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Balanced Lineup

J

JimmyJames

Guest
Hypothetical:

If you were programming a talk station and wanted to have a balanced, reasonable tone from a variety of perspectives, who would you program and why?
 
I wouldn't program it from a variety of political perspectives. I just don't think that would work (is it working anywhere now? I could be wrong, but I don't think so). I'd program a variety of different kinds of shows. Some political, some financial, some advice, some pop culture, etc. Try to find the subjects besides politics that the average talk listener wants to hear. What many NPR stations do is a good model for that, but I'd do more lively and entertaining stuff.

And I'd try to do it without using a single syndicated show. Done right, in the right market, I think it could work.
 
JimmyJames said:
Hypothetical:

If you were programming a talk station and wanted to have a balanced, reasonable tone from a variety of perspectives, who would you program and why?

The problem is that so many shows rely so heavily ON politics. That's why it has become such a dividing line between shows and hosts.

Where else in our society do you hear such abnormal divides? We all have friends and aquaintences who can engage us in interesting banter. How often does that result in a giant political debate? For most of us, not often. there are so many other interesting topics for spiritied discussion and debate that do not involve the invoking of the names Palin, Bachman, Frank and Reid.
 
That's why i suggested a station with a variety of topics instead of a variety of political viewpoints. The TV waves (with the exception of Fox News, of course) tend to lean more left, and talk radio tends to lean more right. That's where the audiences have spoken about what they want, and shaped the media landscape. Instead of trying to force something that just won't work, as has been shown time and time again, it's much smarter to work within the system and program radio to the audience that already listens. Take that listener and give him topics about stuff that he is interested in, aside from politics. For example, why aren't there more shows about cars? Anyone who has listened to Car Talk can attest that the topic can be entertaining. Talk radio is too much sports and politics. It's time for something new.

Another thing that is sorely missing is local news. Local talk tends to be less left/right anyway, though, so it would pretty much fit into any format.
 
JimmyJames said:
Hypothetical:

If you were programming a talk station and wanted to have a balanced, reasonable tone from a variety of perspectives, who would you program and why?
I believe they call that "NPR". :)
 
Primarily, Talk radio's best demo is Men 25-54. So, program what appeals to them. Some politics, some sports, some Dave Ramsey, and an entertainment=driven show like Phil Hendrie or Doug Stefan. Throw in some sports play-by-play at night, and you're there!
 
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