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The 50 Most Influential Local Talk Radio Shows in America
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 11:56 AM
By: Theodore Kettle
Newsmax is out with its list of the top 50 most influential local talk radio hosts and shows for 2015.
The information revolution of the past several decades hasn't all been high-tech driven. The advent of the Internet may have allowed the masses to bypass liberal-dominated TV networks, magazines, and newspapers, but it was the deregulation of the radio industry in 1996 under Bill Clinton, and in 1987 under Ronald Reagan, as well as the end of the Fairness Doctrine — known to be heinously unfair by so many conservatives — that first liberated the airwaves and gave the entrenched media establishment its first real run for the money.
Talk king Rush Limbaugh was so heavily credited with bringing the House of Representatives under Republican control in the middle of Clinton's first term that House GOP members made him an honorary member. But there were, and continue to be, many dozens of local on-air heroes whose names remain unknown to most Americans. The late Bob Grant, for instance, and Barry Farber, were precursors of Rush in the large New York local radio market, and while changing a blue state is tough, they did make the Big Apple a little redder by exposing ideological failures and corruption within the state and municipal political establishments.
Lee Davis, who was a longtime local talk radio fixture in Birmingham, Alabama, remembers the turning point of national influence being during the Clarence Thomas hearings more than two decades ago.
“When Anita Hill made her accusations, conservative hosts fought back and urged constituents to call senators,” Davis recalls. “It made a difference — Thomas won, and he's still there today.”
Today, having an African-American free-market champion like Clarence “C4” Mitchell on a major Baltimore station, reaching hundreds of thousands of inner-city listeners, means that decades of the left's social policies don't escape blame in that city's recent rioting.
But to Lee Davis, job one for a local talk radio host, like a national one, is being entertaining.
“I don't think a show being caller-driven is good thing, but a good host can make callers think it's caller-driven," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of listeners wouldn't call in if their lives depended on it. But all those same guys, as they're driving their kids to Little League or commuting to work, will say, 'Yeah, that's what I believe, but I can't articulate it like this host can.'”
Many of the hosts' websites listed below let you make a virtual visit to their local talk radio fiefdoms and hear their programs from anywhere. They may not all have “Talent On Loan From God,” but they have put into action in their own communities an American spirit not unlike that of the Founding Fathers when faced with their era's threats to liberty.
Can anyone doubt that the Federalist “Papers” Hamilton, Jay, and Madison used as their medium of communication would have been delivered by different means had radio existed during Colonial times? More along the lines of “The Publius Morning Drive Show.”
1. John and Ken, KFI 640 AM, Los Angeles, California.
2. Curtis and Kuby, WABC 770 AM, New York, New York.
3. Howie Carr, WRKO 680 AM, Boston, Massachusetts.
4. Steve Cochran, WGN 720 AM, Chicago, Illinois.
5. Bill Carroll, KFI 640 AM, Los Angeles, California.
6. Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor, WMAL 630 AM, Washington.
7. Brian Sussman, KSFO 560 AM, San Francisco, California.
8. Jeffrey Kuhner, WRKO 680 AM, Boston, Massachusetts.
9. Roe Conn, WGN 720 AM, Chicago, Illinois.
10. Chris Plante, WMAL 630 AM, Washington, D.C.
11. Michael Berry, KTRH 740 AM, Houston, Texas.
12. Dom Giordano, WPHT 1210 AM, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
13. Doug McIntyre, KABC 790 AM, Los Angeles, California.
14. Lars Larson, KXL 101 FM, Portland, Oregon.
15. Jim Gearhart, WKXW 101.5 FM, Trenton, New Jersey.
16. Geraldo Rivera, WABC 770 AM, New York, New York.
17. Steve Dahl, WLS 890 AM, Chicago, Illinois.
18. Clarence M. Mitchell IV “C4,” WBAL 1090 AM Baltimore, Maryland.
19. Joe Pags, WOAI 1200 AM, San Antonio, Texas.
20. Bill Cunningham, WLW 700 AM, Cincinnati, Ohio.
21. Armstrong and Getty, KSTE 650 AM, Sacramento, California.
22. Ronn Owens, KGO 810 AM, San Francisco, California.
23. Chris Stigall, WPHT 1210 AM, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
24. Mark Reardon, KMOX 1120 AM, St. Louis, Missouri.
25. Ron and Don, KIRO 97.3 FM, Seattle, Washington.
26. Mandy Connell, KHOW 630 AM, Denver, Colorado.
27. Dan Yorke, WPRO 630 AM, Providence, Rhode Island.
28. Larry Young, WOLB 1010 AM, Baltimore, Maryland.
29. Mark Davis, KSKY 660 AM, Dallas, Texas.
30. John Carney, KTRS 550 AM, St. Louis, Missouri.
31. Joe Piscopo, WNYM 970 AM, New York, New York.
32. Lincoln Ware, WDBZ 1230 AM, Cincinnati, Ohio.
33. Tom Bauerle, WBEN 930 AM, Buffalo, New York.
34. Jim Villanucci, KXNT 100.5 FM, Las Vegas, Nevada.
35. Charlie Brennan, KMOX 1120 AM, St. Louis, Missouri.
36. Charlie Sykes, WTMJ 620 AM, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
37. Brian Whitman, Ben Shapiro, Elisha Krauss, KRLA 870 AM, Los Angeles, California.
38. Tom Marr, WCBM 680 AM, Baltimore, Maryland.
39. McGraw Milhaven, KTRS 550 AM, St. Louis, Missouri.
40. John DePetro, WPRO 630 AM, Providence, Rhode Island.
41. John Hancock, WBT 1110 AM, Charlotte, North Carolina.
42. Mark Belling, WISN 1130 AM, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
43. Joyce Kaufman, WFTL 850 AM, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
44. Mac and Gaydos, KTAR 92.3 FM, Phoenix, Arizona.
45. Chris Merrill, KOGO 600 AM, San Diego, California.
46. Mark Trivisano, WTAM 1100 AM Cleveland, Ohio.
47. Alan Stock, KDWN 720 AM, Las Vegas, Nevada.
48. Simon Conway, WHO 1040 AM, Des Moines, Iowa.
49. Jeff Wagner, WTMJ 620 AM, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
50. Jan Mickelson, WHO 1040 AM, Des Moines, Iowa.
