Day 1 of the 2025 BNM Summit Presented by Newsmax is taking place inside the Alvin Ailey Theater in New York City. Key takeaways from this year’s sessions and speakers are being passed along by Barrett Media News Editor Garrett Searight.
Check back throughout the day to find out what you’ve missed.
9:00-9:10 AM: Welcome to the 2025 BNM Summit Presented By Newsmax
Barrett Media President Jason Barrett opened the show by welcoming attendees to the Alvin Ailey Theater in New York.
Barrett began by noting that the Summit’s goal is always to gather the industry and tackle the big topics and issues within the industry.
He highlighted the switch to a three-minute qualifying time for PPM ratings with Nielsen, highlighting why the company made the decision to make the alteration. All-News and News/Talk Radio were some of the biggest beneficiaries of the change in the ratings since the change was enacted. However, Barrett mentioned that those figures were from the 6+ demographic, but is interested in learning what the figures from the key 25-54 demographic.
He highlighted markets like New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Phoenix, and Minneapolis, among others. In commercial stations in All-News, News/Talk, and Talk/Personality formats, in total, the ratings have grown 3.8% since the change was completed.
9:10-9:50 AM: The Common Sense Conversation Presented By Salem Radio Network
- Scott Jennings (Salem Radio Network/CNN)
Jason Barrett led the conversation with Jennings, beginning the conversation about asking how Jennings approaches going into the lion’s den at CNN.
“I do a huge amount of show prep,” admitted Jennings. “I wake up in the morning, and now — because of the radio show, which is in the early afternoon — I wake up, and not only am I reading and doing show prep, I’m also writing the show. And so that actually, truthfully, has really dovetailed nicely with and enhanced my television show prep.
“But on a regular basis, I’m just consuming a massive amount of information, and I’m constantly trying to figure out what will be the vectors of attack around the table. I’ve been doing this long enough now that I’m pretty good at predicting how they’re going to come at it,” Jennings continued. “Now I am at a disadvantage in that A) I’m just one person, and B) I don’t have 20 people handing me notes. I don’t have anything on the teleprompter … I feel like my punditry is as well informed as anybody’s, but it takes me a lot of hours every day to do it.”
Barrett asked how much Jennings pays attention to social media chatter and criticism to his appearances on CNN, pointing to recent comments from Megyn Kelly, who argued that CNN host Abby Phillip should apologize to Jennings because she thought it was clear the host was trying to push him out the door of the show.
“I don’t particularly care for it when I think things are out there that are blatantly false, or portraying me in a way, or portraying something I said on the air in a way that’s not accurate or authentic to the conversation that we actually had,” he said. “So I do pay some attention to it, but I pay more attention to what I’m actually putting out, because I do spend a fair amount of time making sure that the content I’m making gets into my social media channels, and I spend most of my time on that, because I think that’s how a lot of my people consume it. They may not have seen the show, but they love to see a couple of minutes and go back and forth over.
“That’s really what I care about the most. It’s been kind of fascinating to see all the people who look in on the show or pay attention to it. Abby and I, we have a great thing going, in my opinion. For the network and for her and for that show, it’s been nothing but an unqualified success, even though there are moments where I think crazy things happen are set out there. Overall, what we’re doing most nights is pretty special.”
The topic then shifted to Jennings launching a radio show with Salem Radio Network. However, it’s a return to the medium for Scott Jennings, who previously worked in radio in his hometown as a teenager, and later in college at 840 WHAS in Louisville.
“I feel somewhat misled by Phil Boyce about how much work this would be,” he joked. (840 WHAS) allowed me to be a board op for two things, The Rush Limbaugh Show, and I also had to record Paul Harvey in the morning and play it back. So everything I know about talk radio comes from years of listening to Rush Limbaugh every day and listening to Paul Harvey every day. So what I am trying to do on the air every day, you probably hear some of both of that. That is basically what I think it is supposed to sound like. The A block of my show is an homage to Paul Harvey news every single day, and the B, C, and D blocks, I’m trying to do it the way I think Rush did it, as I heard it as a kid learning how this medium is supposed to sound.”
