Pending Business: The Fastest Billboards
By Steve Lapa
Lapcom Communications Corp
President
Until NASA approves company logos on rockets, the fastest billboards an advertiser can buy move at over 200 miles per hour, weigh less than seven ounces and are three-hundredths of an inch thick.
Who wants fast-moving billboards? The longer you can read the message the better, right? Not a problem when a marketer identifies a hard-to-reach target combined with an engaging new opportunity. No, these are not the colorful logos you see on NASCAR vehicles or the old school logos on Formula 1 cars. These are the new-age digital billboards on Formula 1 race cars.
These new billboards are the first of their kind, strategically placed on Formula 1 cars. These magnificent machines, featured at races around the world, can reach speeds of nearly 250 miles per hour. When a race car is moving that fast every ounce of weight counts, hence the paper-thin design. You see (excuse the pun) it is all about a camera angle and what the viewer sees when TV coverage cuts to that strategically placed camera and over 2 million viewers are looking on. Angles count.
Formula 1 racing not a threat to local radio ad sales, you say? Not yet, but when over 13 million people watch the top 12 Grand Prix races worldwide, it’s just a matter of time. The Formula 1 billboard lessons for local sellers and managers are not simple “how many calls, how many closes?” The Formula 1 billboard story is about:
— Sales and marketing innovation in a sport that is nearly 130 years old. The idea of creating a paper-thin, super lightweight digital billboard is an amazing accomplishment.
— Try again. How many times have you pitched a package to an advertiser who told you what was wrong with your package, only to lead to frustration at not winning the business? Can your manager quickly adapt to the advertisers’ needs? Managers, please read that last sentence carefully. The designers of the digital billboard were sent back to the drawing board until the weight and thickness worked for these incredible race machines.
— While you are thinking about getting your pitch together, somebody is already moving forward. In plain English: you snooze, you lose.
— Collaboration is the way to win. It took sellers working with engineers, working with marketers to make the concept work. How about you? Are you comfortable selling in collaboration with teammates?
The sales and marketing innovation clock never stops. How about you? Is your learning clock still ticking?
Steve Lapa is the president of Lapcom Communications Corp. based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Lapcom is a media sales, marketing, and development consultancy. Contact Steve Lapa via email at: Steve@Lapcomventures.com. Steve Lapa will be moderating the “Generating Revenue” panel at TALKERS 2023 on Friday, June 2 at Hofstra University.
“I’m thrilled with the momentum we have and love our team. We get the best guests and the in-depth reporting and commentary sets the show apart. But, more than anything, it’s three hours of fun. I love that the show serves as an escape for listeners.” Station content director Keith Abrams states, “‘750 The Game’ is very fortunate to have John Canzano and ‘The Bald Faced Truth’ as part of the team! He IS the voice of truth regarding the Ducks, Beavers, Trail Blazers, the Pac-12 and all things ‘sports!’”
was stepping back from his duties, that allowed the station to use internal research to consider the best options to tweak its programming. That resulted in the station naming longtime station reporter and anchor Chris Chandler the new morning host, swapping late morning and afternoon hosts Mark Arum and Eric Von Haessler, and making Shelley Wynter solo host in evenings and giving his former co-host MalaniKai Massey her own Saturday night program. Charles says, “I feel very comfortable that we’ve got the right people in the right slots. We are set to grow our success.” 
Media VP of programming Heath Cole comments, “Sports betting is quickly becoming part of the daily conversation. As we evaluated the options in this space, we landed on VSiN. Their programming is best-in-class and the support from the VSiN team goes well beyond the content we air on the station. From the short-form ‘Action Updates’ to the digital content the VSiN team creates for our listeners, we think this content is, by far, the best in the space. We’re very excited about the opportunity to bring this programming to our listeners.”
from any department in a small to medium radio market. MIW says, “The program is designed to encapsulate so much of what Laurie brought to the industry – a mentorship that encourages and empowers women to develop confidence and sharpen communication skills, to hone the ability to effectively speak up in order to further attain her goals.” MIW board president Ruth Presslaff says, “This program will always hold a special place in our hearts as Laurie has left an unforgettable impact on all of us in the industry. We had a number of talented candidates to choose from, so it was a tough decision. Mary’s energy and vibrant character really illuminated our reasons for curating this program and we’re excited to have her as our first inaugural mentee!”
A beautiful night. Paul Galvin and William Lear took their girlfriends to a romantic look-out view. Paul asked, “Isn’t this great?” His girlfriend replied, “It would better if we could hear music.”
