Tag: Walter Sabo

Industry Views

The Vital Element of Surprise

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

Visitors to Disneyland five years ago will be given a memorable experience when they visit this month. About 50% of Disneyland has changed since 2018. The theme park constantly changes, trying new rides, exhibits, displays. Walt Disney never considered his park to be finished. Roy Disney said that Walt viewed Disneyland as a giant block of clay which could be molded and remolded constantly. Changing the park constantly gives visitors surprises, joy and the excitement of the unexpected. The unexpected at Disneyland is newness in its ideal form: Everything is new, memorable and completely safe.

Your show, music or talk, has the same power to create memorable entertainment. Wrapped in the safety of your voice, and your familiar station, you can SAY the unexpected, the surprising, the new.

Remember when the news was a radio station? Remember when a radio station generated word of mouth, talk at work, and gossip among friends? It could have been yesterday or years ago. A radio station or on-air talent was at the epicenter of the community’s conversation when it did the unexpected. 

The short list 

A station said the name of your business. Gave away an outrageous prize. Roasted a pig. Lesbian Dial-A-Date. Broke a record. Asked the caller if they were naked. Aired Amazing Mouth TV Spots. There is no top-of-mind real estate claimed by a station if it is following the format really well.

Delivering surprises is not hard, but it is essential to the medium’s growth. Today, the most recent “surprises” have been all wrong. Too often the surprise is the public shaming and forced apology of a host because of an unfortunate comment about Erin Andrews or slight of a team owner.  (BTW, the single dumbest management move is a public apology. Thousands of people learn of the incident who would never have known about it if the moment was allowed to pass.)

You may be worried that if you or an air talent break the corporate dictate format, all will be fired. No. You know where you can experiment. Your experiment could lead to a new, fresh awareness of your station and of your hard work. Do it.

WALTER SABO’s company, Sabo Media has advised the C Suite of some of America’s largest media companies including SiriusXM Satellite Radio, Apollo Advisors, Conde Nast, Wall Street Journal Radio, RKO General, and NBC. He is a member of the Nominating Committee of the national Radio Hall of Fame and on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.  His radio show, “Sterling on Sunday” is heard nationally.www.waltersterlingshow.com  Contact him at walter@sabomedia.com

Industry Views

SABO SEZ: Stream to Success

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imIn May 2007, I was enjoying the brand-new app called YouTube. Still independently owned, still relatively unknown. Some of the videos pulled millions of viewers, more viewers than enjoyed by ESPN or any cable network. More interesting, the videos with high counts were not made by NBC or ESPN or any traditional video source. High view count videos were being made by people with no experience in traditional media, they were experimenters producing in their basements and bedrooms.

As these new performers were pulling major view counts, they revealed that they worked at Starbucks, were going to school and wanting to make enough money to get out of their parent’s house. Wait. Some video creators were winning more viewers than ESPN and they were broke? Simultaneously major brands like Pepsi and Budweiser knew they had to enter the online video space and each attempt was a disaster. BUD TV! Online video entertainment was a brand-new medium; USG User Generated Content.

I started a company called HITVIEWS. The goal was to placed brand messages in User Generated Content. The first company. No one had ever done it. We gathered the top video performers and started to marry them with brands like Pepsi, FOX TV, Timberland, MTV,  CBS Television, IBM, Logitech, many more. A TALKERS conference introduced the first Influencer (we called them “Web Stars”), Caitlin Hill, to radio executives.

From this pioneering initiative into online video, I can share a significant amount of information about the ingredients of a successful video campaign.

  1. Use video stars, influencers, to deliver your message. It’s a different medium and requires different stars.
  2. Engage every capability of the platform. The videos with the highest view counts demand the most interaction with the viewer. Click now. Comment below. Make a response video. Send a text back. THEN answer all responses. Every single viewer response must be answered by you or it is wasted.
  3. It’s not radio or TV. Don’t bother putting up videos at a fixed day and time. Put up as many videos as you possibly can. Two days is too old!
  4. Funny works best.

Online video success makes the medium the message. The touch screen, mouse, keyboard. Audio, video capabilities must all be integrated into the entertainment. If full functionality is not part of the show, the show is boring.

Walter Sabo has consulted the largest media companies worldwide in digital initiatives. He was the on-site consultant for SiriusXM Satellite Radio for nine years. He can be reached by email at walter@sabomedia.com and his network radio show can be discovered at  www.waltersterlingshow.com.

Industry Views

The Problems Facing Radio Were Not Caused by Consolidation

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imAs your friends get fired and on-air hosts are replaced with WideOrbit and Profitable Software, the mournful refrain is to unfairly blame consolidation. Consolidation has, in fact, made the medium financially viable and brought hundreds of individual stations from a river of red ink to the glow of black ink. Prior to consolidation, over half the radio stations in the U.S. lost money – year after year. Not a secret stat, those numbers were revealed annually by the NAB.

The flaw in the deregulation law was the elimination of the rules regarding financing of station acquisitions. Previous regulations required a licensee to prove it had the financial resources to cover expenses through the term of the license. Licenses could not be purchased with debt. Licensees could not sell the license until it expired. Radio stations could not be used for speculatory financial gain. When those rules were tossed, the industry hit a financial tailspin from which it has not recovered. That’s the problem.

That is not a “problem” with radio. In talks with publisher Michael Harrison about his exciting role in the United Nations as executive advisor to World Radio Day 2024, we shared a key observation: The world’s radio industry is overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Working with clients in London, Toronto, Montreal, Amsterdam, Athens and Sydney, the passion for the medium continues to grow and is supported by audience engagement and response.

Internationally, there is a robust radio set design and manufacturing industry. European listeners seek clothing featuring radio set themes and artwork. Believe me, the food at the NAB Europe is much better than that crap served here.

Follow the money. Radio is not legacy media. Radio is proven media – proven for over 100 years. Local retail advertisers are a practical lot. They buy advertising that works for this weekend. If it doesn’t bring feet to the floor and dollars to the door, sponsors just don’t repeat-buy.

I was the in-house programming guru at SiriusXM Satellite Radio for eight years starting pre-launch. The reason Sirius exists is test after test revealed that Americans liked radio so much, used radio so much, they wanted more stations. More choice. More.

