The connection between a radio station and the community it serves can be strengthened if that station maintains live and local programming across most of its dayparts. In cahoots with a strong and consistent digital presence, relatable, timely, and entertaining content is a recipe for success.
I’ve read tons of articles and blogs that rip the industry for cost-cutting measures that produce stations that operate with a skeleton crew incapable of making the kind of content that builds relationships and strengthens bonds with local businesses. That aside, there are some tremendous news/talk brands that commit big dollars and considerable energy to ensure that they stay live and local.
I started listening to the radio at a young age. I understood the magic created when a host talked about my community. Growing up in Southern California, I remember the brilliant work of KFI and KNX covering the Rodney King riots or the 6.4 Northridge earthquake that jolted me out of bed at 4 a.m.
For that reason, I’m sick and tired of hearing that radio is dying or that radio is boring. I refuse to believe the narrative. Instead, I think radio can be great again if it commits to live and local platforms throughout the day.
I was honored to interview two longtime news/talk programmers for this column. Their stations epitomize live and local, and their respective companies have made investments to ensure that they have the resources available.
Mike Schaefer programs Urban One’s WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mike and his team are live and local 15 hours a day from 5 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Alan Furst programs Audacy’s KMBZ in Kansas City, Missouri. Alan and his team are live and local throughout the day and night.
Ryan Hedrick: Why is live and local radio important?
Mike Schaefer: I think it serves the listener to a greater degree. Our listeners are many things, news junkies and political animals. But they are also dads and moms and business owners here in the community. To serve them to the best of our ability, I believe that we need to offer content that is relevant to their local experience.
Alan Furst: We try to relate to people by what’s going on around us every day. In KMBZ’s case, we just try relating to the day-to-day adventures of people. Whether it has to do with schools or the pandemic or sports, all that stuff is so important to people. If it’s topical and people are talking about it, so are we.
RH: How does the connection between syndicated personalities and local personalities differ between radio audiences?
MS: Syndicated personalities can certainly make a connection with their audience, the biggest names in our business have proven that to be true. It’s not a matter of syndicated personalities not connecting. But I do believe if a local host can talk about a local shop that the listener has frequented, I think that makes a connection that is more personal and more direct.
AF: Most national shows tend to work off the same script. A syndicated host can relate to a local audience, but it doesn’t have the same connection that a local host can make. I think it’s easier to make a local connection. If I listen to a national show, I can almost predict what a national show is going to do, particularly the conservative shows.
RH: What are some of the things that your station does in the community over the air or on its digital platforms, to make sure that your listeners understand that you’re committed to the live & local experience?
MS: We’ve been connected to Charlotte for more than 100 years now. The biggest events we put on, whether it’s “Hancock’s Bike for Kids,” which has given the gift of a bike to over 30,000 children, or WBT’s SkyShow, which started on our bicentennial, it effectively is the fireworks show for Charlotte. People have come to rely on WBT for some of these events in the community. Over the past two years, we’ve been able to raise close to $400,000 to feed local kids in conjunction with a local church here which is pastored by WBT’s David Chadwick. Digitally, I can go back to the coverage we provided during the pandemic. In the early days of the pandemic, we put up a secondary streaming channel on our digital platforms that we called “Coronavirus 360.” Every day we updated that channel with fresh content related to all things coronavirus.
AF: If something is happening locally, we just talk about it. We get the community engaged using our resources both on-air and online. We take calls, and we use our social media platforms to push those stories out and expand the things we have discussed on the air. We reflect that on our morning news show and all other shows and in our news coverage throughout the day.
RH: When national topics arise, how does your station balance topics that are important locally versus larger issues and discussions that matter nationally?
MS: I think everything affects us locally. The war in Ukraine and the coronavirus are perfect examples of issues and stories that touch us all. To have a host like Brett Winterble in the afternoon or Vince Coakley in middays, whose shows are largely national in content, although they are obviously locally based, it allows them to cover those topics and give our listeners their fill of that type of content. Pete Kaliner’s show from noon-3 has a largely state focus. All our hosts cover those national and global topics. What’s amazing is that they are able to make them relatable on the local level.
AF: I think our first job is to entertain. We don’t always get into a lot of the heavier topics on the FM station. I think it’s just a feel thing for the shows. We try to localize topics and to find that local hook. We try to find the emotion in the story and to try to find ways to bring it home. Sometimes, there are a lot of national topics where we don’t even go there. A lot of things we just don’t do because they become too toxic. Our first rule on the station is to entertain and so we look for topics that are more entertaining than the heavier stuff. We’ll talk about movies before we talk about politics.
RH: From a business perspective, how much does it matter in your local market to advertisers that your shows are local? Does your station see more dollars attached to specific types of shows, personalities, and dayparts?
MS: I think a great deal of the business that WBT does, is because our hosts endorse local clients. I think that if [morning host] Bo Thompson and [co-host] Beth Troutman tells you about a business that they endorse, you’re going to know that if you’re ever in the market for that product or service, you’ll know it’s trustworthy, or they wouldn’t be talking about it otherwise. WBT’s success from a revenue standpoint is clear. The station is the number one billing station in Charlotte.
AF: All I know is what I’ve seen here and in other markets. Strong personalities do a great job for advertisers. That’s a great strength of being local. In the end, our real business is helping other businesses grow. I can’t think of a better way than a well-respected friend recommending a store or restaurant to you. That’s what we do; it works.
