Is Conservative Talk Radio Flaming Out?

Ratings for Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and other hyperpartisans are declining as listeners seek honest talk from hosts like Michael Smerconish over angry rants. A more civil conversation will add value to our political debate, writes John Avlon. [Material was condensed and edited by MC].

From John Avlon, thedailybeast.com.

There’s new evidence to suggest a demand for something different than hyper-partisanship in the world of talk radio and political media.

It’s not just the sunset of the Glenn Beck Show on Fox or the dispatch of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC to CurrentTV. It’s the shuttering of a pioneering conservative radio station and data showing the demographic decline of Rush Limbaugh.

It’s not that “the angry white guy conservative political talk format”—as consultant and former Clear Channel talk radio programming director Gabe Hobbs calls it—is over. It’s just got little room to grow, going forward.

“Rush has been around for 23 years. They’re not necessarily making new Ditto-heads. You have to fish where the fish are,” says Hobbs, who helped launch the radio career of Glenn Beck, among others. “We’re singing to this choir, that’s great, they’re worth a lot of money and they do a lot of wonderful things, but boy, there’s a lot over here we could do.”

“This civil and smart approach—like [John] Batchelor and Michael Smerconish and some other shows—to me is kind of a ‘duh,’ '' adds Hobbs, indicating that it should have been obvious long ago. “The numbers that NPR is drawing clearly portends to something. I’ve seen it myself in research. It’s the tone; it’s the approach. Some people don’t want to be engaged at that loud, angry level—that hard right or left ideological approach where it’s my way or the highway.”

John Avlon is senior political columnist for Newsweek and the Daily Beast as well as a CNN contributor. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America.

TomzTake:  I find it interesting that Avlon gives just a passing reference to "progressive talk" with a passing mention of Keith Olberman.

That said, I’m not sure I agree with Avlon’s premise that conservative talk is flaming out.  Rather, I believe there are several events converging that are moving talk radio’s ‘cheese’.

1. Listener fatigue with politics. Listeners are searching for ‘more’ from talk radio.
2. Arbitron’s PPM in Top 50 markets.
3. Aging audience for traditional talk radio. A 45-year on 9/11 is now 55-years-old.
4. Increasing number of talk stations demanding entertaining content.

             PS. Gabe Hobbs is right-on!