Talk Radio Network has announced plans to produce and distribute a morning show based on content from The Washington Times.  According to TRN and the Times, the three-hour program (6a-9a) will feature investigative stories, newsmaker interviews, and discussions with reporters from the conservative daily.  TRN promises the show will be “fast-paced.”   Based on that limited information, the program sounds very much like a broader version of the Wall Street Journal This Morning, which has enjoyed considerable success over the past two years. 

Flash prognosis?   Properly conceived and executed, the Washington Times programming could be an excellent option for the third talk station in a large market, or the second talker in a mid to small market.  The timing is certainly right for a decent morning show available on barter.

But TRN faces two big challenges.  First, it needs to hire the right host(s).  Even an information-driven program benefits tremendously from a strong personality at the helm.  Witness Scott Slade, host of WSB-AM’s Atlanta’s Morning News, Scott Simon on NPR’s “Weekend Edition“, and Gordon Deal of “The Wall Street Journal This Morning.”  A good host makes the show more appealing by covering the metal-on-metal clank of news and information with a coat of warmth and humanity.

TRN must also rein-in their ink-stained partners.  The program has to be a radio show, not an audio version of the Washington Times. Pardon the generalization, but newspaper people just don’t understand news/talk radio.  The executives look down on it, and their reporters are often terrible on-air – with little interest in getting better.  This was one of many problems with Washington Post Radio, the Bonneville station that struggled for 18 months and died in September, 2008.  WaPo Radio was built around the idea that people would want to hear more from the Post reporters who penned the day’s big stories.  As a result, the station often sounded like an editorial staff meeting, with less-than-articulate scribblers droning on far too long about who-cares-what. 

TRN needs final control over all aspects of this new show, including content and which reporters get showcased.  It must also commit to endless teaching and coaching of the scribblers and their bosses.  If the radio guys can gain and maintain that upper hand, TRN’s  Mark Masters may have another winner.