I’m a firm believer in the importance of consistently researching your audience. During my radio programming days I was fortunate to have budget to utilize groups like Edison Research and Coleman Insights. They’d do deeper dives into the health of my brands, the strengths and weaknesses of local competition, and that information was always useful in supporting the programming decisions I made.
But not every brand has a budget for research. If you do, use it. It’s valuable. If not, what do you do? Do you just rely on your gut? Do you ignore your ratings, online traffic, streaming sessions and social media impressions?
Of course not.
Even when dollars weren’t available, I made time to learn what my audience valued. The data may be less scientific but real-time feedback from those who spend time with your brand shouldn’t be discounted. I’d arrange remote meetups with small groups, online surveys, social media chats with fans, and invite only meetings inside the radio station. My feeling was that there wasn’t a downside in connecting with people to hear what they like, dislike, and expect from the brand.
Having said that, I try to do it with Barrett News Media and Barrett Sports Media. We serve a professional audience and want to make sure we’re providing the right type of content. Unlike sports, news media professionals are less vocal on social and not as active pitching ideas to us for coverage. We’ve been building BNM for three and a half years, and I’m always interested in hearing what news/talk radio, digital and television professionals want more and less of from us when it comes to our coverage of their business. The more we know, the better we can be.
Given that many of our readers do different jobs on different mediums, individual tastes always vary. For instance, if you program or host a radio show, you probably care about ratings, other things being done in other markets by other shows and industry gossip that you can use as fodder on your program. If you’re a radio GM or sales professional, that may not be as vital as knowing what the political advertising climate is or what other business professionals are doing to grow revenue, ratings or relevance. If you’re in TV or working with a digital brand, none of that may matter.
To help us stay on track, I’ve put together a brief 12-question survey that I’d love to have you fill out. We’re trying to make sure we’re delivering stories you care enough to read. If there’s material being created that provides less benefit, we want to remove it and give you more of what you seek. The only way to do that is to ask for your input.
Please click the BNM Survey link below to help us out. It shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes. I appreciate you weighing in so we can continue to make the time you spend with us as valuable as possible.
If you receive our BNM newsletters, you’ve likely received a few emails about our speaking opportunities at the 2024 BNM Summit in Washington D.C.. Interest in participating has been high, which is awesome. Each year we create an agenda focused on covering the most critical issues facing the business with the most pertinent speakers we can find to add insights on those issues. Given the size of the news/talk format, and the fact that we have attendees in the room with TV, Radio, Digital and Advertising backgrounds, it’s impossible to accommodate every request.
Having said that, we’re gathering entries to see who’d like to be involved. Once our sports conference is over in mid-March, I’ll reveal the first batch of speakers for the 2024 BNM Summit. We’ve got some good ones lined up.
This is going to be a tremendous event, and I do expect it to sell out. We only have 250 seats and ticket sales during the first month were higher than any other event we’ve run. If you want to make sure you’re in the room, I recommend purchasing your tickets early. Once we’re full, we can’t add chairs.
For tickets and additional details, visit BNMSummit.com. Future announcements regarding speakers and other items planned for the show will be made here on BNM.
Have you ever seen the move In Time featuring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried? It didn’t earn great reviews but it performed well at the box office and outperformed the film’s budget. The reason I mention it is that the story reminds me a little bit of what I see in the radio business.
In the movie, people are genetically engineered to stop aging on their 25th birthdays. They receive one free year to live, each possessing a timer on their forearm that shows how much time remains before they die. I’m not suggesting that anyone in radio is on death’s door but I do think a case can be made that the clock is ticking on radio functioning the way it does now.
Apologies in advance if you’re not ready for some straight talk but some 40-60 year old professionals are doing today what they did ten to twenty years ago. I’m fortunate that some of the people I work with operate differently but there are plenty still utilizing an old playbook. They dismiss audience behavior changes, ignore the rise of new outlets and seismic shifts in technology, and more importantly, don’t study where the dollars are going. They’re focused on what’s happening locally this week, this month, and this year, not what’s on the horizon.
I’ve raised attention to a lot of issues over the past eight years. Too many of them though remain unchanged. It’s as if we’re standing by, waiting for time to expire rather than proactively creating new paths forward.
For instance, if you’re running an AM radio station today, what’s your plan if you’re knocked off the dashboard tomorrow? Are you just assuming people will stream you? Is your plan to wait for corporate to pass down instructions of how to proceed? If you don’t own the social media platform you appear on or the dashboard where your broadcast originates from, how do you keep your brand alive and what are you doing now to make sure the relationship with your audience doesn’t vanish?
Do you even have a newsletter to stay connected to your fans? Are you ever in touch with the audience by email beyond when you’re pushing them an advertiser message or piece of content? What would you do if Apple and Spotify eliminated your podcasts from their platforms and Alexa didn’t let your commercials play? Do you have a plan?
