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Barrett News Media Top 20 of 2024 – Major Market News/Talk Radio Midday Shows

Jason Barrett
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Barrett News Media Top 20 of 2024 – Major Market News/Talk Radio Midday Shows

Welcome to day two of the Barrett News Media Top 20 of 2024 series presented by JJ Surma Voiceovers. This series is voted on by news/talk radio program directors and executives across the country. To see each day’s results visit the website, follow BM on X at @Barrett_Media or Facebook at Barrett Media or sign up for our newsletters here. We appreciate the support.

The six categories featured are news/talk radio’s Major and Mid market morning, midday, and afternoon shows, the top program directors and radio stations, and the format’s best national talk shows. Major Markets represent shows, stations, and PDs in markets #1-#20. Mid Markets are for markets #21 and below. Not included in our lists are NPR brands and shows. Mainstream talk radio outlets are our main focus.

As you review the results, please remember that they represent the collective opinions of our radio industry executive panel. Decision makers receive lists and are asked to vote on talent, shows, brands, and leaders. We don’t participate in the voting process, we simply add up and present the results.

3 Things To Be Aware Of

#1 – We try to be thorough with the spelling of names, shows, cities, and the use of photos and logos. However, we’re creating 200+ images to highlight an entire format, so mistakes happen sometimes. If you see an error, please email Jason@BarrettMedia.com. Additionally, we ask voters to send in photos and logos in advance to avoid headaches. Once the series is presented, there are no changes unless it involves a mistake. Thanks in advance for understanding.

#2 – 37 major market midday shows appeared on ballots turned in by our executive panel. Executives were asked to rank their Top 20 selections for each category based on a few key factors; quality of show (ear test), originality, ability to entertain-inform-connect across multiple platforms, ratings success, clearance (national shows) and industry buzz. Remember, our voters live in different cities, have individual tastes, work for different groups, and value certain factors higher than others. This is not a perfect system but it’s the best we’ve come up with to showcase the industry’s best.

#3 – The executive panel includes programmers, consultants and corporate executives from radio’s top companies including Audacy, iHeart, Cumulus, Hubbard, Cox Media Group, Townsquare Media, Salem Media Group, Bonneville, FOX News Radio, Westwood One, and Radio One. Our total number of voters this year was forty six (46). Most vote on six categories, but some only vote on national shows and/or program directors. We involve people from different groups and cities in order to provide a balanced view of the format.

I want to thank Dylan Barrett for doing a great job with this year’s graphics. I’d also like to thank all who took part in the voting process. Now without further delay, here are the Top 20 Major Market Midday Shows of 2024.

Mark Simone - 710 WOR
WTOP Midday News
Gary & Shannon - KFI 640
John Kobylt - KFI
Mark Arum - WSB
Curtis Sliwa - 77WABC
Denise Nakano - KYW
Dom Giordano - 1210 WPHT
Grace Curley - WRKO
Mandy Connell - KOA
Greg Kelly - 77WABC
WBBM Midday News
KCBS Midday News
John Phillips - 790 KABC
KNX Midday News
Paul Smith - WJR 760
Chad Hartman - WCCO
Chris and Joe - KTAR 92.3
John Williams - WGN Radio 720

Additional Notes:

  • Mark Simone finished twenty two (22) points ahead of WTOP Morning News to secure the top spot. This is Mark’s first category win. He also notched a category best five (5) first place votes.
  • Spots 21-25 belonged to Casey Bartholomew, Laurie Kirby, Mike Broomhead, Adam & Jordana, and Dawn Stensland.
  • The closest contest saw WTOP Morning News edge Gary & Shannon by one (1) point.
  • Of the 37 shows eligible for votes, thirteen (13) received at least one 1st place vote.

