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Talk Radio

A

alok

I have noticed that talk radio today ,more then in the past ... takes less calls from listeners and there is more in studio talk much of the time. Either the host talking on a subject for along time or more often the host going back and forth with one or two other people in the studio, trying to be funny with all occasionally laughing ,I wonder at what most of the time ?
What is going on ,are the callers that called into talk stations in the past just not there anymore ,so these people in the studio are filling time ?
Are is this a new thing for talk radio, if so, why ?


Al
 
alok said:
What is going on ,are the callers that called into talk stations in the past just not there anymore ,so these people in the studio are filling time ?
Are is this a new thing for talk radio, if so, why ?
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Is it new? No. Rush Limbaugh was among the first to stop taking calls and do the show solo. Why? I don't know, but it's starting to kill off the format.
 
TheBigA said:
Is it new? No. Rush Limbaugh was among the first to stop taking calls and do the show solo. Why? I don't know, but it's starting to kill off the format.
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Many stations started reducing the number of calls in the late 90's as cell phone callers increased. Some of us had screeners who would dismiss calls on bad quality cellular connections, but the use of mobile phones became so prevalent that many programmers instructed talent to take fewer and fewer calls.

And in that period, stations were moving from analog to digital systems, from the studio to the transmitter input. The codecs used in cellphones would often fight with the station's own internal digital codecs, and the result was very annoying.

I think a secondary causal effect is the PPM. Callers, with their habits of pausing, speaking slowly, etc., did not provide dense enough audio for the PPM encoder to do its job. Yet another reason to limit calls.
 
DavidEduardo said:
I think a secondary causal effect is the PPM. Callers, with their habits of pausing, speaking slowly, etc., did not provide dense enough audio for the PPM encoder to do its job. Yet another reason to limit calls.
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However, my view is the single host lecture approach has become boring, and is killing the format.

Millennials are collaborative. They like to be part of things. The lecture approach to talk radio isn't interesting to them.
 
Which talk shows are you referring too? I know that NPR's Fresh Air talk show does not take callers but Terry Gross does interviews with the guest though. Its one of the shows that don't take callers.

I do know that WAMU's 1a with Joshua Johnson does take some calls but they read tweets from the audience when it comes to questions directed at the guests Johnson has though.
I understand that KQED does the same too for KQED Forum where the host reads the tweets from fans over the audience questions directed at the guests. I don't think its new though.
 
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TheBigA said:
However, my view is the single host lecture approach has become boring, and is killing the format.

Millennials are collaborative. They like to be part of things. The lecture approach to talk radio isn't interesting to them.
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I don't think any conservative talk station is targeting Millennials anyway... with or without calls. The reaction to the "hot talk" attempts of the 90's are still fresh memories for many owners.
 
TheBigA said:
I'm sure you're right, but that's why I say this approach has the effect of killing the format.
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I was a big fan of KGO in the 80s, when I was in my 30s - but the whole thing just got too tiring for me. Callers can be annoying - they tend to pause, then repeat their viewpoints ad nauseum - even in the same words...they are not professional broadcasters, after all, and you're right - the "lecture" format gets boring fast. Plus, it seems like the hosts are just not as sharp as those from the 80s and 90s. These hosts - Owens, Eason, Gene Burns, Lee Rodgers, and a few others - somehow had more gravitas, and were more articulate that the current crop, IMO, with the exception of Gil Gross, and (I hate to say it) Rush Limbaugh. Love him or hate him, he is very articulate.
 
LKellerIII said:
I was a big fan of KGO in the 80s, when I was in my 30s - but the whole thing just got too tiring for me. Callers can be annoying - they tend to pause, then repeat their viewpoints ad nauseum - even in the same words...they are not professional broadcasters, after all, and you're right - the "lecture" format gets boring fast. Plus, it seems like the hosts are just not as sharp as those from the 80s and 90s. These hosts - Owens, Eason, Gene Burns, Lee Rodgers, and a few others - somehow had more gravitas, and were more articulate that the current crop, IMO, with the exception of Gil Gross, and (I hate to say it) Rush Limbaugh. Love him or hate him, he is very articulate.
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The main issue I have with modern day talk hosts (at least some of the more popular national ones) is they spend more time with their political bluster than interviewing people. In the last 1970's Larry King used to interview people as well as talk and take callers. To me that was the epitome of talk. Coast To Coast has carried on that format, but the daytime hosts usually shirk anything like an interview (Hannity has short form interviews from time to time, but it's always someone he completely agrees with, so that gets boring). There's very little give and take on these shows today.

I realise that times change, and the nature of talk is changing, but I still think there's something lost when it's just one guy yakking away.
 
