I’ve tried to connect and educate media professionals for nearly ten years. Barrett Media covers the ins and outs of the business on this website, promoting content across social media, and through two weekday newsletters to over 25K people including a few thousand advertising industry professionals. We’ve also held conferences in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, attracting hundreds to each room.
With so many areas of the business intersecting, I’ve always felt it was helpful to know who’s involved, what their challenges are, and how everything works. The more knowledgeable we are of each other’s priorities, the better we can help each other in business.
But I’m not sure if advertising industry leaders share that point of view.
I’ve been to other events where ad agency leaders have expressed a lack of faith in radio/audio, and little interest hearing how their clients can benefit from working with audio brands. Let me be clear, I’m referring to media buyers, advertising agencies, and local/national advertisers not radio/TV/digital sellers, executives, and consultants.
We are hosting our 9th event for industry decision makers later this week in Chicago. In September we will add our 10th show in New York City. Hundreds of top talent, executives, and brand leaders are present at our shows, but advertising professionals are less represented. It isn’t for a lack of interest or trying. I make many attempts to bring people into the room, both on stage and in attendance.
We’ve had support from Katz Media, Direct Results, Ad Results, the RAB, and others, including some who will join us this week. If the content or audience at our events wasn’t relevant, I’d understand, but it is. Yet similar to what radio/audio leaders and salespeople experience, often we run into a brick wall.
It’s led me to question my approach a time or two. I’ve tried email, phone, social media, ticket contests for agencies to receive free tickets, direct conversations at industry events, connections through business consultants, the RAB, NAB, media companies, etc., and the results are the same. If advertising pros in three cities don’t value in-person connections with their counterparts in the media industry, and learning how those they do business with think and operate, then what are we supposed to do? Eventually you just move on and focus on those who do see the value in being present.
I’m not a fan of generalizations that suggest an entire industry is or isn’t supportive. There are advertising folks who have been good to me, and I value those relationships. This is simply a call on others in the advertising world to take a second look, and consider spending a few hours learning and connecting with others who can help improve their client’s businesses.
I can’t bring the Summit to your office, but if we’re in your city, join us. There’s little to lose, and a lot of knowledge and benefits for your clients to be gained. That’s certainly worth a few hours of your time. If you prove me wrong in the process, that’s just icing on the cake. Email me at Jason@BarrettMedia.com if you work in advertising, and would like to experience the 2025 BSM Summit this week.
The End of AI Ashley?
Alpha Media in Portland generated massive attention in June 2023 when the company introduced AI Ashley, the world’s first radio station DJ. The AI/synthetic version of Ashley Elzinga was installed in middays at Live 95.5, using Futuri Media’s Radio GPT software to deliver broadcasts. Industry opinions were split, but media coverage by and large promoted the move as revolutionary.
Well, Live 95.5 recently changed direction, announcing the hiring of Tamara Dhia for middays. Alpha’s choice to go back to local in middays raises many questions. Yet if you sought deeper examination of the issue from media outlets, you were left unfulfilled. My call on Friday with my music editor Jeff Lynn was all about this.
Don’t industry professionals deserve to know what inspired the change? What did and didn’t work for local listeners, advertisers, and staff? Does Alpha have a different plan for AI Ashley on Live 95.5? Would the company do it again in another market? Is there a better fit for AI voices if weekday slots aren’t the answer? Will the company seek to use the AI model strictly for broadcasting content in other languages?
I went on Live 95.5’s website to see where AI Ashley was moved to, and under Ashley Elzinga’s profile it says ‘AI Ashley will ‘fill in’ when Ashley takes a rare vacation’. Moving an AI voice from a 5-day per week daypart to not even appearing on the station is a major reversal. That’s big news. It deserves to be covered.
I’ll never fault a company for taking risks. I applaud Phil Becker, Bob Proffitt, Dylan Salisbury, and Ashley Elzinga for taking a shot. If AI Ashley was a huge success, others would follow their lead. But when major moves like this occur, and outlets say little, it raises as many questions about journalism as the change itself.
Barrett Media Promotes John Mamola to Sports Editor
John Mamola joined us in February as a columnist, chipping in features and news stories as well. His ability to quickly learn our process and people, and get a feel for what works has gone smooth, so I’m excited to officially announce his promotion to Sports Editor.
John and I will work closely to improve our sports media coverage, with Derek Futterman playing a key role as well. His work on our Meet The Podcasters series was excellent, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with him to produce even more original material in the future. He becomes the fourth editor for our brand since we entered the space in 2015. Be sure to congratulate him later this week if you’re at the BSM Summit.
BNM Summit Tickets and Speakers
Once our sports media summit ends, my focus shifts to building our news media summit. I’m excited to bring the BNM Summit to New York City for the first time. My thanks to Newsmax for serving as our presenting sponsor of the event. I don’t like to overhype things, but this one is going to be BIG. If you work in news/talk radio, put it on your radar now. You’re going to want to be here.
The conference is set for 9a-5p on Wednesday September 3rd, and 9a-12p on Thursday September 4th. A special post-event on the 4th is also planned, more on that next week. Tickets go on-sale Monday May 12th on BNMSummit.com. Discounted tickets will be available for $249.99 through June 30th to help folks save money. The regular price of $349.99 goes into effect on July 1st.
I’ll be announcing a big addition to the show, our first speaker, on Tuesday May 13th. I’ve already lined up a CEO, a number of top personalities, and some of news/talk radio’s most accomplished programmers and executives. Look for announcements throughout the month of May.
Unlike past events, I won’t be seeking speaker submissions. We have high interest in involvement across the news media industry, and assuring we deliver a premium event for our attendees is a top priority. This isn’t just a talent show or programming conference, it’s a news media summit designed to examine key issues on-air, in sales, in advertising, in digital, in programming, and in leadership. More to come starting next week.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
