Not so many years ago there was some talk of plans for public WNED-AM to produce a local talk show, with plans to syndicate. The proposal was shelved when upper management determined how much it would cost to properly produce and distribute the show.
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NPR stations show talk doesn't need to be alt-right all-the-time
- Thread starter flybynight
- Start date
WXXI-AM does Connections. The late Bob Smith used to host it. It's still there today.
Nobody is stopping you from calling in to shows on WBFO, even if they aren't locally originated. I've heard callers from Buffalo & WNY.
WBFO has tilted left with the replacement of some NPR shows with PRI shows. "The World" and "The Takeaway" from PRI both favor a more liberal viewpoint, at least as far as their selection of guests is concerned. NPR at least attempts to represent all points of view. PRI, not so much.
There are also far more places for those of liberal bent to get their particular brand of infotainment. Most of that audience is younger, and ain't gonna listen to AM radio (part of the reason for WWKB's failure), and likely tunes in FM radio to hear music - and to get away from the endless politics that are becoming increasingly inescapable. Older, more conservative audience (and audiences tend to become more conservative as they age) still have AM radios, and listen to them.
As others have pointed out, the market for a lib-talk format on FM is limited. The people who own the licenses are likely doing better with what they have than they'd do if they incurred the costs and headaches of trying to establish a "progressive talk" format locally.
WBFO has tilted left with the replacement of some NPR shows with PRI shows. "The World" and "The Takeaway" from PRI both favor a more liberal viewpoint, at least as far as their selection of guests is concerned. NPR at least attempts to represent all points of view. PRI, not so much.
There are also far more places for those of liberal bent to get their particular brand of infotainment. Most of that audience is younger, and ain't gonna listen to AM radio (part of the reason for WWKB's failure), and likely tunes in FM radio to hear music - and to get away from the endless politics that are becoming increasingly inescapable. Older, more conservative audience (and audiences tend to become more conservative as they age) still have AM radios, and listen to them.
As others have pointed out, the market for a lib-talk format on FM is limited. The people who own the licenses are likely doing better with what they have than they'd do if they incurred the costs and headaches of trying to establish a "progressive talk" format locally.
Why does it have to be "progressive"?
Most people hold opinions that often cross ideologies, depending on the issue, so why does the talk format have to be niched? There aren't so many talk stations in any given market that such niching is warranted. All because many talkers decided to cater to the far right over the last 20+ years doesn't mean it has to be that way.
If anything, they screwed up by making that move, as they always had the hard-righties, so all they accomplished was blowing off anything left of center-right. All because Rush became popular didn't mean you had to turn the format into a Rush factory.
Why does it have to take up another frequency? Why not enjoy Shedd & Ragan where they are, and simply change the station to WBFO for the rest of the day?
Because it makes money. Lots of money. And doing things your way is a struggle. Ask the folks at WBFO.
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You can't control the company even if you buy all the A shares... there are B and C class shares, closely held and some with super voting rights to prevent any A shareholders from controlling the board.
I'm not sure WWKB failed with its progressive format. Granted, it didn't have much of a share. But if you put right-wing syndicated talk on a station here with no local content and marketing, it wouldn't have much of an audience either. I used to tune in Randi Rhodes occasionally on KB. It was nice having another talk alternative in this market. Interestingly, KB's sports programming has even lower numbers than the progressive format. I'm just saying don't use KB as an example that progressive talk won't work here. As others have stated, Shredd and Ragan show there is an audience for non-right wing content in this market. But it would require a significant investment to make that a viable 24/7 venture, which is highly unlikely.
Mark1981 is correct. It's unlikely that any of the big 3 would
invest in launching a new Talk format. Entercom made no attempt
to change the content on WBEN when they tried the simulcast.
They lazily hoped younger demos would be interested in
WBENs vitriol on FM. That failed badly like Trump's
Health Care debacle.
NPR and WBFO do a far better job of reaching moderates
and people who can have coherent discourse...
invest in launching a new Talk format. Entercom made no attempt
to change the content on WBEN when they tried the simulcast.
