» "Hold Your Nose And Vote For McCain!" That's the advice of WLW/Cincinnati host Bill Cunningham who has been a vocal critic of Republican nominee John McCain for most of the current campaign. "Conservatives have to hold their nose and vote for McCain," the always controversial yakker told Cincinnati Enquirer reporter John Kiesewetter. "Not because McCain will be another Ronald Reagan, but because Obama will be another Jimmy Carter." In words that could hardly be called a ringing endorsement of McCain Cunningham added, "From my perspective, we've got to get him to win despite himself, despite his stupidity. We've got to drag him by the ankles over the finish line, somehow, someway." Read more of Cunningham's remarks HERE

» Coming Down The Home Stretch: Most Talk radio programmers and hosts agree that the next few days are the format's equivalent of the "Super Bowl" as next Tuesday's presidential election dominates the conversation all across America. As usual, the pundits are asking, "What will conservative Talk radio hosts talk about?" come November 6, if Democrat Barack Obama wins. It's a question that's been asked in every presidential election since 1992 when Premiere Radio Networks talker Rush Limbaugh was just coming into his own in the race between then-incumbent George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. "My success doesn't depend on who wins elections," Limbaugh once told me in an interview. "Liberals are more fun when they're out of power because that's when they get wackier and nuttier. When they're in power, they're more dangerous. They can actually implement what they're talking about."

» Hey, Big Spender: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama remained radio's biggest advertiser last week with his campaign airing more than 22,000 ads on the medium vs. Republican John McCain's schedule of just under 8,400 radio ads. According to the latest tracking report by Media Monitors Obama also outspent McCain by a 4-to-1 margin on broadcast TV and ran nearly seven times as many ads as the Arizona Senator on cable television. Read the full report and analysis for the week of October 20-26 HERE.

» Judge Gives Go Ahead To NY AG Arbitron Suit: A federal judge dismissed yesterday the ratings company's suit against New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that sought to stop the AG's attempt to halt Arbitron from continuing the roll out of its Portable People Meter electronic audience measurement system. The suit now moves to state court. In handing down the ruling the federal judge wrote, "The Attorney General has show that important state interests are implicated by its state court lawsuit against Arbitron." Cuomo's suit charges that the use of PPM could reduce advertising revenues for black and Hispanic broadcast station operators.

» Arbitron Moves Forward: In a statement released by the company following yesterday's court decision, Arbitron said, "Today's ruling does not impact Arbitron's right to publish our Portable People Meter audience estimates in New York. We asked the federal court to protect our right to provide the radio industry with the up-to-date PPM audience estimates it needs. Following our efforts, the New York Attorney General chose not to seek a temporary restraining order adversely impacting our right to produce PPM estimates. Now that Arbitron has commercialized the PPM service in New York and other key markets, we look forward to defending our interests. Broadcasters, agencies, and advertisers need continual PPM audience estimates if radio is to remain competitive in an increasingly complex and crowded media marketplace."

National "De-Fence": Shown checking out conditions along the Arizona-Mexico border is KARN/Little Rock host Dave Elswick. The talk host says he visited an area near Tucson called King Anvil Ranch and reports, "I saw up close the problems with illegal immigration and the Mexican drug cartel trade coming across the border."