Because I do a LOT of driving, I have the opportunity to listen to a fair amount of talk radio. (About 2/3 of my radio time these days).

I'm curious what y'all think about the STYLE of various national and regional talk show hosts. Here, I'm not discussing their content, but rather how they deliver it and how they interract with guests/callers. In other words, if you want to bash Rush Limbaugh because he's a conservative, save it. If you want to bash him because he's bombastic, that's okay.

So, here's the one's I've heard a fair bit:

Rush Limbaugh - Somewhat bombastic, but has a self-deprecating sense of humour and irony. Generally an entertaining listen, but could be a bit more civil.

Sean Hannity - Not as bombastic as Rush, is usually more civil than Rush. Hard to derail, hard to slip things past him. What's the deal with Marteeeeeee?

Mike Savage - "Unpleasant" is a mild description. Extremely combative and generally nasty, seems to mistake nastiness for passion. A much uglier sense of ego, delights in viciousness. Poster child for the "mean conservative."

Dr. Laura - Best to listen in the first two hours, tends to become testier with callers as the show progresses. Has a maddening inconsistency in either jumping to conclusions about the caller's "dilemna" or letting the caller meander forEVER before getting to the question.

Mike Reagan - A bit too much Dad cheering going on, it can get annoying. Monologues run too long, reading of content needs to be livelier. Tends to be very civil with both callers and guests.

Bill O'Reilly - Annoying in how he sometimes handles "spin." Seems to be unable to actually present a simple "yes/no" question and then hold the respondent to just a "yes/no". He DOES tend to call them to account when they try to spin, but he could be more effective at it. Also, sometimes has the lawyerly habit of focusing on minutae. Takes too much delight in being abrasive.

Those are the one's that I have enough experience with to comment on. Savage isn't one that I'm going to spend much time listening to, since I don't have a shower in my car.... Larry King and Howard Stern drive me nuts, so much so that the few times I've encountered them on the radio I've just skated on by as quick as I can. NPR can be entertaining on occasion, but I can't stand that "NPR voice." Its like they somehow tried to cross Ben Stein with a flower child. I guess they're too refined to allow much passion to get into their voices or delivery. As for any other big radio talk show hosts, they either aren't in this market at all, or are on at times when I'm not in the car.

The one host I'd love to hear on the radio is Charlie Rose.

So, let's hear it, what's your take on their style?

I've heard a few of these guys and I don't like any of them.

I've seen Michael Savage's TV show and I've come to the conclusion he is an idiot. He is such a coward he never even gets anyone to dispute his viewpoint. All he does is spew conservative propaganda and he gets boring really quickly.

Laura Schlessinger should just calm down and stop telling people what to do. I would dispute calling her a Doctor because she holds no degrees in medicine.

I like Limbaugh. He's entertaining and very up on conservative theory; he could argue the merits of Eric Voegelin and Russell Kirk with Bill Buckley and do fine. Too bad it'd go right over most of the audience's heads.

Hannity is good too, very sharp, not as funny as Rush or as intellectual. (I know that'll come as a shocker to those of you who think Rush is dumb.)

Haven't heard Mike Savage but I don't think I'd like him. What I've read of his style sounds much too crude.

Dr. Laura only talks about people's personal problems, and on that stuff, Dr. Phil's advice is much better.

Mike Reagan is pleasant enough. I don't mind listening to him but I don't have any reason to seek him out.

O'Reilly I haven't heard on radio but I watch his TV show often. Based on that I agree with Bikerdad's assessment.

Some I like that you didn't mention:

Walter Williams, who often guest hosts for Rush, as does Hannity. Williams has a very friendly conversational style and is polite to everybody. He also has the substance, and it's refreshing to hear a libertarian on the air. I'll support him for President anytime.

Michael Medved, who like Williams is polite to everybody but no pushover. He's an Orthodox Jew and a very traditional conservative, but very smart and very substantial. Perhaps my favorite of all the hosts.

Some I wish were on where I live:

Larry Elder, whom I haven't heard but would love to, just because he's another libertarian and they're scarce on talk radio.

Neal Boortz, out of Atlanta. I haven't heard his radio show but I've seen him on TV. He's a libertarian with a "hot" angry style. Haven't heard that combo before, I'm curious.

It's late, but here goes...

Rush Limbaugh - Rush is what all the rest of the hosts dream they could be. Come on, this guy sets his own rules. He doesn't have guests because he doesn't want them. He rarely takes calls. He actually refers to monologue sections. Don't get me wrong, I like Rush to a certain extent, but he definitely makes sure you know how he feels on every single issue.

Sean Hannity - I really can't stand Hannity's show any more. He rarely has callers offering a different perspective, and when he does he and the follow-up callers simply trash them. Fine, I disagree with them a lot of the time too. But Hannity would've probably been banned long ago.

Mike Savage - I know it sounds like I'm bashing all of these guys, but I'm really not. Mike Savage drives me crazy. His warning about "verbal nudity" holds true, as he can paint some awful mental pictures to make his point. When he's on I always find myself wondering how he got a show.

