The Infinite Dial

This is, by many accounts, the year when politics became pop culture: whether because of the writers strike or the economy, the year when more Americans took an active interest in the future of their country. So how are music radio's morning shows -- geared more to talk about Britney than Barack -- reflecting that?

Judging from the hour or so of New York-area morning radio I heard today, Super Tuesday might as well have been just another election as I punched across my 11 music buttons. It was covered most extensively by the Urban stations. It got the obligatory top-of-the-newscast mentions on a handful of others, before they went on to their far more extensive coverage of the Giants' Super Bowl win and today's victory parade. Super Tuesday was treated topically by only one non-Urban station that I came across.

R&B stations can most reliably be counted on to urge their audience to get out and vote and this morning was no exception. The election was covered on Urban AC WRKS (Kiss 98.7), where I caught the tail end of a pundit interview, and on R&B/Hip-Hop WWPR (Power 105) where morning host Ed Lover was talking to first Diddy and then Chris Rock about the election. Diddy, because of his work with various non-partisan charities, did not endorse a candidate on-air, but Rock wasn't shy about championing Obama and neither was Ed Lover.

I didn't hear the election mentioned on WQHT (Hot 97)'s morning show, although I was told later by New York Daily News radio writer David Hinckley that Diddy made a slightly more pro-Obama appearance with morning host Miss Jones, who was strongly pro-Obama, anti-Clinton.

I didn't hear Steve Harvey, carried here on WBLS, mention it either until I was pulling into the parking lot at the end of my hour of listening. Harvey had spent most of that hour in a mock squabble with another team member, but finally chastised himself for not talking about the election earlier, urged listeners to vote (going no further than "you have a chance to make history either way," then adding that he figured he was talking mostly to Democrats), and launched into President Bush at length.

Most other places, it was the usual, perfunctory "polling places are open now" first story. (And, yes, I did hear about Britney Spears first on at least one station, although since she's between fresh outrages this week, I didn't hear as much about her.) The only exception was Opie & Anthony, heard here on WXRK (K-Rock), who were in the middle of a bit in which they appeared to be playing the first half of actualities from African-American listeners, then trying to guess whether they would be supporting Clinton or Obama (a bit they've reportedly been doing for several days with white voters as well).