Monday Memo: Calculating Taylor Swift
By Holland Cooke
Consultant
Now that every single thing is a political argument, the angry social media conversation about Taylor Swift is unsurprising. And with the Super Bowl looming, the decibel level amps-up.
So, kudos to SiriusXM and CNN host Michael Smerconish. I’ve previously cited him here as technique worth emulating when it comes to:
– Polling the audience on an ongoing basis (a sponsored feature on smart radio stations)
– Leveraging social media to give audience ownership of the show; and
– Genuine curiosity. His centrist approach earns him scorn from both sides in this Cold Civil War we’re living through. I can relate. When I managed WTOP, Washington, the quickest way to make the phone explode was to announce a crowd estimate for an abortion rally. Both sides jammed the lines to damn the number.
This preposterous Swift kerfuffle had been all heat until Smerconish shed light on it this past weekend. Noting rumors shared by FOX News that she would photobomb the Super Bowl with a Joe Biden endorsement, his poll question was “Could Taylor Swift determine the outcome of the presidential election?”
Just now, you answered that question in your own mind. But – for our purposes – the more useful approach is to consider information Smerconish curated unfiltered by personal politics:
– Swift has 279 million Instagram followers
– She has (so far) sold 4.35 million pricey tickets for The Eras Tour. Its “record-shattering revenue” (so far) is $1 billion+
– $200 million (so far) in tour merchandise. Her gray $45 T-shirt is now sold-out in all but 3XL and 4XL.
– 26 billion+ Spotify streams in 2023.
– SSRS polling: 59% of USA adults identify as Swift fans, 63% of women; and her fans are evenly divided 50/50 between Democrat or Dem-leaning and Republican or GOP-leaning.
– On her urging, several hundred thousand Americans younger than 25 have registered to vote.
Add it all up? “Taylor knows your social media interactions, where you saw her on tour, how much merch’ you’ve bought from her website, she knows the size of your T-shirt, the number of downloads you’ve made. We’re embarking on an election cycle which will be (a) the most expensive in history, and (b) will see much of the money spent on ‘micro-targeting,’ the use of online data to tailor – pun intended – advertising messages to individuals based on the identification of recipients’ personal vulnerabilities and interests. In order to target effectively, data is essential. And Taylor’s got lots and lots of it, and on a demographic that is exactly what the Biden team needs the most: disproportionally female, young, and passionate. With truly the touch of a button Taylor Swift is uniquely situated to use the data at her disposal to impact the presidential race.”
Leave it to your nerdy consultant to ask: Are WE using OUR listener data to OUR benefit?
Bigger-picture issues:
– Privacy: We have all volunteered LOTS of information about ourselves. Look what pops up in your email and your social media.
– Vulnerability of the Electoral vote process: The last two Republican presidents took office after losing the popular vote. Taylor Swift is my coastal Rhode Island neighbor, and if she votes here, neither of us matter. Our state has four electoral votes. Just 40 thousand-some popular votes in three key states gave Biden his 2020 win.
– Tone: The measurable appeal of Swift’s sunny disposition vs. “I am your retribution.”
Good for us. News/talk radio is in the suspense business. “What JUST happened??? What happens NEXT???” So, we should wish Nikki Haley well.
Inquisitive Smerconish sounds like dispassionate Mr. Spock: “What [Swift detractors on the right] should be worried about is her data.”
Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. He is the author of “Close Like Crazy: Local Direct Leads, Pitches & Specs That Earned the Benjamins” and “Confidential: Negotiation Checklist for Weekend Talk Radio.” Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn.
video stream in partnership with YouTube on the iHeartRadio Channel. Podcast fans help decide the winner of the Podcast of the Year by voting online at iHeartPodcastAwards.com now through February 18. This year’s nominees include “Crime Junkie,” “The Daily,” “My Favorite Murder,” “New Heights,” “Normal Gossip,” “On Purpose with Jay Shetty,” “The Retrievals,” “Scamanda,” “SmartLess” and “Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.” iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group CEO Conal Byrne says, “As the podcast industry continues to rapidly grow, this past year has clearly proven that podcasters are always innovating in the audio space and finding new ways to reach and engage new audiences. The nominees for the 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards reflect the results of honing that creativity and we’re thrilled to celebrate and once again empower these creators and elevate the podcast industry together live in person at SXSW.” 
