Since the day after Joe Biden was inaugurated, many news talk stations have been counting down to the 2022 midterms. While off-election years provide a chance to show topic diversity and be more fun in many ways, election years are still the bread and butter for the format.
But as we approach 2022, there might be some even better news in your market: you may have a chance to double-dip.
Yes, indeed. You may have some municipal and school board elections in your listening area that may occur earlier in the year than November. At least that’s the case in Kansas City, where we will have hotly-contested school board elections in key Missouri suburbs come April.
Considering many of us are also coming off of these most recent November elections (in our case, on the Kansas side) where school boards were all the rage, getting a chance to dip your toes back into those waters while then moving full steam ahead into a traditional midterm year, is very exciting.
This will give your local hosts another chance to uber-localize your content and get a two-for-one deal in 2022.
Given how school boards have become ground zero for culture wars in America, getting to hone in on races in your communities, while mixing in the national politics that come with a midterm, has a branding opportunity that any news talk station should be taking advantage of early in the New Year.
From creative liners, IDs, rejoins, promos, and more, the possibilities are endless to make sure your station owns the corner of that market that will want to learn the who, what, where, when, and why of these races.
There’s no doubt that the more straightforward thing to do will be to focus on the “big picture” from Washington D.C. How many House of Representatives seats will Republicans pick up? Who ends up taking the Senate?
Those will undoubtedly be topics covered on the show. But you’ll also get plenty of that throughout your nationally-syndicated shows as well.
So if your local hosts can balance that broad D.C. topic while then covering your local congressional races, along with possibly a U.S. Senate race, and then throwing some school board races in the mix, you’ve got a recipe for a monster midterm year.
And if we’re also reading the tea leaves, then 2022 should have many in the listening audience excited for how the projected outcomes are already looking. It’s like being a sports fan: Are you more likely to be engaged with your team leading up to the Playoffs if you think they can win a Super Bowl? Of course.
And that’s how many listeners in the news-talk format feel right now. They’re energized and engaged, in large part because they feel like their “team” is heading towards significant victory. So take advantage of that next year. And if you have a two-for-one deal in a Midterm election year, jump on it and don’t look back. You won’t be disappointed.
Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the morning show host and program director for KCMO in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. Pete was also the sports and news director for Omni Media Group at K-1O1/Z-92 in Woodward, Oklahoma. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on Twitter @PeteMundo.
