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Most talk radio of the past seemed to be in the middle of the night. I remember local talk in the morning but nothing national. It may be because I worked at night then and listened to Williams and King.
The show was more than just an opportunity for the star to run his mouth and attack those who disagree with him.
That's pretty accurate, although I wouldn't have put it that way.
By making the show about him, and giving his audience ample time to hear his views, the listener knows what he is getting before he tunes in. In a conversation program, like what you've described you heard a lot back in the day, the quality of the programming depends a lot on the quality of the callers, not necessarily on the host.
Limbaugh figured to make talk radio more about the host instead of unpaid callers being motivated to call in and carry the program, thinking that makes for a more consistent program and more loyal listeners.
Those who wonder at the success of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh have to consider this broadcast marketing reality that was also discovered for broadcasters like Howard Stern (as documented in Stern's autobiographical book and movie "Private Parts"):
Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes.
Producer: How can that be?
Researcher: Answer most commonly given? "I want to see what he'll say next."
Producer: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?
Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.
Producer: But... if they hate him, why do they listen?
Researcher: Most common answer? "I want to see what he'll say next."
Those who wonder at the success of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh have to consider this broadcast marketing reality that was also discovered for broadcasters like Howard Stern (as documented in Stern's autobiographical book and movie "Private Parts"):
Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes.
Producer: How can that be?
Researcher: Answer most commonly given? "I want to see what he'll say next."
Producer: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?
Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.
Producer: But... if they hate him, why do they listen?
Researcher: Most common answer? "I want to see what he'll say next."
That's a good point.
It reminds me of newspapers (which of course are online) that have comment sections. There's always plenty of comments criticizing the paper. In the end it doesn't matter, because they're reading it. That's what advertisers care about. A numbers game.
Those who wonder at the success of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh have to consider this broadcast marketing reality that was also discovered for broadcasters like Howard Stern (as documented in Stern's autobiographical book and movie "Private Parts"):
Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes. Producer: How can that be? Researcher: Answer most commonly given? "I want to see what he'll say next." Producer: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern? Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day. Producer: But... if they hate him, why do they listen? Researcher: Most common answer? "I want to see what he'll say next."
Pro wrestling knew that from the beginning.
Fans will hate the " bad guy " so much they tune in hoping tonight he takes a beating.
My mother was the one who started me on talk radio.
The radio was always on in my house. My mother would even sleep with a radio.
At this time being all of five years old I began to sneak a radio into bed with me as well.
I was eventually caught and knowing my emerging obsession with radio she allowed me to have the radio on for an hour while in bed.
I would tune into baseball games,news, weather,classical music, whatever was on.
When I turned 10 I received an all transistor Zenith Transoceanic multi band radio.
There I began my exploration of the shortwave bands listening to stations like Radio Moscow English service, Radio Prague, Radio Australia and Japan just to name a few.
in the latter seventies while living on the front range of Colorado I began listening to AM talk radio on KOA radio 850 in Denver. There talk show host Allen Berg would rattle the cages of many people with his brash style. He was murdered on June 18th 1984 by members of ""the Order "" a neo Nazi organization.
During the mid eighties I listened to Larry King who was also a very provocative radio host who angered many prior to his television debut that toned down his style.
Limbaugh came around in 1988 in limited markets and grew from that point.
During the early nineties to the mid 2000's I was an Art bell fanatic and would listen to his show Coast To Coast AM. Once he left the helm in 2005 George Noorey took over and it was never the same since.
I still sleep with a radio and at night I'll tune into Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis then on occasion I'll tune into Coast To Coast.
I love radio and I always will. Thanks Mom!!!
Larry King was a radio talk show host from 1978-1985.
He was with Mutual Broadcasting and his show was " coast to coast" with over 500 radio stations carrying it.
What was talk radio like in the days before Rush Limbaugh ?? Of course I can remember TalkNet ( Bruce Williams and others ) and Larry King however this afternoon I was reading elsewhere online that talk radio had been around as far back as the 1940s. Were the hosts more friendly towards the callers even if the caller had disagreed with the host ?? Less wacky callers ?? Was it the same then as it is now ??
The talk shows that I remember listening to back in the day ( talking early 80s ) it seemed they were usually always "open phones" meaning any topic was discussed during the broadcast such as the Charlie Donovan show on Baltimore's WFBR-AM 1300. One caller would talk about President Reagan while the very next caller would be discussing problems with their sex life. I can also remember listening to Boston's WBZ-AM 1030 and their late night talk shows back in those days and for some reason I seem to recall a lot more pop culture was discussed than current social issues especially on the weekends.
Most of it was calmer, not as nasty, but still Right Wing, for the most part.
I remember Bob Grant from the 70s. He was pretty rude and hung up on a lot of callers.
KFI in Los Angeles had to morph from a music to talk station, and for years presented both right and left points of view. Tom Leykis had a talk show in the afternoon, but listners in SoCal tired of a daily hour on abortion. As KFI grew to understand the audience, they drifted to a right-leaning format, with a local emphasis. They used to have Rush on in the AM, but switched him to an affiliated station and added a local host to KFI.
That need for talk over music had to have been a factor in the rise of Rush as AM stations looked for content, which is why it appears that Rush was the beginning of the talk format.
I am a big time KFI listener. Love listening to Bill Handel in the Morning and on Saturdays he has his Handel in the Law segment where people can call in about legal issues. That show is about as funny a show on talk radio. Most of the people are very entertaining as is Bill. The success that Bill Handel has had allowed him to take over the Rush time slot, right after Handel and the news that starts at 6AM I think. I still listen to Rush but seem to switch back to Bill.
I used to listen to Imus in the Morning when I was back in the NY area. He was the first Shock Jock in the NY area but when Stern came along he captured all the teenage listeners when he started saying Penis and Vagina on a regular basis. Nobody interviews more porn stars and low lifes than he does. Stern was right when he said he was the "King of all media". now everybody in the country knows Stern.
I remember Bob Grant, typical conservative wacko and racist.
I listened to Rush a couple of times until I realized he couldn't possibly believe all the nonsense he was spewing out but his listners certainly do.
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