Inside the Issue – July/August 2009

The following text is a collection of excerpts from all of the articles featured in this month’s issue of TALKERS magazine. If you wish to read the complete story – you may subscribe to the publication by clicking here.

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New Media Seminar 2009
Annual talk media gathering dazzles attendees

By Alan Linder
TALKERS MAGAZINE
Assistant Publisher

NEW YORK –– The 12th annual TALKERS magazine New Media Seminar, held June 5-6 in New York City, was attended by some 520 talk media professionals and lauded by many as “the best ever.” Highlighted by the appearance of Rush Limbaugh to accept the coveted Freedom of Speech Award on Saturday afternoon, the two-day seminar delivered a jam-packed agenda chock-full of information, entertainment and networking opportunities. During a time when the industry is in flux due to the tenuous economy and the effect emerging technologies are having on the business, the NMS provided thoughtful analysis of talk media’s problems and potential solutions by programmers, sales professionals and those in affiliated fields as well.

Welcoming Address

TALKERS magazine publisher Michael Harrison opened the seminar with the welcoming address and told attendees that despite the economic conditions the entire world is facing, optimism should prevail and attendees should take a positive approach during the next two days. He then summarized what he believes are the five most important challenges facing the industry today.

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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New Media Seminar 2009

By Michael Harrison

NEW YORK –– New Media Seminar 2009 was a tremendous success in terms of both turnout and productivity. For that, the entire TALKERS magazine organization is grateful. Considering the economic obstacles and sheer turbulence of the times, the manner in which this event unfolded shines as a beacon of hope that the talk media industry indeed has a very bright future.

This brightness of this future will be based upon a formula consisting of four elements: vision, knowledge, hard work and courage.

We must possess the vision to comprehend a whole new roadmap ahead. We must acquire the knowledge of working with a completely new set of tools. We must not shun the hard work necessary to build new organizations and business models. We must summon the courage (and faith) to tighten our belts until the new seeds being planted have been given enough time and nurturing to bear fruit.

Although the day-to-day financial realities of this chapter are bleak (I might be optimistic, but I am also realistic) and the suffering is far from over –– never in my 42 year history as a broadcasting professional have I been as excited as I am at this moment about the myriad opportunities that abound for personal, artistic and financial reward in our business. The clues and facts to back this up were abundantly on display during our two very special and dynamic days in New York City. It is a burning dedication to this concept that will continue to drive this magazine and its annual conference forward.

Again, our gratitude to the hundreds of attendees, speakers and sponsors who made New Media Seminar 2009 the most valuable and rewarding of all its 12 annual installments to date.

Please join me at the 2009 NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia for my Annual State of the Talk Radio Industry Address on Wednesday, September 23, between 11:00 am and 12:00 noon. It will provide a good opportunity to continue this ongoing discussion.

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FM Trek: Talk radio’s FM stars may finally be aligning

By Jayne Pearl
TALKERS MAGAZINE
Special Projects Editor

SPRINGFIELD –– FM…the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the station enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new formats; to seek out new programs on new frequencies; to boldly go where few talk hosts have gone before.

In 1972 — 37 years ago! — WNIR-FM, Akron made the decision to boldly go where no commercial FM station had gone before — into the world of spoken-word programming. At the time, the only other FM stations offering talk programming in this country were NPR affiliates, whose first talk program, “All Things Considered,” premiered in mid-1971. And most NPR stations broadcast a mix of music and news/talk. To this day, WNIR-FM, owned by family-run MediaCom, airs an all-talk, all-local lineup.

That was followed shortly in 1975 by WWDB-FM, Philadelphia. The recent passing of one of the station’s marquee hosts, Irv Homer, caused many to reminisce about its time as a talk outlet. The Philadelphia station would remain talk until 2000.

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.
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“The Sports Connection”

The little show that set a new course for sports talk radio

By Rick Cerrone
RICK CERRONE COMMUNICATIONS
President

NEW YORK –– When I first heard the prediction from the promotions director of New York’s 50k WNEW-AM in November of 1986, I was intrigued.

“We at WNEW believe that the future of AM radio is sports,” Rose Polidoro told me at a lunch meeting before confidently laying out the plan of a dramatic format shift for an aging New York radio institution whose audience was dwindling.

