The "Impact of Talk Radio" seminar yesterday at the University of Judaism was barely minutes old when Michael Jackson read a prepared statement that he was leaving KNX at the end of this week. "I signed a two-year contract with pd David Hall and the gm Patrick Duffy. I thoroughly, thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed my work there."
During his time at KNX, he did interviews that were scattered throughout the broadcast day. "I hoped, I expected that I would have a regular scheduled broadcast time but it didn't work out," revealed Jackson. "Pat Duffy and I go back at least a quarter of a century of broadcasting at KABC and he knows the probability of running a talk show with successful hosts."

Jackson continued: "Between KNX and KFWB they have a team of excellent broadcast reporters. A prediction - based on absolutely nothing but gut instinct - one day one of those two stations will turn more to talk radio with emphasis not on the right wing, not on the left, but being balanced and fair. It will be less syndication and more local."

Michael said he was talking with two entities and hoped to have an announcement about his next assignment soon.

As far as the seminar which featured Michael, KTLK's Stephanie Miller, KABC's Doug McIntyre, and KFI's Bill Handel, Michael observed: "The surprise was the unanimity of thinking about the issues facing our country and the current abysmal leadership of the Bush administration," said Michael afterwards. "I was delighted at the reception I received; I've been away from the spotlight for quite a while."

Veteran talk host Bill Moran did a great job moderating the very aggressive talk hosts. After Jackson's surprise announcement, Moran asked each of the panel members how they started their day. Handel said he gets to KFI by 4:30, grabs some coffee, and reads the death threats and hate mail. McIntyre said he gets up at three a.m., gets to the station by 4 a.m. and then sends some death threats to Bill Handel.

The seminar, marred by a horrendous and annoying sound system for the entire two hours, demonstrated much commonality between the guests. There were no Bush supporters on the panel. Some of the other topics during the 90-minute segment included securing the borders, illegal immigration, and the need for entertainment and information in order to be successful in talk radio.

"It's all content," said Handel. "The longer I'm in the business, I realize how difficult it is. There are very few Michael Jacksons, Stephanie Millers and Howard Sterns. No matter what you think of Howard, who is a genius in his own right figuring out his market, every station that ran Stern has tanked with the replacements. I think Rush is pretty whacked out politically, but you can't argue how he revolutionized the business."

After the program, Handel observed: "It was surprising that two people that are generally labeled on the conservative side [Doug and I], and two people on the liberal side [Stephanie and Michael] were all in total vehement agreement on what a disaster the Bush presidency is. It was also kind of fun for me to address a liberal Westside Jewish crowd, as we screamed at each other at the top of our lungs...it felt just like doing the show! It was great fun, It was nice to be on a panel with three other pros."

Ray Briem, the deal of the all-night in L.A. on KABC, was sitting in the front row. He said he feels great at 76. He had some thoughts on the program. "I think it went too long and the PA system was bad. However, it was great to hear Bill Handel and Mac espousing their point of view. Both did great. I was disappointed with Jackson's input. He was always at his best when interviewing a guest. He always had the best guest booking. Sorry about our gal...she's too far left for me and she can't talk about local issues."

Briem continued: "The one great thread was how talk radio has changed. Most of it today is syndication and very little local input. If it hadn't been for local talk radio, Proposition 13 would not be in place today. I had Howard Jarvis on over two dozen times along with those who were fighting the passage of it."

Doug acknowledged Briem's contribution to the history of L.A. radio. Briem had nice words for McIntyre. Ray thinks Doug has the best chance of remaining where he is after Citadel acquires ABC/Disney. "I think that 8 hours of syndication during primetime daylight hours will go out the window."

Richard Chemel of Woodland Hills reacted to the panel. "Perhaps I was expecting something a little different, but I wasn't disappointed with the 2 hour + panel. The main emphasis I took away was that talk radio has to be entertaining, and the topics have to lend themselves to the same. When it came to health care, the panelists shared that yes it's a topic- but the talking heads can't hold listeners - and ratings are what its all about. Talk Radio and the industry was a very minor topic of discussion - with an emphasis on Bush, Iraq, Israel- Iran, illegal immigration etc."

 

(Pictured: 1. Jackson, Miller; 2. Moderator Bill Moran; 3. McIntyre, Handel)

Chemel continued: "The audience was largely 50+ and it was nice seeing Ray Briem being canonized by Doug McIntire. In fact, I felt McIntire was able to gain some new admirers, as the man came across as entertaining and thoroughly knowledgeable about the issues. Handel was Handel and he's always fun to listen to him, and Stephanie Miller is entertaining. Michael Jackson, as always brought class to the panel. I was quite disappointed Mike Harrison was unable to attend, and I have to believe his background, knowledge and views would have brought an added dimension the discussions. In fact, when the moderator announced Michael was unable to attend- there were many ahhhs in the audience leading me to believe, though based in New England, Mike Harrison still has fans out here when he did Harrison's Mike on KMET, and hosted a tv talk show on Valley Cable in the 80s."

During the final half-hour, Moran invited audience member to ask questions. "I do think that allowing audience members to ask questions on mike is antiquated as one zealot attempted to discredit two of the panelists by suggesting the use of an Internet news aggregator somehow was wrong," said Chemel. "Having audience members submit questions and let the moderator filter them is more my cup of tea. The only downside was the miking of the panelists was terrible - an irony for a talk show gathering."

