Thursday, November 30, 2006

Ed Schultz to go head-to-head with Limbaugh, Franken, Hartmann

Ed Schultz, the nation’s largest progressive talk radio host, is moving head-to-head with Rush Limbaugh’s show effective December 11, according to RAW STORY. The move – which puts Schultz in the choice noon to 3 p.m. window – will also bring him face-to-face with Air America’s flagship talker, Al Franken, as well as Thom Hartmann, also syndicated by Air America.


Schultz announced the change on Thursday’s program. (mp3)

The move from drive-time to early afternoon is designed to expose The Ed Schultz Show to a rapidly growing national audience. Schultz's pending move could put another nail in the coffin of Air America, which filed for bankruptcy Oct. 13.

A 2006 survey by Talkers Magazine pegged the Fargo talker’s listenership at 2.25 million, tying Schultz at #10 among radio hosts nationwide. Air America’s Al Franken rated #12, with an audience of 1.5 million.

Limbaugh's listening audience is still tops in talk radio, with an estimated audience of 13.5 million, according to the Talker’s survey, down from 14.75 million in 2005. Sean Hannity pulls in roughly 12.5 million listeners.

The Ed Schultz show is owned by Product First, a company held by former Clear Channel executive Randy Michaels. Product First president Stuart Krane, erstwhile vice president of ABC, was among those who helped pivot Limbaugh onto the national stage.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good news - bad news.

Bad news for Thom Hartmann, who just starting to gain some "mo."
Good news for Randi Rhodes who gets a clear field in PM drive.
Good news for Peter B. Collins who gets a clear field (almost) in early evening with no competition from Randi on delay.
Good news for Jones with Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz back to back.

raccoonradio said...

Inside Radio confirms and says it's a week from Monday. It's said the noon (ET) time slot is "prime real estate"

Anonymous said...

Fighting Irish:
You and everybody else is picking up this "head to head with Rush" BS.
Ed may go head to head with Franken (if he stays around) or Hartmann.
Rush has a whole different audience and the two are not competing for the same listeners.
O'Reilly, Boortz and Liddy are up against Rush (at least part time). Not Big Ed. Kind of thing I expect from idiot headline writers. You should know better.

ltr said...

I was in a bit of a hurry and just posted the Raw Story article with little revising.

And I do see Rush and the boys as competition. When you boil it all down, all other radio stations are competition. Granted, this affects liberal talks stations more because Schultz, Hartmann and Franken are fighting for the same time slot, but Schultz is still on opposite Rush, Boortz, O'Reilly, etc.

In fact, I know of a few stations that schedule Schultz along with Limbaugh, O'Reilly and others. As far as I'm concerned, Schultz competes with all talkers.

And I'm sure Rush and Ed do indeed share some listeners. It's not as black and white as you may think.


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