Nearly 23 years later, I am utterly amazed by her perfect prophecy and by the ongoing impact of a now-defunct station and its short-lived nightly sports talk show on an industry that is now an entrenched part of our culture — sports talk radio.

In 1986, management at WNEW had good reason to tweak its format.

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.
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Talk Radio Day at the United Nations stimulates global conversations for fourth straight year

By Ellen Ratner TALK RADIO NEWS SERVICE Bureau Chief r

WASHINGTON –– For the fourth consecutive year, TALKERS magazine, in conjunction with its Washington, DC-based sister firm, the Talk Radio News Service (TRNS) and in association with the United Nations Foundation, presented Talk Radio Day at the United Nations. The dynamic event pulsated around a massive radio row situated in the Secretariat’s Lobby, a key location in the iconic United Nations headquarters building located on Manhattan’s East Side, on Thursday June 4, 2009 –– the day before the start of this year’s New Media Seminar.

More than 20 talk media hosts, teams, reporters, shows and networks from across the nation, representing a variety of political perspectives, dayparts and geographical coverage, interacted on air with key U.N. officials and personalities. These included ambassadors, department heads and expert spokespeople — 47 special guest speakers in all representing 26 different departments, initiatives and missions including the office of the Secretary General. They discussed the world organization’s inner workings and presented to the national talk radio listening public a spectrum of dramatic global stories –– many involving extreme matters of life and death –– largely ignored by the mainstream media. The event also happened to take place immediately prior to World Environment Day Weekend, creating a timely hook to discuss such topics as energy independence and global warming. Many conversations dealt with the hot-button issues of immigration, widespread planetary health threats and, of course, the most pressing topic of the year –– the global economic crisis.

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.
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NMS 2009 underscored need to approach content as valuable and timeless property

By Matthew B. Harrison

NEW YORK –– One of the major concepts taken away from this year’s New Media Seminar is the importance of branding your program –– or more accurately, your “products” (which also include your name and face) –– so that this remarkable transitional period between 20th century terrestrial radio and 21st century digital technology proceeds smoothly and without unnecessary loss of revenue for those who deserve it.

We hear the word “branding” thrown around a lot these days…and rightfully so. It is a crucial element in the “modern” marketing process (and has been for well over a hundred years!). What is really important to digest at this point, is that in today’s dizzying digital environment, “branding” also plays a direct role in the legal aspects of generating revenue for every molecule of your products’ expanded monetary worth. It all has to do with that long (and ever-widening) tail we rightfully hear so much about. Thank you, Chris Anderson. It is this long tail that holds the recipe for the lion’s share of our future livelihoods.

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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The vote is in: Jackson is suspended

By Steven J.J. Weisman

BOSTON –– The winner in the recent Alabama special election for the state senate was Republican Paul Sanford. The loser was not just Democratic candidate Laura Hill, but also WVNN, Huntsville talk radio host Dale Jackson. The reason for Hill’s loss was pretty clear; she received fewer votes than her opponent. But Dale Jackson was not even a candidate. He did, however, in the eyes of many, participate and possibly influence the outcome of the election by reading a phony news release on the air that stated that due to heavy voter turnout the two candidates had agreed to flip a coin for the use of the polling places and that Sanford had won the coin flip, so his supporters would vote on Tuesday and Hill’s supporters were to vote on Wednesday. The phony press release was also posted on Jackson’s website on the Tuesday morning of the real election. The fake press release on his website contained a copy of the official Alabama state seal. The phony press release indicated that it was signed by Marion S. Barber of the Alabama “Office of Electoral Elections.”
There is no state official named Marion S. Barber, although there is a running back for the Dallas Cowboys who has that name. As for the “Office of Electoral Elections,” there is no such state agency unless it appears in a “Simpsons” episode.

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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What’s it worth?

By Al Herskovitz

BRADENTON, Fla. –– One of the rewards in attending TALKERS New Media Seminar each year is the opportunity to chat with a number of those who read these words each month and have questions and issues worthy of face-to-face discussion. Topic A this time around was ad pricing. It particularly is a major challenge for producers and hosts of independently syndicated shows.