When asked how he measures the success of his radio show, Scott Jennings gave a candid answer.
“Well, the truth is I don’t, at the moment,” he shared. “I’ve been doing this for two months, and I have a sense that people like it. I think we’re on 180 radio stations right now, which tells me something, and it’s growing every week based on what I’ve been told. And so that is a metric that I think is good. Because sales are good. From what I can tell, we’re basically sold out. Those metrics right there tell me something.”
Answering a question from an audience member, Scott Jennings said he had no intentions of running for Governor of Kentucky. He did note, however, that he is not currently a candidate to run for the Senate race opening with the retirement of Mitch McConnell in the state. “I just haven’t made any announcements on that yet,” he concluded.
9:50-10:30 AM: Steering the Format Forward Presented By Red Apple Audio Networks
- Chris Berry (iHeartMedia)
- Drew Anderssen (Audacy)
- Pete Mundo (Cumulus)
- Phil Boyce (Salem Radio Network)
- Mike McVay (McVay Media)
Chris Berry noted that Rush Limbaugh used to say that “You can get the news anywhere, but you can only get the news from me here.” However, he said that people can get the news in a variety of avenues today, so that personality needs to shine through today.
Drew Anderssen agreed.
“We listen to the host we connect with,” Anderssen said. “We have to be cautious of the echochamber. It’s a real challenge for our industry right now. We’ve forgetten that our mission is to entertain. That’s not to mean that you’re the funniest guy in the room. But we’ve lost the entertainment value of a great talk show host.”
“You have to do both,” Phil Boyce added. “(Rush Limbaugh) was able to combine the information with entertainment. If you can find someone who can provide that information in an entertaining way, you’ve hit the jackpot.”
McVay asked about what the message is to local hosts about why they need locality instead of just focusing on national topics. Mundo noted that there’s a recent topic that should be a natural subject for local hosts, but hasn’t been harnessed that way.
“90% of people listening to national talk radio don’t want to go to DC, haven’t been to DC, and don’t think about DC. But you look at some of the highest crime rates in this country based on homicide numbers, it’s Kansas City, it’s St Louis, it’s Memphis,” said Mundo. “There’s a lot of places that this connects around America that relate to the story on a local level. If you’re a local host, this is an easy way to weave the national story into your community.
“If you’re just looking at Fox or CNN and copying what they’re saying, why would anyone listen to you? You’re a local show. You’re a local talent. Weave it into what’s happening in your backyard. What are your crime issues? And I have not heard enough of that on that specific issue the last couple of weeks, and I think it’s a major missed opportunity.”
When asked where they look for the next crop of talents, the news/talk radio leaders had slightly differing opinions.
“If somebody’s smart, entertaining, and if they are opinionated, I think that those are the things that you have to look for,” said Berry. “It’s very elusive right now to find those people, because they don’t think about radio as being the place where they can make their mark.”
“Everybody thinks they could be a podcaster, but not everybody can. The metrics are different,” Boyce said, noting that he found a host like Charlie Kirk in podcasting.
“I think sports talk is a great space to look,” said Mundo. “I’m biased when I say that, because that’s what I wanted to do, and that’s where I was for the first 10 years of my career … I said that to myself, ‘What am I going to care about in my late 30s, my late 40s, my late 50s? What do I actually think I’m going to care about at those ages?’ And I think that there are a lot of guys like that in sports talk who have come to that conclusion.”
“I agree with Pete,” said Anderssen. “There are a number of people who are in that format that feel like ‘I got so much more to say, but I’m limited to what I can in the format.’ So I do think that’s a great place. I like social as well. I also like the traditional looking at the farm team on a local radio station … So I think those are two great spots.”
Where is the format headed? No one knows for sure, but there are ideas.
