Day 1 of the 2024 BNM Summit has kicked off in Washington D.C. at the Jack Morton Auditorium at The George Washington University. We’re updating this column throughout the day to keep you aware of the key information and news delivered on stage by this year’s exceptional group of speakers. Barrett Media News Editor Garrett Searight will be adding tidbits throughout the day as each session wraps up, so be sure to check back multiple times to avoid missing anything important.
9:10-9:50 AM – Media Madness with Clay Travis
- Jason Barrett (Barrett Media)
- Clay Travis (Panelist)
The conversation began with Travis reminiscing that the auditorium is across the street from his freshman dorm at George Washington. Barrett noted that both of the first two BNM Summits — at Vanderbilt and George Washington — are the alma maters of Travis.
Clay Travis continued by noting that he was in West Virginia until 1:30 AM ET last night appearing on the YouTube channel of Tim Pool. He added that his teenage sons get the overwhelming majority of their news from the digital video platform.
Barrett then asked Travis how he defines what is a successful piece of content, noting that he has a radio show, a video podcast with OutKick, appearances on Fox News, and written content on OutKick.
He said he operates under the SOFA acronym, which stands for “smart, original, funny, or authentic.” And if he doesn’t believe his content fits into one of those areas, it’s unlikely to be successful. He noted that the sheer volume of radio is the most difficult medium to get great feedback. He also shared his belief that a well-written article has a much longer shelf-life than virtually any other format.
Recently, Clay received a death threat and subsequently published the letter he received on social media. It hasn’t stopped him from making public appearances. Travis said he’s fearless. “I don’t have any concern about my personal safety. I’m 45 years old, and I’ve had a successful 45 years. If someone wants to kill you, I don’t know how you’re going to stop it,” he said. “Once you allow crazy people to dictate the choices you make in life, you let them win.”
Travis noted that his familiarity with Premiere Networks — especially President Julie Talbott — led to his move from sports talk radio to news/talk radio. He shared that he wouldn’t have made the move if he hadn’t had a previous relationship.
A recent comment from his show shared that Travis hopes to eventually only allow companies he owns to advertise in his show. He shared that he believes there’s a “broken model” in American advertising. Travis noted that no car manufacturers or restaurants have advertised during his program because of “chokepoints” created in the advertising market that pressure marketers to not advertise with conservative media entities. He shared that if he can layer advertising from companies he owns, he insulates himself from cancel culture, and also becomes a more profitable endeavor for Premiere Networks, himself, and his companies. For instance, he and co-host Buck Sexton’s coffee company — Crockett Coffee — is going to grow to become a $100 million organization.
Barrett asked Travis to react to recent comments made by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg about how the social media platform is handling the 2024 election. He believes that Zuckerberg made the decision to limit political content not as a way to make the platform more palatable, but to not encourage users to leave the platform. He believes social media users are burnt out on political content and would prefer more social interactions, pointing to the uptick of Instagram as a more streamlined social media experience.
Travis also spoke that he doesn’t believe Americans have been able to process what having a constant access to each other with smartphones. He shared that he had a moment at FS1 when a producer told him looking at what viewers thought about him on social media was the exact same thing as walking up to people on the street and asking them what they think about him. “Don’t take criticism from people you wouldn’t ask for advice,” Travis said.
Clay then advocated for the breakup of Google, believing that the company has a monopoly on search, and should be forced to spin-off YouTube as part of its anti-trust practices.
He concluded his comments by mentioning that he is a free-speech absolutist and believes that makes not only news media but the United States of America a better place. He believes that more voices — not less — is a better thing for the media industry and for the country and allows for truth to eventually be the overwhelming opinion.
9:50-10:30 AM – News and Talk Radio in an Audio World
- Larry Rosin (Edison Research)
- Laura Ivey (Edison Research)
Rosin began by asking the audience who is a radio, podcast, or YouTube creator. 4 hours and 5 minutes are spent per day spent by Persons 13+ in the latest Share of Ear study, which means there is plenty of listening to go around.
In 2014, 51% of all listening time was spent listening to radio. In 2024, that figure represented 36%. Podcasts were 2% 10 years ago, and are now up to 10%. Streaming music also grew from 11% to 20% during that timeframe.
