Friday, February 08, 2013

Is Political Talk Radio in Trouble?

Tom Taylor's NOW column interviews Lew Dickey--the CEO of Cumulus (the second biggest radio company in the country). It sounds like political talk radio isn't doing too well, but another type of talk radio is...

“Lew Dickey opines that “people may be tired of all the partisan bickering.” He doesn’t mention Rush Limbaugh’s “slut” comment about Sandra Fluke, just about a year ago, an event that’s still having repercussions with advertisers in the talk medium. Sports could be an easier sell, and Dickey explains the logic of cooperating with CBS on the new CBS Sports Radio Network. He says they’re “up to about 300 affiliates now.” As for Cumulus-syndicated Geraldo Rivera’s recent trial balloon about running for the Senate – Lew smiles and says yes, “we talked to him” after that remark on his radio show. Dickey says “I think Geraldo’s got a long career ahead of him as a broadcaster.”