For Conservative Radio, It’s a New Dawn, Too

[onehandle]

Source: New York Times

Amid all the pressures on the radio industry, news-talk stations see an opportunity — and his name is Barack Obama. After eight years of playing defense for President Bush, the conservatives who dominate talk radio are back on offense. Hours after Mr. Obama’s election, the country’s most popular radio host, Rush Limbaugh, was talking about the “rebirth of principled opposition.” Sean Hannity, the second highest-rated host, quickly cast his afternoon show as the home of “conservatism in exile.” It is a lively time to be behind the microphone. One television talker, Joe Scarborough, is starting a radio show. Another, Bill O’Reilly, is ending his.

Several of the supporting actors in this year’s Republican primary are showing interest in the medium, too. Fred Thompson, the “Law & Order” star turned presidential candidate, will begin hosting a two-hour show in March, as the syndicator Westwood One is expected to announce this week. Mr. Thompson’s show would take the place of Mr. O’Reilly’s.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and a Republican presidential candidate, had been in negotiations with Westwood One for Mr. O’Reilly’s time slot, according to two people with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because a deal was not struck. Mike Huckabee, the former Republican presidential candidate who now has a weekend program on the Fox News Channel, is trying radio as well, hosting short segments for ABC Radio beginning Jan. 5. While there are plenty of topics to talk about — and plenty of hosts willing to do the talking — nagging questions about the business remain. A sharp advertising downturn is limiting revenue for stations. And some hosts are worrying about the relevance of talk radio in a digital age.

But radio, at least for now, still acts as a national megaphone for influential voices. This year, news talk ranked as the most popular radio format in the United States, surpassing country music for the first time ever. Forty stations have added news talk in the last year, for a total of 2,064 that use the format, up from about 1,500 a decade ago, according to the trade publication M Street.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/business/media/22radio.html

[liberal N proud]

1. rebirth of principled opposition = ATTACK everything Obama

[FreakinDJ]

2. Can we say "Re-Regulation" children

Fuck them -

They have abused the priviledge of using the public air-waves. Time for massive re-regulation of our media

[truthisfreedom]

3. Like lemmings racing toward the end of a dark, cold, sealed alley...

with a garbage truck headed in.

[Botany]

4. And in Columbus, OH a right wing front group pays 1.5 million to buy ..

.... the license of a small radio station to shut it down so we have no
Steph Miller or Rachel Maddow instead we have our second all Catholic
talk station .... St. Gaberial Radio .... and no one will listen to it and it
will lose money too.

We are the majority and yet the air waves are filled w/ right wing crap
from coast to coast.

[deacon]

5. It shows you what they learned from the beating in November. Nothing. No new ideas

just continue the smear. They've learned nothing and this is just the opposited of what they need.

[eringer]

6. Thanks to Oprah, Hate Radio Lost "She" in 2008

The day after Kerry lost the election in 2003, Sean began his campaign against Hillary. He was so excited, calling her "she." The day that Obama was nominated was the day that "hate radio" took a fatal blow. Its no secret that Rush and Sean are powerless against him. This, when coupled with no more talking points from the White House (paid for by your tax dollars), effectively ended their organized campaigns of hate. Their voices are now wandering the airwaves trying desperately to hold an audience that, for the most part, has turned the dial.