TheBigA said:
Is it new? No. Rush Limbaugh was among the first to stop taking calls and do the show solo. Why? I don't know, but it's starting to kill off the format.
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Totally agree. Who wants to listen to some pompous windbag for hours on end. Differing opinions make for good radio (and TV).
 
DavidEduardo said:
I think a secondary causal effect is the PPM. Callers, with their habits of pausing, speaking slowly, etc., did not provide dense enough audio for the PPM encoder to do its job. Yet another reason to limit calls.
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This is actually funny when you think about it. Taking calls makes for worse ratings (in a technical sense). :)
 
stewie said:
Totally agree. Who wants to listen to some pompous windbag for hours on end. Differing opinions make for good radio (and TV).
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But in these polarized, politics-as-blood-sport times, you drive off your core listeners by even hinting that the other side might have a valid point. Most talk listeners today aren't tuning in to hear all sides of an issue. They're tuning in to hear that what they think is right and what people who don't agree with them think is wrong, or even dangerous, treasonous or demented. Airing a phone call from someone who disagrees with the host -- even if only to have the host ridicule or hang up on the caller -- introduces an element into the proceedings that the host's fans just don't want to hear.
 
CTListener said:
But in these polarized, politics-as-blood-sport times, you drive off your core listeners by even hinting that the other side might have a valid point. Most talk listeners today aren't tuning in to hear all sides of an issue. They're tuning in to hear that what they think is right and what people who don't agree with them think is wrong, or even dangerous, treasonous or demented. Airing a phone call from someone who disagrees with the host -- even if only to have the host ridicule or hang up on the caller -- introduces an element into the proceedings that the host's fans just don't want to hear.
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In the current climate you may be right, but that's too bad. Hosts like Ronn Owens made a successful career out of being a moderate - conservative on some issues, liberal on others. IIRC, back in the day, his ratings were generally higher in mid-morning that Rushbo on KNBR, and later KSFO.
 
I recall a couple of years ago Michael Savage said he would begin to take more calls. I haven't had a Savage affiliate locally in ages, and haven't sought him out. Any idea how that's going?
 
LKellerIII said:
In the current climate you may be right, but that's too bad. Hosts like Ronn Owens made a successful career out of being a moderate - conservative on some issues, liberal on others. IIRC, back in the day, his ratings were generally higher in mid-morning that Rushbo on KNBR, and later KSFO.
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And in 2017 Michael Krasney of KQED Forum has taken the number 1 spot for talk radio in San Francisco. Talk radio isn't dead it just happen to have audiences choosing and donating to stations like KQED-FM and WAMU-FM. I think the studio interviews and the feeling that the host isn't a puppet of a politician is a certain factor here. Also Joshua Johnson the former fill in host for Forum and Newsroom who is the current host of WAMU's 1a has a show that's setup similar to Forum in Washington D.C.
 
RadioPatrol said:
And in 2017 Michael Krasney of KQED Forum has taken the number 1 spot for talk radio in San Francisco. Talk radio isn't dead it just happen to have audiences choosing and donating to stations like KQED-FM and WAMU-FM. I think the studio interviews and the feeling that the host isn't a puppet of a politician is a certain factor here. Also Joshua Johnson the former fill in host for Forum and Newsroom who is the current host of WAMU's 1a has a show that's setup similar to Forum in Washington D.C.
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Krasny takes a fair amount of callers, some of whom hear the show over the internet and call in from all over the country. At the risk of sounding like an elitist, the callers seem to be more highly educated and articulate than the typical callers to local and syndicated talk shows.
 
LKellerIII said:
Krasny takes a fair amount of callers, some of whom hear the show over the internet and call in from all over the country. At the risk of sounding like an elitist, the callers seem to be more highly educated and articulate than the typical callers to local and syndicated talk shows.
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Michael Krasny and Joshua Johnson are the current wave of talk show hosts have gravitas compared to KGO Radio today.
 
RadioPatrol said:
Michael Krasny and Joshua Johnson are the current wave of talk show hosts have gravitas compared to KGO Radio today.
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If you recall, Michael Krasny was the 9:00 - Midnight host at KGO...I want to say in the 80s, and into the 90s. Though he was perfectly capable of doing the typical political talk, and even getting snarky with callers on occasion, he was generally non-confrontational, and would also have on literary guests, historians, and others of a more intellectual ilk - and tackle other issues not normally heard on talk radio. I can't recall if he quit, or was fired first, but I do recall he was replaced by Bernie Ward, who, of course, had a much more in-your-face confrontational type of show.

I guess it worked out more than OK for Krasny.
 
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