Consolidation, with considerable credit to Randy Michaels, allowed radio to convert from a frequency media buy to a reach media buy. That puts radio in budgets with TV. The opportunity right now is to actually monetize radio’s clout as a reach medium. Create scarcity. More spots mean cheaper spots, smaller budgets and higher expense. More spots mean much less efficiency for media buyers. Media buyers have to spend their budgets. They would prefer to spend that money with one or two outlets before lunch rather than having to “make the buy” by purchasing dozens and dozens of stations acquiring spots that are cheap, bonused, thrown in, flanked, and here are some tickets.  The fix starts with raising the price to meet the public’s perception and usage levels of radio.

Walter Sabo has grown audience share for a roster of clients that has included SiriusXM Satellite Radio, RKO, ABC, Apollo Advisors, Hearst, Wall Street Journal Radio and many others. Reach him at walter@sabomedia.com. Learn about his unique radio show at www.waltersterlingshow.com

Industry Views

In Pursuit of Younger Demos

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imThe persistent liability of most talk stations is that they attract a high percentage of listeners over the age of 65. Consider that many of those older listeners are attracted to radio shows that are talking for companionship and comfort.

There are simple, tested techniques to incorporate in an on-air presentation that will appeal to a younger listener. If put on the air these tips will also enhance a station’s PPM results.

— Bumper music is unnecessary, it makes breaks seem longer. If it is necessary to use bumper music it should have been recorded after the year 2000. 2000 was obviously 23 years ago. A 35-year-old was 12 in 2000.

— Young people are busy with work, kids, life. They are attracted to radio that matches their pace. The shorter the calls, the younger the callers will be. DO NOT thank callers for holding on – that’s a screener’s job. Thank a caller for holding on and you signal that it takes a long time to get on the air. Busy people won’t call to be put on hold!

— The editorial page of any newspaper has the lowest readership. Comics, horoscope, and entertainment have the highest. Quote the editorial page and you’ll wake up grandpa and scare away the new mom. Did you know Taylor Swift has a new boyfriend?

— Everyone is attracted to mirrors of their lives. We engage with people who have similar problems with their kids, in-laws, jobs, money, car. How would you make a friend at a party? Those techniques will work for you on the air. What did your mother tell you about party talk? “Don’t talk about politics or religion, talk about the weather and the shrimp”

— The easiest way to attract younger listeners and repel older listeners is to play music on the weekend. Targeted, researched music that appeals to the exact audience age you covet. WABC features several music shows on the weekend. Sabo Media’s charter clients include “New Jersey 101.5” and “Real Radio Orlando” They air music all weekend, talk all week.

BONUS: Music on the weekend puts a station on concert, movie, music, club, and bar buys!

Just like a music station, a talk station must present a consistent package of entertainment, topics, news stories, music selection, production elements must appeal to your target listener. No wavering.

im

Above is a picture of two of Sterling On Sunday’s loyal listeners. Steven and Casandra of Burlington, NJ. Steven owns the bakery, Casandra works there and is a junior in college.

Walter Sabo founded Sabo Media to work with innovative media companies such as RKO, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, PARADE magazine, Pegasus, Apollo Advisers and others. He produces and hosts the successful talk show, Sterling On Sunday. Last Sunday the topics included how to know what’s in the custard in donuts.www.waltersterlingshow.com. Walter Sabo can be emailed at walter@sabomedia.com.

Industry News

The Damning Myth of Spoken Word Radio: High Time Spent Listening (TSA) and Low Cume

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imDependency upon a PPM panel to deliver high time spent listening is a bad business model. Would you rather count on one person listening for one hour or four people listening for 15 minutes? Right.

A good music format program director knows exactly how to program talk radio in a PPM environment. Oddly, when a music programmer has the privilege of programming a talk station they seem to forget all of their programming knowledge. Both formats are measured by exactly the same technology and therefore if it “works” in music, it works in talk.

The reason “New Jersey 101.5” quickly became the highest cuming FM talk station in the world – for 20+ years – is because when Bob McAllan, Jay Sorensen, Perry Simon, John Dziuba and I designed it, we had a simple process: Build a music station that takes a lot of phone calls. It was always programmed like a top 40 station and 33 years later it obviously worked.

The reason “Real Radio 104.1 in Orlando” was the only Howard Stern station that did not suffer the expense of having to change format when he was recruited to SiriusXM Satellite Radio was because the station was built as a heavily formatted music station that took a lot of phone calls. Note that Real Radio 104.1 and New Jersey 101.5 both air music non-stop on the weekends for the single purpose of targeting a specific cume demographic. It obviously worked.

What are the key elements of a music format that should be applied to talk in order to build cume?

  • Please, god, don’t flag the “breaks.”
  • Every show had a specific pace based on topic set up time and call length time which gave the station a consistent rhythm and sound.  All day.
  • No “records” from home!  No personal sound effects, jingles or that crap.
  • Constantly sell ahead. No yesterday calls, yesterday references. Sell what’s next.
  • Assume every single listener just tuned in. Explain the topic and give the phone number obsessively.
  • Listener driven not host driven. Every host is valuable and gifted but if a host makes the mistake of quitting, the interest needs and tastes of the listener are constant and can be reflected by the next host. A constant.

Mickey Luckoff, the brilliant president of KGO, San Francisco for decades explained why he hired most of his hosts from top 40  radio because, “I can teach them TALK but I can’t teach them radio.”  BTW yes, even 34-year morning host Jim Dunbar worked at WLS and KQV as a top 40 jock immediately before joining KGO to host a talk show.

Walter Sabo was a pioneer in the concept of targeted talk which allows a station to precisely reach a chosen demographic. He has had a robust list of consulting clients including, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, Conde Naste, CBS, Press Broadcasting, RKO General, Hearst, Fred Silverman Productions, and many more. His company HITVIEWS was the first major player to recognize and monetize online video stars known as “influencers.” He is on the nominating board of the Radio Hall of Fame. Reach him at 646.678.1110 or walter@sabomedia.com.  Discover Sabo’s network radio show here: waltersterlingshow.com.

Industry Views

Politeness, Punctuality and Power

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imFor decades the power-lunch spot in Manhattan was the beautiful Four Seasons restaurant. Check it out: A history of the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City – Four Seasons new ownership (townandcountrymag.com)

Top clients would host luncheons at the Four Seasons with Sabo Media. These included Walter Anderson, former chairman/CEO of PARADE magazine who was a regular customer. If the lunch was scheduled for 12:30 pm and I arrived at 12:15 pm, Anderson was already there. Next time, I would arrive at 12:05 pm for the 12:30 pm lunch; he was already there.

