This is very cool. It’s the kind of thing that makes all the hours we put into IHTM seem worthwhile.
This is very cool. It’s the kind of thing that makes all the hours we put into IHTM seem worthwhile.
KFI/Los Angeles is a talk radio powerhouse. It features the insane Bill Handel in the morning, Rush Limbaugh mid-day, the hilarious John & Ken in the afternoon, and Tim Conway Jr, our choice for America’s #1 Local Talk Show Host, in the evening.
On top of that KFI is what Rush Limbaugh calls “a flamethrower”. That is, it blasts out 50,000 watts of talk radio power all up and down the west coast. It’s been kicking ass in Los Angeles for about 20 years. And last time we checked KFI had the largest audience of any talk station in the nation.
OK, enough background. Let’s get to the meat of this story:
John & Ken are on vacation. Tim Conway was supposed to fill in on their afternoon show but came down sick on Friday. KFI’s program director, Robin Bertolucci, came up with the brilliant idea of having two guys from Northern California fill in for Tim.
Those two guys just happened to be Armstrong & Getty, who came in #2 on our list of America’s Top Ten Local Talk Show Hosts.
A&G decided to talk about IHateTheMedia.com. How cool is that?
[audio: armstrong-getty-shout-out.mp3]
Marshall McLuhan said, “In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” Since this bit was only 1:44, we figure somebody still owes us another 13:16 coming.
To tell the truth, Doug is so damn good that it just plain makes sense that he’s on in a lot more than 26 markets.
When we featured Doug McIntyre’s Red Eye Radio show on our list of American’s Top Ten Local Talk Show Hosts, we said it was carried in 26 mostly dinky towns across the country.
We screwed up. Doug McIntyre is on the air in 75 big markets, not 26 small markets.
We said, “Doug is nationally syndicated, but we bent the rules a little to include him on this list … he’s only in 26 markets and once you get past New York and Los Angeles you haven’t heard of most of them (places like Searcy, Arkansas, Show Lo, Arizona and Wahpeton, North Dakota).”
Doug sent an email to say, “We are actually on over 75 radio stations, including big markets like Boston, Houston, Detroit, Pittsburg, Portland, Miami, Orlando, Tampa Bay, San Antonio, Austin, Birmingham and on and on. Soon to start in San Diego.”
In our defense, well, we really have no defense except to say this is exactly the kind of slipshod journalism regular readers have come to expect from IHateTheMedia.com.
But to tell the truth, Doug is so damn good that it just plain makes sense that he’s on in a lot more than 26 markets.
If you missed this story, go back and listen to the hour of sweet, Red Eye goodness that was included.
Conway’s quirky, funnier than hell, unafraid to take an unpopular position, and the creator of What the Hell Did Jesse Jackson Say? That alone is enough to make us love him.
Tim Conway, Jr
KFI/Los Angeles
Monday-Friday 7-10 pm
If Tim Conway, Jr worked on any station in the world except KFI/Los Angeles, he’d be a household name. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as the case may be), he works on the number one talk station in the country, KFI/Los Angeles, a station packed with so much talent that he finds himself relegated to 7-10 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Conway’s quirky, funnier than hell, unafraid to take an unpopular position, and the creator of What the Hell Did Jesse Jackson Say? That alone is enough to make us love him.
And, yes, his father is that Tim Conway.
Here’s Conway riffing on Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters and The View:
[audio:conway-show-whoopi-the-view.mp3]
And here he is playing the hilarious game What The Hell Did Jesse Jackson Say?
[audio:conway-show-jesse-jackson.mp3]
Listen to Tim’s show live from 7-10 pm PDT or catch his podcasts any damn time you want.
We’d never heard of the Tampa Bay duo and then one day a big name east coast talk radio program director suggested that we should include them on our list.
Jack and Tedd
970 WFLA/Tampa Bay
Monday-Friday 5-9 am EDT
We asked Mandy to describe her show and she said, “My show is a snarky commentary on politics with healthy doses of Real Housewives of Anywhere updates.”
Doug McIntyre called his show Red Eye Radio long before Greg Gutfeld created his Red Eye TV show for Fox News. In fact, Gutfeld should probably pay McIntyre residuals for use of the name.
Doug McIntyre
KABC/Los Angeles (and 25 other stations around the country)
Monday–Friday Midnight–3 am
In addition to being a great morning man, Jamie Allman’s a real newsman, a guy who’s won 14 Emmys and multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards as a TV investigative and political reporter.
Jamie Allman
KFTK 97.1 FM Talk/St Louis
Monday–Friday 5 – 9 am
Our countdown to #1 continues today with the #9 pick.
Coming Monday: IHateTheMedia.com rates America’s top ten local talk show hosts – people you’d love to listen to, but can’t hear in your town.