Rosin reiterated his comments from the inaugural BNM Summit, that the majority of audio listening now happens on their smartphones. In 2014, 18% of listening happened on a mobile device. Now, that has doubled to 36%, while AM/FM radio has dropped from 49% to 31%, coinciding with the rise in mobile listening. Linear audio consumption has been passed by on-demand audio, Rosin shared.
Ivey then shared that spoken word listening has increased. 128 million Americans 13+ listen to spoken word audio daily, up from 105 million in 2014. 10 years ago, music accounted for 79% of daily audio time. Today, it’s down to 74% with spoken word rising 5% in that time frame. The growth comes from podcasting, especially in younger members of the demographic. In 2014, of those in the 13-34 demographic 32% listened to some kind of spoken word audio. And in 2024, that same demo sees 47% listening to spoken word audio.
An estimated 98 million listeners 12+ consume podcasts weekly, which is 34% of the population.
In 2024, of those 13+, 64% of news listening still happens on AM/FM radio, while 25% happens on podcasts. In that same demographic, 58% of personality/talk shows happening with podcasts. 33% still listen to those formats on AM/FM radio. In the age 55+ demo, 61% still listen on AM/FM radio, while 31% listen to podcasts.
Ivey continued by noting that audio listeners have virtually every kind of listening device available. “Smart device triumph is nearly universal,” she shared. 258 million Americans aged 12+ have a smartphone, totalling 90% of U.S. citizens. 26% of the same demo have smart watches, totaling 75 million. 34% own smart speakers, with 98 million Americans owning one. That percentage is actually down from 2023 (36%) and 2022 (35%). In 2008, 96% of U.S. homes owned a traditional AM/FM radio. In 2024, that figure is 60%.
While audiences have all the devices, Ivey noted they are using all the devices to listen. 70% listened to online audio in 2024 each week, totalling 201 million Americans.
87% of radio listening happens with over-the-air, terrestrial radio. 13% happens with streaming. In the news category, that terrestrial figure drops to 81% and streaming grows to 19%. With talk listening, 80% happens over the air, while 20% takes place on streaming.
Audio consumption in the car is a different world, Ivey argued. 64% of in-car listening with Adults 55+ listen to AM/FM radio. In the 13-34 demographic, it’s 50%, and in persons 35-54, that figure remains 58%. The average overall drive time is 9 minutes, which benefits AM/FM radio because of its ease of use. What Edison Research has found is that listeners believe streaming audio is tedious during such a short trip.
Spoken word audio listening sees its biggest share of ear in the 35-54 demographic with 25%. 23% of 55+ listening to spoken word, and the 13-34 demo are at 19%. News listening sees AM/FM radio at 64%. That figure jumps to 82% in-car. Podcasts account for 25% of all news listening, but drops to 8% in-car.
10:30-11:10 AM – Road Map to Relevance
- Mike McVay (McVay Media)
- Tony Katz (93.1 WIBC)
- Todd Starnes (The Todd Starnes Show)
- Jeff Katz (Newsradio WRVA)
McVay opened the panel by bringing up how important the relevancy of not only news/talk radio but also for each individual hosts.
Jeff Katz noted that the mission to stay relevant has to be at the top of your to-do list each day. What is relevant to listeners remains the highest priority for him.
Tony Katz said the argument has always been “How do you take a story and make it local?” He believes that connection, especially with listeners in the car, remains his foremost objective. “I don’t think that necessarily there is a special sauce to it. There is a determination to remember to make that connection, and I try to do that more often than note,” Katz shared.
Todd Starnes shared that he was motivated to purchase The Mighty 990 KWAM after being in Memphis and there being flooding in the area, and no one was covering it. He vowed to then one day own a station and cover local events. “We turned it into a conservative news/talk radio station. We do good journalism there. For the first time in Memphis, we won a Regional Murrow Award.”
He noted that the station’s hiring of Gen Z employees has been pivotal in staying relevant, because they consume and are simultaneously being re-introduced to radio. The station also does community outreach to elementary students to introduce the medium to them.
Tony Katz was asked about what goes into a normal day for show prep. “When you do six hours a day, it’s all show prep … I like philosophy. It’s one thing to say as a right-leaning talk show host ‘I’m conservative,’ but it’s another thing to explain it. There’s the reading the people you like and the people you don’t like. Part of being relevant is the audience believes you did the work, because you actually did the work. That is what has built the audience. You did their homework. You’re helping them through the noise. It’s taking the facts to the opinion.”
