I'm a frustrated radio listener. For most of my adult life, I have been a fan of talk radio. I have lived in various parts of the country and have found local talk radio to be source to connect to a new area via news, events and sports.

I've lived in Portland for six of the past seven years. Local talk radio here is not that great. There are a few bright spots, but mostly, talk radio here in Portland is just syndicated canned programming that can be found anywhere in the country.

I'm just a listener so I'm doubtful a radio station cares about what I'd think, but here's my thoughts on Portland talk radio.

KPOJ: I like Thom Hartmann's local show, but six hours of Thom Hartmann (or any host) is too much air time. As far as the rest of KPOJ, it's just liberals (progressives) bashing conservatives. It gets old.

KXL: While KPOJ is liberals bashing conservatives, this is conservatives bashing liberals. Boring, boring and more boring. I like listening to Canzano's Show, but I wish it was hosted by someone else. I'd rather hear him as a guest than as a host. While he is a talented print journalist, I'd rather hear a broadcast journalist host a talk show.

KPAM: More conservatives bashing. Bob Miller has a great set of pipes, but the content of his show doesn't impress me. Victoria Taft has some interesting local topics on occasion. Unfortunately, most of her shows are about bashing democrats, the Portland City Council and the Oregonian. Phil Hendrie is great when he has his "guests", but I'm not fond of his political rants.

KEX: I do not listen to this station very often, but I do like to listen to Coast to Coast on occasion. Of course, I can catch this on about 10 AM channels at night so it's no biggy if I hear it on KEX or one of the other signals available at night. Mark & Dave in the afternoons are okay in small amounts. Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and Dave Ramsey are just canned programming that I can find in any city. Again, this is boring.

KUIK: I know very little about this station, but I do like Jeff Kropf's show. It seems different. Unfortunately, I live in southeast so the signal is tough to hear and I've only caught a few shows.

1080 the Fan: I do not consider The Fan to be a sports station. The station has ONE local show and that one show sucks. Since the station only has one local show, I think they should cancel the local show, rename the station 1080 ESPN and just run ESPN programming fulltime.

AM970: I'm a big fan of Rick Emerson's show. I know that not everyone likes his show, but I like the teamwork of him, Sarah Dylan and Tim Riley. I also like the show's relationship with the CNN folks. Unfortunately, Rick's show is the only local show on AM970. Dennis Miller is okay when he is talking about pop culture, books or sports, but I don't want to listen to his political rants. Tom Leykis is good at what he does, but I can only handle him in small amounts. Don & Mike are okay, but I'd rather hear something local. FOX Sports Radio runs in the early morning hours and this is a nice diversion from ESPN Radio. Unfortunately, it's not promoted well that FOX Sports is on AM970.

The internet allows me to listen to shows in other cities with local hosts so I'm thankful for online streaming and podcasts. It would be nice, though, if Portland had more local talk show hosts. Reading this board, though, makes me think there will be less and less local shows and more canned programming. Yuck.

I'm with you on all those political rant shows, I don't listen to either side. It's All Boring! You didn't mention "John & Jeff" on AM970. I find them entertaining and a good substitute if "Coast To Coast AM" is talkin' about drugs. Another show I listen to at times overnight is "Dr. Joy Browne" on KPAM and the show that follows at 4:00am to 5 "The Wall Street Journal Report". That show I find very enlightening on diverse subjects they cover.

He actually talked about KXL without mentioning Lars Larson!

Rick Emerson is unique because the show is young sounding, smart, and politically aware without being dry. I have not heard another show like it in any other city.

The best parts of the KEX schedule, in my opinion, are Sunday afternoons, which feature Dr. Dean Edell, the ABC News "This Week" news summary, and "The Sunday Magazine" public affairs show.

Hendrie is good, but I don't find him as enjoyable as I did on his older show, when there used to be a lot of interaction between the "guests" and unsuspecting callers.