“I think that our audience is still there,” said Boyce. “I think our audience is very loyal, but our audience is aging. My biggest concern is that anybody under 30 didn’t grow up on am talk or even AM talk. They grew up not even on radio, and so we’ve got to capture the imagination of those young people and bring them back to radio. And I think that can happen … Things can change, but we have to be good. We have to be ready for them. We don’t want to be your grandfather’s radio station. We want to be ready for those people to get ready for us. So it’s a big challenge.”
“(The goal has to be to) give them a show that they find compelling, because if not — if you want to just get hyper served a specific topic — there’s a podcast for that out there,” said Mundo. “Podcasts are so niche by nature, there’s something for them that they can find, and they can get it whenever they want. So what are we going to bring them to the radio for? We used to think about using social media to kind of drive radio extra listening, but what about using social media to get people over to the radio by just hammering your frequency, your call letters, and people realizing young people who didn’t grow up on it?
“‘Oh yeah, this thing in the car turns on and there’s someone talking out of it, and it’s engaging and compelling, and it’s personal,” Mundo continued. “It’s all these things that we love, but it’s also live. That’s something they’re not going to get on a podcast.”
“I think you’ve got to use every tool in your tool belt to not only market and share your brand, but the personalities have to be engaged in that process as well,” said Anderssen. “I love seeing stations where there’s video included. It’s taking the best moments and leveraging those best moments across circle networks. It’s putting the content in pods, taking an entire show, taking great segments, and trying to get frequency and multiple platform distribution as a just part of the nature of what we do, and that’s still a challenge for a lot of us today.”
10:30-11:10 AM: Leading and Lifting Legacy Brands Presented By Core Image Studio
- Mary Sandberg Boyle (WGN Radio)
- Michael Spacciapolli (KDKA)
- Bennett Zier (WRVA)
- Tim McCarthy (Broadcasters Foundation of America)
With the legacy brand leaders, one topic that matters to them is the local knowledge and connections built by the hosts, which matter more than national topics.
“You have to be integrated into the community and understand what’s going on, also, not just in the city of Chicago,” said Sandberg Boyle. “Quite a bit of our listeners don’t, but they live 30 miles out. When you’re a 50,000-watt AM radio station that leads into many markets. You’ve got to be thinking worldly as well, so you have to be in touch with that. You don’t have to be born in our city or county area to understand that, but you have to have that emotional IQ.”
“The local connection of the talent is the most important thing that we do,” said Spacciapolli. “From a talent perspective, that is being entrenched in the community on multiple, multiple levels. It’s the ability to understand what’s going on in people’s community from our talent’s perspective, and putting themselves in a position where they have enough resources that they can actually deliver the content engagement that we need in the local communities. The thing that we focus on the most, and the one thing that I can see would have the biggest negative impact on the KDKA brand, if we ever lost any of that localism from local talent … It is a huge, a huge part of what we do and where we live.”
All three market leaders oversee brands that utilize the AM Radio band. When asked by McCarthy if the possibility of the band seeing a resurgence, or getting an influx of listeners and revenue due to the personalities placed on the band, the reactions were mixed.
“I think the answer is yes, and I think it’s going to be less about whether it’s AM or FM, but it’s going to be what is the easiest way for me to find the content that I think is terrific personality that I love and somebody that I can really believe in, when they tell me something that I can actually make my life a little bit better,” said Zier.
“I believe we talk a lot about the first crack at it is what’s coming out of the speakers, but what we do at what we do with it is so important,” said Spacciapolli. “And that’s why three years ago, we developed a full video platform at KDKA. We can take that content every day, every hour, every 10 minutes, and repurpose it all over social and put it in front of people in different demographics and touch them and engage with them.
“So is it good or is it bad? I don’t know about that part, but I think the reality of it is we need to touch them where they are, and there’s a lot of people living on social we can take our original content and repurpose it all over the place for them and all the different social channels,” he continued. “It’s very, very beneficial.”
