Back when this writer was in radio, that little book that came out after the rating period called Arbitron could make you a hero or a zero at your radio station. This rating period shows that conservative talk has taken a pretty big hit.
Is this the end of Conservative Talk Radio? In statistics, one data point doesn’t make a trend… but it is worth keeping our eyes open for the next rating period.
“Right-wing talk radio may have worn out its welcome, at least for now,” reports Crain’s New York Business.
A new Arbitron report shows Rush Limbaugh’s ratings down 33% from a year ago and Sean Hannitty down 28% over the same time period. Meanwhile, more centrist personalities — Don Imus in the morning and John Batchelor at night — were both up from a year earlier.
[...] In the battle over the entertainment news market, Jon Stewart just had a great month. According to May Nielson ratings, reported, The Daily Show had more viewers last month than the average for the entire Fox News network, topped only, in fact, by the O'Reilly Factor. The British-based Daily Mail points out that while The Daily Show's audience is growing, reaching 2.3 million viewers, every one of Fox News' prime time shows lost viewers last month, bringing its scope down to 1.85 million. So what is causing the Fox News slump? "Some of the fall-off in Beck's numbers may be attributable to the fact that his show is going off the air, but it has been a consistent loser in the ratings for several months," David Ferguson at Raw Story points out. "The drop in public interest is echoed in ratings for radio shows hosted by Beck and Rush Limbaugh, which have each lost a third of their listenership in the last year, according to the radio polling group Arbitron." [...]
[...] in public interest is echoed in ratings for radio shows hosted by Beck and Rush Limbaugh, which have each lost a third of their listenership in the last year, according to the radio polling group [...]
Rush is the best, in my judgment; however, I believe he is cutting corners on his “show prep,” and is relying on his considerable talents to carry him.
Because of that, he is not as sharp, not as focused and rambles too much due to the lack of study and preparation.