This election, the public decided to show The Decider exactly how much political capital he earned after the 2004 election (re: Bush's statement following the 2004 election).
Posted by at November 13, 2006 10:32 PMI always consider that the press is being kind (aka biased) when it comes to on polls and the GOP, and usually consider that it has a 4-point margin.
Bush has been polling in the high 20s for most of the last year. IMO.
Posted by The Other Alex at November 14, 2006 03:45 AMIf the Democrats are in the majority, why does Republican propaganda dominate the AM radio airwaves? For example, I live in the Kansas City area, which is solidly Democratic. In Kansas City, Kansas Republicans don't even bother to run for local office. When you go in to vote, there is only one name, the Democrat. Democrats have been gaining in the more affluent suburbs, too. But all of the talk radio is right wing propaganda: Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham. Alan Combs used to be on but was replaced by the neophyte right wing propagandist Rusty Humphries. I think some of you people on this website are political science or communications majors, so somebody please explain the mechanism whereby nonstop propaganda is spewed out to a public that is predominantly hostile to it.
Posted by howard hughes blues at November 14, 2006 04:37 AMThe voice of protest attracts attention. The most outrageous voices attract the most attention. The simple fact is that people tune in, whatever their reason to do so. If these blowhards didn't attract an audience...poof...they're gone. Also, the "Fairness Doctrine" aka equal time provision was eliminated under Reagan so there's no mandate to present both sides of an issue on the publics' airwaves.
Posted by matthew at November 14, 2006 05:02 AMI can't accept that people really enjoy listening to right wing hate radio. I understand there is no fairness doctrine anymore. But if they majority of the people vote Democratic how is it that 100%--I'm not exaggerating-- of the talk radio has the same basic message, which can be summarized thusly: Everything bad on the face of the Earth is invariably the fault of the Democrats, while all good things can be directly attributed the wonderful Republicans, whose asses you should constantly kiss if you're not a traitor.
Posted by howard hughes blues at November 14, 2006 05:57 AMPeople listen to right wing radio because they are insecure in their beliefs. They need someone in a position of "authority" agreeing with them to validate their beliefs. I think that's why Air America bombed - Democrats, progressives and liberals don't need the same validation to trust their own beliefs.
Posted by ann at November 14, 2006 06:10 AMI didn't say that those listening neccesarily enjoy what they're hearing. Let me cite an example: When Howard Stern listeners were polled by Arbitron (the rating service)the average time spent listening by those who liked him was significantly less that the time spent listening by those who hated him. They couldn't wait to hear what vile thing he would say next. In the final analysis, it's the number of listeners that attracts advertisers and keeps these kinds of performers on the air.
Posted by at November 14, 2006 06:12 AMann, I listen to Air America radio every day; I like most of the shows. And it didn't bomb, they're beating O'reilly and Rush in a whole lot of markets. They had some bad management from the beginning, which made it difficult to get ahead, but they aren't off the air and they're getting it fixed. As Franken says all the time, it took Fox several years to turn a profit, USA today the same.
Al Franken may be a middle of the road guy, but he consistently has amazing guests that highlight stuff the blogs don't report. Thom Hartman is scholarly, Steph Miller is hilarious, but there's something for everyone. It pisses me off to hear lefties whining about rightwing talk radio while at the same time ignoring that AAR is out there or even dissing it because it doesn't speak to exactly their position on issues. If AAR fails it's because the intended audience is turning up their noses at it.
Posted by iamcoyote at November 14, 2006 07:58 AMAir America didn't "bomb." They had bad management. Bankruptcy will probably be a godsend.
Ed Schulz, btw, is fuckin' destroying Hannity where they are head to head. And why not.
Posted by God Of War at November 14, 2006 08:19 AMThe reason talk radio is 100% right wing is that the corporate media is 100% Republican right wingers. The reason they broadcast in K.C., N.Y.C., San Francisco(!!!), etc. is that their interest is in propagandizing their Neo-Conservative "ideology". These people are not like you and me. They care more about power than they do about that infinite commodity, money. Another point: even in San Francisco, about 10% of the population is insane, moronic Neo-Con. If every one of that 10% listens ditto-ly, that’s a good market!
Posted by Rich at November 14, 2006 08:46 AMThe fact that right wing programming attracts an audience in significant numbers really does play a large part in keeping them it on the air. Let's not forget that there are also liberals who own media. If Limbaugh's numbers start to drop precipitously, it won't be too long before the owners who syndicate him will cast about for something different to air, no matter their political persuasion. Either they care about the bottom line (their shareholders do) or they don't stay owners too long.
Posted by at November 14, 2006 09:01 AMwhy does Republican propaganda dominate the AM radio airwaves?
The Telecommunications Act of 1996. From Wikipedia:
Most media ownership regulations were thrown out by the Act, and independents were bought up. The Act was claimed to foster competition, but instead it led to historic industry consolidation, reducing the number of major media companies from around 80 in 1986, to 5 in 2005.
Posted by phidipides at November 14, 2006 10:23 AMI would like to listen to Air America but I'm too cheap to get cable radio.
Posted by howard hughes blues at November 14, 2006 10:52 AMScott Nisker said on the old KSAN hip FM radio in San Francisco back in the late 1960s, "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own..." To paraphrase that for the 21st century, if you don't like listening to fascist-talk radio, try tuning in to Pacifica Radio, Air America or Mike Malloy, who is broadcasting on a new syndication called Nova or somesuch. Many of these broadcasts are available on Internet Radio or on Satellite Radio. Or just read progressive web sites such as thinkprogress, huffingtonpost or this theleftcoaster and play some ancient Bob Dylan or Joan Baez protest songs in the background. Or just hum your favorite tunes. Or enjoy some baroque classical music.
If you are really desperate, try setting up your own Internet Radio station and then you can listen to yourself ranting and raving: Humm, what a great voice and it sounds vaguely familiar...
Cheers.
howard, you can stream online from most of the local affiliates or from AAR websites.
james, great suggestions, though I'm not too fond of Mike Malloy, he gets a little heavy with the Nazi namecalling for my tastes, but a lot of folks like him a lot.
Posted by iamcoyote at November 14, 2006 12:16 PMthanks, I can't stream online with my webtv, I don't think. Someday I'll get satellite radio and/or an actual computer. Really, I wasn't complaining, just trying to understand the discrepancy between a Democrat majority in possible listeners and a Republican unaminity in talk shows. Many good suggestions on this thread for possible explanations. I will add another possible explanation: maybe advertisers perceive that Republicans, though in the minority, have most of the money, so they want to appeal to them to sell their crap.
Posted by howard hughes blues at November 14, 2006 02:05 PMAdvertising agencies are paid to get results. And their success in targeting their clients' market, is based in part on the ability to read results from the Arbitron company which sends 'diaries' somewhat randomly (in a scientific way) to listeners/viewers to fill out and return. Based on those statistics, the agencies place their clients' media purchases of time. The audience size estimate is broken out demographically : age and gender being primary. With those metrics in mind, an agency won't place an ad for their client who sells Cadillacs, on a station whose primary listeners are 18-24 years old.
Another way to sell ad time, when you aren't competetive at reaching a mass audience, is to program to a select demographic that isn't being served well elsewhere. Some stations also broker their air time: you pay them to put your program on their air and YOU sell the ad time to your fans. In any case, you're generally competing not just with other radio stations, but also with newspapers and to some extent cable tv for that all important ad dollar. Everybody has to eat, everybody has to buy clothing and everybody's dollar is worth pursuing, Democrat or Republican.
Posted by matthew at November 15, 2006 08:34 AM