Jeff Katz responded similarly, saying “Everything is show prep.” He joked he’s been explaining that to his wife for more than 25 years. “The reality is to stay relevant is to be involved in the community. I have one son who is graduating from college, one son who is entering college, and my daughter Julia is severely disabled, and she’ll be with us forever. I’m at the school all the time. I think that’s the vital part.”
Starnes shared his event-focused approach helps his station and show stay relevant. “It’s great to be able to connect with local listeners. We do events,” Starnes reiterated. “We rented out the entire rooftop of a downtown Memphis hotel. We didn’t know who was gonna come to that thing. We had a live R&B band. We had music and food, and 350 people out to celebrate the relaunch of KWAM … We really wanted to elevate talk radio. We stress to be excellent in everything we do. Events work.”
“Events matter,” Tony Katz added before explaining what 93.1 WIBC is doing in events. “The audience wants to be connect and it’s got to be more than a guy looking at a YouTube stream. Our math states that the audience wants to shake your hand and ask you a question. We’re convinced that the event methodology is where we have to be to get the NTR (non-traditional revenue) and build the opportunities.”
Social media plays a massive role in staying relevant, Starnes argued. “They need to know that I’m the guy writing. So I’m the only one that handles social media,” he shared. “I think, more so on the local level, social media has become massive. We started with nothing. Now we’ve got about 20,000 followers on Facebook.” He noted that the station started a Facebook group, saying it has almost 12,000 members of the group that report crimes that happen in Memphis, which has drawn the ire of the Memphis mayor at times.
Jeff Katz was asked about what talents need from program directors to stay relevant. “You either believe in your people or you don’t,” he said. “I think you, as a program director or general manager, you hire the best people, believe in what they do, and stay out of the way. You might massage around the edges, but you need to have their back. You believe that they’re capable of them doing that job.”
Tony Katz said “The idea that management has your back is certainly real. The audience has to know the station is there for you. If the subject is hard, difficult, or going to get close to the line, that the audience knows that they’re part of a station or group that goes to it. On the local stuff, when the market manager starts getting calls from the mayor, that’s real pressure and a real concern for your newsroom … What I do absolutely affects what our newsroom gets access to cover. It’s not so much about backing us up, it’s about backing up this relationship with the audience. I think that’s the part that matters more.”
“You can’t tell your talent what not to do, and not expect there to be repercussions,” Mike McVay concluded.
11:20 AM-12:00 PM — Broadcasting’s AI Evolution
- Daniel Anstandig (Futuri Media)
Anstandig began his keynote speech by sharing his belief that now is the best time to work in media because of the never ending consumption of consumers. The need for content is insatiable.
He then argued that traditional media doesn’t differntiate itself enough from other forms of media. He showcased a question he asked AI to define what TV and Radio is if YouTube is actually for podcasts and TitkTok is television, then TV and Radio are the “comfort foods” of media consumption.
“We’ve seen the 8 greatest disruptors in media in the last 100 years,” Anstandig shared, pointing out the rise of TV, dergulation, syndication, streaming, and the rise of podcasting. But believes that artificial intelligence will be the biggest disruptor of them all.
“In the last two years, the rise of AI content has had a vertical line of growth,” Anstandig said of content place on YouTube. “8% of all YouTube content has some AI-generated content, and it’s only going to rise.”
He continued by noting that the sci-fi film genre has essentially played out in front of us now. “AI can write, it can make music, it can make our world easier, and can come up with new ideas,” he said.
Futuri Media is built by half the employees featuring backgrounds in machine learning and AI and half with backgrounds in broadcast media, with a focus on shaping the future of media. The company did a major study across the nation. 2,500 TV news viewers and 2,500 radio users were surveyed. “We wanted to know how people actually believe AI should be put to work in media,” Anstandig explained. “They had some interesting answers.”
94% of those surveyed had heard of AI. 56% said they had used it, 34% said they had not. Anstandig said all the technology used by the people who said they had not used AI is actually powered by AI. The study also revealed that social media is now the primary news source for the majority of those surveyed in each of the five regions surveyed.
45% of local TV news viewers think AI would help make local newscasts better. 49% said they believe they have already watched news that was generated by AI. Anstandig said that is likely untrue, but the percpetion shows how top-of-mind it is for consumers.
75% of radio listeners would improve radio content in both music and the spoken word format, as well as in weather and forecasting.