The restaurant manager/maître d’ explained that, “The most powerful person always arrives first.” Of course. The most powerful person could control where she sat, where she faced and what your view of the room would be. When Walter Anderson hosted future lunches, I arrived at about 11:15 am for the 12:30 pm meet!

If I had any early career success it was not because I knew anything, it was because of Eleanor Ranft, my assistant. Prior to working with me she had been Robert Sarnoff‘s assistant for 20 years. Robert, as-in-son of the General. (Eleanor knew how to address letters to ambassadors.) At the end of the workday, she would go over the telephone call sheet and make sure I had returned every call. Neither of us were going home unless I returned every call.

When addressing emails, the most powerful people return the emails instantly. Test it, send a note to the most powerful people you know, see what happens. Mel Karmazin, Bob Pittman, Howard Stern, Michael Harrison, Chris Oliviero, Kraig Kitchin, David Yadgaroff, Bill White, Lee Harris, Dan Mason, Jarl Mohn, Marc Rowan – instant answers. Instant response keeps a person in the deal-flow, the conversation and the action. Instant response makes them powerful.

Conversely, for weeks I tried to have lunch with a local market EVP, no answer. I didn’t want a job; I was trying to place a sales order for an agency friend! No answer. Finally, I asked the market program director why I never heard from his boss. Answer, “He doesn’t think you can do anything for him.” Obviously, the order went to a different company.

A common trait of every star I’ve had the privilege to know is that they are all extremely polite. For example, Randy Thomas, Charlie VanDyke, Bruce Morrow, Howard Stern, the late Casey Kasem, Elvis Duran are kindness and manners personified. They send thank you notes. Their interpersonal attitude is to share experience rather than to say look it up yourself. Many top executives built their entire career by sending thank you notes.

That being said, THANK YOU for being a client of Sabo Media. Thank you for clearing “Sterling On Sunday” on stations like KMOX, KMBZ-FM, WPHT, KDKA and Albany’s Talk 1300.  Have a pleasant Labor Day.

Walter Sterling-Sabo can be contacted at Walter@sabomedia.com or 646.678.1110 mobile. He’ll answer immediately. Sabo Media’s robust client list over the years has included PARADE magazine, Sirius Satellite Radio, The Wall Street Journal Radio Service, RKO, Salem, and CBS. Sabo was the first to monetize online video stars and influencers through his company HITVIEWS.

Industry Views

Emotional Is Local

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imMentioning a local street name won’t do it. Constant local references is not LOCAL LIVE, it’s a GOOGLE MAP!

For years, as VP/GM of the ABC Radio Networks, I explained to affiliates that, yes, our six network services were in fact local programming – local to a demographic.  The networks reached specific demographics and therefore were local to the heart and soul of a specific listener. (Yes, this usually worked!)

Today, true local programming hits an emotional moment in the day of the listener.  For example, by far the most topic response from listeners on “Sterling on Sunday” is to stories about my sister-in-law. The premise of these stories is that your sister-in-law controls your marriage. I share the horrors of life with my sister-in-law. The email, phone and Facebook response from listeners is stunning.

The greatest response to any host is when a listener is compelled to say “YES!” within the solitude of their car. That emotional response comes when a host shares their personal feelings, life events and experiences. It rarely comes from an interesting observation about today’s editorial page. Let me suggest that it NEVER comes from an interesting observation about today’s editorial page.

Bonding emotions are the result of a host’s personal, intimate revelations

Sharing personal, intimate emotions are pre-emptive. While other hosts may duplicate endless, dreary, old age attracting rants against Democrats, no two hosts have the same emotional life-events.

Mother-in-law, kid, marriage, sex, personal impact stories are singular, unique and MEMORABLE. Listeners return to hosts who tell personal, emotional stories. They want to hear what happens next, they remember the last host revelation and anticipate the next. Many radio stars share their personal stories every single day like Howard Stern and Elvis Duran.

Shared emotional appeal transcends demographics and geography. Emotions are universal and the foundation of a unique hit show.

Walter Sabo is Walter Sterling. Host of the hit Talk Media Network syndicated show “Sterling on Sunday. LIVE 10PM-1AM EST. Heard live 10:00 pm – 1:00 am live on affiliates KMOX, WPHT, KDKA, KMBZ-FM; and dozens more. Contact Walter at Walter@sabomedia.com, 646.678.1110. www.waltersterlingshow.com

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

Sabo Sez: Consolidation Has Been Radio’s Savior

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imHALF of all radio stations in the United States lose money – at least they did back in 1991. The NAB used to put out an annual report revealing how many radio stations were profitable. Usually half the stations in America lost money. Since consolidation, the NAB stopped putting out that report. It is reasonable to believe that far, far fewer stations lose money today.  Shared costs, real estate, technical economies due to digital equipment versus analog all indicate that there must be fewer money-losing properties.

The business of radio is very strong and appealing to investors. Apollo Advisers was the first money-in Sirius. The Apollo fund recently bought Cox radio. Marc Rowan, Apollo’s CEO is the smartest guy in any room. Rowan doesn’t invest in hunches; he buys businesses that grow return on investment.

In 1970, 7% of all ad dollars went to radio. Today, 7% of all ad dollars go to radio.  In 1970, Procter & Gamble spent almost zero dollars in radio. Thanks to consolidation and the vision of Randy Michaels, radio has shifted from a “frequency” ad buy to a “reach”  buy. Reach commands higher rates and more sophisticated advertisers. The RAB’s Erica Farber and Sound Mind’s Kraig Kitchin focused on winning P&G dollars. Today, Procter & Gamble is a top-five radio advertiser.

Are you sick and tired of “experts” saying that radio is slow to digital?  Radio is not slow, radio was first-in. Mark Cuban put thousands of stations on Broadcast.com in the 1990s. Today radio leads the list of most downloaded podcasts. NPR has been the leader in podcasting since Alex Bennett started the industry. Under Bob Pittman and Jarl Mohn, iHeart and NPR dominate downloads.

Why the pessimism and anxiety in the hallways?  It started with the management of consolidation. There are major consulting firms to help employees go through mergers. Consolidating an industry and its workforce is both an art and science. No radio company sought or engaged experienced expertise to manage consolidation. Instead, when a quarter’s revenue was missed, people were fired. Your friends in the next office were suddenly out of work. Layoffs should have happened all at once, based on a strategic plan. There is no plan. Firings are executed on random dates, with no notice; a horrible practice that continues. That’s why you’re miserable. No plan.

