Will Tom Leykis Show Continue?

by Michael Douglas Carlin

Tom Leykis Puts His Listeners on Notice. The show could cease at the end of the year.

Today, on the Tom Leykis show, Tom leveled with his listeners. He spelled out the financial realities facing his Internet start-up company. Due to the gap in revenue vs. costs at the end of the year the show may disappear. Leykis appealed to listeners to subscribe to his premium service to help him close this gap or even bring the show into the black. Listeners called in to voice their support for Leykis and to admonish other listeners to chip in and support the show.

The show has gained some serious ground over the past six months. There are over 1600 premium subscribers and over 150,000 unique listeners every single month. This is a significant accomplishment for any show that is broadcast only over the Internet. The show hits a solid demographic that is mostly male. Advertisers should be more eager to use this platform for gender appropriate products.

The controversial show hits a nerve in society today. There is such a push toward gender equality but Leykis points out areas where men are discriminated against. Leykis admonishes his listeners not to marry or even participate in long-term relationships. He points out the costs associated with a man’s decisions and helps his listeners think about the consequences of their actions. Leykis inspires his listeners to dream big and to invest in themselves to achieve the American Dream.

Leykis faces tough choices in his revenue model. He contemplates putting the show behind a pay wall. That would limit the contributions made by listeners to those that pay for the show. Currently the 1600 subscribers are only listening live 17% of the time. Creating 18 hours of content per week with less than 500 callers could prove challenging. The only clear way forward is to grow the listeners from 150,000 per month to more than a million. That shouldn’t be so tough for a radio personality that has been syndicated to millions of listeners previously.

Current listeners could be tapped to tell their friends about the show. Leykis could also ask them to post on facebook or twitter to create a greater awareness of the program. Instead he has chosen to shake down the current listeners to contribute more. It has definitely had an impact. Listeners bought beers (a revenue stream on the website) and subscribed in record numbers during today’s show.

Radio companies have been struggling to make ends meet for some time. The top two radio companies have failed to consistently put profit to the bottom line. Leykis could outperform both of these companies in many key areas in spite of the current $100,000 deficit. Will the show continue? I wouldn’t ever bet against Tom Leykis or his loyal fan base. The deficit could all be erased if each subscriber asked a friend to subscribe and if every listener recruited additional listeners companies wanting to reach a predominantly male audience could not ignore this important advertising platform.