Which is More important: Local News or Local Talk?

[smedge2006]

You're starting a news-talk radio station. You have enough money for a news department that could provide updates during syndicated shows, or enough money to hire one or two local talk hosts. You can't do both. Which do you choose?

As a side discussion, are (remaining) local news operations on talk stations being used to their maximum potential? Or is it just a bunch of folks reciting who shot who in the bar ar 2 a.m.?

 

[OldNumber7]

The answer depends a lot on the specific market situation (market size, what the competition is doing, etc.). That said, most talk stations need at least a local morning host to be credible competitors in the market. A local PM drive show would be a nice addition, too. That said, I've never understood the talk stations in medium and larger markets that are completely devoid of some kind of local news content. The cume listeners during the day want to be caught up on the world, and even having a local anchor once an hour with a summary of "what you're talking about" (local/national headlines) is a great enhancement. Smaller markets, where the news is mostly police blotter stuff, probably can get by without this (of they must) and just use an hourly network feed with local weather.

 

[Leebo65]

You need anarchists on the air promoting the revolution. Long Live Julian Assange

 

[jondavidvox]

Sorry...This is too important to let slip by.

If you will be competing with an "all-syndicated programming, all the time" format winner in your market, then Local News, and Local Talk Shows are both important.

If money is an issue, (In other words, if your Corporate CEO simply must have a 900-Thousand Dollar Bonus this year....) then hire a Local Talk Show, and get two advantages for the price of one....

Or, if you have the luxury of being able to hi-jack major syndicated talent from the format winner in your market, (Premier, or Talk Radio Network will usually gladly accomodate you...) then grab them accordingly.

The point is; survey the landscape....make a plan that both solves the immediate programming challenge, and allows for as many future options as humanly possible....that's the key.


Jon-David Wells
The Wells Report
NewsTalk 660 KSKY
Dallas, Ft. Worth, TX

 

[recto101]

Local Talk because we need local inplications of national events like the Gov Walker Debates on state budgets.

 

[smedge2006]

Sorry...This is too important to let slip by.

If you will be competing with an "all-syndicated programming, all the time" format winner in your market, then Local News, and Local Talk Shows are both important.

If money is an issue, (In other words, if your Corporate CEO simply must have a 900-Thousand Dollar Bonus this year....) then hire a Local Talk Show, and get two advantages for the price of one....

I think it's a matter of how much content each can produce. A local news update is three-four minutes at best, with tight syndication clocks. One news person or two may be strapped with no time to go out and cover events or dig for stories. They may not have the skills, either, as stations have de-emphasized specialists with journalism background or degree, in favor of generalists who might also empty the trash. A talk host can generate as much as 50 minutes of content in an hour.

So, which adds more value? While I'm as big a fan of strong local news as anybody -- the talk host.

As for the example you cited, such a company probably wouldn't hire either a host or a newscaster.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

You're starting a news-talk radio station. You have enough money for a news department that could provide updates during syndicated shows, or enough money to hire one or two local talk hosts. You can't do both. Which do you choose?

Lots of good answers have been given. Without knowing a lot more about a given market and the broadcast competition, generic off-the-shelf answers may or may not answer your question well.

My first generic, off-the=shelf answer: If you or the investor or the key person who will make this proposed station successful know how to do either one successfully, you won't be asking the question here. Your "gut" will already know what will work in that market and what will either sink at worst, or just dog-paddle along forever at best. But there are those of us who want to hear the reinforcement of input from others, or want to learn by listening in on someone else, so let's continue the game of arm-chair quarter-backing.

First thing I would ask: are we talking about a small stand-alone market, a rim-shot station that wants to focus on a fiefdom within the metro, or are you talking a many-station metro market?

Assuming it is a metro area, is it a big consolidated village like Indianapolis, or is it like St. Louis with 1,500 ;D towns, villages, townships, and TWO states involved. (I know 1,500 is a slight exaggeration.) In a Gainesville, GA or Hutchinson, KS or LaCrosse, WI a news operation can be created that "owns the market" if you are smart and diligent. In a multi-village metro area a local news operation has a higher potential of being the pimple on the left-south -end of a northbound elephant.

