Besides being the unfortunate name of a format that really isn’t one per se, “Female Talk” sounds like the kind of description that would be applied towards the interests of women by one and only one group:
Men.
All Talk radio is driven not by the gender of the chat but by the popularity of the folks doing the chatting. It’s about the stars, not the sex.
Is Dr. Phil’s TV show “Female Talk”? Because he certainly doesn’t look or sound like a woman. Is the show about relationships? Sure. But so is Howard Stern’s show.
Is Kidd Kraddick “Female Talk”? And if you say “no,” then why the heck not?
Ah, you might say, but our station will specialize in “Female Talk” without all that other stuff listeners want – such as songs. Well who said the women – er, sorry, “females” – in your audience want that? Are you trying to build a format or a station that listeners will love?
I think “Female Talk” is one of the worst labels ever to come along in the radio industry, because it’s a shorthand that signals a bunch of things that probably aren’t true – things that will lock the designers of this format and the stations which hire them into a box and throw away the key.
What kind of “Talk” do “Females” want to hear, anyway?
Talk from Oprah, talk from Kidd Kraddick, talk from Delilah, talk from Ryan Seacrest, talk from Barbara Walters, talk that includes songs between the talking, and talk that includes headlines, weather, and traffic between the songs.
By presuming there’s a version of “Male Talk” that women will love, we’re putting the cart before the horse. As it is, “Female Talk” exists in every market under names like “Country” and “Hot AC” and “CHR,” because when the mic opens in the morning, that’s “Talk.” And if you’re in the car next to a women who’s listening, that’s a “Female.”
Like all “Talk” “Female Talk” isn’t a format per se. It’s the way entertaining content is delivered by stars an audience is anxious to hear.
Even if that audience is “Female.”