Right-Wing Talk Radio Payola
Curious, is it not? All advertising on right-wing talk radio shows is accomplished through web sites and 800 numbers. Very rarely, does a business with an actual store front promote a product or service. Wouldn't want the soiled masses out front picketing for god's sake.Moderate and left leaning talkers are said to have unviable radio programming, as their audiences don't patronize the sponsors in sufficient numbers. Hence, the righty talkers offer a more profitable option for radio stations.
But its probable these right-wing audiences aren't buying all this snake oil sold on these shows at all. All it would take is a few hundred dummy buyers, making sham purchases daily using a payola slush fund, similar to any other super-pac.
Very clever indeed. Command the radio waves of an entire nation with a couple million
dollars a week. The advertisers, radio stations and sydicators would never
have to know. The dollars keep coming in like clock work.
Several months back, we decided to research an item advertised on talk radio in my local market. BG offers automotive products and services such as engine oil changes. You won't find their oil on the shelf at Walmart. You have to visit their web site and locate a distributor near you. I dropped in on a local vender and discovered an oil change was about $35. When I asked how many BP oil changes the garage had done in the past month, the answer was zero.
But BP Products is alive and well on talk radio. Judging by the "success" of certain products on right-wing radio, a profile emerges of the average audience member. He is overwight, has low testosterone, balding, has mesothelioma, has enough money to purchase lakeside real estate, is a target for identity theft, suffers from sleep apnea, adores right-wing karaoke, has tinnitus, owes money to the IRS, has children with behavior issues, thinks gold at $1,600 and ounce is a good buy, getting a divorce, and needs a new steel building.
Get it?