Anyone who listens to talk radio probably has a favorite host or two. And a lucky listener can keep the car radio tuned to the same station to get all of his/her favorites. So a station might be all conservative or all liberal.
Talk radio needs a market willing to pay for it. Rush Limbaugh and a myriad of others have proven that there's a market for conservative talk radio. Air America was a progressive alternative that was welcomed by those who felt the stings from conservative talkers. And Air America proved there was a market for progressive talk radio, just not big enough to support the stars in the life style to which they would like to become accustomed. Air America went silent after a rocky six year stint. See history at wikipedia.
There was much hand wringing on the editorial pages when Air America went mute. And there was talk of a "fairness doctrine" which would hurt the conservative radio talkers and either skew or level the playing field, depending on the viewpoint.
But progressives needn't have worried. Apparently there's still enough demand for progressive talkers to make a market. For example, go to AirAmerica.com, and the site redirects to WCPT, chicagosprogressivetalk.com, which currently touts at the top a video of a recent union rally.
All of this comes to mind as I've just returned from a road trip to Northern New Mexico during which I got an earful of progressive radio, in particular, 1260 KTRC, owned by Hutton Broadcasting LLC of Mount Vernon, IL. Listeners to KTRC can hear Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartman, Randi Rhodes and Ed Schultz, among other liberal talkers. And a conservative listener might conclude that the main objective of progressive talk is to bash well know conservatives. It was Saul Alinsky's rules in play -- attack, attack, attack.
During the time I had the opportunity to listen to KTRC the movie "Atlas Shrugged part 1" was premiering in selected cities. And for some reason progressives felt threatened by Ayn Rand's belief in individualism over collectivism. So she was the target of some vile remarks. Being dead, it might be hard for her to defend herself. But maybe the movie will speak for her.
Fear not for progressive radio. It's available for anyone who wants it. And while Air America is silent, others picked up the banner and are waving it high to rally all of those who feel that conservatives are the enemy and governments can never do too much.
Thanks for the writeup on Talk 1260 KTRC! FYI, Hutton Broadcasting is based here in Santa Fe, NM. Our new website is up at talk1260.com, and we are streaming online!
Posted by: Scott Matthews | August 23, 2011 at 01:27 PM
Thanks for that correction, Scott.
BTW, talk1260.com redirects to:
http://www.santafe.com/ktrc
Posted by: Geo | August 23, 2011 at 03:54 PM