They lazily hoped younger demos would be interested in
WBENs vitriol on FM. That failed badly like Trump's
Health Care debacle.
NPR and WBFO do a far better job of reaching moderates
and people who can have coherent discourse...
You stick the so-called successful conservative lineups on the third tier crap sticks that most non-con talk was relegated to, and you'd get the same result.
Unfortunately, some read that as "non-con talk won't work."
Talk with great personalities worked fine, irrespective to ideology. Simpleminded, cowardly and uncreative PD's stupidly changed that course and drove off anyone not conservative.
The reality is that it's not the 1990s any more. That's not a perversion.
The reality is this is a format that mainly attracts older, male listeners. Changing the subject matter of the talk doesn't help that fact, as the NPR example you gave demonstrates. They may be getting great ratings, but not great demos, and the suits at NPR are becoming very concerned about that.
Reality is that time is running out on commercial Talk Radio.
The younger crowd doesn't care. It's not the 1990s anymore.
How many people under 40 use the Yellow Pages or pay phones?
Radio is an afterthought to many people. New technology
and unlimited options are here to stay.
NPR has a brighter future as it is listener supported...
The younger crowd doesn't care. It's not the 1990s anymore.
How many people under 40 use the Yellow Pages or pay phones?
Radio is an afterthought to many people. New technology
and unlimited options are here to stay.
NPR has a brighter future as it is listener supported...
Shredd and Ragan - and other shows - still cume very well with those under 40. Will the talk format survive? If it evolves as the audience does. Likely, it will follow the money. It's making lots of money right now, and business people tend to avoid changing what's working. When that stops happening, they'll change or die. Assuming, of course, that AM radio doesn't simply die. It's already disappearing from radios.
As far as Shredd and Ragan goes, they are not atypical in that they're a morning show that doesn't feature music. Lots of other morning shows are like that. They were atypical when they got shunted to afternoons by the adventure with Opie and Anthony. Their success doesn't indicate a taste for more 24/7 talk. All that indicated was that they had established themselves in Buffalo, and that bringing in O&A was a mistake (as the ratings showed).
As far as Shredd and Ragan goes, they are not atypical in that they're a morning show that doesn't feature music. Lots of other morning shows are like that. They were atypical when they got shunted to afternoons by the adventure with Opie and Anthony. Their success doesn't indicate a taste for more 24/7 talk. All that indicated was that they had established themselves in Buffalo, and that bringing in O&A was a mistake (as the ratings showed).
Wait what about Serial and S-town These are spin-off series of "This American Life" from Public Radio outlet WBEZ Chicago and PRX the national distributors of "This American Life", "Serial" and "S-Town". This is one Pubic News/Talk radio affiliate to make two of its shows go podcast only to go after the median and younger audiences.
https://serialpodcast.org/
https://stownpodcast.org/
https://www.revealnews.org/
and another PRX show that also airs on Public News/talk stations distributed by PRX. As far as I know PRX(Pubic Radio Distributor) was supposed to make public radio attract younger audiences. Note these shows air at non drive time hours on many NPR News Talk affiliates.
https://serialpodcast.org/
https://stownpodcast.org/
https://www.revealnews.org/
and another PRX show that also airs on Public News/talk stations distributed by PRX. As far as I know PRX(Pubic Radio Distributor) was supposed to make public radio attract younger audiences. Note these shows air at non drive time hours on many NPR News Talk affiliates.
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What will make talk work today is if it's local. Millennials can hear anything they want online. Put a product out there that you can't get anywhere else - a GOOD product like S&R - and talk survives.
The most boring talk topics are local politics. Last off-year municipal election turn-out was 5% in our area. Unless you're in a place like Chicago with really interesting politics, there's only so much city council and road repair talk that will hold people's interest. We have 2 local talk shows in town and they do cover local issues, but 80% of the content is still national issues.
Really? Tell that to Steve Harvey on WBLK.
Most local politics IS boring. I wouldn't recommend any local host dwell on that. Plenty of other local issues to discuss that aren't about dry politics.
Noted, but Harvey's show also works music with the talk as well.
OK, how about Rush?
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