Passion Versus AI
By Walter Sabo
Consultant, Sabo Media
A.K.A. Walter Sterling
Radio Host, Sterling on Sunday
Last week I had the privilege of moderating a panel at the TALKERS conference. Confession: I listen to speech patterns and tones more than words.
The prestigious panel featured Dan Mandis, program director and host, WTN-FM, Nashville; Ross Kaminsky, host KOA, Denver; Phil Boyce, SVP, spoken word format, Salem Media Group/ops VP, New York region/WMCA/AM 970; Josh Leng, CEO, Talk Media Network; and Matt Meany, program director, WABC, New York/Red Apple Media.
Yes, their collective knowledge and experience is unbeatable. They answered questions of great interest: How does iHeart measure social media accomplishments? Should one be fired for social media or podcast content or just for their air work? Establishing a syndication base, how does that happen? Where are the women – kudos to Salem’s Phil Boyce for celebrating their women hosts. What do programmers really look for in hosts? All valuable answers. See the video of this session here.
Their words aren’t the “win.” The win is the fact that each of these pros has passion, passion and more passion. Their knowledge results in caring, heartfelt, supportive shares. They care about the future; they care about their craft. Programmers have to be optimistic about radio’s positive impact in order for them to do their jobs. Their descriptive tones make radio appealing.
The panel represents radio’s caretakers, gardeners, guides. The executives on the stage reveal qualities and qualifications that become overwhelmingly apparent in their demeanor and speech patterns. That’s what I hear.
Radio does not have to compete or fret over AI. AI coders have to fret over their inevitable failure to capture or even coldly mimic the depth of emotion and confidence expressed by Matt, Josh, Phil, Ross and Dan. Good luck with that algorithm …losers.
Walter Sabo was the youngest Executive Vice President in the history of NBC. The youngest VP in the history of ABC. He was a consultant to RKO General longer than Bill Drake. Walter was the in-house consultant to Sirius for eight years. He has never written a resume. Contact him at walter@sabomedia.com. or mobile 646-678-1110. Hear Walter Sterling at www.waltersterlingshow.com.
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Election Coverage; Curtis Sliwa: Closing of Lenny’s Pizza for Best Personality, Social Media; and “The Other Side of Midnight” host Frank Morano’s interview with William Shatner for Best Podcast. Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis says, “I am proud of our talent and all station personnel that have worked hard to make 77WABC the station it once was. Our talent and staff are leaders in their field; our on-air personalities include the biggest names in New York. We’re just getting started. There is always more to come from the iconic 77WABC.”
with Colin Cowherd,” “The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard & Rob Parker,” “The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon” and “The Ben Maller Show.” It will also feature FOX Sports Radio around the clock on weekends. Advanced Media Partners operations manager Scott Hecathorn says, “Moving to FOX Sports is both creating an opportunity to give our listeners even more local sports content with our expanded local lineup, and also giving us the top-notch personalities from FOX Sports throughout the rest of the day. This is the biggest victory for Peoria since the Rivermen brought home the President’s Cup!”
I’m sorry.
How will AI tools like ChatGPT impact the way we work? The clues are everywhere. Several client stations have automated weather, and even with your consultant’s trained ear, I had to ask. And yes, she’s a robot.
hands are tied as anything he could say has to be approved by management. The Boston Globe reports that Shertenlieb said, “The last time he was out for an extended period, I gave an update and was gently asked for a lot of different reasons that any statement regarding him has to be approved by management. There have been statements that have been submitted, some have been approved, some haven’t been. It just turns into asking, ‘What can I say? What can I say?’ Listen, no one wants to be in this position. Fred doesn’t want to be in this position, the station doesn’t want to be in this position, I certainly don’t want to be in this position, but as of now, all I’ve been approved to tell you, because you’re such great listeners and we love you, is that he’s not here today, I’m not sure exactly when he’ll be back, but I’ve been a friend of Fred’s for years and I hope the best for him.” 
James. The focus on illegal immigration will feature local and national law enforcement officials, along with local community leaders and migrants in answering questions about recent developments, technology advancements, cross-border traffic control systems, border and citizen security, quality of life in the border region, and economic opportunities. James comments, “On this trip, we’re ripping up the talking points and bringing you actual observations and conversations with those directly affected by the crisis at our southern border. I look forward to delivering these real-time moments to the WORD audience.”
producer or network that represents the advertising for the show, not the platform or app that the listener uses to access the podcast. For this period, Spotify, SiriusXM Podcast Network, and iHeartRadio take the top three spots, respectively. Other commercial radio-related networks making this ranker include: Audacy (#8), Cumulus Podcast Network (#10), The Ramsey Network(#25), and Blaze Podcast Network (#28). 
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.”
Warning: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts certified me to teach high school English, in the early 1970s, the last year certifications were for life. Though I was lured-away by VU-meter hypnosis, I still carry a red pen. And radio news has it running-dry.
Are you a multiplatform juggler? If you sell or manage for a radio station, the answer is yes.
after suffering a cardiac event. Finch was director of sales for Broadcasters General Store. Previously, he held sales positions with Enco Systems and MusicMaster Inc. For many years, he served as an air personality on Gainesville/Ocala, Florida music stations WTRS-FM and WMFQ-FM.
Sports gambling analyst Jason McIntyre in which crosstown news/talk WIND-AM, Chicago personality Dan Proft soon became involved. In the course of this being discussed by hosts on both WIND and WSCR, Riordan said, directing his words to Proft, “Dan, I’ll have sex with your mother,” and then adding, “Dan Proft, you bring your mother over here, and I’ll bone her.” When Audacy was asked for a comment by the Chicago Sun-Times, it declined to comment. 
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.”
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.
publicly killed. Someday I’ll find that stupid bitch and fix that problem. Scott is the only voice of reason on that show.” The message references Wright’s co-host Scott Parks. Wright posted the text so her listeners could see it and wrote, “This particular threat is not the first— BY FAR — we have received, and I know that it will not be the last. I am sharing this — because I am done being quiet about it.” Wright tells the Star, “What concerns me about cases like this is the level of violence we are seeing against people in all different forms of media. And a lot of those people who lash out blame their rage on things like alcohol and other problems they might be having in their lives or some warped sense that the political landscape is responsible for every problem they’ve ever had.” 
Rich Shertenleib had taken a sick day, so the two haven’t worked together since Toucher accused his co-workers of not reaching out to him while he dealt with what was thought to be a cancer scare. He was ultimately diagnosed with leukoplakia, something that can be caused by smoking. Toucher told his listeners, “I have two pieces of advice: Do not smoke and get a second opinion. They thought that I had cancer. If you saw pictures of the original thing they took of my throat, there was a big lump on my vocal cord, like a big lump. I wasn’t supposed to talk for two weeks. And now it just turns out to be Leukoplakia.”