Dr. Laura - Oh, Dr. Laura. D-R-L-A-U-R-A-! You know, sometimes I listen to her and think she's being flat out rude to her callers. Other times, I think her callers are so dumb that they need someone to be rude to them. After September 11th, she got very political, and that hurt her ratings. She would go entire segments without taking calls. When did it become the Dr. Laura political show? I also think she must be hard to work for, as she has had quite the staff turnover.

Mike Reagan - Mike Reagan's not bad. It just seems that every time I turn him on he is talking about child molesters and being molested as a boy. Enough already!

Bill O'Reilly - The man who wasn't in negotiation for his radio show apparently until the day it was launched. I don't like O'Reilly, so I'll just keep my mouth shut.

Neal Boortz - I like Neal Boortz. He takes a good mix of calls covering people who agree with him, and people who disagree with him. Plus, he tells pilot stories. Any host who does that will likely keep me listening.

Mike Gallagher anyone? He's harsh, rude, and flat out mean to his guests. I guess he does it to prove his point, but when he's wrong on the issue he looks like quite the fool.

G Gordon Liddy? The G Man? I like him. He's loaded with great stories. He can start a segment about the war, get sidetracked on antique firearms, and end up talking about diesel engines by the end of the segment. He's a stickler for spelling, grammar, and punctuation, which I like.

Glenn Beck? He's pretty good. More entertainment than politics most of the time. But, he does great skits that are really funny. He'll do whole segments that are complete jokes, and he's good at it. He's got a good "radio voice".

I haven't heard Liddy but he sounds like someone I'd like. I know of him from Watergate of course.

Haven't heard Gallagher's show, but I've seen him on The O'Reilly Factor a few times and he seem likeable enough though only semi-bright.

Never heard of Glenn Beck at all.

On a recent (March 2003) fly-drive holiday in New England, NY, VA and PA, I listened to a lot of talk radio.

As a Brit, it was pretty much all alien to me, except for NPR (very like BBC Radio 4, which I listen to most of the time here).

All the talk radio hosts seemed to be far more interested in advancing their agendas and opinions, and trashing anyone that disagrees with them, be they studio guests, phone-in callers, or just people in the media. All the hosts seemed to do this, whether they were on the right or left (there were far fewer that could be said to be on the left, and they seemed to get the deadspots in the schedules).

Not only that, but most of the guests or callers that didn't agree with the hosts tried to do the same thigns to them, albeit with the disadvantage of not being able to cut people off part way through because you disagree with them, and then carry on criticising them and their views as if they are still participating, which I noticed happened a lot, too.

I found them all colossally entertaining, for sure, but I couldn't help thinking that they aren't doing any great favours for the quality and tone of US political discourse.

It seems the only places in the US where civilised debate of issues, rather than ad hominem attacks and spittle-flecked rantings, however cogent the logic behind them, are in well-moderated debate sites like this one.

This is very different to broadcast media over here, where there are strict rules on impartiality and fairness - you can slate one side, but they have to be given the opportunity to slate you back. Simple logistics dictate that presenters on news & current affairs output therefore have to keep their opinions to themselves as far as possible, otherwise they'd have to give over half the output to people putting the other side of the story. (Our print media is correspondingly even more partisan - the national newspapers split approximately 60:40 right:left - and they are all much less careful of their facts compared with US newspapers.

bikerdad,

I know what you mean about the "NPR voice," which SNL has lampooned very well in older episodes. However, I'll take the NPR voice over the rantings and ravings of the logically challenged any old day.

Besides, you sometimes get a gem like Mr. Tongue from KISS making a complete *** NOTICE: THIS WORD IS AGAINST THE RULES. FAILURE TO REMOVE IT WILL RESULT IN A STRIKE. *** of himself--live, uncut, and completely real.

Limbaugh annoys me, but I do give him credit for being the original. Dr. Laura infuriates me, although her basic point about taking responsibility for yourself is valid. G. Gordon Liddy is interesting but falls into various self-set traps regularly. He does need a foil of some sort, and once in a while he gets that through a guest. I respect his intellectual powers and would probably enjoy him at a social gathering.

His latent homosexuality is a bit unnerving, though. Enough of the dirty old man bit, hey? The Harley, the bald head, the--well, obvious overcompensation. Then the ads for male enhancement hormones come on, and it just gets too bizarre.

But, many have left the airwaves around here in favor of music. That's interesting since this area is supposed to be the most conservative in Colorado. I suspect people get tired of being brow-beaten all the time, and the eternal mantra about how all our problems are caused by liberals--even after conservatives have gained all the power--is just too illogical for the most staunch.

Oh, and a lot of folks are off to war. Music needs to soothe jangled nerves.

I'm not familiar with the rest of them, but guess they're all about the same. Like pop music, eh?

One thing I like about the local NPR is that most of the day is filled with free-form music, and this often features local musicians who have cut CDs. There's a tasty blues hour too, at noon.

