Tag: on the air

By Walter Sabo
A.K.A. Walter M Sterling
WPHT, Philadelphia
Sterling Every Damn Night
Sterling on Sunday Syndicated, TMN

I am pleased to be speaking this weekend at the IBS New York 2026 conference in New York City. Thank you, TALKERS magazine, for being the presenting sponsor of this important, timely annual event along with the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS).

Attention college students. I will help you get a job in radio because radio wants you and needs you. Call me any time at the number below but read this first:

You got a job and are now going to work at a radio station. You have an idea for a promotion or a promo or a new… anything.

You arrive at the station, and your idea goes on the air. Then get yourself coffee. All before 10:00 am.

No, that would not happen in any other medium. Local TV is the medium that could be spontaneous, filled with local audiences and hosts and entertainment programs but… it’s not! Local TV does local news. The cameras on set don’t move, the format for the newscast is determined by corporate. After the news, the prime-time schedule is determined by corporate. There will be no surprises, no ideas from you at all. “Hey, could you get me a coffee,” says the anchorman to you.

All before 10:00 am.

Movies? Great. You have an idea. You start writing a script.  Great idea. Send it to studio after studio. Rejection, rejection.

You get depressed. You start drinking. Rejection. Finally, you get a meeting with a studio. You’ve been in LA six years, finally a meeting. It goes ok. You drink more. Then you find an AA meeting in the Valley. Any Valley, it’s LA. After seven years, you get on-set to see every word you wrote changed by idiots who don’t get you. All before 10:00 am.

Radio gives you the most control of your creativity and your hard work. Idea? Yes, please. Get a job at a radio station and cause trouble. Challenge everything. Demand change. Many, many of the elements you hear on the radio are ideas I brought to life with co-workers. I rarely point that out, but it’s true. Your turn. Here’s the torch.

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. His nightly show “Walter Sterling Every Damn Night” is heard on WPHT, Philadelphia. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs 10:00 pm-1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at sabowalter@gmail.com.  He can be phoned at 646-678-1110.