If you could design a dream scenario for the talk radio industry, what we’re living through right now would probably qualify.
There’s a constant stream of news which at any other time in history would be talked about for months or even years, but there’s a new one practically every few hours. Keeping up with it is difficult – you have to doomscroll on social media and watch cable news and read newspaper sites and Substacks to know the latest, and it’s kinda mandatory to do so, because so much of it directly affects you and your family, from the bill at the grocery store to your kids’ education.
Talk radio should be a go-to right now, a good option for following the headlines and making sense of it all. And this is what you’ve been dreaming of, right? No shortage of material, everyone has an opinion, tailor-made for an interactive, news-forward medium. No sitting in front of the computer staring into the abyss hoping that you can come up with something, ANYTHING to talk about for two or three hours.
Why, then, is talk radio not really part of the action?
Let’s face it, there’s not one talk radio show that generates any heat regarding what’s going on in the news, or, really, anything at all. Not one syndicated show, not one local show. Sorry, but no civilian is saying “did you hear what (your name here) said about (massive national or local topic)?” No “Rush Room” equivalents. No influential talkers. It’s just, well, there, serving the same core audience it’s been tightly grasping since the ‘70s, as those listeners make their involuntary departures. Figures that the talk radio dream of unlimited great material is here but it might be too late.
Ah, but hasn’t the audience gravitated to podcasts? Aren’t there stars on the rise there? Not really. Sure, people like Joe Rogan have a lot of fans, but most folks don’t listen to his show, and he’s not constantly in the news and certainly not a must-listen outside the brosphere. The issue for podcasts is that they’re outdated the moment they’re recorded. By the time they post, new lead stories have broken, and the one the podcast is focused upon has either come to some kind of resolution or has already faded into the background.
Anecdotally, I used to listen to several political podcasts. I don’t listen to any of them anymore. I’m not looking for analysis of last week’s hot topics. I want to know what’s happening right now, and I suspect that while I’m listening to the podcast, things are afoot that I should know right away.
The assignment for talk radio hosts, producers, and programmers, then, is to find ways to get in on the action. Just talking about the news hasn’t worked; nobody cares if you love or hate Trump. They do care about how the news affects them and their wallets, and you should be directly addressing that, comparing supermarket prices past and present or explaining what redistricting will mean for your state.
But you also need to come up with events and stunts and ways to draw attention to yourself. Maybe it’s organizing protests. I don’t know and nobody’s paying me to come up with this stuff, so it’s up to you. Generate clips that get into people’s doomscrolls rather than the lame celebrity gossip posts corporate generates for you. The world is burning and you’re posting a picture of Ariana Grande on the red carpet? You deserve your irrelevance.
The other thing is to go the other way and talk about anything BUT what’s in the news. A lot of potential listeners need a break from the action, and music may not be their answer. Think about what you talk about in real life when you’re not talking politics, and talk about that on the air. Be a refuge from the real world. Have some fun. Might as well, considering the alternative.
Either way, this should have been an opportunity for talk radio to regain its prominence among the media. That it hasn’t is sad, but there’s still opportunity if you want to go for it. Otherwise, those funerals aren’t just for your remaining listeners. Talk radio, we hardly knew ye….
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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.
