Liberal talk radio struggled to attain the popularity seen in conservative counterparts, as exemplified by the quick demise of stations like Air America and Al Gore's Current TV. Unlike conservatives, liberals often perceived themselves as having more sophisticated tastes, believing they did not need to broadcast their politics on traditional radio. The growth of conservative talk radio followed the deregulation phase post-Reagan, indicating a market gap that responded to audiences seeking direct, often lower-brow commentary. Ultimately, the irony is that when liberals favored engagement, they preferred unconventional formats over staunch traditionalism.
Liberals generally liked to flatter themselves that they had higher-brow tastes than their conservative counterparts, which is why they didn't need to spread their politics on the AM dial in between commercials for Ovaltine and powders that alleviate 'male itch.'
Conservative talk radio grew out of the Reagan-era demolition of the Fairness Doctrine, which mandated something approximating 'equal time' in political commentary. Both it and Fox News were genuine market responses to a softer liberal dominance of the rest of the news and entertainment world.
It just turned out that liberals preferred such commentary to be delivered through the Voice of God or with a sense of ironic detachment.
Al Franken had a reasonably successful liberal radio talk show, augmented by books like Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, which, whatever you thought of them on the merits, were definitely a liberal answer to Limbaugh's The Way Things Ought to Be.
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