“Some personal news: I’m no longer with KNX,” Archer wrote. “After 10 good years, it’s hard to say goodbye to so many talented friends and colleagues.
“Ironically—or maybe poetically—this Saturday marks my 45th anniversary in radio,” Archer continued, noting that he got his radio start while in high school. “So yes, I’ve been here before. More soon.”
Archer first joined KNX News in 2015 after previously serving as a midday news anchor at crosstown KFI-AM 640. He also worked in music radio in the past with roles in Orlando, Miami, and Los Angeles, in addition to spending time at Westwood One.
In a post to his Substack, Archer elaborated and said he was open to remaining in the news format.
“I’m not going to say I’ve got irons in the fire or that I’ll be announcing something soon. I’m just now stoking that fire. But I’m open. And grateful. And maybe even a little excited,” Archer wrote. “One thing I’ve learned in my life: it’s fine to say yes quickly, but always wait before you say no. There are far more surprises hiding in yes than in no.“
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In the world of professional sports media, you need to be prepared for anything. Overtime changes headlines and buzzer beaters affect narratives as sports provides change at a moment’s notice. Jorge Sedano was already working for ESPN Radio covering the NBA Finals when he got a phone call that required change, leading to an opportunity of a lifetime stepping in for his teammate and friend Lisa Salters.
Prior to Game Two of the NBA Finals, Salters stepped away from her duties with ABC to attend to a family medical issue. In the moment, Sedano was called into action, prepared for anything, albeit with a heavy heart.
“When it was determined that she [Salters] wasn’t going to come back, they asked me to do it. Of course, I said yes,” said Sedano. “I’ve been through what she’s going through. I’ve lost a parent, so I know how challenging that is. I felt bad considering what she was dealing with, but on the other side you’re excited for the opportunity. You do this because you want to do the work at the highest level.”
After eight seasons covering NBA games for ESPN, Sedano said he was honored to be asked to fill in for Salters. For three games of the NBA Finals, Sedano shifted from sidelines on radio to television. Salters eventually returned to the sidelines on the ABC telecast for Games Five through Seven as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in seven games.
The opportunity for Sedano wasn’t a first on television, but it was his first during the NBA Finals. Recalling his experience, he felt confident about his work, noting the major differences in working sidelines on radio compared to television covering the biggest event of the NBA calendar.
“On radio you’re basically a professional eavesdropper,” explained Sedano. “You have very limited opportunities on radio. You’re basically trying to peek into the huddles to see if you can get any information [on] what the coaches and players’ interactions are,” said Sedano. “With television, there’s a lot more planning that’s involved because people are building graphics for you and building packages for you depending on what it is. There’s a lot more work because of the visual elements of it.”
While adjusting to the top team during the NBA Finals was a challenge, Sedano was no stranger to the members of the broadcast team. The relationships and chemistry Sedano developed over the past eight years working regular season games with Mike Breen, Richard Jefferson, and Doris Burke provided a sense of normalcy in a somewhat chaotic moment.
“That is the beauty of mixing us up during the regular season,” explained Sedano. “God forbid something like this happens; you know how to dance with each other. There is no awkwardness. There’s no trying to fit in. Everyone knows how to do their job together because they worked together.”
This year’s NBA Finals was filled with adjustments, not just in the play on the court but also literally on the court. The broadcasts of the series were filled with criticism and complaints. Outcry over signage, logos, and style of the presentation was a larger talking point in media circles than the games themselves.
Sedano, who also hosts afternoon drive on ESPN Los Angeles with co-host Scott Kaplan, said that he tried not to pay attention to the feedback of the broadcasts because of his focus covering the Finals. He did note that conversation did arise while hosting programs on ESPN LA 710 and didn’t stray away from the conversation.
“I feel like we live in a world where everybody’s a critic now and everybody’s got a megaphone for it on social,” explained Sedano. “I just tune most of it out. On the talk show sometimes my co-host or producers will ask questions and I’ll be honest with them about stuff… The logo thing, you hear it a little bit every year but certainly this year was more amplified.”
Striking the Balance Is a Team Effort
Sports radio has been the foundation of Sedano’s expansive sports media career. Elevating from his beginnings in Miami at the turn of the century to hosting nationally on both FOX Sports Radio and ESPN Radio and landing at ESPN Los Angeles in 2016.
For much of his career, Sedano has always balanced hosting on sports radio with calling play-by-play and working game broadcasts. The work balance requires Sedano to have a strong and dependable co-host on his sports radio programs, which he found with veteran host Scott Kaplan when they were teamed together in 2020.
“He’s fantastic. I’ve known him for 25 years. I was his intern at one point, so that’s how far back our relationship goes,” explained Sedano. “He’s so willing to play a role, and we all play a role on the show. His role is to stir the pot and bring a lot of the fun. Whereas I bring more of the ‘snark’ and the information. We like to call it sports infotainment.”
