Progressive talk radio

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Progressive talk (or liberal talk) is a talk radio format in the United States devoted to expressing progressive/liberal viewpoints of issues. The format has become more widely implemented since the 2004 launch of Air America Radio, and now includes the Nova M Radio network, as well as syndicated personalities such as Ed Schultz, Alan Colmes, Bill Press, and Stephanie Miller.

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[edit] History

Left-leaning talk radio programs have existed for many decades. In the 1960s, freeform rock stations featured outspoken air personalities who mixed progressive rock with controversial commentary and news reports on current events such as the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. A few talk stations, such as WMCA in New York and WERE in Cleveland carried controversial counterculture talk programming.[1][2] Politically oriented talk radio stations often featured left-leaning hosts such as Alan Berg and Alex Bennett sharing the schedule with more conservative personalities. One of the most notable liberal talk-show hosts was Michael Jackson, who had a show for 35 years at KABC in Los Angeles, often commenting on both political and national issues.

[edit] Dominance of conservative talk in the 1990s

Two developments in the late 1980s – the struggle of AM radio music formats against FM, and the repeal of the FCC "fairness doctrine" – set the stage for the growth of highly partisan political talk programming. Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh became one of the early success stories of this new radio environment, helped by a syndication arrangement that was financially appealing to local stations. The syndication arrangement, known as barter, provides the show for free to stations in return for the station carrying a number of included advertising spots during the show. Limbaugh was an early adopter of this system, which is now commonly used. Many other radio hosts used his show as a model. During the 1990s, radio stations found that a schedule of all-conservative talk developed stronger listener loyalty compared to mixing shows with a variety of viewpoints.[3]

From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, few liberal talk hosts had national exposure.[4] Shock jocks Don Imus and Tom Leykis were sometimes described as liberal, though their shows were not based on political ideology. Syndicated efforts from Jim Hightower and Mario Cuomo were short-lived. There were some notable local liberal hosts during this period: Randi Rhodes in West Palm Beach, Florida (who at times got better ratings than Limbaugh, her lead-in), Bernie Ward in San Francisco, Mike Malloy in Atlanta, and Michael Jackson in Los Angeles. The UAW-owned network i.e. America relied heavily on Internet webcasting and had limited commercial broadcast success.

[edit] Revival of liberal talk in 2004

The dominance of conservative talk radio caused concern among some liberals, who viewed it as an integral part of promoting conservative policies and Republican Party candidates.[5][6] After the failure of i.e. America, Democratic Party supporters conducted conversations with syndicators about how to bring more balance to the airwaves. With the aid of private investors, two projects came to fruition in early 2004.

The first was the January 2004 debut of The Ed Schultz Show, featuring a "meat eating, gun-toting lefty" out of Fargo, North Dakota. Distributed by large radio syndicator Jones Radio Networks, the show picked up 70 stations by the end of its first year of syndication. The second project was the March 31, 2004 launch of Air America Radio, a left-leaning full-service talk radio network. The fledgling network started with only a handful of stations, mostly lower power AM signals. Early financial difficulties led to the loss of affiliates in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Air America's original flagship affiliate, WLIB in New York, had some early ratings success despite a modest signal. In their first month, their midday block featuring Al Franken drew more listeners in the demographic category desired by advertisers than competing stations featuring Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly.[7]

Another original Air America affiliate was KPOJ, a struggling AM station in Portland, Oregon with a powerful signal but an underperforming oldies format. They combined a few Air America shows with Schultz's afternoon show — a schedule that other stations would soon emulate — and called the format "Progressive Talk". In its first ratings period following the switch, KPOJ went from the bottom to being one of the market's top-rated stations. The station's owner, media giant Clear Channel Communications, decided to roll out the format on many of their other struggling AMs across the country. More than 20 of their stations switched to progressive talk within the following year, which included major markets such as Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Detroit, Seattle, and Miami.[8]

By early 2006, approximately 90 stations were carrying at least part of the Air America lineup. The growth of the format created opportunities for additional programming. Schultz's syndicator, Jones Radio, rolled out shows hosted by Stephanie Miller (September 2004) and Bill Press (September 2005). Established hosts such as Alan Colmes and Lionel saw increases in the number of affiliates carrying their shows. On September 1, 2006 Air America's flagship station moved to WWRL.

[edit] Liberal talk radio in 2007

After its growth spurt in 2004-2006, the liberal talk format had some setbacks. In the months following the November 2006 elections, Clear Channel changed several of its progressive talk stations to other formats, most notably in Boston. Their announced plan to change the format in Madison, Wisconsin was dropped as the result of a successful listener campaign, but a similar campaign did not work in Columbus, Ohio.[9] Air America filed for bankruptcy in October 2006, and was sold to new investors in February 2007, though they maintained operations during that time. Air America's highest-rated host, Al Franken, left in February 2007 to run for Senate.

As a result, there are still no more than about 100 U.S. commercial radio stations carrying liberal talk programs, compared to around 600 stations for Rush Limbaugh alone. Major-market stations carrying liberal talk now use a variety of sources for their programming, choosing some Air America shows, some syndicated shows, and some locally-produced shows. For example, the weekday schedule of KTLK in Los Angeles consists of Thom Hartmann and Rachel Maddow from Air America; syndicated hosts Alan Colmes, Bill Press, Stephanie Miller and local host Mark Germain. Notable stations with progressive talk without Air America programming include KGO in San Francisco and KIRO in Seattle and John Restaino (WJJL)Buffalo.

[edit] Internet and satellite

The internet has become an important factor in the distribution of progressive talk programming, with many radio stations streaming their schedules, and most individual shows available through podcasting. Air America Radio's webstream has consistently ranked in the top ten of most-listened to webcast stations and networks.[10] When podcasts became available through iTunes, Al Franken's show was the second-most popular.[11] Smaller providers of liberal radio shows such as Nova M Radio and Head On Radio Network have made streaming and podcasting integral to their operations.

Both U.S. satellite radio providers carry one channel of liberal talk. XM channel 167, which formerly carried the complete unaltered Air America schedule, now includes Ed Schultz, Bill Press, and Mike Malloy. Sirius channel 146 fills their schedule with syndicated hosts such as Schultz, Miller, Press,Restaino, and Malloy.

[edit] Non-commercial outlets

The left-leaning non-profit Pacifica network has existed for many years, though their programming is broadcast on mostly small non-commercial radio stations in a limited number of cities. The flagship program for Pacifica is Democracy Now!, which is also carried on many National Public Radio (NPR) affiliates. NPR itself has long been accused of having a liberal bias, though the network states that it reflects a diversity of views.[12]

In addition, progressive talk has carved a solid niche in the emerging realm of podcasting. Grassroots groups such as the Progressive Podcast Network are constantly emerging.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ WMCA Good Guys History
  2. ^ Cleveland, Ohio Broadcast Radio Archives Project
  3. ^ Talking Back To Talk Radio - Fairness, Democracy, and Profits
  4. ^ Look Who's TALKING - TIME
  5. ^ The Republican Noise Machine
  6. ^ http://www.theprospect.com/print/V15/3/starr2.html
  7. ^ New York Daily News - TV and Radio - Radio: Franken draws a growing audience (but no pay)
  8. ^ Liberal talk radio - February 18, 2005
  9. ^ The Columbus Dispatch - Local/State
  10. ^ Webcast Metrics Ratings Archive
  11. ^ Top podcasts at iTunes - MarketWatch
  12. ^ Culture: Bias in public broadcasting? - US News and World Report

[edit] References

[edit] External links