The Big Game is over. There’s another big game playing on every device right now. I’m referring to the game that started on January 20th at Noon. Or is it? Donald Trump-themed stories have led daily newscasts and digital news feeds for the last two weeks.
I listen to a lot of radio. One of my rotating top-of-the-hour habits is the BBC World Service. They have one of the best TOH IDs in radio: “This is the BBC World Service, The World’s Radio Station,” followed by those six iconic beeps and the British host with the lead story. For the last week, nearly every time I tuned in, that story was in the category of “What is Donald doing now?”
Are the sweeping government policy changes being enacted by the 47th president of the United States the biggest concerns right now? Not if you look at Google Trends. I reviewed those trends last Saturday, the day before Sunday’s big game, and the #1 searched item on Google Trends was playstation network status. Yeah, the PlayStation network was down for 20 hours, and the Earth stood still.
The #2 story was bill belichick girlfriend. The former Patriots coach is 72, and his girlfriend is 24. However, the stories focused on her outfit and what Snoop Dogg said about them at last week’s NFL event. You’re going to search for it now.
Coming in at #3 was super bowl time. People wanted to know when to add the Velveeta cheese to the crock pot. I scrolled down to trend #29 to find the first government-themed story. It’s maxine waters, the story about the U.S. congresswoman and some of her colleagues being denied access to the Department of Education building last week.
It was odd to scroll down that far to find anything related to politics or world affairs. The trend filter was set to Past 48 hours. Ahh, that’s it. Let me expand the search. So, I opened it up to the Past 7 days.
The PlayStation story dropped to #3, and two new trends entered the countdown. Do your best Casey Kasem impersonation for this next sentence. Coming in at #2 is luka doncic, the story about the Dallas Mavericks superstar being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
And coming in at #1…bianca censori grammys! She’s Kanye’s wife and appeared with him at the red carpet event in a nude dress at last Sunday’s Grammy Awards.
What about the politics and world events occupying so much of our news algorithms? In the expanded 7-day search, I scrolled down to #27 for the gaza entry to find stories about Trump’s comments on how to reimagine the war-torn Gaza Strip in the Middle East.
Music radio struggles with political stories. There was a time when music stations had news departments and full-time news hosts to cover the big stories and shelter the morning show hosts from having to talk about a polarizing story.
Through fragmented music formats, economic recessions, and consolidation, the news positions became isolated figures in the annual budget process.
Decades later, most music stations ignore political stories unless the host or station has the trust of the audience to “go there.” Unlike 20 years ago, listeners aren’t bombarded with politics on their smartphones or social media accounts.
It isn’t research, but maybe the Google Trends analysis reminds us of what the average audience craves: everything but the polarizing political stories. It’s a great season to create some escapism through music, conversation, and companionship.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Ron Harrell is a columnist for Barrett Media. He founded Harrell Media Group, specializing in radio and audio brand consultation, fractional management, and talent coaching. He has worked in every role on the Programming and Branding side during his career, becoming management and executive-focused in the post-Telecom Act era. Ron has held leadership roles for media groups such as ABC/Citadel, CBS Radio, Chancellor Media, Cumulus Media, Hope Media Group, Hubbard Broadcasting, and WAY Media.
Interested parties are invited to learn more about his company Harrell Media Group and reach out by email at Ron@HarrellMediaGroup.com.
