Tag: program directors

Industry Views

A Thank You to TALKERS and the Voices Behind the Mic

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Jessica Crotty
CEO
C. Crane

imgRadio has always been about connection, the feeling of belonging to something larger than yourself, of being drawn into a story told by a voice you trust. Perhaps, that’s why you tune in as well. There is little that is more rewarding for us than finding a way to connect you to what you want to hear, whether that’s your favorite jazz station, a particular show, or your former alma mater’s student-run station. It’s why we do what we do, and why we show up for the people who keep those stories alive.

If you’ve ever wondered where the people who make talk radio gather – the hosts, station owners, program directors, engineers, the visionaries behind the scenes and in front of the mic – look no further than TALKERS. TALKERS magazine’s annual conference is one of the industry’s premier meeting grounds, where talk radio and the evolving world of spoken-word media get taken seriously as a craft, a business, and a cultural force. Talk radio: The original influencer.

Michael Harrison has spent decades as one of radio’s most honest champions. He has consistently pushed the industry to think harder, challenge the status quo, and defend the freedom of speech that gives every great story room to breathe.

Crane was part of that world very early on, when we attended our first TALKERS conference in New York. We’ve been back many times since as attendees and sponsors, and Michael and the TALKERS crew have always been genuinely good to us. We make the radios people use to listen to radio, and being welcomed into the room where those stories get made is something we don’t take for granted.

Over the years, those rooms have introduced us to some extraordinary people. Gene Burns was a favorite long before seeing him at TALKERS. C. Crane had advertised with him on KGO, and his gift for drawing you in came through in everything he did. He hosted many shows over his career; “Dining Around with Gene Burns” was a personal favorite, and Gene and his producer Joel Riddell could point you to the best restaurant in almost any city and just nail it. The speech Gene gave on freedom of speech was one of the best I’ve ever heard, a fierce and passionate defense that stayed with you long after it ended. I also remember the head engineer ar WOR (at the time), Thomas Ray, taking the time to walk me through the mechanics of radio towers while I was manning our booth. That kind of generous, unguarded knowledge sharing is something you don’t forget.

We’ll be back in New York again this year for TALKERS 2026: Radio’s Next Chapter. The landscape continues to change, but what hasn’t changed is the seriousness with which the people in that room take their craft, and their commitment to the stories only radio tells. We’re proud to be part of it. Thank you, TALKERS. Thank you to everyone in that room, past and present, who continues to show up for this event and for radio. We certainly wouldn’t be the company we are without you.

Jessica Crotty is the CEO of C. Crane, a major manufacturer and distributor of radios and radio-oriented devices.  She can be reached via email at jcrotty@ccrane.com. Meet her at TALKERS 2026 on June 5 at Hofstra University.

Industry Views

SABO SEZ: The Fine Art of Talking with Talent

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Walter Sabo
a.k.a. Walter Sterling, Host
WPHT, Philadelphia, “Walter Sterling Every Damn Night”
TMN syndicated, “Sterling on Sunday”

imgTalk show hosts are not motivated or driven like disk jockeys or salespeople. Most general managers have never managed talk show hosts. Few program directors have managed talk show hosts. My career has been blessed with daily exchanges with the best talk show hosts in history. Here are some suggestions I would like to share on how to have a superior relationship with talk stars.

• Listen to the show. Talk hosts are performers committing an unnatural act. They are on a stage with no audience. They hear no applause, little immediate feedback, and this leads to paranoia. Was that topic good? Was the joke funny? You’re the audience.

• Give one “note” at a time. Whatever method you use to motivate a salesperson, do the opposite with on-air talent. Talk talent cannot work harder. They are working as hard as they possibly can every moment. You don’t have to motivate them to go on more sales calls. The motivation comes from telling a host what you enjoyed – what you thought was fun or funny. Compliments won’t make them take it easy; it will make them want more compliments – applause. Applause is the motivation.

