A Tale Of Two Shows

The last couple of weeks have seen big news in the local talkradio community – albeit for very different reasons.

This week, former KSTP host and cult object Tom Mischke will start an internet-based talk show, affiliated with formerly-readable boutique freebie ‘zine The City Pages.

David Brauer at the MinnPost writes:

Of course, Tommy Mischke is a rare bird; for two decades on KSTP-AM, he somehow blended content and advertising in a way that generated fierce listener and advertiser loyalty. But when Mischke was fired from AM1500 and disowned commercial radio, few thought he could replace his radio income on the Internet.

Without getting into specifics, let’s just say he did amazingly well. But it didn’t happen without help from a much-mocked legacy medium: print.

Internet advertising alone wouldn’t pay the freight for a 2-4 p.m. weekday show (beginning March 4 at citypages.com). But advertisers did pony up enough for a print-web combo that Mischke secured a one-year deal. He’ll also do a weekly column in the paper.

The benefit for City Pages? It was able to get around a corporate hiring freeze because most costs were covered on Day One, and its reps now have a new selling opportunity.

To someone who’s been in media, off and on, for most of his adult life, it’s a bit of a departure.  In traditional entertainment media, the “owner” of the show bets long – produces and airs a program (including hiring and, indirectly or directly, paying the air and support talent) based on the potential for ratings and the money they might bring.

Mischke’s model is different; he’s bringing his advertisers – some of his big backers from his long-running KSTP show – with him.

Will it work in the long term?  Does internet narrowcasting draw enough ears to make it work?  Has the City Pages – a fairly pathetic shell of its former self, journalistically speaking – got the mojo to serve as the fiscal and demograhic bedrock for a cult figure like Mischke?

Given the singular history and qualities of its namesake, the “Mischke Model” may be tough to replicate, and its long-term success remains unknown. But it does show how old and new media can be woven together. The Strib, PiPress — hell, the local edition of the Onion — might’ve pulled this off. Perhaps they can rig up something like it.

Perhaps they can – yes, indeed.  We’ll come back to that.

I am, of course, a big Mischke fan.  I’m a fan, of course, because he’s a real original, wildly creative, and just plain fun to listen to.

For a good chunk of the Twin Cities intelligentsia, of course – the likes of Garrison Keillor, Brian Lambert and, if I may be so bold, David Brauer – Mischke is more than that.  He’s a thumb in the eye of the “establishment” in talk radio, standing defiantly against the tide of conservative programs. And in some respects, I can even go along with that; while I disagree with whatever politics Mischke likely believes, I much preferred “The Mischke Broadcast” to the likes of Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck; Mischke clobbered the lesser ranks of conservative hosts in all ways that matter to the likes of Keillor, Lambert, Brauer – that is, everything but ratings and revenue.
“But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how’d you like the play?”

Brauer’s point seems to be that to get anything “interesting” on “the air”, one needs to get creative.  Outlets like City Pages are floundering; shows like Mischke’s, long KSTP run notwithstanding, have always been fish out of water in the radio industry.

And there might be something to that.  Outlets like the Pioneer Press might do well to ally themselves with other media outlets; a content and advertising alliance between, say, the Pioneer Press, AM1280, and one or more internet content and video operations (like “The Uptake” and “True North”, to pick out some random examples) would provide some interesting cross-media possibilities, not only for advertising and opinion content but – cue the drum roll – journalism.

So, if you take Brauer’s piece at face value, it’d seem that “interesting”, “creative” media’s future is going to depend on a concerted do it yourself effort.

Unless – Brauer doesn’t go into this in his piece on Mischke – you operate in a format that’s actually succeeding, even despite the current advertising economy.

Salem Radio Network’s ad inventory is reportedly pretty well sold out.   Rush Limbaugh’s salary is greater than the Paraguayan military budget. And long-time local radio fixture Jason Lewis is, as of last week, in the big show: That’s worth a separate article.

Anyway, the lesson – as filtered through the lens of the “progressive” “alternative” media, is this:  the current media landscape requires creativity to survive.  Unless you’re a huge success, in which case we ignore it all.

9 thoughts on “A Tale Of Two Shows

  1. Color me skeptical about the prospects for this venture. For most people, radio is still a passive medium. They flip on the radio in the kitchen, the garage, in the car, or while out for a walk and listen while they’re doing something else.

    Internet radio requires a more active approach (having your computer fired up, going to a link, etc.). And while you can do other things while listening on the ‘net your options are limited. Maybe Mischke will be able to get enough people who listen at work to make it a go. I wouldn’t bet on it.

    And yes, I know all about the wonderful things you can do with technology to get around this. But even with podcasts, iPhones and everything else, the majority of your audience is still tuning in the old fashioned way.

  2. While I generally agre that radio is a good medium for creativity, I hardly think it is ‘creativity’ that keeps Limpballs afloat.

    He’s a fat, drug-addled cry-baby, and he’s used the same schtick for 25 years – and it’s also why his listener base tends to cycle.

