Sabo Sez: More from the Book of Secrets
By Walter Sabo
Consultant, Sabo Media Partners
A.K.A. Walter M. Sterling
Radio Host, “Sterling On Sunday”
Talk Media Network
To be an expert in marketing requires expertise in how memory works. Early in my consultant practice, I studied and read every book I could find on the processes of memory. The best book is Effective Frequency: The Relationship Between Frequency and Advertising Effectiveness. Put simply, how many times does a consumer have to hear a message before it has impact? The book, a collection of studies, is the foundation for every qualitative study in the field today.
Knowing the foundation studies of frequency’s impact facilitates sales, promo scheduling, topic rotation and external station marketing. No marketing budget? Mistake. The most efficient investment in a radio station’s growth is external advertising. Heightened awareness of a station increases cume, key for direct response advertisers, and makes sales calls shorter because the station is familiar to buyers, improves morale, and minimizes competition.
Key take aways from this book of secrets:
The Law of Six: For a message to have impact, it must be heard by the target six times during the length of the campaign.
The Law of Seven: Why are there seven (7) digits in phone numbers? Over a hundred years ago the phone company had to determine how many digits we could handle. They researched how many items we could remember in any product category. How many brand name soaps, tires, shampoos, deodorants. etc. Try it. Write down all the shampoo brands or tire brands you can think of. I’ve performed this magic act with large audiences around the country.
Almost no one can write down more than seven shampoo, deodorant, cereal, or tire brands. The exception is if the question asks you to write down brands of an industry in which you work. Memory activity applies to the use of presets on car radios. Analog car radios rarely fill all five or six pre-set buttons. In your digital car, even though you’re in radio, I bet the most you’ve programmed is four.
Flight or Dose? A $5,000,000 national campaign was tested for flight effectiveness. What works best? Two weeks on, two weeks off or continuous spots. Same number of spots, same budget but continuous or flighted? Two surprising answers: The flighted campaign resulted in more sales. But the continuous run actually hurt sales and after an initial positive impact, sales declined to pre-campaign levels.
Youth Matters: The younger the customer, the more often they must be exposed to the message. A young person has more distractions than an older person.
People Forget: This is the key takeaway: If a product is not advertised for nine months, customers have no memory of the message. None. They might remember that the product exists, but they have no recall of what the product does for them or why they should buy it… or listen to it. A tragic, industry-wide mistake has been made to cease advertising radio stations. Obviously not advertising is hypocritical for a medium that survives on ad dollars. The no-marketing argument is that with the PPM there is no need to remind listeners of a station’s name because the listener no longer has to write it down in a diary. How much has your city changed in nine months? How many new streams, websites, podcasts have distracted your listener from your station? External marketing of a station protects the investment made in its operation.
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. HITVIEWS clients included Pepsi, FOX TV, Timberland, Microsoft, and CBS Television. He can be reached at walter@sabomedia.com and www.waltersterlingshow.com. “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network airs 10:00 pm-1:00 ET, now in its 10th year of success.
top of these trends when developing cross-channel media strategies. That’s why we created The Record – a quarterly look at how U.S. audiences spend their time with audio. An important tool 
for advertisers, artists, broadcasters, and podcasters alike, The Record offers a unique view of time spent with ad-supported content. The total use of audio is significant – Americans spend more than four hours with audio every day – and it’s important to view it from multiple lenses. Consumers give nearly 70% of their daily ad-supported audio time to radio, 20% to podcasts and the rest to streaming audio (music services) or satellite radio (select channels). Data from the first quarter of 2024 indicates that (for over-the-air and streaming combined), by format news/talk was tops with the 35+ demographic with a 12.3 share of total audience and was also first in persons 18+ with a 10.8 share of total audience. 
It’s complicated, this whole Federal Trade Commission ruling potentially banning the non-compete. Considering where you stand on the non-compete concept, it’s really all about evaluating the five “C” profile of your media business.
over for Greg Olsen alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt. Francesa is quoted saying that Brady obviously has a deep knowledge of the game but he believes Brady will struggle. “I don’t think his personality is such. I don’t think he’s going to be great at it. I really don’t. I think there’s a unique quality that you have to bring that allows you as an analyst to see the game, see the game quickly, plus bring personality into it. It’s a tricky job for the analyst in football because you’re going to spend a lot of time over replay. You’re going to spend a lot of time breaking down what happens on replay. And you also have to be very personable and glib in how you do it. I don’t see him there.” 
