As part of a new contract with iHeartMedia, 600 KOGO afternoon host Lou Penrose is making a slight alteration to his timeslot on the San Diego news/talk station.
Instead of hosting from 3-5 PM, he’ll now be heard from 4-6 PM. And while that shift in the timeslot isn’t a massive change, it does put Penrose in a position where he’ll be speaking to more people.
You see, San Diego is a hub of activity for the United States military. There are three Naval bases, three installations for Marines, and a U.S. Coast Guard sector to boot. And with that influx of servicemembers leaving the premises around 4 PM, that leads to more listeners for Penrose.
“Afternoon drive is a much different animal here because of the military base. So five o’clock is drive time for civilians, four o’clock is an hour for military,” he shared. “Our traffic reports will prove that we have a very, very, very busy afternoon with very different audiences.”
It is no secret that most news/talk listeners are conservatives, most often White males who are a little more on the older side of the demographic.
But San Diego is an international city, with a portion of the city resting directly against the U.S.-Mexican border opposite Tijuana. Meanwhile, the city’s airport features arrivals and departures for international flights from cities like London, Montreal, Munich, Tokyo, and Toronto, among others.
When you combine all of those factors, it makes for a truly unique audience for Penrose.
“Most cities kind of measure themselves on ‘Are we a small town? Are we mid-size city? Or are we cosmopolitan?’ San Diego is a small town, but it’s worldly. I mean we literally have the world visiting us at any given time,” he said. “It’s our obligation to serve the people of the town of San Diego but also bring them up to speed on what’s going on in the world.”
He added that the large military installations make foreign matters that might largely go unnoticed in other markets sometimes a top story of the day in San Diego.
“Because it is a military town, international affairs matter. During the day, the folks that serve the military, that work there in the military, and serve in the military, they’re aware of what’s going on everywhere. At the same time, they’re still San Diego natives and they want to know what’s going on in their own town.”
Subjects that are of importance to military members and their families often rise to the top of the show sheet for Lou Penrose, because he knows those topics are of the utmost importance to listeners in the market.
“When there is a national top story or there is a discussion or debate on international affairs or things like that, we cannot discount that because the people listening, it’s on their mind and it’s on their family’s mind, what’s happening around the world,” Penrose said. “So, some days it might sound kind of BBC-ish, you know, but, at the end of the day, we are a tight community. So the fact that we’re live and local in the afternoon (on 600 KOGO), I think it’s really, really smart.”
Not only is Lou Penrose a seasoned radio professional, he’s also well-versed in the inner workings of Capitol Hill. He spent time working under Rep. John Campbell (R-CA), Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), and Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) during his tenure in Washington D.C.
And while that experience is vital to his career now hosting afternoons on 600 KOGO, Penrose said it can be both a blessing and a curse.
“When you work on the Hill as long as I have … you get an insight that few in America get. I remember somebody explaining to me how lucky I was to be a staffer for a member of Congress — and I wanted to be a staffer, I applied for the job. There are more positions in the NFL than there are staff on Capitol Hill. That’s how selective and how exclusive this little universe and club is,” he shared.
“It’s the ultimate ‘inside baseball.’ When the audience reads the headline that ‘Social Security cuts are imminent. Big fight on The Hill.’ It’s like it’s dramatic for the rest of the world, but those of us that have worked there are kind of ho-hum about it.
“You get jaded. It’s hard to extend the drama of politics when you’ve been in politics. Because you kind of know where it’s going, but it’s too in the weeds to communicate on the air. I have to be careful because it will come across on the air that I don’t care that they’re cut social security.
“But it’s like ‘Yeah, they’re not cutting social security.’ … You get very jaded from the drama of the political world. I have to hand it to these guys on TV news, because they are there in D.C. — and most of them know this is all political gamesmanship — but they need to do the clickbait, headline-grabbing things … The bad is that you do not get as emotionally charged from the day.”
However, the flip side of that makes Penrose a great guest for other shows and programs.
“If I’m doing a guest hit, I can be like ‘Let me explain to you how this is gonna work. Here’s what’s going to happen.’ And I can bring the audience behind the scenes. I’m so confident that it’s gonna happen that it gives me credibility because it then happens exactly the way I said it and people are like ‘Wow, how did he know that?'”
Lou Penrose was incredibly complimentary of his afternoon cohorts on 600 KOGO, pointing the expertise of hosts like Mike Slater, Mark Larson, and Leland Conway on various topics, allowing the hosts to insulate themselves on a variety of subjects and interests, creating strong bonds.
He concluded by noting that the current state of the news/talk industry and the political climate is the perfect time for him to work in the business.
“I could not be more excited about being in this contract now with iHeart and KOGO, specifically in San Diego just because I really think our most exciting days of talk and discussion are ahead,” Lou Penrose said. “I was a young talk show host when they impeached Bill Clinton. And oh my God, ‘Boy, I really need to step up. That’s never gonna happen again.’ And I have now been on the air during two presidential impeachments.
(The debate) is going to be off the hook to talk about. This summer is going to be off the hook. And this sentencing hearing is gonna be off the hook. I can’t wait to get into it and have fun with it and talk about it … I couldn’t be more excited to be where I am in my career right now. We’re in America, in this great city to talk and get a great audience, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
