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Earlier this year, 620 WTMJ reshaped its lineup in the wake of Jeff Wagner’s retirement. In the process, Steve Scaffidi saw his on-air presence shrink from a three-hour show to a one-hour program.
While many would take that as a demotion or a hit to the ego, Scaffidi has taken the opposite approach. He now relishes the opportunity that hosting The Political Power Hour — a program solely focused on Wisconsin politics that airs from 9-10 AM — provides.
“Politics on radio now is one side or the other, for the most part, other than like heavy news stations,” Scaffidi said. “So I sort of live in that world, and I love to hear the perspectives of both sides. The challenge for me is to get to the point right away, to get the audience engaged. As much as sometimes radio people think everybody cares about politics, sometimes they don’t. So you have to find a unique way to get into their head and get into their world of consuming all this stuff. That’s the challenge for me and that’s the part I love.”
The former mayor of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Steve Scaffidi joined 620 WTMJ in 2017 in a full-time capacity. That past experience helps him relate to listeners and give them an insider’s perspective on what matters to elected leaders.
“How can we take these complex political stories … and target people who may not know a lot about some of the things that we talk about? It’s sort of an educational tool, but sort of a primer on what this means to all of us,” Scaffidi said of his show’s focus. “And we’re going to do it on the economy, we’re going to do it on certainly crime and immigration going forward, because those are the things that were obviously big campaign issues.
“What will that look like, feel like in the context of new president? What will that feel like, the things he wants to try to do? How is that going to relate to the Wisconsin dairy industry? What’s the impact? How does that change the economy in Wisconsin? So that’s sort of the outward part for me,” he continued. “And that is really fascinating, because we can sort of dig deep in an hour on one topic, one issue, whereas we may have meandered for three hours in the past. I sort of like that laser focus.”
Nearly 10 months into the new program, Steve Scaffidi is still embracing the change and getting used to the show. He’s especially focused on what the future of the program looks like outside of an election cycle, which is all it has known. But he has the right mindset, because Scaffidi doesn’t fear change.
“I come at it from a different perspective. I haven’t been talking in a microphone for 40 years,” he shared. “For me, one of my mottos as mayor was ‘Change is a good thing.’ And when I’m energized, when I go to work, I see all these 20 something, 30-somethings, 40-somethings who look at things in a different way — and we often engage off the show on politics — it forces me to sort of rethink how we should approach these issues.
“Because, as you know, millennials, Gen Z, Gen X, Boomers, and the silent generation, we all think differently on this stuff. We do tend to follow the hurt a little bit. So sort of breaking that status quo is something I’m fascinated by, and I do think it sets this show, apart from traditional political radio shows, where it’s often one side of the other. It’s a fascinating way for me to stay plugged into what everybody’s thinking about and not just one group.
Few news/talk stations in the country have embraced the digital realm as 620 WTMJ. The Good Karma Brands Milwaukee station features a strong presence on social media, digital video platforms like YouTube, and features a robust podcast portfolio.
While others might malign the fact that they need to produce extra content, Steve Scaffidi has welcomed the new avenues.
“It just gives me so many more opportunities,” he said. “I can do, really as many podcasts as I want. We are certainly tapping into all of the visual stuff … maybe taking a nugget from a show that maybe wasn’t even the most important thing said, but it’s curious. It provides curiosity to one specific group, and we present that in a part of a post or a video clip.”
The 620 WTMJ host added that he’s continually looking to expand in that space and grow his audience.
“That’s the challenge for the host and my producer (Jaslyn Snell). We have to figure out ways, sort of expand what we do as much as traditional radio has always been: ‘Here’s what I think about it. I’m gonna tell you about what I think. And then we may take some phone calls.’ That’s not the way the future of this is going,” he noted. “And that’s the cool part for me, because I have digital listeners all over the United States now, and that’s something that I never really thought about until we started making that push for digital. So this has allowed me to understand that, one.
“And two, to sort of build on that, based on a different kind of consumption I’m fascinated by,” Steve Scaffidi continued. “There’s still a lot I have to learn about it, but I love that challenge. Every day we’re sort of thinking in a different way and I think that’s what sort of sets us apart with some of the things we’re trying to do here.”
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.
