2024 Q3: KLIF Wheels Show
Openings’ Partisan Snark Tilts Against Democrats
2024 August 5
A third quarter has completed since Don Grantham and John Ingram became the hosts of Wheels. As such, it is time to take another measure of the partisan balance of the show’s opening. Other than the continued on-air absence of Ed Wallace as a live host, the show’s opening reduced partisan content remains the sole conspicuous change apparent since Don Grantham and John Ingram’s takeover.
As with the prior two quarters, the format of the show’s open remains unchanged with the same theme music and monologue consisting of three “jokes”. The first “joke” of the monologue is now largely a barbless musing about being a live show aired from Dallas. The third “joke” of the monologue is often an innocuous allusion to being the automotive radio incarnation of some celebrity pairing.
As for the second “joke” of the monologue, Grantham most often call out a specific entity for ridicule, but sometimes just goes with a barbless reference. And just as in Q1 and Q2, the targets of Q3 differ from those lampooned by show openings authored by Wallace.
The following table shows the raw data that was used for the analysis.
As per the above table, the Q3 (May 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024) distribution of the partisan snark tilted more toward Democrats/Left then the Republicans/Right. Q3 contained only six instances of partisan snark. And as with 2024 Q1 and Q2, the 2024 Q3 show opening snark was mostly nonpartisan.
For what is likely another first in the history of Wheels, the show opening’s derogatory partisan snark targeted the left more than it targeted the right. Shocking as it may be, two thirds of the partisan snark slapped at Democrats while the remaining third mocked Republicans.
But there is no cause for celebration. Perhaps due to this retreat from airing show openings for Wheels that almost exclusively attacked conservatives, the vitriol against conservatives expressed by Ed Wallace during his Second Hand News segments has reached new levels of hysteria. And Grantham and Ingram own all of it, as it is their name on the show.
The Wheels audience… Wiping the dirt from their hands as they walk from the
show’s grave… Three quarters in, no one was saved.
-- Related Stories --
2024 April 30 – 2024 Q2: KLIF Wheels Show Opening Mostly Abandons Partisan Snark
2024 January 30 – 2024 Q1: KLIF Wheels Show Opening's Partisan Snark Tilts at 100% Against Republicans, But With 71% Less Quantity
2023 August 3 – 2023 Q4: KLIF Wheels Show Opening's Partisan Snark Tilts at 100% Against Republicans