Radio stations in Canada, Europe, Australia and the UK are having excellent years. Canadian Music Week conventions, Commercial Broadcasters of Australia and European conferences are bursting with optimism and good news about radio. Why? Consider this possibility: Most radio companies outside the US are owned and managed by executives with a programming background. To do their jobs, programmers must be optimistic about the future. A salesperson’s job requires them to spend their days listening to media buyers’ objections to advertising on radio – negotiators! It sucks.

Consumers like or love radio. The reason SiriusXM Satellite Radio has 34 million listeners PAYING for radio is that listeners want MORE stations. Much, perhaps most, “music discovery” comes from radio listening. 53% of Americans will listen to radio today. In 1970, 53% of Americans listened to radio daily.

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.

Industry Views

Don’t Leave Cash on the Nightstand

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imAmazing fact: In ancient times, from 1962-1972, the highest-paid on-air talent in New York City was “an overnight guy.” He was paid salary plus sales response. I’m talking about Long John Nebel on WOR, WNBC, then WMCA. Long John’s live reads moved product because his audience was captive. One-to-one his listeners were attached to their radios in the truck cab, night watchman’s building lobby, parents pacing with their babies, students cramming. His background was not in radio; he was a skilled auctioneer. Obviously, the same listeners exist today – and are anxious for someone to talk to them. Check out this old clip of Nebel in action: https://youtu.be/wYMCkpYFtbk

One of today’s bizarre misconceptions is that overnights/late nights are not important for sales or audience share. Totally and completely wrong!

— As an executive, when launching a new format, any new format, the first time period I staffed was overnights. Late-night, overnight is the doorway to a station. Listening patterns to AM drive are habitual, hard to change. Late night listening is discretionary. Audiences will sample new radio offerings when they seek pure entertainment rather than essential utility elements.

— Late-night cume feeds morning drive. Study the flow of audience from late-night to morning drive, you will be surprised how much of the AM drive cume depends on the last station heard before turning off the radio.

— No distractions. It is easier to sell any product or idea to a person who is giving you 100% of their attention rather than rushing to work, calming the kids and remembering to avoid road construction. As George Noory’s success confirms, the percent of listeners who act on a commercial message is higher overnights than at any other time period.

— Every format has a default hour – one hour of the day when it will have its largest audience share. For all-news, for example, it’s always 5:00 am – 6:00 am. Lite FM’s, 1:00 pm. Live, local talk: 11:00 pm.  Listeners seek companionship, sympathy and empathy from talk shows.  If a station offers a “best of” at 11:00 pm, it is ignoring the built-in strategic advantage of the talk format. 11:00 pm is primetime.

— Rate integrity. A station may charge top dollar for morning drive. Upon further study those high rates usually come with nighttime bonus spots.  Bonus spots cut the rate in half. The nighttime results story can stand on its own and command premium pricing without bonusing.

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.

Industry Views

Speaking the Conversation of the Listener

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

In the strum and dirge of daily radio life, it is easy to forget the mad skills required to do what we do. Consider the TV sitcom. 22 minutes of content, 22 times a year. The cast ad libs – nothing! Between eight and 11 writers scribe every word. Hair, makeup… handled by others! A donut run? No, there’s the crafts services table that will make you, the star, whatever you want any time you want it. Hot? A production assistant sprays mint scented water on you.

How’s your day? You or your on-air talent create a three- or four- or perhaps even five-hour show out of thin – or should I say rarefied – air! Writers? You mean that kid who has to go to class at 11? Production? Sure, as soon as the spots for the weekend are cut. Food? Ya got quarters?

You are a miracle of creativity, ambition and sheer talent. Reward? The company wants to cut your live read fees and could you help out in sales? As a point of reference, when Dr. Ruth Westheimer killed in the ratings at WYNY, we gave her a Seville.

GOOD NEWS. You can fix this. Talk radio is the last frontier of free form radio. Fact is you can do whatever you want.

Most talk shows and stations peaked about six years ago. The audience is not growing, it’s not attracted to talk radio’s offerings of endless political theory. So, stop.

What works? Take a look at the ratings of KMBZ-FM Kansas City; KFGO, Fargo; KFBK, Sacramento; WABC, New York’s Frank Morano; WTAM, Cleveland’s Bill Wills; WLW, Cincinnati; KFI, Los Angeles; KDKA, Pittsburgh’s midday. (I will now be flooded with other examples but listen to those stations.) Hosting a network radio show, “Sterling On Sunday,” I have learned what those audio outlets exemplify works!

Talk about your day. Talk about what two best friends would discuss over a quick lunch. The topics that generate ratings are not always the “hot talk radio topics.” The list that works reads like this, try it:

— Trouble with the in-laws.

— Is “Storage Wars” fake?

— Tip at the drive-thru?

— Cell phone for a 10-year-old?

— Married? Is texting cheating?

— How can I do less and earn more?

— Yes, it was a controlled demolition.

— Taylor Swift bi? Harry Styles bi?

— Are you kidding? Women ARE in charge!

— Turn on the AC, shut the damn window.

The power of the mirror. When the radio speaks the conversation of the listener, the ratings go up. Guaranteed.

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.

Industry Views

Lessons from Rush

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

Rush Limbaugh’s initial success spawned a nation of imitators.  Throughout the country hosts and executives heard Rush and concluded that the key to success was bashing liberals for three hour – or all day!

Oddly that wasn’t Rush’s mission.  When Ed McLaughlin launched Rush’s show an article appeared quoting Rush and his role.

Rush said, “I’m here to inform, inform, inform.”  Ed was the founding GM of KGO, he ran the ABC Radio Networks for about 20 years. He knew how to make great radio because that’s all he knew how to do.  I was in his office the day the article quoting Rush appeared.

Ed said to me, “I will have to talk to Rush about that. His job is to entertain.”  Following Ed’s conversation with him, Rush carried out his mission, he entertained.

Rush did not get ratings and cash for espousing conservative views. There were other spokespeople who did that very well such as William F Buckley – an erudite conservative who never got ratings.