Why are commercials on many radio stations in an hour still longer than the recommended length of a podcast? How does that benefit the listener let alone the advertiser? While we’re at it, are four to five hour shows the right model for future success? They make financial sense and some hosts are exceptional for longer periods of time. However, not everyone is built to perform that way. More importantly, look at your TSL. How many people consume more than an hour or two of a show on your station?
I’ve written numerous times about the lack of diversity in sports media management. How is it that the issue is as bad today as it was in 2015? At some point, you either do or don’t care about the issue. The results suggest we don’t.
Furthermore, how many audio brands operate in 2024 without a video strategy? Or a social media strategy? How many think about the future of Search in an artificial intelligence supported world? What happens when your brand recall and page one visibility shrinks?
The television industry is pursuing new ways forward. Their ideas may or may not work but at least they’re trying. Whether it’s the ESPN-FOX-WBD streaming deal, WWE’s deal with X to create SPEED, a series of matches delivered in 5-minutes or less, CBS Sports introducing new technology for the Super Bowl or NBC embracing new measurement alternatives, the quest to innovate doesn’t stop. Even MLB introduced a ‘pitch clock’. What’s radio’s excuse?
I know that’s a ton to digest. You need to think about these things though not just whether or not your content is good, ratings are high and sales are on target. Maybe you believe these things are far down the road so you’ll leave it for the next man or woman to deal with. But innovation happens fast and other mediums respond quicker and more effectively. It’s why confidence is higher in television and digital. It’s also why social media is as dominant as ever despite a lack of trust and frequent complaints.
As an example, when I started the BSM Summit in 2018 in Chicago, not one chair was filled by someone outside of radio. Today, a third of our conference features representatives from digital and television outlets. Who’s to say that in three to five years radio isn’t the minority in the room rather than the majority?
Many of the questions I’ve asked in this column you’ve thought of yourself. What’s stopping you from addressing them? Don’t tell me it’s corporate’s fault. Rethink your structure, ask the tough questions, and create a plan to improve it.
There is going to come a time when new players own the audio space. The current landscape isn’t promised in 2025, 2030 or 2040. It’s vital that we innovate, learn new skills, and strike new partnerships to change the perception, value and future of our business. The inability to do so is what ultimately leads to losing control.
If a media extinction level event occurred tomorrow, how many of you would be able to create a second act in a new space and thrive? Many of you haven’t even thought of that possibility. I hope those who aren’t prepared don’t ever have to find out. Unfortunately, the clock is ticking and you don’t even know it.
We are twenty four (24) days away from being inside the Ailey Theater in New York City. If you work in the sports media industry and haven’t bought a ticket, why not? People in radio, TV and digital talk often about being stuck, exhausted, unable to make connections and fearful of the future, yet here’s a golden opportunity to spend two days with some of the smartest, most successful people in the business. This applies to students too who are thinking about a future in the industry. Learning from fifty to sixty decision makers isn’t offered regularly. To be in the room, buy your ticket by clicking here.
To keep the momentum building, I’m excited to announce seven additions to our lineup. It’s a pleasure to welcome Stadium NFL Correspondent Annie Agar, Audacy Executive Vice President of Programming Jeff Sottolano, AllCity Network CEO Brandon Spano, Yote House Media CEO Scott Reinen, Front Office Sports CEO Adam White, Good Karma Brands New York Market Manager of 98.7 ESPN NY Vinny DiMarco, and former EVP of Content and Programming for Cumulus Media/Westwood One and the current President of McVay Media Mike McVay to this year’s show.
I’ve got a few more additions to reveal this week. We’ll then release the full schedule next Monday February 26th. After that, it’s time to dive into production and connect our speakers in order to make sure the sessions are valuable for our attendees. I hope you’ll join us in the big apple. It’s going to be an exceptional event.
Laugh of the Week:
Props to Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata of WFAN for this gem. Last week, the midday duo had to pay off a bet. The punishment required BT to dress as Goldust and Sal to become Doink the Clown. It was laugh out loud funny. Every time I tried to forget about it and focus on my work, another clip or photo appeared on my timeline and I couldn’t look away. Watching these guys try to talk sports while looking ridiculous was great entertainment. Nice job fellas.
Mike Stone: After three decades in sports radio, the 97.1 The Ticket host has earned the right to sleep in. Stone will still be doing part-time work for the Detroit sports radio juggernaut but signed off his morning show on Friday. Replacing a popular figure and important voice on Detroit’s sports radio airwaves isn’t be easy but The Ticket did a great job with its succession plan, preparing Jim Costa to step in alongside Jon Jansen. Stoney’s daily presence will surely be missed by many. I tip my cap to Mike for one hell of a run.
