From the Steve Chase article:
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a Conservative who works in market research in Toronto said right-wing talk shows – which are almost solely on local AM radio stations – tend to attract an older and downscale audience with far less disposable spending than advertisers prefer. “It’s not the demographic most national advertisers are going after and that’s why talk radio is in local markets.”
To me this sounds like Chase did a little cherry picking; hunt around until you find someone that agrees with you and ignore all of those who don't. Plus, I've always had a problem with anonymous sources. I disagree with the statement "
right-wing talk shows – which are almost solely on local AM radio stations." As far as I know ALL talk shows, whether right. left or centre, tend to be on the AM dial. Not sure why, but offhand I cant' think of any that are on FM. I will agree that conservatives tend to be older. I'm guessing that when he says "downscale audience" he talking about lower income people. However, I disagree that both groups don't spend money, they do and for that reason are targeted by advertisers.
I also disagree with the last statement about talk radio and local markets. The reason local markets are targeted is because the advertiser is trying to attract local people to his/her business. Plus, the fact here in Canada we don't have many national talk show hosts. The only one I can think of is Charles Adler* on the Corus network. Now, down in the States its a different show altogether! You have Rush, Glenn Beck, Dennis Miller, just to name three that are syndicated all across the U.S. and who have a large audience that listens to their shows and advertisers.
All-in-all, I disagree Chase's article, especially, when its based on a single-source. If he quoted five-six different people, then I might think differently. Personally, I think a conservative TV station has a chance here in Canada and that people would be willing to watch it.
* I thought about Rex Murphy and Rick Mercer, but both work for the CBC which is publicly funded and doesn't have to rely on advertising as much as other TV/radio stations.
