Radio is Hard to Buy… Really!
By Walter Sabo
A.K.A. Walter Sterling
Radio Host
Surprisingly, my company Sabo Media has bought commercial time on radio stations. It’s a surprise because brands have come to us because the word “media” is in the name. Some brands think Sabo Media is a media buying company. Hysterical.
Here’s what I learned placing buys for real clients onto big radio stations. (Note, at no time did I remind/tell any station that I was a radio guy).
RADIO IS HARD TO BUY. For years we’ve heard from advertising agencies that radio is hard to buy. It is. Top line of my adventures in buying:
First, I had to reach somebody, anybody at the stations. Challenge number one. Look at your website. Where is “selling” information to inspire a local retailer to buy your station? There is none. How can a potential advertiser contact you? FILL OUT A FORM. What? No information on who gets the form or when they will call back.
Solution: No forms. Put an AE’s direct phone number, cell number and real email on the site under CONTACT. Put a picture of the AE so local retailers can make a visual connection. What do real estate sellers do? You should do that.
The buys we made were for books and cat litter. As a radio guy, I knew the secret knowledge we share of how to get the best results for the clients; i.e. which dayparts and copy would work. For the book campaign I asked the talent to read a portion of the book on the air and share their feelings about the book. I did not negotiate price or ask for any bonus spots. The goal was superior service from the station!
At one San Francisco station, I was never connected to an actual account executive. Instead, I only got their assistant. Imagine, new client, top of the rate card and no AE! Radio is hard to buy.
Solution: All new business should be sent to the sales manager. Letters of thanks from the on-air talent and the market president should go to the new client. Thank you letters work. Add direct phone numbers on those letters. One of the “gifts” of consolidation is the elimination of a main number and operator. Yes, stations make it really hard to reach anybody in a station.
I placed a morning drive order in Chicago. Top of the rate card, live read, talent encouraged to adlib and have a good time. I got the strangest response from the general manager. He called me and berated me, demanding to know why I thought “his” audience would want to purchase this book! I still don’t understand his anger but the buy ran.
Solution: When your station gets a top of the rate card, live read, just say, thank you.
Now to the cat litter. “Lucy Pet Products” made an amazing litter. It never, ever smelled. A gift from heaven. The litter helped prevent urinary tract infections – and that was the problem. One company would not accept the easy-to-change copy because it was making a medical claim. A claim for cats! The same company runs spots for not-approved-by-the-FDA vitamins, hospitals, liposuction clinics and boner medicine. But litter that didn’t irritate cats? We can’t have that.
Radio is hard to buy.
But the other side is this: An iHeart market sales manager thanked me for the buy and then asked, “What can I do for you?” I said, “Jingle Ball!”
I’m easy to contact: Cell 646.678.1110. Email: Walter@sabomedia.com. Website: www.waltersterlingshow.com. And thank you for the read.
stations. In the bigger picture, Fischer writes, “Today, no one radio host commands the same level of power and influence that Limbaugh did, but a number of new voices are emerging — blending the reach of traditional and digital platforms — and collectively proving to be more powerful in shaping conservative opinion for younger audiences.” TALKERS magazine publisher Michael Harrison is quoted in the piece saying, “The world is changing and there are questions as to how Limbaugh, had he lived and remained healthy — based upon his mindset and his approach to the business — would have remained as pertinent as he was. He was not as flexible when it came to social media and some of the other forms that it takes right now to be a media presence as opposed to just a radio presence.” 
sold-out schedule, and is part of an emerging genre of progressive hosts seen regularly by loyal political talk media consumers. Only 39, Pakman has been a practitioner of progressive talk media since his early 20s. “The David Pakman Show” started in August 2005 as a community radio program called “Midweek Politics” in the basement of WXOJ’s studio in Northampton, Massachusetts. Today, it is a daily internationally syndicated politics and news talk show airing on radio, television, and the internet, as well as on Free Speech TV via DirecTV and DISH Network. Pakman is a naturalized citizen of the United States having moved here with his family at the age of five from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Harrison and Pakman discuss the rewards and challenges – financially and otherwise – of multi-platform digital broadcasting.
“while AM/FM radio represented only 16% of the media budgets, AM/FM radio generated 25% of site and search traffic.” Further, it discovered that “AM/FM radio delivered +58% greater site traffic than its share of spend. In contrast, TV delivered -11% less conversion lift than its share of the budget.” A Nielsen sales effect study of a campaign for a major retailer matched Portable People Meter panel data with credit card data to reveal how TV and AM/FM radio impacted sales. The AM/FM radio-only segment, those consumers only reached by the AM/FM radio campaign, had 3 times the sales lift of the consumers reached by the TV ads. Consumers only exposed to the TV ads generated a +4.6% sales increase. Those who saw both the TV ads and the AM/FM radio ads had a +4.8% sales lift. The segment only exposed to the AM/FM radio ads had an outsized +13.4% increase in sales. 
