Inside the Latest Issue – October 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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Qualitative aspects of the talk radio audience

By Michael Harrison
TALKERS MAGAZINE
Publisher

NEW YORK –– This issue of TALKERS magazine contains the publication’s yearly installment of the Talk Radio Research Project^TM, which provides a thumbnail overview of the news/talk format’s qualitative audience profile including demographics, political orientation, income, education and consumer tastes and habits. The latest figures are in and just like annual clockwork they indicate that news/talk radio maintains its historic position as the most powerful and consistent attraction to draw adult audiences in audio broadcast media and inspire them to action.

In what seems to be a catching up process, this year marks a stepped-up attention to the qualitative side of audience analysis on the part of the industry establishment as indicated by Arbitron’s flirtation with the “lifestyle” dimension of demographic findings and companies such as Citadel aggressively packaging their formats and audience numbers under the banner of social interests and influences as well as cold numbers for advertisers seeking a closer connection with appropriate target audiences.

According to the brand new Fall 2009 edition of this non-scientific but extremely reliable aid, people who listen to news/talk radio on a regular basis are generally politically and economically active, in addition to being affluent and well-educated, when compared to the general U.S. population, other mass media and specifically the audiences of music radio.

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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The state of the program director in talk radio

Wanted: Hands-on talk radio professional experienced in sales, promos, website development
and social networking.

By Jayne Pearl
TALKERS MAGAZINE
Special Projects Editor

SPRINGFIELD –– The above hypothetical ad could be for an operations or sales manager, but in today’s talk radio world it could just as easily be for a program director. The role of PD has experienced a series of seismic shifts during the past five or 10 years as a result of consolidation, syndication, technology and the recession. While everyone in the industry has felt the shock waves, many programmers and consultants seem to have landed on different sides of the constantly shifting ground.

Consultant Holland Cooke of Holland Cooke Media says the skill set is less about coaching live local talent and more about managing satellite feeds. “PDs have to make sure the automation template is working and the stop sets are loaded, as opposed to button-holing the host at the water cooler and role playing the show and the call-in proposition. What a concept: rehearsal! The Red Sox do this every game when the batting cage is set up and Dustin Pedroia is up there taking swings and the hitting coach says, ‘Drop your shoulder, babe.’ That person tends not to exist at the station anymore because talent doesn’t work at the station anymore.”

These days, more and more programmers also have to maintain a toehold in the administrative maze. “PDs have gone from artist to administrator,” notes Gabe Hobbs, who recently left his longtime position as vice president of news/talk/sports programming at Clear Channel Radio and launched Gabe Hobbs Media, an industry consulting and talent management firm in Tampa. “Large corporations are just suffocating PDs with spreadsheets, telling them: ‘Fill out this form. Do this study and that analysis. And can you fire two more people and hop on a plane to New Orleans?’”

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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The TALKERS magazine interview:
Citadel Media syndicated star Mark Levin

NEW YORK –– Mark Levin is one of the hottest properties in talk radio today. His highly rated show on WABC, New York is syndicated nationally by Citadel Media (formerly ABC Radio Networks). He is also one of the leading authors in the conservative political arena. After hosting a Sunday afternoon program, Mark moved to the daily 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm time slot where it skyrocketed to #1 on the AM dial in his first 18 months on the air. His 2005 book Men in Black climbed to #3 in the nation on The New York Times best-seller list. His most recent book, Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, spent its first several weeks of release atop The New York Times best-seller list and was the top seller for Amazon.com as well. Mark has been a frequent guest and substitute host on The Sean Hannity Show, and has also been an advisor to Rush Limbaugh. Earlier this year, a third hour was added to Mark’s broadcast to satisfy the request from many of his affiliates and fans for even more Levin content. Mark Levin is one of America’s preeminent constitutional lawyers. He’s in great demand as a political and legal commentator and has appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs. Levin is also a contributing editor for National Review Online, and writes frequently for other publications. Levin has served as a top advisor to several members of President Ronald Reagan’s Cabinet –– including as chief of staff to the Attorney General of the United States. In 2001, the American Conservative Union named Levin the recipient of the prestigious Ronald Reagan Award. He currently practices law in the private sector, heading up the prestigious Landmark Legal Foundation in Washington, DC. The TALKERS magazine interview with Mark Levin was conducted by Michael Harrison.

TALKERS: How did you get into talk radio to begin with? All of a sudden it seems like you were here.

To read the entire interview, click here.
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NAB Radio Show 2009:
Useful shoptalk, recovery consensus

By Holland Cooke
MCVAY MEDIA
News/Talk Specialist

PHILADELPHIA –– NAB Radio Board chairman and Commonwealth Broadcasting president and CEO Steve Newberry called radio “a mature industry with a wonderful future.”

Keynoting the Radio Luncheon, savvy, upbeat Fox Business Network anchor/VP Business News Alexis Glick ticked off data which suggest that economic recovery, if gradual, is imminent.

