The New York Times reported today that Democratic investors who have been planning to create a national radio network with liberal programming are “close to buying radio stations in five major cities.”
“The acquisitions would represent a major move toward making the network real,” the Times explained. “After its conception was announced in February, many radio analysts and even some Democratic activists predicted that the network would face too many challenges to get off the ground, including finding stations to run its programming and bucking a historical record replete with failed liberal radio attempts. But executives with the newly formed company, Progress Media, said late last week that if all went as planned they would have the network running by early spring, in time to be part of the public dialogue during the presidential campaign season.”
At this point, the five cities include New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Boston, but Progress Media plans to expand to five more cities “in the near future.”
I have to admit, I’ve been a bit of a skeptic about the anticipated liberal radio network since the idea started making headway about a year ago. A key point in the Times story, however, suggested that the network may realize what it needs to do to succeed.
“The group is planning to present a daily schedule filled with liberal personalities as hosts of a range of programs, including… entertainment programs in the spirit of ‘The Daily Show,’ the spoof news program on cable television’s Comedy Central that skewers Washington. Jon Sinton, Progress Media’s president, said the company had hired Lizz Winstead, one of the creators of ‘The Daily Show,’ to oversee entertainment programming.” The Times also reported that the network is in talks with Al Franken and comedian Janeane Garofalo as potential hosts.
Perfect. If this radio network is going to succeed, it will have to be entertaining. I don’t think people listen to talk radio to hear smart people provide detailed, GAO report-like analysis of why their ideological rivals are mistaken. That may be a common approach on the floor of Congress, and it may work with the C-SPAN crowd, but it doesn’t make for fun radio programming.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a success, despite serious subject matter, because it’s damn funny. Viewers may learn something about current events that they didn’t know before, but that’s not why they tuned in. They watch to laugh.
Liberal radio starts out at a disadvantage. Not only do conservatives dominate the medium, but talk-radio listeners tend to agree ideologically with popular shout-jocks such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage. A Pew Research Center poll conducted last year showed that a clear plurality of the national talk-radio audience identified themselves as conservatives. Of Americans who listen regularly to talk-radio programming, 46.2 percent are conservative, 31.2 percent are moderate, and 18.2 percent are liberal.
With these numbers in mind, a liberal radio network will have to find a way to draw in the relatively small percentage of liberal talk-radio listeners, plus expand the audience to those who disagree, and with a little luck, folks who don’t usually listen to talk-radio at all.
The way I see it, broadcasting shows that are fun and don’t take themselves too seriously would be a big step in the right direction. Sinton, Progress Media’s president, told the Times, “Our task is to be funny and entertaining, a no-sacred-cows sort of thing.” Sounds good to me.