2010 'heavy hundred' ain't so heavy

As always, it’s mystifying as well as snoringly predictable.

What could be so paradoxical? It’s the “Heavy Hundred,” the rankings of national talk hosts that editors of Talkers magazine make each year by reading chicken guts, scoping ad sales possibilities, and making sure no toes are stepped on.

(One year, after they bumped Rush down to no. 2,  he flexed his industry muscles, and made such a stink, they ignominiously redid the list with El Rushbo back up on his rightful perch).

The magazine, self-proclaimed as the "Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media,” strains for HH to be the Oscars of talk radio, and as usual we're underwhelmed.

It's a quirky list; made to promote the magazine's influence in the industry; kiss industry ass, and sell those large, colorful, spendy ads. (Syndicators, agents, and stations show their love to their famously egotistical but needy talent by putting their faces in big ad lay-outs in Talkers, or so they say).

What are the criteria to get in the list? It's not just numbers - the august editors claim their "painstaking compilation" is based on courage, effort, impact, longevity, potential, ratings, recognition, revenue, service, talent and uniqueness.

In other words, they pull it out of their ass.

It's an annual ritual- those who make the list use it on their résumés and promo the shit out of it; and those who don't -- scoff.

Although Talkers is an industry coffee table rag, it gets cred because reporters have no place else to go when they need national radio ratings (those numbers are tightly guarded by those who’ve paid for them). Media cites the Talkers lists despite they are to scientific ratings what Intelligent Design is biochemistry.

When talk radio needs a spokesman, dapper publisher Michael Harrison is very, very available, and can be counted upon to make bland, authoritative pronouncements about talk radio any time the topic becomes of national interest.

Talkers is a dinosaur- an oversized, monthly, print mag that got original online content on their primitive website very late in the game. It depends on those vanity print ads, seminars, and tours.

The top 10: 1. Rush 2.Hannity 3. Glenn Beck 4. Michael Savage 5. Dr. Laura 6. Laura Ingraham 7. Dave Ramsey 8. Mark Levin 9. Lou Dobbs 10. Thom Hartmann.

From Seattle, Kirby Wilbur was long in the Hundred" (no. 72 last year) but now he’s gone, of course. Michael Medved who’s local but nationally syndicated dropped to 23 from 21st. In the “also on the radio dep’t” (between 101st- 250th places) are Seattle talkers, Dave Boze (KTTH) Dori Monson (KIRO) Dave Ross (KIRO) John Carlson (KVI, KOMO). 

Comments

[Andrew]

ok, but how does this list improve my quality of life?

[sparky]

Dr Laura, huh. I didn't realize there were so many women out there with such low self esteem that they turn to HER for help. That is really sad.

[casualobserver]

An analog relic of a trade magazine.

There are really only ten talk hosts who truly matter in terms of ratings and revenue and in truth, it's more like five. The rest write bad books and occasionally show up on MSNBC or Fox during the weekends.

[AprilMayJune]

It is significant that Thom Hartman is #10. There is no criterion for this rating list, and I doubt that Thom bought his way to #10. Therefore, he has impressed them in one way or another.

[Peeroy Jabbar]

YOU MIGHT AS WELL call Savage Dr. Michael Savage if your going to list Schlesinger as Dr. Savage has a PhD. in Epidemiology. The Repulsive Miss S has a Doctoral degree in Physiology- she is not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. The bitch knows people assume she is one because of the Dr.after her naem- this is a little scam she has been legally running for years. She has a certificate in Family Counseling. Moneygrubbing, abusive/insulting biotch.......

[KS]

So where in the hell on this list is the cover guy - Bill Handel in this so-called survey ? This doesn't look much different from last year, as mentioned. Thom Hartman - the token rational (left) wingnut (that applies to both far left and far right wingers) made the list - what no Randi Rhodes ? Dave Ramsey was a good pick - too bad he is not heard here.

[sparky]

At least Bla'M didnt post a link this time to the grizzly bear picture.