Anstandig shared that Futuri operates with a quote in mind of “Automate the predictable, so we can humanize the exceptional.” For instance, 90% of content creators spend their time on process and 10% on creativity. Futuri hopes to eventually flip those figures.
In the past two years, Futuri has implemented AI in sales, newsrooms, and in programming. Sales tools created by the company have built more than 250,000 slideshows for sales teams in 2024 alone by utilizing AI.
It’s social media trend tracking software has followed more than 500 million trends in the past 10 years, and predicts what is about to trend and what is being discussed in a given area. That tracking has broken down to show there are three areas of a news story — the breaking opportunity, the angle opportunity, and the diminishing return area. The breaking opportunity time period is incredibly small, Anstandig stated. The angle opportunity is longer but still smaller than perceived, and the diminishing return area is damaging to a brand.
In a study, when AI or human voices were put next to each other, 60% of respondents could not distinguish which voice was real or artificial.
In the next three years, Futuri believes the media industry will be larger than it ever has been. There will be more media companies, the company predicts. TV and Radio will be a smaller slice of a bigger pie, unless the industries adopt radical changes, Anstandig argued. Developmental direct business will be the edege for successfull local media companies, the company believes. He added that in 2027, companies that view themselves as “platforms” are “the biggest trojan horses”, pointing out compnaies like Google, Facebook, and the like, will be viewed as media companies instead of social media platforms.
He shared that there will be an explosion of content but also an explosion of communities.
12:00-12:20 PM — BNM Summit Awards Ceremony
- Gold Standard in Programming Award – 95.5 WSB Director of Branding and Content Ken Charles
- Gold Standard in Business Award – WTOP Vice President and General Manager Joel Oxley
Charles was honored first for his longstanding career in the news/talk radio. “It’s an honor and humbling to be recognized by my peers for whatever we’re doing at 95.5 WSB and whatever I’ve done in my career,” Charles said. “I wouldn’t be standing here right now if it wasn’t for the amazing people I’ve worked with and for.”
He thanked Audacy New York market president Chris Oliverio for giving him the opportunity to program an all-news station for the first time. He also thanked current Cox Media Group Atlanta Market President Jaleigh Long for being a leader and being a great manager. Speaking from the heart, Charles joked that he gave an entire speech and did not ever pull his pre-prepared speech from his suit coat jacket.
Oxley began his remarks by thanking Ken Charles for sharing ideas with WTOP. He said there should be more sharing of ideas and collaborations in our industry.
He continued by thanking the owners of WTOP, Hubbard Radio, saying they let him run the business and station the way he believes it should be run. He joked that the BIA figures that show the station has been the top billing station in radio for many years “aren’t entirely accurate”, but they’re proud to be on top.
He also gave props to the station’s Matt Mills, who he said has booked more than $1 billion in revenue during his time in the sales department for the station.
Oxley encouraged the industry leaders to continue to advocate for the news/talk and all-news formats. “If any of you are still doing AM or maybe AM and a not-so-great FM, make the case to get a bigger FM signal, or turn one of the lower performing FM signals,” he shared.
Oxley remembered former WTOP leader Jim Farley, who died last month, fondly, saying that he understood the importance of lightening the mood in an often dark and somber newsroom. “What a difference maker he was,” Oxley said. “It was his innovation and creativity and how to get people to focus on a story. He was constantly saying ‘We gotta keep trying’ … Jim was an amazing person.”
1:30-2:10 PM — Monumental Decisions, Monumental Success
- Jaleigh Long (Cox Media Group Atlanta)
- Chris Oliviero (Audacy New York)
- Joel Oxley (Hubbard Radio Washington)
The session began with Jason Barrett asking Audacy New York Market President Chris Oliviero about the monumental decision to cease operations at all-news WCBS 880 and lease the signal to Good Karma Brands for ESPN New York.
“It was very difficult from a personal standpoint, it was difficult from a historical perspective, but it wasn’t difficult from a business decision,” said Oliviero. “If you look around America, there’s a reason there’s not multiple news stations in the same market. New York was very unique. We were the last market that had two all-news radio stations. The cume was declining, especially on AM … 1010 WINS has a much bigger audience and a much bigger distribution platform. I actually think our news operation — fully focused on WINS — will be very successful.”
“On the sports side, we look at WFAN as it stands alone,” said Oliviero. “We’re very confident in the 38 years of it’s history. We have no concern about that from the competition standpoint.”