Bob Miller's show used to be a lot more fun when it was on KEX in the late 1990s, and KEX was still full-service. He had a lot more latitude on what he could do with the show back then.

I, too, like Joy Browne, but I much preferred Tom Parker when he did overnights at KPAM. He was great. I wish he was on in the afternoons somewhere in Portland.

Yes, Emerson is very unique and different than any other show that I've ever heard. I love Tim Riley and wish he was a bigger part of the show. I always enjoy it when Tim talks about the radio business - past, present or future.

Emerson is very good. I try to catch his show when I'm not at work, which unfortunately is rare. Some of his sponsors amuse me!

Listen to the podcast!

I used to listen to the radio alot when driving. Now, I still listen to "the radio", except it's a day-or-two old podcast of the Emerson show from my Ipod Nano... all Emerson, all the time. I find it's a lot more enjoyable when I can control the content - when I get to where I'm going, I can turn the car off and when I come back the show will be waiting for me, right where I left off! No commercials is nice too, although I do miss out on the live-read banter and other bits like the Onion radio news. Also they used to run the podcast "dumpless", so you got to hear the stuff that got dumped... too bad that had to change.

Hey Alfredo_t,
I enjoy Dr. Dean Edell and Bill Handle on the Law on KEX on Saturdays.

Does anyone still carry Motor Man Leon Kaplan? I love Tom & Ray Magliozzi on PBS, but all those car shows are useful to me.

The Motorman on Demand

don from salem:
you really should tune into the LOCAL talk shows on your own Salem radio station, KYKN.
There is a great Saturday morning show at 9 and a live local morning person M-F 6a to 9a.
And Dr. Dean is on as well. Everything you need from your own radio station without going up north on the dial.
Shop Local!

Most talk is politically oriented. Phil Hendrie's show is seldom mentioned or maybe listened to. Tom Parker never found his way doing talk, which may not be his fault. A better PD may have given him better feedback on what he could do to be different. Rick Emerson and Sara Dylan have a he said/she said banter which is unusual. Their current events discussions with the rest of their crew seem to bring the energy level down. Can't think of anything else that's not political on Portland talk radio, which is typical nationwide.

Can't think of anything else that's not political on Portland talk radio...
You can also "Find Jesus" on talk radio, if you're not keen on doing so at a church - or if you wish you could be at church 24/7.

Dave Ramseys show - about money/finances - is in the top 15 of top programs.......

Hey-nobody's mentioning KBNP, "The Money Station!"

KBNP is all brokered time and infomercials with barely a listener. We're talking about actual radio stations doing local talk, not to be confused with the local huckster/business person buying a block of down time or an hour on weekends calling themselves an expert in whatever they're pitching.

For what it is, Al Sharpton's show on 1480 KBMS is pretty good.

Herb

Al's local???? WOW! I'm going to have to keep an eye out for him in the Pearl...

I thought that there was a local guy that did mornings on KBNP. I haven't checked lately. I do not know whether he bought his block of airtime or if he is an employee of the station.

As I said above, I'm not a radio person - just a listener. I realize that all radio shows are advertiser driven, but is it really that much cheaper for radio stations to play the canned national programming instead of having a local host? I would think local advertisers would be more supportive of a local host than a national host. Is it easier to sell for a national host than a local host?

Sorry for the dumb questions. I spend a lot of my time at work doing detailed work. Having a great radio show to listen to makes the day go much better. It's so frustrating to hear the same canned programming that my mom is listening to 3,000 miles away. I listen to podcasts, but ideally, I'd prefer something local.

Kanawha28....

It's a lot cheaper and easier to run Rush Limbaugh, for instance, than it is to hire someone who can garner the same ratings. Something to keep in mind is the larger markets depend a lot more on national/regional buys placed by agencies for their revenue than local direct. The agencies are buying numbers and generally couldn't give a whit about whether you are live and local.

Small markets rely much more on the local sales to drive revenue, but they also charge a lot less for spots meaning it can be tough to generate enough cash flow to hire talented people at a living wage to do a live local talk show.

