Five Things

It's another one of those weeks when I wrote most of a column, decided that it was not good, trashed it, and now have no real idea what to write. It's the equivalent of the Sixers getting to the middle of the third quarter just fine, then falling off a cliff, and for those of you who bet that I would somehow work my agony over the Sixers into my column this week, go ahead and cash in. My thoughts on radio and podcasting are a little scattered this week, so I might as well just dispose of them briefly, in random order, and those of you who bet on "he's just going to fill the column with disjointed blather so he can get to the weekend already" can go cash your tickets, too.

1. Saturday is Juneteenth, so I'll just briefly repeat what I've said many times before: To grow and prosper, talk radio will ultimately need to a) get off AM and b) get more diverse voices involved. This shouldn't even still be an issue. If you're afraid that it'll alienate your P1s (can we retire that term yet?), that says a lot -- not good -- about the audience you've cultivated.

2. Don't be afraid to shake things up. I've been harping on that lately, maybe because I'm bored and hoping for something different to come along. Even the (often very good) podcasts I've been listening to lately are not all that different from podcasts I've heard before. Radio's never been a hospitable place for content innovation, but despite that, there HAS been innovation and it's when things are particularly stale that innovation has a chance to really break through. Let's do that, please.

3. Did you hear about the HBO Max email glitch that became a source of widespread amusement and derision on Twitter the other day? Someone screwed up sending an email, and millions of HBO Max subscribers ended up getting a mysterious email that was meant for "integration tests only." setting Twitter afire with snark, much of it making fun of the person responsible for the error. A couple of thoughts: One, practically none of the snark was funny. Two, what, you've never made an email mistake before? It happens. You hit Reply All and fire it off before you realize you did it. You send an email to the wrong person. You forget to attach a critical document. You've done it, I've done it, and you'd feel miserable if people ripped you for it on social media... or over the air. Sometimes, in our attempts to make listeners think we're cooler than we are, or to curry favor with followers, we forget that there are humans involved and that some screw-ups are really minor and not worthy of widespread scorn. Talk radio in particular likes to set up villains, and when it comes to politicians, they're all fair game. But not everyone deserves that.

4. Attention, talk radio people complaining that you're being "cancelled": No, you're not. You get to talk on the radio. You have much more of a public voice than the average person, and if you're being prevented from spreading lies on social media, well, you're not being prevented from sending it out on a pretty huge platform. You can't demand to be protected from people disagreeing with you. And if you're saying stuff to be outrageous and get attention, you hot taker you, be prepared for a reaction, which might not be favorable. That's kinda your job.

5. I don't know how I feel about the race to put podcasts behind paywalls with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. On one hand, any way to monetize is welcome news for podcasters. On the other, how many subscriptions can anyone have? And I don't really need bonus material or to hear a show a week early -- I don't get around to listening to most shows right away anyway. All I'm saying is that I have to pay for a lot of content already, and I'm not really looking to add to the pile.

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Random things to talk about on the radio? Why, click here for All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics show prep section, in which you'll find all kinds of stories and stuff, and for convenience, you can also follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics and find every story individually linked to the appropriate item. Oh, and we have a great "10 Questions With..." the inimitable David P. Samson, the outspoken, unfiltered host of CBS Sports' "Nothing Personal" podcast, former controversial Miami Marlins President, "Survivor" contestant, movie maven, and "The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz" regular, talking about podcasting, sports franchise moves, movies, sports betting, and a lot more. Trust me, you will want to read this one.

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Yeah, I'm gonna keep posting reminders about my upcoming panel moderation at Podcast Movement in Nashville August 3-6, on Audioboom's panel about podcast networks, and you can either join me at the Gaylord Opryland or watch the virtual version, your choice. Click here to register already.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
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