How News/Talk Radio Can Leverage Renewed Interest in the Format to Sales and Ratings Success

When comparing radio to television, it’s never apples to apples, but there’s undoubtedly plenty of similarities in branding, content production, marketing, and loyalty. And all programmers and hosts can learn, or be reminded of, some valuable tools recently shared by FOX Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch.

When discussing the success of Fox News, Murdoch, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, said, “Look, it comes down to great content, great journalism and a great brand ultimately. If you look at the Fox News viewer, they’re incredibly loyal. They’re passionate about the service. They really see it as not just as a news service but as a network for them.”

Fox News just finished with its highest-rated February ever. Plus, for the first two months of the year, Fox is averaging 2.8 million viewers in prime time — with viewership up 40 percent year-over-year. Among viewers 25-54, the key demographic valued by advertisers, Fox drew 353,000 viewers in prime, representing a huge jump of 61 percent from the same period one year ago.

There’s undoubtedly a Trump effect to all of this, but there’s also plenty to learn from a network that now doesn’t just dominate cable, it has also outdrawn a variety of free TV options by averaging 3.9 million weeknight viewers in primetime since January to beat ABC, CBS, NBC. 

It doesn’t happen overnight, but how can we all apply those principles to our stations and shows across the country? How are we working every day to build brand loyalty from our listeners so that they feel like they need us to be a part of their daily lives and routines?

Part of our job is to be everywhere they are, not just on the radio. We need to remain active on our social media channels, newsletters, and in-person via events to always be looking to connect with our audiences where they are. If not, they will find that loyalty where they can.

Murdoch added this nugget, “We’ve had over 100 new clients since the election — obviously, our ratings are doing tremendously well. Our share is doing tremendously well, over 65% share of the cable news universe. Ratings are up something like 50%. But, I think because of the election result, many advertisers have sort of rethought their positioning in this country and understand that the Fox News viewer really does represent middle America. And they’re responding with their checkbooks.”

Talk radio is likely to see ratings gain courtesy of the pace at which the Trump administration is moving and the fact that we are getting seemingly multiple news cycles daily. There is a fascination right now, even amongst those who did not vote for him.

Local direct clients don’t need to agree with every opinion from every host. Do they agree with everything they hear from sports talk hosts they buy from? Unlikely. Why would they view local or national news opinions any differently? It’s about growing their business through the audience. As long as the hosts are laying out fact-based reasoning to back up their strong opinions, the News/Talk audience has always been highly valued in advertising. And it may be more valuable than it’s been in years.

There’s a huge opportunity in our format right now from a branding and sales perspective. Don’t miss out. Capitalize.