TheY SAid iT iN 2007

AL
PETERSON
Issue 30
News • Talk • Sports Weekly
They Said It In 2007
As we wind down the
year, here’s a look back
at some of the notable
quotes from some of the
people who help make Talk
radio the most listenedto format in America:
“In a fragmenting society,
connection is huge, and Talk
radio is extremely good at
connecting with people.”
— John Parikhal
Joint Communications
“Occasionally, regrettable
things will be said on live radio, and when that happens
it’s our job to make sure we
don’t sacrifice a valuable employee to satisfy some group
with a cause.”
— Bruce Gilbert
Red Zebra Radio
“At the end of the day, it’s
not about female talk or hot
talk or political talk; it’s about
December 7, 2007
much tougher row to hoe because there are simply not as
many progressive stations as
conservative stations.”
— Bill Press
Jones Radio Networks
“I’m at a stage of my life now
Talk content that connects and
entertains.”
— Mark Ramsey
Mercury Radio Research
“When your station talks
about what’s going on in your
market — instead of talking
mostly national and maybe
now and then the network hits
on your city — those are the
stations that will be most successful over the long run.”
— Mark Chernoff
WFAN/New York
when I think about my country, I think about the kind of
country my kids are going to
grow up in. I’ve never craved
the job of President, but I
want to do some things that
only a President can do.”
— Fred Thompson
ABC Radio Networks
“I think the biggest reason
that young males don’t listen
to Talk radio is because, for
the most part, they don’t find
much they’re interested in listening to.”
— Jeff Carter
WGKA/Atlanta
“I don’t believe there is any
“Google and other top-bill-
corporate boardroom conspiracy to scuttle or undermine progressive Talk. But as
a practitioner, I must say it’s a
ing websites don’t bonus a
free radio schedule with each
order. Too many radio stations offer their Web assets as
(continued on page 3)
Talk’s 25 Most Influential Hosts
The December issue of Newsmax (www.newsmaxstore.com) magazine offers the editors’
opinion on the 25 top Talk radio hosts who have
had the most influence on shaping the political and social landscape in America in 2007. The
magazine compiled its rankings based on several
factors such as radio audience size and the host’s
global media reach outside of radio, including cable TV, syndicated columns, books, etc.
1.Rush Limbaugh (Premiere Radio Networks)
2.Bill O’Reilly (Westwood One/FOX News)
3.Don Imus (ABC Radio Networks)
4.Michael Savage (Talk Radio Network)
5.Sean Hannity (ABC Radio Networks)
6.Laura Ingraham (Talk Radio Network)
7.Glenn Beck (Premiere Radio Networks)
8.Dr. Laura Schlessinger (Take OnThe Day LLC)
9.Neal Boortz (Jones Radio Networks)
10.Al Franken (formerly of Air America Radio)
11.Mike Gallagher (Salem Radio Network)
12.Mancow (Talk Radio Network)
13.Howard Stern (Sirius)
14.Bill Bennett (Salem Radio Network)
15.Opie & Anthony (CBS Radio / XM)
16.Ed Schultz (Jones Radio Networks)
17.Michael Medved (Salem Radio Network)
18.Randi Rhodes (Air America Radio)
19.Jim Bohannon (Westwood One)
20.G. Gordon Liddy (Radio America)
21.Diane Rehm (NPR)
22.Larry Elder (KABC/Los Angeles)
23.Michael Reagan (Radio America)
24.Tammy Bruce (Talk Radio Network)
25.Tom Leykis (Westwood One)
©200 7 News • Ta lk • S p o r t s Airc h ec k ™ — Al l r i g hts re s e r ve d. To s u bs c r i be v i s i t www.ntsaircheck.com
News • Talk • Sports Weekly
December 7, 2007
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Airchecklets
Satcaster News
Congrats to Premiere Radio Networks SVP/Publicity Amir
Forester and husband Kevin on the arrival of Ella Dominique
Forester, born Dec. 1. Mom, Dad and Ella are enjoying a short
period of bliss before the sleep deprivation sets in ... Best wishes for some sleep also go out to EA Sports PD Nate Lundy
and his wife on the birth of new daughter, Maggie ... WPHT/
Philadelphia morning host Michael Smerconish has co-authored the just-released book, Murdered By Mumia. All proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to the Justice For
Daniel Faulkner Foundation, supporting the children of murder victims in Philly ... Fourteen-year WHAS/Louisville evening host Joe Elliot exits his fulltime show but remains with
the station part-time as host of Sunday mornings ... WTKK/
Boston adds former Boston Herald reporter Michele McPhee
as 7-10pm weeknight host at the Greater Media Talk outlet ...
