You failed to note the signal act of kindness that Bill Bennett did for Patriot listeners. He replaced a REPEAT of Michael Savage in the morning slot. That was just what I needed -- Michael Savage to go to sleep by and Michael Savage to get up to. Bennett may have prevented me slashing my wrists. That's a Virtue in my book.

Excellent round-up Mitch!

It's been years since I spent serious amounts of time listening to talk radio. But from the times I do check in, your analysis is spot on.

Taking it from an overall quality level, KSTP has really gone in the tank. They always struggled in the morning. But not long ago from 11am through midnight they were the best thing on the dial. The station definitely re-geared itself to be the "Soucheray station," and I'm sure that's helping the ratings of that particular show. But the rest of their lineup has become a mess. Bob Davis is the only good new show. Mischke is still brilliant, but isn't on in a competitive timeslot. The loss of Jason Lewis, the Limbaugh time delay, the decision to give Rosenbaum and O'Connel a show, the inexplicable hiring of no-talent Cris Krok... yuck. Hannity is certainly popular, but he's no reason for me to tune in.

WWTC currently owns the airwaves for me. Except for Savage, they don't have a bad show.

Spot on. For fun, flip between Medved and Sooch; the difference in energy levels is the difference between a nuclear power plant on Monday morning and a windmill on a still day. Most of the time I have no idea what Sooch is talking about, either, because he doesn't restate the topic often enough. If at all. And you're right about the Rook - very talented guy, but I wonder whether he'll ever shed the Ed McMahon role. His own comic skills are being infected by Sooch's mannerisms - which themselves are second-hand echos of Reussie routines.

Rosenbaum has improved, but the constant cynicism gets tired as well. "Nuthin's on the level." It's like Holden Caufield after a lot of money. And now O'Conner tries to out-cynic him as well, so they can be two cool guys who are too smart to believe in anything. For local events, they're useful, but for national issues - meh.

The only word that describes the elevation of Chris Kroc is "inexplicable."

Great round up of weekday talk radio here. I didn't know some of these shows existed.

I've been a KSTP listener for a long time and have recently been taking in more of The Patriot. I can't listen to the Rosenbaum/O'Connor show, no matter how much Rosenbaum has improved. It seems to me they try way too hard to be "balanced" to the point that Rosenbaum begins to sound like a defense attorney for a guilty-as-sin defendant.

Anyway, I enjoy listening to the Northern Alliance on Saturdays. Keep it up.

Nice recap!

The loss of Jason Lewis really messed up KSTP's whole schedule, or at least manangement used that as an excuse to mess it up. Soucheray's semi-retirement (as in zero show prep), and annoying non-talents like Rosenbaum and Krok make me wonder just how serious the house that Rush built is.

Bill Bennett is a work in progress, but has one huge advantage over Bob Davis: you never hear that jangling Menard's banjo at +12 db every 15 minutes. I still would like to see the Patriot go local mornings. Give Bennett the first 40 minutes, NARN the last 20 each hour!

I think the internet will be a significant delivery vehicle for talk radio. I subscribe to Rush 24/7 and Prager, sparing me several hours of commercials each week. So when is NARN 24/7 coming out?

Hands-down, the most listenable intellectual show on the air is "Extension 720" out of WGN-AM, Chicago. The host, Milt Rosenberg, is a retired prof (social psychology, I think) from the U of Chicago. Where else can you listen to, say, a discussion of the Peloponnesian war one night and snobbery the next? A-list guests, too.

The show is available on streaming audio, and some "best of" archives are also on line. See http://wgnradio.com/shows/ex720/index.html

How can you do a talk roundup that eschews KFAN? I know it's ostensibly a sports talk show, but Dan Cole (12-2), Chad Hartman (2-4:30), and Dan Barriero (4:30-7) are about 70% current affairs. (Well, Cole is 30% his golf game, 40% current affairs.) Yes, they'll talk Purple when it's football season, but they'll also talk politics. Indeed, I would argue that Barriero is the best talk show host, sports or no, in the Twin Cities.

Wow - much to cover here:

Lars - I was going to write about that, but forgot. Yes - on less Savage show is a Good Thing.

Doug - good roundup of KSTP. My theory - their current program director (Joe O'Brien), who came from Rochester, inherited a winning franchise from his predecessors. That franchise was VERY stable in radio terms for most of a decade. He never really need to act like a PD until this past year; it's his first big test in a major market. We'll see how it goes.

Former - bingo. Exactly, on all counts, including the cynicism of the Rosenbaum/o'Connell show. I hadn't thought about that, at least not overtly. Great point - it's an oppressive feature of that program.

Gary - Yep. Rosenbaum does try very hard for balance - which used to be the norm on talk radio, but no longer. I don't think this is a lawyer thng - some of the best, partisan talk show hosts (Hewitt, Medved, Ingraham, and for that matter Rocketman and Big Trunk) are lawyers. I think it's both a Ron thing and a Hubbard Broadcasting thing. They've never been comfortable with the "conservative" label, which makes sense in a way - they're local businesspeople. Most businesspeople who depend on a local market are cautious about politics.

Rex - NARN in the morning? Hmmm. That's one thing about the NARN; it's a fairly self-limiting concept. We're a bunch of guys who are pretty successful and happy in our regular careers; I doubt KSTP could afford to pay the 12 of us enough to ditch our day jobs, much less the Patriot (although I'd love to see an attempt). Streaming - just about ready for prime time.