He admitted the company looked at how much of the WCBS 880 audience would move over to 1010 WINS. He also said the company projected how much revenue would move to the all-news brand, too.
Joel Oxley shared that he was worried about the growing “news deserts” popping up around the country. He noted that Washington D.C. is without a daily local newspaper, as The Washington Post has an almost solely national and foreign focus, and rarely features local news.
Jaleigh Long said Cox Media Group understands the balance of finding ways to distribute news. “Reach is what everyone is looking for, whether it’s a consumer or advertiser,” Long said.
The subject of forecasting local advertising revenues was broached, with Joel Oxley talking about the focus of WTOP’s sellers.
“You just gotta double down on all the different revenue sources,” said Oxley. “Events, digital, not just for your website, but being a reseller is another source of money. You can’t rely on avails coming in anymore … the more prospecting you do leads to more proposals and more sales.”
Oliviero agreed.
“We need to hire and recruit more sales people. We do a good job recruiting on the content side because everyone wants to be a star. But we need to crush local direct. That’s something we can control. If we can really own local direct, we can win. So you need more boots on the ground. The one position that is always open in our company — and there will never be a hiring freeze — is local account executive.”
Long said that we’re in the creation business, so creating sales opportunities needs to be at the forefront of any plan.
When trying to entice new advertisers, Oliviero argued for talking those marketers into a trial situation with radio brands to get a proof of performance. Oxley agreed by saying that it’s so much more valuable to attract local advertisers than national reps, because the proof shows it’s much easier to work with local marketers.
Podcasting has obviously become a big focus area for many companies. But the market leaders all agreed that it requires strong personalities and an advertiser that is willing to be weaved in and out of the content because of the skippable content in on-demand audio. Oliviero said that “nationally, podcasting is in a good place,” but believes locally “it’s just one spoke in the wheel.”
He argued that the company’s ultimate focus is to aggregate an audience and deliver a client message to them, and it doesn’t have to be one specific avenue.
Diversity in both management and the news/talk is not necessarily a strong suit in either avenue. Barrett asked the panel what the industry can do to get minorities to eventually sit in their chairs.
“One of the best possible ways to get people to come to your place is by word of mouth,” Oxley said, noting that Washington D.C. now features a less than 50% population. “If you treat people the right way and give them opportunities to advance, that word gets around.”
“We want great talent to choose us,” Long said. “That’s our responsibility to go out and find that talent, if not our number one responsibility. We’ve got the support of leaders in town. We’re 102 years old. We haven’t been doing things the same way. You have to be adaptable.”
“You can’t be uncomfortable with the conversation, and you can’t be defensive,” Oliviero said about the dialogue surrounding the lack of diversity. “As a manager, like every other part of the business, you have to hold managers accountable. That could be metric-driven. This is a business opportunity, ultimately. Let’s be honest. If we don’t reflect (the audience), how are we going to win them as listeners or as clients?”
Layoffs have been prevalent in the industry in recent years.
“My message is the same to anyone: You go out there every day knowing that your best days are ahead of you. Put that message out there, but also support it,” she said. “If you can walk the walk and talk the talk about how you can be a member of a team, you’ve got it. Especially in this industry. There’s so much to walk toward. Universities are asking for help. Find those opportunities to solve the problem.”
Barrett asked Oxley how employees can make themselves invaluable against reductions.
“You don’t have to just write or speak and be on the radio. You can do social, you can podcasting, you can do video,” said Oxley. “These are incredible times for someone who wants to be a multi-media journalist. Do we think journalism is going away? No. Do we think media is going away? No. You have to diversify your skillset. Digital ad sales isn’t going away. There’s gonna be an awful lot of people making an awful lot of money. You gotta be willing to change a little bit.”
2:10-2:50 PM — Hunting for Political Dollars
- Steve Passwaiter (Silver Oak Political)
- Christine Hoffman (The Daily Wire)
- Julie Talbott (Premiere Networks)
- Mike Hulvey (Radio Advertising Bureau)
Hulvey began by sharing that he believes the industry is currently an 8-lane superhighway, equipping it to be prepared for the current political season.
Steve Passwaiter joked that there’s nothing going on in political advertising. Passwaiter said you can no longer say that political advertising is “unprecedented” because it’s an evergreen word when it comes to the space. In 2024, $4.7 billion will be spent, with $2.21 billion in the next eight weeks, accounting for 60% of the total spend. $1.5 billion will be spent on the presidential race. Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Harrisburg, Boston, and Des Moines are the biggest markets for political spending.