First Take: Shannon Sharpe extended his deal with the show through the end of the NBA season, and Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo was signed to a multiyear agreement. Smart moves by Stephen A. Smith and ESPN executives. Mad Dog has been television gold since joining the show, and Sharpe is built for the debate format and fit like a glove as soon as he joined the cast. When First Take parted ways with Max Kellerman in 2021, some questioned if the new format would work. Not only has it worked, it’s made a top rated show even stronger.
EXCLUSIVE: Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo Has Scored A Multi-Year Contract Extension With ESPN To Continue Starring On @FirstTake with @StephenASmith + @MollyQerim.
Bill Simmons and Pat McAfee: On behalf of the sports talk format, thank you! Outlets (ours included) love to dive in and create content when two notable personalities take shots at each other. It’s red meat that people can’t wait to take a bit out of. Pat and Bill gave hosts last week extra juicy content to work with, which was certainly more interesting than NBA midseason recaps, NFL year in review discussion, and MLB Spring Training previews.
Barstool Sports: After regaining control of the company, Dave Portnoy had to wait until he could team up again with a sports betting brand. Once Barstool was legally able to, the brand struck a deal with DraftKings. To promote the new partnership, Barstool went back to their roots, recreating the Major League credit card commercial, one they previously did in 2014. The final result, an excellent creative spot. Well done.
Breaking News: I'm proud to announce that Barstool has signed a multi year monster deal with @DraftKings We're back to our roots. DK is once again the exclusive sports betting partner of Barstool Sports. The more things change the more they stay the same. #dkpartnerpic.twitter.com/EvmDGK0shl
Bell Media: Company president Sean Cohan sent out an internal memo informing employees that Bell intended to sell 45 radio stations to 7 buyers. In making the announcement, Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson said “That’s a significant divestiture. It’s because it’s not a viable business anymore. We will continue to operate ones that are viable, but this is a business that is going in the wrong direction.”
It’s interesting that Bell Media said radio isn’t viable anymore yet half a dozen companies bought up 45 of their radio stations. So, are those six companies stupid and in the business of losing money, or does Bell just not know how to run radio stations!? I would say the latter.
I look at this as addition by subtraction. If Bell didn’t have passion for the business, confidence in the industry’s ability to produce revenue, a desire to compete, and an understanding that audio/video is rapidly thriving, move over and let someone else take charge. Large groups saddled with debt still generate revenue. They just can’t get ahead because of prior financial issues. Independent operators and smaller groups becoming more involved is better for the business. Let’s hope the groups snagging Bell’s assets do more with them than Bell did.
TV NewsCheck: Last Monday, I was saddened when I read that the online trade site was pausing its content due to a turbulent advertising market. Unlike one person I know who runs a trade site, I support other industry publications. However, two days after posting the pause announcement, TVNC posted an article saying they’d turn the lights back on if they could get 1,500 broadcasters to each donate $199. That implies the brand sought 300K to return to business.
Keep the voice up and running and providing the business journalism our audience depends on. Subscribe to TVN Plus and invest $199 a year in the leading source of business news for the leading source of business news for the TV broadcasting industry.https://t.co/zuKyLWOaD5
I’m not privy to TVNC’s business, I’m just an occasional reader of the site. After seeing that message, I couldn’t help but wonder if the goal was to launch a high-cost subscription service and use the shutdown as the catalyst to drive signups. TVNC posted a job listing for an account executive four days prior to the pause. Then it reversed its position two days after the announcement and had specifics outlined of what was needed to return to the business.
Normally when you reach a point where there’s little hope left, you don’t add staff or roll out a detailed revival plan in forty eight hours. It’s just very strange. I hope my initial reaction is wrong.
If you read BarrettNewsMedia.com, we’ve introduced a survey to gather feedback from our readers. Taking 10-15 minutes to offer your thoughts, would be greatly appreciated.
If you have a question, comment, news tip or are interested in writing a future guest column, email me at JBarrett@sportsradiopd.com. Press releases and interview requests can be passed along there as well. Thanks for reading!
Many years ago a sales guru speaking at a training session I was attending said, “Business goes where it is invited.” In the context of what we were there for, this was intended as something we should be saying to prospective clients. Advertising is a way to invite the masses to do business with you.
It was something fairly easy to say to someone who was not doing any advertising or to a new business. The saying made a lot of sense and it’s easy for anyone to understand.
It wasn’t until a few years later I realized this saying means a lot more than what I originally thought. I was always looking at it through the lens of a salesperson talking to a client.
When I became a Market Manager, I realized the saying can mean several things. I asked my team at the time, “What are WE doing to invite business?” This wasn’t just a question for the sales department; programming, marketing and even HR needed to answer the same question.
