Pending Business: Talk Radio Questionnaire
By Steve Lapa
Lapcom Communications Corp
President
Time to thank the lawyers in the Donald Trump trial for once again proving beyond any doubt the power of talk radio.
1. Sellers – Get ready for Mother’s Day and Christmas rolled into one.
2. Managers – Prepare a fresh new page in your talk radio media kit.
3. On-air talk radio talent – Don’t throw away that lottery ticket, your number could come in.
4. Media consultants – Hit the brakes on making TV as an automatic first choice for your political campaigns, we’ve got a story for you.
5. Owners – Play your cards right and that talk radio format may have jumped in value.
It has been widely reported that jurors selected for the Donald Trump-Stormy Daniels trial were presented a questionnaire with the following question, “Do you listen to talk radio?” “If so, which programs?” Now wait just a minute all you jury profilers out there or fans of the TV show “Bull.” This is big, but I have a few questions of my own:
1. Why would any lawyer be interested in the radio listening habits of a (potential) juror?
2. Why specify “talk radio?”
3. What’s with the need to know about specific programs?
4. What’s the definition of “listen?” Daily? How long?
Maybe it’s time to recognize just what all this means to great talk radio talent and marketers.
I’m sure by now you have figured out where this goes – influence – as in talk radio hosts, the original influencers.
The very nature of a jury selection questionnaire screening for talk radio listening and specific programs is fascinating. Did an attorney conclude that talk radio shows influenced a potential juror’s feelings, opinions, perceptions (the very currency of talk radio) when it comes to Donald Trump or Stormy Daniels or any other key player on the legal stage?
As every seller knows, talk radio talents were the original influencers and continue to drive sales every day. To the local sellers and managers in the New York DMA pitching Sid Rosenberg, Joe Piscopo, Mark Simone and the other great local talents, imagine experienced legal teams evaluating the influence of their daily shows on potential jurors. Same for the nationally syndicated talent heard in the New York DMA. Talk radio lives and is influencing in the Big Apple!
“Do you listen to talk radio?” “If so, which programs?” that line of questioning should now become part of your daily marketing testimonial. After all, if teams of well-respected lawyers feel talk radio listening can influence the decisions of jurors in one of the most historic cases ever to be tried in our country, imagine what talk radio can do for your advertisers!
Steve Lapa is the president of Lapcom Communications Corp. based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Lapcom is a media sales, marketing, and development consultancy. Contact Steve Lapa via email at: Steve@Lapcomventures.com.
Trump, currently on the docket for March 2024. RTDNA says it has consistently advocated for the public’s right to live audio and video coverage of the multiple trials facing the former president. RTDNA CEO Dan Shelley states, “For decades, RTDNA has been the nation’s leading advocate for cameras in courtroom. We believe Americans have a right to see for themselves if and how justice is administered to a former president of the United States. The only opportunity for the public to have any faith in the outcome of this trial is if people are able to see and hear the proceedings for themselves.”