BNM Top 20 of 2024 Remaining Schedule:

  • Wednesday January 8 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Afternoon Shows of 2024
  • Thursday January 9 = BNM Top 20 National N/T Radio Shows of 2024
  • Friday January 10 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Program Directors of 2024
  • Monday January 13 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Stations of 2024

Rethinking Social Media in 2025

Demetri Ravanos
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Rethinking Social Media in 2025

The social media experience, for the most part, sucks for creators. There is no sugarcoating it. At best, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are necessary evils. At worst, they are a time suck that promise reach in order to get you to hand over your information to Russian and Chinese hackers disguised as t-shirt companies and cryptocurrency traders.

How far back does your experience with social media go? The very early days of Facebook? To Myspace? To Friendster? 

No matter the answer, too many organizations and individuals have approached these platforms with a single priority: get the audience to click on a link.

I know JB doesn’t don’t like me to cuss in these columns, but I don’t know a better way to say this. If that’s still the way you think about social media in 2025, then you’re f***ed.

To understand how to shape a social media strategy, you first have to accept the reality that these platforms are not designed to help your business. Maybe they were at one time, but not in 2025. Think about all of the stories and testimony about platforms owned by Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk penalizing users that link to outside websites. 

Twitter and the Meta sites want users to stay in their respective universes. Maybe Instagram will show you content from Threads, but it isn’t easy to get your audience to a totally different website with just a click. Elon Musk has acknowledged that Twitter kind of sucks for creators that want to link their audience to their wider portfolio. In fact, for the last two years, Twitter’s algorithm has automatically flagged most links as spam, meaning most of your audience will never even have the opportunity to click on your link.

We are talking about billion dollar businesses here. Do you really think they want to make it easy for users, which is what they can offer advertisers, to go somewhere else? 

So I am going to propose a radical idea for your social media strategy in 2025. What if instead of links, you prioritize content? Quit thinking of social media as the interstate and start thinking of it as the destination. 

It doesn’t matter if you are creating content for a station or brand or if you are an individual talent. The concept is the same. Social media works best for branding and image building, not as a portal.

Branding has had a mostly successful history. Long before we were online, radio stations and television networks were airing commercials. There was no link to click or QR code to scan. Good content stood out and generated conversation.

A good example of this is a commercial from 1990. I think all root beer is gross. However, I think about A&W regularly because of a commercial that begins with the line “Mr. Dumb Ass, I can bring a lot to Dumb Ass and Dumb Ass”.

It’s been thirty-five years since that commercial came out, but it has staying power. I made an emotional connection to it, because when I was 9 years old, I had never seen anything funnier in my life (Wayne’s World was still two years away). It’s content that matters to me and I have never forgotten what it was trying to sell me.

Common sense tells you video and graphics will always get more attention than links. Bright colors and movement versus plain text? Come on! 

Plenty of stations and talent already know that. They are creating funny, interesting, and exclusive content online. Chris Carlin on TikTok and 104.5 ESPN on YouTube are two examples that immediately spring to mind.

Of course they post clips from their shows and in the studio, but they are also creating content exclusively for these platforms. The goal isn’t to get the audience to go anywhere or do anything. It’s simply to entertain them. Doesn’t that sound like a better strategy to build the same kind of loyalty online they enjoy from their radio audience? 

The biggest social media platforms don’t want your audience to see your work if it requires your audience to go somewhere else. Keeping their users on their site is the business model, so you have to learn to work within that structure to make social media work for you.

Learn to make graphics, whether it’s with Canva, Photoshop or whatever. Learn to edit video. Check out what programs are out there that can make interesting edits, filters, and other camera tricks easy. There is so much you can do that is so easy when you know what you are doing.

Create content that is worth clicking on and sharing. Let people know in your profile where they can find more of you. Not everyone is going to look for that information, but the best way to give someone a chance to find more of you is to give them a reason to be interested. Links can’t do that. 

The truth is that so many of the links you post don’t make any impact. It’s not just the platforms deprioritizing links to outside content. The reality is you can put a link right in front of someone. It doesn’t guarantee that they are going to want or even think to click on it. 

Social media has trained us to look around on-screen advertising. The best thing you can do is make creative and interesting content. Your name/brand in the corner will always be there. Getting the audience to click on that and go to your page is a more realistic goal than getting them to click a link to your station page and then have them start streaming.