Coming Monday: IHateTheMedia.com rates America’s top ten local talk show hosts – people you’d love to listen to, but can’t hear in your town. We’ll start with #10 and count ’em down to #1 each Monday to Friday for the next two weeks.
You can’t get away from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck if you wanted to. They’re everywhere. Rush has 600+ stations, Hannity has more than 500 and Beck is over 400.
But what about other great talent? Terrific local and regional broadcasters who aren’t on the air where you live. The up-and-comers who have the potential to be step into Rush’s, Sean’s and Glenn’s shoes someday.
We asked talk radio program directors and talk show hosts around the country to name their favorite hosts. The criteria were simple: Hosts who aren’t nationally syndicated, who are currently big fish in smaller markets or large market hosts who are ready to break through nationally.
Oh, one other rule. We wanted hosts who didn’t just parrot Rush. We wanted unique, creative personalities that shine through on the air, who are a little quirky, people who made you sit up and take notice.
The result is our great collection of great local and regional talk show talent from around the country.
Former Air America host Rachel Maddow. Or current Air America host Ron Regan, Jr. We're not sure which.
Air America breathlessly announced yet another corporate restructuring this week.
It’s starting its own network sales division, which will pitch all the company’s radio, video and online content directly to ad agencies instead of depending on third party rep Westwood One for ad sales.
“Agencies are sophisticated in their planning and their creative approach in making strategies for their clients, which will hopefully become our clients,” said Air America Media CEO Bennett Zier. “Because Air America is a particular type of company, and a left of center company, there are certain companies that want to advertise with us, and we want to be able to facilitate that and work with them more directly.”
“Air America is turning into a multimedia company,” Zier said. “And we are looking to attract listeners, viewers and readers with the radio and airamerica.com.”
The good news is that Air America’s management has finally discovered capitalism. The bad news is that it probably won’t trickle down to the air talent.
The U.K. today announced the names if sixteen people banned from entering the the country. These are people that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said these are the sorts of nasty people that “Britain was not prepared to tolerate.” Among those named is America’s third most popular political radio talk show host Michael Savage, a personal favorite of the Administrator here (and boy is he pissed).
Isn’t Britain where Imams stand in the streets shouting Death to Jews?
Conservative talk show host Shannon Burke definitely has a face made for radio.
Conservative Florida radio personality Shannon Burke has been charged with shooting his wife and dog. Are we the only ones who think this sounds like a bad country and western song?
Burke, who hosts a mid-day show on Florida’s RealRadio 104.1, describes his show as “mixture of outrageous daily, biker attitude and personality, and right-wing style rants.”
Burke’s version of the story is that he got mad at his dog, grabbed a handgun and threatened to shoot it. When the gun “accidentally” discharged, the bullet went through the dog’s leg and then grazed the side of his wife head.
He’s been charged with two counts — aggravated battery with a weapon and animal cruelty. Bond was set at $10,000 and he was ordered to wear an ankle bracelet monitor.
Catherine Burke and the dog were treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Consider this proof that talk show hosts should limit themselves to shooting off their mouths.
We apologize in advance for using the words “brilliant” and “Los Angeles Times” in the same sentence. However, there’s a brilliant op-ed piece by Andrew Klavan in last Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.
If you are reading this newspaper, the likelihood is that you agree with the Obama administration’s recent attacks on conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh. That’s the likelihood; here’s the certainty: You’ve never listened to Rush Limbaugh.
Oh no, you haven’t. Whenever I interrupt a liberal’s anti-Limbaugh rant to point out that the ranter has never actually listened to the man, he always says the same thing: “I’ve heard him!”
On further questioning, it always turns out that by “heard him,” he means he’s heard the selected excerpts spoon-fed him by the distortion-mongers of the mainstream media. These excerpts are specifically designed to accomplish one thing: to make sure you never actually listen to Limbaugh’s show, never actually give him a fair chance to speak his piece to you directly.
Klavan concluded:
The mainstream media (a.k.a. the Matrix) don’t want you to listen to Limbaugh because they’re afraid he’ll wake you up and set you free of their worldview. You don’t want to listen to him because you’re afraid of the same thing.
Don’t believe me? Well, then, gird your loins. Gather your courage. Accept the Limbaugh Challenge. See what happens.
I dare you.
Today, Rush Limbaugh. Tomorrow, Fox News. You never know where this could end up.
Conservative talk radio is toasting with champagne, but lib talk radio is just plain toast. The more President Obama and the Democrats talk about talk radio titan Rush Limbaugh, the higher his ratings go. And he’s taking all conservative talk radio along for a very exciting ride.
Radio insiders expected the ratings to show growth with a Democrat in the White House. But the actual numbers are exploding far beyond anyone’s expectations.
