Choose Your Own Adventure

Where next?

Everything I wrote about in recent years has come to pass. Talk radio's lack of discipline and supervision, its pandering to a narrow sliver of "true believers," its turn from entertainment to political tool, its lack of creativity and imagination, all of it led to this, with talk radio perceived as a primary instigator. The image is of a guy in a "Camp Auschwitz" hoodie marauding with his pals through the Capitol in an effort to overturn the results of an election which his hero lost. Talk radio may not be the proximate cause of that guy, but it's perceived as one of the causes, and with some of the biggest names in talk radio continuing to parrot the conspiracy theories and falsehoods even today, the identification of the medium with that message is solidifying. Sedition: It's yours. You own it. Congratulations. Do you think advertisers are going to want to reach the people they all saw storming the seat of the nation's government? Okay, you'll still get MyPillow, gold hucksters, and male enhancement drugs (er, make that "food supplements not subject to FDA regulation"), but anyone else?

Now what? Where does talk radio go? Herewith, a few scenarios:

Scenario 1: Owners and management crack down on programming. This is normally a bad thing, because, let's face it, CEOs and GMs are generally not attuned to what makes good radio in 2021. Management interference, especially from people who came up through sales and don't understand the creative process, can be stifling. But management indifference towards -- or insistence on -- the same old political talking-point radio, with cookie-cutter hosts and obeisance towards the aging, shrinking core audience got us here. And it is not censorship for management, as I understand happened recently at one of the major radio groups and syndicators, insisting that hosts not lie. It's several years too late, but it's understandable. If you think lack of management oversight is just a talk radio problem or a conservative problem, I'll direct you towards the New York Times' little "Caliphate" incident, a podcast centering on reporting that turned out to be based on a questionable source which nobody at the Times questioned until it was way, way too late. Someone has to be in charge and responsible; perhaps these incidents will scare broadcasters and podcasters into action.

Scenario 2: A broadcast station owner realizes that one of the few advantages broadcast talk radio can exploit is being local and hires local hosts to talk about local things. That was a winning formula for years until someone looked at the financials and decided that "talent" was one line item that needed trimming. Spending more money on local hosts is exactly the opposite of what WILL happen, of course, because that debt ain't gonna pay itself and most of the big broadcasters aren't interested in ratings and local service so much as survival. But if someone WERE to try amping up local service, talking about and covering pressing local issues... well, do you think you could reach people if you were the only reliable local source talking about how the pandemic is hitting your own local market, covering where listeners can get tests and vaccines, why the shots are hard to find in your own market, and local debates over reopening, mask mandates, and other issues? You could, you should, you probably won't because nobody wants to pay for it.

Scenario 3: More talk that isn't strictly political. This might not be as unlikely as it was in recent years, when radio largely gave up on the idea. We know it can work; there are stations and shows that succeed with a mix of pop culture/lifestyle and political talk, and some that are totally apolitical. Some are aimed at audiences underserved by talk radio, like women (how are there NOT more stations like myTALK 107.1 in the Twin Cities?). Some are a mix of news, lifestyle, and political. There are few of these, but there's an opportunity for that, locally and nationally. Thousands of podcasts are staking out this territory, but radio's ability to do it live with interactivity makes it an option more stations should consider. And management will be happy not to deal with angry calls and do-not-buy lists for once. Just do it on FM and streaming. AM is (deep exhale)....

Scenario 4: So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to AM. Not all AM stations, of course. There will be some survivors, big signals in major markets, and there will be niches -- brokered, multicultural, specialty -- that AM will continue to serve. But I would not be surprised to see more companies decide that selling AM transmitter sites and selling off or donating the licenses, or turning them in and writing them off, makes more sense than persisting with actual radio broadcasting.

Scenario 5: Most of it goes to podcasting. That's not a bad thing. Look, it's true, the revenue has yet to approach anything close to what broadcast radio has enjoyed. It may never get there. The number of podcasts that get the kind of audience critical mass necessary to make their producers/hosts/staffers wealthy will always be minuscule. But it will provide an outlet for spoken word programming, it's free of regulation and rules, and a great idea or talent can do a lot with what amounts to the audio equivalent of a blank sheet of paper. Someone will take that medium into uncharted territory and make it work. It might be one of you. I HOPE it's one of you.

Scenario 6: I don't know. YOU come up with scenarios. I want to hear what you have to say. It's a new year. Think about where you're headed yourself and what you, and the business, need to do to make things better. Maybe 2021 has gotten off to a 2020-like start, but there's plenty of time and room for improvement.

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Whatever kind of talk radio you decide to do, you'll find material to talk about at All Access' show prep column Talk Topics -- Click here and/or follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item.

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So, we're back. One note: I'm on the lookout for a fresh batch of "10 Questions With..." interview subjects, so if you're a host or producer (news, talk, or sports radio and/or podcast host or producer) and I have not gotten to you yet and you'd like to do it, drop me a note at psimon@allaccess.com and let's do it this year. Also, next week is CES, but because it's virtual and not the usual massive and exhausting live Vegas extravaganza, my convention coverage will not cut into the topics, news, and columns like it would if I had to be there in person. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what effect this will have on my typical Twitter commentary. It's harder to be annoyed and snarky when you're in your own home instead of lugging your computer from a drab uncomfortable conference room at one end of a crowded convention center to another drab uncomfortable conference room at the other. But I can try.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
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Twitter @pmsimon
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