There's plenty of exceptions to the above statements, but you'll find a lot of management types view the situation that way.

I don't know how a station like 970 stays in business. If you listen to the advertisers it's a bunch of small time businesses. And I bet the salespeople have to hustle just to get those. I know for a fact that a big time auto dealership in town was told it could have free commercial time and they turned it down. I guess it didn't want to even be associated with that station. As for Rick Emerson... I guess he's okay for 5 minutes... but that's it. Who are these guests he has on ? Are these people CNN radio personalities ? That's like having a sports talk show and interviewing football players on the practice squad. I'm glad there's a local show. But I have never gotten and will never get Emerson's appeal (if he has any).

Am 970 is one huge commercial for TMZ.

Picked up my brother the other day from the airport and I had on the Emerson show. He hated it. Its kinda the feeling I get from alot of people. I personally listen to it but after 4 Britney watches a day it gets a bit boring.

Ohwell, atleast it give Marconi some material to steal from.

Check out the Portland Business Journal poll results:

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/02/18/daily40.html?surroun d=lfn

Lundun,

Thanks for the info. That makes sense, but it is still very sad to me. I was listening to Thom Hartmann the other morning and his local show is so much better than his national show.

Podcasts are great. Lately, I've been listening to podcasts of shows in other cities. I've even started putting MP3s of Phil Hendrie from 2005 and 2006 (back when he was a litlte better in my opinion) on my MP3 player. How I love Margaret Gray, Doug Danger, Bobbie Dooley and Steve Dooley!

I'm sure I'm spoiled, but that Business Journal "poll" seems pretty worthless. Let's see the results:

The results: 38 percent said "Are you kidding. I can't stand it;" 29 percent said "A great source of information;" 18 percent said "It's entertaining, but I don't take it seriously;" and 13 percent said "I passively listen sometimes."

Nice data. Seems to indicate that 60% of the respondents, and no telling how many there are or what demos they fall in, are listening to talk radio. They're merely entertained by it, albeit passively. Hey, as a radio guy, I'll take it!

In talk radio, what you do is play the hits for your base. Of course you try to lead the way and have an edge and make a name, but you're basically spinning the tunes for your target. Thom's no better than Lars. They're both handsomely rewarded for sincerely pandering to their peeps.

Seems to indicate that 60% of the respondents, and no telling how many there are or what demos they fall in, are listening to talk radio.
Exactly... just like the people who listened to Howard Stern because they couldn't stand him (OK, I'm not a fan either, and half of it had to do with how he ended up in the Portland market 10 years ago even though that has no bearing on the content of the programming). Even if people listen and disagree, they're being entertained. And, in this day and age where nobody really knows what's in their investment portfolios (especially those hazy mutual funds where they simply say the money is invested in a 'representative set of the market' or whatever), chances are good they're getting their rate of returns because of the stock of either the company that broadcasts the show and/or the advertisers on it.

Thom's no better than Lars.

Really?

IMHO, that's worth some greater discussion. Doesn't detract from your main point; namely, "play the hits", but I don't think that's cut 'n dried.

(and I like Lars, just to take that off the table right now)

Thom's no better than Lars.

I knew somebody would take that bait. From an purely objective standpoint, that's entirely true. Both are paid by corporate owners to achieve ratings locally and nationally upon which advertising is sold. Both are evaluated by their bosses on identical capitalistic criteria. Both are staunchly effective spokesmen for their points on the political spectrum--in other words, they play the hits. Just different hits.

Subjective factors--such as who's right, and who's an intolerant, and intolerable, bag of wind, is entirely in the ear of the beholder.

....As I said above, I'm not a radio person - just a listener.........."I would think local advertisers would be more supportive of a local host than a national host. Is it easier to sell for a national host than a local host?

I'm an ex- radio guy and I think the same way but, for Corporate radio the bigger margin with syndie talk is more attractive to the stock holder. The local listener is not the mouth mama bird feeds first!

