Welcome to the second annual Barrett News Media Top 20 series recognizing News/Talk radio’s best for 2023. This series is voted on by news/talk radio program directors and executives all across the country. To stay informed on each day’s results please bookmark our website, follow BNM on Twitter at @BNMStaff, visit us on Facebook at Barrett News Media or sign up for our daily newsletter, ‘The Rundown‘ by clicking here. We appreciate the support.
The six categories featured this year are news/talk radio’s Major and Mid market morning, midday, and afternoon shows, the top program directors and radio stations, and the format’s best national talk shows. Major Markets represent shows, stations, and PDs operating in markets #1-#20. Mid Markets are for markets #21 and below. Not included in our lists are NPR brands and shows. Maybe in the future we’ll change that or add an extra category but for now, mainstream talk radio outlets are our main focus.
As you review the results in this category, please remember that they represent the collective opinions of fifty four (54) news/talk radio programmers and executives. We try our best to make sure the top shows, hosts, programmers and brands are listed for voting consideration. Industry decision makers are then asked to vote on market categories based on where their stations/shows operate. We don’t participate ourselves in the voting process, we simply add up and present the results.
I want to thank Barrett Media’s Digital Director Alex Reynolds for doing an awesome job on this year’s graphics, as well as each PD and executive who participated in this process. We had representation from fourteen companies and forty different cities, which was even better than last year. For those who didn’t vote and were invited to do so, I hope you’ll change your mind next year. It’s good for the format if you’re involved, and depending on the final votes, it can benefit your staff, sales team, and company, and excite your audience and advertisers.
Moving on to the voting, here are a few things I’d like you to be aware of.
#1 – Our executive voters are asked to rank their Top 20 selections for each category 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 is not a perfect system but it’s the best one we’ve come up with to showcase the industry’s best. Having run it for eight years with the sports talk format, we’re going to stick with it until another option arises that makes it better.
#2 – The executive panel consists of program directors and corporate executives from a number of top broadcasting companies including Audacy, iHeart, Cumulus, Hubbard, Cox Media Group, Townsquare Media, Salem Media Group, Radio One, Alpha, Bonneville, FOX News Radio, Westwood One, Federated Media, and Zimmer Communications. We involve a large number of people in this process in order to receive feedback from all parts of the country, and to avoid the results heavily favoring one company. Given the variety of people in this process, it means there’s no guarantee that success last year will be duplicated this year.
#3 – A total of 46 major market morning shows appeared on ballots turned in by our executive panel in the Major Market Morning News/Talk Shows category. These shows start the day for news/talk radio stations across the country, and are asked to create compelling local content, and deliver strong ratings and revenue success for their respective stations. Many of these shows have made a major impact in their local markets, but only can earn top billing.
Which brings us to this year’s winner. The top honor once again belongs to KFI’s Bill Handel. The radio hall of famer repeats as the category winner thanks to nine (9) 1st place votes from our executive panel. BNM congratulates Bill, Robin Bertolucci and the entire KFI staff on securing the top spot again, as well as every other show which gained a spot on this year’s list.
Now, here are the full results of “Barrett News Media’s Top 20 Major Market News/Talk Morning Shows of 2023!”
Additional Notes:
- Bill Handel finished far ahead of runner up Sid & Friends. Handel held a 122 point lead, an even more impressive feat over last year. He earned a category high nine (9) first place votes.
- Spots 21-25 belonged to Chicago’s Morning Answer with Dan Proft & Amy Jacobson, Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross & Colleen O’Brien, Wayne Cabot & Paul Murdane, Colorado’s Morning News with Marty Lenz and Jeana Gondek, and Jackie Paige & Jonathan Carlson.
- The closest contests saw WTOP Morning News beat Len Berman and Michael Riedel by 4 points, and Michael Berry edge Steve Cochran by 1 point.
- Of the 46 shows to appear on submitted ballots, fourteen (14) received at least one 1st place vote.
Here is the remaining schedule for the Barrett News Media Top 20 of 2023.
- Tuesday December 12 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Midday Shows of 2022
- Wednesday December 13 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Afternoon Shows of 2022
- Thursday December 14 = BNM Top 20 National N/T Radio Shows of 2022
- Friday December 15 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Program Directors of 2022
- Monday December 18 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Stations of 2022
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.
