I propose the following 16 talk radio format categories - What do people think?

[bigtalkradiofan]

I want to make this a separate topic - I'd like to get everyone's feedback.

The music side of the radio industry has numerous different format categories (e.g. AAA, Adult Contemporary, Alternative, ...) - I think the news/talk/information side of the radio industry needs more accurate format categories.

Having more specific format categories would enable media research organizations to be more specific in analyzing N/T radio, and would help to highlight sub-trends in the format categories of N/T radio.

For example, using my system below, a media research organization (like Arbitron) would be able to collect data, analyze and compare specific N/T talk formats - so they would be able to analyze and compare the money demos for conservative N/T vs. prog/lib N/T. Or an analysis of the listenership differences between an all news vs. local N/T in a top ten market. Etc, etc, etc.

It is my belief - that for news/talk/information side of the radio industry to expand and grow - we need more information, and by having more specific and clear format categories will help our efforts to grow N/T radio.

I propose the following 16 talk radio format categories:

1.) All News.
2.) Conservative News/Talk - where over 50% of programming during the business week are conservative hosts.
3.) Progressive/Liberal News/Talk - where over 50% of programming during the business week are prog/lib hosts.
4.) Local News/Talk - where 50% of programming is primarily local N/T hosts.
5.) General News/Talk - N/T that has political hosts from both sides of the spectrum, N/T that doesn't fit neatly into L/P, Con or Local dichotomies; catch-all for non-News, non-Lib/Prog, non-Con Talk, non-Local N/T labels).
6.) Sports News/Talk.
7.) Religious News/Talk - sub-categories could be:
a.) Christian news/talk.
b.) Catholic news/talk.
8.) Business News/Talk.
9.) Comedy Talk.
10.) Public Radio News/Talk.
11.) Non-Commercial / Community News/Talk - Pacifica-type stations.
12.) Hot Talk / FreeFM / Lifestyle Talk.
13.) Race/Ethnicity News/Talk - sub-categories could be:
a.) African-American news/talk.
b.) Spanish-Language news/talk.
c.) Native American news/talk.
14.) Women's News/Talk.
15.) LGBT News/Talk.
16.) Other News/Talk.

What do people think?

 

[gr8oldies]

No idea why we'd need 16 categories of talk radio. It assumes that every talk show host and every talk show caller's opinions can fit into a narrowly defined ideological box. Stations that actually market themselves as "liberal/progressive" or "conservative" are one thing. Most other stations would just as easily dump a non-performing conservative show for a performing liberal show if a liberal show was shown to be able to beat an existing show. If we do, we'd have to subdivide "Christian News/talk" into conservative and liberal categories as well. This is alos why a Fairness Doctrine would be unworkebale.<P ID="signature">______________
..from the Ball Park Franks sponsored gr8oldies keyboard...</P>

 

[radiophile]

As a music and news/talk radio refugee, I've often wondered why all spoken word stations are lumped together as "news/talk" when ratings are reported (some exceptions are sports and some reporting separates out all-news).
In New York, for example, WCBS is not WABC, which is not Free-FM, which is not NPR, which is not Pacifica.
Recently in reporting of ratings, different types of stations that use Spanish as their primary language have been broken out instead of being lumped together as "Spanish." That's a good thing, because many of those stations are not the same.
Something similar should be done with "news/talk."

Here's a question for the person who started this thread: How would you categorize WBZ in Boston which is, I think, all-news from 5 AM to 8 PM weekdays, and talk evenings and overnights? Weekends follow a similar, but not identical schedule.

 

[jimwalsh2001]

I wish this were true. Unfortunately, it's not...otherwise we wouldn't have the plethora of godawful talk shows we have: boring, self-indulgent, but CONSERVATIVE, by cracky...

> Most other stations would just as easily dump a non-performing
> conservative show for a performing liberal show if a liberal
> show was shown to be able to beat an existing show.

 

[bigtalkradiofan]

> Here's a question for the person who started this thread:
> How would you categorize WBZ in Boston which is, I think,
> all-news from 5 AM to 8 PM weekdays, and talk evenings and
> overnights? Weekends follow a similar, but not identical
> schedule.

Good question! I've never been to Boston, so I'll base my analysis off of your description of WBZ. Based on your description, I would classify WBZ as "All News" because it is primarily or predominantly "All News" between the hours of 5 AM to Midnight during the business week.

Any "classification" or "categorization" system - tries to identify similarities and/or differences in reality in order to help further our understanding of the phenomenon; thus any classification system will "by definition" always have some outliers that don't neatly fit into the system. I would readily recognize that defining WBZ as an "All News" format would not accurately define WBZ's weekend and overnight talk schedule.




