It’s political season. It’s full of chaos. And in Missouri, it’s full-blown chaos.
Primary day is August 2nd, with five legitimate candidates believing they can be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. In red Missouri, the winner of the primary will be the favorite to be the state’s next U.S. Senator.
At KCMO Talk Radio, we have spent the last several months interviewing all the candidates on my show and Chris Stigall’s show. And while having the candidates on to discuss the news of the day, plus their talking points of the moment, is engaging, it admittedly gets repetitive. Granted, the audience is always turning over, so to them, much of what they hear may be new information or insight. But there’s only so much to get into over an 8-12 minute interview.
But this is where the relationships with the candidates and their campaigns can come into play, and they have as of late for KCMO. As Barrett News Media wrote on Thursday, KCMO Talk Radio is set to host its fourth Politics and a Pint of this election cycle on Monday night with one of the front runners, Eric Greitens. The former Governor is at the top of the polls in a race that is expected to be razor-thin.
We launched the Politics and a Pint idea when I arrived at KCMO Talk Radio over four years ago. The goal was to create an event that would drive an audience, give them not just a politician to meet but also new information they can’t get from listening to KCMO. Not only is it essentially a meet-and-greet with a candidate, I then host the candidate for a long-form Q&A sit down that lasts about 30 minutes, and we wrap the event up with about 10-15 minutes of audience Q&A.
As the events have continued to grow, they have also become places where the news gets broken. Breitbart wrote about one of our recent events after notable comments from Congressman Billy Long.
For our event on Monday with Greitens, we have invited local media to attend and expect to have at least three local TV stations, local news reporters, plus reporters from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. This is in large part because Greitens has not done much in the way of public appearances during the race, especially in Kansas City, while we also will find ourselves just eight days out from Election Day in Missouri.
The reason I’m writing about the success of Politics and a Pint is that I believe the formula can be applied to any market in the country. In Kansas City, we have the benefit of tapping into two states, which means we may have more options than other markets. However, the frequency of the event can be determined based on the political/news cycle. Too often, and you may cause burnout, but 4-6 times per year feels like the sweet spot, based on our experience.
The key has been building relationships with the candidates and their campaigns so they trust you to sit down and perform a professional 30-minute Q&A in front of a live audience. To some, those can be trickier to navigate than 10 minutes on the phone when thousands are listening. These relationships aren’t built overnight, and the trust takes time to build, but once you get there, the opportunities will be endless.
And then, you get great brand awareness for the radio station, potential earned media, more goodwill from candidates and their campaigns, and most importantly, a night with some of your most valuable P1s, who get to meet your host(s), shake hands with a candidate and seek more information the News Talk audience is always in search for.
Take the blueprint. Run with it. Own it. And let the success follow.
Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the Vice President of News/Talk for Cumulus Media, while also hosting “Mundo in the Morning” and programming KCMO Talk Radio 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. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on X @PeteMundo.
