Axe falls on WRKO news Dept.

[Donna Halper]

>Steve wrote--
>I'm wondering if your last point might not be a key reason why 
>liberal talk has generally not done well....by the time liberal talk 
>got started, the whole talk radio phenomenon had peaked....listeners 
>were getting weary of one-sided rants, and politics in 
>general.  Even Rush isn't getting the numbers he once did.  And when 
>AAR debuted with more of the same only with a different ideology it 
>was the wrong product at the wrong time.

I am not sure that answers the question entirely-- although it is 
true that so-called liberal radio has indeed been perceived by some 
as just the left-wing version of what the righties were doing for 
years.  But if talk radio has peaked, how come certain hosts are 
still doing well?  And if people hate rants, how do we explain the 
king  of all ranters, Michael Savage, who still gets good numbers in 
all too many cities?  Rush is not getting the numbers he once did 
partly because his act is no longer unique (as it once was) and there 
are so many Limbaugh-wanna-be's competing against him.  But leftie 
talk hosts, after a slow start, are finally learning how to do the 
format.  Those who are entertaining and who know how to do RADIO 
(Schultz and Miller especially, and the Young Turks in some cities) 
are getting better numbers than those who are just ranters.