A few years ago, quite a number of talk radio programming execs – including those at both of the Twin Cities’ big talk stations, Hubbard’s KSTP-AM and (later, in 2006) Clear Channel’s KTLK-FM – greeted the latest news from “the consultants”.  Although “The Consultants” have gotten nearly every trend in talk radio throughout the medium’s history utterly wrong, this time the prediction – that conservative political talk radio was dead – was going to be right. 

Of course, it was right after the ’04 elections, when talk ratings had noplace to go but down; exactly as they had after every election cycle since conservative talk had risen to dominate the format.

This past winter, after the ’06 elections, talk in general – and conservative talk in particular – took another hit in the ratings.  And the consultants – many of whom date back to the business’ pre-Limbaugh days, many of whom really really don’t like conservative talk, to say nothing of conservatism itself – cried “the witch is dead” yet again.

And, yet again, it seems they celebrated too soon. 

Where it really counts, Limbaugh / Hannity affiliate WABC scored big gains, moving from a 3.5 overall share of the audience to 3.9. That was good for fifth place among listeners 12 and older, higher than we’ve recently seen for the format in the Big Apple.

Though ratings are tracked monthly, the four quarterly “books” are what actually count. From those, the spring and fall surveys are most critical for setting future advertising rates, as well as sheer bragging rights.

No word on the NARN’s numbers, yet.  But  you can bet we’re kicking whatever hamster KTLK is putting up against us in the utterly make-or-break Saturday Afternoon time slot – and that Air America Minnesota might as well broadcast static for all the good tackling us will do ’em.