The Media Research Center, Brent Bozell's longtime grift that monitors and lies about liberal bias in the media, is pissed that major radio station owner Cumulus Media did not give Sean Hannity everything he wanted in contract negotiations.
The MRC believes Hannity's take, that he is leaving Cumulus of his own accord, because of the chain's mismanagement.
According to data allegedly obtained by MRC, major market Cumulus stations have lost about 50 percent of the 25-54 demographic in less than two years.
But maybe it's not Cumulus' fault, maybe people in the money demo have just tired of wingnut radio, with its endless, fact-free demonization of President Obama and other Democrats, and turned the dial.
Numbers and show lists, below.
Let's start with Hannity's home station, WABC in NYC, which lost 45.3 percent of its prime audience.
Here's the weekday list of shows there:
12:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. - The John Batchelor Show
1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. - Red Eye Radio
5:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. - 5:00am News Hour
6:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - Imus in the Morning
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Geraldo
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Rush Limbaugh
3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Sean Hannity
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Mark Levin
9:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. - Michael Savage
11:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. - The John Batchelor Show
Every one conservative and/or wingnut.
How about the shows on KABC in LA (down an alleged 61.9 percent):
12:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. - Red Eye Radio
5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - McIntyre In The Morning
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - John Phillips
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Geraldo Rivera
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Sean Hannity
3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Larry Elder
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Mark Levin
9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. - Peter Tilden
Every one conservative and/or wingnut.
WLS in Chicago has a bit more local programming, so it's down "only" 47.6 percent:
12:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m. - Red Eye Radio
4:00 a.m. - 4:30 a.m. - Wall Street Journal This Morning
4:30 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. - First Morning News
5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Bruce Wolf & Dan Proft
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - John Kass and Lauren Cohn
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Rush Limbaugh
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Roe & Roeper
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Sports Pregame Show
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Sean Hannity
9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. - Mark Levin
Every one probably conservative and/or wingnut. (I don't know the local hosts, but these stations rarely confound their listeners by airing anything that's not conservative/wingnut.)
WJR in Detroit, featuring many of the usual suspects, is down 50.9 percent:
12:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. - Savage Nation
1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. - Red Eye Radio Show
5:00 a.m. - 5:30 a.m. - News
5:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Paul W. Smith
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Frank Beckmann
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Rush Limbaugh
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Sean Hannity
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Mitch Albom
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Specials at 7
8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. - Mark Levin
11:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. - Savage Nation
Again, every one probably conservative and/or wingnut.
Even the one slave-state station named by MRC, KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri, is down 52.9 percent with a mostly familiar lineup:
12:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m. - Red Eye Radio
4:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. - The Wall Street Journal This Weekend
5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - KCMO Morning Show
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Dave Ramsey
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Mike Huckabee
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Sean Hannity
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Mark Levin
8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. - Michael Savage
Of course, every one probably conservative and/or wingnut.
While the MRC joins Hannity in blaming Cumulus for these huge ratings losses in the most desired demographic, there is a clear pattern here of stations featuring major national radio wingnuts like Hannity, Limbaugh, Levin and Savage becoming less popular.
Maybe MRC/Hannity believe the local Cumulus hosts are to blame for this ratings disaster, and if they are as boring and repetitive as the national hosts, there may be a grain of truth in that.
Far more likely is that the conservative/wingnut radio shtick has little appeal to younger people who don't consider Obama a socialist/Communist/Kenyan usurper, who are a lot more interested in getting and keeping a decent job than in cutting taxes some more for billionaires, who will enjoy the health insurance security soon to be provided under the Affordable Care Act, who are not religious fanatics, who don't want to cut or privatize Social Security and Medicare, etc.