Hannity = Bad Radio

[Talk_Dude]

I find that sometimes Sports Talk is a great change of pace from the same ole same ole ranting and raving that generally makes up what I hear on Talk Radio, but I admit, I don't listen to sports talk every day. 

That is correct. For that matter, any format other than the one you usually listen to is often a great change of pace. If you usually listen to classic rock, the country or even classical music is often a great change of pace. If you listen to any sort of spoken word format, then any form of music format is often a great change of pace.

[MikefromDelaware]

That is correct. For that matter, any format other than the one you usually listen to is often a great change of pace. If you usually listen to classic rock, the country or even classical music is often a great change of pace. If you listen to any sort of spoken word format, then any form of music format is often a great change of pace.

I'd agree that almost any music format is often a great change of pace from a spoken word format.  However, I'd not pick Rap ever, but then I don't consider Rap to be a form of music, so I guess that makes your statement totally correct.

[pellmell]

As a Conservative, I listen to and appreciate Hannity. However, he and Rush are doing live spots during the body of the show that are designed to make it through to the "commercial-free" podcasts. (Is there a special name for these live spots?) When either host does one of these spots, I either turn off the radio or change the channel for 10 minutes or so (unless I forget to turn it back on.) Hannity's promos are beyond tolerable.

It occurred to me on the way home from the office today while listening to Hannity that the top talk show hosts are leaving themselves wide open for competition. The number of interruptions in the content (traffic, weather, spots, obituaries, promos, in-program spots, whatever) has reduced the actual content to a very low level. A few years ago, a friend was a guest on a local talk show from 4 to 5 PM. I taped the show and telescoped it. How much actual content do you think there was? Exactly 22 minutes. How do you maintain continuity with 22 minutes out of 60 having meaningful content?

I'm not sure that this is true, but it seems to me that the local Rush Radio station (WRDU) is blowing off a couple of breaks from time to time to run more spots. Their morning show is such a bird's nest that it is impossible to digest.

[quadraphonic]

Those live read drop-ins do seem to need some kind of segue or something. Most of the ones I've heard Rush do have been jarring. [I don't hear Hannity much these days. Hope his aren't as "sore thumb" as Rush's are.]

[pellmell]

Is "live drop-ins" an "official" radio term, or is that a name you gave them?

[quadraphonic]

I've heard them called that. There are probably other names for them too. "Live reads" is one.

[Don Juannn]

Hannity does the "reset every break" drive time gimmick. Listen to one break of his show and you know what he's talking for the entire show. He also hammers home catchphrases a bit much. It's a good method for short TSL listeners, but anyone who does the entire 3 hours a day must have immense patience. It's way too repetitive for my ear.

Remember, it's a drive-time show....meant for short term commuting listening.

[quadraphonic]

Hannity does the "reset every break" drive time gimmick. Listen to one break of his show and you know what he's talking for the entire show. He also hammers home catchphrases a bit much. It's a good method for short TSL listeners, but anyone who does the entire 3 hours a day must have immense patience. It's way too repetitive for my ear.

Remember, it's a drive-time show....meant for short term commuting listening.

But every six minutes? Dang.

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

It occurred to me on the way home from the office today while listening to Hannity that the top talk show hosts are leaving themselves wide open for competition. The number of interruptions in the content (traffic, weather, spots, obituaries, promos, in-program spots, whatever) has reduced the actual content to a very low level. A few years ago, a friend was a guest on a local talk show from 4 to 5 PM. I taped the show and telescoped it. How much actual content do you think there was? Exactly 22 minutes. How do you maintain continuity with 22 minutes out of 60 having meaningful content?

A tip of the hat to those of you in this thread.  Often any attempt to discuss today's Talk Radio techniques results in readers assuming someone is bashing a personality because of disagreement with political philosophy.  This thread seems to be avoiding that trap.

Each of the big name talk shows comes across with a delivery style that sounds like the host is just letting his personal style spill out and maybe some things are spontaneous.  But the more you follow the industry the more you realize there are consultants involved,  sometimes reviews of a program much like the football Monday game "films", etc.

The trade-off, the transaction between the program and the stations has to have a lot of tension at work.  Too many of those commercial breaks and the listeners begin to lose patience.  Not enough of the breaks and the stations can't place as much "inventory" into play to get the income out the program they want.  Some other program formats would probably chase-off too much audience with the same amount of commercial break time and features like traffic etc.  Apparently political talk radio is just listener-sticky enough to not let the breaks kill the audience numbers.

I had not thought about it quite this way before,  but Hannity's time slot probably does need a more "busted-up program clock" to accommodate the expectations of the drive time audience.

So far the genre has benefited from the tendency of Conservatives being very accepting of Conservatives even though they don't all sing from the exact same song book.  If tension develops between the "traditional Conservatives" and the "tea party Conservatives"... is it possible the audience could turn out to not be a "listener-sticky"... and how would a Talk Host defuse such a possibility?

[Don C]

Looking at Sean's clock, he has 13:20 of local spots an hour, not including the 6 minute top of the hour break. 6 minutes of network. I guess the local affiliates sell his show well. I guess that would explain the short segments.