> As a music and news/talk radio refugee, I've often wondered
> why all spoken word stations are lumped together as
> "news/talk" when ratings are reported (some exceptions are
> sports and some reporting separates out all-news).
> In New York, for example, WCBS is not WABC, which is not
> Free-FM, which is not NPR, which is not Pacifica.
> Recently in reporting of ratings, different types of
> stations that use Spanish as their primary language have
> been broken out instead of being lumped together as
> "Spanish." That's a good thing, because many of those
> stations are not the same.
> Something similar should be done with "news/talk."
>
> Here's a question for the person who started this thread:
> How would you categorize WBZ in Boston which is, I think,
> all-news from 5 AM to 8 PM weekdays, and talk evenings and
> overnights? Weekends follow a similar, but not identical
> schedule.
>

 

[bigtalkradiofan]

> No idea why we'd need 16 categories of talk radio. It
> assumes that every talk show host and every talk show
> caller's opinions can fit into a narrowly defined
> ideological box.

To me it is increasingly clear that having four, unclear, largely undescriptive format categories of News/Talk into: All News, News/Talk, Talk and All Sports; hinders more serious discussions of News/Talk - because without the classifications/categorizations - we cannot reach a deeper understanding of the industry (because we are debating terms) instead of debating research outcomes and implications.

For example, more descriptive terms leads to better radio research results; without it, it makes it harder to readily compare: Prog talk vs. Con Talk, African-American talk vs. Spanish-Language Talk, Con Talk vs. Business N/T, All-News vs. Local N/T, etc, etc, etc...


> If we do, we'd have to subdivide "Christian News/talk" into
> conservative and liberal categories as well.

I'm not opposed to this idea - if you (or other radio people in general) could identify 20-30 radio stations that are Christian N/T conservative and another 20-30 that are Christian N/T liberal - I'd support creating sub-category for them (if you or radio people could identify radio stations in this manner).

 

[bigtalkradiofan]

One important thing that I want to add to my argument is -

One important thing that I want to add to my argument is -

In the upcoming years, News/Talk will, without a doubt, definitely need more format categories - because of the proliferation of N/T radio programs and radio stations on: satellite radio, HD radio, podcasting, and internet radio.

Therefore, we need to create a new set of N/T format categories to be prepared for the proliferation in N/T programs and radio stations.




> I want to make this a separate topic - I'd like to get
> everyone's feedback.
>
> The music side of the radio industry has numerous different
> format categories (e.g. AAA, Adult Contemporary,
> Alternative, ...) - I think the news/talk/information side
> of the radio industry needs more accurate format categories.
>
>
> Having more specific format categories would enable media
> research organizations to be more specific in analyzing N/T
> radio, and would help to highlight sub-trends in the format
> categories of N/T radio.
>
> For example, using my system below, a media research
> organization (like Arbitron) would be able to collect data,
> analyze and compare specific N/T talk formats - so they
> would be able to analyze and compare the money demos for
> conservative N/T vs. prog/lib N/T. Or an analysis of the
> listenership differences between an all news vs. local N/T
> in a top ten market. Etc, etc, etc.
>
> It is my belief - that for news/talk/information side of the
> radio industry to expand and grow - we need more
> information, and by having more specific and clear format
> categories will help our efforts to grow N/T radio.
>
> I propose the following 16 talk radio format categories:
>
> 1.) All News.
> 2.) Conservative News/Talk - where over 50% of
> programming during the business week are conservative hosts.
>
> 3.) Progressive/Liberal News/Talk - where over 50% of
> programming during the business week are prog/lib hosts.
> 4.) Local News/Talk - where 50% of programming is
> primarily local N/T hosts.
> 5.) General News/Talk - N/T that has political hosts
> from both sides of the spectrum, N/T that doesn't fit neatly
> into L/P, Con or Local dichotomies; catch-all for non-News,
> non-Lib/Prog, non-Con Talk, non-Local N/T labels).
> 6.) Sports News/Talk.
> 7.) Religious News/Talk - sub-categories could be:
> a.) Christian news/talk.
> b.) Catholic news/talk.
> 8.) Business News/Talk.
> 9.) Comedy Talk.
> 10.) Public Radio News/Talk.
> 11.) Non-Commercial / Community News/Talk - Pacifica-type
> stations.
> 12.) Hot Talk / FreeFM / Lifestyle Talk.
> 13.) Race/Ethnicity News/Talk - sub-categories could be:
> a.) African-American news/talk.
> b.) Spanish-Language news/talk.
> c.) Native American news/talk.
> 14.) Women's News/Talk.
> 15.) LGBT News/Talk.
> 16.) Other News/Talk.
>
> What do people think?
>

 

[ajhenderson]

Re: One important thing that I want to add to my argument is -

> One important thing that I want to add to my argument is -
>
> In the upcoming years, News/Talk will, without a doubt,
> definitely need more format categories - because of the
> proliferation of N/T radio programs and radio stations on:
> satellite radio, HD radio, podcasting, and internet radio.
>
> Therefore, we need to create a new set of N/T format
> categories to be prepared for the proliferation in N/T
> programs and radio stations.

Podcasting will change as radio evolves. If you think it's going to be dominated by lipstick lesbians doing thirty-minute shows whenever the mood strikes them, you're mistaken. Like every emerging technology, it will be taken over by the Clear Channels, Infinitys, et al.