“The Dial and Beyond: Profit from what’s now and what’s next”

NAB’s convention theme and session agenda, and attendee conversation generally, acknowledged that radio’s recovery won’t be measured merely by healthier sales of on-air inventory.

Referring to the internet, ICBC president/COO and Group Heads Super Session panelist Charles Warfield asked and answered, “Is it a hobby or is it a business? It’s a business!”

“Having an iPod is now even cooler because you can listen to WTOP-FM on it!” cheered WTOP, Washington VP/news and programming Jim Farley, reciting station promo copy in NAB’s Group PDs Super Session. “Our mission is no longer just about doing great radio,” he believes. “Our mission is to engage as many people as possible, across as many platforms as possible, every day.”

“Who’s buying radio receivers today? Not many,” observed Delmarva Broadcasting president/CEO Pete Booker. “They’re buying new radios when they buy cars. There are a lot more people buying computers and other new-tech devices. The biggest favor Steve Jobs did for radio was to put an FM receiver in a cool device that people want to buy. The last time that happened was Sony Walkman. This makes radio cool again.”

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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Confrontation or kumbaya?

Which is better in talk radio?

By Jack Rice
AIR AMERICA MEDIA
Talk Show Host

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba –– I’m very conscious of my surroundings. And I feel very isolated. I know full well that I have traveled from Washington, DC to Ft. Lauderdale to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I still remember the boat ride across the bay and into Camp Delta. And the days it took on the island to get this interview.

So I sit here in front of this man. Strangely enough, while he looks remarkably like a retired insurance salesman, or even our pest exterminator who used to come to the house the first Saturday of every month, he is, in fact, the chief intelligence officer and lead interrogator for Joint Task Force Guantanamo. He has 40 years in this business and has been here on the island for years. He was also here at Camp X-Ray doing interrogations from the beginning.

And as I look into his face, I know what I have to say as I hold up my microphone. “I fundamentally disagree with what has happened in this place!”

And you know what? If you are in this business, you should be here too. Seriously!

Now, before we turn this into an argument about detainees, torture and symbolism, understand what I mean. When I say you should be here, what I mean is we should seek out opportunities to confront the things we disagree with. Why? Simple. Because it is good radio.

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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With malice toward none

By Steven J.J. Weisman

BOSTON –– In his second inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln eloquently proclaimed that he would act “with malice toward none, with charity for all.” Beautiful words for a president, but less likely to be a guiding principle of radio talk hosts. Nor should talk hosts follow such a path because it is not our role. In the seminal 1994 case of New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court recognized that in order to insure proper public debate on important issues, statements made about public officials, even if they are false, are protected by the First Amendment unless the statements were made with actual malice. In this circumstance that means that the statement was either known to be untrue when the statement was made or alternatively that the statement was made with a reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the statement. Writing for the unanimous court, Justice William J. Brennan recognized the “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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Balancing talent career needs with legal responsibilities

By Matthew B. Harrison

NEW YORK –– In order to maintain success with your show, expanding your brand to the internet through development of your website and participating in social networking sites such Facebook and Twitter is a must. There are hundreds of thousands of pages of text and tutorials about how and why these media outlets are important to bring your career to the next level –– but few if any detail the type of content that should be on your website. So before you take all of your airchecks and post them all over the web, consider the following:

MAJOR POINT: The first question is whether or not you are legally able to develop and maintain your own website. Depending upon how your contract deals with ownership and control of intellectual property, you may not have the right to build your own website without prior station approval. This would also extend to Facebook, Twitter and other such sites that you would use to promote your radio program (and thus your brand and career).

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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Sign of the times

By Al Herskovitz

BRADENTON, Fla. –– It is fascinating to observe the changes occurring in talk radio advertising in concurrence with the today’s economic conditions. Many of the long-time traditional categories have dramatically reduced their presence, if not totally vanished, from the dial. With the exception of the two major giants, WalMart and Target, you don’t hear much from the numerous other national retailers except when they run sales or offer deep, deep discounts.

Upscale operations such as Saks and Neiman-Marcus have retrenched while they try to reposition themselves in light of business conditions. The auto industry, one of the biggest radio ad categories, created a bit of a bump with the “cash-for-clunkers” program. While not disappearing totally, they have retreated both on the national and local scene. Independent retailers of all stripes and smaller chains of all types are virtually gone.

Well, it’s scary out there! Swine flu, pandemics, war on terror, housing crisis, foreclosures, credit crunch, global warming, unemployment, tainted food, drugs, violent and bizarre crimes. Have I left anything out?

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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Clear Channel’s New Orleans FM talker rides “Rush Radio” moniker to ratings and revenue success

NEW ORLEANS –– In September 2007 TALKERS magazine published a story about Clear Channel’s former New Orleans FM rock outlet –– WRNO –– that had just flipped to talk and was using the positioner “995FM.com.” The station was staffed by local talk talent and entwined in a symbiotic relationship with its website, focused on the goal of helping the region recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. About six months later, the company blew up the station and went conservative news/talk using the brand “Rush Radio 99.5 FM.”