    One other thing helps Limbaugh too, he is owned by the same company which ows the radio stations, and which pushes Limbballs and conservative format, down station manager’s throats. His salary is ridiculous, and were I a significant share-holder, I’d object – he’s talent, but he’s not irreplaceable – it’s his staff and his approach that makes him survive – every fact that can be used to attack is used, every topic is turned into an attack, and NO criticism is ever brooked without the critic then being pilloried for hours, if not days. He’s the most insecure weasel walking, that’s all.

  3. While I generally agre that radio is a good medium for creativity, I hardly think it is ‘creativity’ that keeps Limpballs afloat.

    Tomato, tomahto. He is the status quo, so he really doesn’t need to “create” anymore.

    He’s a fat, drug-addled cry-baby, and he’s used the same schtick for 25 years

    Right. Because it works beyond the wildest dreams of anyone who ever predicted the outcome 20 years ago.

    and it’s also why his listener base tends to cycle.

    Pen, that is both obvious (everyone‘s listener base “tends to cycle”) and incorrect (his cycles less than most, which is why he maintains 20-22 million listeners a day).

    One other thing helps Limbaugh too, he is owned by the same company which ows the radio stations,

    Again, that is both correct on the surface and wrong. Premiere acquired Limbaugh, and Clear Channel acquired Premiere, years after Limbaugh became a phenomenon.

    and which pushes Limbballs and conservative format, down station manager’s throats.

    And that, P, is completely wrong, and I’d be genuinely interested in figuring out where you got that particular talking point.

    Premiere/CC don’t need to “push” anything down anyone’s “throat”; indeed, in markets without Clear Channel-owned properties, there’s usually a bit of a bidding war for Limbaugh. Because he guarantees huge numbers, which is really all that it’s about.

    Now, CC might try to push affiiliates to carry other Premiere properties – Laura Schlesinger, Hannity, George Noory and, now, Jason Lewis – but that is both contingent on the other properties’ performance (if Lewis doesn’t deliver, he’ll get cut loose) and has nothing to do with ideology; if Eddie Schultz started doing gargantuan book and jumped Jones to Premiere, he’d be part of the package, because…

    …it’s not about politics. It’s about money. Pure and simple.

    His salary is ridiculous, and were I a significant share-holder, I’d object

    Well, go ahead; if he doesn’t deliver, it’d be a legitimate complaint. The thing is, his ’08-16 contract was signed entirely based on his performance. And in his first several (ten?) years, he didn’t even get a “salary”; his production company (pre-Premiere) charged for advertising, and that’s what paid Limbaugh. By the ton.

    he’s talent, but he’s not irreplaceable – it’s his staff and his approach that makes him survive

    If that were true, we should be seeing a whole spate of hosts inking nine-figure salaries pretty quick here.

    I’m hoping to get in line for one, lemme tell ya.

    – every fact that can be used to attack is used, every topic is turned into an attack, and NO criticism is ever brooked without the critic then being pilloried for hours, if not days. He’s the most insecure weasel walking, that’s all.

    Well, that’s an opinion, and you’re entitled to it, but it misses the point; it’s not personal, it’s not even necessarily politics (although it has a huge impact on politics); it’s entertainment.

    And by any rational measure, it not only works, but is a juggernaut.

  4. Kudos, Mitch! That was by far the most thorough (and yet dignified) eviscerations of Peev’s vapid screeds that I have ever read. You would think Peev would get a little gun shy after having been bitch-slapped so often, but he keeps firing away (albiet with mostly blanks).

  5. Don’t forget peevee; every time Rush Limbaugh mocks a lefty for an assnozzle, he’s speaking about you, yes you little man. And all 1.5 million of his listeners are in on the joke.

    Next time you find yourself under Keith Olbermann’s desk, you should take a minute to wipe your chin, and ask him for a couple of tips on how to handle derision on a mass scale.

    ==============
    In other news, I just watched James Lileks new gig on the Strib, and I honestly thought it was really good. James is always entertaining and this is a format I think works erally well for him.

    He too, will be mocking teh peevee, and only teh peevee every time he smirks in that impish way.

  6. Don’t you love it when a guy (or, in this case, an utter putz) willingly asserts claims that make him look like a total jackass through complete ignorance?

    God love you and your nonsense comments, Perncious Peev! 😆

  7. Pen,

    I forgot something.

    You mentioned Clear Channel “forcing conservative talk down stations’ throats”.

    As I pointed out in this piece almost two years ago, Clear Channel is actually the biggest single syndicator of liberal talk in the country, in terms of hours and (after CBS and, of course, the negligible Air America) percentage.

    Your theory – that Clear Channel is motivated by politics – is not founded in statistics.

  8. Good luck to Tommy, he is an original. Also good luck to Jason Lewis, his reception as Rush’s substitute seems to have been very well received.

    I like Lewis’s chances, he is far more listenable than either Beck or Hannity. Not sure about Tommy’s choosen medium but that’s what we would have said about AM radio pre Rush.

  9. I wish Mischke the best. City Pages has always had the feel of a rinky-dink operation with college-level rants filled with creepy backpage ads, but they may be on to something. No, not a million dollar operation, but at least it’s a way to be creative and get back on the air — so to speak. Radio has been in the middle of shooting itself in the foot for years, and now is as good a time as any to give this a chance.

    As for Beck, he was a little more listenable and irreverent back around 2002 – but that was before he was as national as the other big names.

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