Here is the one where I am NOT going pretend I know the answer. If you want to do local talk, is it best to be in a market where either the liberal or conservative (or centrists) dominate the market, or do you want to be in a market where NO IDEOLOGY dominates the market. Before I committed to creating a local talk operation I would want to know the "political geography" of my market so I could decide if I am going to court one ideology within the market, or pull and Neal Bootz and ask out loud quite often, "Let's see. Who have I NOT pissed off yet today?"

 

[musicsweep]

Syndicated talk shows are a low-cost solution to providing 24/7 content, and much of it is good content. However, to be relevant as a news/talk station, you have to be able to address things locally, stay on top of local breaking news and weather.

Given the intense amount of prep a local talk show requires, it'd be more economical to localize during news breaks at the top and bottom of the hour. So, I'd place priority on news gathering and reporting. (You need someone actually gathering news for you by attending government meetings and tracking down sources, putting together interview clips and actualities, as opposed to reading the news paper or online news site on the air.) So, to get the news gathered and reported on air, you'll need about two people.

Once your news operation is up to speed, and resources allow for it, then expand into local talk shows. Meanwhile, while you are still running syndication, always shop for the best content, promote the daylights out of it as if it were local, and always be looking for improvements to your product.

 

[smedge2006]

Given a somewhat arbitrary prep:air ratio of 2:1, one could produce a three hour talk show with six person hours of prep. Compare this with the ratio of time spent producing news to the amount of time it actually takes up on the clock. Something on the order of 10:1. A lot of this has to do with how syndication clocks cheat the local stations of time. Nevertheless, it does seem that local talk produces more of a return in terms of content and sounds more economical to me.

Doubtful that a two-person news team will have much time to attend meetings. Much less digging through court or public records. They'll spend their entire shifts just getting news on the air.

 

[radioguy39nj]

Local Talk because we need local inplications of national events like the Gov Walker Debates on state budgets.

Absolutely! Local talk radio is virtually non-existent in New York. It's sorely needed there! New York is the only market with two all-news outlets, but has two major talk stations that other than local news, traffic and station IDs, talk precious little about NY area issues.

 

[KeyTimes950]

Interesting question. Having done both in my career, I can appreciate both dynamics. I'd like to say a station should be trying to do both but I can see that can be impossible depending on the station, the owner and the devotion given or not given (take your choice) to my favorite phrase, "public interest, convenience and necessity."

Pittsburgh market now has these outlets in one sort of news/talk or another ...

KDKA, CBS owned, live 24 hours a day, local news 18/5.

KQV, AP affiliate, all-news by day, attempts to continue local news coverage through the weekend.

WPGB, Clear Channel, Fox affiliate, local news (from Cleveland but using WTAE-TV sound) 12/5. Quinn & Rose comes from Pittsburgh but it only focuses on local stories if they have a national impact.

WDUQ, Duquesne University (for now, sale to WYEP pending), NPR affiliate, local segments in NPR drivetime news shows.

WAVL, Apollo but ID's as Pittsburgh and is heard in much of the city during the day, ABC affiliate, local weather, national talk.

WMBS, Uniontown but heard in eastern part of Pittsburgh market, CBS affiliate, largely AP-rip-and-read local news, weekday local talk show but otherwise "America's Best Music."

WMNY, McKeesport but emphasis on Pittsburgh business community, carries WTAE-TV morning news and barters out afternoon drive to local business news/talk show.

Also sports-talk KDKA-FM (CBS) and WBGG-AM (Clear Channel/ESPN most of the time, some weekday local talk, also at least for now Fox Sports overnight).

In summary: A programmer could choose local news or local talk emphasis in providing an alternative in the market.

 

[Drucifer]

I agree with the poster who said it depends on market and competition. Many smaller (non-television) markets miss the one thing that radio CAN do and do it well and thats news! I worked at a small market station years ago where the P.D. "got it" and we originated live newscasts from the field (via marti) for breaking news much as you would expect from TV. It paid off because we were the "go to" news station in a small market with a news/talker done on the cheap.

If a market is void of a news station, I would tend to lean toward news programming for the simple fact that providing local news and information would probably pay off than some 3 or 4 hour talker who unless he/she is GOOD, people are going to tune out. There are a lot of variables, of course.