Radio only receives 3% of the total election spending.
Governor’s races aren’t really adding to the 2024 political totals, but Passwaiter said 2026 will be a banner year in that sector with 36 races being contested.
The key to gathering political dollars, according to Passwaiter, is commitment.
“The pursuit of political dollars is not a part-time endeavor. This remains a growing local vertical and the spend is ongoing all the time. Is a part-time effort the best you can do?” Passwaiter said. “Play the long game in politics. It’s always here and the off-year is a great selling time.”
He added that local candidates and campaigns are as well-financed as ever before, encouraging companies and stations to focus on local races as much as national races.
“For our industry to only get 3% of these critical dollars is something that we have to focus on,” Julie Talbott said. “Top management matters. I’ll bet everyone in this room is in ad sales now. I don’t care if you’re in program or what, but I’ve never been involved in ad sales in my life. We’ve all got to work together because we all need to solve problems.
“From my perspective, my business five years ago is nothing like it is today. Are we communicating how different our business today? A third of all media consumption is audio. We need to collectively, as an industry, talk about the power of audio. We need to go out, kick some ass, and get some of this money.”
“At The Daily Wire, we’re one of the biggest podcast platforms globally,” said Hoffman. “It allows talent like Ben Shapiro to build trust with an audience and deliver those listeners to political advertisers.
“We’re not super aggressive and haven’t gone out hunting for these things. We’re very lucky to have advertisers running across our networks. For us, we’re not seeing all those political advertisers yet, but we’re still benefitting from the big bump in listening with the news events for our advertisers.”
Talbott said it will take an industry-wide effort to change the perception of radio and audio in the political advertising world.
“We have to get out there and remind people that we’re not the same business that we were. We’ve all got a huge amount of podcasts and a huge amount of digital. Our digital reaches the same people in a month as ABC TV? We’re not communicating our message correctly,” said Talbott. “We must not be portraying it correctly as solving the problem.”
Passwaiter joked “If you think car dealers are difficult, try campaign managers.” He continued by seriously stating that it’s important to impress upon those political advertisers that there’s a large advertising world outside of video.
He later projected that there would potentially be $11-$12 billion spent by the 2028 presidential election.
While the messaging around radio might not be overtly positive, The Daily Wire feels the future is a promising one.
“Advertising trends are looking up. There are a lot of opportunities in podcasting. Advertisers are still behind, and there’s still a lot of potential in the advertising space. Our demo is an important one in the upcoming election,” said Hoffman. “Overall, we’re feeling pretty bullish in the podcasting space.”
2:50-3:30 PM — The Network Advantagebe
- Kevin Delany (Westwood One)
- John Sylvester (Fox News Radio)
- Liz Alese (ABC News Radio)
- Craig Swagler (WYPR)
- Lee Harris (NewsNation)
Harris began by asking Swagler, the former Vice President of CBS News Radio, what the selling points were of the network.
“The history,” he quickly admitted, noting that some of the biggest moments in history have happened on CBS News Radio.
Liz Alese said ABC News Radio is always looking at the way it is producing content. Instead of producing eight separate newscasts, it has streamlined things. “We know that we have an important public service to help stations provide to their listeners. So figuring out how to remain nimble and respond in a really timely way are some of the ways we can provide a service to our stations.”
John Sylvester pointed out that Fox News Audio brings something different to the table with business reports, news updates, and sports coverage. “We’re new to the game compared to the ABC’s and CBS’s of the world, but we are definitely into creating more unique ways to partnering with (local stations). We’re pretty much all-in, coming from Fox News TV as a company, but audio is definitely a part of our strategy.”
Kevin Delany shared that Westwood One let all Cumulus stations decide on their affiliations during the COVID-19 pandemic after the company’s previous news relationships ended.
Harris asked Alese about the almost two different priorities of the network, one to major markets and to the rest of the affiliates. She said that perception might not be reality.
“We do the best to prioritize every one of our news consumers,” she said. “The journalism always comes first. Communication with the stations is always a top priority. We’re always looking for ways to refine the service we provide so the stations can take that content and get it out on the air as efficiently as possible.”
Harris asked Delany about how much of Westwood One’s content is news versus conservative opinions.
