By Walter Sabo
A.K.A. Walter Sterling, Host
Sterling Every Damn Night, WPHT, Philadelphia
Sterling On Sunday, TMN
Take advantage of the new media order. Initially, TiVo was a hit because you could pause live TV and go to the bathroom whenever you wanted. Bathroom breaks while watching live TV was a revelation. As you were going to the bathroom, your relationship with media was being re-wired in your brain. In a matter of months, you were able to watch what you wanted, whenever you wanted. DECADES of TV scheduling strategies became anachronistic. It’s November. Do you know when your favorite shows are airing on TV? No! No need you’ll watch them whenever you want!
Now On-demand is the rule of all media.
Liberation from traditional formalities has infiltrated every aspect of our day.. TMZ launched with this editorial rule: Cover NO scheduled events. No press conferences. TMZ cameras lurk in the parking lots and valet tents to capture stars off guard, candid, authentic. Make-up artists and movie set hairdressers, not PR teams, are their primary news sources. By comparison, “Entertainment Tonight” and “Hard Copy” who are obligated to the PR industry look phony, stiff, staged.
Warren Buffet for decades modeled how to behave like the country’s richest man. Stable, sane, professorial. But today’s richest man, Elon Musk is running million dollar a day giveaways to registered voters. He wears t-shirts, dances on stage and has how many kids?
Hoda Kotb quits the “Today Show” …THE TODAY SHOW and no one cares. The quest for a new co-anchor captures no one’s imagination. Compared with the impact of online influencers, TikTok videos and on-demand TV, the “Today Show” looks anachronistic.
A relic.
Four years ago, the millions of workers staying at home would have never thought freedom from the office commute would be possible. Now they can’t imagine why they have to go to the office – because they are at work, on their kitchen table.
• Don’t become BLOCKBUSTER. Today’s trends are becoming surging rivers of thought and behavior. Winning employers will embrace their colleagues with recognition of these changes. Rather than bribing and begging workers back to the old office, they will amp up the tools and support to allow employees to easily produce from anywhere they wish. That means providing better computers, phones, software, and new systems for recognizing performance. Getting-in-early just isn’t going to mean anything. Getting-it-done will be prized.
About your talk station: Three- and four-hour blocks of – BLOCK PROGRAMMING – is the past. Seamless is the future. Seamless talk programming, format driven rather than “my show” driven will grow cume and maximize PPM technology. Hosts will present ideas and entertainment, with other hosts and contributors using techniques that allow for tune-in at any time.
Consultant Walter Sabo A.K.A. Walter M Sterling has a nightly show “Sterling Every Damn Night” heard on WPHT, Philadelphia 9:00 pm – 12:00 midnight. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs Sundays 10:00 pm – 1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at waltermsterling@gmail.com or Sabowalter@gmail.com.