“The real challenge is to be able to collect all that data where the different impressions come from, and pulling it in one place, you get a true representation of what was consumed, not just through the speakers,” said Sandberg Boyle.
Maintaining that status as a heritage brand in a given market isn’t taken for granted. But when asked if the legacy brands still did outbound marketing, the leaders stated that a reliance on grassroots has been what they have mostly relied on.
“Well, we have WGN-TV in market, and they have our promos. So we are on that station,” Sandberg Boyle said. “We do a lot of joint brand awareness. We did a billboard campaign during the pandemic, because we have a little bit of a lineup change and but mostly we aren’t marketing outbound.
“We send people out. That’s where we’ve invested, sending people out into communities and doing things that highlight different areas,” said Zier. “That’s what the strategy we’ve used. Because it costs a lot of money … I think grassroots is coming back again. I mean, we folded our tents and our chairs and our picnic tables during COVID. But I think getting our local talent out in the community. We will do TV this year, because WRVA will have its 100th year anniversary this year. And what we’re going to do is we have some ideas, but for marketing, we have to start thinking grassroots again.”
“We’ve used, I’d say, four different content partnerships we have in the market, two TV stations and two lifestyle magazines to create content partnerships that, in turn, allow us to get some free market from both of them,” said Spacciapolli. “So with the NBC affiliate, the CBS affiliate, we have content partnerships that allow us to get some TV exposure. The two lifestyle magazines, we actually feature some of their folks on our morning show, delivering lifestyle around the city. And then we get full page ads or on their socials or on their digital, so that allows us to get some similar marketing from that.”
11:25 AM-12:05 PM: The Keynote Conversation Presented By Newsmax
- Chris Ruddy (Newsmax Founder/CEO)
Earlier this year, Newsmax went public on the New York Stock Exchange, with the price rising to nearly $250 per share at one point.
Chris Ruddy shared why he believed it was an important evolution for the company.
“We’re a 27-year overnight success story,” Ruddy said, noting that the company’s cable network didn’t begin until 2014. “We overcome a lot of obstacles,” he added.
Newsmax has one of the oldest median ages of news audiences in the United States. When asked if they’re interested in lowering that median, Ruddy explained why they don’t want to abandon the older end of the demographic.
“(Those 45+) are the group of the highest net wealth in the country and the highest disposable income, yet advertisers are not interested in that,” said Ruddy. “It doesn’t make any sense. So I’ve always embraced the boomer audience. I have people come in and say, ‘We really need to target a younger demo.’ The truth is, the younger demos are not interested in hard news … There is a value for younger because the advertising agencies, but there’s also a value that huge number of companies, from pharmaceuticals to financial companies and others. Health companies need to target the older demo.
“We’re not claiming we’re a young, hip demo and under 35,” he said. “The older audience is a very good audience. And there’s not a lot of competition out there.”
Barrett Media President Jason Barrett asked Chris Ruddy about his talent lineup, and what he valued from those folks. He said it’s insanely important to the brand’s success.
“I wouldn’t say talent is everything. I would say it’s almost everything. And so it’s critically important to be a talent that resonates with an audience,” said Ruddy. “We have to find people that are unique and interesting, more so than Fox, because Fox just has a lot of gravity and a lot of geographic location.”
He added that the company launched an anti-trust lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday alleging that the network had colluded with cable operators to keep Newsmax off of lineups, or made deals that would see Fox Business Network and FS1 to be a part of basic packages if those operators added Newsmax.
Newsmax now has roughly 550 full-time employees between the network’s operations in New York, Washington D.C., and at the network’s headquarters in Florida.
When asked what he looks for while hiring, Ruddy admitted he values experience and loyalty.
