Nothing NEW in NEWstalk

[flybynight]

How appropriate that the only posts for over 2 months in the "newstalk" section are about somebody dying and somebody retiring.

What a sad reflection of the current state of today's newstalk format: Boring, predictable and nothing changing. This all in spite of tanking ratings at many outlets nationwide.

Blame it on the technology and the demos all you want, but the content has more to with it than many want to admit.

 

[umfan]

I don't think that can necessarily be inferred. Most of the radio news at the end of the year is the flipping of music stations to Christmas music and how they do. A lot of talk hosts take off a good chunk of time at the end of December. It just means not a lot has changed in the last few months.

 

[TheBigA]

What a sad reflection of the current state of today's newstalk format: Boring, predictable and nothing changing.

Some people like a certain amount of consistency. Change formats, and people get up in arms. And while news/talk ratings stink in some places, they're doing just fine in lots of big cities like Sacramento, Kansas City, and Portland.

It's hard to put all the blame on the format, when the other more overwhelming issue is the struggle for AM radio. Excitement in the format isn't going to reverse that trend.

 

[semoochie]

Some people like a certain amount of consistency. Change formats, and people get up in arms. And while news/talk ratings stink in some places, they're doing just fine in lots of big cities like Sacramento, Kansas City, and Portland.

It's hard to put all the blame on the format, when the other more overwhelming issue is the struggle for AM radio. Excitement in the format isn't going to reverse that trend.

I don't know about that. KXL's numbers seem to come mainly from time spent listening(apparently due to moving to FM), not unlike NPR. Of course, Lars Larson is a local show.

 

[flybynight]

I don't know about that. KXL's numbers seem to come mainly from time spent listening(apparently due to moving to FM), not unlike NPR. Of course, Lars Larson is a local show.

I get so confused between Lars Larson, Hugh Hewitt & Erik Erikson.

Was there research indicating conservative listeners desperately need repetition to remember names?

 

[boombox4]

I think is a lot of forum readers got burnt out on the invective thrown here by the haters of conservative talk radio, as well as those who tended to counter it -- sometimes with just as much invective.

Conservative talk radio is still going in my metro. No stations going off the air yet. Don't know about their ratings, haven't been tracking them. And as we all know the 6+ numbers that are readily available aren't the real numbers, anyway.

 

[flybynight]

I think is a lot of forum readers got burnt out on the invective thrown here by the haters of conservative talk radio, as well as those who tended to counter it -- sometimes with just as much invective.

How apropos, considering all the gratuitous invective thrown around BY conservative talkradio.

Conservative talk radio is still going in my metro. No stations going off the air yet. Don't know about their ratings, haven't been tracking them. And as we all know the 6+ numbers that are readily available aren't the real numbers, anyway.

Right, once you break those nice 6+ numbers down, what you find is that most newstalk stations are extremely top-heavy demographically and are waaaay out of the key money demos.

 

[TheBigA]

Right, once you break those nice 6+ numbers down, what you find is that most newstalk stations are extremely top-heavy demographically and are waaaay out of the key money demos.

That's also become a problem for NPR stations. So there's no reason to believe that changing the approach to the talk will lower the demos.

 

[CTListener]

That's also become a problem for NPR stations. So there's no reason to believe that changing the approach to the talk will lower the demos.

True. More than a generation has passed since FM stations running a musical format have had regular breaks for news. It's also been quite a while since television news has gone almost purely "info-tainment" and opinion, and newspapers among the under-55 crowd are about as relevant as AM. There is almost no desire in the money demos -- going strictly on age, that is -- for news at all, so radio has largely lost them. NPR/FM might draw a wealthier, more educated audience than conservative/AM or even liberal/AM, but I don't think that's pushing any commercial talkers to go more liberal and move to FM. NPR is entrenched with its audience, which is unlikely to leave for a liberal alternative with an 18-minute-an-hour spot load, except perhaps during NPR fund drives. Conservative talkers moving to FM would at least keep their existing audience, but they'd be unlikely to improve their performance in under-55, which, the statistics show, largely doesn't want to hear news, especially a sober, down-the-middle treatment of it, at all. Music is what those demos want on radio, lots of it, with as little gab as possible. Sports is the only talk format that many will even take a few minutes to listen to.

 

[boombox4]

How apropos, considering all the gratuitous invective thrown around BY conservative talkradio.
.

Not at all. Radio professionals and forum readers here should all be above that.

 

[boombox4]

True. More than a generation has passed since FM stations running a musical format have had regular breaks for news. It's also been quite a while since television news has gone almost purely "info-tainment" and opinion, and newspapers among the under-55 crowd are about as relevant as AM. There is almost no desire in the money demos -- going strictly on age, that is -- for news at all, so radio has largely lost them. NPR/FM might draw a wealthier, more educated audience than conservative/AM or even liberal/AM, but I don't think that's pushing any commercial talkers to go more liberal and move to FM. NPR is entrenched with its audience, which is unlikely to leave for a liberal alternative with an 18-minute-an-hour spot load, except perhaps during NPR fund drives. Conservative talkers moving to FM would at least keep their existing audience, but they'd be unlikely to improve their performance in under-55, which, the statistics show, largely doesn't want to hear news, especially a sober, down-the-middle treatment of it, at all. Music is what those demos want on radio, lots of it, with as little gab as possible. Sports is the only talk format that many will even take a few minutes to listen to.