[Peeroy Jabbar]

i was shocked when i found out what the Dr. stood for after Schlesinger's name after hearing he foryears and sssuming, like 99.999...% of everyone else that she was a psychologist or a psychiatrist. her degree isnt even moderastely related to what she does for a living...then i became angry and i thought this is one of the sleaziest, and most cynical things i've ever seen a public person do.... all within the "letter of the law" of course, but that doesn't stop perceptive people from calling her out as the ultimate douchebag......

[Peeroy Jabbar]

i remember this bitch Dr. Laura (she went by Dr. Laura Schlesinger in her early years) came on the air years and years ago, in the eighties, when several, or at least two that i can remember clearly, actual psychiatrists or psychologists with doctorates in psychology had just come on the air doing advice radio talkshows using their "Dr.'s" before their names. There was Dr. Joy Brown and a male talkhost from back east who was a psychiatrist. This sleazy creep jumped in amongst these true mental health professionals just as they were getting popular , with the misleading and completely unethical, although technically accurate "Dr." before her name. At no time did i ever hear her do a "full disclosure" statement about the nature of her degree....

[Peeroy Jabbar]

No wonder Schlesinger's mother would no longer talk to her for years before she died... her mother lay dead in her house for weeks or months befor she was discovered....

[sparky]

Dont forget Dr. Frasier Crane!

[Peeroy Jabbar]

Before she stsrted her talkshow, way back when, I can just see Schlesinger meeting with her lawyer, some sleazeball guy like NYC mob lawyer Bruce Cutler, with an obnoxious Brooklyn accent, and a big fat cigar in his mouth, as he tells her " the beauty part is, babe, by the time any of the these poor schmucks figure out you're not really a "head doc", there's not a damn thing the putz'es can do about it. You're a Doctor , you're a Doctor, already! fahget about it, fahget about it! bwahahahahahahahahaah........ "

[Mike Barer]

If Massachusett's Jr Senator (a darling of the right) can cross over and vote with the Democrats, the president's popularity may not be as down and the Republicans may not be as galvanized as right wing radio and Fox would have you believe.

[Julia]

God bless Dr. Bill!

The nightmare scenario he depicts from the coming terrorist attack on the US is chilling. As he says it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when'. We need to be prepared. He is the steady hand on the tiller. This man is a true American hero.

[Tommy008]

Julia, you're not the same young wooman who was sending nude photos of herself to Dr. Bill some years back, are you? Dr. Bill said the photos would "make the flag pole stand up on a corpse".....this woman would constantly send letters to Dr. Bill, she was all hot to trot for him, especially when she found out that he had singlehandedly whipped the asses of a table full of lowlife bikers at a bar up in the mountains....I remember Clint Eastwood had to get involved. warning him against this stalker... Dr. Bill got her on the air and told her to quit dreaming about him and sending letters and photos because he had a woman and she had no shot with him.....

[Julia]

I love my country and men like Dr. Bill represent a time long ago when America stood as the beacon of optimism and hope. America was not contaminated by the cancer of corrupt politicians, lobbyists and soul-less beauracrats.

Today our country is in despair and unfortunately I fear the future for the generations to follow.

[joanie]

We all share in the despair. I heard on Hartmann the platform of the 1956 Republicans. They were still decent people then.

I sent money to Weiner (Wiener?) today. I emailed Murray and Cantwell that they'll never get another dime from me if they don't support the public option. But, Durbin said it's probably over.

Polls show even the populace in the red states wants the public option. Why don't we get it? It's like they think that we don't matter anymore. I guess we don't.

[Julia]

I think we have terribly more pressing issues than a public option for health care.

How about all the people out of a job? How about the burden of debt we are building for future generations? How about the failure of our government to protect us from terrorists (ie Detroit bomber)?

I am very worried.