Sedano believes the north star guiding the Sedano & Kap program is an emphasis on fun, while not shying away from tough conversations when they arise. The city of Los Angeles recently has been the epicenter of the news media’s coverage of protests arising from ICE raids within the city limits. With a mindset that sports radio tends to be the escape from the realities of daily life, Sedano noted the difficulty in balancing discussions about games with other items potentially top of mind for their local listeners.
“We don’t hide from it. Certainly, when it crosses over into sports in any capacity,” Sedano said. “Overall, our position on the show since we’re being guided by fun is that we try to be the distraction. We’re not shying away from letting people know, ‘Hey, this is what transpired today.’ We just give the facts, keep it very simple. Maybe a brief comment but certainly keeping it in a news-like format when those situations arise.”
There Are No Bad Questions for Those Who Desire To Listen
Having fun as a north star has been traditional for Sedano in every line of work throughout his career. After a quarter century in sports media, the 47-year-old Sedano has done more than most of his peers. While he looks forward to continuing his role with co-hosting on ESPN LA and continuing to work the NBA broadcasts on ESPN Radio, his passions lie in calling play-by-play.
“I’ve been self-taught in a lot of ways. I came in as a radio guy and learned the artistry in the nuances of television. Radio helped in regard to a lot of those talk shows, it’s very similar except you’re just doing it on camera,” explained Sedano. “The beauty of play-by-play, I didn’t know what to expect when I got in. I was so flattered by the amount of people who are so great at it, who were willing to take my call and help me learn the nuances of it.”
For the last four years, Sedano’s path has led to several play-by-play opportunities calling NBA, NFL, and college football games on ESPN Radio and, more recently, television play-by-play for college football contests. The feedback that he has received has not only guided his approach but also has fueled his desire to continue working the craft.
“Reps are the most important thing, but if you have a game plan coming in and you have questions, and I had a million of them. To be able to reach out to someone like [Mike] Breen, Mark Jones, and Dave Pasch has been invaluable,” said Sedano. “I’ve asked them about anything. They’ve allowed me to kind of fast-track this thing where I feel like I’m getting pretty good at it.”
Always a student of the game, Sedano continues to soak in his studies while gaining experience at the same time. When preparation meets opportunity, Sedano doesn’t lean on luck, instead aspiring for more and testing himself to continue growing within a sports media landscape that is constantly changing.
“Hopefully I continue to get more and more of those opportunities amongst different sports, because that’s where I’d like to take my career on television,” explained Sedano. “I’m very happy with what I’m doing with ESPN LA and Good Karma Brands in Los Angeles. I’d like to do those two things for the rest of my career.”
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On Sunday evening, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was live on location in Tel Aviv, Israel, when alerts began blaring.
While you might not expect a moment that includes being forewarned that missiles were coming near you within in the next 10 minutes to be someone’s best work, I couldn’t help but watch Anderson Cooper and believe this was him at his best.
Cooper — along with fellow CNN correspondents Clarissa Ward and Jeremy Diamond — was evacuated from the network’s set as the alerts blared.
The situation was somewhat chaotic. It was 3:02 AM local time, and for the first time since he had arrived in the country on the brink of war with Iran, local messages were clear: there are missiles incoming.
That’s a bone-chilling moment at any moment. Let alone being on live television when it happened. It’s certain to complicate matters a little more.
But you never would have known that from Anderson Cooper’s on-air demeanor. He was cooler than a cucumber just pulled out of the freezer as he asked his colleagues if they had the technical capabilities to move the network’s operations underground as the missiles approached.
Other than an awkward laugh when he suggested to Ward that they should definitely heed the advice to the notifications and move away from their rooftop location, Cooper handled the developing situation with an unbelievable amount of grace and resolve.
His voice rarely, if ever, raised as he made his way to the basement of the hotel where the CNN crew was stationed in the Israeli city. Plenty of other cable networks or hosts would have been forced to cut to a different set, in a studio in some much safer locale. With Anderson Cooper at the helm, however, he slowly but surely meandered to a safe space, even having the wherewithal to say hello to the hotel’s guests as he moved his live television production underground, in addition to holding the door open for his camera crew and conducting an impromptu interview with Diamond and Ward as the trio waited for an elevator.
To me, it highlighted Anderson Cooper’s ability as a television host. When the (expletive) hits the fan, you learn a lot about the character of someone. I learned that the longtime CNN host is insanely cool under pressure. He didn’t act as if he was in imminent danger — and I’m sure critics will assert he wasn’t — or hardly flinch in the face of being in a city that was being bombed by a foreign adversary.
