Kentucky Fried Focus

Flat. That was the word Rita Healy of time.com used to describe the financial status of Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family empire. The good doctor also hosts several radio programs which can be heard all over the High Country. Here are the broadcast stations and times--just for little old Boone:

Daily Focus on the Family Broadcast

Boone WXIT 1200 AM Mon - Fri 3:00 PM

Focus on the Family Commentary

Boone WATA 1450 AM Mon - Fri 11:59 PM

James Dobson Family Minute

Boone WXIT 1200 AM Mon - Fri 7:45 AM

Boone WXIT 1200 AM Mon - Fri 11:59 PM

Weekend Magazine

Boone WXIT 1200 AM Sunday 8:06 AM

That's some pretty good coverage. But you know, that time.com article had some pretty interesting facts--here are just a few:

At the age of 71 and semi-retired from the day-to-day operations of his organization, Dobson is seeing Focus on the Family's fortunes wane — CEO Jim Daly describes them as "flat" — perhaps an inevitability for a ministry pegged to one towering figure. The ministry's expenses have exceeded its revenues for two years — what Daly calls a "drawdown from reserves" — by $4.1 million in fiscal year 2006 and by $9.9 million in 2005. (Figures for 2007 have not yet been released.)

The ministry apparently has been "flat" for some time. For example, in 1994 Dobson's monthly newsletter had a circulation of 2.4 million copies. Today, that circulation is about 1.1 million. Also, in the 1990s, Dobson was drawing audiences of 15,000 or more to his speeches; but in the lead-up to the 2006 mid-term election, only about 1,000 people heard his anti-abortion speech at the 2,500-seat Mt. Rushmore National Monument amphitheatre.

...

His radio broadcasts have a reported audience of 220 million people around the world, a number that has remained unchanged for many years. It is estimated that up to 8.9 million people in the U.S. hear his programs, although Arbitron says that figure is difficult to verify because statistics are garnered from time slots on local stations, not individual programs.

...

In Malaysia each year, Focus airs hundreds of 90-second James Dobson commentaries in Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, over the public address system in supermarkets, and on the radio to a predominantly Muslim population of more than 24 million."

Wow. Where do we even start?

Aside from that last paragraph being just flat out scary, the message here seems to be fairly clear--the good doctor gets waaaaaaaay too much airtime here in the High Country, especially for a movement that is clearly in decline--where it matters most: in terms of financial success, and listeners.

Will the High Country radio titans take notice of this obvious market trend, and perhaps air something a little bit different? Perhaps we can ask the great drumstick in the sky.