talk KILT-AM “SportsRadio 610.” McClain’s role with the station included appearing on the station’s programs, writing stories for its website and co-hosting a podcast with station personality Sean Pendergast. The 72-year-old McClain tells the Chronicle that he’s not ready to leave the Houston radio market, adding, “I’ll see if people are interested. I’m a free agent now.” 
nominees to be voted upon by industry personnel later this year, leading to the selection of the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame Induction Class. Kraig T. Kitchin, co-chairman of the Radio Hall of Fame, comments, “The input from fellow radio industry members and listeners alike helps our nominating committee contemplate so many more individuals worthy of a nomination. We’re grateful for the input and the ideas offered.”
back episodes published before they subscribed. Since many if not most of those were never listened to, the data about listening habits was inaccurate. As the blog notes, podcasts that publish frequently will be most affected. “This is a crucial reset for the podcast industry, a much-needed rightsizing of audience data. This is a defining moment advertisers and podcast creators should both welcome. As hosts look at their downloads and reach for the Advil, they should know Apple is putting the podcast industry on the road to more accurate data. Better audience data inspires more confidence among advertisers and agencies.” Another new feature in iOS 17 is that users who haven’t listened to five downloaded episodes over the past two weeks will stop getting automatically downloaded podcasts. 
As The Beatles sang, “It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter.” ‘Still is, eh?
He’s been co-hosting the weekend “Mark and Kichen Show” with Ben Kichen at WEEI. Dondero says, “Obviously I’ve learned a ton from him (Kichen), about the radio business, talking in general. And I’ll say this: Ben Kichen is a star and an underrated talent in this business, whether you’ve heard of him or not. And it has been an absolute joy and pleasure to work with him on the air for almost seven years.” 
introduced to expand the opportunity to win, including “Spanish-Language Single Broadcast Radio Spot: Agency, Production Company, Advertiser, Radio Station or Group,” and “Use of Emerging Technology in Radio or Audio: Agency, Production Company, Advertiser, Radio Station or Group.” Additional categories include the use of innovation in broadcast radio, branded podcasts, multi-platform campaign with broadcast radio and short (:15) broadcast radio commercials. The Call for Entry deadline is April 8. Finalists for the show will be announced in early May and winners will be announced at the live Radio Mercury Awards on June 6, at SONY Hall in New York City. In addition, the 2024 Final Round Jury, led by chief judge Mitch Bennett, executive creative director, Baldwin&, is comprised of agency creative leaders from across the U.S. 
Kinkead and talking about Audacy’s impending bankruptcy. Kinkead reports that Audacy executives weren’t happy with Marks broaching the subject and consequently fired him from the CBS Sports Radio position. Marks told Kinkead, “I am no longer doing CBS Sports Radio because I was terminated by the company following the interview with you…. I wanted to be honest and candid about it. I didn’t rip the company. I wasn’t killing the company. I was very fair and spoke very highly of everybody that worked at WIP, and I wasn’t blaming Audacy (like) it was their fault, I was just talking about the financials of being in the radio business today…” 
the report as momentum grows in Congress for legislation to ensure AM radio is accessible to the public in all vehicles. NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt states, “When disaster strikes, AM radio has proven time and again its invaluable role as a source of factual, authoritative, up-to-the-minute information that saves lives. It is also a home to a diversity of programming that is often unavailable on other mediums and particularly important to otherwise underserved communities. It is critical that Congress address the need for AM radio capability in vehicles to ensure Americans can turn to local AM stations when they need them the most.” 
Yellowtec, will be discussing new developments and TALKERS founder Michael Harrison will be chatting about the forthcoming United Nations’ 
here to stay.” In order to get compensation from these multichannel video programming distributors, Newsmax shuttered its free steaming channel on November 1. Interestingly, Ruddy tells Cablefax that contrary to what people might assume, the arrival of Donald Trump on the political scene didn’t help Newsmax’s efforts. “I think President Trump has added great difficulty to Newsmax because there’s so much hostility in the industry and world against him. The media establishment, but also in the cable industry, he’s not a really liked figure. We were having more success I felt before he was elected in 2016. I think we probably would have gotten more carriage earlier had he not been elected… We try to reach out to both sides. While we have a lot of pro-Trump stuff, we also have people like Rick Santorum. He has been you know very critical of him through the years and he’s now our leading political adviser… Our night leads with Greta Van Susteren, and she’s not a polarizing figure.” 
