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A Challenge For You - Local Talk Needed

I

imho

Guest
CHALLENGE: You find out that you are losing Rush in 90 days!Who would you hire? Where would you look? What would you have to pay?The PD's and consultants to whom I pose this challenge have no idea (beyond the usual moves, posting ads, etc.). This astounds me, as I assume those running far bigger stations than mine would have a better grip on this.What would you do, whom would you consider hiring, what would you pay??
 
It happens. It's not all that unusual. Rush's syndicator, for various reasons, decides to pull the show from the station currently airing it. Apparently you are asking the wrong PDs and consultants.Part of the equation here is that this hypothetical PD will have to come up with something to compete with Rush.In most of the situations I know about, the response - as you surmise - is to go local. More often than not, the station's strongest local host moves into Rush's time slot. New local talent takes over a vacated daypart.
 
I don't know where you are, but where I am stations don't "hire" talkers. Locals can buy time for $100 an hour and have their own show, otherwise some national syndication is the most likely slot filler. In my experience, PDs are so worried about failure that they are unwilling to give local talent a try. All this is the natural result of corporate-monopolized radio that feeds us talk shows like it feeds us hamburgers. The radio spectrum which once belonged to the people now belongs to the "investor class", with stations just figuring out how to modulate the waves.
 
More than likely, should Rush retire most stations carrying Rush would pick from a host of possible syndicated shows, and there would be several program launches (much like with the Stern situation.). Some larger stations might fill the void with someone local who is already established. Those syndicated talkers are there because people are listening to them...you don't build WLW overnight. As for radio "belonging to the people" , it's never been the place where just anyone gets on the air and yaks. Yes, I'm aware of a couple of owners who use their stations as their own political forum (Vern Kaspar of WILO/WSHW Frankfort IN comes to mind), but for the most part, its a business, adn if folks listen to a syndicated talent rather than a local guy talking about the water bill, that's what's going to be there.
 
In the early 1980's there were plenty of hungry twentysomethings willing to do talk radio for a pretty small penny. Many of them are now the linchpins of talk radio on the local and syndicated levels. I'm sure an ad in the trades would draw a ridiculously huge response. Or, why not search the local College Republicans and find a young conservative willing to do a weekend show for minimum wage, and cultivate him/her into your next local talker? Better they should learn radio from radio people than from think tanks (the way the Laura Ingrahams of the world did).
 
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