Most media outlets are always looking for good employess, especially in the sales department. So, what were we doing to invite people to come join our team? Sure, we posted on the job sites and had a listing on our website, but there was plenty more we could be doing to help the cause. We came up with the idea of having our talent do endorsement ads for prospecitve sellers. They were the ones our listeners trusted, so we decided to use their voices to invite potential candidates for jobs.
On the programming side, listeners go where they are invited and stay where they feel welcomed. So, again I asked the question, “What are we doing to invite new listeners in?” We realized, at the time, we were mostly just reiterating to current listeners why they should stay. As far as what we were doing to invite new listeners, the answer was really nothing.
You can do the greatest programming in the world, but if you aren’t finding ways to get that message out to new listeners, how will you ever grow? Yes, billboard campaigns and television ads could be one of the answers, but unless someone was willing to accept restaurant trade as payment for those, we knew that wasn’t going to happen.
As digital and social media became more prevalent, the excuses became a bit harder to accept. And that leads us to where we are today. Some stations really need to take a hard look at what they are doing to “invite business.” In this case “they” refers to the station as a whole and the talent who work on them.
Having spent quite a bit of time in the last two months looking at sports radio station websites and social media accounts, some are still not getting it. In fact, a lot of stations and talent aren’t even doing the bare minimum.
If you are a manager, I would ask you to do a simple test. Take a look at your website as though you are someone who doesn’t listen regularly to the radio station. Is the information there to “invite” new people in and inform them of what you are all about?
For many of you, this is not the case. I recently ran across some stations that do not even list the names of the people who host the shows. The hosts last names are used for the title of the show and nowhere on the site does it list the actual names of the hosts. Several others have a one sentence description of a show. Really? You have unlimited space to promote your own product and you can’t come up with more than one sentence to sell the program?
Social media makes it incredibly easy to promote what is going on at your station, and it’s FREE! Yet, many are still not taking advantage of what can be a great way of marketing a radio station and inviting new listeners in to the mix.
It starts with the station. Take a look at your station’s social media accounts and examine what is being put out, especially to attract new listeners. There is no easier way to promote yourself, yet some are still struggling to use it for what it is. I see several stations that will simply post a link for how to listen to an hour or section of a show, without even an explanation as to what is in the audio someone might find interesting.
A station account is one thing, but we all know it is the talent accounts that are usually going to help move the needle. Frankly, most talent are not doing all they can be doing to help attract more audience. Managers, take a look at your talent’s social media accounts. Look to see if they are giving their followers reasons to tune in. Are they posting clips of show highlights? Are they engaging with their audience when they are not on the air? At the very least, are they sharing posts from the station accounts?
Being an advocate for your own stations and shows and working to bring in new listeners is part of the job. After all, if we as an industry aren’t inviting more people in, who is going to do it for us?
Mike Stone said goodbye to his audience on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit on Friday. Stoney and Jansen officially came to an end as Stone thanked everyone he could think of and each cast member had a chance to say what Stone has meant to them. It was great to hear one the legends of the format going out on his own.
While he will not be on the station full-time he will be continuing on the airwaves:
“I am not retiring. I will be here for two years filling in for a lot of shows, Lions football, I will have a presence at the draft. It’ll be different, yes. But, you’ll love the new show, Costa and Jansen…And when those two years are over, who knows, I might want to staty another two years.”
You can listen to the final episode, including Stone’s emotional letter of thanks, by clicking here.
Last week, Demetri Ravanos profiled Mary Menna, market manager for Beasley Media Group’s Boston cluster, which includes 98.5 The Sports Hub. Menna will be on stage at the upcoming Barret Sports Media Summit, but talked more about what she plans to learn at the event.
She also said something that caught my attention when talking about Beasley’s two very successful sports radio brands. “We are not in 150 markets as a company,” she said. “And so where we are, we have quality brands and great markets that we’re in. So we try to make those brands really great where we are and not spread ourselves too thin.”
On the first day Matt Moscona was named program director of 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge, he instructed an engineer to purchase a new audio production computer for the main studio. By the end of the day, the mechanism was acquired and installed for producers to use and optimize their workflows. In essence, Moscona sought to remove a burden by eliminating problems that had magnified in impact and complicated manners as a whole. At the same time, he was demonstrating his commitment to the staff and mission of the station.
Adding the PD role after several years as an on-air host was a reality that was unexpected for Moscona. When he was approached with the idea from Guaranty Media executives following the restructuring of the parent company, he thought about how he had been working at the station since it first took the air in early 2010. Moreover, he recognized his institutional knowledge of the entity and how much he cared about the overall product. As a result, he decided to take the chance and serve as the outlet’s top programming boss.
“It was strange because [for] as much success as we’ve had, ESPN was kind of a rudderless ship; we were a captain less army,” Moscona shared. “Every show sort of operated as its own autonomous collective without any real feedback or direction because we didn’t have somebody in that role as odd as it may sound.”