There will be a lot of coverage centered in the Middle East over the course of the coming days and weeks. Plenty of networks will have their opportunity to create viral moments by showing insanely daring footage from locations inside Israel and Iran.
But the first impression of the cable news coverage from the region that struck a major chord was Anderson Cooper atop the hotel roof for CNN. He captured and dominated the moment, showing why it’s important to have a seasoned veteran leading coverage of major events.
This was Anderson Cooper at his best. Calm, cool, collected. It would have been easy to have the exact opposite reaction. Instead, he showed his ability to understand the moment as both a person and a professional.
These moments are the reason viewers still turn to CNN in breaking news situations. For CNN, and for Cooper himself, it only reinforces the network’s place as the leader in breaking news coverage.
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In today’s music landscape, streaming data has become an incredibly valuable tool for understanding listener behavior. Services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube provide a constant flood of real-time data that showcases which songs are being played, skipped, added to playlists, and shared.
For Hot AC music programmers, this information can certainly help shape decisions. Relying heavily on streaming data to determine music adds is a mistake to avoid. It can be risky and counterproductive to long-term success.
Adding to the problem is that many record labels rely solely on streaming data. They use it to decide what they will pitch radio programmers to add to their station’s playlist. When the new Ed Sheeran album comes out, as a Hot-AC programmer, you should listen to each song to consider which ones to play. When I programmed ‘The Pulse‘ at Sirius XM we did exactly that with the album ‘Equals’. The song “Overpass Graffiti was one the label was not planning to work. We played it along with ‘Hits 1’ because it felt like a hit to us.
We saw solid audience research first, and streaming numbers followed with solid growth. The label never did officially work the song and radio largely ignored it. Find the time, to find the gems!
Streaming Does Not Always Mean Radio Audience
The biggest problem I see in leaning a lot on streaming data is the fundamental difference between a streaming user and a radio listener. Streaming audiences tend to skew younger and more niche. They self-curate, and chase trends. Hot AC radio, on the other hand, is built on serving a broader, slightly older demographic—typically 25- to 54-year-olds—who value familiarity, consistency, and songs that hold up to repeat listening over time.
Streaming’s viral hits often burn fast and fade quickly. But Hot AC thrives on durability—songs that can live in medium or even heavy rotation for weeks without fatigue. That is not to say that you should never jump on a trend. Case in point, a few years ago the show Stranger Things made a little remembered song from the 80’s, Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” a massive streaming song. It translated well to the Hot AC audience.
Just because a song trends on TikTok doesn’t mean it belongs next to core artists and songs that define the format. It does mean Hot AC programmers should evaluate it for their audience. That’s more on sound, texture, and feel than pure numbers. When a programmer adds a song based purely on streaming performance, they risk alienating core listeners who expect a different emotional or musical experience.
Programming Is Still an Art
Data is useful, but programming is still an art! Part instinct, part timing, and part audience understanding. A great programmer knows their market, understands regional preferences, and has a feel for how new songs fit into the overall texture of their station. Hot AC success lies in creating a carefully curated sound that reflects current music trends while staying true to the brand identity of the station. Algorithms don’t do that. Humans do!
For instance, a song with 50 million streams might make sense on a Top 40 station but could clash sonically with what Hot AC listeners expect. Also, some ballads or acoustic-driven tracks that don’t stream huge numbers might still resonate strongly with a Hot AC audience and deserve a spot on your playlist. Ignoring those potential gems just because they don’t spike on streaming charts misses the opportunity to connect in a more meaningful way.
Timing Matters
Streaming data is often ahead of radio. That can be both a blessing and a curse. While it’s tempting to jump on a song the moment it starts to bubble online, radio programmers must consider the life cycle of a hit. A song might peak on Spotify but still be unfamiliar to the your radio audience. Adding it too late makes the station sound out of touch. Jumping on it too early can cause confusion or tune-out.
Programmers must weigh multiple factors: Gut is a big deal. So are national trends, early airplay feedback, and Shazam data, among others. Streaming is one input, but it’s far from the only one that matters. Effective programming is about layering data sources.
Finally, radio still has the power to connect with local audiences in a way that streaming simply cannot. What works in San Francisco may flop in Minneapolis. Local tastes, cultural differences, and even seasonal preferences play a role in what songs connect. Programmers who rely heavily on national or global streaming data are ignoring the very people their station is meant to serve. If weekly callout is not economical in your market situation, find ways to do it gorilla style. Utilize your app, website, and create an on-air new music feature.
Bottom Line
Hot AC programmers should absolutely monitor streaming data. It provides valuable insights into what’s emerging and what listeners are exploring. But it’s one piece of a much larger puzzle. Great programmers combine data with experience, intuition, and market knowledge to build playlists that resonate with their audience. Hot AC is a format that values familiarity and emotional connection, heavily following streaming trends can be a shortcut to brand erosion. Use the data, but don’t let it use you.
