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Why do liberal radio and tv shows do so poorly?

JC Callender

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Conservative radio and tv shows do really well for the most part, liberal shows...usually the opposite. Why?
 
IMO?

Simply because the people who currently claim to represent Liberal ideals seem to have turned off the road of "Freedom To" onto a sideway of "Freedom From."

Most adults who work hard to achieve and succeed in the real world aren't interested in traveling down that road.
 
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In each market/platform that ideas compete, liberalism always loses. Its as simple as that. Liberal thought can only survive with no competition. It had a monopoly in network and print platforms, but loses in every other platform - radio, cable TV etc.. I think libeals have had a head start on the Internet but I think conservative internet opinion/new sites are catching up after adoption by the masses.
 
Please show some actual evidence of this rather than opinion.
 
Conservative radio and tv shows do really well for the most part, liberal shows...usually the opposite. Why?

Does that include movies, tv shows, music, comedy etc. that are not strictly political?
 
Conservative radio and tv shows do really well for the most part, liberal shows...usually the opposite. Why?

IF that's true, I'd guess it was because conservatives are so easily led. They'll tune in every day to hear the same things they heard yesterday.
 
Does that include movies, tv shows, music, comedy etc. that are not strictly political?

Doesn't include fictional tv shows, movies, etc...I know they often do good in entertainment outside of reality.
 
IF that's true, I'd guess it was because conservatives are so easily led. They'll tune in every day to hear the same things they heard yesterday.

which is interesting since modern "liberalism" is collectivist in nature and tends to appeal to "sheeple"
 
IMO?

Simply because the people who currently claim to represent Liberal ideals seem to have turned off the road of "Freedom To" onto a sideway of "Freedom From."

Most adults who work hard to achieve and succeed in the real world aren't interested in traveling down that road.

So are you implying that most liberals don't work hard to achieve and succeed in the real world? And if so, then why is it that generally speaking, blue states are better off economically than red states, and the poverty rates of red states are generally higher than that found in blue states?
 
Conservative radio and tv shows do really well for the most part, liberal shows...usually the opposite. Why?

Because most liberals don't care for the wheeling sort of entertainment that conservative media provides.

And in addition many liberal opinion shows are attempts to copy what network executives think conservative media is.

Rush Limbaugh is an entertaining person to listen to even if you disagree. extreme liberals denounce his as a hatemongerer, but his ratings are excellent. so what do network executive think? put on some angry liberal who's off the walls and liberals will listen to him. doesnt work.

most of us listen to programming like NPR, and I listen to much of the BBC since I work late at night when our NPR affiliate carries newshour. When I do listen to personalities it's people like Dave Ross or the Ron and Don show, which are not strictly political in nature. In other words, conservatives seem to rally around personalities and liberals around content.
 
Over the past 40+ years our society has become more and more liberal.

Conservatives, especially social conservatives like to be told over, and over, that they are not alone in believing in their 1950's 'White Suburbia only'' ideology.. So they turn on the AM talking heads, and Fox and are told over and over that gays and Muslims should neither be seen, or heard. . And the evil Liberals have declared war on Christianity.
 
Doesn't include fictional tv shows, movies, etc...I know they often do good in entertainment outside of reality.

No, reality does well also. Just the politically oriented reality. How about movies like "Good Luck and Goodnight"? Politically oriented but more biography and entertainment oriented. You can't rag on Joe McCarthy enough I always say.
 
which is interesting since modern "liberalism" is collectivist in nature and tends to appeal to "sheeple"

Really? If someone calls themself 'conservative', you can predict with near-certainty what they think about any subject. If someone advocates more laws, they're probably a conservative. If someone says to you, "What are you worried about if you have nothing to hide?", conservative. Liberals are far less predictable. A liberal is more likely to be conservative on some issues than vice versa.
 
So are you implying that most liberals don't work hard to achieve and succeed in the real world? And if so, then why is it that generally speaking, blue states are better off economically than red states, and the poverty rates of red states are generally higher than that found in blue states?

Blue States? Red States? What's that got to do with the success or failure of liberal shows on TV?

Conservatives, Independents, and Liberals who still believe in the Freedom To as opposed to this P.C. pandering meme of Freedom From just don't want to listen to the pap coming from such Talk shows and News hours.

I don't know if Conservative shows are all that successful, since no data was actually posted. I do know that most Liberal ones bore me to tears.
 
Really? If someone calls themself 'conservative', you can predict with near-certainty what they think about any subject. If someone advocates more laws, they're probably a conservative. If someone says to you, "What are you worried about if you have nothing to hide?", conservative. Liberals are far less predictable. A liberal is more likely to be conservative on some issues than vice versa.