As the program director of the station, Moscona has bestowed clear written responsibilities for the show producers every day and holds them accountable. Moreover, he is ensuring that the hosts remain on time with the clock so all of the advertising is aired on schedule as well. In addition, Moscona participates in daily meetings with other executives and managers to make sure everything runs smoothly. The strenuous schedule is all focused on achieving excellence outside of his own program and safeguarding longevity for the station.
“I can do it, and it’s been a great thrill honestly to be able to implement some of the changes and see the successes we’ve had, but it has definitely forced me to allocate my time appropriately to make sure I’m not wasting time,” Moscona said. “….I’m not listening to the radio in the car very much anymore. I’m on calls in the car because I feel like I can steal 15-20 minutes because I have to.”
Being the station’s voice in afternoon drive, Moscona has made a name for himself by building connections with the audience. Guaranty Media’s initial launch of the radio station provided Moscona with a blank canvas. Tasked with growing the brand in a new format, and combined with it being situated in his hometown, rendered a chance to build something appealing. At the start of his time in sports talk radio though, Moscona didn’t have a specific vision about how he wanted to grow.
“I was progressing,” Moscona explained. “I thought I’d market hop, but the deeper my roots grew here at home covering teams that I love and getting to talk about teams that I’m passionate about every day – and to work for a great company that values people and gave me the opportunity to advance my career and financially and in every day – the right opportunity to leave has never come.”
Moscona was the first hire at 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge and is in his 14th year of hosting the afternoon program, After Further Review. The program is syndicated on a variety of radio stations in Louisiana and simulcast on different visual outlets as well, including weekdays on YouTube. He works in tandem each day with executive producer and video manager Paul O’Neill and audio producer Matt Musso. The trio strive to find a way to consolidate elements in order to appeal to both ends of the audience and communicate the latest information pertaining to the local teams.
“For a three-hour show, that’s six hours of prep, but the reality is you never stop prepping,” Moscona said. “Every day is a consideration of, ‘What can I talk about tomorrow?,’ or coming up on the show. I like to be at my desk at 9 for a 3 p.m. show. That has certainly gotten challenging accepting the program director role because I find myself in a lot of meetings and other considerations.”
Guaranty Media is on the cusp of celebrating its 100th anniversary, a remarkable feat that few companies in any industry successfully attain. There are currently no plans to sell the locally-based outlet; rather, executives are thinking in terms of developing and effectuating viable long-term plans to maintain its growth and remain ahead of the curve. Flynn Foster, who serves as the president and chief executive officer of the company, has fostered an environment that Moscona conveys keeps him excited to go into work.
“[Foster] always says, ‘Guaranty is my grandfather’s vision, my dad’s execution and my job not to screw it up,’ and I love that and he wants to be around for another 100 years.”
Moscona will be attending and speaking at the 2024 Barrett Sports Media Summit. The event takes place March 13 and March 14 in New York City. It will be the first time he’s attended the event, giving him a chance to establish meaningful connections and garner ideas to bring back to his station. While Baton Rouge is his home marketplace, Moscona has evinced somewhat of a blind spot in that he is unable to collaborate with people from around the country.
“I know our GM attended last year in LA and previously in NYC, but this is going to be my first time going,” Moscona said. “Obviously the opportunity to network is huge and I’m very much looking forward to that, but just selfishly [it] is, ‘What are the things I’m going to be able to pull from a lot of the speakers and presenters about how I can make our cluster more efficient and better serve our audience?’”
Moscona remains excited about the future of the audio format, but he holds a concern about the sustainability of terrestrial radio. Many radio companies are growing their digital reach, and some are forgoing select AM and FM signals to consolidate operations. Moscona has his station ideally positioned in this shift, employing eight video editors on call throughout the day to optimize content for different dissemination platforms.
“I hope terrestrial radio exists forever, but if it doesn’t, I know we’re well-positioned to continue having success,” Moscona said, “because my thought is as a host and as a manager [is] that I really don’t care how when or where people consume us; I just want people to consume our content.”
Moscona sees his mission as being able to create a culture where people are excited to walk through the door each day. Coupled with that is the responsibility of supplying listeners with pertinent and engaging content and information. As 104.5 ESPN’s first employee, he has a great appreciation for how far the brand has come. But settling for the status quo is not in Moscona’s DNA. He believes the bar can be and will be raised higher, and has a simple outlook on how he’s measuring his effectiveness as the brand’s programming captain.
“If you’re excited to work and not going through the motions, then all of these other things — the ratings; the revenue; the metrics — all of that will follow,” Moscona said. “When people tell me that they love working at Guaranty; that they feel the culture around the station is the best it’s ever been, that’s how I measure success in the program director role.”
Terry Foxx has accomplished plenty in his long career in the radio business. After getting his start over a Corona in a bar in Corpus Christi, he has risen to lead several major sports and news/talk radio brands around the nation.
