We’ve made it to day 4 of BNM’s Top 20 of 2022 series presented by Steve Stone Voiceovers. If you’re checking in here for the first time and missed this week’s prior announcements, check out who made our lists among the News/Talk radio format’s top National Shows, Major and Mid Market Morning Shows, and Major and Mid Market midday shows. The results are collectively determined by 44 radio industry programmers and executives from 15 companies in 36 cities. Their participation is greatly appreciated.
After today, we will still have three days left to go. Still to be presented are the format’s top program directors, radio stations, and original digital shows. We were going to keep it simple and just say ‘Digital Shows’ but we wanted to make sure it’s understood that the programs listed in the category were built specifically for digital, not radio programs that get turned into repurposed digital content.
As a format, News/Talk radio programming is available on over two thousand stations. The only larger format is country. We try our best to make sure the top shows, hosts, programmers and brands are listed for voting consideration but also allow room for our voters to add nominees if for some reason someone isn’t listed on our document. Additionally, though we triple check everything before publishing our lists and hope to present the perfect layout, sometimes things slip through the cracks. If you notice an error, please let us know. We want to shine the light on the format’s best brands and shows in a way that makes them feel proud to be recognized, not frustrated by an incorrect detail.
As you review these results, please keep in mind that they represent the collective opinions of forty four industry programmers and executives. If your show didn’t make the list, it doesn’t mean you’re no good, not successful or critically important to your employer. In other words, don’t beat yourself up over it. Though it’s cool to be recognized, there are way more good shows out there than there are slots.
If you wish to stay informed on each day’s results, it’d help us out if you’d give us a follow on Twitter at @BNMStaff, visit us on Facebook at Barrett News Media or sign up for our daily newsletter, ‘The Rundown‘ by clicking here. You can also bookmark this website to stay updated on future news/media industry content. Your support is greatly appreciated.
As it pertains to the voting, here are a few key things to be aware of.
#1 – Our voters were asked to pick their Top 20 selections for each category in exact order based on a few key factors; quality of show (ear test), originality, ability to entertain-inform-connect across multiple platforms, ratings success, clearance (national shows) and industry buzz. Remember, our voters live in different cities, have different tastes, work for different groups, and value certain factors higher than others. This isn’t a perfect system but it’s the best one we’ve been able to create to showcase the industry’s best. Having done this for seven years for the sports talk format, we’re going to stick with it until another approach makes more sense.
#2 – Our executive panel consists of program directors and corporate executives from a number of top broadcasting companies including Audacy, iHeart, Cumulus, Beasley, Hubbard, Good Karma Brands, Cox Media Group, Radio One, Alpha, Bonneville, FOX News Radio, Hearst, Federated Media, Zimmer Communications, and Westwood One. We involve a large number of people in order to receive feedback from all parts of the country, and to avoid the results heavily favoring one company.
#3 – A total of 35 shows in the Major Market N/T Afternoon Shows category appeared on ballots turned in by our executive panel.
Which brings us to today’s category – Major Market News/Talk Afternoon Shows. For the third time in three days, KFI in Los Angeles reigned supreme. This time, the station’s afternoon show John and Ken earned the top spot recognition. BNM congratulates John, Ken, Robin Bertolucci and the entire KFI team on being voted #1, and every other show which earned a spot on this year’s list.
Now, here are the full results of “BNM’s Top 20 Major Market News/Talk Afternoon Shows of 2022!”
Additional Notes:
- John and Ken cruised to a 78 point victory in the afternoon category. The KFI drive time tandem were also the recipient of the most first place votes among all shows with nine (9).
- Coming in 21-25 were Michelle Durham & Jay Scott Smith, Slater & Lou, The PM Rush, Russell & Hunter, and Michael Wallace & Steve Scott.
- The closest contests saw Vince Coglianese finish 3 points in front of Charles Feldman, and Carl Demaio finish 1 point ahead of Leo Terrell.
- Of the 35 shows to receive votes, seven (7) received at least one 1st place vote.
Here is the remaining schedule for the BNM Top 20 of 2022.
- Thursday December 15 = The Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Afternoon Shows of 2022
- Friday December 16 = The Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Program Directors of 2022
- Monday December 19 = The Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Stations of 2022
- Tuesday December 20 = The Top 20 Original N/T Digital Shows of 2022
A reminder, BNM will have a big announcement following the Top 20 series on Wednesday December 21st. Make sure to visit the website that day to learn what else we’re up to.
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
