News/talk radio has a fill-in problem, and it’s not the one most program directors think it is. The common assumption is that a fill-in host’s job is simple — sit in the chair, execute the regular host’s show, keep the audience comfortable, and don’t rock the boat. It sounds reasonable. It’s also wrong.
Here’s the thing: authenticity wins. We say it constantly in this industry, and we mean it. Listeners have an almost supernatural ability to detect when a host isn’t being genuine. They can feel the difference between someone who believes what they’re saying and someone who’s simply executing a format. So why do we turn around and ask fill-in hosts to perform inauthenticity on command?
When a fill-in host mimics the regular host’s style, they’re not serving the audience — they’re shortchanging it. Instead of getting a real voice with real conviction, listeners receive a carbon copy with none of the original’s earned credibility. That’s a bad trade for everyone involved.
The better approach is straightforward: be yourself. Do the show you actually believe in. Bring your perspective, your pacing, your instincts. If that means the show sounds different for a day or a week, that’s not a failure.
Now, here’s where the pushback usually comes in. “But the radio audience expects a certain thing from that timeslot.” Sure, they do. Audience expectation is real, and it shouldn’t be discounted. However, expectation isn’t a ceiling. The idea shouldn’t be that you play dress-up as the usual host. You need to be you. A confident fill-in host who owns their performance will hold an audience far more effectively than a hesitant one trying to walk in someone else’s shoes.
Think about the best fill-in performances you’ve ever heard. They weren’t the ones where the host disappeared into someone else’s identity. They were the shows where a talented broadcaster stepped up, took the mic, and delivered something memorable. That host didn’t apologize for not being the regular voice. They made you forget — briefly — that there was a regular voice.
If listeners push back on the way a fill-in presents a radio show, that reaction doesn’t automatically mean the fill-in got it wrong. It might simply mean there’s a difference of opinion about how the program should sound. And difference of opinion — isn’t that the entire backbone of the news/talk format? We ask our hosts to have viewpoints, defend them, and challenge audiences to think. It seems contradictory to then ask those same hosts to suppress their viewpoints the moment they’re sitting in for someone else.
The format demands genuine voices, not interchangeable ones. Every host who steps behind a microphone — regular or fill-in — carries a responsibility to be the best version of themselves, not the best approximation of someone else. That’s what builds careers. More importantly, that’s what builds audiences.
Program directors and talent coaches should encourage fill-in hosts to approach the opportunity with ownership. Give them the topics, give them the timeslot, and then get out of the way. Trust that a skilled broadcaster will find their footing and that listeners are adaptable. But most of all, trust the format.
Because at the end of the day, news/talk radio doesn’t need more imitators. It needs more voices — distinct, confident, and unapologetically themselves. Fill-in days aren’t a disruption to be managed. They’re an audition for anyone paying attention, and the best way to pass that audition is to show up as exactly who you are.
Do the show you believe in. That’s always the right call.
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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.
This works for music formats too. The best fill ins that Casey Kasem had over his decades doing AT40 were the ones that were able to work in a bit of their own personality or style rather than blandly reading a script clearly written for Casey.