You may hear several elements on a show that could be improved. Keep the list to yourself. Select the most urgent item that could be improved and share that one and only that one.  Bring up another suggestion next week. Offering more than one “repair” can be devastating. Surround all suggestions with many compliments.  It works.

• Unless a talent posts under your station’s actual social media account, their social media posts are frankly none of your business. Facebook is just not as important – not as your station. Let it go.

• No other entertainer has as hard a job as a radio talk show host.  Talk show hosts have to create multiple hours from scratch. Actors on a sitcom need to learn 22 minutes of script – script they didn’t write; 11 writers did that for them. How much are you paying for writers for your talk shows? Oh! Entertainers in other media have production assistants, interns, writers, coaches, dressers, rehearsals. How much support staff do your hosts have? Oh! Talk show hosts perform a daily miracle for your company. Lunch barter isn’t enough.

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.

Industry Views

SABO SEZ: Hunt for Humility

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Walter Sabo
CEO, Sabo Media Action Partners
A.K.A Walter M Sterling
Nightly host, WPHT, Philadelphia
Weekend host, Talk Media Network

imHumility means to be teachable. It’s the most important trait of great leaders and managers. For years I looked forward to focus groups to reveal the top-of-mind awareness of media among listeners. These groups always reminded us of a listener’s life priorities which never included radio listening! They taught us the correct secular language to use in promos and slogans, and what they remembered versus what we wanted them to remember.

Today’s hack for focus groups is Google Search Trends. When starting “Sterling on Sunday” 10 years ago, I was kidded by some lame program directors about the inclusion of John Weatherbe weather forecasts in a national show. Since John passed away, the weather is provided by meteorologist Dr. Dave Eiser. Dr. Dave has had a solid career on TV in Chicago and Phoenix. He gives national forecasts with a curious emphasis on cities where we have large affiliates!

Dr. Dave provides a real service on Sunday nights when not one AM station (other than all-news stations) deliver the most important information: Weather.

Google Trends is a humility machine. It shows real-time facts about what a potential listener cares so much about that they enter it in a Google search – right now! What are you talking about today? How does it compare with weather? Here are results from moments ago:

im

The results can be filtered for specific cities, time periods, categories of interest. Try it. Seek humility!

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.

Industry Views

Sabo Sez: Try It, You’ll Like It

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Walter Sabo
CEO, Sabo Media Partners
A.K.A. Walter M Sterling
Host, Talk Media Network

imThis week, I started a five-night show on Audacy’s WPHT, Philadelphia. Thank you, market president David Yadgaroff. Because of my tenure in the industry, I received a flattering, humbling number of emails from colleagues in radio. THANK YOU. The support and encouragement are appreciated and certainly needed!

There was a pattern to the notes beyond the kind thoughts for my future. Almost every note hoped that the example of my show’s non-political content would compel other broadcasters to stop their political speeches and start a broader, real-life focused conversation. These emails were from CEOs, program directors, news directors, owners, and hosts. My response is, why me? If the note writer believes broader content would be good for their business, why don’t they put it on the air, today?

It would be fun to speculate on the answer to that question. It would also be pointless because the real answer is…  just do it!

Radio executives love to copy success. I am mystified by why they are copying failure. Almost all politically focused talk stations are declining in audience and gaining in demographic age. Daytime TV talk shows cover much broader topics that capture younger demos, are growing in audience and, as a category, generate $5 billion in annual revenue.

Broader topic menus work well. Thanks to enlightened owners, my company has launched many stations and hosts that are not political. Of course it works, life is what your target listener is discussing with their friends right now. Follow my example. Your audience will grow, and you’ll generate more revenue.

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  Walter Sabo will be appearing on a panel discussion titled, “Beyond Politics” at TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond on Friday, June 7 at Hofstra University on Long Island. For information, click here.

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 sabowalter@gmail.com. His nightly show “Walter Sterling at Night” is debuted this week on WPHT, Philadelphia. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs 10:00 pm-1:00 am ET, now in its 10th year of success.