Listening hard to Rush airchecks, he was mostly entertaining. How did he do that?  First, he never offered duplicate arguments for his opinions. Every single day he presented brand new evidence and facts and stories to support his point of view. Secondly, he riffed. There were long periods featuring funny, human stories. Cat stories!  Third, Rush understood radio to a pristine point of science. When he had nothing to say, he used the medium’s most powerful tool… silence!

He understood the essential bond with the listener and therefore we never heard his producer on talkback, rarely, rarely, rarely a guest interview.  Phone calls were extremely well screened, coached and ready for air. Sharp produced bits were designed to drive the conversation.  The show was a show not a lecture.

Rush understood that the biggest mistake he could make would be to change his position on anything. Regardless of a caller’s absolute facts, Rush would say, “So what of it sir, I’m right.”  His battle against facts made the show work. Radio wrestling.

Today’s winning hosts don’t waste time forming political opinions, they invest their time in building an entertaining show.

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.

Industry Views

Talk Radio’s $4 Billion Mistake

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imIn the early 1980s, talk radio made a $4 billion mistake. Prior to then, there were approximately 50 full-time talk stations in America. They were predominantly found in major markets and had been in the format since Marconi. The original talk stations had two key traits: They were dominant in ratings and much of their popularity was driven by women hosts.

Mary Margaret McBride hosted an NBC, then ABC Network show based from WOR, New York at 12:00 noon.  From 1938-1957 she led midday radio listening. Nope, not a cooking show. She featured the most powerful, newsworthy guests and grilled them. She prepped for 23 hours a day and sweated every minute. Her popularity was so great that she required five secretaries just to answer her mail. Her 10th anniversary was held at Yankee Stadium. McBride’s 15th  anniversary filled Madison Square Garden, hosted by Eleanor Roosevelt. Correct, Mary Margaret and her listeners were honored by Mrs. Roosevelt.

How about the money? During many early years, it was believed that no advertiser would buy daytime radio.im Then Mary Margaret read live copy. OR Mary Margaret had her guests read live copy. Sales for advertisers exploded. (Source: It’s One O’ Clock, Time for Mary Margaret McBride by Susan Ware https://a.co/d/iHShiad)

The historic galaxy of remarkable women talk show hosts is vast: WOR (Always number one through most of its history) Martha Deane, Dora McCann, Patsy McCann, Mary Healy, Pegeen Fitzgerald, Arlene Francis, Sherrye Henry, Joan Hamburg — yes, all at the same time. Throughout the country the stars include: Sally Jessy Raphael (20+ years on major market radio), Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Dr. Tony Grant, Annie Aiello, Mimi Benzell, Dorothy Kilgallen, Johnnie Putman and the most powerful broadcaster in Ireland, Marian Finucane. (Worth the listen: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/21683976/)

The audience for the content featured by those hosts is thriving and watching daytime TV. Before 1982, daytime TV was the happy land of soap operas and game shows. Then, as content delivered by women hosts left radio, it was embraced by TV. Sally! Dr. Ruth! Oprah! Ellen! The View, The Chat, The Chew, Jenny Jones, Joan Rivers, Queen Latifah, Kelly Clarkson, Ricki Lake.

Today daytime talk TV is a $4 billion business. I take credit for… a lot. I am proudest of the fact that few execs have hired as many women managers and women hosts.

Question to talk radio chieftains, where are the women hosts?

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.

Industry Views

Passion Versus AI

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imLast 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.

Industry News

TALKERS 2023: Video of “Programming News/Talk Radio in the Digital Era – Part 2” Posted

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

During the coming days, videos of all of TALKERS 2023’s numerous sessions conducted June 2 at Hofstra University will be posted, continuing today with the panel discussion “Programmingim News/Talk Radio in the Digital Era – Part 2.” The session, sponsored by “Our American Stories,” is introduced by Alex Fife, VP operations, Southeast, iHeartMedia – Total Traffic & Weather Network (pictured at right) and moderated by Walter Sabo, CEO, Sabo Media and host (Walter Sterling) of Sterling on Sunday (pictured above). Panelists (pictured below from left to right) include 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.  See the video of this session here. 

im

Industry Views

A Carefully Planned Moment of Spontaneous Magic

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imMichael Harrison, founder and publisher of TALKERS, and the man who invented the term AOR – let’s not forget – strongly requested that I share this story about a remarkable event we experienced. Michael describes it as the “greatest promotion” he ever witnessed at a non-commercial function involving broadcasters… so I really have no choice but to accommodate him.

Deep background: My wife Katie and I amazed each other that for all the zillions of hours of TV we watched, we agreed that this scene from X-Files (see the still below) was the best ever: https://youtu.be/wUL7y8AMeU8. This single realization rushed us to a marrying minister. Really, who falls in love over a common passion for a scene like that?

Married six years, I wanted to create a memorable event that would “promote” our marriage. I know! My mania dropped this idea in my brain-on-fire: Recreate that scene with the actual actors – LIVE! I had time. Six months to our anniversary.

William B. Davis, who plays “cancer man” on the series, owned an acting school in Oregon – it says so in hisim biography. I wrote him a letter inviting him to fly to New York to perform the scene live at our anniversary lunch at the National Arts Club. Two appealing prospects: Manhattan and the famous Club on Gramercy Park. Shockingly, he actually called and said if I would also fly his girlfriend in, he would do it! HE WOULD DO IT. Crap, now I had to do everything else. Invite all 200 wedding guests, stage a show, and not tell anyone that it was going to happen. Katie did not know.

But contacting the alien, Roy Thinnes, was harder. I didn’t want to call his listed agent because his listed agent would quote me a real performance price. But Roy was in a soap opera. From my days at ABC, I became friends with several stars of “General Hospital,” including the kindest person who ever Lived, Jackie Zeman. I called her and asked if she knows how to contact the alien. Miraculously, she said, “Oh I know Roy. I’ll tell him you’re going to call.”

One month out, I called Roy who thankfully lives in Westchester, New York. Roy answered the phone in a 20-ball voice… terrifying.  Skittishly, I told him my plan. LONG, PAINFUL PAUSE. Painful. Mr. Thinnes answered, “It would be good to see Bill [Davis] again.” He wanted nothing, neither a limo nor car fare.

Every guest from our wedding showed up including TV reporter Sandy Kenyon, Bob Weinstein of Miramax (the good brother), Kurt and Terry Johnson of

Townsquare fame, Bob McAllan – partner in Press Broadcasting, Michael Ewing and Jay Clark who saved my butt on several occasions, the most powerful people in the room, the owner and staff of The Bagel restaurant in Greenwich Village, TV whiz Edward Hersh and his wife Hillary and, of course, Michael Harrison. That’s a lot of pressure.

