Is it time for talk to blow off Boomers?

[smedge2006]

Some 25 years ago, talk radio had one generation of listeners -- the one Brokaw called the greatest generation. Problem was, they gave the medium a bad power ratio and their calls stereotyped AM talkers
in the eyes and ears of the agencies.

So, programmers decided to drive the greatest generation kickig and screaming out of talk radio. Friendly hosts that talked about 1940's movies or old Glenn Miller tunes were given the boot. They were replaced with Caustic hosts who ridiculed the WW2 cohort for driving too slowly, sucking up all the Social Security money, etc. etc. (Think Neil Rogers, Bob Lassiter, Tom Leykis and maybe -- to stretch a point -- Ed Tyll.) Others offered a style of talk that was simply incomprehensible to the World War Two generation (David Paul at WSB or Freddie Mertz in various markets). Hosts with an AM top-40 sensibility (like Limbaugh) make talk radio palatable for the up and coming boomer generation. Call screening relentlessly weeded out elder voices.

It's 20 years later. What was new and fresh in 1988 has become predictable and encrusted. Talk radio's demos are aging. When does it become time to pull the plug and flush out the boomers? Should that ever happen?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Oh, just shuckey darn!

My parents were part of "The Greatest Generation" and I was born too early to be part of the Boomer Generation.

Look what you have done to my day.  I feel so wanted.  So important.  Is Kevorkian still around.  Maybe some of us could pitch in a get a group rate.  ;D

Can I be the host of a prototype talk show?  We will address the "Post Modern Thumb Texter" generation.

 

[gr8oldies]

Jim Morrison sucked! Kurt Cobain is God!

 

[landtuna]

How about we boot talk radio and leave the poor struggling Boomers alone? ???

 

[Don62]

Get rid of the great loyal audience that talk radio has developed?

Have talk radio act like music radio, where "oldies" radio can't play "real oldies" anymore because the format's listeners are too old?

Younger listeners aren't as loyal to radio as people in their 40s and 50s.
In this day of Ipod and other entertainment venues, I think radio needs all the listeners it can get.

 

[justareporter]

Really good idea. Get rid of the ONE demo that actually has $$ and listens to talk radio.

 

[landtuna]

I will freely admit not being anything of an expert on talk radio but.....

From what I've heard it is the electronic version of a supermarket tabloid.

Of course, it might be important to those people who have no one else to push their buttons.

 

[cm454]

What I find particularly nauseating about talkradio these days, is the mindnumbingly boring predictability of it!

Today's talkradio seems to cater to a brain-dead niche that enjoys hearing the same show everyday.

Conservatives are good, liberals are bad.
Liberals are good, conservatives are bad.

If you've heard a host's show once, you've heard every one of them.

What is the least bit exciting or interesting about THAT?

How about a show that reflects what NORMAL people think? Some days a conservative position, some days a liberal position, some days a more moderate position---all depending on the issue. THAT is how most people think---or are you one of those who believes you have to have a one-sided agenda in order to be interesting?

Both sides are so dishonest in the way they spin everything, I cannot fathom how people tune in day in, day out. B-O-R-I-N-G.

Don't expect the next generation to flock to terrestrial radio much at all, no less predictable talk radio.

 

[MickeyD]

This is s a great idea. Format radio for people that don't have the same buying power as boomers nor even listen to radio.

This is assuming they even begin to listen to terrestrial radio.

 

[Don62]

Aren't there more than enough stations catering to young people?

I find few stations interesting or appealing to me on FM. And I'm in my 40s!

Can't other groups have formats appealing to them? Must everything be targeted to the falsely labeled "money demos" that don't really care about radio that much anymore?

Why this race to the bottom?

 

[BoomerBuzz]

I was reading a story about how retailers have realized that it's been beneficial for their bottom line to serve the 50-64 demo since Boomers buying patterns differ from those of their parents so it's been interesting to see agencies narrow their focus to younger demos rather than expanding it to embrace both the lower and upper ends. Of course, agency buyers still tend to be in their early 20s and biased toward their peer group. Perhaps the local sales reps can exploit this opportunity with sales to those businesses which value their upper demo
customers.

