ALABAMA VOICES: Time to bring back Fairness Doctrine

[Radio_Realist]

So that's why CC gives 95% of their political donations to Republicans (more than any other media company.) And CC Vice Chairman Tom Hicks was George Bush's primary sugar daddy when he ran for Gov. of Texas and for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2000.

Exactly! Clear Channel puts whatever makes them the most profit on the air to enable them to make money that they can spend any way that they want to spend it. The advance their political agenda through campaign contributions. They broadcast whatever makes them the most profit. And they don't mix the two up.

Here in the market where I live, the Clear Channel classic rock station is the #1 in town. They're the flagship station for the Steelers. They also have, as most top rated stations do, a morning show full of a cast of zany people. And those zany folks on the 'DVE Morning Show frequently make jokes about the current President that are both very, very funny and about as far left as any jokes can be. They also own a talk station on 104.7 which features the right-wing talk team of Quinn and Rose.

If they were in business to push an agenda, they would have told the 'DVE Morning Show to stop making Bush the butt of so many jokes. But they don't do that because 'DVE is #1 in the Pittsburgh ratings, thanks in large measure to their morning show.

[barooosk]

So that's why CC gives 95% of their political donations to Republicans (more than any other media company.) And CC Vice Chairman Tom Hicks was George Bush's primary sugar daddy when he ran for Gov. of Texas and for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2000.

Exactly! Clear Channel puts whatever makes them the most profit on the air to enable them to make money that they can spend any way that they want to spend it. The advance their political agenda through campaign contributions. They broadcast whatever makes them the most profit. And they don't mix the two up.

Exactly! "the [sic] advance their political agenda" by giving 95% of their political contributions to Republicans while most other media companies are closer to 50/50.  CC is far and away the most politically active media company in the U.S. Over 90% of their news/talk stations are conservative, they offer Fox News on virtually all their stations, they dropped lib talk on five of their stations over the past few months and each of those stations has plumetted in the ratings since that time, they own Premiere Radio Networks which only syndicates conservative talkers like Limbaugh, Beck, Dr. Laura, McConnell and Drudge, and their top management is closer to George Bush than Condoleeza Rice.  Do I need to say more.

[gr8oldies]

Of course before they droppe all that liberal talk they added it. I know there's no way to convince anyone here that Al Franken wouldn't be number one if CC wasn't what they were. If I was in charge of CC I'd probably be greasing both parties' wheels, however.

Cox is known for being a liberal company...their newspapers largely editorialize to the left and they launched the careers of several liberal commentators. Yet WSB and WHIO carry mostly conservative talkers. Why? Because they want Republicans to win? No, becaue THESE SHOWS DELIVER THE MOST AUDIENCE. If they Randi Rhodes could beat Sean Hannity in markets like Atlanta and Dayton, Randi Rhodes would be doing afternoon drive tommorrow. Same with CC. And yes, you have to look at CC and Premiere's non-talk radio offerings. Are Bob and Tom right wing? Do they always praise the President. Are there no morning shows in all of CC that portray Bush as a doofus? Do they play only right-wing artists on their alternative stations (assuming they coul find any?).

There is only one way to grow "liberal talk" (though I don't believe there's really such a thing as "conservative talk", just talk show hosts who lean conservative).  A liberal host gets solid numbers in a market consistently. Then he or she is syndicated to other markets, often on smaller stations. There is enough of a ratings bump to make the larger news/talker take notice and begin to think about replacing an existing show. That's how it works, folks, and it always has worked that way.

[barooosk]

Cox is known for being a liberal company...their newspapers largely editorialize to the left and they launched the careers of several liberal commentators.

C'mon Cox Enterprises is hardly a liberal company.  It's a privately owned company by some billionaires from Atlanta and gives 80% of their political contributions to Republicans. When right wing wingnuts complain about the liberal print media, they talk about the New York and LA Times, and the Washington Post-- not the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I don't believe there's really such a thing as "conservative talk", just talk show hosts who lean conservative

This might be the most ridiculous statement that I have ever seen posted on this board.

[evnlee]

I love that the same libs that praised Clear Channel on thier openmindeness, are now coming to the conclusion that

A: they were duped from the beginning, and used as political cover
B: maybe, just maybe, there's not enough libs around willing to listen to that stuff, and CC is cleaning house.

Of course, it's most usually 'A', but then what can you expect from the side that believes Bush did 9-11, and all the elections they lose are somehow 'stolen'

[gr8oldies]

OK..I'll rephrase. People listen to talk show hosts who are conservative and happen to entertain them. They aren't (OK maybe a few are) listening to conservatives just because they're conservative. That's what AA never got.