What is Stephen A. Smith working toward right now? Does he have any particular goal in mind when he goes on with Sean Hannity or Jon Stewart? Is he trying to expand his base to make a future goal more attainable, or is he trying to expand his base just to expand it?
Can you figure out what Smith’s goal is? Do you even think he knows?
Since ESPN granted him the autonomy to go wherever he wants and talk about whatever he wants, Stephen A. Smith has seemed a little unfocused. He’ll say all he wants is to grow his brand, but that is like saying “I like to have fun” when someone asks you to tell them about yourself. It’s a meaningless statement that helps you avoid saying anything that can be judged.
In Smith’s case, that desire to be available for every opportunity is not helping him. To paraphrase Ron Swanson, he’s a tourist. Vacationing in issues and debates to take pictures for his scrapbook, or to make sure the people who take the issues seriously remember him.
Maybe Smith’s future is politics. Maybe it’s still in the media, but with sports either diminished or entirely in his rearview. Whatever the goal, right now, I see a man spinning wheels and making no progress, and here’s why.
The Desire To Be Everything to Everyone
Since the idea of Stephen A. Smith running for office became a thing, he has been unafraid to share his opinions on a variety of issues. He tries to make it clear that he may not be a conservative, but he is no liberal. The Stephen A. Smith brand is a man that makes opinions, not follows them.
That’s fine, and it works in the sports media world. I remember a few years ago, maybe even before I started writing here, seeing a piece that Jason Barrett wrote about the hypocrisy on display in the way the sports media talked about LaVar Ball and thinking, “My man, this is sports talk. There are no consequences to any of this.”
People dismiss hypocrisy in Stephen A. Smith’s world because they are there to be entertained. Colin Cowherd has long pounded the drum of it doesn’t matter what he said yesterday as long as you are entertained today. But if the goal is to move into something more impactful, your opinions carry a lot more weight.
Smith has never really shown a concern or propensity for nuance. His best friend in the news/talk space is Sean Hannity, a man that famously does not do nuance.
If a nuanced persona is what he is trying to create, I don’t think going on Fox News to “check” Hannity and then turning around and bemoaning outdated narratives about crime in Memphis on ESPN is the way to do it. That isn’t nuance.
Earlier this year, Smith called himself “a fiscal conservative and a social liberal” in an interview with The New Yorker. He also invites people like Clay Travis and Riley Gaines on his podcast and nods along to their right-wing talking points. That’s not nuance; it’s standing for nothing. It doesn’t broaden your base. It gives everyone a reason to dismiss you.
Smith Hasn’t Learned To Say ‘No’
Stephen A. Smith has a lot of value as an entertainer and as a television presence. ESPN knows it. The network proved that earlier this year with a new mega contract for its biggest star.
Does Smith know it?
He certainly says he does. He will loudly defend his salary and lenient contract at every turn, and good for him. He should. He has proven to be worth whatever money and headache he costs.
But my question is: does Smith know what his presence does for the likes of Chris Cuomo? If Smith’s goal is to raise his profile and introduce himself to audiences that may not be familiar with his game, is NewsNation the answer?
There was a time when The Daily Show was one of cable TV’s unparalleled juggernauts. That time is not 2025.
I like Jon Stewart. I am happy to see him back in that chair every Monday night, but if I am Stephen A. Smith, I am not sure that an invitation to do 20 minutes on a show that draws fewer viewers than my own show does is worth my time in the middle of the NBA Finals.
FOX News has reach. The Breakfast Club has reach. Smith is a big enough star to limit his guest appearances to shows like those.
Could Smith Be Doing It All Wrong?
There is definitely money in opinion. Just see Smith’s aforementioned contract for proof. But maybe the way to grow beyond the sports world is different.
Look at Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan, two Walt Disney Company colleagues of Stephen A. Smith. Both of them have sports backgrounds and are now co-hosts of Good Morning America.
How did they do it? They are two of the most boring, least opinionated people on television. Sure, they don’t immediately elicit a reaction from the audience, but that means Disney can drop them into any lineup or scenario and they make sense—or at least they don’t stick out and distract from the larger goal.
It may seem counterintuitive to any of us that have made a living in sports media, where nothing matters more than having a clear opinion, but maybe the path to more influence for someone like Stephen A. Smith is less opinion.
Conquering new realms is definitely good for business, but Smith can’t conquer new realms until he is in them. He takes up all the oxygen of any show he goes on right now. It’s why the idea that he will be shoehorned into Inside the NBA next year is absurd to me.
Smith isn’t a side dish. You can’t give a new audience just a little bit of him. That means in some spaces, the value is not having him there at all. You can’t say that about someone like Roberts, who has become a cultural institution at this point.