Industry Views

ENOUGH! The Selling Culture Has Failed Radio

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Walter Sabo
Consultant, Sabo Media
A.K.A. Walter Sterling
Radio Host, Sterling On Sunday
Talk Media Network

The creeping culture of sales-determines-all has brought the industry to this moment of despair. The selling culture has failed the medium. It is time to, once again, segregate the sales and programming departments. Take the budgets away from the program directors and inspire them to create exciting UNPREDICTABLE programming.

Earnings calls for most radio companies were held this week. Not pretty. Declarations of the demise of radio are constant, emotional, and desperate. Bleak conditions in the radio industry have occurred before. A review of past crises and how they were overcome is constructive, urgent, and essential.

For example, in 1952, network TV was launched and showed signs of success. NBC, ABC, and CBS moved their money from radio to TV. Longform radio shows were cancelled leaving stations across the country with a problem. At the time, most radio stations were small shops, usually family-owned, therefore the need to add hours of local programming was a financial challenge. The solution was presented by a programmer.

Todd Storz’ family owned stations in Omaha, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New Orleans, St Louis and Oklahoma City. He was young and obsessed with radio. His stations were losing money and the future, without network show blocks, was uncertain. Todd ate at a diner daily and noticed that even after it closed, the waitresses put their own money in the jukebox to hear the same songs they had heard all day. Hit after hit. Todd created a list of the top 40 songs, built a production sound and put it on his Omaha station. The station was #1 overnight. His top 40 format was aired on his owned stations with the same results.

Ruth Meyer was the program director of WMCA, New York where she established the GOOD GUYS dynasty. Before WMCA Ruth was the PD of Storz’s station in Kansas City. I asked her who did what at Storz and she said, “It was all Todd.” Todd was a programmer who never spent a day in sales. Storz’s programming idea changed and, yes, saved the industry.

When Todd died at 38 years of age his father – a businessman – took over the company. After Todd’s death, the stations died too. Why? Storz station manager Deane Johnson explained, “Todd’s death [and the control of the radio stations falling to Todd’s father] brought about a shift from a ‘programming company’ to a ‘money company.’”

Radio’s next challenge was FM. It is a popular myth that the shift from AM listening to FM was driven by the higher quality of the FM signal. FM’s signal had been available since 1948. No one listened.

You don’t go to iMAX to watch the huge, superior white screen. You go to watch a movie on the huge superior white screen. When the FCC mandated an end to AM/FM simulcasts, the general managers had no idea what to do and isn’t it time for golf?

Obsessed, very young radio fanboy programmers such as Michael Harrison and Allen Shaw joined with frustrated senior programmers like B. Mitchel Reed, Scott Muni, Murray the K and Tom Donahue to EXPERIMENT with new programming techniques. They imagined and implemented progressive rock, free-form, album rock. THEN the crowds came to FM to hear exciting UNPREDICTABLE programming.

In 1966, Tom O’Neil, the founder/chairman of RKO General owned many money-losing, major market stations. The solution? Better sellers? Better sales training? A sales master course? No. The answer was Bill Drake. O’Neil hired Bill Drake and allowed him to create exciting UNPREDICABLE programming. Drake’s programming saved many RKO stations and was copied by hundreds of stations across the country. Drake’s programming saved them, too.

ALL of radio’s challenges today can be solved with programming invented by programmers free to program. Enough with “it’s not in the budget.” Enough with “it will bring in money.” Enough with “it’s good for sales.” Enough with talent having to generate half their salary in billing to be retained. Enough!

Unleash today’s program directors to follow their instincts, their facts and no more having to check with corporate. Why? Because checking with corporate hasn’t worked. Checking with corporate stops the flow of ideas, it freezes them in time. Radio is live, in the moment. When radio programming is frozen in time it MUST fail. Give up corporate engagement. Let programmers surprise you.

