Posted by
JimDRadio on Sunday, February 25, 2007 12:54:52 PM
Former Republican candidate for Ohio Governor Ken Blackwell raised some interesting - and dead on right-on-the-money - points about why liberals can't succeed in talk radio in his latest Townhall.com column, "Liberals Aren't Very Good At Talk Radio" ( http://townhall.com/Columnists/KenBlackwell/2007/02/20/liberals_aren%e2%80%99t_very_good_at_talk_radio ).
I was in the radio business for over 30 years in a variety of areas, ranging from announcer to program director, from news anchor to even broadcast school instructor and director. The bottom line is that anyone who works for any radio station, in any size market knows they have to understand that THE COMMERCIALS HAVE TO BE PLAYED! Oh, you can dress it up and sound righteous and all with statements like "serving the public", but it's everyone's responsibility no matter what job they have to make sure THE COMMERCIALS ARE AIRED. And that, friends, is all that really matters or your station is through. You can't "serve the public" if you can't pay the electric bill or the staff that works at the station to "serve the public". That takes advertising dollars to do that - which only comes from good ratings - which only happens if one's show is entertaining.
In this ridiculous argument about bringing back the Fairness Doctrine because of its good intentions to promote equality in the discussion of ideas in the political arena, one has to remember that first and foremost, a radio listener turns on the radio to be entertained. They have several choices in which to choose how they'll be entertained: music from various genres to suit one's personal tastes, sports (news and/or broadcast games), advice shows about money, relationships, and gardening, and the area that seems to draw the ire of the left - talk shows, and in particular, CONSERVATIVE talk shows.
Whether the left likes it or not (and they most assuredly don't), conservative talk shows - all opinions aside as to whether or not you like them - fit the entertainment niche that listeners demand. That demand leads to better and higher ratings which lead to more plentiful advertisers, which in some cases may lead to a successful syndication of that conservative talk show. If that happens, more radio stations nationwide pick up the show and that may lead to higher ratings for THOSE stations, and more advertising dollars come in, and so on. But being a conservative talk show host in and of itself is no guarantee of success. Not everyone who's tried has made it. If your show doesn't cut it, thank you very much for trying but see ya later!
We hear about the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys who have been enormously successful, but plenty have tried over the years and can't make it past the local market or worse yet, can't make it there either. It's the market that determines success in talk radio, not your exclusive views and opinions on politics. The market with all it's intricacies is ultimately determined by the listener, and the listener alone will decide if someone's worth listening to. It's an undeniable business truth, no different than why one furniture store or restaurant makes it and another doesn't. The customer decides if you're worth staying in business or not - if you don't have what he or she wants, they won't shop there.
Somehow, many in our society believe we're entitled to something we haven't earned. This is the prevailing attitude that the liberals are furthering in the Fairness Doctrine argument, although they would say they haven't had an equal voice. But they have - the market has told them they don't want to shop there, because they don't like the product that's advertised.
If liberals truly believe that the voice of the American people being heard lies at the heart and greatness of our democracy, then why won't they listen to the voices that reject them in talk radio? Seems to me they should be applauding this triumphant demonstration of freedom ... yet somehow I think that's been lost on them