The Josh Innes Show - Let Funny People Be Funny

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

Today I saw a post from someone on our radio stations Facebook. It was a random post from someone who had thoughts on radio. These thoughts actually made a ton of sense Let's read this post... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today, and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life.

Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. All right, let's see here. So I see this post. And this post is on the radio station website. And it's a weird response to something. But it's actually a very well-stated point about radio. So it's just weird that this is where this post came from. But there's a post on our Facebook page, our radio station Facebook page, about how James, who's on the show, is going to be at a grand opening celebration.

for floor and decor today and there's going to be a bunch of giveaways and free food and prizes and all sorts of stuff and James is going to be there and okay cool someone posts a lengthy response afterwards

which you know it's almost one of those like sir this is a Wendy's type of responses but it's actually very compelling and well thought out and in my opinion accurate about radio very well thought out let me play

couple commercials and read this. It's a very well thought out and intriguing point, a lengthy, multi-paragraph point this person made. And we will do that after these words. At Desjardin, our business is helping yours. We are here to support your business through every stage of growth, from your first pitch to your first acquisition. Whether it's improving cash flow or exploring investment banking solutions with Desjardin business, it's all under one roof. So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us and contact Desjardin today. We'd love to talk. Business. All right. So again, the setup is, this is an ad, just you know, like an ad post to say that James is going to be live at floor and decor, and they're going

to be given away a truck, and there's going to be an opportunity to meet experts on flooring and all this shit. And this is the ultimate, sir, this is a Wendy's, but it's actually accurate. This person from the blind tasting podcast, whatever that is, so obviously this person has some sort of at least broadcasting ideas to a degree, right? I've got to say, some of my favorite people on radio are the DJs who clearly have real personality, real chemistry, and something to offer beyond just hitting play on some handful of rock songs everybody else is already spinning. What I don't get is this. If every station makes their talent play the exact same songs and the exact same tight format and barely lets them talk, how are they supposed to

stand out from anybody else in the market? Okay, that's a very good point. That's kind of what we talked about yesterday on the show, which is, you know, we're in Detroit. There are currently four rock stations in Detroit and one that's in Canada that blasts in. So really there's five rock stations. Two of them play a pretty similar format. Really, all of them play some element of the same shit that everybody else is playing. So, right, we have this WRIF. WRIF is this legendary rock station, and they play some currents and they're like a heavier kind of mainstream, active rock, whatever, right? So that's what they do. You've got WCSX, sister station of WRIF. WCSX is a kind of a true blue classic rock station. So you'll get like Seeger and John Mellon

camp, but you'll also get, you know, black hole sun and shit like that. But they're not going to flirt with, you know, getting into like the early 2000s. They're not going to play Fallout Boy or anything like that. Probably not going to play Creed, if I had to guess. Probably not going to play anything that even leans remotely, kind of 2000, just alt-y, right? And then there's us. And we exist as a place that kind of offers up what both of those stations offer, right? And then you've got the alt station here, which is like a true blue kind of alt station.

Like you might still get like fucking Mumford and Sons and shit on there. And they play, again, we cross over musically with a lot of those bands, a lot of those stations, I should say. So I'll give you an example. And this was bizarre. But this weekend, driving around, I got our radio station on, we're playing War Pigs. Okay? Black Sabbath, War Pigs. And it's like, nastast.

I flip around our machine keeps turning and all that. I flip around. I flip to WCSX, which is kind of our nearest competitor, our closest, you know, one that we're trying to eliminate. Not only are they playing war pigs, but they are playing war pigs at virtually the exact same point in the song as we are. And it's like, huh, like, what differentiates us from anybody? And I'm not saying that to rip us or anybody else,

but what differentiates the radio station? Because it ain't the music. And we've talked about it before. I don't think radio is dying. I think radio still has a great life ahead of it, right? Not the life that it lived 30 years ago, but a good life. I think there's blood in this thing. It can happen and it can succeed, right?

