Bumpers…

The worst is Hannity, I don’t listen to him regardless but that irritating zero redeeming value country song he plays is the worst of the bunch. Soon as the first note plays it’s time to punch another station button. What the F does “save a horse ride a cowboy” have to do with our republic in flames?

Off topic, I’d like to send WA State highway engineers to VA. Watching your video as you wind thru those properly engineered sweeping banked curves, wow. Turn lane to the right so you don’t have to use the shoulder to avoid getting rear ended, guardrails instead of cable arresters, well done! Here in WA they’ve gone back to cables instead of Jersey barriers or guardrails for many freeway medians. ‘50s tech that at one time was banned for being dangerous. Certainly for bikers, lay down the bike and get julienned instead of sliding to a stop in the grass.

It isnt’ just that Beck and the gang are millionaires, it’s that they have a massive staff of people behind them to produce these shows that really aren’t much more than a podcast. They need to run 15-20 minutes/hr of ads just to pay all those people who find and present the content to the producers, who then work with Beck on the actual show. Beck and Hannity don’t watch hours of CNN and comb through hundreds of NYT articles, they have staffers that do. Those staffers need to be fed, clothed, insured, supplied with office IT infrastructure, and managed.

Then there’s the sales department. Another group, completely separated from production, who lace up their brown shoes every morning and tries to find new business, while keeping existing business. And you thought the production staff was expensive? Well, take that number and double it. They need slick leave-behind media kits, sales assistants, sales managers, expense accounts, and of course, their fragile egos need to be propped up with big off-site sales meetings in only the finest hotels in the region. And they make promises to clients like setting up meetings with “Glenn” to help close the deal.

And as long as you’re spending money, why not buy the best? Limbaugh had his “golden EIB” Electro-Voice RE20, so Hannity needs one too! And the top of the line production board, properly engineered soundproof studios, AKG cans… make it a real professional joint. Looks good for the guests and the video feed too.

Then the “affiliates” need to get their ad time in, along with their “news” and weather forecast, and more ads and more staff and more sales teams and more managers. Although these days the broadcast might come from a central sweatshop studio and be delivered thousands of miles via (expensive) satellite straight to the transmitter. No locals, except maybe a sales team that covers entire states and hundreds of radio stations.

Meanwhile cheap audio has been easy for about a decade. Companies like Rode sell podcast production products for a few hundred bucks. If that’s too much, the used pro audio market is awash with failed dreams that can be found for pennies on the dollar. If you’re not too fussy about ascetics, you can soundproof a room with hardware from Lowes and a few hours of sweat equity. Low end video is starting to get just as easy to do with the rise of HQ phone cameras and inexpensive switches, camera gimbals that track faces and very cheap LED lighting. And if you promote yourself well, you will probably get a larger audience than the old legacy guys, and almost guaranteed to be more engaged and loyal listeners. Because you’re not trying to be a broadcaster, you’ve actually got something to say.