I don’t pretend to know more about Stephen A. Smith than he knows about himself. Maybe his future is politics, but if he sees Donald Trump’s success as proof of his potential, I would caution him. They are not built the same.
Maybe Smith sees his future in a more general interest form of media, but I would argue that if he looks around ESPN, the only person he will see on his level is Pat McAfee. McAfee has probably already hit his professional ceiling. That doesn’t mean McAfee can’t diversify his offerings and business model, but I don’t see him adding a whole lot of new fans.
I can’t say for sure that Smith is working against his own interests. Right now, all I can say is I see someone trying everything in order to grow in whatever direction that it happens. The payoff, to this point, doesn’t seem to be matching the effort.
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Chris Ebbott has several impressive titles under his belt. Including Senior Vice President of Programming across all Audacy Los Angeles stations, Program Director for K-EARTH 101, 94.7 The Wave and KNX News 97.1 FM, and Classic Hits Format Captain.
He started out in the business in radio syndication in affiliate sales and worked for a small company, then quickly moved into programming, where he wrote and produced the show “Hit Line USA” with Elvis Duran and did long-form and short-form shows for Entertainment Tonight radio.
Ebbott later moved into the Country format, including the Country Music Radio Award-winning, “CountryLine USA,” among other national shows. He also programmed four shows in Phoenix. Then moved to Los Angeles and became Assistant Program Director and Music Director for Hot AC Star 98.7. Other cities Ebbott worked in before going back to LA 11 years ago include Tampa, Phoenix and Toronto.
When it comes to ratings, mass appeal and market dominance, K-Earth is one of the biggest stations in Southern California and the country. It serves both LA and Orange County, two communities that must be carefully considered when strategically planning a winning strategy for the community.
“I wouldn’t say they are vastly different,” says Ebbott. “Southern California is more homogeneous than different. For example, we have a Classic Hits station down in San Diego, Sunny 98.1 (KXSN-FM), that is similar to K-EARTH. When we test the music, it’s aligned. There’s a different vibe and more local feel, but general stationality is very similar.”
“And while a lot of stations in the market share much of the same gold libraries, including some of our sister stations, we can’t worry about what other brands are doing and that includes people in our own building.”
“The way people use radio now is very different from what it was ten years ago, when people had two banks of presets. Now we’re lucky if they have three presets. Our competition comes from beyond radio. It’s about having an intense focus on your brand and how it interacts with the audience. We stay relevant by pushing boundaries in our format.”
“Musically, the tendency in this format is to believe you stand for a style and an era of music. When, really, you stand for representing a certain demographic. New people come in that demographic, and people age out of that demographic every year.”
“One of the things I’m most proud of is when listeners tell us on social media, over the phone, or write letters that say, ‘I can’t believe K-EARTH is playing blank.’ I think that’s a necessary thing. It’s like in the old days, Top 40 stations used to wear repetition as a badge of honor, and it was important to be known as a station that played the same songs over and over again. I think it’s important for us to have that sense or image of ‘I can’t believe they’re playing this,’ or ‘I didn’t know that was a K-EARTH song.’”
I asked Ebbott if the new three-minute PPM rule was having any impact on the station or ratings. “It hasn’t changed our programming strategy,” he says. “The average quarter-hour rating is up, so that’s a positive. I think the same principles apply in five minutes or three minutes. You either view it as extra credit for what we did get or a more accurate representation of what we’ve always had.”
Southern California has experienced its fair share of natural or social disasters over the last few years. I wanted to know what Ebbott’s stations bring to the community when they occur.
“Music stations, especially as the industry has embraced voice tracking and new technologies, have the danger of becoming less connected to the community,” he warns. “One of the core values of K-EARTH is that we are unabashedly involved and reflective of our community. Back a couple of years ago, when Kobe Bryant died on Sunday, January 26, 2020, I was at the farmer’s market when I got the news, so I called K-EARTH 101’s morning show.”
“The crew drove in and went on the air for five hours. We stopped all music and took phone calls. This city was hurting; they did not need to hear music at that point; they needed to have a conversation with trusted friends. We have leaned into the reality of the world we live in.”
“We do not shy away from COVID, protests, and natural disasters. Or other news when it involves our community, we do that with a specific brand and viewpoint. We always want to be the most positive place on the dial. So, we approach those difficult topics and natural disasters by being the positive voice, not in a disingenuous way, but in a way of acknowledging that this is happening in our community.”
“Another recent example is when the morning show had a great idea for ‘Buy a Firefighter Breakfast,’ this past Valentine’s Day in Alta Dena. We thought, let’s show some love for firefighters on Valentine’s Day in one of the hardest-hit areas of the fires. It’s about meeting the city where it is and meeting the audience where they are.”
