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It’s been almost a month since the election, and I don’t have to tell you how much news has been generated in that time. Unlike the typical election year, there’s a lot of news to cover and talk about, what with the Klown Kar Kabinet selections (Not-Terribly-Fun Fact: I went to college with one of the more prominent appointees. He was a year behind me. It was a very small college. I’m pretty sure I never once exchanged a single word with him) and the tariff stuff and whatever. If you can’t find political topics to cover, you’re willfully not paying attention.
This is coming as we enter talk radio and news media’s Death Valley, the period during which most people’s minds are on the holidays, on vacation, on family, on having to buy gifts, on football (Go Birds), on festive things like holiday Starbucks cups and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” If that’s where the audience’s heads are, even with some pretty huge stories in the news, are they gonna listen to political talk or watch cable news or, as in past years, are they going to tune out?
I have a feeling that the ratings dip news outlets and talk stations usually get – the dreaded “Holiday Book” – will be less sharp than usual this year because of the sheer volume of news and the intensity with which people followed the election, but I can’t speak for the entire audience. I can only speak for myself, a guy in the target demographic who closely follows the news, and I can say that I am avoiding cable news and talk radio and social media as much as I can.
It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I, and, I imagine, a lot of news junkies out there, have to take a break. Too much, all at once. I do check headlines, and I do know what’s going on, but I don’t want to hear a talk show host, or a panel of pundits talk about it. I’d be happy to see Scott Jennings and David Axelrod loaded into a catapult and flung into the ocean, but that’s not happening.
So, it’s avoidance time for a healthy chunk of your audience. Every time I start to lapse into the mindset that I’d better check in on the news, I remind myself that there is plenty of other material to take its place. Hey, did you know that Pluto TV has an all-Beverly Hillbillies channel? I think I’ve watched that, and other ancient sitcoms more than CNN, MSNBC, and every other TV news source combined in the past few weeks. I’ve also watched some quality TV (I highly recommend Apple TV+’s “Bad Monkey”) and a lot of football and basketball. Watching the news or listening to talk radio isn’t going to be conducive to positive mental health at the moment, not that it ever is, but right now, in holiday season, I just can’t.
As a reporter, host, or pundit, do you respond by ignoring what’s happening? Of course not. Talk hosts can add in some lighter topics as they would in a normal holiday cycle, but it’s not like you can just not talk about the news that will affect everyone. But one thing you CAN do that has been a tradition in this business for decades is blame your ratings dip on the holiday. After all, you can’t help it if people are thinking about gift cards more than Kash Patel. Can’t blame ‘em, really.
Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