How many of you remember FENWICK??

FM sports talk is coming boys & girls. Save this post!!

I'm assuming Rome will be part of the line up...

FM sports talk = KVMX?

Is FM Sports Talk successful anywhere? I can't even think of any stations, popular or not!

The big word around town is that Jammin' 95.5 will switch to all sports in the next few months. The will have Jim Rome, ESPN and Westwood One.

I don't get it; why would they abandon young women?

95.5 FM Sports Talk Radio Oregon

first talk show I recall listening to in the S.F.bay Area:
kya 1260 "Action line" sunday 10PM till midnight.hosted by one of the DJ'stheme song was "Everybody's talking at me"Subject matter was things that young audience was interested in!!
Dr. Bill W. on KGO810 sunday agternoons.he was well known because of his comments about issues with the BART rapid transit system. zzzzsame guy who is still on kgo sat and Sun late evenings!!!

I am not a radio industry person, just a dedicated listener. I have a question for the experts.

On syndicated shows like Rush and C2C, does the local station get any money for the national adds ??

I can just barely remember Fenwick. 1966 or '67? I recall the largish newspaper ads run to introduce him (about six column inches), which impressed me as the first ad campaign given to radio talk locally.

I do remember listening to Don Porter before Fenwick's arrival. I think Dick Klinger hosted a call-in, too. For some reason I think of them as on KPOJ but it must have been KLIQ. '64 or '65? (I was only about ten then, so these are very dim memories.)

Back in those days, talk radio was strictly entertainment; nobody was trying to run for office. I find that idea scary, though it admittedly overlooks how Tom McCall commentated his way into politics. (I can dimly remember his last KGW newscast; I was about eight.) But he was serious, not a pundit.

In '73 I had a coworker (in real estate; I met a few radio people in that biz) who'd some years previously gotten stuck hosting a call-in show at drive time. He had a funny anecdote about that dilemma, but I won't repeat it if I've already posted it. (Didn't I?)

early talk show in the S.F. Bay Area...back to the 50's......can't recall the station...NBR, maybe KGO.....Ira Blue and "For Men Only". Can you imagine this show today..talk about politically correct!

I remember Ira Blue on KGO...10pm to 1am. He took that time slot after Les Crane left. I recall Les's show originating from "the hungry i"... I don't recall Ira Blue "For Men Only"...that must've been on another station before his KGO stint in the 60s...

Jeffrey - I also remember all three (Fenwick, Porter and Klinger) hosting that night time talk show on KPOJ 1330 at various times. I thought Fenwick kicked it off, but again, I wouldn't bet a dollar that's correct!

I recall Fenwick went to Seattle for awhile, then returned to Portland hosting a similar talk show on KGW in the evenings. The show was dropped after KGW fully committed to the Top 40 format. A bunch of KBPS'ers would gather once in awhile to go up to sit quietly in the studio during Fenwick's show...loosely known as the "John Hume Fan Club." (John was the producer/board op for Fenwick.) Both knew how to feed the fire of high schoolers fascinated with broadcasting...

I used to enjoy Fenwick as a high schooler listening on KGW. During the late 60s I found him quite enlightening in my adolescence...He could be a real crank sometimes and thats what I liked. It must have been his occasional juvenille obstinance that I was attracted to.

I remember two things very clearly : his use of the term " It seems to me "....and all the commercials for " Well Pland Insurance Co."

It seems to me that Fenwick was on KGW from 1962-68. If that's the case, he was long gone before the switch to Top 40 that evolved in late '69 after KINK's early success. I know he was still at KPOK when I arrived in '73 and had just left KKEY when I got there in '75.

Jeffery & Mark: You are correct. Fenwick was KPOJ's first talk show and he debuted on March 5, 1962 after he left KUIK. Fenwick moved to KOL to June 1, 1964. He returned to Portland radio over KGW on June 21, 1965, 9 to midnight. The Fenwick Show ended on KGW Sept 17, 1969.