As for what Ebbott looks for in A+ Talent, it’s short and simple: “I look for great communicators, people who are well-rounded, good human beings, have honesty, integrity. A good work ethic and those who approach the job with a sense of curiosity.”
And as for what’s missing in the industry right now. “I would like to see more stations and programmers taking chances,” says Ebbott. “We know the trajectory of the status quo. We shouldn’t operate out of fear. To get back in the pop culture conversation, let’s try some shit. If it doesn’t work, fail fast and try something else.”
Follow K-Earth on Instagram @kearth101 and K-Earth 101 on Facebook
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Considering that a majority of commercial news/talk radio stations have an obvious conservative bent, how do you keep the big picture?
I believe that the psychographics are much wider than political, though. There is so much to life.
I am going to list the attributes of your listener. Are you hitting these sweet spots?
Personality
Your audience is attracted to your personality. Your ability to express yourself is part of your radio show’s secret sauce. How do you put together a sentence? How do you weave humor into the mix?
There are billions of personalities on this planet. Your personality is as individual as each snowflake. Your uniqueness is what makes you special.
Lots of hosts are truly frightened to be themselves. While we augment and should amplify our real personalities on the air, ultimately, this is an exaggeration of you.
We are in show business. We are doing a show. It is about entertainment. There are many voices that express similar opinions as yours. Your approach, enthusiasm, and quirkiness are essential for your listeners.
Values
What are the things that you care about? This especially applies to things outside of your political viewpoint. Have you thought about this? These values create an important connection between you and your listener.
I am a big fan of having an underpinning of guideposts in life. While it is not essential to have a bedrock foundation, religious values are an easy way to define these. You may or may not be a person of a particular faith, I personally find that most people have a moral compass.
These directions allow us to make decisions that benefit our lives.
Opinions
Your opinion is the centerpiece of any discussion on your show. This is why I stress that leading with your opinion is most important for any monologue.
I often find hosts who talk about a subject and think that they are being opinionated. They are not. An opinion starts with things like: ‘I love this’, ‘I hate this’, ‘I am so angry’, and so on.
I hate it when I am in the line at the grocery store and some old codger decides that spending 5 minutes looking for a nickel is a good idea. What the hell?!?
Attitudes
These may express themselves in sharing your personal biases. Some of these attitudes are a part of a radio host’s personal ethos.
Your attitudes are different from opinions. Attitudes have an emotional component. Attitudes are a lasting tendency to value things via emotions, beliefs, and behavioral tendencies.
This is where I often cite confirmation bias. Your attitudes on certain things may hinge on confirming your biases. We all have attitudes, and quite frankly, these serve hosts well.
Interests
Your passions may be perfectly suited for discussion on a show.
Let’s say that you enjoy going to concerts. Coldplay and Metallica are some of the big acts that are on tour right now. What is your personal favorite concert? If that big concert is in your community, are you building a topic off of this?
This is a great topic that may not be hardcore news, but your listeners can relate to it.
Lifestyles
What is going on with you outside of your radio show? Are you carting kids around, watching the local team, golfing, or something else? I can guarantee you that your audience is more than just someone who listens to us all day and then watches Fox News all night.
If that is your audience’s lifestyle, your station or show is in serious trouble. What is going on at work? Why does it take two years to finish construction on that stupid bridge? What is your listener’s favorite bourbon or beer? The list is really endless.
Most weeks, we don’t have the potential for thermonuclear war. I am not a big fan of nuclear war. But here we are!
Your listeners are simply living the best lives that they can. I hit the ChatGPT and asked about what percentage of conservatives are involved in political campaigns. The number is under 10%. The people who are really involved is probably what? 3%.
I heard a show a while back interviewing the county chairman of the Republican Party. Talk about a snoozer. I grew up in a politically active family. My dad was a Senate district chairman. I remember that he was doing it all. This being said, “No one cares about the intricacies of political stuff.” People care about safety, taxes, kids, leisure, fun, inflation, economic growth, investments, and the damn traffic.
Have you been to the grocery store lately? Have you even noticed pack shopping? Pack shopping is where five people — frequently from the same household — roam grocery stores together, clogging the aisles with zero regard for anyone else in the world. These pests to grocery shopping slow down the order of society.
Have you ever discussed that on your radio show? Who does the grocery shopping in your household? When I was married, I did it. I tried to do it alone. I was able to pick up the necessary items without spending 90 minutes of my remaining time on this planet discussing and debating the various brands of cereal.
A lot is going on in your listeners’ lives. You must be focused on these people. Your station’s target listener is your human. They are interested in more than just issues; they are interested in how these things apply to their lives.
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Have you ever taken a day to listen to your brand critically and ask, “Why do we do that?”