John - I've heard of Milt. I'll give it a listen.

Jeff - Others have told me about KFAN. I never (ever!) listen. The few times I've listened, I've founding appallingly...unlistenable. I should give it another try. I'll rank it next year.

You forgot the Patriot II's morning contribution of Mike Gallagher (sp?). Sometimes when Ingraham is bad, its a good alternative.

I used to be all AM1500, but can't really take Rosenbaum and O'Connell (the nattering nabobs of negativity) any more. Then they lost Jason Lewis. Then they pushed Limbaugh back an hour on tape delay. (I never called, but not having the opportunity anymore, makes it seems less connected.) And Soucheray has seemed to have become a boat without an anchor, just windblown and adrift. I really think that Hubbard has messed up what was a good franchise.

So now I find myself listening to the Patriot offerings more, but due to their weak signal, I often use KRLA's stream on the web.

When KSTP started its downward slide, I found Catholic Family Radio at 1280 to be a good substitute. Chat shows with intelligent guests and hosts discussing topics of the day, some church related, but most societal. They were at 1280 at the time, and we know what became of 1280.

Now, WMNN 1330 is Catholic radio. It is hard to distinguish from the old Catholic Family Radio in style, but it is a different organization. Whoever's on in the 8 to 9 hour is my new alternative when Laura Ingraham is too far affield. Today's topic: stem cell research. It's a little worn as a topic, but it's not the catechism.

I thought it was the rule whenever we discussed talk radio we were supposed to lament the absence of James Lileks from the airwaves and look forward to his return. Mischke's the best thing at 10? Yeah, until the king returns.

Next year at the Diner.

Barriero the best talk show host in town? The man who revels in wallowing in the mushy middle of politics? The man loves nothing more than setting up straw men on the left and the right and then smugly knocking them down? Please. Spare me the intellectual pretense about how much smarter you are than the rest of us because you refuse to stake an identifiable ideological position Barriero. I have far more respect for the Al Frankens of the world than I do the Dan Barrieros.

This was a terrific summary. The only thing that would have made it better is some hint how the various programs are performing in the marketplace. Or, perhaps more relevantly, who is doing well and who is doing less well.

The best talk radio has a host with superb interviewing skills. This is why Hewitt is so good and why, despite their obvious success, Ingraham and Hannity, are not. At the risk of starting a food fight, I've heard some very good interviews by Shelby and Eichten as well.

But there is one quality that is absolutely indispensable; the host has to know something. It is always embarrassing when (true story) the host goes on at great length about Iraq, but really isn't too sure where the Kurds, the Sunni Triangle etc might be located.

gba

as my name implys, i happen to enjoy KROKTALK on KSTP...Bob Davis goes a million miles an hour in every direction and its sometimes hard to keep paying attention...Mark and Ron are nothing but "devils advocates"...they have no opinions, they dont get emotional about anything, and are just uninspiring...Limbaugh, well what can i say? he started it all...Souchery is fun to listen to, but only if youre set to listen to the whole show...you can go for two hours without hearing anything remotely entertaining, but then POW it comes in and comes in hard...its starting to get old though...i dont like Hannity too much, just a Rush-clone with too much exposure...now, KROKTALK, actually talks about things i have real opinions on...you have to understand where he came from in order to understand what his progrum is all about...he talks about subjects that arent even important, in terms of politics, and that gives a nice rest from the right-wing onslaught of the day...Mishke, well, hes the reason i started listening to talk radio...he never gets old...CTCAM is my second fav to listen to

the loss of Jason Lewis was a HUGE blow to the KSTPs talent pool...when he was here, i listened to Lewis religiously...he had such charisma and character, sometimes rivaling Rush himself...i was extremely disappointed when he left

i dont listen to anything else but KSTP, including FM

A month later!! A few comments to throw in:

KSTP - Davis = Good. It could be better, but it seems to be a mismash of Mischke non-sequitors and Limbaugh conservatism. Kodiak is a good sidekick. Limbaugh an hour shifted doesn't work as well...knowing he keeps his show live and current. GL is still GL, and I still think its the best local talk show. Krok needs to be fired. Mischke is the best kept secret on the dial.

Patriot - Hewitt, NARN = Good. Savage = annoying jackhammer. PatriotII = waste of airspace, save for the Hewitt replay at 8pm (which will be useless in a month or two when KYCR becomes hard to get across the street at night).

Strait Jacket Radio/WMIN - I never thought liberal talk would be so full of kooks and hacks. I mean, I've heard Alan Colmes a few times on XM, and he seemed okay. After a few "aren't we so funny" comments and claims that Bush knowingly let 9/11 happen to boost his wallet, I stopped considering them as worthy counterpoints, and let them join the fruitcakes at KFAI on their flight to the mothership.

WCCO is like the best friend from High School you don't have much in common with anymore, but still stay in touch with anyway. They've got the Twins, so that's a good thing.

Your estimation of Franken's show is really off base. Politics aside,the show is as entertaining and intelligent as just about anything else on. Get over your politics and try to be objective.

TMace - I started in radio when I was 16, when I was still years away from becoming a conservative. Before I cared about politics, I cared about good radio. About the technique and art of good radio, I am as close to objective as anyone you'll meet. That's why I disclaimed my comments on FranketNet's programming with "even if it were conservative..." - because *as radio*, politics completely aside, it's just plain bad.