As the entire radio industry knows by now, a huge move took place in the Dallas-Fort Worth market when 97.1 The Eagle flipped from a rock format to talk. Many in the business were shocked by the move, but maybe none of us should have been all that surprised.
Is it possible that this is just part of the trend that we will see more of over the next several years? I believe it will be.
If you look at what’s most likely to move the needle for radio over the next decade, it’s not playing Stairway to Heaven or Hotel California an extra time per day. It’s not trying to out-Spotify Spotify with commercial-free hours. It’s not trying to out-niche Sirius XM.
It’s personality-driven talk.
It is more likely to connect with an audience and drive ratings and revenue off of a loyal audience. The cume for a talk station may not be what the cume would be for a huge music station in any given city, but if in the end, the business is about long-term sustainability, revenues, and loyal, local advertisers, then this is a format move that could end up making sense in other markets.
And this doesn’t just apply to News Talk, it could be any talk format. Sports Talk. Guy Talk. Or “Hot Talk”, as 97.1 The Eagle is being considered.
One of the hosts, Ben Rogers, told Barrett Sports Media that their station will not be defined by a specific type of talk, saying “If you forced a Philadelphia-style playbook on Dallas-Fort Worth, I think that’s misguided. What city in Dallas-Fort Worth do people dislike the most? It’s probably Philadelphia. What happens is, this playbook is implemented by program directors and they end up being the fun police and they have to micromanage creative people that are trying to do content and they have to say, hey, get back to sports. You need more sports.”
And frankly, that’s how it should be.
Local personalities and decision-makers who know their market and can drive the talk format in whatever direction they see fit.
Also, we will probably continue to see the lines of News Talk and Sports Talk blur together over time as well. We already know that sports, politics and culture are continuing to converge, which can make for great talk radio in general. And if you have engaging, smart, entertaining hosts who are up to speed on the topics and issues of the day, you may tune into a talk station years down the road and have no idea if it’s supposed to be what we would consider today a News Talk station or a Sports Talk Station.
So as we look into the future and figure out where the growth is going forward, it’s finding, developing, and promoting the next generation of talk personalities. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be a demand for great music stations in cities across the country and they will remain successful. But when we look down the road and find soft spots in the market, talk may be the answer.
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.
