As several readers have pointed out, (in e-mail and comments), Talkers is anything but the "bible" in the radio trade dept. They mostly feature stations and air talent that buy most of the advertising on both their online and print edition. Coincidence? Perhaps...you be the judge.
Furthermore, they are run by a self-acknowledged ultra right-wing publisher whose posters often write multitude pieces on people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, who, yes, just coincidentally are heavy advertisers.
Those in the industry who count know Talkers is a joke. They're not in the same league, either editorially or otherwise, as a, say, Inside Radio or All Access. Just ask around. It's not an opinion, it's a fact.
So I don't take much stock in their rankings. Some of the shows they put on their list are good. The broadcasters have substance and style too. Others are merely posers whose companies, as I have noted, buy ads on their site.
Before some of my trolls rip me because, I too, have advertisers, you'll notice that the current advertisers are non-broadcast related. And 415 Media is largely reader-supported via donations.
And yes, I'll admit it: I'm not a fan of the program Talkers lists as #17. They don't impress me. I'm not alone. Maybe it's simply a matter of taste.
*My terrestrial radio rant received a lot of response. I advocated listening to satellite and the Internet as an alternative to some of the dreck you hear in the Bay Area. That wasn't a knock on some of the more enlightening programs that still exist of which there are many
I like a lot of the shows on KKSF-AM, such as Len Tillem and Gil Gross. Rothmann's political talk is great and Wattenburg's Sunday night show are often worth listening to. I like Alan Colmes and Michael Savage. I love the big band-heavy KCSM. I've often been quite complimentary toward KCBS and KQED. Damon Bruce is the very best sports talk radio host in the market. Hands down.
So when I said that I "sparingly" listen to commercial radio here, it may have given the wrong impression. A reader said, correctly, that if that was the case, I might as well shut down. After all, this is "415Media." In actuality, I still peruse the local offerings. I have to. And I'll continue to bring you the news, opinion, and breaking stories you look forward to and depend on.
*Follow me on Twitter
*Tips/E-mail: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com
Yes, it is a matter of taste and after you incessantly rant about Gary Radnich, (reflecting your taste), it is interesting to see that a national poll, with no particular axe to grind, ranks Radnich and Krueger at #17 nationally, and the highest ranked local show west of the Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteNo,no axe,but donations from the stations pretty much makes it an infomercial..without Viki. A waste of time.
DeleteFunny too that a year ago Rich posted a radio website he believes and Raddy wasn't even mentioned in the top 50...but Ralph and Tom were,as honorable mention. You all remember that -right?
TALKERS is not an infomercial. It is recognized as a reputable magazine that publishes rankings of the top-rated radio talk shows; these rankings are often quoted in newspapers and other publications.
DeleteTALKERS magazine is a leading trade publication serving the talk radio industry in America. It was dubbed “The Bible of Talk Radio” by Business Week Magazine.
"Quoted"..lol..yeah for what KNBR pays to be listed-and where- they better hold it up to the crowd! Its almost a self published KNBR ad.
DeleteBtw Nitwits?..Radnich admitted it was a plant..that's why he laughed at it.
Kudos to #17.
Delete@2:48 It's not a plant. It is what it is. Only a moron suggest KNBR paid for it. You guys are so unbalanced in your Radnitch hate you make ridiculous accusations that just make no sense.
DeleteIt's a meaningless publication that no one pays attention too but at the same time Cumulus/KNBR pays money to get listed there....
443 I TOLD YOU WHAT RADNICH CALLED IT.."a plant,fixed". Now,R.A.,go write a email to Raddy.
DeleteAnd..will you make sense?..its not a plant,but then you say KNBR "Pays money to be listed there". Whaa??
I figured as much. I didn't count..but I think of about 130 hosts pictured, 1 was Latin,I was a woman,and four were black,0 were Asian or Indian.
ReplyDeleteSO that pretty much confirms that sports is a mirror of who gets the best jobs in this country..AND that the topic is pretty simple.."kids games",just makes it even more racist.
Also..why not Radnich twice in two days to crow? KNBR also claims to be the country's sports leader.
Goebbels principles at work...fitting for Cumulus in a twisted hypocrite way..right Lew?
S
Well I guess maybe that's the world of sports talk radio for us terrestrials.
DeleteAnd Radnich/Krueger are #17.
And if I had paid them $5,000, I Stan would be the 15th highest rated sports talk show. And even if I didn't have a show.
DeleteLike a PH.D from the back of comic books.
Being a sports talk show host is the "best job" in the country? Really?
DeleteActually, the best cutting edge jobs today are 1) programming and 2) engineering, which have a huge *over-representation* of Asian- and East Indians - whether a citizen, or via an H1B Visa.
On top of that, the best of the best is a combination of technical degree undergrad, and MBA graduate degree, again which many folks from India and Asia complete.
12:13 - EPIC FAIL.
BTW, if black folks want to have more individuals serving in print and TV/radio mediums, stop majoring in college in ethnic studies, sociology, criminal and justice. And learn to speak proper English. Just sayin.
Maybe you should limit yourself to extraterrestrial media. You'd have more credibility!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was pretty much a right-wingnut advocacy organization that was more heavily invested in random politicking than a professional trade journal.
ReplyDeleteLooks like they spent about 58 cents on developing their website, and another 3 bucks a month on hosting. Im surprised it didn't have a talkradio.compuserve.userloser.suk url.
