[Speed Gibson,
Friday February 22, 2008 at 7:56pm]
Morning Radio 2008: Bill Bennett
I did a detailed review of Bill Bennett's Morning in America last April 2006, where I said that smart as he is, he never gets very deep into an issue. I think that's still a valid assessment.
Bennett doesn't take the straightest path to most points, though occasionally he does get in a profundity. He's too laid back for the time constraints of the program, the longest segment being about 13 minutes including the bumps in and out. He spends too much time setting up the perfect question rather than simply guide his guests and callers. As a reliable commenter observed, he's more suited to overnights. Remember Hobb's House anyone, where Franklin Hobbs ran WCCO all night?
I do see that we've lost another minute to the commercials since then, basically all those "Bulova studios" and "E-Fax" sneaks in the bumps. Net content is now down to just over 33 minutes per hour. (I measure that as from when the host starts talking to when the host stops talking each segment.)
Bennett doesn't take the straightest path to most points, though occasionally he does get in a profundity. He's too laid back for the time constraints of the program, the longest segment being about 13 minutes including the bumps in and out. He spends too much time setting up the perfect question rather than simply guide his guests and callers. As a reliable commenter observed, he's more suited to overnights. Remember Hobb's House anyone, where Franklin Hobbs ran WCCO all night?
I do see that we've lost another minute to the commercials since then, basically all those "Bulova studios" and "E-Fax" sneaks in the bumps. Net content is now down to just over 33 minutes per hour. (I measure that as from when the host starts talking to when the host stops talking each segment.)