“I’m big on continuity, that people are not just 10 years, 10 different jobs,” he shared. “That they’ve worked at a place they have discipline, and that they know their stuff. Newsmax has less depth than some of the networks. We don’t have as much resources, quite candidly with Fox and CNN — so our hosts and reporters can’t rely on the level of producers. A typical show on 20 producers, assistant producers, and bookers, but other networks have even more people, and so we really need people who are smart.”
Newsmax has dipped its toe into the audio world with radio shows and podcasts. Ruddy admitted the company would like to be more active in that space in the future, but believes some have gotten into the podcasting world under false pretenses, and wants to avoid that situation.
“So many people got into it because they heard that Joe Rogan or Megyn Kelly were making a lot of money, and they all thought they could make a lot of money,” Ruddy said. “And I could name a bunch of people with super famous names in a podcast that make no money in their podcast. It’s hard. You have to develop a following, then you have to keep people engaged, then you have to get advertising.
“It’s not a primary area, but we see it as a very important area and very synergistic because … we’re taking those folks in their cars, they can’t watch TV, and telling them about Newsmax programming, what they can tune in. I think it’s a good deal. We have been interested in getting in radio. We see some potential. But the truth is, the market is very ossified, because you have three big companies and they all have debt issues … I’d like to be bigger on radio. So I think I should just keep it at that,” he concluded, noting that the company now being public makes it more difficult to discuss future plans for the organization.
1:15-2:00 PM: The World According to Glenn Beck Presented By Premiere Networks
- Glenn Beck (Premiere Networks)
Barrett Media President Jason Barrett began the conversation by asking Beck about his thoughts on state of the radio industry and the state of his radio show.
“Coming up in two years, it’ll be my 50th anniversary of doing radio. I go from city to city, and I will go to these stations, and they are empty,” said Beck. “Since I was a kid in the 70s, everybody said ‘Radio is over.’
“We’re at an inflection point right now. If people will start to look at the new tools on the horizon, start to look at the way people are connecting with personalities amd start reinvesting in personalities and looking for the people that can be local and go extreme, extremely local, I think the broadcast industry has a rebirth locally.”
Beck has plenty of avenues to distribute his content. Between millions of followers on social media and YouTube, in addition to his radio show and his digital media outlet, The Blaze. When asked about how he decides what is important, Beck had a simple answer.
“It depends on what it is,” he said. “We didn’t do a lot of these early on, up until about almost ’18, because we were trying to balance The Blaze. If you’re trying to get somebody to see it, you must be on YouTube. You have to be on YouTube. If you’re talking politics, you have to be on X. You want to appeal to lifestyle, you have to be on Instagram. But there are things that we edit or don’t post on each because we don’t want to screw the algorithm up. We know what will perform on Instagram, won’t on X, what will perform on YouTube, won’t other places. So we have to be really careful and have a team that that does all of that.”
Beck noted that he does five live commercials each day on The Glenn Beck Program. He said about five years ago he and Premiere Networks altered his clock in an effort to make the radio show sound more similar to a podcast.
“It makes it better for the audience,” he said. “We have seen numbers go up just by making that change, which gets us out of really the quarter hour business anyway. I think if your talent is good enough and willing to do the spots, the listeners stay longer. They’ll sit through the spots, especially if you’re good at doing them. I don’t do a spot twice. Everything is new every time. And the listeners sit through and they strangely don’t complain about it, which I think is is a remarkable feat.”
The way radio ratings are calcualated have been changed. Glenn Beck admitted he remains uninterested in changing to chase ratings.
“I’ve never changed anything because of the ratings,” he said. “The number one thing talent must have is authenticity. You have to be the person you are. If you’re not, they’ll smoke you out so fast, and you’ll be done. But if you are changing constantly for ratings, you’re never going to make it. I don’t pay attention to the ratings. I get big broad strokes. ‘How are we doing? Are we up? We down? How are we doing?’ The radio show is the whole me. That must be the center of the wheel.”
AI usage has been a hot-button topic in media circles. Beck was asked how and if he’s using AI, and he said he can’t afford not to use it.