Working with a video savant, we found the “X-Files” scene, put it on a DVD and pretended to be ready to show it to the audience as a tribute to our happy marriage. Moments after it started, we made it look like it was skipping. Appearing disappointed and frazzled, I apologized to the crowd and stammered that, we would just have to perform it LIVE.  The two stars came from behind a curtain to gasps from the crowd and performed the scene. Wife was thrilled, guests were amazed. I was grateful.  It all worked.

Magic. Unexpected. Those are the ingredients of great radio. Unexpected comes from show prep content that stands out, doesn’t fit in. The difference between a person on the radio and a star on the radio is unexpected, surprising content. The stars showed up to the lunch because I asked them. I did not know them nor them me. I asked for what I wanted. And Magic. That’s your talent.

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. Meet Walter Sabo at TALKERS 2023 on Friday, June 2.

Industry Views

The Birth of the Car Radio

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

imA 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.”

That set Galvin and Lear on a mission to get entertainment into the car. A car radio. They were tinkerers. Galvin owned a failed battery manufacturing company. Lear and Galvin were smart but broke.

They ultimately invented a prototype radio for the car, but it was massive and complicated. No car battery could power it, the radio required its own big battery which was stored under the seat. The antenna was netting covering the roof. Their biggest challenge was static generated by the car’s starter, transmission, battery, lights – you name it. Galvin and Lear traced each source to correct the trouble-making components one by one. Parts of the radio had to be placed in different locations throughout the car. For example, the receiver was mounted on the engine, the controls on the dash.

Finally, still broke, they drove their Studebaker loaded with radio to the bank to apply for a loan to back the venture. The banker agreed to test drive the car for a night. Unfortunately, it caught fire in his garage and no loan was granted. Next Galvin traveled 800 hundred miles to a radio manufacturer convention. He sat outside the convention hall, played the radio loud and attracted enough orders for the radio to continue his quest.

The trouble continued. It was an expensive install: $600 for a $3,000 car. Many people thought it was dangerous to listen to the radio in the car – a distraction. Municipalities tried to ban it fearing it was a driver attention hazard. Supporters of the ban argued that many types of radio programming could put drivers to sleep. Surveys showed most Americans believed car radios were dangerous.

Oh, and the name they gave the device was horrible: 7FT1. Galvin came up with a new name that was both descriptive and synched with the times, Motorola. Partner William Lear went on the invent the Lear Jet.

Chevrolet installed the first reasonably priced Motorola radios in the early 1920s.

The objections were overcome by an initiative of the Radio Manufacturers Association: They argued that car radios actually helped people become better drivers. They pointed out that radios informed drivers about hazardous road conditions that lie ahead and weather conditions that may disrupt their travel. Supporters of car radios also said that radios actually helped to keep drivers awake when they became drowsy.

Conclusion: Are they nuts? A car can park itself but can’t handle an AM radio, those tech challenges were solved in 1920 – by the inventors of the Lear Jet and of your cell phone. Are manufacturers looking for a “display allowance?” Satellite radio was launched by paying zillions for a slot in the dash. Do carmakers want that for AM radios? Forget the EAS which nobody has ever heard and wasn’t activated during 9/11 in New York City. Weather, traffic, gospel, more gospel, compelling talk shows. (One Cleveland AM station runs the SAME Al Sharpton show from dusk Fridays till dawn Monday.) The better the shows, well, the better.

Sure, write your Member of Congress but you will find more vigilant allies among the preachers. You may recall that in the 1990s there was great debate about the proper deployment of the UHF spectrum. Allegedly, at his inauguration President Bill Clinton shook the hand of UHF TV icon, Billy Graham, who looked the president in the eye and said, “Don’t take away my TV stations.”

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. Meet Walter Sabo at TALKERS 2023 on Friday, June 2.

Industry Views

Better Than a Tornado – What You Can Control

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

The whining is non-stop. Many in radio mourn the advent of consolidation, corporate dictates, staff cuts. They miss the way the industry was – before.

A few reminders about – before. Half the radio stations in the U.S. lost money. Voice tracking? Yes, it was called automation, analog automation and it was a technical nightmare. The meta forces that control our industry today were not created by your current boss. They were created by irresponsible venture capitalists who only looked at the fifth-year projections. A budget projected to the fifth year is at best a guess, but it is most probably a lie.

What can you control? If you are a host, you can control your next show. If you are a program director, you can control your next promo, next break, next collection of shows. You control the product and that makes you the most powerful person in the radio ecosystem. You control the product. Let’s improve the product right now. Listeners know or believe that all radio is live. Live means surprises, the unexpected, the urgent!

— Prep the surprises. Rather than sourcing the New York Post, Daily Mail and your local newspaper, try throwing them away for just a day and tap brand new, unexpected sources. Search “Siberia news” and “Alaska news.”  You will be stunned at the unique menu of stories and fresh material. Surprise! Did you know the biggest challenge in Siberia is rampant forest fires? How about the fact that melting permafrost has given up well preserved woolly mammoths and new breeds of humanoids? Live means surprise.

— Build the stage. Your station or network has a vast, digital production library that you don’t use. Take the time to sit with that library for a whole day and let your creativity explore the sounds and SFX. You will discover new beds, sounders and dramatic effects to build your show’s image and present the unexpected. Already use production? Scrap it and start fresh.

— Water in the basement is the most urgent news in a listener’s life. Not the debt ceiling or January 6. Water in the basement! Other urgent news is: The moving van is two days late. The mother in-law is speaking. Logan died on “Succession.” Give yourself permission to talk about what happened to you over the weekend rather than what happened in Washington, DC.

Your current list of topics is old news, no surprises, nothing urgent. Stop, it’s not working. The typical talk radio topics reach people who typically cannot stand up to change the dial. Surprises, the unexpected and the urgent could boost the survival probability of the AM band — better than a tornado.

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. Meet Walter Sabo at TALKERS 2023 on Friday, June 2.

Industry News

TALKERS 2023 Features 2 Power-Packed News/Talk Programming Panels

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

TALKERS 2023 to Feature Two Power-Packed News/Talk Radio Programming Panels

As the 26th annual installment of the talk media’s longest-running and most important national gathering draws closer, details of its exciting day-long agenda begin to come into focus. TALKERS 2023 will feature two “Programming News/Talk Radio in the Digital Era” panel sessions.

