» Rush: "I Am Ready For Battle!" That's the word today from Talk radio's most listened to conservative host Rush Limbaugh in the wake of last night's election of Democrat Barack Obama to the White House. "We're being told today that we need to be gracious in defeat," said El Rushbo on his Premiere Radio Networks show today (11/5). "My answer to that is, screw defeat! This is a war that there are skirmishes and battles in and we just lost a battle. We've got to be honest with ourselves about why we lost. Anytime you fail, if you don't examine yourself first, you will never understand what happened. The core of the problem is that that the Republican Party, for some inexplicable reason that I don't care about now, decided to abandon conservatism. We've now demonstrated to one and all how to lose." Noting the substantial number of people who voted for Republican John McCain vs. Obama Limbaugh added, "I for one do not think it wise to abandon 57 million Americans who want no part of an Obama agenda and I, for one, will not abandon them."

» What Advice Do You Have For President Obama? In his regular column for MarketWatch today (11/5), Jon Friedman has some advice for the new President-elect. "I'd advise our new president to loosen up a bit when he deals with the media from this point on," he writes. "The easiest way to get potential antagonists on your side is to smile and make light jokes. Everyone in the media will be watching Obama, waiting for him to trip up and look bad. It's nothing personal against him. But as I have written in this space before, the media love nothing more than to build you up, and then knock you down." Offer your advice for Barack Obama HERE and we'll share it with our NTS Aircheck Today readers in tomorrow's edition.

» Change Is Good For Radio: In the wake of yesterday's historic election of Democrat Barack Obama as President, Paragon Media Strategies CEO Mike Henry believes that, "in the pendulum of American life, we've hit the extreme point" and he predicts that, "the dye is cast for the pendulum to swing back to the middle." Why is that good for radio? In his latest post to Paragon's BLOG Henry says that "significant change is needed for radio to thrive in the 21st century" and adds, "While radio still must confront significant content, distribution and image deficiencies, for the first time in quite awhile, today it actually feels like radio's swimming downstream, not up."

» Update: Karel Suspended: While management at KGO/San Francisco is still not commenting on last weekend's incident in which host Karel Bouley let loose a tirade wishing death to Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher when Bouley thought he was off the air, NTS Aircheck Today has confirmed that the talk host has been suspended TFN from the Citadel News/Talker. Following the rant Bouley apologized saying, "I was, and am deeply sorry that went out," he said.

» KGO's Luckoff Marks 50 Years In Broadcasting: Last weekend's aforementioned incident involving evening and weekend host Karel Bouley is hardly the first time that station President/GM Mickey Luckoff has dealt with controversy during his five decades in broadcasting and it likely won't be the last. Luckoff, who began his radio career in 1958 and has presided over 30 consecutive years of #1 ratings for the Bay Area News/Talker, will be among those inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame this Saturday night (11/8) in Chicago. "Numbers are only one way to measure success," says Luckoff reflecting on his many achievements at KGO. "What has kept us on top all these years are three things: great talent and staff; engaged listeners; and a strong commitment to our communities."

» CBS Radio Launches DC Talker: Former gospel music WPGC-AM/Washington will flip to Talk as "The Big Talker 1580." Mornings will be anchored by WPHT/Philadelphia wake-up host Michael Smerconish via a simulcast of CBS Radio's sister Philly talker. He'll be followed by a lineup of syndicated yakkers including Premiere Radio Networks' Glenn Beck Show, Westwood One's The Radio Factor With Bill O'Reilly, Take On The Day's Dr. Laura Program and United Stations Radio Networks' Lou Dobbs Show. The new Talk outlet -- set to launch next Monday (11/10) -- will reportedly pick up the call letters WHFS that were recently dropped by CBS Radio's 105.7 FM in Baltimore. That station flipped to Sports/Talk as WJZ-FM earlier this week.