Radio Stations and National Syndicators Need to Work Together to Integrate Hosts and the Audience

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Every talk radio station would love to be live and local 24/7, but we understand those days are not coming back. In fact, many are happy with having two or three local shows on their stations in today’s environment. And, let me add, a station can be successful with that formula. However, to make everything click, and sound as cohesive as possible, it’s imperative to get buy-in from syndicated networks and the shows who are in the stations.

We all understand that in a media world that is moving a mile a minute, we’d like to clone ourselves, and/or add staff, but that should not distract from getting the basics right. And from a programming perspective, that means trying to get the most out of a syndicated show that you can, while from a syndicated host’s perspective, this means leaning into your stations as much as realistically possible.

Helping a station personalize imaging, occasional hits on important affiliates, or doing hits in markets when there is big local news, that may also be national news, are just some of the ways that national shows and hosts can ingratiate themselves into their new cities and separate themselves from the plug-and-play syndicated shows that are plentiful in the radio landscape.

One week after we launched The Guy Benson Show on KCMO Talk Radio, we’ve been very pleased with the show’s ability to really lean into being on KCMO, showing some on-air love, turning around voiceover liners and rejoins, and being willing to join local shows to cross-promote the new show and station.

There are too many hosts and shows who are unwilling to do that, almost of the belief it should be an honor to carry their show.

Here’s the thing, there is no Rush Limbaugh out there. Rush will have been the last, and maybe only show, where you could plug it in, you knew he had the largest talk audience in radio, with appointment listening at 12:00 p.m. ET every weekday.

That time slot has since been split up by several very-talented hosts and shows, but with the way the media landscape has changed in general, it’s unlikely that a show of that size will work on radio at that scale ever again.

So to give the listener in a local market a connection, it will require those extra steps and personal touch.

Granted, every market won’t get the same amount of attention from hosts, producers and affiliate relations, but there’s nothing wrong with putting in reasonable asks, building rapports with the right people, and then leaning on those relationships to grow your station.

The challenges are real, but they should never be used as excuses. Our stations are high-quality audio content providers, and every segment, commercial break, and piece of imaging should be viewed through the prism of how it’s impacting the listener.

And when we view our syndicated shows through that same prism, it will change our outlook away from simply viewing it as ‘plug and play’.

Pete Mundo

Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the morning show host and program director for KCMO in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. Pete was also the sports and news director for Omni Media Group at K-1O1/Z-92 in Woodward, Oklahoma. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on Twitter @PeteMundo.