In the late 1960's there was no one in Portland talk radio quite like Fenwick. He could be very blunt to callers if the person didn't know the subject. I would wait for those calls, hoping Fenwick had a bad day and would really lay into them! I also attended a Fenwick Show at KGW and was in the audience for the taping of the Fenwick TV Show, seen on KGW-TV late Sunday nights at I believe 11:30.

Dick Klinger debuted on KPOJ April 20, 1964 and was another great radio host. I remember Klingers's last night before moving to KGW-TV's morning show called "Telescope". People were calling in saying, no one could replace him and they would all miss hearing him. I was also sad about Klinger's move.

Thanks, Craig...I knew I could count on you for straightening out my memories!! Thanks, too, to Jeffrey & Dan for this side trip down Memory Lane!

To 62kgw..."Action Line" was hosted by Tom Campbell, the PD at the time of KYA. KYA had only a 1kw signal at night, so it was tough to hear them from Portland most of the time, but enough to try and explore regularly. It's also where I heard one of the coolest-sounding SF Top 40 personalities of the day, John Hardy.

Speaking of "Action Line," didn't KEX put on a weekly talk show feature aimed at teens at one time? I seem to recall a show that had a panel of teens for a 30 or 60 minute segment on Sunday nights talking about peer group issues...

It's a novel concept putting on programming to meet community needs, doncha think?

I agree that Fenwick was one of the best of his time. (He used to joke about the fact that he went to KOL, where I believe his show was called "The Tower of Babble" at times, just before they flipped to Top 40 and then went to KGW just before they did the same.) He left KKEY and taught tai-chi under his given name, Jim Pearson.

"I remember Klingers's last night before moving to KGW-TV's morning show called 'Telescope'."

I remember that, too, Craig! I was Klinger's call-screener on KPOK's "Niteline" at the time (1971) and then worked briefly for his replacement, former KATU news anchor Bill Bartholomew.

As an aside about KPOJ...I remember that in 1970 (?) they made a heavily-promoted flip to a more contemporary music format and changed their AM call to KPOK. For weeks they counted down to the day when "everything" was "going to be OK." In the first book after the flip the only show that showed increased numbers was the one show least affected by the change...the night-time talk show. (then hosted by Ted Rogers) In a year or two, as I recall, KPOK flipped to an oldies format.

Aha. Then the newspaper ad I remember was for Fenwick's move back to town and to KGW in 1965.

Yes! I remember seeing the ad last year, when I did research on Fenwick for Ron Kramer's book. That's why I had all those dates quoted above.

Of course. The ad stuck in my mind because of its size (unusual for radio), but then that was the King Co. It had wacky text besides the caricature, which I can't recall, but it seemed to be trying to reposition call-in as something more sophisticated and sardonic than it had been--the tone previously being more like barbershop/diner chitchat, plus a few UFOs flitting around (taking the baton from the early '60s Bigfoot revival).

I remember the mid-sixties as pretty much the arc of Portland call-in radio, but after that I was a teen into rock and then on the other side of the country so I can't say for sure. (But when I landed back East in '74, I noticed none such there, on a dial that tuned from Boston to NYC.) I'd guess the deepening social turmoil of the late sixties made call-in shows difficult to do. (I can vaguely remember hosts struggling to limit calls to a specified topic toward the end.)

Oh, and by the mid '70s everybody had CB sets, the great party line during our age of malaise.

Apparently, I was mistaken about my previous post. It was just a feeling I had.

Don't want to take this off the local topic but this just came up today. What a Nightmare these Talk Show Hosts have been through at WILK with a harassing caller:

“Now you’re going to get it,” Foglietta said on a voice mail to Michaels. “If you don’t apologize to me, I want you to meet me in Old Forge and apologize to my face.”

“I’m going to come after you, I don’t care if you call the cops,” Foglietta said on the voice mail to Michaels. “I am so (expletive) mad, something regrettable will happen at the radio station. You’re pretty tough behind that microphone, but I will come find you. I swear something regrettable is going to happen over there.”

