Liberal Talk Radio Will Eat Itself

Another casualty in Moonbat Radio land, as reported by LTR: Peter B. Collins is retiring from the radio biz. Gosh, this economy is really starting to look like it’s whupping our asses. I like ol’ Peter B. all right. He guested for Mad Mike for a bit I think…or was he just guesting on XM while XM decided what to do with its America Left? Maybe that was it. I know I’ve spent a week or so listening to Peter B., and I didn’t mind it, as 1A1M shows go.

BradBlog comments thusly, and I sort of agree:

…the playing field is indisputably rigged against non-rightwing talk radio. It’s not a matter of “Progressive Talk” having failed in America, it’s a matter of progressives, to this day, not having been given a level playing field on which to compete. Period.

Of course this is true to some extent. Boss Limbaugh is owned by Clear Channel, and so therefore he gets syndicated to the universe. Steph argues that she consistently beats Meghan McCain Basher Laura Inghram but is in like a third of the markets.

But the fact of the matter is that the deck is usually stacked against liberals. Lookit all of the happy horseshit this country just lived through and how angry most folks were at the Booshies, and then lookit how hard we had to work to elect Barack Obama. We had to get everyone we could out to vote because only a thick healthy margin would yield us the White House because these boneheads own the voting machines. The playing field will always incline against us in whatever endeavor we attempt. Means we have to run harder, that’s all. So, ya’ll need to think about departing from the 1A1M* format. Try something different. Pluck from other broadcast models. I’m telling youse guys: You’ve got a tilted gridiron, sure, but also, you suck at radio. There, I said it.

Look, I’ve laid out my program here before to save liberal talk, but here it is again: Establish a presence in Washington, D.C. Develop a serious news-gathering arm and flex it. Cover protests, cover Congressional hearings, cover culture. Make a strong ensemble show for morning drive time and get behind it. Lose your tendency to be a bunch of starfuckers. Get Randi Rhodes back at 3. Depart from the 1A1M formula. Better exploit the Internet and your relationship with Sirius/XM. Syndicate ad teams should find advertising ideas in the aisles the local Whole Foods and in the backs of the Utne Reader and should not accept shitty advertising, especially get-rich-quick schemes that might just victimize your audience.

The fact is that if liberal talk radio is going to beat Boss Limbaugh, it’s going to have to be much, much better than he is. I still argue that AAR had the right idea in the beginning, placing bright, interesting personalities into the studios and seeing what sparks flew. Unfortunately, much of the liberal talk on the radio is just 1A1M unimaginitive programming, and that isn’t going to translate into an overflowing slate of quality.

If you take a crap on an uneven playing field, all the crap might do for you is run downhill a little.

*One Asshole, One Mic