Currently, Foxx serves as the Director of Spoken Word for iHeartMedia in Austin and San Antonio, overseeing news/talk brands like the legendary WOAI in the Alamo City. And while there are certainly staunch differences between news and sports talk, Terry Foxx believes there are similarities that many misunderstand.
“It’s actually a fun challenge, meaning that the principles are always the same, meaning you always want to have good content on the air,” said Foxx. “You always want to make sure your talent is informative. You want to make sure that they’re entertaining, but you also want to make sure that they are well-informed. The engaging part and communicating with our audience is always key. So you really have, no matter what format you’re doing, you always have the same what I call ‘essentials’. I wouldn’t call them challenges. It’s the same essentials apply in spoken word.”
However, while sports talk can be more fun and free-flowing, the gravity of news/talk isn’t lost on the longtime programmer.
“News can be very serious, right? We’ve got wars going on, we’ve got a presidential election, but you’re still having to tell a story. There’s some slight differences in maybe your approach and how you tell the story, but the premise is still the same. You have to tell the story,” shared Foxx. “And you have to make sure that it’s engaging the audience in how you tell that story. I mean, anybody can read the copy. That’s easy, but it’s how the host actually engages with the audience with those topics.
“If you’re talking news, and you’re talking about the war, that’s a whole different ballgame. You’re inserting your opinions, audio, news, actual things that are happening on the ground. So it’s the same theory, just a different forum. You also have to be careful on the news side because you have to be credible. News, you certainly have to be credible. It’s not necessarily, in my opinion, opinion-based, it is facts. When you’re doing news, you want facts.”
WOAI, which serves as the home of the nationally syndicated Joe Pags Show, has long been a staple in the San Antonio market. When asked what separates it from other news/talk outlets, Terry Foxx has several reasons for the station’s success.
“History. Credibility. Longevity. Honest. Forthright. it has such great integrity and there’s a connection. WOAI has a very strong, strong local connection,” he added. “Generations of people have grown up listening. It has all of those elements and, to me, you have to have all those elements.”
Terry Foxx didn’t have what could be considered a conventional path to a career in radio. He credits his outgoing personality for leading to him landing his first break into the business.
“I can strike up a conversation with anybody and I think as I was growing up, I was always an extroverted guy. I didn’t aspire to be in radio, I was at the wrong place at the right time — underage in a bar. There was a station, KZFM, they were having a promotion.
“The DJ was there, and the program director was there. I didn’t even know what a program director was. We were talking over a Corona and he’s like, ‘Hey, you know, I have an overnight opening. Would you like to come in and try out?’ And I’m thinking ‘Ok, first of all, I don’t even know what the term overnight is’, so he gave me his card and I thought maybe this guy had too much to drink,” Foxx said with a chuckle.
“I actually followed up on that Monday. And I was full-time a week later. I was horrible. I did midnight to six. But you know what, in my high school class, I was the coolest kid, I’ll tell you that much.”
It can be easy to question what continues to make someone like Terry Foxx — who is nearing four decades in the industry — motivated each day. That’s an easy answer for the Texan.
“It’s people. I enjoy people and being able to come into their lives,” said Foxx. “What I’ve always enjoyed from the first day I got in this business ’til now, and I still enjoy that, is the one-on-one connection that you have with your audience. You cannot get that anywhere else. When you’re in your local market and you’re talking about things happening around you that affect everyone else — I don’t care if it’s traffic, it could be anything, it could be a concert — you can’t get that anywhere else. So that’s why I first got into business and why I still love the business.”
It isn’t lost on Terry Foxx that, in a profession sometimes dominated by white men, he can be viewed as an anomaly. However, he shared he never wants to be defined by his race, but rather the quality of his work.
“I don’t want to be known for being an African-American in the business, I want to be known to be the best at what I do every day. I want to be known as a person that is successful and working hard to be even more successful and working well with others in this business,” he said. “But I understand, as an African-American, there’s a standard that comes with that. There are women in the business or trying to get in the business, as well. African-Americans, Latinos, I mean, folks who may not get the same opportunity because either they don’t think that they will, quite honestly get the opportunity, or they’re afraid to step forward.
“So there are some challenges there but I will attest and tell you that everyone who has been in and shaped my career, they’ve all looked out for me. They have all helped me, get to where I am today. And guess what, none of them are where it is situation where they made me feel because I was black I was getting some sort of advantage,” continued Foxx. “I had to work for everything. And by the way, the folks who to this day are my mentors and look out for me are not African-American.”
As the news/talk and radio landscapes as a whole continue to evolve, those working in the industry — as well as those leading it — continue to become more diverse. And while that is a net positive for the format and the industry, Terry Foxx wants to remain cognizant of hiring the best person for the job, rather than checking a box.