Scroll through Instagram and TikTok. Plenty of successful creators, both companies and individuals, offer courses to show you what they do that seems to always work.

These courses are cheap too, like $60. They may not be comprehensive, but they will give you a good jumping off point for how to start thinking about your videos. I won’t link to them, but I think One Peak Creative offers a short, simple, and effective course. 

The reality of social media is that it will always be working against you. You are simultaneously content and competition for Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Don’t let their goals deter your own. Understand the rules of their platforms and make them work for you. 

It’s 2025. All media outfits – radio, TV, print, etc – need to be employing departments of people whose job it is to stay on top of algorithm changes for all of these social platforms. That probably isn’t happening in a lot of buildings though.

Change the rules and your goals for social media. If the goal is to get Twitter and Instagram users to click a link that takes them to your website, you’ve already lost. That game is rigged against you. You can win a branding game though. Focus on creating great content and the audience will come to know that is what they will get from you. 

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

4 Tips For Creating a Unique and Memorable Brand

Kevin Robinson
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4 Tips For Creating a Unique and Memorable Brand

“In business, copying is often seen as the fastest path to success, but true innovation comes from having the courage to go your own way.”

— Richard Branson, Entrepreneur and Founder of Virgin Group

We’re just three days away from Quitting Friday – the second Friday in January when most of us drop our New Year’s Resolutions. According to Ask Mr. Google, the Top 5 most resolve items are:

1. Improved Health – Fitness

  • Lose weight, start exercising, and adopt a healthier diet.

2. Improved Finances

  • Budgeting better, saving more, reducing debt.

3. Improved Education

  • Picking up a hobby, learning a language, acquiring a new skill.

4. Improved Mental Health

  • Reducing stress, practicing mindfulness, meditating, and therapy.

5. Improved Relationships

  • Quality time with family, improve, and make new connections.

Among us broadcasters – what’s missing?

Resolutions for our brands – sonics – talent – uniqueness.

As you travel through the belly of America, the landscape feels remarkably uniform. Corn, beans, cattle, poultry – it’s all the same in Iowa and Indiana—increased sameness in these dark winter months. Press the ‘scan’ button on your radio – as I did in my October 15th column – and you’ll hear the same tunes and atmospherics by format.

Country, Top 40, Classic Hits, Adult Contemporary – sounds the same in Minnesota and Michigan. Much of the radio landscape in this country follows a repetitive pattern. And it’s not just the radio industry – far from it.

Have a look at the automobile industry and its trend toward mini-SUVs. As spot revenue tightens and human resources are starved for time, a growing shroud of complacency settles in with regularity. Some of the best distinctive and unique brands are planted in smaller markets where resources are hungry while bigger players – which are rare in The Bigs – are scarce but do occasionally pop off the dial.

The rise of centralized programming and syndicated production pieces has stifled local creativity. Brands by format are largely diminished to indistinguishable sounds and voices.

Here’s why it’s crucial for your brand to stand out:

Platforms like Alexa, Spotify, Prime Music, Siri, and Pandora are portable, making access possible everywhere.  Just.  Like.  Radio.

SiriusXM—initially dismissed as a niche product while arguing that listeners wouldn’t pay for radio—has picked up our best talent.

Creating a unique, memorable brand takes a time investment – but it’s doable. Ideation below to set your ‘cornfield’ apart from the one ‘across the field’:

Build A Secret Weapon Category

Outlined in my October 22nd column, curate a Secret Weapon list. Great songs that only YOU air. Take credit for the uniqueness. Craft imaging to introduce the song and a line about the background. Close with a back sell of the song and how it’s exclusively heard on your brand.

As with great on-air promotions – say you’re going to do it – do it – and then say that you did it. Own it.

Tell Stories With Your Imaging

We coach talent to tell interesting stories about experiences or observations. Do the same with your imaging. Get inspired by greats like the late Legend Nick Michaels and his still-syndicated The Deep End. Ideas for Secret Weapon Records are found there, too.

