# Why is talk radio so influential in the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** radio-podcast\ **Created:** [October 21, 2020, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475 "2020-10-21T08:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/1 "2020-10-21T08:26:54Z")
I live in Europe and I almost never listen to the radio, I never got the habit. I have one in my car, of course: the car came with it. But I never switch it on. My friends use the radio more than me, but as I understand it they do it mostly to listen to music or to get local news. The genre of talk radio seems to be not common in here, but I may be wrong. The way I understand it, in the USA some talk radio hosts are extremely popular and influential (I got the idea from [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-replaces-rush-limbaugh-at-the-golden-microphone/923451) recent thread about Rush Limbaugh). It seems to me from afar that talk radio is very cheap to produce compared to television or movies: it is basically just a person with a microphone. I wonder what kind of person listens to those shows and when. Do you listen while commuting, sitting in your car? In the kitchen, while cooking? Alone, with your children, with friends? Do you pay attention to the content or is it just background noise? Could someone post a link to some examples, so I get an idea what this radio is about and what it sounds like? I guess there are quite different styles and contents, just consider me completely ignorant on this subject, I never _got_ radio, I always prefered to listen to my own music. I am not criticising radio, just asking about a phenomenon I read about when I should probably just experience it to understand it. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/2 "2020-10-21T08:52:04Z")
Can’t speak for the US, but radio stations in the major cities here in Aus are popular because they offer talk-back. 99% of the time they are right-wing shock-jocks who promote the identical ideologies that the RW in the US promulgate. Many of the outlets are owned by Rupert Murdoch just by the by. It resonates with the working-class and the disenfranchised who want a voice. Unfortunately, the aims of the Murdochs and the aspirations of the callers are often two different things…with obvious outcomes. I don’t do radio either, although I used to when I lived in Melbourne…just to hear what the opposition was rambling about. That was many years ago… ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/3 "2020-10-21T09:34:40Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I live in Europe and I almost never listen to the radio, I never got the habit. I have one in my car, of course: the car came with it. But I never switch it on. My friends use the radio more than me, but as I understand it they do it mostly to listen to music or to get local news. Listening to the radio while driving is popular in Romania. I prefer to listen to music and, sometimes, news. There is a wide range of people who enjoy listening to talks on hot topics, especially political ones. There are certain talk programs where people can call and express their opinions or debate with the host. I often travel to Italy and I noticed a similar phenomenon there. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/4 "2020-10-21T09:45:09Z")
As noted by @kambuckta, in Sydney talkback radio is the prevailing media and has similar traits and creatures of the microphones as the US. The recently retired and “Rush-like” Alan Jones was the most prominent of the antipodean reptiles. It wasn’t without foundation that Sydney was referred to as “[Jonestown](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown:_The_Power_and_the_Myth_of_Alan_Jones)” > **[Alan Jones (radio broadcaster)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Jones_(radio_broadcaster))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > > Alan Belford Jones AO (born 13 April 1941 or 1943) is an Australian former radio broadcaster. He is a former coach of the Australia national rugby union team and rugby league coach and administrator. He has worked as a school teacher, a speech writer in the office of the Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, and in musical theatre. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, and completed a one-year teaching diploma at Worcester Coll... ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/5 "2020-10-21T12:38:26Z")
Talk radio is inextricably tied to driving/commuting. There’s no better opportunity to work up the rabble and maximize resentments than when your audience is stuck in traffic on the way to a job they hate. I kind of hope one upside of the new, albeit temporary, work-from-home economy is the death knell of talk radio. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/6 "2020-10-21T13:07:36Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Many of the outlets are owned by Rupert Murdoch just by the by. In my opinion Rupert Murdoch has been the most poisonous thing to happen to western democracies in recent history. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/7 "2020-10-21T13:08:53Z")
I fully agree. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/8 "2020-10-21T13:48:20Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > In my opinion Rupert Murdoch has been the most poisonous thing to happen to western democracies in recent history. I have said the same thing for years. I even started a thread about this some years back but curiously got no traction. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/9 "2020-10-21T14:25:23Z")
Talk Radio is pretty popular here in the UK. I listen to BBC Radio 4 for most of the day (bit more highbrow than the average talk radio, they commission radio plays with well-known actors as well as interviewing politicians). There are a bunch more, mainly commercial stations, which are a bit more ranty. (BBC is classed as ‘non-commercial’ because it doesn’t carry ads). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/10 "2020-10-21T15:36:51Z")
