All of the top radio talk shows are all conservative. Why?

Question

Here are the most popular radio talk shows in America:

Rush Limbaugh (conservative, politics)
Sean Hannity (conservative, politics and culture)
Michael Savage (conservative, politics and culture)
Dr. Laura (conservative, relationships and self-help)
Glenn Beck (conservative, politics and culture)
Laura Ingraham (conservative, politics, military and activism)
Neal Boortz (conservative, politics)
Mark Levin (conservative, politics)
Michael Medved (conservative, politics, culture and pop-culture)

Source:
http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=34

Is this because:

a--Most Americans are conservative
b--Most Americans are more interested in what conservatives have to say than liberals
c--Conservative talk is less agonizing than liberal talk
d--Liberals are irrelevant
e--All the above

(I listed Dr. Laura as conservative because she's tougher than most marines and praises her paratrooper son every show.)

Beau

Great point.

Umm, except that the democrats ran conservative veterans and evengelicals on their tickets in at least half of the seats up for grabs. I think somehow they knew that that was the only way they could win.

Beau:

Let's review that son in the military thing:

"...and proud mother of an American paratrooper deployed in Iraq, Hooah!"

That's what she says, EVERY DAY, without fail, exactly like that.

But I've seen her interviewed, too. She's more conservative than Rush Limbaugh! Nice try on the "dissing the troops" thing, though. A little too much like a contrived accusation, but that's what liberals do, right?

wyldfyr

These are business-driven radio shows.

They don't take hand-outs, they are completely dependent upon a listening audience to generate ad revenue.

According to the list, there is not a single successful liberal format available, despite the Jesse Jacksons, Al Sharptons, Jane Fondas, and Al Franken's who have all tried and bombed badly. (Yes, Jane Fonda was a part of a very recent feminist talk show claiming to speak for all women. Guess what--women aren't listening.)

NPR--wouldn't survive without public funding.
Internet--people use it to shop and look at porn.
Network news--currently losing to cable news, and last I checked, conservatives were beating the pants off of all others combined, unless you think that Fox is fair and balanced?

That's strike two for you tonight, buddy. You're not doing so well.

That's two people who say that liberals listen to music on the radio.

Interesting.

Conservatives prefer intellectual discussion, liberals prefer music.

I agree. I honestly don't think that liberals have the brain power to handle anything beyond music. That's why conspiracy theories are so transparently sophomoric. That's the best they can do.

Honestly.

Omnimog

Thank you for making my point about conspiracy theories. It's always about big business, isn't it?

Steph

That's the point, isn't it? All of these shows are tilted severely right, and that's what makes them popular.

THAT, my friend, is very telling of America.

Answer 1

Quite frankly, on these shows you need to have some sort of an education to keep up. It is not simple propaganda as most of the left shows are and it requires common sense and the ability to think about the topic. They are more compelling and they do their homework. They back up what they say and they are prepared.

Oh... and yes... "all of the above" for the multiple choice.

Edit: Beau... Don't be so naive to think the dems won the last election... they have the lowest approval rating of any congress in history. Conservatives sent a clear message to it's party to clean up... they just didn't show up to vote.

As far as your "music" theory. Are you telling me that libs/dems are less educated and less informed about political issues? I can't say I disagree with you one bit.

Beau... do you research anything? The President with the lowest is Nixon.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/polls/l/bl_historical_approval.htm

Here is a link for you. It's not hard to find. Also try and compare apples to apples. During GW's term we had 9/11, the economy melt down from Clinton's "paper" economy and a rising eye on illegal immigration. Not to mention a non-stop witch hunt and bashing of this President from the whinny left since the day he took office.

Answer 2

The REAL answer is this:

The right wing began the meme of the "liberal" media in the 80s in order to push the media to the right immediately after Reagan repealed the fairness doctrine. It was a very successful attempt to make the liberal market segment appear a phariah.

As a result, the media today has an extremely conservative bias, with talk radio and Fox News being the most prominent examples. However, media corporations are now realizing that at least half the country is "liberal" by todays standards and it is a huge untapped market, so we are seeing more and more networks tapping into it.

Air America is proving very successful and has had many shows spin off into syndication that are doing very well.
MSNBC is also dipping its toes into the liberal market segment because Keith Olbermann has proven extremely successful and profitable.

Unequal representation of one side of the political spectrum has proven harmful to America and should be opposed by reasonable, intelligent Americans who care about the future of this country.

Answer 3

I think America is about evenly split between liberals and conservatives. However, the talk radio audience is disproportionately conservative.

Why? I think a lot of liberals prefer listening to music or sports shows instead of talk radio. Conservatives, on the other hand, will probably not like a lot of what is offered on the radio, especially conservatives living in urban areas. Thus they are much more likely to tune in to talk radio, seeing as how that's one of the few options left for them.

Because the talk radio audience is largely conservative, radio stations will cater to them by providing mostly conservative hosts.

Answer 4

You forgot one on your list: F: None of the Above

(You seem to forget we won the last election, how if there are less democrats and more conservatives?)

It is because Democrats don't listen to talk radio they listen to music stations (mostly). It's economics, they have the conservatives on the air because conservatives listen to talk radio which increases their revenue.

Case in point: Air America BOMBED!

I forgot the obvious, because you have a son in the military you are conservative! No democrats have sons in the military? Now, who is disrespecting the men and women fighting our battles!?

Answer 5

Because conservatives (as well as some liberals) don't like to hear the actual truth (because the truth usually hurts). They prefer to hear their own opinions packaged as the truth to make them feel smart. Fox News picked up on this fact and has profited mightily from it.

Answer 6

A most interesting obvservation! I don't know many of the talk show hosts you list here but I will take your word for it.

My visceral reaction to your question is that conservatives hold up a mirror to our selves in a way that liberals don't. It is easy to throw money at problems, set up programs which in principle seem great but in reality are not effective, believe that criminals can be cured, etc. (Liberal thoughts). But Conservatives don't buy those ideas and so ask the hard questions.

That is my short answer.

A very good question!

Answer 7

Air America continues to grow and it has big name advertisers like Toyota and B of A-

but the reason is why so many righty show ae big;

the multinational corps who them want the "push" to be for their favored candidates - news is slanted heavily to the right

any left sided points are slammed hardball or simply not aired

right propaganda is "softballed" and sugar coated to make "righties" look better

unfortunately America refuses to become this stupid as to fall for it-

hence Air America has new listeners tuning in -in droves

a person's inner-will will always seek truth and honest communication

Boots on the ground reality -
folks you need to know whats really happening to your country-

Answer 8

A. Most Americans are conservatives and likes to listen.

Answer 9

Conservatives are insecure. That's the reason. They need constant verbal reassurance that they are right. And what better way to get it than radio shows that deliver false news?

Answer 10

Because people who enjoy life, have much more to do than get fed their daily dose of drama and propaganda. I plug my IPOD into my car stereo, and listen to music rather than some idiot ranting on the radio, about something they aren't very informed about.