“If you use AI to be able to enhance your work, it’s great. And if you’re not doing it, you’re going to be left behind. It is too powerful of a tool not to learn how to wield it. I’ve talked to some radio people who say, ‘No, I’m not going to ever use AI because it’ll replace us.’ Well, yeah, it’s going to it will replace you quicker than it will replace me. It’s a tool. Pick the tool up. Know when to use it, know how to use it, and wield it yourself, or it will be wielded against you.”
2:00-2:40 PM: Turning the Tables Presented By Xperi
- Jeff Katz (WRVA)
- Tom Cuddy (710 WOR)
- Brad Lane (830 WCCO)
- Ann Thomas (WJR 760)
- Ken Charles (95.5 WSB)
Katz began by asking how much talent should a talent allowed to be.
“I’ve found with every talent you work with, there are different buttons,” said Cuddy. “It’s not one-size-fits-all. I have found that it takes a little while to figure out everyone on your team. There are some people you can call in your office and have a situation figured out in two minutes. Others, it can take a half hour. Everyone is different.”
“My job is to get hte most out of our talent and our programming,” said Lane. “My job is to make sure everything is compelling. And everything coming out of our speakers is my job. My job is to coach. They’re all different and are all managed differently. I won’t be able to turn them loose if I don’t get to know them.”
Ann Thomas was asked about where the next group of program directors will come from.
“We may see some future PDs and some of our younger talent,” said Thomas. “So I try to keep an eye on people that are interested in more than just being on the air. You get some people that really are interested in the behind the scenes stuff. So I think there’s some possibilities there, but I do agree it’s tough to find the program directors.”
“It’s very important to me to always have — for every position I have — who I would go to if tomorrow someone got hit by a car,” said Cuddy. “It used to be, years ago, I had two or three people for each position in my head. But those days are gone. With more and more radio stations not having overnight shifts where someone can break in, it’s much more challenging.”
“We’re going to find them in exactly the same places we’ve been looking and we were found,” added Charles. “So let’s stop lamenting the end and start nurturing the next. Because it is the next that will carry on whatever legacy we’ve left them at our radio stations. And they’re there and they want to be there. There are still people in their 20s and 30s who respect radio and want to be a part of radio. Yes, they’re fewer than they were. Yes, some of them don’t even know it until you introduce it, but they’re in all the same places. We need to look at them, cultivate them and nurture them.”
Trust is essential between a PD and a host. When asked how they build trust, answers differed.
“Well, I think that the best way to do that is kind of let them go, let them do what you’ve asked them to do, and only get involved when there’s a big issue,” said Thomas. “They need to know you’re not going to pick at them every single day. You’re only going to get involved when it’s absolutely necessary, and it’s good for the radio station and good for them personally.”
Cuddy shared an anecdote that his midday host, Mark Simone, has never sat down for a conversation in Cuddy’s office because he doesn’t want to get locked into a poor conversation. He added that he built trust with Casey Kasem by finding out who leaked the infamous “dead dog” tape.
“It’s takes different things, but you got to make the efforts time consuming,” said Cuddy. “But if the relationship is worthwhile, you do it.”
“We’re partners in this,” Charles said of coaching his talents. “So you can have really hard discussions, but when you get caught in that first lie or that first piece of BS, you are done. It doesn’t matter. Good news, bad news, whatever the news is you’re over and done with. So A) Don’t be a dick and B) Don’t lie.”
“I’ve literally asked some of the talent, point blank, ‘Do you believe that I want you to succeed?’,” said Lane, before noting that having a conversation about the important topics instead of harping on the things that don’t need addressed as a way to build trust with talents.
2:40-3:20 PM: The Blind Spot Presented By Talk Media Network
- Peter Thiele (Zimmer Communications)
- Rich Valdes (Westwood One)
- Kate Delaney (Talk Media Network)
- David Webb (SiriusXM)
- Lee Harris (Radio Redact)
Harris began the session by pointing out how many white men, many of the age of 60, are leading news/talk radio shows in the country.
