At times in this space, I’ve advocated for news/talk radio hosts to realize that there are plenty of subjects to discuss outside of politics. And that presented itself on Thursday with the death of Hulk Hogan.
It wasn’t even the first time this week that news/talk radio hosts had the chance to step outside their usual lanes, as rock legend Ozzy Osbourne died, too.
But it proved the notion that I’ve long held: that news/talk isn’t strictly conservative political talk. It isn’t sitting in front of a microphone and complaining that the Democrats are trying to ruin America, or that not everyone on planet Earth is doing enough to support Donald Trump.
News/Talk Radio is often defined by those conversations. But it doesn’t have to be. It can be defined by having the conversations that everyone is having.
I’ve used the anecdote before that if I were to belly up to my local bar on Thursday night, the chances that someone would say “How about Columbia University having to pay the Trump administration $200 million? Wild, huh?”
But you know what they would be talking about? Hulk Hogan dying. Their memories. His legacy. What he meant to the wrestling business. Whether he was a decent actor or not. Where they were when he beat Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III. An argument about who was more famous than he was in the 1980s could easily ensue.
And that, to me, is what news/talk radio should be. The conversations that everyone is having. The conversations that welcome as many listeners as possible. It’s never been lost on me that many of these hosts will complain that any given person, brand, or retailer is “alienating half of the country” when they take a stand one way or the other…and then do the exact same thing themselves every single day.
There’s absolutely, undeniably, without a shadow of a doubt a place in the news/talk space for conservative political talk. Make no mistake about it, that’s not the point I’m trying to make. But should the entire news/talk genre be dedicated to that style of talk show? In my view, no. Maybe I’m dead wrong, but I can’t help but see the rise of podcasting and think that a narrower lane, not wider, is the right way to operate going forward.
Point blank, there are often topics that transcend formats, genres, and the like. And, truthfully, they happen more frequently than we’d like to admit. But the news/talk radio industry often has a one-track mind: politics, politics, politics. Oh, and a little bit of culture wars mixed in.
It doesn’t have to be that way. It doesn’t always have to be doom and gloom. Not everything has to be about budgets, legislation, and what happens inside the walls of Congress.
I will say: I was insanely proud of the industry on Thursday afternoon as I jumped from show to show, listening as several programs addressed the news of The Hulkster’s passing.
Tony Katz essentially threw out the show sheet for his Tony Katz Today program when the news first came out. Chad Benson at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN in Nashville spent extensive time on the topic, and delved into everything related to Hulk Hogan — both the good and the bad — in his conversation. The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show made the death a focal point of the first hour on the air to their millions of listeners. And that’s just a small sampling of what stood out.
There were so many interesting angles being taken that I had never thought of considering by hosts who usually dedicate an inordinate amount of time to the happenings inside the beltway of the nation’s capital. And it wasn’t just limited to on the air, either. I saw dozens of photos, videos, and links sharing details of the wrestling champ and Hollywood actor’s career, legacy, and death from news/talk stations percolating each social media platform I used.
There is a whole wide world of content possibilities out there. The news/talk radio format doesn’t always accept or embrace those avenues. But when culturally relevant items happen — like the death of Hulk Hogan — the format is at its best when it pounces on those opportunities.
For someone who has pounded the table saying news/talk radio needs to be more than just politics, I was proud of the industry’s reaction to the death of Hulk Hogan.
Well done. Keep it up. Hopefully, someday, an opinion piece like this one won’t be needed, because it will have been the M.O. for the best hosts in the game. The range of the news/talk radio medium is much deeper than most think. Highlight it. And watch the ratings and revenue figures rise in the process.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