Here’s a freebie from a client:

“The core of this duo were classically trained studio musicians in New York before the heavy allure of Hollywood pulled them away. Like their friend Carlos Santana – they rotated musicians in studio sessions. This studio musician’s ONLY technique – gave every song a unique sound. They would peak in the 70s with their biggest work – ‘AJA.’  Also, working with a bevy of session musicians helped avoid ego fights in the creative process. A prosthetic phallus in William Burroughs’s novel ‘Naked Lunch’ gave them their name. Steely Dan IS (your ID).”

Aural Activator In Your Top Of The Hour

Better yet – put it in all of your imaging. Covered in my August 27th column, an Aural Activator is the sound that instantly identifies the brand. Think Intel Inside or McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It.” Often, McDonald’s branding only includes the first five notes of the jingle – without lyrics. You know it when you hear it.

A half-century back, legendary programmer Bill Drake created a signature drum sound to aurally ID his stations. Others used a Top Of The Hour tone – like CBS News does today. Is your market known for a ‘sound’? Nashville – music so perhaps a guitar riff. Seattle – the birthplace of Grunge. Indianapolis – race cars. Deploy a unique sound for your brand to aurally pop in the listener’s mind.

Actively Seek Emerging Talent – With Your Signal

Give interested kids your radio station. Seriously, engage students in your community with time on your radio station. As I discussed yesterday in Consultants Corner, work with local schools OR Boy and Girls Clubs to launch an after-school Radio Club.

Put interested emerging talent on early Sunday evenings. Nobody is at your radio station at that time and a well-trained student advisor would chaperone. Local interest will follow. Use your school’s P.T.O. as a mouthpiece to market it.

At a recent elementary career day, under my guidance, student teams wrote, voiced, and produced their own commercials. They were engaged and fascinated.

The challenge lies in being noticed amidst the noise. Developing innovation is a time investment. It requires patience, but the payoff is worth it.

From a Josh Spector newsletter, he challenged his readers to answer the following about what branding professionals do:

“Our brand is the only brand that ___________________.”

I would love to see your replies. Reach me here.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Aircheck: Jeff Christy (Rush Limbaugh) 1971 and 1974 In Pittsburgh

Jeff Lynn
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Aircheck: Jeff Christy (Rush Limbaugh) 1971 and 1974 In Pittsburgh

Rush Limbaugh is a conservative spoken-word radio icon. It’s safe to say that Limbaugh changed the face of talk radio and paved the way for others like Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Mark Levin.

Before replacing Morton Downey Jr. at KFBK in Sacramento in 1984 and going national in 1988, he held various jobs, including a stint in music radio in Pittsburgh, where he was known as Jeff Christy.

Listening to the aircheck, you can hear the familiar cadence and phrasing that would serve him well in talk radio.

Here are two airchecks from Pittsburg in 1971 and 1974.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

News/Talk Radio Needs to Embrace What Separates It From Other Formats in 2025

Peter Thiele
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News/Talk Radio Needs to Embrace What Separates It From Other Formats in 2025

Part of the appeal of radio is immediacy. We are speaking of what is happening at that very moment in our neighborhood, community, state, nation, and world. Radio’s advantage over a playlist, podcast, or audiobook is we are now. While social media may have happenings as they develop, sometimes finding accurate information is problematic.

Are you living in the moment on your radio show?

Read me out here… When there is a huge news story — for instance, a blizzard — do you have the news guy standing outside to do a live report? Are you taking calls from listeners? Did you drop your guests who are not discussing snow? Whatever that breaking news story is, news/talk radio stations must go full-on with the coverage.

What is “Topic A?” Many hosts have benchmarked segments or guests, and I strongly recommend having these. But you must break the format for big happenings. I worked with an amazing host who insisted on keeping a regular guest on the show while several huge traffic issues caused total gridlock in the community. I generally never interrupt a show unless something is earth-shattering. I went into the studio during the break and told the host to focus on the actual audience. You see kids, if there is a huge traffic event or a weather warning affecting your community, people are stuck in their vehicles trying to figure out what is going on. This is our moment to shine! This is a free marketing campaign for your station.

