Issue 9 News • Talk • Sports Weekly July 13, 2007

Young Atlanta Checks Out The HUB JC: As a PD I’m always interested in the future of Talk radio. In
its current form and demographics, Talk radio has a long bright
Pardon the cliché, but I like people who think outside the box.
future ahead of it. But while most people think of Generation X
That’s why, when I heard about an experimental “reality radio”
as 20-something slackers, the fact is that this year the first of the
show at Salem’s WGKA/Atlanta, I wanted to learn more about
Gen-Xers are now over 40. By 2010, if you’re a traditional 35-
the Saturday and Sunday night talk show from PD Jeff Carter
54 Talk station, half of your audience is going to be from Gen X,
and HUB host and “facilitator” Joel Aaron.
and they consume media much differently than the format’s core
Here’s the set-up: Six regular people in an
baby boom listeners today do. So just re-broadcasting typical
Atlanta bar - mostly single - talk together
boomer talk on FM is not, in my opinion, what will attract the
on a variety of subjects and topics and also
demo to the format.
compete for bragging rights as the voice of
AP: What’s the essence of the program?
their generation. The hook: each week they
JA: It’s issues-oriented talk geared toward the Gen X crowd.
can get voted off the air, American Idol-
We’ve discussed everything from embryonic stem-cell research,
style, by listeners who decide who stays
immigration and terrorism, to what attracts men and women
and who goes. Billed as “America’s first
sexually. It’s open-source, community-driven Talk radio. We’re
competition talk show,” The HUB targets
going for that Wikipedia crowd where anyone can come in
smart, young professionals with a show that JOEL AARON
and edit the topic. I consider myself to be the host/facilitator.
talks about cultural issues, trends, global and
I’m not an omniscient, all-knowing host; I’m a facilitator of a
local events, relationships, religion and more. I recently chatted
community of people on the panel. My job is to engage them on
with Carter and Aaron to find out what they’ve learned this
the issues in a way that encourages both panelists, listeners and
past year from their experiment at reaching out to the audience
callers to be themselves.
demos that represent Talk radio’s future.
AP: But conventional wisdom says younger demos - especially
young men - aren’t interested in issues talk.
AP: What was the genesis of the program?
JA: It’s not that they’re not interested, it’s that they look at the
JA: I was on the board of directors for a local group called
world and the news differently than baby boomers do. Talk radio
Single Focus Atlanta that facilitated conversations at bars and
has traditionally given Generation X listeners cotton candy,
restaurants all around Atlanta for about seven or eight years.
I was leading culture and life discussion groups for young (continued on page 3)
professionals, mostly single, in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Jeff came
to a few of them, and over the course of time we began to think, “I think the biggest reason young males
‘I wonder if this would work on the radio?’ After a couple of don’t listen to Talk radio is that, for the
months of planning and testing the idea, we went on the air with
the program last October.
most part, they don’t find much they’re
AP: Jeff, what was your interest in developing this show? interested in listening to.” - Jeff Carter
 