That's probably true for Canada, it's almost true in the US, except that when bother conservatives and liberals tell you what they are by those titles you can immediately guess what they think on most issues. here if people have varying political views that don't strictly match the expected orthodoxy they usually will identify themselves are moderate or independent.
 
Blue States? Red States? What's that got to do with the success or failure of liberal shows on TV?

Conservatives, Independents, and Liberals who still believe in the Freedom To as opposed to this P.C. pandering meme of Freedom From just don't want to listen to the pap coming from such Talk shows and News hours.

I don't know if Conservative shows are all that successful, since no data was actually posted. I do know that most Liberal ones bore me to tears.

liberal opinion shows do terrible on a national scale, although in local areas they usually succeed.

but most liberals don't listen to AM radio, they listen to like NPR .....
 
IF that's true, I'd guess it was because conservatives are so easily led. They'll tune in every day to hear the same things they heard yesterday.

Is that what liberal shows do, repeat the same things over and over? Is that why they don't do well?
 
Conservative radio and tv shows do really well for the most part, liberal shows...usually the opposite. Why?

Liberals as people don't like to to do TV or radio. So it doesn't surprise me.
 
Conservative radio and tv shows do really well for the most part, liberal shows...usually the opposite. Why?

Most people don't like fiction in their politics.
 
Conservative radio and tv shows do really well for the most part, liberal shows...usually the opposite. Why?

Because right-wing radio is generally supported by old retire guys who sit around all day in their garage feeling angry and listening to propaganda that supports their anger. Liberals have better things to do than sit around listening to crap.
 
Blue States? Red States? What's that got to do with the success or failure of liberal shows on TV?

Conservatives, Independents, and Liberals who still believe in the Freedom To as opposed to this P.C. pandering meme of Freedom From just don't want to listen to the pap coming from such Talk shows and News hours.

I don't know if Conservative shows are all that successful, since no data was actually posted. I do know that most Liberal ones bore me to tears.

As concerns the success or failure of political media, I was addressing what you seemed to be implying, and I called you on it. But if you weren't implying that, I'll let it go.

To more directly address the question in the OP, did you try Googling around a bit? From the Denver Post:

The consolidation of ownership of radio stations is at least partly responsible for the statistical dominance of conservative political talk radio.

"Toxic Talk" by Bill Press, is a prickly takedown of the "destructive power of Rush, Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, O'Reilly and the other polarizing figures of talk radio." The book's subtitle says it all: "How the Radical Right Has Poisoned America's Airwaves."

According to Press, "the key is ownership. Follow the money." In the case of Clear Channel, he notes, the company owns 145 news-talk stations and also owns Premiere, the top syndicator of conservative talk shows, which syndicates "The Rush Limbaugh Show," "The Sean Hannity Show," and others. Clear Channel, in turn, is owned by (Mitt Romney's former venture) Bain Capital.

The biggest U.S. radio station owners — Clear Channel, Entercomm, Cumulus, Salem, Cox and CBS — establish their 50,000-watt blowtorches, like KOA in Denver, as the home of conservative talk. "And you wonder why it's so hard for a liberal to make it as a talk radio host?" Press writes.

Talkers' Harrison argues that anyone who wins ratings, regardless of viewpoint, would be welcomed by a financially driven corporation. It's about drawing audiences, regardless of ideology. That's been the Clear Channel stance for years. Press disagrees. A liberal talk radio icon is an impossibility, he suggests, due to the corporate ownership of the media.


There are more Dems than Republicans...and while more identify as "conservative" than as "liberal", when it comes to the social aspect of the ideologies, we're now split evenly...and the momentum clearly shows that social conservatives are diminishing over time as social liberals are increasing over time. All of which means that there's no reason why liberal talk radio can't compete when it comes to raw numbers of listeners. That's why the above reference is so important - there's more to the story than just the number of listeners.

But there's a silver lining for us liberals - I think it's safe to say that while conservatives still have a choke-hold on talk radio, we liberals are much more successful when it comes to talk shows on television. Oh, I know, y'all have Bill O'Reilly...but I'm referring more to the daytime talk shows and the late night talk shows that do lean significantly to the left. Yeah, they all claim to be politically neutral...but it doesn't take a genius to see where their political hearts are. They just have to maintain a razor-thin veneer of non-partisanship.

So...y'all go ahead and keep the radio waves - we've got the non-Fox television giants. See y'all in November!
 
The RW favours marching in lockstep. Liberals are like herding cats.
 
The South.


So are you implying that most liberals don't work hard to achieve and succeed in the real world? And if so, then why is it that generally speaking, blue states are better off economically than red states, and the poverty rates of red states are generally higher than that found in blue states?
 
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