Welcome to the finale of Barrett News Media’s Top 20 of 2023 series. If this is your first time visiting our website and you missed the prior Top 20 announcements, click here to see who performed best among local and national shows, and the format’s top program directors. We also encourage you to bookmark our website, follow BNM on X at @BNMStaff and on Facebook at Barrett News Media, and to sign up for our daily newsletter, ‘The Rundown‘ by clicking here.
As you review the results below, 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 but if you notice a mistake, please let us know. Industry decision makers are asked to vote on categories based on where their stations/shows operate. BNM’s role in the voting process is to gather the feedback, add it up, and present the collective 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 to keep in mind.
#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 top performers. Having done this for eight years with the sports talk format, we’re going to stick with it until a better option arises.
#2 – The executive panel consisted 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 Media, 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 group. Given the variety of people in this process, it means there’s no guarantee that last year’s success will be repeated this year.
#3 – A total of 79 news/talk radio stations appeared on ballots for voting consideration in our Mid Market News/Talk Radio Stations category. Many of these brands hold dominant ratings positions in their respective markets, delivering timely information, expert opinion, and world class entertainment to large audiences. Additionally, they are trusted by key advertisers to increase brand awareness and sales through over the air and digital content associations. A large number of them can make a case for #1, but only one gets to occupy the top spot, so let’s get to the results.
Finishing in first place once again is 700 WLW in Cincinnati. This is the station’s fourth category win of this year’s series, matching the station’s performance in 2022. Congratulations to DJ Hodge, Scott Reinhart, and the entire staff on the well deserved recognition, as well as every other news/talk station which earned a spot on this year’s list.
Now, here are the full results of “BNM’s Top 20 Mid Market News/Talk Radio Stations of 20223.”
Additional Notes:
- WLW won this category soundly by thirty eight (38) points over WBEN. The Cincinnati news/talk powerhouse also recorded a category best five (5) first place votes.
- Spots 21-25 were occupied by NJ 101.5 in Trenton, Talk 99.5 in Birmingham, WTIC in Hartford, WISN in Milwaukee, and KCMO in Kansas City.
- The closest races in this category saw WBT hold off KXL by one (1) point, and WTAM nip WTMJ by two (2) points.
- Of the 79 stations to earn votes from our panel, seventeen (17) received at least one 1st place vote.
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.
