This is always an exxciting time of year for me. No, not because of the return of the NFL or those cool crisp mornings telling us fall is around the corner. This is the month I get to present Public Radio Techsurvey, first to the stations who participated as stakeholders, and soon after, to all of you. In advance of those webinars, I will be dropping key findings into this blog as I did yesterday in the post titled “Thanks To NPR, I’ve Got A Bad Case Of Senior-itis.”
Today’s post deals with a familar theme for JacoBLOG – the importance of broadcast radio embracing local. Every time I write about this topic, I am reminded how staff cutbacks and corporate RIFs have made it virtually impossible to reflect a station’s local community. I have empathy for all those left working for local stations without anywhere near the necessary resources. But I also feel that if a station buys into local engagement, it is often a matter of using the right language, along with lots of hustle to achieve a meaningful result.
And it matters. In PRTS 2026, our 18th study (first launched in 2009) we see continued evidence of “local” relevance, especially among public radio’s youngest generations. In the survey, we ask respondents to rate the importance of international, national, statewide, and local news. In most years, national news comes out on top in “very important” ratings, especially since Donald Trump glided down that Trump Tower escalator in 2015, starting a long era of “flooding the zone” with national news.
But in most years, local news finishes in a solid second place position. And that’s where it ended up in our new study. But when we break down news desires by generation, we see a fascinating trend that continues to repeat itself: local news especially resonates with Millennials and secondarily, Gen Xers. Note the blue bars on the chart below:
Looking back to yesterday’s post about NPR leaning into the AARP crowd with their newest podcast contest, it is valuable to know that local news gets a strong response from some of public radio’s most chronologically youthful fans.
Given the givens, especially since the demise of CPB – public media’s funding arm – in 2025, our advice to public radio clients is to look for opportunities to represent their local communities. Coverage of the White House, foreign wars, and faraway weather disasters, while big stories, are saturated in a media world of seemingly infinite outlets.
But local news? It’s often up for grabs, especially as newspapers shrink and fold, along with most other hometown news outlets experiencing cutbacks. Yet, despite this, I’m seeing some truly interesting attempts by non-radio local outlets to cover the local scene with original and buzzworthy reporting. In just the past few weeks here in Detroit – MY hometown – important local media brands (NOT radio) have launched impressive efforts to cover the scene, both leaning heavily on personality and local talk.
Other efforts are more grassroots, created by local who love spreading the word aout their communities.
The first is notably called “Detroit Talk City,” hosted by a whirling dervish of a reporter, Charlie Langton. The shows airs every weekday at 4pm and reflects Charlie’s uptempo, “I’m everywhere” style.
Langdon is a lawyer turned journalist who out-reports younger journalists here in The Motor City with his hustle. He doesn’t look or sound like a TV anchor, and that’s part of the charm.
In addition to his work at Fox 2, Langton is also all over the airwaves at Audacy’s WWJ, Detroit’s news station.
Yes, it requires a face of the brand with seemingly endless energy to pull something off like “Detroit Talk City,” but Langton’s brand is all about talking to interesting people, and he now has his own show that showcases his style:
Detroit is a city where there’s always a lot to talk about. A local talk show hosted by a highly identifiable host has a chance to make waves.
And then earlier this week, the Detroit Free Press announced a local sports show that sounds an awful lot like sports radio. Simply named “The Freep Sports Show,” it is hosted by two veteran reporters, Shawn Windsor and Andrew Birkle.
For now, the show is a podcast (that sounds a lot like a radio show), and it will drop three times a week. Launched on Tuesday, their first show covered the highly controversial University of Michigan vs. Western Michigan University game that ended with a much-disputed interpretation of the game clock.
This is yet another example of local media brands looking to utilize their personalities, their teams, and their hometown knowledge to make an impact on the area.
Yes, interesting things tend to happen in threes, and the last local element is called “PPL Movin,” short answers to timely questions, all recorded on “Detroit’s People Mover,” a monorail that circles downtown Detroit from above, with incredible views of both Motown and Windsor, our Canadian sister city.
This is yet another clever use of free resources and some creative content. It is hosted byLayla McMurtrie and Deonte Bell (pictured above), and it’s based on the NYC podcast, “Subway Takes” with Kareem Rahma. The show features interesting people from all local walks of life. The show is shot using two iPhones.
This all goes to show that providing creative coverage of a local city, town, or even region can be accomplished with some elbow grease, smart phones, and hosts/personalities who hustle and generate their own buzz.
Yes, the Fox 2 show uses standard crews and resources, but the other example are more cobbled together, using gear most of us own anyway.
Is your radio station a go-to medium for innovative coverage of your city of license? And if not, how can you used the resources at your disposal to make it happen?
What interesting local coverage examples are already happening in your area? And can you collaborate or partner with them in order to cement your local coverage?
President & Founder at Jacobs Media
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched – a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created – a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the “connected car” and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media’s commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
