Category: Opinions
Talk Radio: America’s Last Best Hope Out of this Mess
By Phil Boyce
Senior VP of Spoken Word
Salem Radio Network
NEW YORK — We all know it. We are in a mess in America. The battle lines are drawn, and if this isn’t a civil war without bullets, I am not sure what one would look like. One side wants to crush the other. Each side believes the other side wants to destroy America. The left vision for what America can be is drastically different than what the right sees and desires. Gone are the pretenses of fairness. This is a mess.
Broadcasting’s Free Speech Responsibility
By Ron Hartenbaum
WYD Media Management
Crossover Media Group Sales
President
NEW YORK — It is unfortunate that during these worst of times that we are all living through, we need to stop and spend time reviewing broadcasting’s free speech responsibility.
This week’s urgent need to review is based on Joe diGenova advocating violence against a former government official while a guest on “The Howie Carr Show.”
Nine Rules I Learned from Limbaugh
By Scott Ryfun
WGIG-AM
Talk Show Host
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — It was the summer of 1991. I’d completed three years of college and was, to be completely honest, totally beaten down. When I first arrived at FSU in Tallahassee, I was a proud, independent conservative young man. But a relentless, 24/7 assault on my values had begun to take its toll. My first day in philosophy class, the professor showed us how to write formulas using logical notation. The formula he wrote? “Proof that there is no God,” he told us. I would go to bookstores and look for conservative reading material, but could find very few conservative books and maybe the occasional copy of National Review. I was dating a girl who was a radical leftist and we agreed that we wouldn’t discuss politics because it never ended well. Of course, the ban on political talk didn’t apply to her friends, who would continually try to insult and degrade me over my beliefs. Honoring our agreement meant I was unable to respond.
My Cousin Brucie Problem
By Walter Sterling
Talk Show Host
NEW YORK — Cousin Bruce Morrow started on WABC from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm this past Saturday. He will be on every Saturday. It puts a sugar coating on the station, a brilliant decision by Chad Lopez, Dave LaBrozzi and owner John Catsimatidis. As you know, Bruce Morrow’s on-air energy and connection to the audience is unrivaled in American radio. On the WABC schedule my local, live just-for-WABC show comes on at 9:00 pm, after Bruce. How do I come on after Bruce?
Convention Coverage Unlike Any in History
By Tom Tradup
Salem Radio Network
V.P. News/Talk Programming
DALLAS — R.I.P. American political conventions. You had a good run, but now you’re toast.
2020 has presented talk radio with many challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic — which has personally impacted many in our industry including the amazing infection-through-recovery story of John McConnell. We’ve also been asked to cover nationwide riots — oops, I mean “peaceful protests”— following the senseless killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, the contraction of the radio industry including layoffs and pay cuts, and operating day to day with masks and social distancing.
KID-AM Owner Explains Morning Show’s Departure
Editor’s Note: This piece follows up on TALKERS’ April 20 report on the exit of KID-AM, Idaho Falls morning team Neal Larson and Julie Mason. In it, station owner Richard Mecham explains what happened leading up to their resignations. He presents the email he sent to the duo.
By Richard Mecham
President
Rich Broadcasting
SALT LAKE CITY — I spent a lot of time monitoring KID-AM the week of April 13 from my office in Salt Lake City. While listening to the station I heard the following comments:
The Nitty Gritty of Online Radio Listening
By Phil Valentine
Talk Show Host
WWTN-FM
NASHVILLE — The talk radio world has been holding its collective breath as March numbers come in. I had to talk several colleagues off the ledge who thought ratings were going to take a nose dive. After all, they said, nobody’s in their cars. They’re all at home. Drive time, especially, is going to take a beating, I was told.
I had to explain that ratings come from the universe of people who are listening to the radio, not the population at large. Even if that universe is smaller, talk radio’s numbers should be higher, not lower. If you’re listening to the radio these days, odds are you’re listening for information and perspective. That’s where talk radio shines.
Gen Z Is Excited About Radio
By Chad Whittle
Lecturer
Georgia College
MILLEDGEVILLE, GA — I wanted to share some great news with all of you in the radio business: Generation Z is excited about radio! The articles stating the demise of radio is just around the corner are all greatly exaggerated.
This semester, I have had the honor and privilege of getting to teach a course on radio broadcasting to students ranging from freshmen to sophomores. In this course, multiple students are excited about learning more about the radio industry. I know because they told me last semester they were interested and eager to take the class.
Fatherly Advice from Bob Lonsberry
By Bob Lonsberry
Talk Show Host
ROCHESTER, NY — My son signs on today.
His own radio program.
A talk show. In Salt Lake City.
And on his first day, he will have a bigger audience and a bigger paycheck than I have ever had.
And yet, it is the nature of the elder to lecture the younger, to tell them how the world was in hope that it relates to how the world will be.
Siegel: Talk Radio Can Impact Regime Change in Iran
By Mike Siegel
Talk Show Host
Genesis Communications Network
SEATTLE — There is great disagreement and even hostility among differing political factions in America.
One thing we can all agree on is our opposition to the murderous and barbaric regime in Iran which has killed 120,000 of its own citizens since taking over in 1979 and caused violent conflict throughout the Middle East in Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in its attempts to take control of the entire Middle East under tyrannical and autocratic religious rule.
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