News/talk radio has long leaned on national syndication as a crutch — and sometimes, it’s a crutch that fits just fine.
Rush Limbaugh built an empire. Sean Hannity fills hours across hundreds of stations. The model works.
But lately, I keep asking myself a question that I can’t quite shake: are some dayparts — particularly middays — leaving audience engagement on the table by defaulting to national programming when a regional syndication model might serve listeners better?
This isn’t a knock on nationally syndicated shows. Many of them are excellent at doing exactly what they’re designed to do — discussing national topics with authority. But excellent national programming and relevant programming aren’t always the same thing.
A Model That Already Works in Sports Radio
The sports radio world has quietly been proving this point for years. Cumulus’ 107.5 The Game in Columbia, South Carolina is a big deal — not just locally, but as a proof of concept. Cumulus recognized what they had and began syndicating the station’s local shows to other sports stations it owned around the state. I’ll forever think that idea is great, because it respects both the audience and the programming.
iHeartMedia does something similar with KFAN in Minnesota. The Twin Cities sports station is massive. Having been to the Twin Cities several times over the past three years or so, I can remember exactly one time that I got in an Uber and the driver wasn’t listening to KFAN.
Other stations in the state — not just other iHeart stations — run KFAN’s programming because it’s still deeply relevant to listeners across Minnesota. That’s the core of the argument right there. Relevant programming travels. Generic programming just fills time.
Similarly, Audacy’s 97.1 The Ticket has branched out and is offering its programming to other stations in the state of Michigan. It continues — apparently — to work in the sports format. So, why not news/talk?
Can News/Talk Replicate the Sports Model?
Maybe regional syndication is a sports-only idea. Maybe what matters to someone in Cincinnati doesn’t land the same way for listeners in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, or Dayton — to use my home state as an example. Perhaps it works better — as seen by the previous sports examples — where there’s one hugely populated city in a state or region, and smaller areas that are still focused on the same subjects.
But I have to imagine there’s still crossover. State politics, regional economic stories, local culture — these threads connect communities even when those communities don’t share a market.
Moon Griffon has built something special in Louisiana by doing exactly this. His show focuses talk topics around one location while still discussing national events when they warrant it. That balance — local host, national awareness — is the sweet spot. It works for the host, the stations, both the local and syndicated advertisers, and for the audience.
And I wonder if that product can work in more locales than it doesn’t. I’d love to see someone put that theory to the test, because I’ll continue to think it works until I see it fail.
Everyone on a national show has the ability to talk about politics on a given day. But when listeners want to feel informed, entertained, and engaged by talk that actually reflects their lives, their state, or their region, they’re not exactly super served by someone broadcasting from a studio 2,000 miles away. That gap is real. And it’s an opportunity that regional syndication is uniquely positioned to fill.
The infrastructure for this model already exists. The audience appetite is there. What’s missing is the willingness to bet on it.
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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.
