NBC Talknet - Could it work today?

[TheBigA]

Again, why does iHeart carry her show if the demos are as old as you say? Wouldn't they want a younger host attracting a younger demographic?

At some point, her contract will end, and they will move on. Until then, she's on at nights in a daypart that really isn't critical to ratings.

Having said that, the AC format trends older. About 30% of the audience is 55+. In the talk format, over 60% is over 55. Not every format aims at young people. The median age for talk is 60. Median age for AC is 45.

 

[JJSPC]

WGN is ranked #8 with a 3.3 share in the PPM 6+. The ratings have been on an upswing. The opposite of what you're saying.

True, the last 2 months have crept up. To your point I stand corrected. But how much of that is actually Blackhawk hockey broadcasts? They historically have created a bump, but those of us without access to the current book will never know for sure. We'll see how the station trends again when the season is over.

 

[gr8oldies]

You shoot down every programming idea raised on this site. News, too old. Music, can't compete with streaming. Non-political talk, no business model. Hannity seems to get a pass from you as if he's attracting the youth but apart from that, I don't hear any constructive ideas, only negativity. So what is radio supposed to program if not news, music or talk?

I'd be shocked at learning that Hannity has "the youth". No one is saying you can't get your money together and give your idea a shot.
We have non-political talk, in the form of morning shows on otherwise music stations.

 

[TheBigA]

Hannity seems to get a pass from you

Really? Where do you get that idea? Hannity falls in the same category with Mark Levin and everyone else. There is money for right wing talk from people who want to promote that agenda. What I'm saying is that programming decisions are based on money. That's how the business works.

 

[fybush]

Something else to consider about why Talknet and other non-political flavors of talk worked 40 years ago but might not fly now:

If it's 1985 and you're sitting alone in your house or bored on a job late at night, what's there to keep you company?

You didn't have very many options to interact with someone back then, and so generic "fluffy" talk filled an important role, whether it was Talknet or a local host like Larry Glick in Boston.

But now? Whatever it is that interests you, there are all sorts of more focused ways to interact, albeit online instead of on radio. How many of us who hang out conversing here would have been spending more of that time listening to or calling in to talk radio back then?

And whatever remaining population is left that doesn't do social media and might still want to listen to "fluffy" talk is also the demographic that's probably least appealing now to advertisers.

 

[TheBigA]

How many of us who hang out conversing here would have been spending more of that time listening to or calling in to talk radio back then?

Exactly. As I've said, there was a huge technological revolution that happened over 25 years ago. It has had many consequences in how we live our lives. It has destroyed many businesses. It has changed us sociologically and socially. Yet people seem to think radio can exist as it did before that revolution. It can't. It won't. They think that because radio is having problems that they could be solved by going back to the past. This isn't a problem with will be fixed with a hot new format or a change in radio ownership. People need to open their eyes and look at what's right in front of them.

 

[briancraig]

But how many more years does “Rush wannabe” political talk have left?

We have 4 “right wing” talk stations in my market.

The Iheart AM station with the “big” names like Beck, Hannity and Levin along with the dreadful Ben Ferguson in Texas pretending he’s in Memphis had a 0.8, the lowest rating the station has had since sign on in 1923.

The FM talk station doesn’t buy the book. Another locally owned independent AM had a 0.2 the last time they bought Nielsen and then a fringe AM just rebroadcasts a Nashville station.

 

[TheBigA]

But how many more years does “Rush wannabe” political talk have left?

That's really not the point. Because how many more years does radio as we knew it have left? Could be the same number of years.

The future won't be like the past. Things are changing. The change may be so slow that it may not be noticed. But they're changing.

 

[boombox4]

How many listeners did it have 40 years ago, given its overnight time slot? I remember trying to listen to it back then, and King spent much of his time with callers bellowing "What is your question!!!!" to the drunks that would call at those hours. It was enough to get me to change the station or turn the radio off so I could sleep.

I remember it differently. He had a lot of decent callers, and the interviews were excellent, and wide ranging, from politics to sports to fiction authors of various genres, to non-fiction authors, to actors, to musicians (like Ray Manzarek and a few others I remember hearing on his show). I don't know that the actual size of Larry King's show was, but it ruled the night time airwaves, as much as Art Bell did overnights later on.

