What is your brand? What differentiates your news/talk radio station from the tens of thousands of podcasts? Can you tell me what makes you essential?
If I ask that question of a news talk host, I get this common and sadly insane answer… I am a conservative Gen Z host who breaks down the issues in my community. That is not an answer. It is a word salad of mediocrity. We all want the Halo Effect. I’ll break that down for you.
Your brand should be an easily digestible theme for your show. It also should be centered around your opinions and observations. Just because you have a radio station’s microphone and transmitter doesn’t mean that you have a successful brand.
In my first program director position, the radio station’s owner and market manager had a line of wisdom: If someone spoke with him about a show and said that the host is just ok, there was a huge problem. The reaction should be a passionate. “I love that show.” “I hate that show.” “It makes me happy. It makes me mad.” There should be some emotional reaction to it.
If he ever heard a bland response, this boss shared his worries with me. He was quizzed about how he hadn’t corrected a host that had an unpopular position, and his standard answer — with a smile on his face — was, “I couldn’t agree with you more. Imagine trying to argue with that host.” It was a smart answer. It also empowered the host to continue with hot takes.
You have likely had a manager tell you — or a host on your staff — to change a position because of complaints. I don’t write about this enough: Be fearless. If you believe it and can support your argument, say it. So, what is your brand? Can you define your brand in a short sentence? What makes your brand new, better, and different?
What is your differentiation? Considering that there are millions of distractions, what is your unique market position? I will give you a hint: Your unique market position should center on your opinions and observations. Because of the glut of available information, just giving the latest update on a committee hearing over tort reform in the legislature is not content, and it is no longer an exclusive avenue for audience interest or growth. I can assure you — unless you are in your state’s capital — zero people at lunch today are discussing the legislature’s dull ins and outs. If people are not discussing the legislature or city council meeting, why are you?
Why are you discussing things that have very limited appeal? We have all done this, but we should really ask ourselves that question. Don’t live by confirmation bias. If someone comes up to you at a restaurant or the grocery store to discuss something that has limited appeal, don’t think that you are speaking to the masses. Here is a little truth bomb: you are likely recognized in public more often than you think. The people who interrupt your meal are quite often unicorns and eccentrics who don’t necessarily reflect the majority of your fans.
Every brand desires the Halo Effect. Your show’s fans or station’s fans probably have some of this. As a cub program director, I worked in a building with an awesome country station. It sounded better than the competition. The personalities were better. But here was the problem — the vast majority of country music fans absolutely adored the station across town. Following normal competitive strategies, my station’s country station added classic country songs. The big brand across town did the very same thing and just mirrored what our little station was doing. The big brand kept chugging along with big ratings and revenue.
When the Halo Effect is built, it is very tough to tell the market to hate what they love. There was a recent news story saying that when people are confronted with facts that contradict their point of view, they often double down on their position.
For news/talk radio, we should focus on building that connection with our audience. The spoken word hosts that I have observed building a strong Halo Effect are Howard Stern, Sean Hannity, and Dan Patrick. Yes, these shows are very different. Next time you speak with a fan of these shows, ask open-ended questions about why the listener loves the show. You will learn that they are entertained and love the opinions and observations of the host. Dan, Sean, and Howard have built the Halo Effect with their audience.
Practical application time. Has your station built the Halo Effect with your audience? I can guarantee that some listeners feel that way. Is it a high percentage of your audience? Be honest with yourself. The worst lie you can ever tell is to the person in the mirror. Don’t live in a fantasyland.
Are your radio listeners evangelists for your show or station? Probably the biggest reason that Apple has done so well is that the users of their products are preachers of the good word to everyone they meet. Are your fans that dedicated? Perhaps in a future column, I will share my ideas on how to build that loyalty. The best way to build the Halo Effect for your show or station is to appeal to your target listener. Too many hosts and stations are focused on the exceptions instead of the majority. In today’s segmented media landscape, the more focused you are on your ideal listener, the more successful you will be.
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Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He currently serves as News/Talk Format Captain for Zimmer Communications. Prior to joining Zimmer, Peter held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, 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.