Local talk stations have rate cards and sales staffs that have established their ad prices through market experience and history. The large networks and syndicators have much the same. But for the “indy,” in many cases, it comes down to unrealistic expectations. For example: Muscles Malone convinces his hometown station to allow him to do a weekly show on weightlifting. They either give him (or sell him) the Sunday morning 5:00 am to 6:00 am time slot right after the hour on colon cleansing and right before the program about pest control. Add to this the fact that the station is at 1620 on the dial with a signal to match.

After a few weeks the initial excitement wears off, and old Muscles is hit with the realization that this project is costing him time and money. And Nike and Bowflex haven’t automatically jumped on board despite the nice letter he wrote to their marketing departments. But even if the show had been of broader interest and had gotten on a more competitive facility at a reasonably good hour, the challenge would be the same –– how to turn the effort into at least a break-even situation if not a profitable one.

There are some simple steps that will quickly tell what is needed to go from the red ink to the black…obvious steps that should be covered well before the microphone is open for the first time. There is nothing mysterious here:

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.
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Sales is the grease of the talk radio show engine

By Curtis Sliwa
CITADEL MEDIA
Talk Show Host

NEW YORK –– I had the pleasure of attending the TALKERS magazine New Media Seminar 2009 in my backyard, New York City. I have made my bones in talk radio at WABC, New York for 18 years. Walking around, I bumped into various hosts and future hosts. Some gave me airchecks and wanted my feedback. I’ve since listened and have gotten back to them. For the most part, the content was good, but when it came to the pre-recorded and live-read commercials, they sucked. There was no emotion, no passion. It sounded like it was being read. Lame, boring, schlocky. If I were the advertiser, I’d want my money back.

This thing of ours, radio, is in danger of going under. It’s commercial radio. The rule should be “No Tickee, No Washee, No Talkee.”

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.
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Counter-programming play-by-play

By Richard Neer

NEW YORK –– Sports talkers face a dilemma: what to do when your show airs opposite a big-time sporting event on another channel?

Some programmers might suggest you pretend the game doesn’t exist. Counter-program…if the event is hoops, talk baseball. Don’t give scores or continual updates. Assume that the folks listening to you are doing so because they don’t care about the other event and treat it as a non-story.

However, if you’re trying to stake your territory as the sports authority in the market, you can’t ignore the big game, even if it doesn’t air on your station. Let’s face it –– it’s tough to beat play-by-play on another frequency for the die-hard fan. But for the more casual fan who doesn’t hang on every pitch, your re-creation of the big plays as they happen might be enough to hold their interest. This is true especially if you’re debating a hot topic on another subject.

An alternative for listeners with video access is to invite them to “watch” along with you.

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.
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Preparation, game plan and experience are the keys to victory

By Dan Sileo
WDAE, TAMPA
Talk Show Host

TAMPA –– In sports, a major difference (aside from the raw talent factor) between great teams and also-rans is prep backed up by an understanding of the infinite nuances and strategies inherent in the game. That’s why smart coaches spend endless hours going over the videos of their opponents and structure game plans specifically targeted to them right down to the player versus player level. And if plan “A” doesn’t work, they have also prepared a plan “B” –– whatever it takes to win!

Doing sports talk is no different. Putting my show together every day and delivering it to my audience has been an exercise in my growth as a sports talk radio host equal to the most vigorous training I had to endure during my days as a professional athlete. Probably even more demanding!

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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PodJockey inks Richard Neer to host literary content
“Novelist Cafe” set to target most ardent fans of fiction

By Kevin Casey
TALKERS MAGAZINE
Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD –– Multi-faceted broadcaster Richard Neer has been signed by PodJockey to host an ongoing series of podcasts delivered exclusively on the high-profile podcasting site (www.podjockey.com) titled “Richard Neer’s Novelist Café.” Targeted to ardent fans of fiction around the world, the page will feature Neer in conversation with a wide array of novelists –– both famous and upcoming –– about their books and their lives.

Neer, a 20-year veteran of New York’s all-sports WFAN, is also a pioneer of album rock radio (WNEW-FM, New York and WLIR-FM, Long Island) and known to national audiences as a senior correspondent on the upper demo program, “A Touch of Grey.“

The entire story appears in the July/August 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.