SiriusXM host David Webb noted that his position isn’t from a commitment to diversity from his company.
“Do you have the talent? Do you have the knowledge to do this?” said Webb. “Most people out there in our business, while there are some — I’m sure they have different versions of it — most of them are, can you do a show? Can you get an audience? Can you deliver and do the fans want you back when you’re done? Now, diversity already exists in the population that look at the country. So are you trying to appeal to them intellectually or ethnically? I find it more disingenuous to just be heavily focused in any way on ethnicity rather than intellectually. Focus on your content.”
“I think there’s a presumption that it’s a bunch of white guys,” Valdes said of talk radio. “So when I make a reference to my upbringing or what I eat for dinner on Christmas, it’s really just to tell the story a little bit, to add a little flavor, because it’s theater of the mind. We’re doing talk radio. It’s a conservative commentary. We’re talking about the news of the day and doing analysis on those things. And ultimately, it’s a meritocracy.
“It’s also who wants to be in the game,” Valdes cotniued. “If you want to be in the game. I’ve never met too many people, my contemporaries — other Puerto Rican guys — say like, ‘Hey, I’ll be a radio guy.’ I just haven’t met them.”
Kate Delany — who originally started out in sports radio before shifting to news/talk — said she believed she got into the medium in spite of being a woman, not because she’s a woman.
“It’s about wanting to be in this business,” said Delany. “It took a while for me to break the glass ceiling … The bottom line was, did I get the audience? Was I entertaining? Did I know what I was talking about? Did I get great guests? Was I compelling? That’s radio, and that’s what I did. I didn’t worry about if there were people that criticized me. In fact, most men the listeners lifted me up.”
When asked what woman can bring to non-political talk, Delany said there are numerous options.
“I host radio talk shows. My job is to entertain, be compelling, and talk about what’s going on in my world,” she said. “I think what it is is I go deeper. What does it mean in your backyard? I think scratching it a little bit deeper. What does it mean? What does it mean to the consumer? Is it a bunch of nonsense about the tariffs, or is it not a bunch of nonsense? What does how does it actually affect us? And women care about that, because, guess what, they control the purse and most of the families.”
Peter Thiele gave the perspective from a program director’s position. He said he wouldn’t care or highlight the diversity of a given host, because ultimately the audience doesn’t prioritize those items.
“You stick 40 white guys who are in their 40s in a room, and you have them fill out what they think about a wide variety of things, you’re gonna get 40 different answers,” said Thiele. “You’ll find the same thing with this from people who are Latino, for women, for blacks, for any group. It’s a fact that goes through. There’s maybe a stereotype of that some programmers in this industry don’t quite get, is that you put on a person who is different than the target demographic, gender, or ethnicity that the audience won’t kick or won’t like it, it will drive them away.
“And I find that complete garbage,” Thiele continued. “You go in and you provide an authentic point of view, and you bring it up from your perspective, an audience will respond and appreciate it.”
3:35-4:15 PM: The State of All-News Radio Presented By Ramsey Solutions
- Ben Mevorach (1010 WINS)
- Michael Lysak (Bloomberg Radio)
- Julia Ziegler (WTOP)
- Jennifer Brown (CBS News Radio)
- Tim Scheld (Montclair State University)
Scheld asked the question of what keeps the all-news leaders awake at night before jumping to questioning how they define their brands.
“For me, when it comes to the content that we put on WTOP, I say to everybody in the newsroom, all of my producers, talent, etc… We have to have balanced news every single hour,” said Ziegler. “It cannot be all death, Doom, gloom, politics, destruction, all of that. That is not what people will hear. They will turn us off. Someone can be interested in politics and want to know what’s going on there, but they can also be interested in what our feature reporter Matt Koufax has to say about a new Greek ice cream shop that’s opening up down the street, or whatever.”
