• by John Gaffney , March 6, 2003

Video Killed The Radio Star: As James Brown said, now we're all "talkin' loud and sayin' nothin.' The final twists of turning cable news into a shock-jock radio lineup does not surprise me. Howard Stern and Imus have had cable shows for sometime, but not in a roundtable interview format. Since Fox has given shock jocks like Hannity and Colmes a home, MSNBC has followed and is struggling with right winger Martin Savage. CNN is trying to follow. CNBC has Kudlow and Cramer to pick up the shock jock style approach to finance. The problem I see here is that radio should be the medium of shouting your opinions, because its unblemished by the visual image of the host and guest. You get sound and sound only. I don't agree with Rush Limbaugh, ever. But when I hear him on the radio he sounds very powerful, and I think that power comes from his relaince on radio - not cable news. Ads on talk radio seem to be more isolated from clutter, in my opinion. I think this time of cable-radio pollination presents a huge opportunity for radio advertising. Radio guys don't work for me on TV,m but they keep getting stolen from radio. I know they get their ratings share, but why watch something when you can get more from just listening?

$$$$lick Willie: Please tell me you didn't say something like "great (adjective here) idea") when you heard that Bill Clinton and Bob Dole will revive the "Point-Counterpoint" segment on 60 Minutes. Not only will people tune in and talk about it the next day, but I have to believe ad adjacencies would go for a premium. I know I keep harping on it, but content will beat gimmicks everytime in attracting viewers and then billing advertisers for them.

Parting Shot: The cable news business needs Bill Clinton like Michael Jackson needs a big hug. Everybody from O'Reilly to Savage to Bill Carville now has a new topic and a new target. And viewers get to sit ringside for something other than a war that won't happen.