According to internet keyboard warriors, Howard Stern’s 20-year reign as King of All Satellite Media is coming to an end this year.
Howard transitioned from terrestrial radio in January 2006 with a fresh five-year, $500,000 deal, making him the highest-paid “radio” personality of all time.
Worth every penny according to investors of Sirius, then XM, who merged in mid-2008 – creating a $13 billion company – to afford Howard long-term.
You’re most likely thinking – “what the heck does this have to do with Adult Contemporary?” And you might be right. This piece is not about Howard.
Today’s article is about Succession Planning.
The announcement that Howard was leaving CBS Radio in the rear-view came in late 2004 with his final show on The Howard Stern Network on December 16th, 2005. The hubris of CBS leadership thought that Howard had no other terrestrial place to go. A move to satellite escaped consideration
By that time, former CBS C.E.O. (and Howard’s boss) and now Sirius C.E.O., Mel Karmazin, fully knew Howard’s vast influence and convinced the Sirius Board of Directors that Howard was worth 1,000,000 dollars per year.
You would think that a year’s notice would be ample time to find a Howard replacement. By late 2005, CBS was still scrambling.
Then CBS President Rob Barnett huddled his format VPs to comb America for possible replacements. Big shoes to fill for sure.
The outcome left all of Howard’s station flat-footed. The search result was a hodgepodge of regional shows, including Rover’s Morning Glory, Adam Corolla and the famous New York experiment involving David Lee Roth with disastrous results.
Rarely do we come across Adult Contemporary products—or any station, for that matter—that have an active Succession Plan.
A Succession Plan is hard to face.
Most lack the foresight or fortitude to broach the subject.
During my tenure in St. Louis with Hot AC Y98, we were closing in on a renewal window with market legend Guy Phillips, who is one of the best local morning talents who even put on headphones. The possibility was real that we could not meet his steep – but well-earned – contract demands. We were financially handcuffed.
We took to the road to listen to other regional, smaller-market, but talented Hot AC talent – specifically, Saga Communications’ morning tandems in Des Moines, Champaign, and Springfield.
Saga’s Vice President of Programming, Steve Goldstein – before Steve became “Podcaster in Chief” – brilliantly put together great morning duos. We had our successors identified and ready to move.
Fortunately, we came to terms with Guy as he went on to several more successful years in St. Louis radio.
A few weeks back, we introduced you to an Adult Contemporary morning mastermind.
Midwest Communications morning whizz Dennis John Bailey on Evansville’s 104.1 WIKY. DJB entered his sixth decade in radio. DJB continues to post boxcar numbers and shows no sign of slowing. Yet, knowing the forward-thinking leadership at Midwest Communications, certainly discussions of a Succession Plan if DJB deservingly rides into the sunset have taken place.
Adult contemporary brands often rely on long-term tenured personalities for audience comfort and relationship building. Countless AC morning personalities find their local success and stay market loyal for years, at times, decades.
A few weeks back, a long-time radio friend asked for assistance in locating a replacement for their AC morning show. This friend was having difficulty finding talent, even though the market lifestyle screamed “resort town”.
The senior talent bench we’ve developed has largely moved beyond radio, having experienced downsizing and salary reductions.
Where do you search for talent to place on your most important daypart if a vacancy is on the horizon?
We’ve found success discovering storytellers in these categories:
Competing Formats
Your HR director won’t endorse you, saying, “aging talent”. However, talent does age out of contemporary formats. Few seasoned talents like Elvis Duran, Scott Shannon and the previously mentioned Guy Phillips have mastered the ability to connect long-term with the younger listener.
Look for talent that found success in Alternative, Country, CHR, and the like that have left the format and perhaps radio altogether. Those storytellers are prime targets for AC Morning talent.
Television personalities who have retired or were severed because of financial downfalls are also terrific storytellers. Contact and retain connections with people in your market.
Content Creators
We found success with non-broadcast digital creators that tell stories about a passion product, comedy sketches or parenting issues. If a creator can develop a story with Capcut, they can engage a radio audience.
The obvious locations to find these creators are Facebook, Instagram and TikTok Reels. Search those who follow YOU and track their activity. You will find gold there.
The digital-savvy Content Creator will have a quick learning curve to your studio setup and will have a steep learning curve in mastering audio timing.
Teachers – Realtors
The retired teacher is a solid target for a morning show host. Teachers have spent years engaging students with academic content while projecting during presentations. Plus, they were used to the early and long hours.
In order to be successful, Realtors need to develop storytelling skills. Realtors are also predisposed to fully know your market. Realtors know the makeup of neighborhoods and retail centers. Built in local knowledge.
Both of these professions have tech skills that radio talent often don’t possess to include the ability to tell a story using video assists and interacting with digital presentations.
Non-Profit Leaders
Attend Chambers of Commerce events regularly. You will witness presenters in your market that engage an otherwise often lifeless crowd. Local non-profit leaders are excellent storytellers and are largely underfunded.
Executive Directors at the Chamber level are a great option for mornings. Non-profit E.D.s also know the market like the back of their hand and have the ears of business leaders, along with mayors, fire, and police leadership.
We find local Non-Profit leaders will give you many years behind the mic as they are normally glued to their local community. They have less propensity to bounce to another market as radio talent tends to.
Your Succession Plan won’t have a perfect path. The goal is to be aware that your talent situation will change as change in our business – and the world – is constant.
Don’t get caught off guard.
Connecting with potential talented storytellers and maintaining those connections readies you for the unexpected talent separation.
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.
Kevin Robinson is a passionate award-winning programmer, consultant and coach – with multi-formats success all over the country. He has advised numerous companies including Audacy (formerly Entercom Communications), Beasley Broadcast Group, Westwood One, Midwest Communications, Townsquare Media, Midwest Family Broadcasting Group, EG Media Group, Federated Media, Kensington Media, mediaBrew Communications, Starved Rock Media, and more. He specializes in strategic radio cluster alignment, building lean-forward tactics and talent coaching – legacy and entry-level – personalities.
Known largely as a trusted talent coach, Kevin is the only personality mentor who’s coached three different morning shows on three different brands in the same major market to the #1 position. His efforts have been recognized by The World Wide Radio Summit, Radio & Records, NAB’s Marconi, and he has coached CMA, ACM and Marconi Award-winning talent. He is also in The Zionsville High School Hall of Fame as part of the 2008 inaugural class. Kevin is an Indiana native – living near Zionsville with his wife of 39 years, Monica and can be reached at kevin@robinsonmedia.fm.