Brian Maloney’s Radio Equalizer is a great site if you’re interested in an insider’s view of talk radio. Here’s how he reports the most recent results in the nation’s top markets:
In New York City, WABC has experienced huge gains during Rush’s noon- 3pm timeslot: from 4.6 to 6.7 overall (12 and older) share, good for first place overall in the nation’s largest market. Rush’s Big Apple listenership is now estimated at 693,000.
In the second-largest market, Los Angeles, KFI-AM has surged into the number one position (all listeners 12 and older) from 9am to noon, with 618,000 listeners, a 4.6 to 6.0 audience share increase over three months and an even bigger males 35-64 (4.6 to 6.3) move, to take first place there as well.
Chicago, saw another huge move, with Rush affiliate WLS also taking first place during his timeslot (12 and older), from 5.2 share to 6.9 and a total local listenership of 396,700 in the third-largest market.
KSFO / San Francisco saw similar results, despite the extreme-left bent of the Bay Area: 4.7 to 6.0 share, now ranking second overall and with men aged 35-64. Total audience: 346,000.
In Dallas – Fort Worth, 4.8 to 6.4 men 35-64 and fourth overall (12+), 3.5 to 4.5. Cumulative audience: 250,000.
Houston’s results were truly blockbuster: 6.0 to 9.8 overall, ranking number one with a bullet and audience of 382,300. Men 35-64: number one again, from 8.6 to 12.2 over three months. Adults 25-54: first place, 4.6 to 8.7. Women 25-54: 3.7 to 8.3 again good for a top ranking.
DC’s WMAL also saw Rush-related growth: 4.1 to 6.7, good for third overall and an audience of 155,300. Men 35-64: number one with a staggering 6.4 to 13.4 move.
In Atlanta, Rush has helped WGST fend off an enormous competitor, WSB-AM, with a similar 4.0 to 6.2 upward move, good for fifth place overall and a total audience of 473,500. The results are better in the male 35-64 demographic, surging from 5.5 to 8.0 share.
Bucking Detroit’s recent Democratic voting trend, Rush’s performance on WJR-AM has been more significant than ever, moving into first place with a 5.8 to 9.6 jump. Men 35-64: number one and 11.6 share. Total audience: 253,000.
Hey, turn down that conservative talk radio show for a second. Hear that dull thud? That’s the sound of lib talk radio hosts pounding their heads against the wall.
Former trash TV host and current presidential coin conman Montel Williams is joining Air America. He has the perfect resume for floundering libtalk network – no radio experience.
“Montel Across America” debuts in April. Here’s how Air America describes this momentous occasion in a press release:
“Meet Air America’s newest addition, Emmy award-winning host Montel Williams! His new Air America program is called ‘Montel Across America,’ and it debuts April 6 airing weekdays from 9am-12pm EST on radio stations across the country.”
“On radio stations?” Most press releases include the number of radio stations. Like “Dennis Miller will debut in 73 markets.” Or “Rush Limbaugh is heard on 600 radio stations.” But Air America really doesn’t want to get into that sort of thing because they have so few affiliates.
So let’s just leave it at “…debuts April 6 from 9am-12pm EST on radio stations….”
“Next up on Air America, Rikki Lake asks teenage girls, ‘Who’s your baby daddy?”
The bad news is that newspapers are dying and comic strips are fading into history. The good news is that the Huffington Post is guaranteed to make you laugh every day.
For example, here’s how New Age guru Deepak Chopra opened his article about Rush Limbaugh yesterday.
“When Michael Steele, the hapless chairman of the Republican Party, lost his bearings and called Rush Limbaugh’s style ugly and incendiary, everyone knew it was the truth,” the subcontinental sahib said. “But it was a perfect example of an inconvenient truth. The right wing has long used ugly, incendiary speech the way baseball players use steroids: to artificially pump themselves up. Limbaugh has taken to saying that he wants Obama’s policies to fail because they spell the end of an America based on personal freedom. This isn’t just a grotesque exaggeration; it disguises the very thing the right wing has been doing when it curtailed civil liberties in the name of national security.”
Calm down. Take a deep breath. The left wing loonies always say things like this. Problem is, they can’t come up with a single example of “curtailed civil liberties” that supposedly occurred during the Bush years.
Now, let’s move on to Chopra. As your grandmother always used to say, just consider the source. This guy’s made a fortune by writing fifty books about New Age nonsense.
Hey, maybe that could be the name of his next book.
“New Age Nonsense from best-selling author Deepak Chopra. Coming soon to a Barnes & Noble near you. Don’t miss this insightful exploration of mind, body, and how to pick a reader’s pocket for $21.95.”
Hey, Deepak! Don’t forget to mention us in the forward.
