Howard Stern resigns w/ Sirius
- Thread starter js52
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On this point I would have to differ with you. It is generally acknowledged that the late night talk shows have always, back from the Jack Paar days, had a major influence on national political opinion.
From George Pataki's wiki page... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pataki
But this is the specific gubernatorial election I referenced in the post you are responding to, so the point is already conceded for this ONE specific case.
From George Pataki's wiki page... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pataki
But this is the specific gubernatorial election I referenced in the post you are responding to, so the point is already conceded for this ONE specific case.
Hey.... aside from President there aren't many elections that rank higher than NY Gov... so that's a pretty big one to concede. There's also Christie Whitman (who named a NJ rest stop after Stern) and a few other local pols that Stern endorsed who won in elections that they shouldn't have. And Aside from Oprah's early endorsement of Obama, perhaps propelling him past Hillary.... I can't think of a single entertainer or talk show host who has swung a single election and gets credited for it. If you know one by all means let us know.
And I'll stick my what I said... No one is watching Leno or Letterman for politics. They might have an occasional A-list pol on their show, but aside from that how often do Jay and Dave have political discussions. Monologue jokes about the president don't count. Stern is never going to get a president or any politically correct asshole in his studio because of his reputation... that doesn't mean he doesn't have political or any other type of relevance. If you have millions of people hanging on your every word 5 hrs every day... you're going to have relevance in whatever you say. There's a reason brave souls venture on to Stern to plug their wares.... and it's because he sells whatever they're hawking. All you need do if find out who Sterns guest is on any given day and look at Google Trends and note they're usually in the top 5 for daily searches.
Almost every night in the opening monologue, which was precisely what I was referencing.
But they do. With all the talk about Jon Stewart having a political impact using a comedic mock news format, I always point out to people attempting to treat that as something new that Paar, Carson, Leno and Letterman having been doing precisely that for years.
You are a New Yorker, as am I, but you have to look beyond New York. I don't think you realize just how much political impact Leno's and Letterman's monologues have in the heartland.
But they do. With all the talk about Jon Stewart having a political impact using a comedic mock news format, I always point out to people attempting to treat that as something new that Paar, Carson, Leno and Letterman having been doing precisely that for years.
You are a New Yorker, as am I, but you have to look beyond New York. I don't think you realize just how much political impact Leno's and Letterman's monologues have in the heartland.
thorn... I love ya but you couldn't be more wrong on this. First... Letterman is a NY or rather an east coast based show. No one in middle America tunes into him which is why as fake and crappy as Leno is... Dave can't beat him. But the two are too irrelevant to have any sway in any area. You're talking about an audience of 3-4 million people combined. It's like claiming Larry King has political pull. You can yell out your window and more people will hear you. It's all about numbers and none of these louts have the 10 million or so who tune in for Howard or Oprah. I can't stand Oprah but she's probably as responsible for Obama being in the white house as much as any platform, debate, endorsement or horrible VP selection.
I don't listen to any of those clowns and have no idea which of them has the most political influence etc, but it is not as simple as total number of viewers/listeners. It is how many of them vote, where they vote (swing states etc), how closely they listen, how much their fans repeat to other people the opinions/jokes told*, how closely people listen to them (having someone on the radio while you commute to work...texting and planning your day as you go...is not the same as laying in bed and watching them while you fall asleep) etc etc.
*On this one point, I have a little personal experience - I have heard people repeat political jokes they heard on Leno or Letterman but never Stern's comments (but just anecdotal of course...not necessarily representative).
-Ww
*On this one point, I have a little personal experience - I have heard people repeat political jokes they heard on Leno or Letterman but never Stern's comments (but just anecdotal of course...not necessarily representative).
-Ww
I don't think any of your friends or associates are going to tell Stern jokes around the dinner table or in the mens bathroom. That also doesn't mean one or two of those friends weren't beating off in the closet listening to Denise Richards confessing to getting fucked in the ass during motel booty calls. And if you play the averages all around... it's always about numbers. I can't recall the name of the service (I'm sure someone with advertising exp here can post it) but there's something like "Q" ratings for advertisers to gauge talent by and Stern and Oprah ranked pretty high when I saw the list somewhere. I think they post it once a year in Fortune. I'm sure it applies across most of the spectrum... political included.
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