©2007 News • Ta lk • S p o r t s Airch ec k™ — Al l r i g hts re s e r ve d. To s u bs c r i be v i s i t www.ntsaircheck.com
July 13, 2007 News • Talk • Sports Weekly Page 2
Airchecklets
Max Cacas joins WFED/Washington and its website, Feder-
alNewsRadio.com, as a reporter ... Broadcasting & Cable pub-
lisher Larry Dunn, CBS-TV President/CEO Thomas Kane
and ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent George
Stephanopoulos have all been named to the board of direc-
tors of The Broadcasters Foundation of America, a non-
profit group whose mission is to improve the quality of life
and personal dignity of radio and TV professionals who find
themselves in acute need ... Jerry Mason is named OM/PD
at Three Eagles Communications’ Worthington, MN cluster
including heritage News/Talker KWOA ... Former Cumulus
exec Rick Andrews was named OM for Gap Broadcasting/
Amarillo’s five-station cluster, which includes News/Talk
KIXZ ... Former WTMJ/Milwaukee host Ken Herrera is re-
portedly beinglet out of his non-compete with Journal Broad-
casting and expected to segue to crosstown Clear Channel
News/Talk WISN.
Network/Syndication Aircheck
KDWN/Las Vegas adds Talk Radio Network’s new Phil
Hendrie Show to air 10pm-1am weeknights ... FOX Sports
Radio moves in the Gateway City from KFNS/St. Louis
to newly launched crosstown sports outlet WESL (“FOX
Sports Radio 1490”). Premiere Radio Networks’ Jim Rome
Show now also airs on WESL ... FOX Sports Radio host JT
“The Brick” will join the Oakland Raiders’ pre-season TV
broadcast team beginning August 11 and also return as host
of The Raiders Report for the upcoming NFL season ... Talk
Shows USA-distributed The Money Pit adds KWED/San
Antonio, KONP/Port Angeles, WA, and WOGO/Chippewa
Falls, WI ... Westwood One inks with KLAC/Los Angeles
as the network’s official Super Bowl radio station for SoCal.
KLAC will air WW One’s NFL Preview along with an NFL
doubleheader every Sunday, the Thanksgiving day NFL
tripleheader, the NFL Playoffs and the Pro Bowl
Satcaster News
A list of new supporters for a proposed merger between Sirius
and XM was touted heavily by both companies this week.
©2007 News • Ta lk • S p o r t s Airch ec k™ — Al l r i g hts re s e r ve d. S e n d n e ws to news@NTSaircheck.com
Among those speaking up in favor of combining the two
satcasters were the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Crutchfield
Corp., Free State Foundation, Frank Sinatra Enterprises,
Honda, Ed Meese and Jim Gatt of the Heritage Foundation,
Loral Space & Communications, the Progress and Freedom
Foundation and musician and syndicated radio personality
Steven Van Zandt ... Meanwhile, the National Association of
Broadcasters has filed a Petition To Deny with the FCC, saying
the agency “should reject the proposed merger-to-monopoly of
XM and Sirius Satellite Radio.”
Gig Alerts
Denver Educational Broadcasting, Inc. seeks a President CEO
to oversee the operations and activities of pubcaster KUVO/
Denver. Five years of public broadcasting experienceis required.
Email yourresume to michael.marez@eprimeplus.com... If
you’ve got 2-3 years to commit to living in the Cayman Islands,
dms Broadcasting is seeking a GM for their island radio proper-
ties. Email resume and cover letter to applications@dms.com.ky
... Pamal Broadcasting is seeking applications for future pro-
gramming positions with the company. Email resume to
programmingjobs@pamal.com ... Clear Channel Radio is
seeking a GSM for the company’s 11-station Washington, DC/
Baltimore Total Traffic Network. Send your resume and direct all
questions tohartleyadkins@clearchannel.com.
“We Know All About You, Ms. Miller”
Syndicated talker Stephanie Miller recentlywelcomed former
CIA Intelligence officer Larry Johnson into herstudio during a
visit to the Jones Radio Networks-distributedprogram Tryingto
keep their secrets safe are (l-r) Stephanie MillerShow voice“god”
Jim Ward, Miller, Johnson and Executive Producer Chris Lavoie.
July 13, 2007 News • Talk • Sports Weekly Page 3

(continued from page 1)

sexually charged, sophomoric humor, or else just written them
off and given them issues-oriented Talk radio from a boomer’s
perspective. Gen X is, by nature, very cynical of a perspective
given to them by anyone, primarily due to the prevalence of
new media. Technology has given us a phenomenal ability
to get multiple perspectives and different information on any
issue. Gen X tends to look at most traditional Talk radio hosts
as coming from a know-it-all perspective, and they just don’t
buy it. They view issues with a sense of ironic detachment
and we try to infuse that into the program. You might call it a
‘Steven Colbert-esque’ approach. We cover relevant issues, but
in a way that’s just a little off-center and a little irreverent.
AP: What have early ratings on the program shown?
JC: Our target is men 25-44, and in the spring book our
Saturday night numbers grew from 600 to 2,600 average
persons. On Sunday nights we went from zero to 2,600 persons.
We’re No. 11 in that demo on Saturday and No. 2 on Sunday
evening. And that’s in a top 10 market on an AM radio station!
We do promote it on the air throughout the week, but much
of the success has been viral - friends telling friends about it,
panelists calling their friends and telling them to listen, etc.
AP: Any standout indiscretions in front of a live microphone
from the non-professional panelists?
JA: A couple of weeks ago one of the women tending bar
joined in on our discussion of immigration issues and said, “I
don’t have a problem with illegal immigrants. We have several
who work back in our kitchen and they’re really nice.” I just
ended the segment and said, “Katie, it’s been nice knowing
you,” and then urged people to vote her back on to the show
because she might need to learn a new job skill by tomorrow!
AP: What have you learned about Gen Xers from developing
this show?
JA: I learned that Talk radio doesn’t always have to be debate-
driven. Certainly there’s debate that comes out as part of any
discussion on the show, but we’re not always out to make
you pop the veins in your neck and raise your blood pressure.
I’ve found that this audience responds to intrigue as much,
or more, than they do to controversy - especially the kind of
manufactured controversy you too often hear on Talk radio or
see on TV. They can smell inauthentic a mile away.
JC: While we’ve always been taught that young adult men are
the hardest to get to respond to any radio listening, I’ve learned
that if you go after them with an understanding of what it is
they want and then deliver a product from that understanding,
they will respond. I think the biggest reason young males don’t
listen to Talk radio is that, for the most part, they don’t find
much they’re interested in listening to.

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