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Radio Talk Show hosts hate their constituency

posted 13 years ago by AmericanMovieFan
3 replies | jump to latest

Have you ever noticed that, just as depicted in Talk Radio, talk show hosts can't seem to wait to move on to the next caller or wrap up for a commercial break?And yet, they also clearly LOVE what they do. I've always found that interesting. They thrive off the celebrity, the notoriety, the conversations, etc. while at the exact same time they can't stand their fans, every single call seems to bore the crap out of them and they've always got their finger on the skip-to-next-caller button. Now, I know a portion of this is economy of time. You can't spend all night with one person and you have to get to a certain number of calls a night. I'm sure there's a rough 20 calls per hour quota or something like that, which is a fraction of a fraction of the numbers who actually call in. Even so, it seems like a self-defeating never-ending cycle.

What do others think?

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[–] dini0519 13 years ago

It seemed that way in this movie. I read the book that the movie Talk Radio was based on, and Alan Berg used to say everyone was "boring" when he was in a certain mood, no matter how informed or interesting they seemed. I also lived in Denver in the early 80s and remember hearing Berg and how irritated he seemed most the time. I wouldn't have ever had the nerve to call him, unless I was really prepared to be thick skinned.

Dini

[–] taijiquan12 12 years ago

It could just be the nature of being a radio show host, having to constantly deal with all the calls, information, and opinions of others. I'm sure it's a job and position that can make one feel extremely jaded.

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[–] vestdennis 12 years ago

Having to limit the length of a phone call is a lot different than saying they "hate their constituency".

On the radio, just as in TV,, there are "hard breaks", meaning a computer will cut the call & the broadcast to go to the commercial. So the host has to keep things moving along briskly. Not to mention the show's producers who tries to screen out callers with an agenda or who have no idea what they're talking about.

Nothing is more annoying than a host putting a caller on the air & there be dead-air & finally the caller asks "Am I on?" or "Can you hear me?"

That and stupid questions or statements that show the lack on knowledge about the subject being discussed. Don't call in while discussing the national debt and say something dumb (w/o any facts to back up your statement) like "We ain't spending anymore now than we were 50 years ago."