KNEW-KQKE/San Francisco PD Bob Agnew is o-u-t as a result of budget cutbacks at the Clear Channel Talk duo. Reach
out to him at [email protected] ... WSB/Atlanta night host
Chris Krok exits and is looking for his next challenge. Contact
him at [email protected].
Sirius Satellite Radio CFO David Frear told investors this
week that the company remains optimistic that it can close on
its proposed acquisition of XM Satellite Radio by the end of
the year ... XM will be the exclusive satellite radio network for
all five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) football games to be
held in January 2008. As the official satellite radio network for
the six BCS conferences, XM will air the Allstate BCS National
Championship, FedEx Orange Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl,
Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl.
Network/Syndication Aircheck
KABC/Los Angeles adds ABC Radio Networks’ Imus In The
Morning for a 3-5am (PT) live clearance of the WABC/New
York-based show ... KGOE/Eureka, CA becomes affiliate
No. 32 of the independently syndicated Free Talk Live with Ian
Bernard ... Congrats to Jim Blasingame, who celebrates his
10th year as The Small Business Advocate this month. The daily
show is syndicated through Skip Joeckel’s Talk Shows USA ...
The Money Pit, hosted by Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete,
adds KGIL/Los Angeles and simulcast partner XESRF/
Tijuana-San Diego as the Talk Shows USA-distributed weekend program’s latest affiliate ... Air America Radio host and
Wilbur Entertainment-syndicated Jon Elliott is added to the
lineup at WVKO/Columbus, OH, where his This Is America
program will air from 10pm-1am nightly.
Gig Alerts
WSYR/Syracuse is looking for anchors and reporters, fulland part-time. Email mp3 audio and resume to jasonfurst@
clearchannel.com ... Metro Networks’ Providence, RI bureau
is searching for a general assignment reporter. Contact Bureau
Chief John Carpilio at [email protected] ...
As year-end “restructuring” is now in full swing, NTS Aircheck
Weekly is happy to print contact info for anyone seeking their
next gig. Send your contact information to Al Peterson at Al@
NTSAircheck.com. Notices of openings, and contacts for those
looking, are always free as a service to our industry.
The Gang’s All Here!
Taking a bow at this week’s live broadcast of the return of Don Imus
to radio on WABC/New York are Imus In The Morning cast members
Bernard McGuirk, Tony Powell, Larry Kenney, Karith Foster,
Rob Bartlett (as Bill Clinton), Imus and Charles McCord.
©2007 News • Ta lk • S p o r t s Airc h ec k ™ — Al l r i g hts re s e r ve d. S e n d n e ws to [email protected]
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News • Talk • Sports Weekly
December 7, 2007
(continued from page 1)
‘value added’ — a great way
to weaken, if not eventually
kill, this killer app.”
— Kipper McGee
WLS/Chicago
“If you want to do a niche
Talk format — Religion,
Spanish, Sports or all-politics
— then AM is a great place to
be. But if you want to build a
bigger and broader Talk station, you have to be on FM.”
— Russ Hill
KTAR/Phoenix
“When it comes to broadcast
regulation, the government’s
sole responsibility should be
to make sure that the technical
rules — staying on frequency
and within power specifications and coverage areas —
are adhered to, nothing else.
Hands off the content!”
— Paul Harris
KMOX/St. Louis
“I don’t think anyone could
do this job if they weren’t
having a blast. The threehour-a-day nature of it is a
brutal taskmaster.”
“Voters are looking for the
magic and someone who says
to them, ‘I can fix that.’ Right
now I think that’s an issue that
trends heavily in favor of the
Democrats, and it will be interesting to see how Republicans
— and conservative Talk radio
— address that issue.”
— Clark Howard
Jones Radio Networks
“I learned from my old days
in advertising how to write
the word ‘new’ on the package, and I’m just going to
keep on doing that until I run
out of room.”
— Joan Hamburg
WOR/New York
“I want people to appreciate, if they don’t already, the
dog they have and the dogs
that they did have in their
lives. And I want them to
think about the millions of
dogs who one day had loving
families and the next day find
themselves stuck in cages in
thousands of shelters across
the country.”
— Mark Levin
ABC Radio Networks
— Dennis Miller
Westwood One
“Life is a funny thing … it has
“Getting the message across
that we do life radio, not death
radio, has always been our
biggest challenge.”
a way of reminding you now
and then of just how lucky
you are to have what you have
and what is really important.”
— Selma Schimmel
The Group Room
— Al Peterson
NTS Aircheck
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