Ed Mann of the Mann Group and ex-KIIS and KBIG, felt his $20 could not have been better spent.

"Bill Moran, a new friend of mine personally invited me over lunch which I paid for. The crowd, mostly elderly and... just one minute...

OK, I'm back. My wife needed me to apply tanning cream to her back; her father's turning 80 tomorrow and she apparently feels the need to look like an overbaked retiree from Ft. Lauderdale for a party where primarily oxygen tanks and iron lungs will be pulling up at valet. (Photo: Ed Mann)

So, back to the session. The crowd was older and Jewish, but sharp and reactive, and I don't mean just me. First of all, Doug McIntyre is, if not the funniest man on the radio, the funniest guy on stage, and he out shown even the great Michael Jackson. The comment of the afternoon was during a discussion of why and under what circumstances presidents lie - according to Bill Handel, all of them and often - and Mr. Moran revealed that Mr. Handel's parent[s] were holocaust survivors who might have been saved if FDR has bombed the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz instead of 'ball bearing plants.' Stephanie Miller mentioned that her father, who ran on the ticket with Barry Goldwater in 1964, might have been a prosecutor during the Nuremberg trials. Blue-eyed Doug retorted, 'my dad was a defendant.' Uproarious laughter.

The balance of the afternoon was spent discussing illegal immigration, amongst other topics, but that subject ruled. Mr. Handel suggested that the United States might well welcome blond Swedes in the millions, and their breasts, and with an open door, but our country could not support this sustained influx, particularly of laborers that the U.S. doesn't have a specific need for. Mr. Jackson reminded the crowd that in '59, he emigrated here with no problems and that perhaps America is more concerned with the color of the immigrants' skin than what rights they have or don't have. To paraphrase, how can they come in legally when prevented by years of red tape accompanied by prejudice?

Bush bashing, though, was a topic of unanimous consent. Most of the panel thought that impeachment was in order, but, as Mr. Handel reminded the now unruly crowd, 'no high crimes and misdemeanors can be proved here.'

Radio as a medium for opinion for profit was an early topic, and it was echoed by a Rabbi during the Q&A who thought John & Ken on KFI often went over the line. The entire panel reminded us that their jobs were for entertainment purposes. I thought the topic of 'opinion as news' might have been broached, such as Rush's daily proclamation as "America's Anchorman" and Hannity's 'News and information,' but no luck. All
panelists revealed that no topic had ever been vetoed my their bloated companies and Mr. Jackson revealed that he had never been so much as edited. One member of the congregation blurted, 'No, they just fire you.' Big laughs.

I must go now. Don asked for just a paragraph and who am I anyway; I've never been on the radio except when a Madonna track is playing under me. I was just happy the Doug McIntyre knew who I was when I invaded his personal space before the event. Although I think he was staring at me way too much during the session." - Ed Mann

Thomas Burfield of Los Alimitos wrote to say: "The topic was supposed to be 'The Impact of Talk Radio,' but instead all I heard were the same opinions on immigration, Iraq and the presidency that I hear on the panelists' radio shows every day. There was a lot of talent on that stage, and they did conduct a lively discussion, but I didn't hear any questions like, 'What effect did talk radio have on the recent immigration demonstrations?' or 'Has talk radio helped cause the president's drop in the polls?' They touched on syndication vs. local, but, to my frustration, failed to seriously pursue that topic. I'll let the university know how I feel, but my guess is that, had you been moderator, the seminar would have focused more on talk radio and less on politics."

(Pictured: Jackson, Miller, McIntyre, Handel, Moran; former KABC gm George Green)

This morning on his KABC show, Doug reviewed the reaction from the sold-out audience. "You've got four talk show hosts up there, none of whom are really that enthusiastic about the current President. There were people who were still mad at us because we weren't mad enough."

Stephanie Miller held her own with the almost all-male panel with much wit and humor. "Our show is like an island - too liberal for conservatives and too politically correct for most liberals, so theoretically I have a show that should appeal to nobody," quipped Stephanie. When she was first introduced, Stephanie said that she was national, "not like these two slackers [Handel, McIntyre] who are only local. After the show, Stephanie said: "Bill Handel looks even lovelier in soft afternoon lighting than early morning fluorescent light at Clear Channel."

Stephanie Miller started her KTLK show this morning with: "I did a talk radio panel here in Los Angeles yesterday with the typical two right-wingers, two left-wingers and the two right-wingers pretty much think Bush is the biggest idiot ever. There was no reason for us to be there. The President is a uniter. There's nothing more to fight about. I could have slept in."

Handel reviewed the seminar in his opening segment this morning. "I was going to mention ratings. The first thing I was going to say, 'Doug, here you are on a heritage station, KABC, which fired everyone on the panel except Doug - he hasn't been there long enough to be fired, just give him time, and I was going to say here is Stephanie Miller on K-TALK that's been around for eight months and she's kicking the crap out of you. I think it has more to do with KABC than it has to do with McIntyre to be honest. When we were walking in, Doug said he was a huge fan. Now what do you do. He's one of the most gracious and lovely men I've ever met. He's also a very funny man. I enjoyed him very much and of course, Stephanie is being completely insane. Michael Jackson, who, of course, got a standing ovation. It was a fun, fun panel."