Two decades back, we would sequester ourselves in a hotel room for a day or two and log everything that came out of the speakers. We get so close to our product that we can’t hear clutter creep or aging imaging day to day.
The follow-up reports had a list of ‘why’ questions. It forced us to hear our brands like a listener while evaluating everything.
Here are a few ‘why’ things we’re hearing on Adult Contemporary radio stations.
Music
Why do we play a few edgy songs that perform well among adults but ignore others?
Here’s a handful of hard rock examples recently heard on Adult Contemporary radio stations:
Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar on Me
Bon Jovi – You Give Love a Bad Name
Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child of Mine
Other titles that perform well in music testing that Adult Contemporary brands ignore:
AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long
Black Sabbath – Crazy Train
Radiohead – Creep
At a Kelly Clarkson show, the AC/DC song played after the opening act and Kelly’s appearance. Every mom and every kid knew all the words to the song.
After the first 20 seconds, the Black Sabbath tune is softer than the Def Leppard title or the Bon Jovi song listed above. Yet we ignored it because – Black Sabbath.
Radiohead’s Creep is the opposite. The loud guitar only lasts a minute, and it’s a few minutes into the song. Other than that, it’s a well-tested ballad.
The late, brilliant programmer Dave Robbins once shared a quote that sticks:
“The difference between a weed and a flower – judgment”.
Imaging
Why do we place unnecessary sound effects in our imaging with quick, Michael Bay-like edits, along with a high-pass filter on much of the imaging piece? Clear, well-written imaging needs clarity in order to ‘print’ with the audience.
Editing software has hundreds of effects, and your production experts have access to thousands of special effects. No reason to use all of them, yet we hear too many that get in the way of the messaging.
Sponsorships
Why is every client sponsorship ‘Powered by…’ and who started that? If you truly want creativity in a sponsorship intro, have the car dealer ‘Driven by…’, the plumber ‘Installed by…’ or the restaurant ‘Served by…’.
We DO applaud those who move away from ‘Sponsored by…’, ‘Brought to you by…’ and ‘A service of…’ and make the lead line somewhat intriguing.
Jingles
Why do we place rapid, up-tempo jingles into ballads or songs that begin with a fade-in or soft intro? Jingles are transition pieces that aid in ‘scoring’ your brand.
Review your jingle package for appropriate jingle transitions. If you’re fortunate enough to have a fresh package, ensure those spots have tempo transitions for use inside music sweeps. Most music software has the capacity for coding and scheduling jingles in front and out of appropriate tempo changes.
Slogan
Why do we have a slogan when it is important to us, but the audience only hears noise? Worst yet, most AC programmers have their air talent say the slogan positioner, which becomes robotic and gets ‘thrown away’.
Google, Amazon, Apple, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Starbucks, Tesla, Netflix – all without a slogan. However, when you read their name, a different image pops into your brain for that specific brand.
Silent Segues
Why do we drop imaging in between songs three to four times per hour? You’ve JUST aired a four-minute song that the listener enjoyed. We should let the audience know who gave them the experience.
Additionally, imaging properly placed aids in the transition from song to song, tempo changes (see JINGLES above). ID your brand often and consider running ‘countdown’ imaging in longer stop sets.
Prizing
Why do we take caller #10 for a concert event or a select text number when offering a prize? Make the contest intriguing. People love trivia, and those who are passive listeners play along with the trivia question in their own heads.
(Pet Peeve Alert) Why is it a ‘Family 4-pack’ when a number of people listening have more than 4 in their family?
Programmers suffer from Social Contagion – that is, ideas spread from brand to brand without tactical thought.
You know – “THAT station is doing it – why not us?’
We’re certainly not endorsing adding Black Sabbath to your Adult Contemporary playlist or dropping your slogan.
Simply consider every element on your station and ask ‘why’ – or ‘why not’.
As you ‘audit’ your brand this week, ask yourself:
“Why would I listen to that?”
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 recent articles, one from my favorite publication, The Economist, and the other, a reference to a recent Pew Research Center report, got me thinking. Both talked about the recent growth in Christianity, mostly among the young. In the radio business, we’ve seen the rise of religious broadcasters, most notably Educational Media Foundation, better known as EMF, as they’ve purchased numerous sticks around the country and put Christian radio formats on the air.
Local operations abound as well. Where I live, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Christian Family Radio operates non-commercial frequencies in Bowling Green, Glasgow, and Owensboro, with a contemporary Christian format.
I’m not a religious person; in fact, the term I use to describe myself is “gastronomically Jewish.” On our recent vacation in the UK, I had a wonderful tongue sandwich at Selfridge’s and delicacies like herring in cream sauce, borscht (the purple stuff in a bottle), lox (smoked salmon), and even kishke are on the list.
