Replacing a legend is never an easy feat. After the 2021 death of Rush Limbaugh, Premiere Networks tapped Clay Travis and Buck Sexton to take over the seat previously occupied by the radio legend.
As the program approaches its four-year anniversary, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show has grown to be one of, if not thee, preeminent news/talk radio shows in today’s landscape. Just recently, the program picked up additional stations to move it over 550 affiliates, marking a 27% increase from when it first launched.
While those inside the radio industry and the news/talk format might view the role that Clay Travis and Buck Sexton hold as one of high value for Premiere Networks and parent company iHeartMedia, Sexton told Barrett Media he ultimately views the show’s listeners as the most important relationship the duo holds.
“In many ways, our boss is the audience,” said Sexton. “We are in the business of building the largest possible audience so that our fantastic sponsors who partner with the show have exposure to the biggest possible market of patriots and great Americans for their products. So what really matters first and foremost to us is that we have people listening who feel really engaged.
“Being over 500 radio stations, is that a milestone? Is that a very rare marker? To be truly over 500 stations? Yes, that’s a nice marker. We know we have millions of people listening to Clay & Buck. We really don’t get into the horse race aspect of it. There’s a lot of great conservative content creators (and) radio hosts out there now. We’re happy to see their success. We have people on the show who I think a lot of people would consider to be competitors in the space. We don’t really care, we have this little niche audience of a little more than half the country that we can convince to listen to our show by doing a great show. There are plenty of ears and eyes to go around so we take a view of the conservative marketplace is one of abundance, not one of scarcity.”
In a competitive marketplace, especially in the 12-3 PM ET timeslot, the Premiere Networks show has to do everything it can to ensure that stations find value in the program. Buck Sexton said he values the relationships with local stations and local program directors as much as they value the show.
“We view ourselves as an absolutely full-service radio show,” said Sexton. “Every platform, but also every aspect of the business. I’ve taken clients myself, personally, out on the shooting range, and put them through Firearms 101 at a tactical range. I’ve done countless dinners, coffees, live events and all kinds of stuff for stations and station management, and audiences. If it is advancing the business and the audience growth of Clay & Buck, we are in.
“We travel all over the country. Actually, sometimes, we’ll pick our vacation in places where we know we have a friendly station that we can go in and do the show from. And then we get a chance to spend time with station management, we get to be in that area. We connect with that local audience. I’ve done this in Salt Lake City; Savannah, Georgia; Fort Wayne, Indiana, I mean go down the list. I’ve been all over the country at all these different stations as part of getting to know them, getting to experience their community, and see people live in the flesh at events. It’s been fantastic.”
The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show is unique in many aspects. It features two hosts who were previously doing solo shows before being put together to take the Premiere Networks timeslot previously held by Limbaugh.
But another facet is perhaps more unique than any other show: the two hosts broadcast the program from separate studios. The duo rarely are together to host the program, and Sexton shared that it didn’t take all that long to feel comfortable hosting a show that way.
“I think that the one thing we had to get to know early on was that you gotta understand when someone else wants to take the ball and run with it,” he shared. “It’s a little bit like a sport because you gotta leave your partner space to monologue. Some segments, I’ll come in and I’ll just toss out either the topic or a very straightforward question and I know that Clay is gonna just take it and he’s gonna run with it for three, four, five minutes straight. The same thing happens with me. Clay knows there are some topics I get super passionate about, so understanding that and then knowing when to sort of step back and let your partner go with it and not feel like we have to both be talking all the time. That, I think is is one of the sweet spots of the show. That just took a little bit of getting used to each other.”
Sexton added that another aspect of the show that he believes has contributed to its success is it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
“We do try to mix in the news of the day and a lot of serious stuff with a fair amount of just fun stuff, fun conversations, fun topics. We like to laugh and we like to make fun of each other. So I think one of the ways that we have been able to grow the audience that we inherited, and just build upon the show, especially with the younger demographic, for us is that we’re having a good time and we don’t take each other to seriously. The ‘saving the country’ stuff is serious, but we don’t take ourselves or each other too seriously. I think that really comes across in the content.”
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.
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.