The music stations in your market are likely voice-tracked and the 30-second, twice-an-hour traffic report will not reflect the frustration and worry of your listeners. If the traffic event is in the morning, people are trying to get into the office. If the traffic mess is in the afternoon, a parent may be rushing to pick up their child or dog at daycare.

Your listeners are exceptionally busy. An unanticipated delay is very worrying. Your radio station is there to reflect their concerns. Oh, this is a perfect definition of a Listener-Focused Experience! The people in your community can’t read a blog to find out about traffic while driving. The listeners should not be surfing the web looking for the reason behind the traffic problem. You are the lifeline for your community. Never forget this.

I get it. You are hosting a drivetime show and there are a lot of moving parts. Sometimes, these things are a judgment call. You don’t want to be the kid who cries wolf. We must be responsible with these service elements and situations. I am all in on making radio fun and poking fun at ourselves on the show. But there are three things that you should never ever minimize: news, traffic, and weather.

Spoken word radio in most markets has cume issues. The news, traffic, and weather are cume-building ingredients for your show and radio station. We must always be thinking about adding more listeners. This must be an intentional strategy.

I often will push back on shows that have an inside language all their own. The reason is that these language devices may make your show or station less accessible to people trying your broadcast. Have you ever been invited to a party where everyone attending has known each other since high school? You arrive and are greeted and then introduced to the people. The conversation sometimes reverts to something that happened in the group’s junior year in high school. The anecdotes and stories are loved by this group of friends. Since you don’t have any personal reference to these relationships, you are unintentionally frozen out of the conversation. This is death to a radio show or station.

Does your station have a playbook for breaking news? Music stations have it so much simpler. It is so easy to focus on playing the right songs at the proper time. The human responsible for scheduling the music is easy to address if things go off the rails. A talk show is like a morning show on a music station. Depending on the spoken word station, there may be one to five local shows. If you are a programmer, the goal is to allow these artists to be as free from interference as possible. Unfortunately, hosts lose focus from time to time.

Does your radio station have a target listener profile? Hey Program Director, when was the listener profile last updated? Does this listener profile reflect the actual data for your market? When was the last time that you dug into the census data? You should know the average age of a person in your community, how many people are in the average household, and how long the average commute is

Does your staff know these data points? Everything needs to be well-defined. This is all a part of providing a Listener-Focused experience.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Matt Murphy Always Had His Eyes on Afternoon Drive at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN

Garrett Searight
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In December 2021, Matt Murphy departed his longtime news/talk home in Birmingham to take over the 12-3 PM timeslot in the lineup at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN.

And as he made his way to Music City to helm the midday show, a thought continually prevailed in his mind: “If I do my job, I’ll be in afternoon drive within three years.”

Mission accomplished.

Last month, Murphy was announced as the successor to Brian Wilson, who retired from the 3-7 PM window at the Cumulus Media Nashville news/talk station.

It’s easy to see why Matt Murphy would covet the afternoon drive slot on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. Before Wilson, a news/talk radio powerhouse in his own right, the window was hosted by Phil Valentine. A radio legend in Nashville, Valentine unfortunately succumbed to the COVID-19 virus in August of 2021, leading to the shuffle that brought Murphy to the Tennessee capital in the fir st place.

“Since I came to Nashville, it was always a goal of mine,” Murphy said of his new opportunity in afternoons. “Brian Wilson has made such a name for himself, not only in Nashville but across the United States. The idea to follow him after he followed the great Phil Valentine is just a great honor and opportunity for me, and one that I very much look forward to.”

“The idea that I would sit in the same seat as Phil, that I would then sit in the same seat as Brian, in the same daypart, is just a great chance for me to showcase what we’ve already built in middays going forward,” Murphy later added.

