What was the topic around your office water cooler this past Monday? Is it fair for me to assume it was the Super Bowl? The game was a sports all-timer between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles dominated the first half before Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs came roaring back in the second half, scoring on every drive to eventually win the game 38-35 for their second Super Bowl victory in the last four seasons.
The game was watched by over 113 million Americans, the most-watched Super Bowl in six years, and the third most-watched TV show in history.
So, it doesn’t take a media mogul to figure out that if you host and program a radio station in Kansas City, you better try and tap into that excitement and enthusiasm as much as you can. Yes, even as a News Talk station.
In recent days, we’ve received some complaints from listeners saying we were talking or covering too much of the Chiefs. They informed me that we were “not a sports station”.
No, we’re not. But as I explained to them, we are a local talk radio station in a city that was playing in, and eventually won, the Super Bowl. It would be a disservice to not talk about the one thing everybody in town is talking about and unifying around.
Did we spend hours breaking down X’s and O’s? Heck no. That’s not our lane.
We talked about how a Super Bowl run impacts the local economy, airlines adding flights from KC to Phoenix, woke Super Bowl commercials, preparations for a Super Bowl parade, how local law enforcement prepares for an event of this magnitude, and other topics that weave together the biggest local story of the year.
If you walked up to your office water cooler in Kansas City on Monday morning after the city just won a Super Bowl and said, “Boy, Joe Biden. That guy stinks, huh?” Your colleagues would, rightfully so, look at you like you’re fresh out of the insane asylum. Talk about being out of touch with the moment.
So why would we do that on a radio show just because the format we are officially branded as would suggest we are supposed to have a heavier focus on news and politics?
This is the beauty of local news/talk. It can, and when appropriate, should, dabble in sports, when there is an impact on your local community.
Meantime, it’s incredibly rare when sports talk is going to be doing much news, unless it’s something as shocking and disrupting as the COVID-19 lockdowns, where there are no sports because of the magnitude of the news story. But, God willing, that’s a once-in-a-century situation.
So maybe it’s your market that is next in line to hoist a trophy after a Super Bowl, World Series or NBA Championship victory. And if so, don’t let some listeners try to sabotage the moment. You’ll be back to a heavier news/politics lean in no time, and guess what, those listeners will be there too. In the meantime, they might actually enjoy some lighter conversations around a sports team and moments that bring people together.
Those are rarities these days. And if they’re happening in our backyard, let’s embrace them together.
I promise, Joe Biden will still stink tomorrow and the day after. Just like that water cooler conversation can wait, so can that segment on the show.
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.