Also, there were more overnight and night-time listeners back then.

I think today's non-political talk (and increasing political talk) is online, in podcasting. Joe Rogan is today's Larry King. Minus the callers, of course.

 

[Gregg.]

The reason why TalkNet and similar non-political talk shows went away was due to lack of passion. Very similar to the situation with Soft AC. It became wallpaper. It got very old, and lost interest from advertisers.

So basically you are saying there's only two types of talk we want to hear on the radio today. Conservative politics and sports. Did anyone see this coming? That there would be only two things to talk about? (Of course, NPR affiliates talk about a variety of things but that's non-commercial, listener-supported radio.)

So that's what we want to hear on commercial radio. How evil liberals are and who's gonna win the Super Bowl. Otherwise, we want to hear music.

I listen to Dave Ramsey and don't think he's boring as he passionately tells people to get out of debt. I don't think George Noory is boring as he discusses ghosts and UFOs on Coast to Coast AM. (Well, maybe he is a bit underwhelming when I compare him to Art Bell. But with Bell gone, Noory is keeping the franchise going.)

New talk shows get introduced but they're all doing the exact same act. In recent months, Fox has rolled out Will Cain. Many West Coast stations have picked up Armstrong & Getty from iHeart's Sacramento station. Chad Benson has picked up new affiliates KRLD Dallas and WWTN Nashville.

I guess everyone wants to hear variations on the same theme. Democrats very bad, Trump very good. I wish there were room for a 2025 version of TalkNet. But maybe there isn't.

 

[TheBigA]

So basically you are saying there's only two types of talk we want to hear on the radio today. Conservative politics and sports.

No. Have you been reading this thread? Let me remind you of a few other things I've said:

There are local advice shows. Bill Handel at KFI. Premiere offers a few advice type shows for weekends mainly.

At Home with Gary Sullivan | Premiere Networks

America's Most-Listened-To Home Improvement Radio Show Join Gary Sullivan, the nation’s leading home improvement expert, every weekend on At Home with Gary Sullivan. This nationally syndicated radio program, broadcasting from Cincinnati, Ohio, is your go-to source for all things home...

www.premierenetworks.com

KROQ has revived Loveline, as sex advice talk show on Sunday nights

A number of local stations have weekend gardening shows.

I've seen a lot of talk stations that do conversational talk that's non-political.

So it's more than two. But the topic is about reviving a national talk radio network, and I don't see that happening.

 

[RadioGuy1864]

Ok, I'm showing my age now. When TalkNet was offered, your choices for late night listening/watching were very limited. I lived in NYC. There was no internet. In the "outer" boroughs, there was no cable. Your choice was watching the 300th. re-run of the Mary Tyler Moore show on TV, or listening to TalkNet on the radio. It's not like that any more.

 

[Gregg.]

No. Have you been reading this thread? Let me remind you of a few other things I've said:


KROQ has revived Loveline, as sex advice talk show on Sunday nights

A number of local stations have weekend gardening shows.

I've seen a lot of talk stations that do conversational talk that's non-political.

So it's more than two. But the topic is about reviving a national talk radio network, and I don't see that happening.

We've said there are a number of weekend specialty shows. I listed the ones from iHeart-Premiere in an earlier post. But in this post we were discussing TalkNet, not once a week shows about gardening or law. I was referring to similar weekday programs.

Other than Dave Ramsey, George Noory and one more, CBS Eye on The World with John Batchelor, every other five-day-a-week talk show from a major syndicator is about conservative U.S. politics. (Some people would say Ramsey, Noory and Batchelor insert conservative American politics in their shows once in a while but that's not the major talking point for those three weekday programs.)

 

[TheBigA]

But in this post we were discussing TalkNet, not once a week shows about gardening or law. I was referring to similar weekday programs.

Yes I know. I addressed that.

But the topic is about reviving a national talk radio network, and I don't see that happening.

