Would the content be uniformly great?  Nope.  But I’m constantly amazed at the quality of the audio programming posted to the web by amateurs.  With some minimal screening and grooming, you’d could easily create a stream of unique material generated by people with a real passion for the work.  You might even turn up a true star.

Think about it.

“People can complain about what Mark Levin does on his show, but Mark Levin has listeners and makes money. People can complain about what Michael Savage does on his show, but Michael Savage has listeners and makes money. Levin, Savage, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham all have something in common besides their political worldview: they have the larger-than-life personalities and populist instincts that make their shows compelling to listen to.”

Quick aside: I think Tucker misuses the word “populist” throughout his post.  I think he is referring to the ability to connect with people on an emotional level and even move them to action.

PS — I also disagree with Tucker’s belief that Sarah Palin would be a great radio talker.  I can’t see that.  For one thing, I don’t think she’s quick enough on her feet. She’d be a short-lived novelty act at best.

The best radio managers understand the crucial importance of creating an atmosphere where the talent feels safe, supported and appreciated.  If things have deteriorated to the point where a host is willing to go to court to escape the station, that atmosphere is gone for good. A ruling in management’s favor is a Pyrrhic victory.

Hardly a new lesson: Pharaoh learned it 3,000 years ago.  You can’t keep talented people against their will.  If you try, you risk all sorts of plagues.

A Facebook fan page isn’t mandatory, but once you put it up, the page becomes part of your brand.  Its content needs to reflect the standards you want people to associate with your station or show. That’s why one of my clients has its marketing director approve and oversee all fan pages associated with the station.

But a fan page can do more than expose your brand.  It can be a powerful tool for building a connection with your most loyal listeners — but only if you are willing to provide real value, including a willingness to engage them in a good-faith two-way conversation.  Think of your fan page as a cross between a Loyal Listeners Club and “Ask The Manager” and you’ll start to see the real value.

If Kimmer can capture that old magic in his podcasts he might actually make enough to support his golf and motorcycle addictions. He’s already signed one of his biggest radio sponsors to underwrite the project.  A successful podcast from a local host who has been off-air for an extended period would further prove that great audio content will not be denied and that fans will pursue uniquely desirable material .

And who knows? Maybe this project will lead to a broadcast comeback. Lord knows radio could use a re-energized Kimmer.

Is your content unique and compelling enough that people would subscribe to your podcast if you lost your radio show?  It better be, or you’re going to lose your radio show.  If that thought gives you pause, call us at Talk Frontier.  We make talk radio better.

If you are interested in supporting the cause with interviews, please contact me and I’ll arrange some powerful guests.  Of course, you don’t need to be a CC station to support Fisher House — just one that wants to connect with a cause that will really resonate with its audience!

A couple examples:

- We continue to insist that actualities are critical to newscasts.  But are they, really?  Soundbites from politicians, city officials, witnesses, et al, seldom add to the listener’s understanding of the story, and take up time that might be better used to deliver another item.  Remember, Paul Harvey never used sound.

-  Given what we’ve learned from PPM about listener tune-in, should every talk radio station in the market present news at the top and bottom?  How about, oh, say, 20and 5o?

- Is our story selection up to snuff?  How many stories still get done just because the anchor’s mind was strapped into a straightjacket by a journalism school teacher who hasn’t been in a radio station since 1979?  (Answer: Way too many.)

With radio in survival mode, it’s not realistic to expect the issue of newscast quality to get much industry-wide attention.  But listen to your own station’s newscasts over the next few days with fresh ears and I bet you hear at least a couple things that could use a re-think.

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.

Newstalk 106-108

“Exclusive content podcasts allow the client to have exactly what they want, i.e. their own show,”  says Newstalk Sales Director  Cera Ward. “We tend not to give them full editorial control, however, they are happy their sports coverage will not be interrupted by any other topics, ads or promos.”

The podcasts are hosted by members of the Newstalk 106-108 sports staff along with prominent analysts from other media outlets.  Ward says the big-name commentators add credibility and boost client demand. The podcasts contain unique content that never airs on the radio station. The Heineken podcast was a preview of rugby’s Heineken Cup. The Ford podcast focused on soccer’s Champions League.

Does anybody listen?  Seems so.  According to Ward, Newstalk’s Champions League podcast is currently #2 overall on iTunes in Ireland — #1 in the sports category.

Key Point: These podcasts were not added-value.  They were sold as stand-alone products in a package that included a modest number of on-air promotional mentions. Another Key Point: Newstalk staffers get paid to produce the podcasts.

Ward says sports appears to be the most salable podcast content. She sees Ireland’s legal betting parlors as her next big prospect.  Podcasts, she explains, allow the oddsmakers sponsor sports content while avoiding the restrictions placed on their broadcast advertising by the Broadcast Authority of Ireland.

Give tremendous credit to Talkers publisher Michael Harrison. Despite the weak economy and radio’s on-going woes, this weekend’s event drew a sell-out crowd of syndicators, programmers, producers, hosts and aspiring hosts to New York City from as far away as the West Coast. Indeed, the crowd was so big that some events were shoulder-to-shoulder SRO.

The mood was… interesting.  I picked up notes of uncertainty, optimism, resignation, weariness, determination and a hint of sadness at the complete realization that the Old Ways truly are dead or dying; that radio has changed forever — for worse and maybe, one day, for better. In his opening remarks Harrison told the assembled that he’s not yet committed to a 2011 New Media Seminar. The day of the “big radio convention” may be over, he said.  And unlike last year’s event, where there was a lot of rah-rah about the Glorious Future awaiting audio content creators just around the corner on the Internet, this year’s attendees and speakers seemed a bit more subdued on that topic, acknowledging that it will likely be quite some time before there’s serious digital dough to be made.  Again, Harrison summed it up best, saying that Talk is in the middle of an uncertain voyage between its present and future.

There was a bit of good news about the near-term future.  A panel of PDs and consultants predicted a small increase in talk jobs in 2010.  Nobody thinks laid-off hosts will be re-hired in droves, but there are some new opportunities cropping up around the dial thanks to the current sport-radio boom and the rise of FM talk.  The syndicators say their ad sales are picking up nicely and most of the station-level folks reported that things are certainly better than they were just a few months ago.

As always, the best part of the NMS was the people; being reminded how many smart, funny, talented, caring men and women work in this business — both on-air and off.  I cherish every minute with them.  That’s why I stay up waaaay too late at these confabs.  If Michael Harrison takes a pass in 2011, maybe I’ll have the industry over to my house.  Hey, we’ve got a pool — and working air conditioning.