To quote a mentor, ABC Radio Network’s VP Dick McCauley (a sales guy), “A great salesperson is one who has a great product.” He said it a lot.

Walter Sabo was the youngest executive vice president in the history of NBC. He was the programming consultant to RKO General longer than Bill Drake. According to a Sirius corporate EVP, “Sirius exists because of what Walter Sabo did.”  He hosts a Talk Media Network radio show as Walter M. Sterling, “Sterling on Sunday.” Find out more here: www.waltersterlingshow.com  Contact him at walter@sabomedia.com or 646.678.1110

Industry Views

The Uniqueness of the American Radio Talk Show Host

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Walter Sabo
Consultant, Sabo Media
A.K.A. Walter Sterling
Radio Host, Sterling on Sunday

Talk show talent, program directors, show producers and broadcast business decision-makers represent the core readership of this publication. Sometimes we are so close to something that we fail to see it for what it really is. That is the case of the “talk show host” in American radio. Michael Harrison refers to the often-shameless targeting of audiences as “the daily dance of affirmation.” I view the daily process of radio talk show hosting at its very core, as “the daily dance of freedom.”

Talk show hosts are a rare breed and endangered species who enjoy a unique freedom in American radio. Hosts can actually talk about whatever they want! Of course, they are subject to both the rewards and consequences of this freedom – but the process of doing a live talk show, sparked by opinion and controversy, is so spontaneous and uniquely dynamic that it cannot be controlled on a minute-to-minute level without losing the flavor that makes it so special and long-lived.

During a decade as a top-five market and network talk show host, no one has ever told me what to talk about. And for zillions of years as a programming executive prior to that, I never told a host what to talk about on their next show.

Talk hosts are granted remarkable radio freedom!  Music jocks haven’t had that freedom since the 1960s. Music jocks have to get up the courage to ask permission to merely change the order of songs on their play list. Talk show hosts “own” three or four hours a day on a significant station or stations to say whatever they wish. That’s amazing! At first that freedom was a daunting, humbling challenge for me. However, I have been guided by my experience in programming or having launched some of the world’s most successful talk stations.

Based on that experience from both sides of the mic, here’s what works: Talk can entertain a listener of any age and demographic if the host talks about the listener’s day. I talk about my day framed for a listener, one listener – water in the basement, trouble with the sister-in-law, the parent-teacher conference, more trouble with the sister-in-law, the check engine light in the car never wants to go out, life at Walmart. I talk from a place of trust.

Trust that events that poke the landscape of our lives are a very big deal. Trust that I will never find the “right” topic on any editorial page. Trust that you, dear listener, already know who you are going to vote for in any election and that this English major does not have the magic wand to change your mind. Trust that my on-air opinion must never waiver or we have no show.

Listen to talk shows and stations that reach demos under 50:  WMMS, Cleveland; KFI’s John and Ken; Casey Bartholomew at WBAP, Dallas; KMBZ, Kansas City; KFBK, Sacramento; the Elvis Duran Show; and streaming with Bubba the Love Sponge or Phil Hendrie. Those successful shows embrace the scope of conversation two best friends would have on the phone today. If two best friends would discuss a topic, why wouldn’t you share it on the air? If two best friends would never discuss it, why would you ever put it on the air?

Walter Sabo, consultant, can be contacted at Sabo Media: walter@sabomedia.com. Direct phone: 646-678-1110.  Check out www.waltersterlingshow.com. 

Advice

Monday Memo: Weekend Warriors, Renegotiate

By Editor | by Editor

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

 

BLOCK ISLAND, RI — Weekend ask-the-expert shows exploit the most proven concept in marketing: free samples.

Common example: The lawyer is in, the meter is off. Q+A about callers’ situations is relatable to other listeners. And hearing the attorney’s approachable manner, prospective clients come to know him or her better than others whose look-alike billboards and boastful TV commercials all blur together.

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