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Hate-Radio Hurting

Posted August 13, 2009 by Patrick Young, Esq.

If talk radio seems to be even crazier than usual, it may be because ad revenue is down. Revenue drops of 30-40% have pushed right-wing talkers towards ever more extremist claims to pull in the very thin segment of the American public that listens to these shows.
Michael Medved recently told NewMajority that: “In this [economic] environment, you have something of a push to be outrageous, to be on the fringe, because what you’re desperately competing for is… P-1 listeners [those who tune in most frequently]. The percentage of people on the fringe who are P-1s is quite high,” he explained. As a result, talk radio hosts are feeling more pressure than usual to yell harder, scream louder, and insult further. Talk shows “are fighting for an ever- smaller pie, [which means that] you’ve got to be even louder about it because you’re trying to get the attention of an ever-smaller niche.”
In other words, the most valued listener is not you or I. We tune in to radio on our drive to work, or perhaps while doing our chores around the house. The optimal listener is the person who has the time, and lack of other pursuits, to sit by the radio for hours absorbing the political, and advertising, messages being transmitted by Rush, et al.
The crazier the conspiracy theory being spun by the talker, the more likely the listener is to stay tuned through commercials. Who is going to switch stations when the fate of the Republic hangs on the “shocking truth” the hate-talker is going to reveal after this break?
Conspiracy theories sell soap!

Tags : hate, radio

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