When getting into the radio business, some hosts aspire to have a local morning show. Some hope to one day be nationally syndicated. Others might hope to focus on passion projects. In the case of Tony Katz, he has all three with a show on 93 WIBC in Indianapolis, his nationally syndicated Tony Katz Today show through Key Networks, and his weekend show Eat, Drink, Smoke.
Every day, Katz hosts six hours of talk radio content between Tony Katz + The Morning News on the Indianapolis news/talk station before hosting his nationally syndicated program that airs live from 12-3 PM ET. It would be easy to question how he manages both programs — from a time, content, and energy standpoint — but he says it’s really not that difficult.
“There is always a story,” said Katz. “Those national and international stories that I’ve done in the morning, I absolutely am bringing some of those to the midday. I do much more theory and philosophy kind of stuff. It’s not enough to say, ‘Democrats bad’ as a conservative radio host. You have to discuss why a policy doesn’t work. You have to know where it came from and what might work better. So to be able to exercise that muscle is kind of fantastic. That is why I why I do it.
“Certainly, it’s radio and the money and what it used to be, but I do it because it is the exercising of a different muscle, and you get to actually delve in a little bit deeper, and you get to play a little bit more. You can weave in and out of personal stories or anecdotes and things like that, and then come back to the to the thing that you’re doing. Within that is the real difference between morning and midday, and local versus a nationally syndicated show.”
Between his three shows, burnout can set in quickly. But Tony Katz has a dedicated routine to ensure he has the right focus on the right things.
“The only thing I give myself is Saturdays. I don’t do anything Saturdays. It’s family, it’s fun, it’s relaxation, it’s some sleep,” Katz shared. “I get back to it on Sunday. I mean, I don’t tweet on Saturdays, zero, absolutely nothing. And there are some people who would think that that’s wrong to do with their business. I think those people can think whatever they want. They can run their business as they see fit. I know how I run mine.”
Of the three big issues of balancing a local morning show, a nationally syndicated midday show, and a weekend specialty program, Tony Katz believes that he’s best suited to deal with the energy needed to sustain each endeavor.
“Everybody has a skill set. I cannot hit a three-point shot, I cannot run a sub-4.4 40. What I can do is wake up in the morning, start, and then not stop until the job is done,” he stated. “It’s one of the few skills that I have. I have got energy to spare. I’m ready to go.”
Some days, the local morning show on 93 WIBC is easier than Tony Katz Today. And other days, the opposite is true. It’s all dependent on the news cycle.
“People will talk about, let’s say the debate. And they’ll say, ‘My gosh, what a debate. You have so much to talk about.’ There’s only so much people can handle of that conversation. And because every news outlet, organization, and news sources, are all talking about the debate, they’re not engaging in other stories. So you’re searching harder to find those stories and things that you think would bring a value to your audience,” Katz shared.
“It does depend on the day. It does. It’s all new cycle driven, because if there is some local story — like we’re having an issue here in Indianapolis with the mayor, Joe Hogsett with sexual impropriety in his office, and we now have the City Council forming committees to look into this — ok, I know I have got three to five segments for the morning show. There’s a lot to talk about in that. And there are some days where it is just quiet in Indianapolis, or quiet a little bit nationally, and it makes it harder, because they’re dominated by one story.”
Despite being on the air for nearly 40 hours per week, on top of the prep work that goes into filling those hours of content, Tony Katz freely admitted he never truly feels bogged down by the sheer amount of radio he’s required to produce.
“I don’t think any of the shows ever feel like work when I’m doing them. They are sure, but they don’t feel it. They feel good,” Katz admitted. “It’s a very natural, natural thing.”
His weekend show, Eat, Drink, Smoke — co-hosted alongside Fingers Malloy — offers a different vibe than his two daily programs and allows him to connect with the audience on a more personable level.
“Eat, Drink, Smoke started as a podcast as a way of escaping the politics, a way for me to enjoy something,” Katz said. “And I’ve known Fingers Malloy for forever, and he is just an absolutely terrific talent as a writer, as a comic, and as a radio host. When the opportunity came up after we’ve been doing this for a year, just for relaxation that, ‘Hey, Cigar Dave is leaving radio. Well, you guys should syndicate Eat, Drink, Smoke.’ We were like, Yeah, let’s go do that. And we did that.
“I still don’t think of it as a job. It’s just fun to have the escapism with Fingers Malloy, and to be into some new and interesting stuff. And I do love the exploration. The exploration of bourbon or tequila, the exploration of the cigar. I adore the cigar industry and what it means, the artwork that goes into it. I love every bit of it. So I get to try out these other muscles and I could not be happier with the results.”
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
