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Progressive News & Views (since 1982)
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Spring and Stern, slime and slime and that seems to be what sells. Can you
believe it? Of course, you can. What is the most searched for slime on the
net? Porn.. And did anyone here miss MSNBC's Preditor II the other night.
Did you count the pediphiles? Any wonder why I call this the InterNUT? I
stay on the net for the little bit of sunshine there but I'll tell ya, the
lights are going out.
Hank
JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!\ SPRINGER HAPPY WITH HOME ON RADIO.(Living)
The Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati, OH); 1/13/2006; Bird, Rick
It's like Jerry Springer has two completely different sides and both of
them are happy.
The enigmatic Springer has had a split personality the last 15 years,
hosting America's trashiest daytime TV show while remaining a liberal
activist and commentator.
Springer's seemingly schizoid career is even more pronounced these days,
one year after he launched a syndicated liberal talk show "Springer on the
Radio" out of Cincinnati Clear Channel's WCKY-AM (1530).
"I was talking about Alito all day then I came back here and was dancing
with transvestites," Springer said from Chicago Tuesday. His bizarre
schedule calls for him to shoot several episodes of his TV show in Chicago
Monday-Wednesday. He takes a three-hour morning "break" to host his 9
a.m.- noon radio show from a Chicago studio Then it's back to the freak
show on the TV set.
Springer is usually in the WCKY Kenwood studio Thursday and Friday.
It would seem radio is Springer's new love. Or, a case of rediscovering an
old one. His first regular media work came on radio, doing commentaries
for WEBN-FM (102.7) in the late '70s and early '80s.
He came on the air here one year ago on Martin Luther King Day as the
station launched a new progressive talk format. By April his show was
picked up by the nearly two-year-old liberal talk network, Air America,
and is currently running in 49 markets, including such major ones as New
York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta and Miami.
"I love it and I didn't know that I would. I wish I would have started
this when I was younger in life," said Springer, 61, with a laugh. "It's a
lot of work. You've got to be sharp every day and be up to date. The
people who call in don't call unless they are knowledgeable on the
subject."
Springer has signed on for at least another year for the radio show and
last month released a statement that he was not entering the Ohio
gubernatorial race. The former Cincinnati mayor has flirted with the
notion of returning to politics, launching a brief exploratory campaign
for the Ohio Senate two years ago.
Springer said he has come to realize a national radio show is as good a
soapbox as an elective office.
"I made a decision I wasn't going to run for office and part of it was
based on the fact that this is too good of a platform to just give up," he
said. "I'm rea-
ching a lot more people with what I consider important work. There needs
to be a progressive point of view and we need to be competitive. The
industry has been owned by conservative talk. This is still the early days
of changing that."
Indeed, it is perhaps still too early to say that Springer's radio talk
show or Air America will have long-term staying power. Radio observers
continue to stress radio programming often takes years to find an
audience.
Springer's ratings are mixed across the country and somewhat underwhelming
in his home market where his WCKY show is ranked 14th in its time period
out of some 30 radio stations, based on the latest ratings from last
summer. However, Springer has showed small growth since coming on. The
important Arbitron fall ratings surveys are coming out this week and next
from all the country's markets.
Jon Sinton, Air America's co-chief operating officer and president of
programming, said Springer's fall numbers in New York City, out Wednesday,
were strong and his trends have been solid in the last year.
"We are very happy with Springer's show," Sinton said. "'Springer on the
Radio' has grown, quarter to quarter, by all measurements -- average
number of listeners, gross listeners, how long they stay with the show. It
is very pleasing to us."
Springer admits he's still learning the tricks of radio. Sometimes his
political monologues sound more like campaign speeches than a
conversation. One unique niche is, Springer perhaps takes on more opposing
callers than any national show, liberal or conservative.
"I don't want to just reach people that already agree," Springer said. "I
take a lot of calls from people who disagree and that's on purpose. I
really want a dialogue."
Sinton thinks one of Springer's strengths is his gracious knack for
dealing with contrary people -- perhaps developed from his TV show.
"He handles really vicious calls," said Sinton. "In conservative talk
radio, like Rush (Limbaugh), they rarely take people that disagree with
them. They aren't good debaters. Jerry does best with the callers that
disagree and he has this amazing way of diffusing them."
The show's humor quotient has gone up significantly in the last few months
now that veteran Cincinnati production wizard Jay Gilbert and his
Seattle-based writing partner Don Goldberg have been contributing comedy
bits to the show. Gilbert, who still hosts his afternoon drive show on
WEBN, has produced some clever musical parodies such as "Bad, Bad Michael
Brown," "Hang Out to Dry Tom DeLay" (sung to "Hang Down Your Head, Tom
Dooley") and using the Beatles' "Revolution" to mock the intelligent
design debate.
Springer remains amazed at the parallel universes he often finds himself
in. And he's just as surprised that he seems accepted as a thoughtful
commentator despite presiding over what TV Guide once dubbed the "worst TV
show in history."
The credibility questions that dogged Springer when he flirted with
political office have rarely come up with the radio show.
"Absolutely not. We are amazed. It's almost as if people don't realize
it's the same person," Springer said. Of course, it's a different
audience. That's the obvious answer."
Meanwhile, for reasons no one can really explain, Springer's TV show has
had a modest resurgence nationwide. Ratings were up nationally last year
and at local affiliate WSTR-TV (Channel 64). Springer said he signed a new
multi-year deal for his TV show, but it sounds like radio is his future:
"The television's fun, but this is serious business."
(This is posted per Fair Use for educational purposes (g).. and for
discussion - So discuss it... HANK)
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