Read the entire article here:

http://www.timesleader.com/news/20080305_05_wilk_ed_ART.html

Wow! Thanks Craig for posting this. Small world...
I used to live just outside of Wilkes-Barre and listened to Lynn & Henry's show in the morning on my way to work. It wasn't the best AM radio show in the country but the topics were very relatable to the local area. The economy in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is not the best. Scranton is improving but Wilkes-Barre continues to struggle.

Great Talk Show News from All Access:

------------------KSL's 'Nightside Project' Back To Local------------------
BONNEVILLE Talk KSL-A-F/SALT LAKE CITY's "NIGHTSIDE PROJECT" returns to its local roots, returning to all-local material for all three hours 7-10p MT.
The show's second and third hours, consisting of more national content, had been aired on tape delay for overnights on sister Talk WWWT-A-F-WWWB-A (3WT)/WASHINGTON and Talk KTAR-F/PHOENIX, but the show is now heard solely on KSL and concentrating on local content and the development of hosts ETHAN MILLARD and ALEX KIRRY. MILLARD is also hosting an additional two-hour show at 10p MT weeknights called the "NIGHTSIDE AFTERPARTY."

I'd sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and not get back to sleep right away, so I'd plug in the airbuds to my Walkman...Talk for Gen Y; it's a great show!

Guess I'll have to dial 1160 earlier, and be stuck with Jim Bohannon overnights in Phoenix...or George Noory ALL OVER THE DIAL!

I remember listening to people like Herb Jepko/KSL (sp?), Bill Barker/KOA, and Al "Jazzbeau" Collins/KSFO in the early 70's. There was even a real all-request oldies' show on the KOA allnighter after Bill Barker departed the planet. Now it's satellite or my own PC for oldies and the more passive talk formats have gone the way of the buffalo.

I like the crackpot circus on "Coast to Coast." Some people will believe anything. Its formatting is curiously unsatisfying though--they play these long bumpers at the start of the hour, then that forced-ballsy announcer guy from Reno, then a brief hello from the host, and more damn C.Crane spots. It's a quarter past before they're interviewing some tin-hat troll to scare us with underground celestial giants from the future. This is radio. We want our trolls now!

Whatever happen to the Truckin' Bozo Show? I know his kid took over and some version of AM 620 ran it for a while.
I my opinion, it was old school and very entertaining. I thought it interesting that the Bozo spoke with a Kaintucky drawl (spit!) but hinted at a fairly liberal political viewpoint when chatting with his truckin' buddies out there.

I still have a T-shirt the ol' Truckin' Bozo sent me. I remember when 620 ran him at night, and he'd give shout-outs to the truckers at Jubitz. Anyway, he's mostly retired (Dale Sommers was his name), and his son Steve is doing the show on Dubya Ell Dubya, with a couple of affiliates.

Wow! The Truckin' Bozo is a show from my past! I grew up in Ohio. One time, on a trip back from a basketball game in Bloomington, Ind. to Columbus, I hit a terrible snow storm. It took me about 12 hours for a 3 1/2 hour trip. For five of the 12 hours, I listened to the Truckin' Bozo. He gave great updates from trucker's all over the region on how I-70 was doing at the time regarding travel.

Right! That's what radio should be all about..immediate, time-sensitive, entertaining, reactive to the moment, a dispenser of information and a keeper of company. BTW you check most of the top morning shows in any given market, and you find exactly those qualities.

Eastwood: Art Bell began the "Coast To Coast AM" spot format, running all spots at the beginning of each half hour. He did this because when he first started his national show, the breaks would come up in the middle of a good caller or interview. Also there were times Art would be so into an interview he'd forgot to break.

Art decided to move all breaks within a half hour, to the beginning, to clear the rest of the segment. He explained this to his listeners when the change was made. Before the change, it was a real interruption for the listener as well. I liked the change.