(By Steve Allan) A recent HarrisX poll showed 65% of those surveyed trusted radio news. Even more impressive for radio? 42% of Americans say their trust in the news has declined, 43% believe there was no improvement, and only 15% say it is improving.
Yet lately, we’ve seen too many headlines about radio news operations being gutted.
Let’s put aside the fact that the news business has become extremely fragmented, and that radio “news” is generally not an information seeker’s first choice for information. Instead, let’s focus on what news is available on the radio.
In general, there are three types of radio news:
There are short attention span offerings from All-News outlets like WTOP or WBBM. These stations specialize in short-form stories that cover a wide variety of topics. They do a good job of focusing on local issues that have a regional impact and they also draw large cumes. The downside to these formats is that the bulk of their audience comes from the 45+ demographic. We don’t think this is bad but, alas, the advertising community has a bias against this group.
There is the NPR version of the news. These stations are about long storytelling and typically lean into a national focus. Stations like WAMU and KQED are among the leaders in this space. Like their general news counterparts, these stations do well in the upper demos. However, since the pandemic, we have seen an uptrend with the younger demos for this version of the format.
There is a certain logic to this. The NPR style is more podcast-friendly. Younger demos also gravitate towards podcasts. The convergence of these two affinities is leading audiences to the lower end of the FM dial.
Finally, we have the catch-all descriptor of the News/Talk format. Success stories in this space include WSB and WBZ-AM. They skew heavily older and male. They are also more talk-oriented than news-focused and tend to lean to the right. Their ratings are driven by a smaller but extremely loyal audience.
News and information programming is one of radio’s strongest assets. We need to continue to foster, promote, and GROW these offerings. Those who listen trust what we are providing. Let’s expand that audience and increase our relevance.
That means we’ll have to do the unbelievable, the unexpected, and the unheard. People don’t trust the news in general but they do trust news on the radio, so we need to market our strengths!
This essay is part of a series titled “The Power of Radio.” To view past articles, visit The Ratings Experts at Research Director, Inc. online here.
Steve Allan is the Programming Research Consultant at Research Director, Inc. He can be reached at 410-295-6619 x25 or by email. Research Director, Inc. offers consulting services to media companies to help them grow their audience, ratings, and revenue. Read Research Director, Inc.’s Radio Ink archives here.
