Inside Music MediaJerry Del Colliano

The GOP debate the other night was a joke.

Candidates argued about the rules even though they agreed to them in advance.

CNBC went searching for that gotcha moment to the boos of the local crowd.

The candidates hardly ever answered a question – just launched into their own diatribe.

Carly Fiorina scared me.

The “lesser” candidates never got equal time.

And they ended by turning on the one thing they can all agree on – their hatred of the mainstream media.

Okay, so they are right.

It no longer matters.

Just another day for Republicans who can’t expect Millennials to vote for them by coming off as not very authentic.

Of course, everyone wonders why Donald Trump turned out to “win” the debate in the CNBC and Drudge polls shortly after it ended.

I can tell you why?

Trump didn’t sound like a politician.

He is anything but.

Now before you go off and accuse me of being a leftwing liberal socialist, I don’t like the other party either.

I guess I’m a Millennial – both parties are out of touch with me.

The media have decided that Hillary Clinton won the nomination and Bernie Sanders is an angry old man.

The last time they did this, Barack Obama stole the nomination from Hillary.

You see, the mainstream media is just after what we in radio want – ratings and revenue.

Screw everything and everyone else.

CNBC which did an awful job on that debate supposedly got 13 million viewers to tune in and watch Marco Rubio launch into the only thing that could get that bunch of politicians to stop flat lining – attacking the lamestream media.

But Fox did a lousy job, too.

Megyn Kelly was not exactly shy about stirring up Donald Trump but when she did it, only Trump attacked her.

When the “liberal” CNBC did it, they all piled on.

God forbid, they attack Fox.

I thought CNBC was a financial channel that sounds more Republican than Democrat.

That doesn’t matter, either.

No one is listening.

Certainly not the voters that put Obama in the White House twice.

Millennials are repelled by Rubio’s assertion that immigrants have to represent what they bring to the country to become an American.

That’s bullshit to me because when my grandfather came to this country from Italy, he didn’t know.

But he became a railroad engineer and most assuredly contributed.

Millennials agree with this.

They are for liberal immigration.

They go to school with immigrants.

And they are liberal on social issues and conservative on fiscal ones.

Maybe that’s why so many of them attend Bernie Sanders rallies.

Politicians are talking to old people but the oldest candidate of all is talking to young people.

Fox News Channel is number one all right but no one mentions that they can do this by attracting only over 100,000 in-demo viewers for even their most popular shows.

And look at the commercials for containing medications and you’ll get an idea that either advertisers are getting a 60-year jump on Millennials or they have few young viewers.

Rush Limbaugh is an example of everything that is wrong with radio. Millennials will never listen because he is aurally abusive to women.

In fact I got to thinking, what is it that radio does that no one else does and I couldn’t come up with it.

Traffic and Transit on the twos – come on, my iPhone does that on-demand. Hey Siri …

A variety of unusual music formats – you’re kidding, right? It’s the same old garbage. Everything sounds the same.

No commercials?

No, you have to get satellite for that and then you get to listen to their same old formats.

Until politicians can come up with something authentic that voters want, they will go down in defeat.

Until radio can come up with anything that isn’t the same old thing, it is doomed.

Millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 and 90 million strong don’t watch mainstream media and they don’t have a relationship with radio.

They believe YouTube stars before they believe the most respected name in news.

Hillary thinks she has it made but she thought that the last time, too.

Trump could very well be the Republican opponent because he’s not a politician and although his views on immigration turn off Millennials, everyone loves a non-politician these days.

All of this is a reminder to those who care about audiences to respect the fact that the number one thing you MUST do to win a Millennial is be authentic.

You must be civic not political.

A compromiser not a hardline figure who stands only on principle.

The current presidential charade is telling the politicians something – and they are not listening.

Same thing with radio.

The conspicuous absence of Millennials to help radio continue to grow should be telling stations that they need to be more authentic and less hyper.

And radio companies are also not listening.

We are entering a time of great change when the only winners are people who can resonate with the new principles of a new generation.

And if you’re wondering – I don’t know who I am going to vote for yet.

Only my friend Sean Hannity knows for sure.

I know who I’m NOT going vote for.

But the most authentic candidate who comes anywhere close to my values and concerns will win my vote.

I suspect for young voters, the same will be true.

So, the next president could very well be the “rock star” Millennials want. We just don’t know who that person is yet.

And the replacement for radio is on the way.

It is the most authentic medium to come of age.

We just don’t know what that will look like yet.

YouTube stars?

Or could it be you?

See a complete list of my previous stories here.