You know the rules. Every medium and every format in radio has its rules. There are specific formatic rules – keep calls short, frequently repeat call letters, keep things moving forward – and general rules, like shut up and play the music, or stick to the party line and give ‘em “more of what they came for.”

The rules are drilled into baby radio personalities from day one, passed down from generation to generation, from consultant to Program Director, from Program Director to host. There are ways to do every format, especially talk radio, and the rules are immutable.

Maybe it’s time to trash the rules. All of them. Okay, maybe not “don’t do anything to jeopardize the license,” but the rest.

I’m not arguing that the rules don’t work. I personally have used and enforced those rules and a) they helped the station and hosts sound better and b) got ratings. If your station is solidly performing and revenue is increasing, hey, stick with what works. The rest of you, however….

Everybody following the same rules has resulted in every station sounding the same. A talk station in one market sounds just like one in another, down to the same syndicated hosts, same topics, same imaging, same clock, same aging demographics. You know the exceptions but can count them on… let’s be generous and say two hands. Stale and stagnant doesn’t even begin to describe the stasis in radio.

Cable television news isn’t much better – the formula has fossilized, news during the day and opinion at night, and changing the talking heads doesn’t make the format fresher. Local TV news is so standardized that at least one major group broadcaster is getting into pre-recorded newscasts, and some have the staff in one market do the news for another market; same format, same script, same features. 2024 is 1994 throughout the media. The rules haven’t changed.

So, let’s try getting rid of them. Take talk radio: Why are shows three hours long? Why do they start and end at the top of the hour? Is there a reason female hosts still get middays or completely shut out? Why are we doing things according to the same playbook we used decades ago?  Can creative people be encouraged to color outside the lines, or wherever they want to color?

Of course, this is likely a purely academic argument. You and I know that taking chances is not what media people do. Taking chances could lead to failure, and failure is not an option. But when I turn on local radio, not only does it sound exactly like it did 20 years ago, it’s worse than it was 30 years ago, when rulebreakers like Phil Hendrie, Neil Rogers, and Randi Rhodes were able to do what they did on an actual AM talk radio station in these parts.

And I hate to say it, but a lot of podcasts follow formulas, too. Maybe because the influx of new talent can only look to other, existing, podcasts for instructions on “how to do it.” What radio, podcasts, and every other medium need are people who haven’t been raised on the rules, and who bring fresh ideas that sound and look and read like nothing else.

I mean, you’ve got nothing to lose. Maybe you’ll hit on something great. And then what you do will become the new rules, because if imitation, as Oscar Wilde said, is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness, anything that succeeds will spawn a lot of flattery. It’s what the media does best.

I have heard radio hosts say a few things that drive me nuts. Seemingly, I am writing another one of my columns in the Angry Little Man series.

Why? Because I have heard things that drive me insane.

“I only talked about things that I care about.”

Your listeners don’t care about that. Your listeners can change the channel, hit a podcast up, or check out satellite radio. Half of my radio career has been behind the microphone. If I were to speak about my “passions,” I would shed the audience. You are there for one reason: to focus like a laser beam on your station’s target listener.

A couple of things that you need to understand. Being a talk show host comes with a certain amount of freedom and responsibility. The news/talk format is somewhat different from music stations in this respect, other than playing the hits of course. If a music station is having a ratings slump, the music can be changed. The rotation can be loosened or tightened depending on the circumstances. If a talk show host’s ratings slip, it’s on the host. If your ratings and perhaps revenue are slipping, reassess.

“I can’t change.”

This is the dumbest thing that any host can utter. Rush Limbaugh’s show evolved. Howard Stern’s broadcast updated over the years. If you are unable to adjust, you will shorten your career. I don’t care how smart you are or how loyal a following you had five years ago. It is always about today and moving forward.

The power is in your brain. The Rolling Stones put out their first album of new material in 18 years. These dudes are in their 70’s and 80’s. I am not a big fan of The Rolling Stones, but this album sounded fresh and different. The Stones brought in a 33-year-old producer. The Hackney Diamonds album sounds as fresh as a band playing together for 60 years could sound. They adjusted. You must change with the times.

I will say this: talk show hosts have been replicating the same format for 35 years since Rush Limbaugh changed radio. This album sounds modern. Sure, The Rolling Stones have some of the basic sounds that have made them great. But they have updated their sound and approach. You need to do this as well.

“40-year-olds as young people.”

I heard this recently. A talk show host speaking about the rising rate of cancer among young people referenced 41-year-old Kate Middleton. An 18-year-old who has joined the military to protect this nation is a man. This dude is not a kid. He is doing manly things.

Referring to your audience as children will not allow our format or your show to grow. These people are adults.

“It’s 35 degrees, 6:41 or Sunny out there.”

Where is “out there?” You are metaphysically with your listener. These people are likely solitary in the car, home, office, or walking the streets. You are with them. You are the individual speaking to them, and, quite frankly, with them. Using the term, “out there” steals the intimacy that you need to build with every audience member.

Your connection to the listener should never be compromised. This connection cannot be replicated. Movies, TV, music, or YouTube can never replace the one-on-one connection that a great radio host builds with their listener.

Bragging about your money.

There is a radio host in New York City who frequently bragged about his “homes.” There are many hard-working stiffs who work much harder than any radio host. They come home physically and mentally spent. These people are sometimes just trying to scrape together enough money for food.

Bragging about your state in life is tone-deaf and stupid.

‘I had lunch with the Governor.’

