIG LIE...nice caps. Bullshit, of course, highly partisan and jack-booted. Lenin and Stalin died a long time ago. Get a clue.

SeattleSusieQ said...

"Suze, show me concrete proof of an owner who has declined marketshare in favor of an ideology or otherwise STFU."

You STFU until you begin to READ what I write, a**hole! I just friggn' DID show you that! Did you not READ about the station that switched from progressive to regressive lose market share? How many times do I have to repeat the facts - progressive radio doesn't get a fair chance. Radio station owners are by and large conservative and don't want the opposite ideas from their own to be heard. Plain and simple.

Can you repeat that now? Maybe somehow it will sink in.

How about the station in Wisconsin that was going to switch a *profitable* progressive station to all sports - it would have been the 3rd sports format in that city. Fortunately, enough people made such a big stink about it, the format stayed. This was all over the news last year.

And remember, these owners have been GIVEN these airways with the promise they would air all sides and air programming in the local public interest. Since the repugs have goten in power the timing has changed (2-3 yrs re-up to 8-9) with no accountability. And local programming is non-existent in many cities.

Gonzo said...

I would respond in detail but, holy cow, there are black helicopters landing!

Seriously, you've taken some anecdotes about low-power, loser stations and made them bigger than deserved.

I don't believe your crap. And I daresay that most would not either. Post a link with a scintilla of truth or STFU. Bonus negative points for Kos or MM.