Sabo Sez: The Smartest Minds in the Radio Room
By Walter Sabo
A.K.A. Walter Sterling
Host, The Other Side of Midnight
WABC, New York / Red Apple Audio Networks
When in doubt, I recall smart quotes from people in our business who are successful, well paid, kind, and future oriented. I have always focused on what’s next rather than what’s been. These observations drive good results:
“Citytv of Canada is the model local TV News and has been for 50 years.” – Strategist, John Parikal
“Progress moves in many directions. Imagine if cable came first, then someone invented a way to send shows over the air.” – publisher / broadcaster, Michael Harrison
“The goal is a playlist of one song.” – Al Brady Law, a kind mentor and brilliant programmer.
“An Urban station should sound like music bouncing off the rooftops in Harlem on a July night.” – Frankie Crocker
“Top 40 will always be a successful format because by definition it plays the most popular songs of the day.” – Allen Shaw, former vice chairman of Beasley Broadcasting.
“We have a business plan; our stations have to be number 1.” – Robert McAllan, president emeritus Press Broadcasting / founder of WTKS-FM Real Radio. Orlando / New Jersey 101.5.
“One day all music will be on FM and all talk will be on AM.” – Jean Shepherd, WOR Radio host, 1964.
GM Mickey Luckoff on why number 1 KGO, San Francisco moved like an express train: “I hire hosts who have done Top 40. I can teach them Talk; I can’t teach them Radio.”
“My staff just can’t barge into the studio when I’m on, they have to understand this takes concentration, the job is to get to the next thing.” – Howard Stern
“It’s a simple business; people make it hard.” – Edward F. Mclaughlin president EIB network.
“My business decisions are always based on common sense.” – John Catsimatidis, owner, WABC Radio.
“When we release a movie, I stand outside the theatre on opening night and talk to the audience members as they file out. That’s the best research we do.” – Leonard Goldenson, founding chairman ABC Inc.
“No, I don’t watch many TV shows because I know all the stories.” – Fred Silverman, program chief CBS, ABC, NBC.
About streaming music services: “There has always been a box of records next to the radio.” – Bob Pittman, CEO, IHeart.
Tom O’Neil, founder, RKO General Radio, “Pay whatever you have to for a morning man, a production director, and for equipment to make the loudest signal, the rest you’ll have to beg for.”
Walter Sabo has been a C-Suite action partner for companies such as SiriusXM, Hearst, Press Broadcasting, Gannett, RKO General, and many other leading media outlets. His company, HITVIEWS, in 2007, was the first to identify and monetize video influencers. His nightly show “The Other Side of Midnight” is heard on WABC, New York and the Red Apple Audio Network 1:00 am – 5:00 am. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs 10:00 pm-1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at sabowalter@gmail.com. He can be phoned at 646-678-1110.
About those commercials… which pay for you. When a prospective client says, “We tried radio. It didn’t work,” I ask to hear the commercial. Within seconds I can tell why.
Bill Gates has a useful term for something radio should be thinking about: “Human Reserved.” In an essay about a turbulent AI era, he sketches an unsettling future, and – for broadcasters – has a consequential warning… and an opportunity.
“Rap” was senior vice president of rock promotion at Columbia Records where he served for 33-years during album rock’s golden era, playing a pivotal role in the careers of some of the biggest stars in the business. These included everyone from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd to the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello to Billy Joel, Judas Priest to Alice In Chains, Journey and many, many more.
ABC warned that the FCC’s scrutiny of “The View” could reach talk radio. Now the eight ABC-owned television station licensees have taken the agency to court. But the immediate lawsuit is not asking a judge to decide whether “The View” qualifies as news.
As TV is touting its coming attractions, take a step back. We – inside the box – live-and-breathe radio.
By Matthew B. Harrison
“It’s all media,” declared accomplished media executive Jack Griffin when confronted with brand new definitions of content and content distribution. Jack, for years, was president of Meredith Publishing, Time Inc., and The Tribune Company. I met Jack when he was publisher of PARADE magazine. Jack is pragmatic, won’t waste your time and spots BS faster than most humans. We were listening to discussions of the impact of online media versus traditional media, and his line was running out. Jack declared “It’s all media” and the meeting blessedly ended. The phrase haunts me and it is being proven true every second of every day.
In Full Stack Human: The Mindset Upgrade You Need to Stay Human in a World Ruled by Technology (2026, Wiley Books) Dara Simkin and Tane Hunter describe a 2026 media landscape where people face information overload, shrinking attention spans, negativity fatigue, algorithmic manipulation, and constant distraction.
TALKERS founder Michael Harrison is this week’s guest on the National Press Club’s official podcast, Update-1, in which he tackles the topic “Predicting the Future of Media Following the Shutdown of CBS News Radio.” Interviewed by noted American University media professor Gemma Puglisi, Harrison addresses such issues as changes in the tenets of journalism and the general shrinkage of radio news. Along the way, he offers his insights into a variety of media and societal topics including the impact of clickbait and what he describes as “the daily dance of affirmation” resulting 
from the trend toward news platforms “targeting” audiences for purely marketing purposes. Harrison defends AI from critics who claim the technology lacks “heart” and that audiences will swing back to the “authenticity” being destroyed by AI slop. Harrison makes the case that what counts is the humanity behind the operation of AI which is “only a tool.” He says, “Blaming AI for shallow content is like attributing shoddy novels to the invention of the word processor.” Harrison boldly predicts that AI and modern technology will hasten the “death of Hollywood” as we know it among other insights into the future of news, entertainment, and communications. Don’t miss this! 
Radio stations used to announce the present temperature at the end of the weather forecast, empowering listeners who are heading out to dress accordingly. It’s the ultimate live-N-local information.
years. Unlike many of his timid Senate colleagues, the senator was always delighted to join local and national talk shows without being blocked by the annoying Praetorian Guard of Capitol Hill aides dragging their feet, demanding questions in advance, placing limits on topics to be discussed and other myopic restrictions.” Tradup goes on to note, “Salem Radio Network host Mike Gallagher frequently welcomed Lindsey Graham on his nationally syndicated talk show, as did Salem’s Hugh Hewitt and others. Graham was also a featured guest on Sean Hannity’s radio and FOX News Channel programs, as well as Salem’s ‘This Week on Capitol Hill’ with Tony Perkins and virtually every Sunday talk show.” 
“Globalization and the deconstruction of community and country, an addictive media system that runs on algorithms we don’t understand and can’t escape, the unpredictability of climate change, Gilded Age-level inequality, and the worry that generative AI will control rather than be controlled by us.”
If your station is outside the top 50 markets, you already know the pressure points. A mature workforce stretched thin. Fewer applicants for on air and production roles – specifically the younger creators who don’t see radio as their first creative outlet. And a competitive landscape where streaming, satellite, and podcasts divert attention with the gravitational pull of a black hole.
No two summers have been alike since the pandemic upended listeners’ lives and retailers’ businesses. So, we’ve seen this movie before. To sound relevant and relatable and helpful, connect the dots: