Inside Music MediaJerry Del Colliano

Peggy Noonan, the conservative Wall Street Journal columnist warned the other day that whether Bernie Sanders wins his bid for president or not, socialism may be America’s future.

This is an insightful conclusion about some 90 million Millennials who have not really enjoyed capitalism.

During their young lives (18-34 years old), they graduated from college to unemployment or underemployment.

They have seen the lion’s share of wealth go to the top 1% while they struggle with college loans and work in jobs where they can’t pay them back.

No wonder free college, healthcare for all and fight those dirty bastards on Wall Street resonates.

Sanders may have lost the Iowa caucuses by fewer than 4 electoral equivalents but he won 70% of the young voters.

This is instructive if you are a radio station or media exec trying to make sense of the future.

1. When Ted Cruz quoted scripture in accepting victory among the Republicans, he turned off a great number of young people who are not religious and certainly not Evangelicals. He may have appeased Iowa GOP voters, but religion is a personal thing with Millennials. They may be spiritual but they are not going to church or thumb a bible publicly.
2. Rubio is going to defend gun rights (a no, no for most Millennials) and repeal an entitlement called Obamacare (try it, Millennials will go nuts). He can talk about American exceptionalism all he wants but that’s not how Millennials see it. And getting tough on immigration is not in the future of 90 million Millennials any time soon.
3. Donald Trump may well roar back but he didn’t connect with Millennials not because he wasn’t afraid to be a non-politician but because he seemed to pander to whatever interests would serve his deal-making skills.
4. Somehow Hillary Clinton sounded like something they’ve heard before. Yes, she’ll help make college more affordable but they want freebies. Hillary’s approach is a loser among 18-34s.  Hillary has a coalition of baby boomer women and minorities who want to help her become the first woman president but it won’t happen without the Millennials who flock to Bernie Sanders. Trying to come off as a pragmatist doesn’t seem to fit with Millennials who reach for the sky.
5. The establishment candidates are getting no traction because older people are sick of politicians and younger people are already sick of politicians.

Who knows how this will end, but I suspect Noonan is correct.

We live in a socialist world. Hell, Millennials invented the words “social media”. Any word with social sounds good. It’s not the dog whistle for communism that older people think.

Conservative talk radio attracts old baby boomer men and talk radio is over. Will not last until the next presidential election. But there will be no socialistic Democratic replacement because radio is yesterday’s news to Millennials.

If politicians can’t figure out how to win over 18-34’s, what can we learn from a 74 year old white man in a rumpled suit that would help radio turn it around?

• Be authentic. Radio is lacking this component badly.
• Be humble. Radio personalities must be all about the listeners not themselves.
• Less hype. Can you think of anything that has more hype than a radio station? Okay, WWE. See what I mean?

• Provide dreams. What radio station do you listen to that plays up the fantasy of the mind to cooperate with a generation of dreamers?

• Be civic. Millennials love people who accept others as they are and work together for the common good. Don’t tell them that climate change is not a big issue.

• Monetize with the help of the audience. Sanders keeps raking in record hauls of small donations (average $26 per person) and he has no political PACs. Radio just runs commercial after commercial of garbage that no listener can stand and makes absolutely no connection with the audience. Imagine if radio monetized with an assist from their listeners.  There’s a way, I promise you.

• Be gender agnostic. At my April 6th conference I will present some startling information about young people and their view of sexual orientation. Any station not in alignment with this view will be caught whistling Dixie.

My belief is and has always been, the solution for radio is mastering the next generation the way Steve Jobs did at Apple when they reinvented their company and the world.

If you’d be interested in having this discussion, please reserve the date April 6th for my one day New Radio Conference in Philadelphia.

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