Thursday, November 29, 2012

Guests versus Monologue: Your Thoughts; Taliaferro Update

The major gist of my radio show will concentrate on guests, but I'm also going to feature monologues too.

Being that the blog is media-heavy, we will obviously concentrate on media people, but will also occasionally hit on pop culture, politics, a smidgen of sports and yes, of course, breaking news, should it be significant. We are, after all, LIVE.

Just to gauge your feelings, give me an idea of what you mostly like to hear: guests or some monologues? And tell me the type of people you'd like me to interview. I look forward to your feedback and welcome your input.

And thanks to all of you who have e-mailed about the quality of the guests thus far.

NOTE: Ray Taliaferro will be on the show the weekend of Dec. 8-9. Time and specific date will be announced and posted on the blog.

UPDATE: Just got a phone call from Taliaferro. He will not be able to do the show. He told me once he finishes his book, he will appear on my program.


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*Tips: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com


20 comments:

  1. Guests or monologues? Thanks for your asking your listeners and giving us an opportunity to chime in. Not an either or question, in my opinion.

    I'm comfortable with a mix, if it suits you, or guests and callers. From what I've heard of you so far, you've got great connections and your guest list is nothing short of impressive. So that augers well for this format.

    As a media blogger, you certainly have much you can talk about regarding the state of TV and radio, which gives you a niche in talk radio. In that sense, the radio show (or a portion of it) can be an extension of your blog.

    Am interested hearing in your thoughts on a wide range of issues, especially topics that are trending in the news, and your dialogue with callers.

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  2. Depends on who is giving the monologue. I say hand the mike to brother Ray and step aside, Rich.

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  3. I hope you'll be taking some calls!

    Gil Gross, who I like, has gone to all guests/monologues and it's wearing thin for me. Do the stations not want to take a gamble on crummy callers? (that's what the screeners are for). Rush started doing that three hour monologue thing decades ago and it stunk. Even Ray Tay would go on and on in the wee hours until he repeated himself about 100 times...only taking 2 or 3 calls in four hours. Usually he didn't seem to want to engage the few callers who tried, he'd just listen for a moment and then say "well, thank you very much", and hang up.

    This is a Gene Burns moment (there have been a lot of them this year). He would establish the topic, or lay out the question, and then take a lot of calls, or sometimes he'd take one call that was fascinating or maybe disturbing and he'd give 40 minutes to it, with the give and take and questioning while constantly developing the theme.

    Alan Colmes never does monologues, he jumps right into the quagmire of callers. Then he'll have a few guests, always alternating with callers.

    That's what makes TALK radio dynamic, the callers and the host, not the host alone giving long monologues.

    Capiche?

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    1. There's a certain irony here. KGO's management was blasted (and rightly so) for its abrupt change in format a year ago, moving away from news talk to all news, and laying off most of its stable of talk show hosts.

      While Len Tillem took his show with him to 910 KKSF, continuing to take interesting phone calls and offer his lawyerly advice, Gil Gross rarely takes calls and spends most of his 3-hour block in a fast paced monologue, constantly changing subjects, interspersed with occasional brief interviews of news commentators for added perspective. It's a format that's gotten old fast, and it's far from satisfying. Even worse when his wife Rhoda joins him on Fridays.

      Yet, we continue to bash KGO's management for abandoning the talk format. Seems like Gil Gross has, too. Pot calling the kettle black?

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    2. Gil Gross' show has been a huge disappointment. I actually think it was better when Gross, Rothman and Rosie Allen and Ed Baxter were rotating. Giving the show 100% to Gross sounds good on paper if he would continue to do the type of show he did on KGO from 2pm to 4pm but it is not the case. As others mentioned it is a monologue fest infused with his long pauses, sighs and dumb jokes. It is a perfect show for those with attention deficit disorder considering how he jumps from subject to subject. Very bad!

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    3. I actually prefer Gil's current program and like his monologue because he is interesting and fills out his topic well....usually.

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    4. He is not interesting. He THINKS he is interesting. A talk show takes callers, today he did not take ONE single call. If I want monologues I'll listen to Rush or Savage. Those two are much better than Cabinet Man at monologues and comedy. Did anyone catch Cabinet Man interview Gordon and Getty today? (They are filling in for him Friday). Cabinet Man told them they should be drunk when they do his show. WTF!!!? Nobody laughed and Cabinet Man went to commercial break with uncomfortable and awkward silence.

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  4. Ray needs three hours on a weekend in Dec to finish his book? Man,he's a busy guy with a super tight schedule.

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  5. I was hoping to hear no, no, no, no, no, no, one more time!

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  6. "Ha Ha Ha!" "LOL!" "I'm just sayin'"

    Americans are fracturing our language with these unimaginative expressions and truncated sentences instead of using our language properly.

    It's seen all too frequently on the internet and it's another symptom of a society that is becoming a more semi-literate each day.


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  7. Does featuring monologues mean Rich Lieberman doing a monologue?

    That might be prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution protection against cruel and unusual punishments.

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  8. i think the subject matter carries the day. if it is vital and interesting that's all that matters. i know i am a tiny minority saying this, but i LOVE talking and hearing about the radio biz past and present. i love reminiscing about the old days with other radio lovers or getting down with the behind the scenes circus of the current radio reality.

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  9. Is there any way for radio ratings to go negative? That is, not only is no one listening, there is a listening deficit. Might be hard to accomplish but Rich doing monologues might do the trick.

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  10. I much prefer a good monologue. Guests not so much.

    TT

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  11. Both. However, if it's an interview let the guest do most of the talking (unlike Karel). If it's a caller let them develop their point with a little back and forth (unlike Monte who basically has callers making quick comments sandwiched between his boring monologues. If it's a monologue, please make it interesting with a little bit of depth (I think Gil Gross does a good job). If it's a Ray T. type, let him loose. You can't treat him like a "normal" guest. And oh, please don't go the angry, hostile, negative direction. We've got more than enough of those. Good luck.

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  12. FYI
    This Saturday, Newstalk 910 KKSF is broadcasting the Cookie Exchange on the Dining Around show, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Joel Riddell. One of the celebrity judges will be Gene Burns. This info is from 11/29/2012 Contra Costa Times, Timeout Section.

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  13. I want you to talk about flying saucers, Richie.

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  14. I love these rank amateurs giving Rich advice on how to conduct a talk show. In reality callers are no big deal, actually they often detract from a radio show. The host isn't there to cater to callers, 95 percent of listeners never call a talk show. The callers are just for spice, any host that depends on how many calls he or she has is weak.

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    1. Right, can you imagine rank amateurs giving advice when the title of the post is "Guests versus Monologue: Your Thoughts"

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