Because many people need validation that their nominally-offensive attitudes and beliefs are accepted. That they are not alone - others, too, believe liberals are taking their jobs. (Is there even such a thing as left-wing talk radio?) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/11 "2020-10-21T15:41:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > (Is there even such a thing as left-wing talk radio?) Not on nearly as broad a scale. There was an attempt to launch a progressive/liberal talk network, [Air America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_America_(radio_network)) (its hosts included Al Franken and Rachel Maddow, before they went to the Senate and MSNBC, respectively), but it folded in 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/12 "2020-10-21T15:51:41Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Do you listen while commuting, sitting in your car? It’s 115 miles from my house to the office. Listening to the radio keeps me up to date on the news. I don’t listen to talk radio though (or commercial radio, unless I want to hear a traffic report). I listen to National Public Radio for news, and a publicly-funded station for music. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/13 "2020-10-21T16:21:16Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Do you listen while commuting, sitting in your car? In the kitchen, while cooking? Alone, with your children, with friends? Do you pay attention to the content or is it just background noise? As several others have already noted, many Americans’ radio listenership primarily occurs while they’re commuting to and from work. It’s a big part of why, for many radio stations, the two “dayparts” which get the highest listenership are referred to as “morning drive” (typically considered to be 6am - 10am) and “afternoon drive” (typically 3pm - 7pm). For a lot of Americans, this is time that they spend by themselves, in their car, often for an hour or more. Within “talk radio,” there’s four basic flavors: - Political talk, which is what we’ve mostly been talking about in this thread. In the U.S., it’s predominantly conservative hosts, sometimes interviewing guests, but often just talking about their opinions and observations on events. Many of these hosts are nationally syndicated (such as Rush Limbaugh); others may be local. - News talk, which usually has more of a journalistic focus rather than opinion. National Public Radio (NPR) stations often fall into this format; if the OP, as a non-American, is familiar with BBC’s World Service radio, it’s similar – a mix of current news reporting along with longer-form documentaries and interviews. There are a small number of commercial radio stations (mostly in the biggest cities) which are 24/7 news, and many stations which are primarily political talk also carry news programming (typically a short segment ot “top stories” every hour or half-hour). - Sports talk, which is a lot like political talk, only it’s about sports. Shows typically have one or two hosts, talking about current sports stories, interviewing athletes and coaches, and talking with listeners who call in with questions or opinions. Many of these shows are local, but ESPN (the big cable TV sports network) also offers syndicated national programs. - Personality talk (I’m not sure if this is the right name for it), which is a host or hosts talking about stuff in general. These are typically comedy-oriented, and often somewhat risque. Howard Stern is the best-known host of this kind of show, though he moved his show from traditional radio to satellite radio 15 years ago; there are also local hosts who do similar sorts of shows. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/14 "2020-10-21T19:50:39Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > (Is there even such a thing as left-wing talk radio?) NPR ? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/15 "2020-10-21T20:09:50Z")
NPR is not left wing. It’s not even liberal. Pacifica radio is leftist. But it’s not left wing. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/16 "2020-10-21T20:29:14Z")
I’ve discovered Urban View on Sirius XM, because my car came with subscription I found the music stations I liked, the BBC, NPR, POTUS (for talk) and Fox to keep it f&b😉. Was missing out on the black community, I knew I could find white voices on Free Speech TV and Democracy Now. Once I found UV I tune in on my commute. Joe Madison and Clay Cane are the shows on my drive time. I love how Madison calls out BS callers on his show. Clay is mellower, I switch between his shoe and Dan Abrams on POTUS in the afternoon. But a few weeks ago the Deep Dive channel had a curated Bon Dylan program where he chose songs based on a theme. Loved listening to Dylan cackle and storytell. Tune in here for Urban View [SiriusXM Urban View | SiriusXM](https://www.siriusxm.com/channels/siriusxm-urban-view) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/17 "2020-10-21T21:02:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > NPR is not left wing. The only people who believe NPR is left-wing are those who are immune to facts and beyond hope. Many is the time I’ve cringed at their Conservative interviewees. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/18 "2020-10-21T22:07:31Z")
restaurants used to have “Rush rooms” so you could listen at lunch. and he traveled around giving speeches. That was in the late 80s , early 90s. BTW he never voted for Regan, he never registered to vote until 1988 when his show went national. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talk-radio-so-influential-in-the-usa/923475/19 "2020-10-22T02:43:22Z")
Nice Polite Republicans