Soros, would become the largest shareholder in New Audacy and that Soros would “control these radio stations to advance their particular brand of activism.” Further, MRC objects saying that the FCC has an obligation to complete a full and thorough review and that the Commission is being asked to approve the change in ownership without this review, specifically 
regarding the foreign ownership issue which the MRC says would not be handled as required by Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act of 1935 if the Soros Group gets what it wants. It’s asking the FCC “to waive that process and put it off until sometime down the road – indicating that those foreign stakeholders will be given ‘special warrants’ in the meantime. The Soros group says that putting off the required foreign ownership review will enable the FCC to expedite its approval of the Soros applications and thus allow them to more quickly realize their ownership interests in and take over the hundreds of local radio stations across the country.” The MRC argues that the Communications Act of 1935 “does not contain a special Soros shortcut.” 
available across iHeartMedia’s broadcast, digital and podcast platforms and everywhere podcasts are heard. Talent to be heard on the platform include sports media personality Sarah Spain and WNBA legend & three-time Olympic gold medalist, Sheryl Swoopes, with more talent to be announced in the coming weeks. Deep Blue is led by agency veteran Laura Correnti as founder and CEO and WNBA legend Sue Bird as chief strategy officer. iHeartMedia chief marketing officer Gayle Troberman states, “Women’s sports are on fire and so is audio. The timing is perfect to deliver on the massive fan excitement today and most importantly use the power of iHeart’s massive audience reach to ensure women’s sports gets the attention it deserves.
Program founder Ian Freeman – who is currently in federal prison after a crypto-currency fraud conviction – thanked GCN and CEO Ted Anderson for 20 years of great syndication service. Freeman says the change will mean no recorded network inventory for affiliates and the elimination of the middleman means no more affiliate agreements. He adds that the current hosts of the program are dedicated to keeping “Free Talk Live” on the air.
Time to thank the lawyers in the Donald Trump trial for once again proving beyond any doubt the power of talk radio.
Broadcasters Foundation charitable mission exemplified by its former longtime chairman, Phil Lombardo, who passed away earlier this year. Board members, officers, supporters, contributors, and sponsors with a long history of demonstrating Lombardo’s commitment to the Foundation will be candidates for this special recognition. BFoA chairman Scott Herman says, “Phil brought the sense of urgency that is often needed to give donors an understanding of why they need to donate to our charitable purpose. He led the board for many years, overseeing significant advancements that brought in more funds, and thereby allowing us to continue to distribute financial aid to broadcasters in need.”
The Buffalo Broadcasters Association (BBA) has announced this year’s Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductees; 
Don York and Gabe Navarro – won a Golden Mike for “Best Newscast” from RTNA Southern California; Gabriel also notched a “Best Sportscast” Golden Mike. Meanwhile, Musson won her second successive Alliance for Women in Media Foundation Gracie Award for “Best Co-Host, Talk/Personality – Small/Medium Market Radio.” Pictured above (top photo right to left): Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer; KMJ, Fresno’s Christina Musson; her husband Ralph Rendon; and Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld. Also pictured above (bottom photo left to right) Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld; KMJ, Fresno’s Christopher Gabriel; his daughter Cadence; his wife Wendy; and Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
“Draft Legislation to Preserve Americans’ Access to AM Radio” is the title of a legislative hearing that House Energy and Commerce Committee chair 
Growing a brand is a memory game. Which message will a target consumer value, remember it and take it to the cash register? The answer is not complicated but it is complex.
about all the science any of us have been tutored in on the subject of effective frequency.
caused controversy as Berliner criticized the organization saying it “had allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage.” This comes as there is renewed interest among conservative legislators in challenging the use of federal funds for public media with allegations of editorial bias as a primary reason to end federal underwriting of media. NPR managing editor for standards and practices Tony Cavin spoke to The New York Times about Berliner’s piece and said it “mischaracterized NPR’s coverage of crucial stories.” 
involved, consistently doing the work necessary to drive meaningful change.” Farber’s long and storied broadcasting career includes her work leading the RAB for the past 12 years. MIW board president Ruth Presslaff says, “What more can be said about Erica that hasn’t yet been said? She is a strategic thinker and true trendsetter who gives generously of her time and wisdom. MIW is a better organization because of her. The industry has been enriched in countless ways because of her. What an impact this woman has made!” Farber comments, “I am deeply honored. Being recognized by such influential women in the industry is incredibly meaningful and humbling to me. I owe immense gratitude to the mentors and inspirational women who have supported and uplifted me along the way. They are the foundation of my success. My heartfelt thanks go to Ruth and the MIW Board, and to all of you who share my passion for radio and the impactful work we are privileged to do every day.”
content: Participants were presented with paired samples of AI-generated voices created using Futuri’s AudioAI and human voices. 60% of the time, they identified the AI as human. The study also found respondents open to the use of AI with many believing that AI will improve content across news, video, and audio. For example,