WWL-AM/FM, sports talk WWWL-AM, and four music brands. Barron succeeds Kevin Cassidy, who was named SVP and market manager of Audacy Chicago in December. Additionally, Bob Mackay assumes the role of vice president of sales for Audacy Dallas after serving in the same post in Austin. And three regional presidents add responsibilities to their regions as Doug Abernethy picks up regional and direct oversight of Audacy Austin, Brian Purdy adds regional oversight for Audacy Chicago, Madison, and Milwaukee, and Mark Hannon assumes regional oversight of Audacy Minneapolis. Audacy COO Susan Larkin comments, “We have a very strong leadership team that has enabled us to make strategic changes and promote talent with multi-year track records of success. These leadership moves continue to position our local brands to deliver exceptional listener experiences and client value while reinforcing our commitment to excellence in the communities we serve.”
more ads that communicate dry features/benefits. Additionally, research indicates that converting existing demand and creating future demand require different creative/copy approaches and different media strategies. Converting existing demand is most efficiently achieved by tightly targeting those “in the market” with rational messaging of product and price information that persuades them to choose the advertiser’s product over others. Creating future demand is most efficiently achieved by targeting very broad audiences of “all category buyers” with emotional messaging that is designed to stand out and be enjoyed by consumers, creating positive memories of the brand that will influence future purchase decisions. Finally, podcast consumers are invested in the success of their favorite shows. Half of weekly podcasts consumers said they wouldn’t mind a couple of extra ads per show so their favorite podcasts could continue. 
TALKERS founder Michael Harrison will talk about 
had begun switching off automatic downloads for users who haven’t listened to five episodes of a show in the last two weeks. But while few users noticed the shift, some of the biggest podcasts in the world saw their official listener numbers drop dramatically. Long-running shows that publish frequently were hit particularly hard. A user who listened to a show like The New York Times’ ‘The Daily’ a few times, subscribed, but stopped listening would continue to count as a download indefinitely. Even better under the old rules: For people who listened to a show, dropped off for a while, but started listening again later, Apple would automatically download every show in between. The arrangement drove big download numbers, a crucial metric for ad sales and a sign of the vast reach of podcasts as a medium.” 
Take a day off. You get one free this year.
The United Nations and its specialized agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have given the radio industry all around the globe an invaluable gift. It’s called “World Radio Day 2024.” Now in its 13th installment, WRD takes place annually on February 13 with the purpose of spotlighting the accomplishments, importance, and ongoing relevance of the radio medium as it evolves deeper into the 21st century. This year’s theme is “Radio: A Century Informing, Educating and Entertaining.” By officially designating the platform as worthy of its own officially sanctioned UN International Day, the august world body has recognized, spotlighted, and endorsed radio’s continuing relevance and potential for being a vital force for the betterment of humanity.
44 years. Ken Squier passed away in November and his daughter Ashley tells WCAX-TV, Burlington that the station that’s provided local sports, news, commentary, and more will be in good hands. “I feel that this is a very good day and a very good development. Dad loved community radio.” The station says that former Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former Ethan Allen Institute leader Myers Mermel will serve as owner-operator. Mermel tells WCAX-TV he wants the station to remain local. “We want to look at different ideas and new ideas in order to increase our ability to discover and identify and bring in content.” 
fans worldwide who want more in-depth content about the team and behind-the-scenes access and Bucks+ Audio will provide this with podcasts and on-demand audio. Good Karma Brands Milwaukee market manager Greg Scalzo states, “We are excited to partner with the Milwaukee Bucks and redefine the on-demand listening experience for fans. Bucks+ Audio introduces a new era of immersive sports content, from the episodic allure of ‘Behind the Bucks’ to the passionate ‘Hear District’ and the concise, detailed recaps of ‘Bucks in 6,’ the platform is a perfect audio companion for Bucks and NBA fans.” Additionally, Good Karma Brands is currently seeking an editor-in-chief to oversee content strategy, collaborate with creators, represent the brand, ensure a positive user experience and more for the platform. Learn more here: 
This week, more than a hundred thousand inventors, investors, and techy-nerds from over 150 countries swarm Sin City for CES2024. You’ll be seeing all about it all this week on network newscasts and cable news channels and social media.
New York City on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2. Harrison’s address titled, “The Next 10 Years of Media and Popular Culture is…?,” is scheduled to take place between 11:00 am and 12:00 noon on Saturday (3/2). Harrison states, “I have always believed that the future of broadcasting, for better or worse, brews on the campuses of America and this observation is truer now than ever before. I am very excited to bring an array of provocative and pertinent observations, predictions and possibilities, born of my perspective as a future-minded immigrant from the 20th century, to such a vital and dynamic group of young communicators.”