With a bit of creativity and effort,  those Costas hours can be filled at no cost with programming that will generate buzz and appeal to both listeners and sponsors.  Three quick ideas:

1. Tap the blogosphere.  Offer local Internet radio hosts and podcasters the chance to step-up to the big league.  Post links to the entrants’ shows or podcasts on the station’s website.  Pick a group of finalists and give them a try-out show.  The winner gets a limited-run show in the Costas slot.  Not sure how to find local Internet yakkers?  Consider partnering with www.blogtalkradio.com.  Your contact there is Philip Recchia (philiprecchia@blogtalkradio.com).

2. “Talk Idol” –  Same as above, only for listeners. Come up with a way to identify a group of finalists and give them a one or two hour show.  The winner gets a “contract” to fill that slot for a set number of weeks.  When we did this at WMAL-AM/Washington, would-be talkers were asked to submit a 3-minute monologue.  The best of these were played on-air.  Listeners were invited to share their opinions about the candidates on the website — but we picked the finalists and winner.  Our champ, by the way, was a very promising young African-American conservative.

3. Do it for Charity.  Sell one-hour shows to listeners who are dying to host a show.  Proceeds go to  a worthy cause.  This concept works especially well on sports-talk stations.  WRNL-AM (Sportsradio 910)/Richmond did this for a week of summer evenings under the theme “Walk-on Week.”  The station sold all 15 hours that were made available.  The event made for great radio.  Some hosts were just horrible, others were pretty darn good, including the Army lawyer/Red Sox fanatic who became the station’s go-to fill-in host.

For many PDs, time is more scarce than money.  But the opportunity to tap into one of radio’s great strengths by creating a local show is worth whatever juggling must be done.  One thought: PDs who still have the luxury of an Assistant PD could turn over the entire project to the APD.  This is a perfect way for an ambitious up-and-comer to hone his programming skills.  And that’s important.  Despite its current woes, local talk radio still has a future; and that obligates the current generation to invest in the next.