There goes another one – Michael Smerconish announced this week that he’s taking his radio show and moving to satellite radio.
According to the Associated Press, here’s the rationale behind the move:
And there goes another one, in the footsteps of a growing exodus of once-broadcast radio stars who have moved onto satellite radio, podcasts, or other places that are no longer part of the tower and transmitter business.
For Smerconish, it may be about politics and the way that radio embraces or rejects his style of talk. For others, it’s about the environment. From Howard Stern to Steve Dahl to Adam Carolla to Tom Leykis, radio continues to shed itself of the one type of content that is truly proprietary – personality.
On the one hand, we know that playing great music – sans personality – is not a long-term strategy. On the other, the good ones keep getting away.
Norm Pattiz is now building a business from these “radio remnants,” as these talented personalities take their audiences – now neatly gathered on social media platforms – with them for their next act.
We used to research the power of personalities by whether their fans would move along with them to their next radio station.
Now we may as well ask whether they will move to the next platform.
Wait – why bother?
We already know the answer.
How many more personalities are getting their social “change of address” cards ready?
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Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Well said Fred Jacobs!
Val, as someone who is immersed with personality and its value to radio, I appreciate the thumbs up. Thanks much.
Fred,
Great thoughts, but I don’t think Smerconish is in the category of the others.
He hurt himself when he came out against Limbaugh after the Sandra Fluke controversy. Calling “conservative talk” angry radio wasn’t a good move in my opinion. Biting the hand….
Gregg, you may be right, and as someone who is not as close to Talk Radio, that could have played a big part in the decision to move. But a decade ago, there was no choice for a guy like him or Dahl (a victim of PPM?) – either find a way to fit in or hang it up. Today, with options as diverse as podcasting, satellite radio, and other outlets, big personalities have a choice. And with armies of social media fans, “transportation” of audience becomes that much easier.
Thanks for weighing in and reading our blog.
The new delivery methods are intriguing, but are they able to monetize at this point? Would love to know how they are making money. THAT is the interesting part to me. Have a great weekend.
I don’t have the data, but I think that Carolla is well on the way, Dahl is working hard on subscriptions, and Pattiz is focused on aggregating podcasts. It’s a hunt & peck monetization scramble, but you know that audiences that crave personality content will provide some level of funding, while advertisers will figure out the value of the space.
Thanks, Gregg.