“I was told a long time ago when we started the business, and you took somebody from outer space and you blindfolded them and drop them into the city, they should within just a couple of minutes what city they’re in based on how you program your radio station,” said Mevorach. “New York has some very unique qualities. In your face. It’s fast paced. It’s ‘Don’t waste my time.’ It’s ‘Get out of my way.’ It’s quirky, it’s very parochial. All those things make New York, New York. And WINS reflects that.”
“Ultimately, it has to be valuable to the listener,” said Brown. “Because we have such little time. What are we discussing? And is it understandable? Is it relatable? You know, is it? And I think when you say the rounded plate, I do think about, like, consumer stories, weather stories, and like, why is it significant?
“teasing”- right befote traffic reports, a lot use station for just traffic. Try to hold attention for after traffic updates, per Ben Mevorach
Admit on air if mistakes were made is an important way to gain trust in the audience. Human error applies to news people as well, says Ben Mevorach
Responding to calls and emails promptly is an important way to build trust- Julia Ziegler
“Make sure anecdotes about certain figures applies to the story being told”, said Jennifer Brown. An Example, most people have an opinion about RFK and his actions.
You will not be able to change the macro behavior, and tailor around that with partnerships and events. example, a pickleball tournament brought in millions of dollars in revenue for the radio station
Our partners are an extension of our brand and bring in listeners who wouldn’t tune in otherwise said Jennifer Brown when asked about the importance of partnerships.
How to battle News Fatigue? Bern Mevorach changed the layout of the studio to raise staff morale, examples, Music movies
Jennifer Brown reminds her staff to take care of themselves and their loved ones.
4:15-4:55 PM: Titans of Talk Presented by 77 WABC
- Mark Simone (710 WOR)
- Sid Rosenberg (77 WABC)
- Mike Gallagher (Salem Radio Network)
- Erick Erickson (Compass Media Networks)
Barrett Media News Editor Garrett Searight led the discussion.
How do you balance between national and local? Put emphasis on local, people want to hear about their city, even though at the end of the day it’s New York-Sid Rosenberg.
Mark Simone- The local details make the listening experience that much richer
Mike Gallagher- So many NY Stories are national (mayoral race used as example). Take local stories and put a national emphasis on it. Keep local instincts, and you will succeed at the local, national, or regional level
Erick Erickson- There is always a local issue that can be related to at the national level.
What does show prep look like?
Msrk Simone- Always constantly be prepping, it’s not just showing up a couple hours early. Always be gathering information and stay informed. Prep is 24/7
Sid Rosenberg- If you’re predictable nobody will care, cited getting his start under Don Imus.
Mike Gallagher- concurs that show prep is 24/7. More avenues compared to generations past , where a couple hours of prep would suffice (social media, different sources)
Erick Erickson- Be yourself, do not try to be too hard to be like the greats like Rush Limbaugh. Let your soul speak as much as you speak
Sid Rosenberg – If you’re enthusiastic, your base will follow you. Trust yourself, and the audience will trust you
What do you need from a program director at this stage in your career?
Mark Simone- need program director, because it’s the one person who’s job it is to say “this isn’t quite right”, sort of like a father figure or significant other.
Erick Erickson- Someone who can tell you youre screwing up without losing his job for telling me to do so,
Rosenberg- Hates program directors. The best ones are the ones who leave the talent alone, even if they do something they don’t like. A program director for a seasoned veteran is annoying.
How did you learn to handle criticism?
Mark- Disable comments, most of it is negative. After a while it means nothing
Sid- The only criticism I care about is my wife. You want people to like or hate you. Vanilla is not what you want in this business. Character attacks are what I dislike, but criticism of the job is fuel.
text lines should be utilized- mike
Mark Simone- More points, less words. Twitter World, keep varying topics, don’t focus on same thing for 20 minutes.
Radio is not dying- Mark Simone. Cited articles from 1966, and 1948 that radio is dying for various reasons, and doesn’t believe it for a second.
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