Talk Radio Decline

Wasn't it inevitable that people would get tired of it? I can't stand Dr. Laura, and I never did listen to Rush that much. I listened to Michael Medved for a while before I got tired of his formula of bringing on goofy people who have said or written something outrageous and then arguing with them. Bill O'Reilly just gets more arrogant every day.

I'm a fan of Hugh Hewitt, because he seems like a guy I'd enjoy hanging out with, and he has the better guests than anybody else. But most of his guest hosts bore me to tears. A conversation with interesting people is more interesting than any monologue or series of callers who get 15 seconds to express themselves.

Talk radio soared because it served a market that all the other broadcasters were ignoring. AM radio wasn't the choice for music listening and was looking for something to revive it. Then Roger Ailes came along and found the key. Now the field is glutted with talk hosts and we're seeing a shakeout.