You asked if people are interested in subjects other than politics and sports? I'm sure they are. That's not the point. Can someone get advertiser support for a talk network on other subjects? I don't think so. Then they'd have to find radio stations to carry them. Also a challenge.

People want to hear lots of things that aren't on the radio. Why? Creating radio programs takes money. It has to come from somewhere. There is advertiser money for sports and political talk. So those are the programs that get made. Once the radio network model went away in the 90s, the infrastructure for that kind of thing went away as well.

 

[brettbutlerisok]

I remember it differently. He had a lot of decent callers, and the interviews were excellent, and wide ranging, from politics to sports to fiction authors of various genres, to non-fiction authors, to actors, to musicians (like Ray Manzarek and a few others I remember hearing on his show). I don't know that the actual size of Larry King's show was, but it ruled the night time airwaves, as much as Art Bell did overnights later on.

Also, there were more overnight and night-time listeners back then.

I think today's non-political talk (and increasing political talk) is online, in podcasting. Joe Rogan is today's Larry King. Minus the callers, of course.

That's it exactly. The only thing podcasting is missing is the callers and if they really want callers (I'm pretty sure most of them don't) they can stream live on YouTube, Facebook, X and probably more. The product still exists, it's just distributed differently.

 

[bigdonho]

The cost of entry to a major, syndicated talk show like TalkNet is very high. The cost of entry for a podcast is peanuts.

 

[KilowattKat]

So, that's it then. Radio is done for. Don't bother to try and come up with any new ideas. Just let it whither away. Move on to podcasts. It's dying and nothing can save it. All the posts I read now have nothing positive to say about radio anymore. RD is now 'death watch' coverage.

 

[gr8oldies]

So basically you are saying there's only two types of talk we want to hear on the radio today. Conservative politics and sports. Did anyone see this coming? That there would be only two things to talk about? (Of course, NPR affiliates talk about a variety of things but that's non-commercial, listener-supported radio.)

So that's what we want to hear on commercial radio. How evil liberals are and who's gonna win the Super Bowl. Otherwise, we want to hear music.

I listen to Dave Ramsey and don't think he's boring as he passionately tells people to get out of debt. I don't think George Noory is boring as he discusses ghosts and UFOs on Coast to Coast AM. (Well, maybe he is a bit underwhelming when I compare him to Art Bell. But with Bell gone, Noory is keeping the franchise going.)

New talk shows get introduced but they're all doing the exact same act. In recent months, Fox has rolled out Will Cain. Many West Coast stations have picked up Armstrong & Getty from iHeart's Sacramento station. Chad Benson has picked up new affiliates KRLD Dallas and WWTN Nashville.

I guess everyone wants to hear variations on the same theme. Democrats very bad, Trump very good. I wish there were room for a 2025 version of TalkNet. But maybe there isn't.

There's still Christian talk, where you'll hear that Trump was personally appointed by God to end wokeness and abortion.

 

[TheBigA]

So, that's it then. Radio is done for. Don't bother to try and come up with any new ideas. Just let it whither away. Move on to podcasts. It's dying and nothing can save it. All the posts I read now have nothing positive to say about radio anymore. RD is now 'death watch' coverage.

As I said, we're always coming up with new ideas. That's not the problem. It's about getting money for those new ideas.

 

[gr8oldies]

As I said, we're always coming up with new ideas. That's not the problem. It's about getting money for those new ideas.

OK. Our local talk station has a morning show hosted by a long-time on-air personality which is mostly your morning basics, news/weather/traffic/sports/commercials---with sponsored segments, otherwise well-worn "Idiots of the Day" "FloriDUH Report" "Stupid News" and a bad imitation of Lujack/Edwards "Animal Stories". There are segments with guests from Second Harvest Food Bank, shows that are coming to town, upcoming festivals and events but very little politics. Middays are about half and half with 2 local hosts, when they talk politics it's right wing, but I've also heard interviews with musicians like Steve Winwood's daughter who was performing locally, and a segment with a local historian which is fascinating for someone who only moved here in 2011. Then there's Bongino and an afternoon show that's more, but not exclusively, political (host is moderate conservative but has to play to the MAGA base). I can't think that kind of thing is totally off the dial everywhere.