No links to support supposed ranking? No criteria. Just silly looking photoshop-like certificates. No facts, no logic. Just an amateurish random list of talk shows pulled out of a pig's butt
If you like big band, then the only place to be is KCEA 89.1
ReplyDeleteThey are in Atherton and don't have a great signal, but you can stream it on kcea.org
Pure heaven...
I second your recommendation of KCEA for big band music from the Twenties up to the Fifties. Plus some enjoyable old-time radio shows! I stream KCEA via the Net, as I am at this very moment, while typing this post. But, I sure wish at times it had a stronger signal here in Fremont, so that I could listen while driving.
DeleteI'm too young to be from the big band era, but I find the music to be very upbeat and enjoyable. In particular, I enjoy the big band sounds of the Thirties and Forties the most.
For the people who don't read talkers, who's at 17?
ReplyDeleteRich should listen to local broadcasts. If he was listening yesterday, he would have heard #17 refer to him during the show. Larry referred to how hes called a betting fool and Radnich followed with a cryptic remark about how you should get a real job before you go knocking others that have jobs...or something along those lines. It instantly cut to commercial after that comment.
ReplyDeleteAll the Sadnich apologists are very amusing. Even if Talkers was a respected magazine why are the apologists celebrating #17? You guys are having a climax over #17! #17 is not #1 dummies
ReplyDeleteI thought I felt something move when I read "17th" was that wrong?
DeleteCan't believe the great damon bruce and his HUGE following didnt crack the hunge.
ReplyDeleteMy feelings, exactly. Even if rosy cheeks Radnich came with the Good Housekeeping seal of approval, he still sucks. Love Tillem on podcast. Gill, nice guy, but vanilla and boring.
ReplyDeleteTalkers has been publishing for over 20 years and is respected in the business. It's conferences are attended by everyone important in the talk industry. I know you don't want to belong to any club that would have you as a member. I get it. But please, we'll take the word of a real industry trade publication over a small time, angry blogger in 415.
ReplyDeleteYou do some good work, but lately most of the time you are in way over your head. I appreciate your romanticized notion of radio, but like sports itself, it's big business. Put on your big girl pants and get with the program.
the most offensive part of the top 100 is that murphy and mac are in it and are allegedly better than Tony B by virtue of their 'top 100' position; give me a break
ReplyDeleteI saw that (Murph and Mac)as well and fainted.
DeleteBy the way,speaking of the more famous fat boy-Rush,did you know he got his start in 1983 in Sacramento when a conservative radio station fired Morton Downy Jr, for calling a Asian Sacramento councilman a "Chinaman"?..and for not apologizing they cut him. Wow, Racism made Rush wealthy..just like Tolbert saying Chinaman made him a KNBR hero. Racism=$$$ for the Republicans.
ReplyDeleteOh,and of course Mort then made a fortune after that..no "blackballing" for the right wing. Ask Larry.
Delete*Yawn*
DeleteDid you know that Rush's program director is African American?
That he was married by the great Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas?
ROTF but not LMAO
Rush found a black man who will take dollars over pride?,is it Rod Brooks brother?
DeleteI do snicker every time Gary Radnich talks about "Toms who sell out to the whire man"..and Rod is there a room away. I ROTF AND LMAO!
Morton Downy Jr was a riot. Probably the original over the top talk show host on tv. He was ahead of his time in trashiness before Maury Povich and Jerry Springer. I still chuckle when I remember the show where Al Sharpton got into a fight with other guests. Also the shows with David Duke when he was in the Ku Klux Klan were hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your advertisers and pay attention! As I live in Hayward and sometimes frequent Hayward Ace Hardware--seeing their ad on your site made me love them a little more and I plan to visit them more often!
ReplyDeleteSo ads DO pay off!
I love the squeaky old floor..and like a kid when they let you "upstairs" to the really old stuff and where they fix your wooden screens.
DeleteAnd I bet more people go in by the old barn door back of the place then the "modern" front.
Question: Why do people take shots at Gary Radnich's political views? I have never heard him go off on a political rant, and I happen to know that he's not at all sympathetic to conservatives or Republicans.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary...Gary is a rock-ribbed liberal Democrat who loves Barack Obama. I know this for a fact. Whoever is making these comments about Gary being a conservative have been smoking too much of the 'kind!'
Uhh Rich... KCSM plays VERY little big band.
ReplyDeleteI too wonder where folks get that Radnich is a staunch conservative. When I hear him, I get the vibe that his Dad (RiP) may have not been as "progressive" and Radnich goes out of his way to "unlearn" what he was taught and grew up around in the "orchards of San Jose". Radnich was like the modern white kid who plays basketball with the "brothas" and picks up the mannerisms. He married a Mormon woman with whom he was clearly not happy with, after his kids were grown, he left them for what he really wanted which was a sista whom he found in Alicia (after of course allegedly chasing one from KRON to WABC New York). I think Radnich is NOT a conservative but your typical "guilty" white apologist. You can hear this in his rants about folks not having a father (read: many of the black athletes that act like boobs had no guiding father figure). He pays homage to the "guys in the Fila suits" hustling, hell he knows more black pop culture than this 37 y/o black guy. It's like he's making up for something from his childhood he saw as wrong. Radnich is a blowhard and an egotist, but for a LONG time, he was the ONLY reason I listened to KNBR- especially when he paired with Bruno. I know 9-noon is sports lite-at best but it was what I wanted in the morning at work. Radnich is alright.
ReplyDelete