Are you a multiplatform juggler? If you sell or manage for a radio station, the answer is yes.
April 2023 PPM Data – Information for the April 2023 survey period has been released for Austin, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Providence, Norfolk, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Greensboro, Memphis, and Hartford.
producer and director Justine Bateman. Other panelists include Ramsay Brown, chief executive officer of the A.I. Responsibility Lab, Brandie Nonnecke, co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, and others.” Audacy Southern California regional president 
the late Rush Limbaugh (“no one wants to replace Mickey Mantle”) but agreed to do it anyway. “This thing happened along the way where I really fell in love with the job… I didn’t really want to leave, and I don’t want to go. I didn’t really expect this and it puts me in a really weird spot… somewhere along the way this little marriage between you [the listener] and me… started out rough and rocky and it’s just become nothing but bliss for me and I just really hate to leave it.” Bongino’s addressing the matter came as CHRO and SVP human resources Todd McCarty notified managers about the ending of the mandate via an internal memo. He wrote, “After continued consideration, we’ve made the decision to end the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Additionally, we are eliminating all prior COVID-19 protocols for employees and visitors/guests to our facilities, with the exception of protocols for those who test positive. These changes are effective immediately and we ask that you communicate these changes to your teams. HR will be adjusting current job descriptions and will eliminate the requirement moving forward.” 
American Life. Other radio related podcasts that placed in the top 50 include “The Ben Shapiro Show” (#8), “The Ramsey Show” (#17), and “The Dan Bongino Show” (#25). The latest ranker from Edison Podcast Metrics shows the Top 50 Podcasts based on weekly audience reach and reflects two significant updates to the service that were implemented last year. The sample has been expanded to include weekly podcast listeners age 13-17. This measurement allows podcast producers and networks to understand the teen segment of the Gen Z podcast listeners. The ranker also includes increased sample size, which allows for more recency in reporting and robust cuts of data. The latest ranker includes measurement from the previous two quarters with a total sample size of 10,797 weekly podcast listeners age 13+. 
Cooper 360” with 447,000. The new 9:00 pm ET show “Chris Plante The Right Squad” pulled an audience of 325,000 impressions, defeating CNN’s “Whole Story” with 293,000. And at 10:00 pm ET “Greg Kelly Reports” took first place with 278,000 viewers, compared to Chris Wallace giving CNN an audience of just 263,000. Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy says, “Newsmax has witnessed a consistent, positive trend for weeks and we are looking forward to enormous interest in the network as we draw closer to the GOP primaries and ’24 election.”
dismissed Napear’s suit last month but gave him 21 days to file an amended suit. Napear was let go after former Kings center 
There are media and there are media. There are platforms and there are platforms. Not all cultural artifacts are equal in terms of their utilitarian versus cultural value. Damn the tone-deaf corporate bean counters who are ripping the heart out of the spirit that gives humanity its life force! Marketplace obsolescence should not solely be determined by profit and loss. With all due respect to the idea of public service, what about the concept of loyalty? Shame on the automobile industry! Not only is it turning its back on the needs of millions of people, it is in the process of betraying one of its historic partners in not only commerce – but romance and glory. In other words, the automobile industry owes the radio industry a huge debt. The relationship between cars and radios goes a century deep and has been nothing less than a two-way street. Yes, auto industry, don’t be so hasty to save a few bucks by rushing AM (and then FM) radio out the door. You might just find in the long run that “radio” outlasts the private “car” as a fixture of human activity.
one the most successful voices in audio branding as a 2023 honoree of the Benztown 50 list of the top 50 voiceover professionals in the U.S. and Canada.” The Ambush audio imaging library is written and produced by imaging director Scott Phillips. Benztown VP, sales & operations Masa Patterson says, “JJ is world class, serving as the imaging voice for some of the best NT stations in America. Combining him with a production talent like Scott Phillips and retooling the content plan has Ambush positioned as a top-of-class resource for audio producers in the spoken word space.” Surma adds, “Scotty Phillips is an amazing writer and producer, and Ambush is a legendary resource that I leaned into many times in my years as a creative services director. The opportunity to bring my energy to such a respected and trusted audio library and company has me all fired up!” 
Ever lost your phone? It’s an instant sick, sinking feeling. It’s quaint to even call it a “phone,” because it’s…everything. Including us. Like the transistor radio Boomers toted in our youth, it’s audio in your pocket.