The first, moderated by Mike McVay, president, McVay Media, will feature panelists (in alphabetical order): Grace Blazer, VP, national NTS brand coordinator, director of news and AM programming Florida region, iHeartMedia; Kevin Delany, VP, news & talk programming, Westwood One; Matt Meany, program director, WABC, New York; Eric Stanger, VP, operations, “The Sean Hannity Show,” Premiere Networks; and Joe Thomas, talk show host/program director, WCHV, Charlottesville, VA.

The second, moderated by Walter Sabo (a.k.a. Walter Sterling), president, Sabo Media/talk show host, “Sterling On Sunday,” will feature panelists (in alphabetical order):  Phil Boyce, SVP/spoken word format, Salem Media Group; ops VP, New York region/ WMCA/AM970 the Answer; Tom Cuddy, program director, WOR, New York; Michael Czarnecki, VP, programming, Binnie Media; Dan Mandis, talk show host/program director WTN-FM, Nashville; and John T. Mullen, GM, WRHU-FM/WRHU.org, Hofstra University.

The panels which will be scheduled during the morning and afternoon segments of the conference will tackle such questions and issues as: How much political programming is optimum for a news/talk station? When targeting a core audience, where do you draw the line between “super-serving” and affirming its opinions versus challenging them? How do you expand upon the AM or FM brand through the use of digital media platforms so as to grow the audience and not dilute the ratings? What is the role of podcasting going forward? How do you to maintain journalistic integrity in a highly polarized society? Is talent direction/coaching a lost art? Where does the new talent come from? How do you optimally integrate local and national programming? How do you work with a tight and/or shrinking budget? How can news/talk radio be significantly improved? plus more.

The details of other panels and sessions addressing sales, sports talk radio, podcasting, career navigation and more will be posted in TALKERS during the next few days and weeks.

TALKERS 2023 will take place on Friday, June 2 at Hofstra University on Long Island is on its way to an early sellout.  You can see the list of in-person speakers and get registration and hotel information here.

Industry Views

How to Bounce Back and Get a Job

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

A shocking number of highly qualified broadcasters have lost their jobs.  The venture capitalists that financed the big radio companies are the people who should be fired, but that’s the next column. Let’s get you a job.

When you lose a job there are three actions that will help you land the next job.

— For the first few days, say nothing. Don’t post on social media, don’t answer the phone. You will say something very wrong.

— Every word from you should be that the company that fired you is a great company and you were proud to be there.

— File for unemployment. It’s your money.

Get the Job

— Resumes are a waste of time. I’ve never written one. Focus on the exact job you want, identify the decision maker (which is never in HR) and study. Learn everything you can about the target company and their problems. Write a solution plan. Identify exactly how you can be of service to your potential employer.

— Go to the gym. Just go. A lifetime of pizza delivery doesn’t look great! Get busy. The busier you are the faster you’ll get the job you want. Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and Dollar Tree will hire you today. Get into the stream of work life, it will change your energy.

— In your solution plan, write out how you will help your new employer. The more knowledge you show of your “new” job and company, the more flattered and impressed the decision-maker will be. No one will hire you because you need a job, they will hire you because you will solve a problem. Your plan and solutions will probably be very wrong. It doesn’t matter. You have demonstrated a sincere, studied interest in the company and have made a remarkable effort. Then they have to deal with you. A plan in a three-ring binder cannot be filed. Your plan will sit on the top of a credenza and every time an exec walks into that office, there you are at eye level!

— When you get the interview, show up 20 minutes before the meeting (not an hour). Check out in advance how the employees of the company dress and dress like that. This is no time for self-expression. After the interview, send thank you notes to everyone you met on real paper with a real postal stamp, no emails.

— The goal is to start doing the job weeks or months before you are actually hired. Bring a sales order. Write a positive critique from a listening monitor. Show up at a remote and help.

— TIP. Your odds of landing a job are much greater if you aim for one in the city where you now live.

— Go to the gym.

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. Meet Walter Sabo at TALKERS 2023 on Friday, June 2.

Industry Views

The Power of Appealing to Aspiration

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

WABC - Bruce MorrowIt was a cruel trick. Hulu started streaming “For the People” from Shondaland Productions last month and I bit. It is a show about Manhattan, ambition and really well-tailored clothes. Then I looked at the more information tab and discovered that the show was cancelled… in 2018. Crushed. Two seasons on ABC. Cancelled.

Why have I fallen so hard for a show about the lawyers of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York? Two reasons: “For the People” is aspirational TV (at least to me) like, “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” Every character in “For the People” has an enviable 20s-in-Manhattan lifestyle. It is easy for me to embrace the warm pool fantasy of a good job, cool sushi bars, easy sex. I also miss a character in the show named Kate Littlejohn played by Susannah Flood. She says what needs to be said and does not care what people think of her in the workplace! That’s my aspiration too!

“Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” is also aspirational (again, at least to me). The star, Guy Fieri, lives off the grid and off the menu. He eats any deep-fried dish he wants in the kitchen with the chef for free! I eat Lipitor. I aspire to be Guy Fieri, a man who has no negative consequences for his cardiac arrest diet.

When a show taps into your aspirations on any level, it becomes your show. Radio entertainment did that for you, that’s why you work in radio! You and I can do that for a listener. The founding Top 40 jocks tapped the aspirations of teens every day. Dewey Phillips on WHBQ, Alan Freed on 1010 WINS, Bruce Morrow on WABC and many more. What did they do? They said the names of their listeners for hours and hours, they formed an exclusive club of cool kids. These pioneers compelled their listener to buy the record, the ticket and come to the dance.

“Hey cousin, you’re captured.”  Bruce Morrow said that phrase MILLONS of times going into breaks. He captured the listener behind the velvet rope of coolness and that’s where they aspired to be and to remain.

The moment you share a story your listeners absolutely relate to, they will aspire to join your club. Say a listener’s name, and you instantly become a part of their personal history. Radio’s star making power is radio’s magic. Secretly, every listener wants to be a star, make their aspiration come true and you have a listener for life. Or, as the pedantic say… a P1!

Walter Sabo, consultant, can be contacted at Sabo Media: walter@sabomedia.com. Direct phone: 646-678-1110.  Check out www.waltersterlingshow.com. Meet Walter Sabo at TALKERS 2023 on June 2 at Hofstra University.

