Sam Seder going off Air America
I just learnt from The Washington Note, Steve Clemon's Blog that Sam Seder will be ending his regular talk show on Air America Radio,
I posted this comment of Steve's blog today.
Although Sam Seder is intelligent and has a great grasp of the liberal political approach, he was not a good Talk Show Host. Sam stuttered and spluttered and in many cases could not complete his sentences and thoughts, changing most of them mid sentence.
Compared to the truly greats as Mike Malloy, Peter Werbe, Guy James, Bernie Ward, Ray Taliaferro, Sam was more hype than a good talk show host.
That Sam is being taken off Air America was inevitable. Maybe we will see the truly great liberal hosts ( http://talkshowratings.blogspot.com/ ) come on the air and fake ones like Rhandi Rhodes (who loves the sound of her own voice and her ideas), Rachel Maddow and others follow the Al Franken and Sam Seder route OFF the air.
I am glad that he and Al Franken are off. Maybe the new management of Air America Radio will bring on the really good Talk Show Hosts - Mike Malloy, Peter Werbe, Guy James, and a host that I really like because of a great voice and a very strong positive approach to problems in the US - Peter B. Collins.
It was surprising he was taken off the new Phoenix Nova M Radio Station where he had a spot along with Mike Malloy. Even though the hours were difficult for me to listen to him, 2 am to 4 am, I enjoyed what little I heard from him. He will soon earn a great rating here.
posted by Rauha (Peace) at 23:30
2 Comments:
I think you are looking for something else in your liberal talk when you try to compare Sam Seder to Guy James, Peter B. Collins, and Peter Werbe. They are all great in their own arena (although personally Peter Werbe's delivery drives me a little crazy) and I think that Sam brought more humor to a national show than any of those you tried to compare him to.
Honestly, when AAR fired Malloy, the only nationally broadcast show that took AAR to task was the Majority Report. Sam went out on a limb to get Mike on the air, Sam spoke up to keep Thom Hartmann on XM when Ed Schultz was trying to take Al Franken's spot (to no avail).
Also, I don't know when the last time you actually listened to Sam's show was, but his sputtering and stuttering have all but disapeared. Remember, Sam is only into his 4th year of radio, how many years of experience do the talents you sited have, and did any of them break into the business on a national show?
I guess I just think your criticism is unfair and if you took the context of Sam's radio career into consideration you might be a little more charitable in your critique.
I listen to most of the shows virtually every day, most of them live, but if not, as podcasts or rebroadcasts.
I must disagree about Sam's sputtering and stuttering - it is not that it is a speech defect he was correcting, but that his thoughts change so rapidly, he loses focus. Other Talk Show Hosts do the same, but they can keep to the topic. sam could not.
To get rated in my ratings I must listen to someone for at least 2 years, so no decision is made by listening to one or two shows.
I am not talking about the politics of Air America Radio as we know who controlled that. The firing of Mike Malloy, etc. had nothing to do with their quality of their programme, but an agenda which was driven by something and somebody who was clueless about Talk Radio.
I acknowledged that Sam was brilliant but he is NOT a Talk Show Host and to pass him and Jeanne Garafalo off as one was the first mistake. The latter quit as she knew the cards were clearly on the table - although she was infinitely superior to Sam (as a Talk Show Host) when she broadcast alone. Together they were catastrophe!
If you want to rate people based on their earned experience, then you and I are not on the same page.
If you want to know, Mike has stood out on a limb on complimenting Sam, and I agree with almost everything EXCEPT that Sam is not a Talk Show Host. He has quite another place in broadcasting and hopefully his Sunday Show will put him on the right track, if the powers that be in Air America Radio will give him a chance.
Al Franken is a great humourist but he was awful as a Talk Show Host! By the way, Thom is a great host but he has too many hours on the air that he keeps repeating himself. He is stale. Also he has many blind spots, NAFTA; WTO, Outsourcing. Ed Schulz can hardly be characterised as a Talk Show Host in my opinion!
Stephanie Miller, Mark Levine, Tony Trupanio, Mike Webb and even Mike Newcomb are considerably better than Sam as Talk Show Hosts.
I am not in the business of charity but assessing Liberal Talk Show Hosts, not comedians or political commentators, in which Sam has few equals - and that was why Steve Clemons thought so highly of Sam! As I am a political commentator I respect sam for that part of his character.
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