77WABC morning man Sid Rosenberg is never shy to offer his opinions. His authenticity, relatability and willingness to tackle issues head on has served him well during his career. In a sit down with Suzanne Miller, Rosenberg shared his views on what creates talk radio success.
After discussing Red Apple Media’s growth, Miller asked Rosenberg to sum up what makes him successful.
“Twenty five years I’ve been doing this, and I’ve done it in many major markets across this country,” Rosenberg said. “It’s like everything in else, if you do it long enough, you get better. Now, in this business, if you don’t have it, you’re never going to have it. When you have it, and you nurture it, then you can become one of the all-time greats.”
Miller followed up by asking the WABC host to explain what ‘it’ means.
“I think you have to be relatable” Sid explained. “Whether you’re making a million dollars, ten million dollars, one hundred million dollars, I think that’s why John Catsimatidis does a good job. He’s worth four billion dollars but he’s an every day guy. I’m a relatable guy. I am not a political genius or Sean Hannity or Bill O’Reilly. I’m a guy that likes sports, movies, all the things that guys my age like. I’m not a professor on any of these things. I think that’s what people like. I tell you how I feel. “
Rosenberg then told a story of an earlier time on sports radio when he ventured outside of sports into the political space. His program director asked “why are you talking about Barack Obama? This is a sports show.” The passionate New York host replied “because guys my age care just as much about this city, state, and country as they do the Dolphins or the Giants.”
Sid remarked that his former program director hated his rationale and wanted to fire him. The PD told Sid “when you go to an Italian restaurant, you don’t order egg foo young.” Rosenberg told the PD he was right but he wanted to be Sam’s Club. Sid said the PD then told him he’d give him one year. A year later Rosenberg says he was #1 in the market and it was his last job in South Florida before moving to NYC to join WABC.
Upon moving to New York, Sid said his goal was to combine politics, sports, lifestyle and entertainment. He pointed out that the audience learns just as much about his family and personal tastes as they do his political views and conversations with New York politicians. By taking that approach, Rosenberg says the audience never gets bored, you’re not predictable, and you show that you’re very relatable.
The conversation continued examining the value of guests and the host’s role leading the conversation. Sid also spent time offering his perspective on NYC crime, Eric Adams, the 2024 election, Donald Trump, the wars in Israel and Ukraine, and more!