And that chance to not only hone his craft in the 12-3 PM timeslot on the station, but to also acclimate himself to the Nashville and Tennessee political scenes after spending more than 20 years in Alabama allows him to hit the ground running in afternoons.

“I love covering the national scene, but I like to dig into the state scene, as well, being a local show,” Murphy said. “And learning that, in the state of Tennessee, there’s one statewide elected official — it’s the governor. In Alabama, you had the governor, lieutenant governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, auditor, all of these statewide elected positions.So, naturally, there’s a lot of jockeying for positioning before an election season.

“Well here, all of those are appointed positions, except for the governor. So that dynamic alone, it seems like a little thing, but it’s a huge thing in terms of the nature of politics. So when you start learning, you have to catch up to speed with all of those types of things. So that was a lot of excitement. And I’m glad that we did it this way. There was some thought about where I would fit into the lineup three years ago. I’m glad that it happened the way that it did, that I kind of learned the lay to land before I got into that drive time slot.”

Murphy said it didn’t sink in that he would take over such a venerated timeslot until Cumulus Media Nashville Market President and General Manager Allison Warren — alongside Talk Programming Operations Manager Paul Mason — that he had, in fact, been tabbed to take over afternoon drive.

“There was always a feeling that I had that opportunity in front of me, so long as I didn’t screw it up, honestly,” he said with a chuckle. “But it wasn’t until she officially said ‘We would like for you to be our afternoon drive host,’ that it kind of hit me. And then I did think about the legacy of the radio station, the incredible power that that radio station has demonstrated.

“Things like the pushback against the income tax, where Phil Valentine orchestrated what was a statewide effort to stop a state income tax in the state of Tennessee. I mean, moments like that. You’re trying to carry on that tradition. So it’s the culmination of what I came here to do. The opportunities that are in front of us now are limitless … so I’m very excited.”

The three-year period at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN in middays also allowed Matt Murphy to get a deeper understanding of the audience that listens to the 100,000-watt flamethrower that can be heard as far away as Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky.

“I think you have to know who you’re talking to. You have to understand what (the audience’s) concerns are immediately,” he said. “And so that balance becomes when we’re going to talk about national subjects versus when we’re talking about things that are involving Davidson County, or Nashville, Tennessee, or Tennessee more broadly.

“And frankly, I think in the last eight years — as incredible as Donald Trump has been for America, in my opinion — but for the industry that I work in … I think there’s a danger in not serving the local community and not serving the state community and making sure that you’re hitting those subjects as well. So I try to do my best to balance the two, and there are plenty of ways to do that, but you have to know the area that you’re in in order to do that effectively.”

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

The Interview: Total Information A.M. on KMOX

Garrett Searight
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The Interview: Total Information A.M. on KMOX

The Midwest was slammed by a winter storm over the weekend, with snow and ice being dumped all over the region. Total Information A.M. on KMOX went into overdrive to cover the storm on Monday morning.

St. Louis was in the band that was most affected by the winter weather and with KMOX morning show being selected as the 10th best morning show in the mid-market rankings in the latest Barrett Media Top 20 released on Monday, I thought why not check out the program on the legendary station.

The show — which airs from 6-11 AM on the Audacy St. Louis station — is helmed by Tom Ackerman, Debbie Monterrey, and Megan Lynch.

For this edition of The Interview, we’re focusing on Lynch’s interview with AccuWeather meteorologist Heather Zehr after the winter weather hampered much of the region over the weekend.

First and foremost, the interview was short. The discussion between the Total Information A.M. host and the forecaster was just under five minutes long. Which, in an environment like morning drive, especially on a news/talk station like KMOX, is the perfect length. Short. Sweet. And to the point. Especially after the area received between 6-12 inches of precipitation.

In fact, the first question from Lynch was “What were our totals?”, after pointing out that the accumulation included both ice and snow in the city.

After a succinct answer from Zehr, Megan Lynch followed up with another short question: “What storm system came in that led to all of this?”

