Doug McIntyre

Red Eye Radio host Doug McIntyre gets my nod for Most Insightful Speaker at this year’s Talkers New Media Seminar.  During a panel discussion about the challenges facing talk radio, McIntyre said:

“I’ve always thought of doing talk radio as an actor doing Shakespeare.  We all have the same words to work with, so the difference between a good performance and a bad performance is what the host brings to those words.”

How true.  Every host (general topic or sports) wakes up to the same pile of stories and issues.  The best hosts filter that material through the prism of their own worldview, life experience, emotion and talent.  The most intriguing prisms result in the most intriguing shows.

Too many hosts today are coasting on the content.  They focus on predictable story angles, take ridiculously obvious positions, crib from Rush and deliver shows no more compelling or thought-provoking than a political conversation with your neighbor the opinionated corporate accountant.

Some of these hosts probably just aren’t very interesting people — that’s going to happen when you keep cutting the budget line for “talent.”  Others maybe haven’t been coached on how to tap into their true selves.

Whatever the reason, we’re putting on too many weak performances in the talk radio theatre.