News Radio

Election Fallout Creating Interesting Times for Talk Radio

This is the kind of scenario talk show hosts dream about. Every day it feels like the shows write themselves, kind of like a sports talk show host following his team to a World Series or Super Bowl.

Published

2 years ago

November 12, 2020

Pete Mundo

These are emotionally charged times for talk radio. We are over a week from election day and there are still debates being had over who won the presidential race in certain states, the U.S. Senate is hinging on two runoffs in Georgia, and the House still has several seats up in the air, and it looks like Republicans will net seats.

This is the kind of scenario talk show hosts dream about. Every day it feels like the shows write themselves, kind of like a sports talk show host following his team to a World Series or Super Bowl.

With that being said, there is a hint of a circular firing squad going on right now within conservative circles. Was the election stolen? Was it “stolen enough” to flip states? Did Joe Biden just win and we all need to move on? Are you mad at FOX News for their Election Night coverage? Are you not?

All these conversations are happening within conservative circles and in many ways, depending on how you answer, it is dividing people.

As hosts, this can be frustrating, but fun. Heck, we are all supposed to be on the same page here, especially in an election cycle! But we’re not.

However, this can make for incredibly entertaining talk radio. And in the end, that’s my job, plus there is a moment here to take advantage of.

I’ve spent much of the week getting yelled at by all sides. “Pete, you’re not taking election fraud seriously enough!” “Pete, you’re nothing but a Trump lackey!”

Both things can’t be true! But, it’s made for a fun week and allowed every show to be unpredictable and entertaining. It’s brought moments of happiness, sadness, laughter and frustration.

However, as of right now there is no end in sight. But we can still do our best as hosts and stations to use this momentum to our advantage from how we host the show and handle the callers to how we image the station. On KCMO Talk Radio, we added new rejoins, liners and promos with our voice guy saying “Yell at Mundo… or compliment him… 576-7710 on KCMO”. We can use that as a rejoin or an imaging piece, or in a show promo with callers ranting and raving or complimenting in the same promo to have several voices and keep it moving forward.

Every talk show should want to curate callers who are going to disagree with your opinions as to avoid too much of an echo chamber. This can be tougher to do for a political show than a sports talk show. But in the wake of the most hectic election seasons in modern American history, we are now at a point where many who likely agree on policy and agenda are breaking from each other.

I believe a lot of this will settle down once the outcome of the Presidential election becomes official, but in the meantime, shows and stations can continue to capitalize with entertaining imaging, promos, show moments and callers, while riding the wave to hopefully a strong fall ratings book.

Pete Mundo

Pete Mundo is the morning show host and program director for KCMO in Kansas City. He graduated from Villanova University, and has worked for FOX News Talk Radio, WCBS Newsradio 880, Bloomberg Radio. WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WEER 88.7FM, ESPN 1230/1320, and, K-1O1 and Z-92. He has also won an Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters small-market award for his coverage of the Bobbie Parker trial in the summer of 2011. To interact, find him on Twitter @PeteMundo.

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Chris Stigall: Media Is Misleading Public on America’s State

Stigall praised former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for his comments to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”

Published

23 hours ago

August 9, 2022

Ryan Hedrick

Philadelphia radio host Chris Stigall said the media is to blame for misleading the public about the true state of America. Speaking on his show Monday on 990 The Answer, Stigall pushed back against pundits who claimed that Friday’s Jobs Report Showed economic growth.

Stigall praised former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for his comments to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.” Christie Said inflation is canceling anything that appears good because Americans can’t keep up with rising prices.

Christie cited the rising cost of food and gas. Stigall reacted to Stephanopoulos, pushing back against Christie’s assertion that people are doing worse financially than they were two years ago.

“There’s Stephanopoulos again. Isn’t it good that the president got more legislative things done,” Stigall said mockingly. “This is exactly what Jonathan Karl did last week, these Sunday show people.”

Stigall inferred that the media is covering up for the Biden administration’s constant overspending, which many analysts believe has led to historical inflation.

“All they do is pom-pom shake and cheerlead,” exclaimed Stigall. “This is Washingtonian c**p, beltway stuff. George, the people are hurting; it’s costing a fortune to live!”

