A few weeks ago on the talk radio blog "The radio equalizer" Brian Maloney mentioned that every several years talk radio moves towards lifestyle topics and the ratings go down. It seems this lesson has to keep being re-learned every so often. If talk radio has moved towards fluff topics perhaps that helps explain why talk numbers are going down (nationally, they are steady locally).
Lifestyle talk is good for morning show topics on FM music
>
> > stations, but not talk radio. When I listen to talk radio
> I
> > want to hear important issues and current events
> discussed.
> > There's certainly no shortage of big news stories.
> >
> > Some talk PDs might think that serious issues are boring
> and
> > lifestyle talk is entertaining. I couldn't disagree more.
> > Nothing is more stimulating on talk radio than hearing
> heavy
> > issues discussed. If it comes across as too dry and
> boring,
> > it's not the topics fault, it's the host. A good host will
>
> > have some emotion and passion about the issues they
> present.
> >
> >
> > If the KXNT PD really is pushing his local shows to be
> > lifestyle oriented, perhaps it's a blessing in disguise
> that
> > the station is 80% national/syndicated.
> >
>
> Interestingly perhaps the same (or similar) thing happened
> with KIRO-AM 710 Seattle under new management. Midday hosts
> Allan Prell and Dori Monson, and weekend hosts Carl Jeffers
> and Turi Ryder, among others, focusing less on political
> topics and more on lifestyle issues (smoking bans, vicious
> dogs, promotional parachute jumps, etc.).
>
> This "change" began earlier this year, and probably not
> coincidentally, the stations' 12+ ratings have fallen
> simultaneously all year. Poltical talk rival KVI is now
> ahead of KIRO (12+), and the Air America affiliate KPTK
> (Franken, Rhodes, Schultz, etc.) has also increased (12+).
>
>
> Jay, unlike 840 KXNT, 710 KIRO has no syndicated political
> talk except for Robert Brinker.
>