Wingnut Radio Ratings Drop

John Avalon notes the drop in ratings of right-wing radio shows with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck in The Daily Beast.

“There are a lot of program directors whose radio ‘spider-sense’ is tingling,” says Randall Bloomquist, a long-time radio executive and president of Talk Frontier Media. “They're thinking ‘this conservative thing is kind of running its course. We're saying the same things from morning 'til night and yes, we've got a very loyal core audience—but if we ever want to grow, if we want to expand, we've got to be doing more than 18 hours a day of ‘Obama is a socialist.’”

Be Different. Be Better. Be Yourself. These are good rules for media as well as for life. The cookie-cutter predictability of hyper-partisan talk radio talking points is provoking a backlash. They are failing to skate to where the puck is going: the millennial generation rejects hyper-partisanship in favor of news they can use—independent, intelligent analysis that plays offense from the center, punching left and right with a sense of humor. Playing to the lowest common denominator doesn’t always pay. The American people will reward people who respect their intelligence—recognizing that the news doesn’t need to taste like medicine or Kool-Aid.

One can only hope there is something to this. The right-wing screamers appeal to the very worst in our electorate: belligerent self-righteousness and arrogant entitlement.

--Ballard Burgher