A Penny For Your Thoughts

I tried. Oh, how I tried.

I tried to come up with a column about radio this week. Or podcasting. Or something. Anything. Nope.

Why? Because my head's not in it. I'm not thinking about radio. Nothing's coming to mind. What IS on my mind is what those of you who know me or have read this thing over the years would guess: the Super Bowl is Sunday and the Eagles are in it. Your team makes it to the Super Bowl and that's where your mind is going to be until it's over, that and the game menu (chili, chicken) and, well, that's what's rattling around in my brain right now.

This affects what media I'm consuming this week, of course. Instead of the news or politics or sitcoms, I've been listening to sports radio and football podcasts, I've been watching football panel shows on TV, I've been reading football stuff on social media to the point where my Facebook and Instagram news feeds are overrun with football. Everything else can wait until Monday.

That's a lesson, I suppose, for talk radio, and all media, a lesson you might know in another form. It's the old rule that Walter Sabo used to pound into our heads back when I was a youthful PD trying to conjure up some decent talk radio: if it's snowing, talk about the snow. Find out what's top of mind with your listeners and talk about that. If you're a talk host this week, at least in Philadelphia or Kansas City, your audience is largely thinking Super Bowl. You don't necessarily need to talk about the game or about football, but if that's on their minds, you have to recognize it and you can talk about things as they relate to that mindset. Knowing what concerns your listeners, and creating content with that in mind, is a major step towards strong engagement.

You know that. You're thinking, hey, he said he didn't come up with a column about radio this week but he managed to slip one in anyway. You are thinking that you don't really care about that. You are also thinking that you want to get this over with and go on to do something, anything else. I'll be responsive to your needs and end this column right now.

Oh, one more important point: Go Birds.

=============================

Where can you find things that will resonate with your audience and what's on their minds? All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics show prep page, of course. Go there for stuff to talk about. Click here for that, and you can also follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics and find every story individually linked to the appropriate item. Also, don't miss this week's "10 Questions With... " WABC/New York and syndicated overnight host Frank Morano, who... wait, did I say "overnight"? Yes, yes, I did. More live radio in overnights is a good thing, and Frank's doing a show that's unique and worth checking out, as is the interview. Go read it now.

Make sure you're subscribed to Today's Talk, the daily email newsletter with the top news stories in News, Talk, and Sports radio and podcasting. You can check off the appropriate boxes in your All Access account profile's Format Preferences and Email Preferences sections if you're not already getting it.

You can follow my personal Twitter account -- Twitter is still alive, somehow, it turns out -- at @pmsimon, and my Instagram account (same handle, @pmsimon) as well. And I'm on Mastadon, too at @pmsimon@c.im.

=============================

By the way, even in a good week, there aren't a lot of topics involving radio or podcasting that I haven't already beaten into the ground. So, if you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to see me address, by all means drop me an email or message me on social media and let me know. Knowing what your audience cares about applies to writing, too.

Perry Michael Simon
Senior Vice President/Editor-in-Chief and News-Talk-Sports-Podcasting Editor
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
Twitter @pmsimon
Mastadon @pmsimon@c.im