Is it “watch out Rush Limbaugh” in the future? Is former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, darling of conservatives and a politician who talks the talk of the conservative talk radio political culture destined to become a radio talk show host?
Speculation is increasing that Palin’s next big role on the national stage might not be as a 2012 Presidential candidate, but Rush Limbaugh in a dress (a troubling image, to be sure…). But IS she daily talk show host material? Broadcasting & Cable’s Paige Albiniak is not too sure:
Inside Radio reported yesterday that a new career choice for Sarah Palin, the now former governor of Alaska and Republican lightning rod, might be a nationally syndicated radio show.
My own sources say much what they said when asked about a TV show for Palin: Don’t think so. While you might assume Palin would be a better fit for conservative radio than the less partisan world of syndicated broadcast TV, my sources say the country’s biggest radio conglomerate, Clear Channel, has already passed on her.
The main objection to Palin as radio talk-show host is that she would have to hold forth for three hours a day. While some of her recent remarks may indicate a talent for improvisation, anyone who’s listened to Rush Limbaugh or Thom Hartmann or Don Imus or Howard Stern or even Ryan Seacrest knows it’s the rare personality who can blab extemporaneously for 15 hours a week. And relying on callers to get you through won’t help, because as we’ve all experienced, callers-in are usually more embarrassing than compelling.
Even so, if she has been nixed as a talk show radio host — and don’t bet your home on it, because if a big city station sees $$$$$ they might offer her a slot and try to syndicate it later if she proves to be a radio star (although it’s hard to wink through a microphone) — she could face another future: as a Fox News analyst who eventually gets a weekly show tryout that could be spun off into a daily show.
No matter, she will be in huge demand from Fox, local radio talkers, conservative groups, conservative think tanks — and most likely once her book comes out by the big networks, particularly the morning show.
Palin would be a big “get” — but the question remains whether talk radio honchos truly “get” Palin’s potential?
Or do they already — which is whyThe Sarah Palin Show may not be a three-hour-a-day offering on your radio dial….
Stay tuned…..
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.