It’s all about the biggest topic of the day: Topic A! It is the biggest cume generator that we have. It just is. If your news/talk radio station is not on the story of the moment, you are leaving dollars on your desk.
If there is something big going on, you must be talking about it. This is easy for me to write and sometimes it is an art to find the biggest thing.
The biggest news story is most likely not some happening at the legislature. Most people very rarely get riled by happenings in the state or federal Capitol. This is not at eye level with their concerns of the moment. I am often surprised by how tone-deaf many great hosts can be on the minor interest in doings at the Capitol. I am not saying to not discuss it, but it is rarely the biggest topic of the moment. In fact, I find that the Capitol has easy pickings for actual topics which sometimes requires minimal show prep.
I also know that many news/talk radio hosts have a certain affinity for politics. Very rarely does this provide legitimate Topic A. Be careful about confirmation biases. Since hosts are often talking about politics, it is easy to connect any feedback as confirmation that we are discussing the biggest story of the day.
Some of us have had big winter storms hit over the last couple of weeks. Schools are closed and people are trying to get out of the house to work. Did you take calls on how the snowplows are doing? Does everyone have power? Did your community open warming centers? What games do you play with the kids on snow days? There are a dozen topics and perhaps a dozen ways to approach each one. I can also guarantee that your local TV station is covering this poorly. It is a win for news/talk radio. When there is a big news story, it is automatically an opportunity to grow your audience. If you are discussing the education subcommittee vote while your community is receiving a foot of snow, you have failed.
When we are handed a huge local news story, occasional listeners will be checking your station out. If you are discussing something completely different, you have lost a listener. Have you looked at your station’s cume ranking? A lot of hosts brag about their show’s time spent listening figures. If you compare the number to cume, that figure is not that impressive. Every host and program director in news/talk radio needs to be really honest about the truth. Our format features: news, traffic, and weather. These ingredients are cume Magnets. How much cume does your station have?
Every big story is your station’s free marketing to grow your audience. Most news/talk radio stations do not have a huge marketing budget. How do you add new listeners? Two ways: perfect execution of Topic A and sports. If your station has the big college or pro sports rights, that will bring new listeners to your station. Speaking of sports programming, sadly, many college contracts give little to no inventory to promote your station’s product. With the professional team avails, claw back some inventory for station promo inventory. This is your station’s marketing budget. Make those promo avails magical.
Growing cume should be at the center of your station’s strategy. This is not a wish upon a star moment either. It is a conscious mindset for all of us to consider and implement. If your station’s demographics are rapidly aging, it is imperative. I have been doing this for a hot minute. It really was not that long ago when news/talk radio stations were in the top five in the Men 25-54 demographic. That is almost a pink elephant in 2025. We can go over the reasons but ultimately it is that as a format we never changed our presentation.
We also have been universally focused on politics and not Topic A. We also stopped talking about the lifestyle of people in their 40s. It was apparent with the disconnect following Kendrick Lamar’s Superbowl Halftime Show. Kendrick Lamar has been a known commodity for almost 15 years. Hey, he is not my cup of tea, but I know why the NFL invited him to perform the halftime show.
The median age for an NFL television viewer is around 55 years of age. The NFL understands that their future is with people who are somewhat under the age of 55. We have challenges in our format. You, yes you, have the imagination and the talent to carve the future path of the news/talk format.
I want to give you a challenge. Close yourself off for one hour a week to think through your station’s execution or show’s execution. What can you do better? Is my station focused on the biggest thing of the moment? Imagine what is next.
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Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He recently served as program director for WHO/KXNO in Des Moines, IA. Prior to that role he held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.