So, right off the bat, Lynch got answers for her listeners. Contextualizing the event, finding out the reason for just how the region underwent such a drastic winter weather event.

When the meteorologist explained how so much snow and ice hit the area, Lynch fell into two of the seven deadly interview sins at once: she didn’t ask a question, and she prolonged it by remarking on the topic instead of finding a query for the subject

“Talk to us about what we can expect for the week,” Lynch said. “I know when we talked with the Missouri Department of Transportation, they told us it’s gonna take us a few days to clear all of this away.”

In the past, I’ve given a bit of a pass to interviewers who don’t ask a question but instead remark as a way for their interview subject to open up a bit. However, in this case, I think it’s important to point out that the subject isn’t a closed-off politician or public figure attempting to conceal information or hide their true feelings about a topic. The subject is a weather forecaster. So the “talk to us about” is one of those things that can grind my gears just a bit during an interview because it’s as simple as it gets. There’s no question. No real thought about to how to get information from the subject other than just beating them over the head with it.

On the next opportunity to ask a question, Lynch did the same thing. “Talk about the winds that we’re expected to have. I know that was another warning we got overnight that even if the crews got the snow cleared off … what could we be seeing in the way of snow blowing back across the roads? Because it doesn’t seem like a very wet snow,” she said.

Believe me when I tell you — that whether it be radio hosts, TV anchors, sports sideline reporters, or anyone in between — the Total Information A.M. host isn’t the only interviewer who falls into what I like to call the “Talk About Trap.”

“Talk about” isn’t a question. It’s a command. And while you’d like to have command over the conversation, you don’t want to be commanding over your interview subject.

That trap continued when the conversation shifted to an explanation about the difference between temperature, “Real Feel” temperature, and wind chill. Lynch started the question with “Talk to us about,” instead of asking a short, one-sentence question like she did to begin the interview.

I understand how it’s easy to fall into the “Talk About Trap”, especially in this situation where the intent is to get important — in some cases life-saving — information to the public. And when you’re focused on getting that information to the audience, you can lose sight of what’s the best way to get your interview subject to give that information. It’s the simplest way to get the subject to share what you want them to share.

I liken it to being a sports television play-by-play announcer. One of your jobs is to set up the color commentator to be the star. And that’s how I viewed a conversation such as this one. The host is attempting to set up the guest to be the expert, the voice of reason, and a credible source of important information for a wide listening audience. So it’s easy to lose sight of what makes a good to great interview when that’s the intent.

However, that’s really the only thing I could critique about the discussion as a whole. Total Information A.M. didn’t keep the AccuWeather meteorologist on to attempt to eat up more time, showcase her personality, or any other reason to keep a guest on longer than they need to be.

They got her in, got her out, and got their audience valuable information about what happened, what’s to come, what to expect going forward, and context on how and why it happened. Which, in the fast-paced world we expect out of our morning drive news/talk radio shows, it was a job well done by Total Information A.M.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Two Morning Show Changes At Cox Media San Antonio

BMM Staff
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Two Morning Show Changes At Cox Media San Antonio

More morning show changes are happening in San Antonio, this time at Cox Media Group.

At Country “Y100” KCYY, hosts Tucker ‘Frito’ Young and Katy Dempsey have officially left the station after three years. The duo joined Y100 on January 6, 2022, transitioning from Bryan Broadcasting’s Top 40 “Candy 95” in College Station, TX, where they led the morning show.

During their time at Y100, Young also served as cluster Operations Manager while Dempsey was Program Director.

At sister Hot AC “Hits 105.3,” the “Ted, Drex & Kara” from Atlanta-based WSB-FM B98.5 has officially launched. This marks the third market where the show is now being broadcast.

Hosted by Tad Lemire, P.J. ‘Drex’ Rener, and Kara Leigh, the program has maintained its current format since May 2017, when Drex joined the team and Leigh was elevated from a producer role to the show’s female voice.