I asked ChatGPT, “What IS ChatGPT?”
increases in advertising awareness, brand relevance, brand trust, and brand consideration.” Other key findings include: 1) AM/FM radio increases the efficiency of automotive media plans: Colourtext and Radiocentre compared AM/FM radio’s average share of total media spend to the increase in advertising awareness, brand relevance, and brand trust generated by AM/FM radio campaigns. In each case, the auto brand lift is four to 11 times greater than AM/FM radio’s share of media spend; 2) the best performing auto campaigns place an emphasis on creative consistency; 3) AM/FM radio creates future demand for automotive brands; 4) Nielsen Scarborough: American auto intenders clock a lot of miles in their vehicles: A Nielsen Scarborough study of 199,118 Americans finds new car buying intentions in the next year increase as miles traveled grows; 5) among ad-supported audio, AM/FM radio has a dominating 89% share of in-car time spent; 6) Nielsen Scarborough: Heavy AM/FM radio and digital consumers are way above the norm for auto purchase intention; and 7) new vehicle purchasers are similar in profile to heavy AM/FM radio listeners, and heavy Internet users, and podcast listeners. 
Companies hire consultants to avoid experiments. We improve results by customizing and implementing Best Practices proven elsewhere. So, I’m about to break a rule, because advertisers in a super-opportune category have become a noisy blur.
Every radio sales presentation should start with one powerful number. This number – often found under the Sphinx – will dazzle any buyer, but is rarely revealed. The number is Homes Using Radio (HUR). Once upon a time it was part of the conversation. HUR shows how many people are using radio at any given time, a total number.
piece’s “background” information and premises. In the article, Harrison supports the observation that the sale of EVs constitutes a small fraction of the current automotive marketplace and it will be years before they achieve a critical mass to impact the health of AM radio. In the meantime, Harrison asserted at this morning’s meeting of the TALKERS editorial board, “There are far more immediate existential threats to AM radio, not to mention FM radio, with which the broadcasting industry must contend.” He points out, “Relevance and identity! AM radio being dumped from dashboards is an innocuous thing to worry about. FM radio will be dumped from the dashboard as well… the entire idea of a radio-exclusive appliance is on the verge of obsolescence… and we’re not just talking about electric vehicles – we’re talking about all vehicles! We’re faced with an all-encompassing computer system at the fingertips and voice control of the driver and passengers.” Harrison continues, “In the meantime, today’s media consumers are savvy enough to know how to find their entertainment and information brands via the combination of Bluetooth and smartphone. Thus, the challenge facing both AM and FM radio – two increasingly irrelevant designations – is to maintain the importance, distinguishability and brand of the medium itself – R-A-D-I-O – and not let it get lost in an endless ocean of options available to the potential audience.” 
and listeners has provided for excellent conversations and deliberations amongst our nominating committee members, each of them also bringing their own suggestions to the difficult decision making that goes on. When we hear from as many interested people as we do with suggestions, it only reinforces the value of a nomination, let alone an induction.”
In last week’s column, 
NFL, and this year’s Super Bowl coverage marks the 50th time that the network will broadcast the game. Some of the key takeaways from this study are: 1) NFL postseason AM/FM radio listeners are a desirable group of consumers: They are more likely to work full time and have higher disposable incomes compared to NFL postseason TV viewers; 2) The NFL postseason AM/FM radio audience is more engaged with sports: MRI Simmons finds NFL postseason AM/FM radio listeners attend more sporting events, seek out sports information on their phones more often, and play more fantasy sports than NFL postseason TV watchers. The higher levels of engagement translate into greater advertising effectiveness; and 3) NFL postseason AM/FM radio listeners are more likely to make purchases across key consumer categories: Compared to the NFL postseason TV audience, AM/FM radio delivers more consumers who are likely to buy a new or used vehicle, start a new business, or hire a financial advisor. You can see the complete report 
Edward R. Murrow award?” The webinar is titled “How to Win a Murrow: Tips & Tricks Webinar – All you need to know to win an Edward R. 
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first tower was damaged, they thought bad weather was the culprit. But, after the second tower was affected, they realized that it was intentional and done by someone who knew what they were doing. The report states that after the second tower was damaged “Truth Broadcasting then hired security, and then the morning after security left the third tower was damaged. Police say someone used a tool to cut through parts of the towers anchoring them to the ground. ‘The person who did this had a real good idea of what they were doing,’ Carbone said. ‘Because they picked the point that was the safest to do what they were going to do.’” Police continue to investigate but so far, they have not made any arrests. Carbone says they are working on another location for the WSJS transmitter and hope to return to the air in a few days.
and host weekend programs. The 69-year-old Morganti is a long-time co-host of Angelo Cataldi’s morning drive show and with Cataldi retiring from the station after the Philadelphia Eagles’ season ends, it was unclear what role Morganti would play with the station. In his piece, Blumenthal notes that when Audacy revealed that Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie would be the new morning drive show, it stated Morganti would continue to work for the station in some capacity. Morganti will host the hockey podcast twice per week during the season and once per week during the off-season. As for hosting weekend shows, there’s no indication he’ll have a regularly scheduled show, but will fill in when needed. Morganti also works for NBC Sports Philadelphia as a pre-and post-game analyst.
the station’s carriage of the sports talk format branded as “CBS Sports 1360.”According to a