“Our talk show hosts bring their experience and their knowledge to their point of view to the audience,” Delany said. He later added that the commentary is a compliment to the objective news. “I believe that a combination of both gives the audience the information they need, so it’s very complimentary.”
Fox News Audio’s Sylvester believes the “two-ways” with hosts and network reporters remains an important aspect of an affiliation. “For us, we’re seeing a lot of requests for updates when breaking news happens,” said Sylvester. “We’re seeing reporter two ways are being requested. Also specials. If breaking news happens, can we create a one-hour special for later in the day. For us, we’re really about trying to create creative programming for our stations.”
Sylvester said utilizing the Fox brand has been an advantage for the network. “I think there’s a brand association. For us, it’s all about the brand.” He added that the conservative-leaning brand hasn’t been a detriment with more news-focused stations rather than conservative talk stations.
“There is a connotation to the NPR brand,” Swagler said, noting that the discussion about federal funding for the brand remains a hot topic in conservative media world. His brand is supplementing its NPR coverage with CBS News Radio. “I believe in partnerships. Having different partnerships gives you different levels you can pull. My goal is to be relevant to my local audience at the end of the day. More partnerships — we’ve seen this — the most that we can pull out of it is absolutely critical for us.”
Alese said she began her career in TV, but has come to grow and understand the differences between ABC TV and ABC News Radio. “More and more in our network, we are trying to train up how important it is to be multi-functional. It makes us really competitive and builds our bench,” she said, adding that the network has become utilizing TV reporters, too.
“I think you can use that as an opportunity to train really strong storytellers, and create that opportunity to have that at your disposal. People from ABC News love to be on radio. They’re excited. And we get to put really smart and talented journalists on the radio.”
Harris asked the panel about whether having “younger” sounding anchors or reporters is an issue.
“I don’t think so,” Delany said. “I think all voices are acceptable delivering the news. I think you’ve found that at the network level but also at the local level. I suppose it is ingrained in guys our age that a network newscast is supposed to sound a certain way,” he added before noting that the rise of podcasts has basically eliminated the expectation of the “radio voice.”
“We are hitting a shrinking and shrinking demographic. If we’re going to be the broadcasters we need to be for the nation. we need to open the aperture,” Swagler added. “We’re never gonna draw in the greater pieces of the pie if we only keep eating at the edges of the demographics.”
“We’re looking at writing first,” said Sylvester. “We need to know if you’re a good writer before you’re a good anchor. I think they need to come in and have to understand there’s gonna be a multi-vertical approach to what we do.”
3:40-4:20 PM — Swinging an Election
- Greg Stocker (1210 WPHT, Philadelphia)
- Mike Spaulding (620 WTMJ, Milwaukee)
- Pete Mundo (95.7 KCMO, Kansas City)
- Martha Maurer (92.3 KTAR News, Phoenix)
- Ken Charles (95.5 WSB, Atlanta)
The conversation began with what topics are most important to voters in each of the programmer’s areas and what events are also happening in their cities, like the Democratic National Convention and presidential campaign rallies.
The discussion then turned to balancing coverage of everyday happenings in radio newscasts versus comments of what political candidates say while campaigning in their areas.
“Don’t tell anyone this, but the secret to being a good program director is giving your audience more of what they want and less of what they don’t,” Ken Charles said. For instance, a school shooting happened just north of Atlanta Wednesday. Charles said “that’s the thing” the audience wants to know about rather than what candidates say.
“We try and bring on a lot of guests and stuff that’s not necessarily into the political sphere, and it’s something that our audience likes and is interested in,” Greg Stocker said.
“It’s issue based for us. So being live and local, is that we’ve done the leg work ahead of time to be able to cover major issues of the day, whether it’s immigration, work reform, women’s rights, whatever the issue is. We cover that stuff everyday, 365,” said Mike Spaulding. “For me, it’s always pushing on our hosts and our newsroom to be ahead of the story and cover the issue and not the person.”
“We use our partners very stragetically when we cannot cover things that are not local,” Charles added. “We’re not gonna let our partnerships outshine our local ability to cover the story.”
“With the reach that we have, the ability to reach people not just through the car and our app, and our YouTube channel, YouTube has become a huge space for us to create brand loyalists,” Martha Maurer said. “I look at our partnership with our network and our TVs stations as tools. But I also think that we are in a more unique and advantageous positon than the TV station,” she added noting that she has created partnerships that have created more content for the station in conjunction with the TV partners, but are more easily able to create on-demand content than local TV.