“I hate when the word ‘diversity’ gets thrown around. Because what would happen sometimes is that if you throw that word out, people automatically go ‘Ok, well, do we need to go hire people that are just because they’re this or that? Or are we going to hire someone who is diverse but yet they’re qualified?’ That’s what I believe in.
“Diversity really means a lot. It means Ivy League versus city college, black, white, yellow, green, purple, female, male, I mean, whomever, however you want to look at it,” said Foxx. “Diversity is a lot, but the word gets thrown around a lot. But I believe you hire the best person for the job, no matter what. Where they come from in diversity, not just because you need to fill a spot because of diversity.
“I’m part of the NABJ, I’m part of the NAACP. I’m on these panels. And I speak honestly, as an African-American, going ‘Look, you want these opportunities, but you have to also earn these opportunities. You have to fight for these opportunities just like anyone else, no matter what culture you come from. I want to be clear about that. You have to work hard. You have to put in the time.”
It was a great Super Bowl game this year with Patrick Mahomes leading a march down the field in overtime and bringing another championship to Kansas City. It wouldn’t matter if the game was a dud because we had the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce romance angle going on for the past few months. Even the NFL can’t buy that kind of publicity.
The ratings for the game were as spectacular as the game itself. Depending on which trade or consumer press account you read, this was the biggest Super Bowl audience ever and was second only to the 1969 moon landing in terms of viewers. One of the big questions has been how much audience Taylor Swift added? Of course, we’ll never have a quantifiable answer to that question.
There was another far less glamorous variable that increased the audience: PPM. You probably (hopefully) know that Nielsen added PPM to their video ratings a couple of years ago because, as we all know, people watch video in lots of places other than their homes. Bars, restaurants, airports, other public spaces, other homes, you name it. And Nielsen was never able to measure that viewing.
They did have a proxy for away-from-home viewing. In the old diary days, you were supposed to note any visitors to your home during the diary week and record what they viewed. With the people meter, you can add guests to your meter. Just record the age and sex and make sure the right buttons are pressed. But the whole media world, Nielsen included, knew this undercounted the audience, especially for live sports.
Nielsen did have an ace in the hole and that’s PPM. After much discussion and work, Nielsen was able to add PPM to local market TV reports in the markets that have PPM. No matter that DMAs and radio metros don’t quite match.
By the way, if you need a great trivia question, what two radio markets match up exactly with DMAs? The answer is San Diego and Providence. You’ll be the life of your next party with that one if your party is full of media research geeks. I’m still waiting for that question to come up during Tuesday Night Trivia at our local Mellow Mushroom. Yes, I know I’ll be waiting a long time.
Now think about all those thousands of PPMs on Super Bowl Sunday. They headed to friends’ homes for parties, to bars and restaurants, and who knows where else to catch glimpses of Taylor Swift. And for the first time, Nielsen could include all that viewing! Voila! Record Super Bowl viewing levels!
The PPM works so well for collecting out-of-home viewing that Nielsen announced on February 1 that they would add more PPMs to enable 100% coverage of the country. The additional panelists, using PPM wearables, alias the watch, will be ready in time for Super Bowl LIX, per Nielsen.
When PPM was born in the early ‘90s, Arbitron still measured television. After the company shut down the local television ratings operation in 1993, PPM work continued. At one point, there was hope for a joint venture with Nielsen to use PPM for both radio and television. An agreement was reached, the two companies worked together for a while, and when it came time to “put up or shut up”, to no great surprise, Nielsen decided to go in a different direction. A decade or so later, Nielsen bought Arbitron and with it, the rights to the PPM technology.
When I was at Arbitron, you’d occasionally hear a complaint from clients (among many other complaints) that radio was subsidizing television. The reasoning went that the R&D cost of the PPM was built into PPM pricing and since there was almost no revenue coming from other sources, PPM was funded by radio.
At the time, we tossed off the complaints. The vast majority of Arbitron’s revenue came from radio, so the development costs were legitimate. Now video is profiting from the PPM and Nielsen’s ability to collect away from home data.
In the meantime, Nielsen is expanding the panel. Since the words “radio” and “audio” were not mentioned in the release, apparently this panel expansion is of no benefit to the radio business.
PPM has been deployed commercially for over 15 years (depending on which PPM market you’re in) for radio and is now being used successfully for the video business. During your next contract renewal negotiation with Nielsen, you may want to ask what part of the PPM development costs are being borne by the video business. Perhaps a lower contract rate would be in order. Wouldn’t that be something?
Nick Wright is coming for young sports media talent, regardless if he’s friendly with them or not. Among the names on the top of his list are Pablo Torre and Mina Kimes, along with “everyone in the media that is within two years of me or younger than me.”
During an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Wright talks about his “Rivals List,” a hypothetical list of sports media members Wright strives to “be more successful than” in his career. One name quickly rising to the top of Wright’s list is Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out.