Because ultimately, what are people doing? They're consuming audio, whether it's a podcast or whatever. People are still consuming audio. And this is all this is audio, video, etc. here in lies the rub. Whenever you've got multiple stations that are offering you the same fucking thing, how do you separate? Well, you have to separate with the people that are the talent,

the people that are on the air, right? Mojo in the morning is the morning show over on our top 40 station. There are other stations that play top 40 music in Detroit. The difference between those stations and Channel 955 is that Channel 955 has is Mojo and the music is of non-importance to them and they talk and they talk and they've built a great show and they make a lot of money for the station and it's great and people listen to it and people know Mojo as I told you yesterday I'm at a wing shop guy tells the lady there that I work on the radio she goes oh do you know Mojo right no one that's

listening to Mojo that's not to say that these people that listen to Mojo don't like the music they're not tuning into Mojo because they care about the music they're tuning into Mojo because they give a shit about what Mojo has to say. Same thing with, you know, Rod Ryan and Houston. Nobody in Houston is tuning into Rod Ryan because they want to hear Blue October. You know, they don't give a shit about that. They're tuning into Rod Ryan because Rod Ryan's fucking Rod Ryan and they like Rod Ryan. Let's continue.

If you've got a duo that's genuinely funny, sharp, and dynamic together, why not let them actually be what makes P. what makes people stop and listen. That chemistry is the part that you can't duplicate with a playlist. I'm guessing this guy's probably talking about us in the morning if I had to guess. I mean, I'm connecting the dots here from Blind Tasting Podcast. And here's the part that really doesn't add up to me. If a station prides itself on being human, then being human ought to be the whole point. Real people talk, react, joke around, and connect. That's what listeners respond to. It seems strange to celebrate. being human as a brand, then pull back the moment the people behind the mic actually sound human.

Anybody can stack up familiar rock songs. What makes listener stay is when the people behind the mic actually sound alive, unpredictable, and worth hearing. The music matters, sure, but personality is what makes a station feel different. That is a very well thought out point by someone who probably has some sort of radio connection, if I had to guess, or some sort of entertainment connection in some way. because, I mean, the name is Blind Tasting Podcasts. I mean, they at least know something about producing audio content to a degree. And that's the point that I make, and that's the point that I'll make with anybody.

If you want to tell me that you're working on a music radio station and you need to play music because that's what people tune in for and you need to have some songs in there, I'm not against the concept of that. Like, I think if you come into a radio station that's been playing a bunch of music and then you beat people over the head with talk, you run the risk of really discharging. destroying that radio station. The thing we have going is that it's not like we have a huge thing that's been built up here. When I got to Keishi, and while Keishi was down a little bit, Kishi was still Kashi in a big radio station. So you bring me in there and I'm doing wacky shit in the afternoon and it's completely different than what that audience wanted and was accustomed to. That's beating people over the head. That's a culture shock is what that is.

And that, you know, ultimately was a failure. Although my numbers were never dreadful so much. I mean, I guess there were stretches where they weren't great, but the whole station was down for a time, too. Not just me. But, and then they were up. I mean, they were up big at one point, too. Like there was a big upward swing with what we were doing, too, which was kind of cool. But again, I'm not saying you go into a radio station and you just take a flamethrower to it and say, go fuck yourself and all that.

What I am saying is if you've been doing something for multiple years and it doesn't work, throwing someone on the radio, and this could be anywhere, not just us. I mean, I would say this for anything. If I were a consultant or something, which I would never want to be, although I feel like this podcast a lot of times just me consulting what I think works and what doesn't work in radio and shit, which, okay, whatever. Those who can't do teach. But if I'm in this situation in any spot, what really differentiates you?