I see most of the political pundits as overpaid agitators. Don't know all of those mentioned well enough to comment on them individually, but any that use/abuse their show to cut off, demean, or limit the oppositions views are not worth watching or listening to. The group gropes where the 2 sides talk (yell) over each other I just can't follow.
Rush especially annoys me. I do not believe he represents the majority of conservatives. I know only a few (4 to 5 out of over 100 employees) from work who listen to him religiously and not one of them has ever had an opinion on an issue that didn't come from Rush. They don't read the papers, any of the news magazines, or even make the slightest effort to find out things for themselves. And 2 of them outright worship the man. I made one of them turn his radio down in the shop once and he about had a temper tantrum. Almost called me one of them leftie names when I suggested that if Rush's sponsors paid him to take the liberal view, he would change in a heartbeat.

I have to agree on Boortz. He puts callers who disagree with him to the front of the line, and he does not just trash them. If someone says something, he asks them to explain and justify it, unless they get really idiotic and start spewing stuff that makes no sense, and then he hangs up on them. (Mike Gallagher was on before they put Boortz in his place, and I must say I was relieved. All he did was call people pinheads.) I like Boortz's absolute "insensitivity" and his arguments with his sound man Royal. Boortz is on from Midnight to 3 AM when I am on my way home from work.

Glenn Beck has extremely funny skits, but he is on in the A.M. when I am in bed.

I know Allen Colmes has a radio show, but I do not know anywhere it is played. I would be very interested to hear how he sounds on the radio, since he usually handles Hannity pretty well on the TV show.

Mike Savage: Well, though I agree with him a good portion of the time, he is the most obnoxious person on tv, everytime I watch him I wonder why I do. Condescending, has the personality of the chair I'm sitting on.

O'Riley: I like him, he keeps people honest, you can't get anything past him.

Hannity: The best of the lot. Conservative without being an extremist. Not rude.

Limbaugh: I like Rush a whole lot. He has the most personality out of all of them.

CP

man..

I need to get out more. I've not heard any of these shows. I don't own a radio, but I don't suppose any of these shows are broadcast over the 'net are they?

I actually am quite interested in this debate, as I myself, have my own radio show, 10pm-2am Sunday night, at JSU's 92J. Listen to us on the web!

For the moment, I'm regular rotation, however, I still have the standard promo's etc., so let's hear what you like about each person up here, eh?

-Robert

Greenring,

Some of the shows I started the thread off with are available on the Web. Since I don't listen to stuff over the 'Net, I can only offer up with assurance Rush, available at RushLimbaugh.com, I think.... He talks about the "dittocam", which is how I know he's got a webcast.

Talk show hosts and cable news pundits are all following the same trend: Reasoned discourse doesnt get listeners, yelling and acting like a baboon does. Just ask Jerry Springer.

Savage: While I agree with his arguments at the core, his delivery needs some improvement. This guy is a ranter. He often says "And I'll prove it!", I'm still waiting.... He screams at callers that agree with him....talk about argumentative.

O'Reilly: I like him, he doesn't mull over any one topic too long and as many have said before, will call people on anything he thinks is a smoke screen....even if they're conservative.

Reagan: He's on pretty late here so I don't get to hear him much. I like his politics, but he can put me to sleep quickly.

Hannity: He's only been on the air here for a few weeks, but so far I think he is pretty entertaining, second only to Rush probably.

Rush: I laugh even when I disagree with him. This guy shows you the proof in the pudding more than any other host between quotes and actual taped events(audio of course). Even his website is entertaining. I think there's a good reason he's numero uno.

Rusty Humphries: He just recently obtained a national spot but has been on the air here for a while. What he lacks in content and overall knowledge he makes up for in his likable personality.

Bill,

I wouldn't generalize Rush's audience. I listen to Rush and tend to agree with him. I think he does represent the "conservative" view on most points. Sure he is a little too "anti-liberal" and he hates Clinton and will never cut the guy any slack, buy hey, everyone needs a gimmick.

Rush tends to back up his statements with audio quotes and news stories. His show is really about his opinions (as he states over and over again), not about anyone else's. Occasionally I will agree with Rush's conclusion while disputing his reasoning. The end result is the same.

Hannity only recently came on recently in Cleveland and he is actually on an Akron station. He seems civil on most issues, a little more civil than he is on Hannity & Colmes. He generally makes alot of sense but is a little too gung-ho patriotic.

Savage is a loon. I can't stand listening to that guy rant and rave about everything.

I like Glenn Beck. He makes sense and is humerous at the same time. He is very pro-troops (while not necessarily being pro-war).

I have only heard Bill O'Reilly a few times. While I tend to agree with him on most issues, on some I think he is just plain wrong (death penalty). He has a Catholic stance on most issues and tends to call people on perceived "spin". Not bad, but not exciting either.

I used to listen to Dr. Laura years ago. She was a bit preachy for me, but made sense on alot of (personal) issues. I have no idea what her show is like now.