The programmers were asked by Pete Mudno what their big ideas for coverage during the next 61 days until the election./
“We have doubled-down on our digital platforms,” Spaulding said. “Our studios are set up now to live stream every show we do. We can add overlays. We can brand it now on a stream, and in all of our social videos. It’s something I’ve really stressed. If we want to be the station of record on social media or on digital, we need to look it. I don’t know if it’s one grand idea, but it’s a bunch of little adjustments that we’ve made to reinforce we are what we say we are.”
“The thing I think that everybody needs to do is understand the value of stations that we run and not to allow the campaigns to use us as shields for them, rather right or left,” Charles said. “The answer is ‘no unless you get me Donald J. Trump, Kamala Harris, (Tim) Walz, or (JD) Vance.’ My big idea is ‘You cannot have my airtime unless you give me this.’ It’s been a real revelation to people on our team. You’re dating. I want the last date now. I don’t want the first date. I don’t want date 5 or 6 dates. Get me to the last date now.”
“Our talk shows have really utilized our news team as experts,” Maurer said. “Our talk shows have built really great relationships and trust with the community. Having a concsant flow of guests that affect the listeners and turn it around as content for our news team has been big. It feeds into each other and provides what our audience is looking for, which is information, entertainment, and facts.”
The leaders were then asked how they balance news and talk and how they ensure they don’t overlap and let bias seep into the newscast.
“We are an opinion based radio station. We don’t really delve into breaking news. We do, but we don’t have news reporters. So we get that from our sister station,” said Stocker. “The blurring of lines — this needs to be opinion, and this needs to be talk. It’s an opinion based radio station and people know what they’re gonna get when they come to us.”
“Our talk show hosts will not be news experts, but they can be news creators by who they bring on the air,” said Maurer.
4:20-5:00 PM — On the Run with Brian Kilmeade
- Brian Kilmeade (Fox News Media)
Barrett asked Kilmeade how he handles all of his endeavors in hosting a morning TV show, a midday radio show, while authoring books and also hosting a weekend TV show.
He shared that the most important time of his day is between 2:30 AM and 5:59 AM so he could read, listen to, or recap what happened while he was busy and asleep.
He said he does as many hits on local affiliates as possible to ensure listeners know he cares about their local markets before FOX & Friends.
“You just keep going until the bell rings and then you’re done,” Kilmeade concluded.
He was then asked how he prioritizes content.
“Focus on the big three stories,” he shared. “What’s really hot right now? What’s fun? It’s an evolving process. Plus, we’re looking at other channels to see what ridiculous things are being said over there. I have a good clue into the audience, and I think we’re on the same page with that.”
“On TV, it’s four and a half minutes. With radio, I get to calm down and really expand and give you an idea how I feel,” he said on his approach to the two mediums. “The thing about radio is it’s great therapy. Even if no one is listening, it allows me to calm down. When it’s radio, it’s just you./ It really is the healthiest thing any human can do because I get a chance to unleash. It’s really helped me become a better radio person.”
Kilmeade was asked about how he handles interviewing a figure like former President Donald Trump. He shared there’s a somewhat basic approach.
“He’s gonna get to his first point, and then get on a tangent. Then, you have to figure out how to interrupt without being rude,” Kilmeade said. “But if you re-route him, he’ll return to the point. I know the longer you talk the more generic he’s gonna be with an answer.”
Kilmeade later joked that he doesn’t know how he sleeps at night because of the shifting changes in distribution, as he makes a living on cable television and on many AM radio stations.
“I hope (AM Radio) doesn’t go away, but you gotta make sure the quality is good. You gotta do your part and make sure that signal is strong,” said Kilmeade.
He was then asked about how he covers Trump and what goes into ensuring fair coverage against the former President Trump.
“I hesitate sometimes to join the criticism bandwagon when you see so much negativity from so many other outlets,” Kilmeade said. He noted that he’s gotten angry phone calls from Trump about how he’s been covered. He feels that showcases he’s covering the candidate fairly.
Barrett asked Kilmeade to love one, like one, leave one for radio, television, writing.
“I’d leave the writing, but I love the research. It’s almost like archeology. As soon as I got TV, I wanted radio, so it really is 1A and 1A,” said Kilmeade.