Ryan Hedrick

Ryan Hedrick serves as the Assistant Program Director and Co-Host of the Morning News Express at WFMD. Prior to WFMD, he hosted an afternoon program at News Talk 103.7 FM in Chambersburg, PA. He has worked at Sirius XM in Washington D.C., WBEN in Buffalo, NY, and for stations in Baltimore, MD. He has also worked at WIBW-AM in Topeka KS, earning the Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB) award for Major Market enterprise reporting in 2016. To connect with Ryan, find him on Twitter @SureToCover.

News Radio

Buck Sexton: Conservative Media Deserves Credit for Hunter Biden Story

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton claim that CNN’s Brian Stelter has changed his position on the legitimacy of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

Published

23 hours ago

August 9, 2022

Ryan Hedrick

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton claim that CNN’s Brian Stelter has changed his position on the legitimacy of the Hunter Biden laptop story. The duo analyzed how Stelter is shifting the narrative during their nationally syndicated radio show on Monday.

Travis said he was shocked when he heard Stelter discuss the possibility that Hunter Biden may be under federal investigation.

“Mr. Potato Head. Brian Stelter, he actually said on his show over the weekend,” said Travis. “You know what? There’s something to this Hunter Biden story.” I was stunned when I heard this,” Travis said via the show’s official website.

Sexton said conservative media should get credit for breaking the Biden laptop story.

“It’s always, “Oh, I guess they’re not total liars over there and a bunch of jerks,” Sexton said. “They actually got it right. They never give any credit. And we’re right on this stuff all the time.”

“Stelter is part of a whole movement over at CNN toward. “People say, “Oh, they’re moving back toward the center,” or, “They’re moving back toward more of a journalistic enterprise.” The reality is that they’re moving back toward or they’re moving in the direction of what conservative media has been saying now all along, especially about everything with Biden,” he added.

Ryan Hedrick

News Radio

Megyn Kelly Reveals Nearly Testifying Against Alex Jones

Kelly stated that the parents of Jesse Lewis, a six-year-old boy murdered in the Sandy Hook shooting, asked the radio host to take the stand about a 2017 interview Kelly had conducted with Jones.

Published

23 hours ago

August 9, 2022

Eduardo Razo

SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly revealed on Monday’s edition of “The Megyn Kelly Show” that she was about to appear in court as part of the Alex Jones defamation trial in support of the families of Sandy Hook victims.

Kelly stated that the parents of Jesse Lewis, a six-year-old boy murdered in the Sandy Hook shooting, asked the radio host to take the stand about a 2017 interview Kelly had conducted with Jones.

“I will tell you the truth,” Kelly said on her show. “I was not excited to do this and really wrestled with whether I could or should. This whole story, every iteration of it has been personally and professionally painful.”

“Did I really wanna leave my family, travel to Austin, Texas, take part in this insane trial with an out-of-control defendant, and subject myself to a hostile cross-examination, not to mention relive a difficult time in my career and a chapter of dealing with Alex Jones that frankly, I would rather forget? No.”

Kelly discussed the 2017 interview she conducted with Jones when she was with NBC News and stated that Sandy Hook would be a topic of discussion with the InfoWars host. Furthermore, she added that no one forced Jones to say any conspiracy theories.

“The truth is, I told Alex Jones from the start, that Sandy hook would be part of this interview. That we would go over the controversies, but that I wanted to cover more about him than that. And that’s exactly what we did in the NBC news piece, which is one of the journalistic endeavors of which I am most proud in my career,” Kelly said.

“No one made him spew these conspiracy theories, but himself, he jumped willingly and recklessly into those defamatory claims,” she added. “This judgment is morally correct. And beyond past due.”

Finally, Kelly stated that she was happy to see Jones punished.

“Alex Jones, yes, in his own way, a talented, compelling sometimes — sometimes on other issues weirdly correct, entertaining force in independent media, has hurt too many people, too many times,” Kelly said. “I am happy for Neil and Scarlett. I am relieved the jury punished Alex Jones.”

Eduardo Razo

Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.