And therein lies your answer as to why liberal radio can't compete. Think about it for a minute. Talk radio in and of itself is mostly boring and drivel. So to make money, they (radio station owners, etc.) put on shows that are controversial, loud, decisive, and very opinionated and outlandish. They put on people like Stern or O&A because they draw a crowd with their antics and such, which brings in advertising and $$$ (the bottom line). And when you cross over into the political arena of talk radio what are people more likely to listen to? The conservative personalities who come across as extremely opinionated and controversial. This is what entertains the majority of America. While liberal radio could be construed as controversial they just don't have a single personality who speaks with the confidence and decisiveness of the conservative main players. People as a whole eat that type of stuff up (as we know from past history; cue Godwin's law ). I happened to tune into Hannity last week for about an hour on the drive home from work. And in all seriousness, in one hours time he must have used the phrases "you are a Great American", "our great nation", "in our defense of freedom", etc. no less than 50x. Now whether his views are right or wrong, different from yours or not, the average American eats that stuff up and hangs on every word, because it gives them a feeling of patriotism, worth, and assuages the ego.