Photo of Lou Costello and Stephanie Miller from StephanieMiller.com
It's always sort of funny when I see that Stephanie Miller has caused some sort of ruckus in right-wing world. The comedian/radio talk show host is a liberal, so it isn't surprising that she is on their "big bad" list from the get go. But Stephanie is the daughter of Bill Miller, Barry Goldwater's running mate, making her sort of conservative royalty.
OK, maybe that's stretching things, but Stephanie is primarily a comedian, and her show is a laugh riot. She's not the female Rush Limbaugh, she's not even a funnier Randi Rhodes. She's harmless, and in this particular instance, she's correct.
What she's saying is, in several markets, when given a shot, liberal talk radio is competitive. But in most markets, it is not a fair fight. Liberal talk has been relegated (where it exists at all) to small, low-power radio stations. It hasn't even been given a chance to succeed. In some cases, the format has been pulled and replaced with lesser performing formats, making it appear that this is on purpose. The free market argument doesn't work here, because this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. It's more like apples and oranges (and oranges, and oranges and more oranges). Some cities run several conservative stations, sometimes with Limbaugh on more than one of them. You don't have to reach for your tinfoil hat to believe that there is an effort to squelch the format.
Still, the people commenting aren't getting that point at all. They insist that liberal talk falters because nobody wants to hear it. The free market has spoken! And they seem to think that Stephanie is some kind of squawking, hate-spewing liberal harpy. So they clearly have never sampled her show.
[Excerpt]
'Progressive' Talk Host Stephanie Miller Blames Liberal Radio Struggles on Station Owners
Everywhere it's been tried - liberal, or progressive as it's sometimes described as, talk radio hasn't taken off with the success conservative talk radio has.
Case and point - the top six of March 2009 Talkers magazine "Heavy Hundred" talk show hosts are conservative. The top liberal host, Thom Hartmann, come in at number 10. However, liberal talk show host Stephanie Miller appeared on CNN's April 5 "Reliable Sources" and insisted there is more at play than just pure market forces holding the liberal format back. . .
Read more at: "News"Busters
OK, maybe that's stretching things, but Stephanie is primarily a comedian, and her show is a laugh riot. She's not the female Rush Limbaugh, she's not even a funnier Randi Rhodes. She's harmless, and in this particular instance, she's correct.
What she's saying is, in several markets, when given a shot, liberal talk radio is competitive. But in most markets, it is not a fair fight. Liberal talk has been relegated (where it exists at all) to small, low-power radio stations. It hasn't even been given a chance to succeed. In some cases, the format has been pulled and replaced with lesser performing formats, making it appear that this is on purpose. The free market argument doesn't work here, because this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. It's more like apples and oranges (and oranges, and oranges and more oranges). Some cities run several conservative stations, sometimes with Limbaugh on more than one of them. You don't have to reach for your tinfoil hat to believe that there is an effort to squelch the format.
Still, the people commenting aren't getting that point at all. They insist that liberal talk falters because nobody wants to hear it. The free market has spoken! And they seem to think that Stephanie is some kind of squawking, hate-spewing liberal harpy. So they clearly have never sampled her show.
[Excerpt]
'Progressive' Talk Host Stephanie Miller Blames Liberal Radio Struggles on Station Owners
Everywhere it's been tried - liberal, or progressive as it's sometimes described as, talk radio hasn't taken off with the success conservative talk radio has.
Case and point - the top six of March 2009 Talkers magazine "Heavy Hundred" talk show hosts are conservative. The top liberal host, Thom Hartmann, come in at number 10. However, liberal talk show host Stephanie Miller appeared on CNN's April 5 "Reliable Sources" and insisted there is more at play than just pure market forces holding the liberal format back. . .
Read more at: "News"Busters
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