I was wondering if anyone had any theories as to why the talk show formated AM radio stations have a politcal slant towards the right. This may only only hold true the stations in my area (OK it is Cincinatti). But the the FM stations have no problem playing UNEDITED versions of songs containing profanity. This in part to Clearchannel using there first admendment right. Are right wingers so cheap that they buy AM only radios ? :rolleyes:
there are some AM shows bent toward the left, but not many.
if you feel like you aren’t being represented in the media (like the conservatives complaining about the bias in media that slants to the left) you’ll more likely try to get your voice heard more.
plus many of the older conservatives ride in old tractors and old pick ups, which rarely have FM radios (mostly a joke…but that is one reason there’s a lot of AM country stations in farming communities)
I need to clarify that even though I grew up on a farm and rode in an old pick up, my political views slant towards the LEFT. I remember voting for Brown for President one year and I have an arrest for rioting/ disorderly on my record (conviction overtuned in higher court). So I do have a tendency to make my voice heard. 
The reason FM plays music and AM plays talk is that music sounds better on FM and AM gets the leftovers. That part is simple.
The reason more talk shows are conservative than liberal is because the conservatives believe Big Media is too liberal and the only way the TRUE STORY will get out there is if they put it out there themselves. And let’s face it, I don’t like Rush Limbaugh, but he’s more entertaining than 95 percent of all the morning zoo teams on FM put together.
[Moderator hat ON]
This is a general question, not a great debate, so off it goes.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
It’s a case of follow the money.
AM radio has lost a great portion of the mass audience to FM. Faced with static and monophonic sound (AM Stereo fell on it’s face in the '80’s because the FCC wouldn’t mandate a single standard–my opinion) most AM broadcasters are trying to attract an audience that is not served by the FM music stations. And many are doing just that.
In Los Angeles you can hear Lakers play-by-play in Spanish…and Mandarin Chinese!
There is Polish in the Chicago area and Yiddish in New York. There are bunches of other examples. But if you don’t speak Spanish, or Polish or Yiddish or Mandarin or any of those other languages then your association with those radio signals is probably rare or none.
Then there are those AM broadcasters who hang on to English. The most successful AM broadcasts in English seem to be in the news/talk area. And the talk hosts who seem to attract the most sponsors are the conservative ones.
Why?
Personal opinion alert!
I think the conservative listener is more likely to fire off letters to the editor, Senator, Congressman and Mayor. More likely to feel strongly enough about their opinions to show support toward sponsors.
I think it’s related to the size of the area served by the station. AM signals travel a lot farther than FM and talk radio shows have to reach a large audience to make money. The other night I was able to catch my favorite talk show from Iowa as a taped delay as I drove through Northern Ohio. I listen to a lot of AM while I’m driving because you can listen to the same station for hours, not possible because FM has limited range. I think that’s why truckers like AM. I think the “music sounds bad on AM” point is valid too.
from listinging to some AM radio hosts, it seems that AM was dieing from FM, this was due to better sound quality and music stations took most of the FM band. AM stations started scrambling and found that conserative hosts were very popular during the rush hour drive time, have to go now… get back to this later
I’ll second that, although I do like Rush. Morning shows suck! Just give us music!
–It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.