As a regular KFI listener, I find myself listening more to the show podcasts than live OTA. Why? For the convenience of listening on my schedule when I have time, and avoiding all the news, traffic, weather breaks, and spot load. This is really no different than the effect that on demand streaming has had on broadcast TV.
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Bill Handel on the declining OTA audience and revenue for KFI.
- Thread starter michael hagerty
- Start date
Podcast listening is measured differently. The main reason for Nielsen is to track listening for the commercials. Podcasts have different commercials.
Handel explains it pretty well. His one hour radio show becomes a 45 minute podcast. The difference is the commercials.
I've been involved with podcasts and the podcast server itself tells you how many people are listening.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Point well taken ... and I'm actually going to make a parallel with radio.
The best such billboards are ones about three or four exits (or miles) on the same freeway (or highway) before the restaurant, which ideally is right after you get off the main road.
It's akin to "coming up next ... a half-hour of commercial-free music". You don't have to change streets, or stations, to get what's being promoted.
Probably pointing out more of the obvious here, but podcast vs. live radio is no different than television where we don't have to wait until a specific time to watch a program anymore, but can stream it at any time we want. The knee jerk reaction that's it's a programming thing because AM is losing right wing (or left wing) talk listeners ignores the fact that it's 2026 and people do what's convenient for them. Which is not using a traditional "radio".
I can see the day when the 640 signal goes away, and the KFI programming continues successfully through an app and online only. I think most KFI listeners are savvy enough to transition.
I don't understand why some people are surprised. For years, they've been telling people to listen to the iHeart app and listen to the podcast. So now we have a host who says the listeners are doing what they've been told. No big surprise.
I always chuckle when posters complain about stations telling them to use the app. They say "You're promoting the competition." It's NOT the competition. All of the platforms these stations use are simply other ways to consume the same product.
iHeart also has a clever way to draw KFI listeners to the app...the "Talkback" feature. It's the only to communicate with the hosts on air. You can record your message up to 30 seconds. The playing back of these is now a regular popular part of each show. If you want to engage with the hosts, you need the app.
I suspect you're thinking of the TV rules for DVRs.
Podcasts are fundamentally different than DVRs because they are not a straight recording of the show, ads and all. As Handel said in the quote Mike Hagerty provided, the podcast is significantly edited down from the over-the-air show, and includes different ads, so it is not eligible to be rated the same as KFI itself.
Yep, you gotta have the app. It aint like it used to be any more. You know, like when Joni sang:
If you're driving into town with a dark cloud above you
Dial in the number who's bound to love you
If you're lying on the beach with the transistor going
Kick off the sandflies, honey, the love's still flowing
If your head says forget it but your heart's still smoking
Call me at the station, the lines are open
Radio has changed since 1972. For that matter, so has Joni. Back then she had the voice of an angel. Now she sounds like a frog.
BTW that song was not one of her favorites. She just wrote it to satisfy her label. She was not a big fan of radio. Then or now.
Simplistic… and wrong. All formats on OTA radio have lost in similar percentages in cume, rating and billings. Since 2000, hall radio has lost about 75% of AQH listening and, adjusted for inflation, over 60% of billing.
COVID didn't help conservative talk radio, either. Several hosts went to their grave telling their listeners not to wear masks or get vaxxed.
You asked the question. We just answered. No need to attack the messengers.
On most subjects, Phil Valentine was a very thoughtful commentator. On one, he was dead wrong.
Fortunately the hosts at KFI mostly stayed away from the subject.
Oh my, I don’t think I can “handle” this thread. I thought it was about Handel’s Messiah! Sorry, I couldn’t “handle” the resistance to say this. 🤣
Hallelujah.
Time to get this back on the topic of Bill Handel on KFI:
Bill Handel Calls Out RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vax Agenda | KFI AM 640
The FDA recently rejected Moderna's application for a new mRNA vaccine.
Too much of this thread is getting far away from radio. Rein it back in or it will be closed.
Not attacking, just noting. Y'all said your peace, I said mine; as usual nobody's mind was changed. I just don't want an endless argument, especially on a non-radio topic. Trying my best to steer this back to topic thread is all.
Here's what I've learned from being on the radio my whole life. People get upset if you say something they disagree with. The easy way around that is don't bring up controversial subjects. It's why talk radio has become an echo chamber, with people preaching to the converted. Then there are talk shows that just talk about gossip with no news. It seems people aren't interested in learning new things. It might change their mind. Sort of makes the entire format of talk radio useless. That's just my opinion, not looking for a response.