I think what happens is, what you end up with? is you get these places that kind of have these high hopes and they want people to come in and be successful. And they want you to do big things and they want you to be successful and they want you to be different. But the reality is they don't want you to be that different. They want you to be just different enough to beat the other guys. But I don't know that they want you to take off and be huge, if that makes sense. I think that the safe play is doing just enough where, hey, the guys we had on before it was really nothing. So let's put on somebody that we can have a big enough personality, but put that person on and kind of batter them down a little bit.

They'll be better than the alternative, and it'll be fine. I don't know that that was always the belief. I think there was a time when it was, let's put big personalities on the radio, and let's see if that big personality can take over and do something. And by the way, I'm still relatively new to working day-to-day in music radio, right? I was around it my whole life, but working on it, you know, in a day-to-day basis is still a relatively new concept. I mean, I've only been doing it for, I guess, five years. I mean, really that new of a concept at this point, I guess not. But that's anything, though, like these podcasts, like everybody wants to compete with podcasts, right? How do we compete with podcasts? And how do we compete with people's playlists? Well, I think there's something you have to accept. And if you're in music radio, you're going to have a hard time competing with people's playlist because people can make their playlist. That's why the I-Hart radio app let you build playlists and everything else. Because when it comes to music, people don't want to wait around to hear what they want to hear.

They can pick up their phone and get what they want to hear. This is at 1995 where, hey, it's the hot A to 8. And like, you have to wait around to see if the disc jockey plays the song you want so you can hit play and record on it. You can pick up your phone right now and you can get whatever fucking song you want. You don't need the DJ for that. That's the thing that always kind of baffles me about the concept of music, particularly in the morning. Like, I understand that if, you know, you're a disc jockey and you're on a radio station in the afternoon, like, there's still kind of an understanding that in the afternoon and midday on a music radio station,

you're going to hear a lot of music. And I'm sure that there are still some places that don't bother putting a playlist on in the garage or at the dentist office. And they just keep listening to the actual radio. I'm sure that still exists and it's still a thing. I've heard it at dentist office in other places and office buildings and stuff. So you know that. Some people are, you know, listening to you and they do. But in the morning, I think there's an understanding that music isn't going to take precedent in the morning.

And that's also why I believe that the show in St. Louis would have worked if it were in the morning versus in the afternoon. But like, whose fault is that? It's nobody's fault. I made the decision to go there knowing that that wasn't the case. And I chased the money and the call. letters and what happened happened. But I think, and this doesn't just go for me or anybody. I mean, it goes for everybody, not just me.

Like, I don't know how many people give a shit about hearing music in the morning. Because if you're going to play music, play music. If you're going to have people on there that are trying to entertain people, the music needs to be secondary. The music gets in where the music gets in. It shouldn't be the other way around. It shouldn't be, hey, work your way around the music. And again, this is not just about me.

this would be me if I were a consultant talking about anybody because you're competing with podcasts. Right. Now, the argument would be, well, once you post a podcast of your show, people can access it whenever they want. Sure. But if you want them to listen to it in real time and you want people to listen to it while it's happening and interact with it, what you can't have happen is you can't have people like trying to really engage in a show. and then that show goes away for 13 minutes while you play two songs, and then you go to commercials, and then before you know what,

you've lost people for 20 minutes, if not longer, you know, that's where I think you run into problems with music stuff. And again, it's not just a me thing. It's an everybody thing. That's just me viewing that format from afar.

Talk formats don't have to worry about that. The only thing they have to worry about is commercials. And a lot of these do it where, you know, you talk for 12 minutes, play three minutes of commercials, you're back. There's very little downtime between the talking and the commercials in your back. Now, try to do an entertainment show on a music radio station where you might talk for three minutes or something, go to commercial, play 10 minutes of commercials, come back and play stairway, and that's been 20 minutes. How long has someone's commute every day? How long are they going to stick around?

Will they come back? Those are the things. So I like what this person had to say, no clue who they are. And it's random that they just, you know, ma'am, this is a Wendy's did on that point. most, but I agree with it.