A year and a half later, “Rush Radio 99.5 FM” is doing very well, according to operations manager Mike Kramer, who reports the Spring 2009 Arbitron survey showed the station was the leading talk-formatted station in the market with persons 25-54 and men 25-54. In addition to Premiere’s Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and “Coast To Coast AM,” it features a local morning show co-hosted by Michael Castner and Tasha Carty and a local PM drive program hosted by John Osterlind.

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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Comrex Corporation announces free update for ACCESS customers

DEVENS, Mass. –– The industry has come a long way since Comrex introduced its BRIC technology back in 2005. For the record, BRIC stands for Broadcast Reliable Internet Codec and even we non-engineers understand that the technology allows for audio transmission over the public internet. With the spottiness of ISDN availability these days and its ultimate demise, many broadcasters have purchased some of Comrex Corporation’s line of ACCESS IP codecs to get audio from one place to another. Now, in an effort to make doing that easier and more reliable, Comrex is offering 2.7 Firmware to its ACCESS owners free of charge.

Comrex tech director Tom Hartnett tells TALKERS magazine why the company developed these updates. “When Comrex introduced BRIC technology in 2005, it was a breakthrough in providing reliable audio transmission over the public internet. Since then, we’ve gained lots of experience on extra-challenging IP wireless networks like Wi-Fi, satellite and 3G. At the same time these networks have skyrocketed in popularity. As a result, these services can be burdened with overuse which sometimes causes IP audio transmission to suffer. We’ve taken our findings back to the lab and improved on the BRIC concept by adding a reliability layer along with intelligent congestion avoidance. The resultant combination, BRUTE, delivers the best possible user experience over modern networks, especially those plagued by overutilization and marginal coverage.”

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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West Point grads’ company helps broadcasters get video content on the internet

By Ellen Ratner
TALK RADIO NEWS SERVICE
Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON –– From West Point to Ustream may seem like quite a leap, but that is the path that led Brad Hunstable and John Ham, who met as cadets, to launch their company in 2006. Conceived as a vehicle for allowing military personnel stationed far from home to communicate via live video with their families, Ustream has become a godsend to talk show hosts who want to do multi-media broadcasts.

Hunstable majored in engineering management at West Point and worked in the Army doing logistics while working on his MBA in finance and real estate. After he left the military, he ventured into real estate, but decided he wanted to join the burgeoning world of internet startups. Having run the largest bulletin board system in Texas when he was 12-years old, he understood marketing and coding from his early years.

Ustream is a free service that allows people to broadcast live to many people at the same time. It wasn’t long, though, before Hunstable and his partners realized the service might be useful in many other settings. If you can broadcast to two, you can broadcast to 10 million if you can aggregate a big enough audience, says Hunstable.

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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Standing up for the fans

By Richard Neer

NEW YORK –– Regardless of your political bent, it is undeniable that the recession has ushered in a new wave of populism. The average American is feeling increasingly powerless and there is righteous anger forming at those who fail to respond to their concerns.

Even though sports can be an escape from the sad economic realities, it would be foolhardy to ignore the pain many of your listeners feel. Unfortunately, to acknowledge this risks biting the hand that feeds us.

An example is the National Football League. At a time when people are losing their homes or being forced to choose between health care and paying for food, the league seems to have taken a cavalier attitude toward the fans’ troubles. Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a recent interview with WFAN, New York’s Mike Francesa, refused to consider lifting the blackout rule in cities like Detroit, which face massive unemployment, not to mention a wretched team that failed to win a game last season. Although claiming to feel his constituents’ pain, the main concern he expressed was lagging revenues for his teams, even though guaranteed television contracts pump billions into their coffers every year. Of course, that’s his job but even the most callous CEO will offer tangible benefits (like rebates or discounts) to customers in tough times. Goodell’s singular concession was that most teams didn’t raise prices. Personal seat licenses are another recent outrage, where fans are asked to fork over fees as high as six figures merely to have the right to purchase overpriced tickets. Parking and concessions are also at record highs.

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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Great stations and great teams require great leaders

By Dan Sileo
WDAE, TAMPA
Talk Show Host

TAMPA –– Just as great sports teams have great leaders, so do great sports talk stations. If you look at the role of managers in baseball or head coaches in football, basketball or hockey –– as well as pitching coaches and offensive and defensive coordinators –– it is easy to see a direct correlation between the true motivators, strategists and even peacemakers and the stats and standings of teams we dub elite.

In sports talk radio (probably in all competitive radio but I can only write from personal and professional experience), the really good leaders stand out. Sometimes we call them program directors. Others can be general managers or operations managers. It doesn’t matter. Every station has one or more management figure who really sets the pace and concocts a formula for success.

Here are the basic qualities a sports talk programmer must possess to lead a winning station. They are not that different from the qualities needed to generate victories on the athletic sports field.

The entire story appears in the October 2009 print edition of TALKERS magazine.

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