Now that the health care bill has passed, the pundits are determining who the winners and losers will be. I haven’t heard much regarding the potential impact of ObamaCare on talk radio.
You may remember that talk radio proliferated after the election of Bill Clinton as president. Rush Limbaugh in particular used this event to grow his audience substantially. Who could forget how he began each day’s program with “DAY 55, AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE!” Many speculated talk radio would enjoy a similar spike in listenership after the election of Barack Obama. However, this did not materialize for the most part.
Now, people are fired up as never before. A Facebook group entitled “I bet we can find 1,000,000+ people who disapprove of the Health Care Bill” has attracted more than 443,000 members as of this writing. This group was created less than 48 hours ago. The radio industry is in desperate need of momentum these days and this issue could potentially provide it. What do you think? Could the passage of ObamaCare prove to be the “stimulus package” for radio in general and talk radio in particular?