Industry Views

According to Research…

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

Oh, excuse me, hold on. Here it is! The hourly report from quasi research companies or real research companies like Nielsen declaring that radio is just fine, thank you! Massive surveys (choose one) reveal that radio works! Radio appeals to younger demos! Radio moves product! Radio has more listeners in AM drive than the “Tonight Show” has viewers! A landslide of data proves that after 100 years of success, radio is a viable medium.

Crazy stuff.

As both a radio executive and host, I don’t need to know that radio works. I see the sales results from your show and from “Sterling On Sunday.” No advertiser gives us money for the heck of it. The checks clear; there’s your proof. The research that is desperately needed would support innovative, disruptive programming. Radio will grow its place in American media by surprising listeners with new formats, new forms of presentation and things that are… new.

Radio exists today because of innovations like Top 40! Urban! Progressive Rock! AOR! Modern Country! FM Talk! and The Seven-Second Delay!

Today, however, there is nothing harder than selling a radio executive a new idea. Any new idea. It is hard for a very good reason. Radio stations are major investments and failure is expensive. In 1977, the most expensive radio stations in history sold for $11 million. (WMAL/WRQX-FM, Washington DC.) In absolute dollars, experimentation was a minor financial risk. Risk would be manageable if owners had sophisticated research tools to test new ideas.

State-of-the-art new product research is required to take radio safely onto the golden path to innovation. How’s your research and development budget? Oh.

Each television network invests about $100 million a year in developing and testing new shows. Those networks deploy stunning techniques to find and test new ideas. There will be new formats and techniques when the collective “we” is finally convinced that radio is a success. Then our research investments can be focused on cutting-edge product research tools that can guarantee a successful pilot season and future.

Walter Sabo, consultant, can be contacted at Sabo Media: walter@sabomedia.com. Direct phone: 646-678-1110.  Check out www.waltersterlingshow.com. Meet Walter Sabo at TALKERS 2023 on June 2 at Hofstra University.

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. 

Industry Views

NAB Out of Step on Non-Competes

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

It’s tough enough for radio talent to navigate stable careers in these days of consolidated station ownership, personnel cutbacks and drastic salary reductions – but the NAB’s newly stated stance on non-competes adds insult to injury and is out of step with the interests of beleaguered professionals still hanging on for dear life in the programming sector of this industry. I understand that the National Association of Broadcasters is at heart a lobbying group representing the interests of the medium’s ownership but, c’mon – non-competes really are of another era and egregiously unfair.

This week the NAB announced that they were not in favor of the FTC ruling to ban non-compete clauses that prevent radio talent from crossing the street. The FTC is proposing the ban on non-competes for a broad section of industries compelling dozens of industry lobbies to sign a letter to Congress in opposition to the ban.

The lobbyists’ letter says that the FTC’s rule would invalidate millions of contracts around the country that courts, scholars, and economists have found entirely reasonable and beneficial for both businesses and employees. “Accordingly, we ask you (Congress) to exercise your oversight and appropriations authority to closely examine the FTC’s proposed rule-making.”

Government interference with the practices of any industry, especially in the area of freedom of competition, is never a good idea. The NAB and other industries believe banning non-competes constitutes FTC overreach. And that is a solid argument. However, the NAB also suggests that broadcasters present a unique case for non-compete clauses due to the “substantial investments broadcasters make in promoting on-air talent.” That’s where they are grossly behind the times.

Maybe in TV. But it has been decades since any radio company has made any investment in promoting their on-air talent. Do you have a $500 “name” jingle? Where are the billboards? Whatever happened to TV and newspaper ads?

Non-competes are deployed in most industries to protect trade secrets. All of radio’s trade secrets are 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.

Industry Views

The Power of Magical Contesting

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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

Radio is good at contests. TV and print suck at contests. However, when listeners are asked why they tune to radio, contests are at the bottom of the list.

Contests are at the bottom because the question is not worded correctly. Dozens of focus groups reveal that nobody admits to entering radio contests. Wrong question. We changed the question: “Most people enter radio station contests, which ones have you entered?”

Nine out of 10 hands shot up – all groups all demos. Every time.  That’s not the news. The news is that all participants STILL HAD THE PRIZE.  Yes, they kept it as a valued treasure.

The contesters remembered the station, the time they won and the DJ, even if they won 20 years ago. Why? Because it was their brush with show business magic. Radio makes magic. The more magic radio makes, the greater its engagement with listeners.

There is no magic awarding “$1,000 in our national contest.” Imagine following the $1,000 station promo with a news story about $2 billion Powerball drawings. Radio cannot compete for prize money, but radio can compete with magic. Yes, the research will show that most people want to win cash, but radio can’t give away enough cash to be memorable or emotional. Radio can make magic with creativity for very little money.

At the end of this column I’ll share with you the most magical contest ever produced by a radio station. To make magic first dive into the list of needs in a person’s mind. In 1974! I launched the first PAY YOUR RENT OR MORTGAGE contest. It was on WOR-FM in New York City.  Every winner came to the station to pick up their check and made the same statement, “I bet no one else had a bigger rent.” The rent or mortgage payment looms so large in our collective brain that it is overwhelming. What else looms large in your listener’s brain -solve the need, award the prize. Turn the $1,000 cash from corporate into something cool and top of mind.

For true engagement, award a specific element from your station or show. For example, Robert Clotworthy is the VO announcer on History Channel’s Ancient Aliens and The Curse of Oak Island. You know the voice. Clotworthy is a frequent guest on my show, “Sterling on Sunday.”  As a prize, we offer Robert to voice your voice mail greeting: “IS PETER A REMNANT FROM OUR DISTANT PAST? ANCIENT ALIEN THEORISTS SAY…LEAVE A MESSAGE.”

Every winner will be asked by their friends “How did you get that???”

Three keys to a successful contest: The prize, the prize, the prize. Very important: The magic of the right prize benefits the overall appeal of the station to every listener, not just contest players. That urgent suggestion is rooted in this astonishing fact first revealed by early PPM data: Contest players are primarily contest players. The PPM measures actual people and actual behaviors. Most contest players float to ANY station offering contest prizes. When the contest is over, the players migrate to the next station offering a contest prize.

This is the most magical contest ever produced, please listen to the whole, humbling aircheck. https://youtu.be/yt3io2nFlt4

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