 

[almaniac27]

What I find particularly nauseating about talkradio these days, is the mindnumbingly boring predictability of it!

Today's talkradio seems to cater to a brain-dead niche that enjoys hearing the same show everyday.

Conservatives are good, liberals are bad.
Liberals are good, conservatives are bad.

If you've heard a host's show once, you've heard every one of them.

What is the least bit exciting or interesting about THAT?

How about a show that reflects what NORMAL people think? Some days a conservative position, some days a liberal position, some days a more moderate position---all depending on the issue. THAT is how most people think---or are you one of those who believes you have to have a one-sided agenda in order to be interesting?

Both sides are so dishonest in the way they spin everything, I cannot fathom how people tune in day in, day out. B-O-R-I-N-G.

Don't expect the next generation to flock to terrestrial radio much at all, no less predictable talk radio.

People like predictability on the radio, not just in talk radio. Think music radio stations, where you hear the same songs over and over and over... Talk radio fans for the most part enjoy living in an echo chamber, where they only hear one point of view and it's comforting for them, be they conservative or liberal. Liberal hosts repeat the "Everything is Bush's fault" mantra, while Hannity and his ilk repeated the "Reverend Wright-Bill Ayers" thing for months on end. That appeals to a bunch of people for some reason.

There are some decent talk shows out there still. I like Lionel from Air America. He doesn't toe the party line and he is smart and entertaining. Phil Hendrie and Joey Reynolds are good too. Some local hosts around the country do a good job as well, I like Ron Verb from WKBN in Youngstown Ohio. Even though he's on a station that carries Rush Limbaugh, he brings a different perspective on his show. If I'm not listening to these guys I'll probably have NPR or the BBC on.

 

[landtuna]

I'll repeat a post from another thread. And I do realize I am condemning an entire genre with this statement but I think, overall, it fits.

I don't patronize talk radio. Subjects are selected to attract the largest active audience and not necessarily for their importance. The whole idea of talk radio is to galvanize listeners into opposing camps then play each against the other "for entertainment".

It is worthless and pointless and serves only to galvanize idiots and low-information listeners into their already concrete opinions. Even most sports oriented talk is guilty.

I call it hate radio for good reason.

If I want to listen to intelligent talk I'll dial in the BBC.

 

[ratingsgeek]

Some 25 years ago, talk radio had one generation of listeners -- the one Brokaw called the greatest generation. Problem was, they gave the medium a bad power ratio and their calls stereotyped AM talkers
in the eyes and ears of the agencies.

So, programmers decided to drive the greatest generation kickig and screaming out of talk radio. Friendly hosts that talked about 1940's movies or old Glenn Miller tunes were given the boot. They were replaced with Caustic hosts who ridiculed the WW2 cohort for driving too slowly, sucking up all the Social Security money, etc. etc. (Think Neil Rogers, Bob Lassiter, Tom Leykis and maybe -- to stretch a point -- Ed Tyll.) Others offered a style of talk that was simply incomprehensible to the World War Two generation (David Paul at WSB or Freddie Mertz in various markets). Hosts with an AM top-40 sensibility (like Limbaugh) make talk radio palatable for the up and coming boomer generation. Call screening relentlessly weeded out elder voices.

It's 20 years later. What was new and fresh in 1988 has become predictable and encrusted. Talk radio's demos are aging. When does it become time to pull the plug and flush out the boomers? Should that ever happen?

A few thoughts.

One, the Boomers are such a big damn demo--and among the least impacted by either usage (cume rating) or TSL--that radio is likely to hold onto them for as long as it can.

Two, the Boomers are such a big damn demo that--despite significant resistence from advertisers & agencies, thus far--we may actually/finally see increased ad dollars dedicated to the 35-64 or even 45-74s. It's already happened on TV (watch the network evening newscasts and/or the CBS crime dramas some night).

Third, there already is a certain amount of radio talk geared to Gen X/Y/Z, but generally posed as morning shows for CHR and rock stations: Kidd Kraddick... Lex & Terry... Ryan Seacrest. In lib-talk, Stephanie Miller skews younger. As (we) Boomers continue to die off, more talk radio aimed at our kids (already in their 20s & 30s) will emerge.