However, I never developed a taste for gefilte fish, a step too far, but I remember my grandfather enjoying it with horseradish, again purple stuff in a bottle. My girlfriend, though, is a devout Christian and sings in her church choir. She occasionally turns on a Christian station in her car.
While I can’t offer updated stats, if there is one part of radio that’s doing well these days, it appears to be the various Christian formats. During my Cumulus time, I ran format trends using Nielsen’s National Regional Database, so the last one was from Fall 2019, just ahead of the COVID pandemic.
Christian music formats (those stations that told Nielsen they were running Contemporary Christian, Christian Adult Contemporary, or Contemporary Inspirational but not Gospel, Southern Gospel, or any Spanish language version) were either holding their own during a time of decreasing radio audiences or even increasing. From Fall 2012 to Fall 2019, the number of stations in those formats increased by 53% from 946 to 1,447. For Persons 25-54, Monday-Friday 6 AM-7 PM, the formats were pulling a combined 0.5 rating (occasionally a 0.6) and cumes exceeded ten million nationally.
Why mention this today? While I don’t have the updated ratings data, my guess is that the formats are holding or even improving based on the survey data. Pew’s study suggests that the decline of Christianity in the US has slowed and may have leveled off. Their most recent Religious Landscape Study, run during 2023 and 2024, said that 62% of American adults classified themselves as Christian, which, while well down from the previous studies in 2007 and 2014, was in line with their annual National Public Opinion Reference Survey, which bottomed out at 60% and most recently put the estimate at 63%.
The reason for this change may be COVID-19. The Economist cited data from Google searches in 14 countries showing searches for “Christianity” and “The Bible” went way up during and after COVID. The article (paywalled), suggested young men are becoming more religious and may be outpacing women at this point. COVID-19 and the lockdowns added to feelings of loneliness and depression, with religion being an answer for some.
Let’s bring the discussion back to U.S. radio. Whether you call it an increase or a stabilization, this is a positive trend for Christian formats. Certainly, not all of those who have found God will suddenly donate TSL to a Christian formatted station, but no doubt, some will.
While it’s easy for music listeners to switch to Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music if all you want to hear is songs, Christian radio offers a spoken message with the tunes, something wall-to-wall music streamers can’t do. Podcasts generally cannot play music, so that leaves Christian music radio in an enviable position, whether commercial or non-commercial.
Something I’ve wondered about in the past is why the major group owners haven’t flipped any of their stations to a contemporary Christian format. When I ran the aforementioned analyses at Cumulus, I was asked why I included Christian and Hispanic formats when we didn’t have any major stations running those formats. My response was that we needed to see the totality of radio listening.
iHeart’s website lists exactly one station running “Christian/Gospel”, KRDU-AM in Fresno. Audacy doesn’t list any stations with a Christian format, and Cumulus listed 5 Gospel stations in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Florence, Baton Rouge, and Tallahassee, but I doubt any of those run Christian contemporary music.
Is this an opportunity, or is the format just not viable commercially, especially if you’re up against a national juggernaut like EMF? Salem had the “Fish” format but sold off those stations to EMF at the end of 2024.
Commercial or non-commercial, local or national, the research says God is doing better these days, and that suggests that contemporary Christian radio ratings could be heavenly.
Let’s meet again next week.
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.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren led the Oklahoma City Thunder to its first championship in franchise history on Sunday night, winning a decisive Game 7 over the Indiana Pacers. The ESPN NBA broadcast of the action airing in prime time on ABC and ESPN+ averaged 16.4 million viewers, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. This is the most-viewed NBA Finals game since 2019, which is when Game 6 between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors averaged 18.34 million viewers on the network.
The final game of the Thunder-Pacers series peaked with 19.3 million viewers during the 9:45 to 10 p.m. EST quarter-hour. Game 6 of the series averaged 9.28 million, down 34% from Warriors-Celtics Game 6 in 2022, but the best-of-seven series as a whole averaged 10.3 million viewers and finished with the seven most-watched broadcasts on television since the first week of May.
Although final viewership data from Nielsen will not be available until Tuesday, the outcome marks the least-watched NBA Finals series excluding seasons directly impacted by the global pandemic (2020, 2021) since 2007 when the San Antonio Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers. Compared to the previous year when the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks, viewership of the NBA Finals on ABC is down by 9.2%
Play-by-play announcer Mike Breen made history by calling his 20th NBA Finals series on ABC, and he worked alongside Doris Burke, Richard Jefferson and Lisa Salters on the lead broadcast team. Studio coverage for the series featured host Malika Andrews with analysts Stephen A. Smith, Bob Myers and Kendrick Perkins, along with contributions from ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania. Inside the NBA, which will be presented on ESPN/ABC next year under a partnership with TNT Sports and the National Basketball Association, is slated to present pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals beginning next year.
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.