[Puget Sound]

poor joanie, still in a dense fog.

most everyone likes the 'public option' until you then detail the costs.

you can gin the polls anyway you want. the salient point is this: the very fact that Dims are afraid to push the 'public option' proves that the public option is not so popular after all. if it was indeed so popular it would have been passed months ago. it is only popular in the abstract until people understand the real costs.

but for the selfish types, you know, the boomers who vote for all kinds of bennies and have no conception or care for the costs to future generations they don't get it.
the ultimate alfred e neuman 'what, me worry?' viewpoint.

[Andrew]

Health care currently eats up 16% of the national GDP and is expected to rise to 20% within five years. People's lack of appreciation for this fact is owed to the Democrat's inability to market their agenda.

[RadioWonkLance]

Peeroy,

Don't forget--the degree to "Savage" was actually issued to Dr. Michael Alan Weiner.

[joanie]

Julia, if you're jobless, healthcare becomes an even greater worry. We have a chance to fix health care. We should do it.

Providing health care gets it off business" back. That is good for the economy and for jobs.

The Detroit Bomber? That's ridiculous. We have criminal acts perpetuated in this country every day. You going to worry about them all?

Worry for the sake of worry is useless.

And sputs, we've already had that discussion. You failed to prove any point whatsoever. But you continue to generalize about it. That's chasing your tail. You're good at chasing your tail. But that's about all.

[Tommy008]

you notice that Julia didn't deny being the girl who sent her nude photos to Dr. Bill - she simply reiterated what a great man he is. hmmm.........

[barooosk]

The reason that Hartmann -- not randi or ed schultz -- made the top ten is that he has been a regular advertiser in Talkers and supports Talkers partner Talk Radio News Service.

[sparky]

So you are saying that Rush Limbaugh bought his way to the top of the list?

Hmmm..makes sense.

[dr laura schlessinger]

So much passion in these postings...anonymously, of course. For the record, I earned a post-doctoral certification in Marriage and Family therapy from USC and am licensed in the State of California as MFCC. As for the "bitch" comment...to my knowledge, only Bebe (my miniature poodle) can be described accurately as such. Have a nice day, all! warmly, drl

[sparky]

Brooklyn prosecutors clear local ACORN office

An investigation finds James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles edited their tape to make ACORN look worse
By Mike Madden

WASHINGTON -- A four-month investigation by the Brooklyn district attorney found no evidence that the local ACORN office had engaged in any criminal conduct, despite the hype conservative media gave to tapes of a fake prostitute asking for help from the organization.

"They edited the tape to meet their agenda," a law enforcement source told the New York Daily News, which reported the investigation's results on Monday.

The Brooklyn office was one of several ACORN sites visited by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles for their hidden camera report that, they claimed, "proved" the organization was helping prostitutes and pimps engage in child sex slavery. (Though Breitbart seems to like pretending otherwise, there was no actual prostitution involved.) But as the decision by prosecutors not to file any charges underscores, the only thing O'Keefe really proved is that ACORN employed some people who were easily duped into playing along with his stunt.

Breitbart, meanwhile, has refused to release the full videotapes of any of the ACORN visits. He says his critics may not "have the stomach to deal with" what's on the tapes. But if Brooklyn authorities are any guide, there may not be all that much there, anyway.

[KS]

what is your UNreliable source, Sparkles ?

[sparky]

Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, AP News Services...shall I go on??

[Henrietta32Prince]

It is known that cash can make people disembarrass. But how to act if somebody does not have money? The one way only is to receive the loans or just consolidation loan.

[KS]

Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, AP News Services...shall I go on??

Posted by: sparky

Too bad I can't believe any of those sources on this particular topic, Sparkles. I know that the AP and other appendages of the lamestream media you referenced have an ax to grind with competitor Breitbart - who has more credibility - IMO.

Based on their track record, I'd accept this article as a half truth - the same as a lie. That's what it has come to in this day and age.

[sparky]

Yeah, go with Breitbart.

[KS]

I am and anyone would do so too if they had a lick of common sense.