It seems the stagnant economy and high unemployment amongst 50+ demos (according to the Bureau Of Labor Statistics) doesn't help the state of news or talk radio any. As their disposable income drops, their lack of importance increases, even though they constitute around 20% of the population.

I'm a bit disturbed by the infotainment emphasis in news on TV and many internet sites (Yahoo in particular, but I see it on a lot of newspaper sites as well). But that's what sells, apparently to the sales demos.

Here in my metro there's a very fine all news station, and I wonder how long it will last.

 

[flybynight]

I'm a bit disturbed by the infotainment emphasis in news on TV and many internet sites (Yahoo in particular, but I see it on a lot of newspaper sites as well). But that's what sells, apparently to the sales demos.

It's amazing the garbage that Yahoo tries to pass off as "news".

I'm not even sure which is more awful: Yahoo's idea of "news" or how poorly many of those articles are written. I'm no grammar expert, but holy cow, if there was ever a need for an editor, Yahoo needs one BADLY. Some of their contributors seem to have barely a 4th grade education.

 

[boombox4]

It's amazing the garbage that Yahoo tries to pass off as "news".

I'm not even sure which is more awful: Yahoo's idea of "news" or how poorly many of those articles are written. I'm no grammar expert, but holy cow, if there was ever a need for an editor, Yahoo needs one BADLY. Some of their contributors seem to have barely a 4th grade education.

I hear ya, Flybynight, they used to have real news from the AP but something changed a few years ago. Mediocrely written infotainment... no wonder they're struggling.

 

[wadio]

Just an observation in case nobody has noticed -- Donald Trump has completely changed the landscape of Conservative Talk Radio.

For the past couple of decades it's been said that almost all the conservative hosts pounded the same drumbeat based on the same RNC talking points, and that was a valid criticism.

But now, for example, Glenn Beck is beside himself trying to help get Trump defeated, Michael Savage is solidly pro-Trump, and in the case of Curtis and Kuby who are supposed to be on opposite sides of partisan politics -- neither is a Trump supporter.

So Donald Trump has had both a polarizing and a unifying effect on Conservative Talk Radio. I'd say that's something NEW in NEWstalk.

 

[umfan]

Excellent point, wadio. Rush and Hannity aren't marching in lockstep with the RNC either. Hannity won't indicate a preference, and while Rush likely leans to Cruz, he's for allowing the primary process to select the nominee without RNC interference. The Trump candidacy, really the unanticipated success of it, does seem to have created a shift in News/Talk.

There was a post along these lines last month (from me), but apparently the moderators deleted it. Hope this thread can continue.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

My read of Limbaugh is that he's furious with the RNC for parading Mitt Romney out for their #NeverTrump effort. I don't think he finds Trump to his taste, but he could get behind Trump if he is the nominee.

 

[flybynight]

Just an observation in case nobody has noticed -- Donald Trump has completely changed the landscape of Conservative Talk Radio.

Actually, Donald is late to the party in making talkradio a parallel universe of reality.

The real culprit was Sarah Palin. After she came on the scene, overflowing with lies, misinformation and idiocy, talkradio was never the same. And off conservative talkradio went into bizarro-world. You had to learn the far right tea party conspiracy theories along with actual facts in order to comprehend what was going on.

 

[wadio]

I get so confused between Lars Larson, Hugh Hewitt & Erik Erikson.

Was there research indicating conservative listeners desperately need repetition to remember names?

You make a good point. And there's no shortage of names like that. If I were going into talk radio I'd pick Steve Stevens, Al Albert, Paul Paulson, Fred Fredricks, Doug Douglas, Pete Peterson, Jeff Jeffries, John Johnson, Sam Samuels, Richard Richardson, Tom Thomas or Tommy Thomson.

 

[gr8oldies]

The Trump candidacy may well lead to a bit of a resurgence. The hosts and callers are definitely not in agreement. Add a contested/brokered convention, POed Trump supporters, POed establishment supporters, assorted anarchists, Communists and Black Lives Matter protesting, and there will be ratings as Cleveland burns.

My read of Limbaugh is that he's furious with the RNC for parading Mitt Romney out for their #NeverTrump effort. I don't think he finds Trump to his taste, but he could get behind Trump if he is the nominee.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

The Trump candidacy may well lead to a bit of a resurgence. The hosts and callers are definitely not in agreement. Add a contested/brokered convention, POed Trump supporters, POed establishment supporters, assorted anarchists, Communists and Black Lives Matter protesting, and there will be ratings as Cleveland burns.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/25/opini...n-trump-and-cruz-opinion-rosenwald/index.html

New article out showing how Talk Radio specifically is split in choosing between Trump or Cruz.