Lemire has been anchoring the morning segment at WSB-FM since January 2016, following his previous stints in morning radio at KRAV in Tulsa and WEZN in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

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Michael Kay: New Midday Show is the Old Show ‘on Ozempic Without Any of the Nasty Side Effects’

BSM Staff
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Michael Kay: New Midday Show is the Old Show ‘on Ozempic Without Any of the Nasty Side Effects’

For the first time in over two decades with ESPN New York, Michael Kay is hosting a solo show on the station. Kay had been part of a trio in afternoon drive with Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg on The Michael Kay Show, the longest-running afternoon drive program in New York City within the sports talk radio format. La Greca and Rosenberg are now hosting with Alan Hahn in afternoon drive as Kay moves to a two-hour solo venture in middays. In an interview with Barrett Sports Media last month, Kay explained that he had thought about an exit strategy from the previous iteration of the show because of having to balance the show with his play-by-play job on YES Network for New York Yankees baseball.

As he opened his first show in the new timeslot on Monday afternoon, Kay expressed that it was a pleasure to be on the air and would address how the show was going to be different. With La Greca and Rosenberg in the afternoons, Kay stated that the show has lost about 400 pounds and evinced the similarities between the programs.

“I say that this show, the new Michael Kay Show, is the old Michael Kay Show on Ozempic, but without any of those nasty side effects, so that’s the way we’ll be rolling from now on,” Kay said. “We’ll have a good time, we’re going to have great guests, we’re going to have great features – all of that, and we are so excited to get the new show rolling.”

The debut of Kay’s show in middays is part of a new, local lineup on the station from ESPN and Good Karma Brands with familiar personalities and new voices. The morning show with Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg remains in tact, followed by the return of Chris Carlin to the ESPN New York airwaves with Bart Scott. Kay hosts the ensuing two hours followed by Don, Hahn & Rosenberg in afternoon drive until 7 p.m. EST.

Under his new agreement with ESPN, Kay will continue hosting on the New York radio station while also fulfilling his obligations on Yankees television broadcasts. Good Karma Brands entered into a local marketing agreement with Audacy towards the end of last August that allows it to place ESPN New York programming on the 880 AM frequency.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on,” Kay said of his new show. “Again, it’s the old show on Ozempic without any of the nasty side effects.”

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Audacy Ups Ryan Cooley To SVP/Market Manager In Portland

BMM Staff
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Audacy Ups Ryan Cooley To SVP/Market Manager In Portland

Audacy has announced the appointment of Ryan Cooley as Senior Vice President and Market Manager for its Portland market.

In this position, Cooley will be responsible for managing a diverse portfolio of brands, which includes 1080 The Fan, Classic Rock 92.3 KGON, ESPN 910 (KMTT-AM), 94/7 Alternative Portland (KNRK-FM), Bella 105 (KRSK-FM), Country 99.5 The Wolf (KWJJ-FM), Classic Hits 97.1 Charlie (KYCH-FM), CHANNEL Q (KRSK-HD2), and 94/7 Too (KNRK-HD2).

“Ryan’s leadership, extensive broadcast experience, and love for the Portland community make him a valuable asset to the market,” said Doug Abernethy, Audacy Regional President. “We look forward to seeing him take on this new role and guide the Portland team to achieve even greater success.” 


“I’m honored to be named Audacy Portland’s next Senior Vice President and Market Manager. I started with this incredible group of stations 20 years ago, and being entrusted with the opportunity to help this team reach its full potential is something I don’t take lightly,” said Cooley. “This team is truly special; these radio stations are iconic, and the people here are the heart of everything we do. Together, we’re excited to build on this legacy and continue shaping the future of radio in Portland.”

Cooley launched his career at Audacy in 2005 as a Sales Associate, steadily advancing to hold leadership positions in Portland, Boston, and San Francisco.

He was pivotal in launching 95.7 The Game (KGMZ-FM) in San Francisco and oversaw new business development and account growth for WEEI (WEEI-FM) in Boston.

Throughout his tenure, he has served in various capacities, including Account Executive, Local Sales Manager, General Sales Manager, and most recently, Director of Sales.

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