Who are you representing? The powerful or the people? This is an awful flex by many talk show hosts. It can be intoxicating to have a member of Congress or a Senator as a “friend.” I can guarantee you that the elected official could give a rat’s behind about you. Your good friend will throw you off the bridge once you don’t benefit them.

You are there for the people, you are their voice, and you are not there to defend the politicians.

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I once worked with a staffer for the legendary WNBC. This was with the classic line-up of Imus, Soupy, Stern, etc. This guy was in the lobby as Imus was waiting for his limo. Don was making small talk with the receptionist. During the conversation, Imus reached into his trousers and pulled out a Guido Roll.  For the uninitiated, a “Guido Roll” is an almost toilet paper-sized roll of cash held together with a rubber band. Don unfurled the wad of dough, which was probably more money than the receptionist made in a year, as some sort of odd flex to show her who held the power in the conversation.

Treat everyone well. If you are very successful, make sure that the receptionist, server, or whoever, are treated very well.

I can’t speak for you. It’s time for you to reflect. Did I strike a nerve? I hope so. We have probably all committed these errors. We must keep our mission in mind. We are there for a listener-focused experience.

In the early 2000s, a trend emerged in cable TV: simply take a radio show and put it on TV. Cameras were installed in both news/talk and sports radio studios, and the programs were aired on linear TV. Now, with the advent of digital video platforms like YouTube, Rumble, and others, anyone can become a content creator. And news/talk radio has begun to truly embrace the enhanced distribution.

For decades, the term “face for radio” was used to describe the less-than-pleasant look of AM/FM hosts. But many prominent hosts — like Glenn Beck, Dan Bongino, Mike Gallagher, Erick Erickson, Howie Carr, Dave Ramsey, Joe Pags, and a plethora of others — broadcast their shows daily, not just on terrestrial radio, but on YouTube, Rumble, Twitch, and others.

For instance, the Salem News Channel carries a video simulcast of the nationally syndicated Mike Gallagher Show. And Gallagher told Barrett News Media it’s undeniably been a change for the longtime radio broadcaster.

“We’ve had to make huge adjustments to that space,” Gallagher said. “I think Salem has done a great job in keeping up with it … The TV component — the over-the-top streaming — is a whole different ballgame. Gone are the days where we could be in our boxer shorts and a sweatshirt with a Comrex box. Now it’s lights, and camera angles, and backdrops, and everything else. But it’s still the old trite cliche, content is content. Doesn’t really matter what the platform is.”

Gallagher added that despite his reluctance to initially embrace the new medium — quipping that he was always “protective of radio” in the past — the reality is that a video simulcast of the program is just as much about the business and revenue opportunities as it is meeting listeners where they are.

“I got to be a businessman about this. And, frankly, I kind of roll my eyes are people who are sort of ‘artists’ and they just worry about, ‘I’m a talk show host and I don’t want to be bothered. I don’t want to get my hands dirty working with advertisers.’ They’re the lifeblood of what we do. They’re the fuel of the engine, and I pay a great deal of attention to my relationships with advertisers.”

Many in the industry were hesitant to embrace digital video at first, worrying about the effect increased access would have on the radio stations that have partnered with syndicated hosts for decades.

However, Blake Thompson, the Executive Producer of The Ramsey Show and The Ramsey Network, says their analytics show YouTube is actually bringing more listeners to their terrestrial radio offerings.

“The best way to describe it is that they’re going to a Short because they happen to be on YouTube and they see a clip of Dave — even an old clip in the studio — and he hits a felt need with them that we’re doing a good job leading them further down and then they realize ‘Oh, this guy’s on the radio. I just happen to be on YouTube looking on how to fix my car hood. And I see this guy and then I recognize him from a billboard in my market or I’ve heard that name.’

“So in our last survey, we’ve really seen a crazy amount of people who have even come from those digital shorts, or Instagram, or TikTok over into listening to radio,” Thompson shared. “It was neat to see people discovering us in those really short formats on video in other places, and then realize that we’re in their market on radio and tune it in when they’re in their car heading to work.”

Joe Pags was an early adopter of featuring a video simulcast of his show. Between YouTube and Rumble, he boasts more than 350,000 subscribers. And he believes the offering has now become imperative to his program and brand.

“I think that people don’t look at a talk show host as radio talk shows anymore. I think they look at us as broadcasters, or even that term podcaster that we’re hearing a lot now,” The Joe Pags Show host said. “People like it because they can go into it anytime. They can watch it live on the fly as we’re doing it or watch it later on because it’s still up there. And because of social media and video components in it, I think that you’re gonna get an audience that you otherwise wouldn’t get. People don’t generally say “I listened to a talk show.” They say ‘I listened to or I watch Joe Pags’ or fill in the blank.”

For Pags, the digital video component doesn’t change the content of his show as much as it changes the demographics of his audience, and similarly to Gallagher, admits it provides a potentially lucrative business opportunity, too.

“How important is it monetarily? Not very, yet. I mean — I make a little bit of money on it. But I think as far as expanding the audience and possibly making the audience more youthful, I think that it’s a big deal,” Pags said. “Because people who are my age, I’m 57 now, we still can use theater of the mind like we grew up on.

“But people who were younger than, maybe my kids age, they’re not used to that — listening to an AM radio, generally speaking, and hearing guys talk for three hours. But to watch it and see it and watch the reaction and react along with or see the video of whatever that gas station sign was or of my interview with Trump, I think that’s a different thing. It’s very important to me for the future. As far as my income or the revenue stream, it’s not where it could be.”