“Right now, rising to the top of the Rivals List is Pablo Torre,” Wright says, “and he will be vanquished. Pablo is younger than me, Pablo made fun of me a bit on this show the other day, which only solidified that he is my rival. It doesn’t matter that we’re friendly, it doesn’t matter that he’s always been kind to me, it doesn’t matter that I was at a Christmas party with him, I will vanquish Pablo Torre. I will leave him in my wake.”
Wright then admits that there’s one name on his Rivals List that haunts him more than Torre’s — that of ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes. “Sometimes your dear friends become rivals,” Wright said of Kimes. “I checked the ol’ Wikipedia date of birth. Mina Kimes, younger than me, rival. I love Mina, she’s outstanding, I think she’s going to be the final boss rival, but she’s on the list.”
The broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII by CBS Sports between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers garnered an average of 123.7 million viewers across platforms, rendering it the most-watched television program in U.S. history. This monumental rating surpassed last year’s metric by approximately 7% from the contest the year prior, now standing as the largest single network television audience on record.
Play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz, color commentator Tony Romo and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson were featured on coverage of the primary broadcast, which scored more than 120 million viewers on its own according to data from Nielsen Media Research. The presentation also marked the last Super Bowl under the leadership of CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus, who will retire from his position in April.
Nantz suffered laryngitis-like symptoms following the game, he revealed in an interview with the Dan Patrick Show on Friday morning. Moreover, he said that various other members of the crew were ill after the game but commended them for their efforts in the record-breaking production. Nantz has not gone back to watch the game or review his performance, although he acknowledged that he is playing it back in his head “a hundred million times.” Nonetheless, he exhibited confidence and satisfaction with the production itself, which included an open to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra performed live in the MSG Sphere.
“The fact that it went five quarters; you’ve got Taylor [Swift] sitting in a suite being shown, I think that the rating might hold up,” Nantz said. “Usually you kind of pass it on – the next year it gets topped and then the next year it gets topped – you just kind of leapfrog one another – but I think this one’s actually going to be in place for a long, long time as the most-watched show in the history of American television.”
Nantz would generally be looking forward to calling the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament for CBS Sports. Yet he retired after serving as a broadcaster for the college basketball property for over three decades, taking over the role previously held by Brent Musburger. Nantz will broadcast The Masters golf tournament for CBS in April, but until then he has time for respite after a busy season of the NFL on CBS.
“I’ve been knocked on my backside here with whatever it was that half the crew came down with after the Super Bowl, but I’m excited to actually have the month off and be able to go on a spring break with my kids and be able to do some things that I haven’t done in almost 40 years,” Nantz said. “I love the tournament – I’m actually going to appear at the tournament [in] a couple of places to cheer on my Houston Cougars. I’ll be at the Final Four in some very limited capacity and going to take in the games and sit in the stands and enjoy it as a fan.”
Geraldo Rivera was announced as the newest correspondent at NewsNation earlier this week. Keith Olbermann doesn’t believe it is cause for celebration.
During his Countdown podcast, Olbermann reiterated his long-held belief that NewsNation is a “Nick-at-Nite” of cable news, where formerly prominent cable news hosts — specifically mentioning Dan Abrams and Chris Cuomo — go to spend their “retirement” years.
Olbermann called the network a “retirement home” for “all those faces you vaguely remember from when cable was a big deal and they were, too, sorta.”
“Of course, Geraldo Rivera is the Geraldo Rivera of Geraldo Rivera’s. He is still complaining that NBC spent money to promote my new show on MSNBC, instead of more money to promote his show on CNBC. He first issued this complaint in the summer of 1997,” said Olbermann. “Well, the inevitable has finally happened. NewsNation announced Geraldo Rivera will join the channel as correspondent at large effective immediately.”
Keith Olbermann concluded his criticism of the network by taking shots at the names of the female hosts, anchors, and correspondents.
“Does this mean we will see less of some of their hard-working female correspondents? Kaylee, and Kelsey, and Keleigh, and Markie, and Marni? By the way, I’m not making that up. Their website lists 23 female anchors and correspondents on NewsNation, including Kaylee, and Kelsey, and Keleigh, and Markie, and Marni, and now, Geraldo.”
Earlier this week, a report surfaced that a management fund led by George Soros would be the largest shareholder of Audacy once it exits bankruptcy. Howie Carr says that while the headlines may be attention-grabbing, those weary of Soros owning media entities shouldn’t be concerned.
While taking a call from a listener concerned that Soros would be involved in the programming of Audacy stations once it exits pre-packaged bankruptcy proceedings, Carr shared his opinion that Audacy shouldn’t be taken seriously in the news/talk radio space.
“They went broke for a reason. They were terribly unsuccessful as radio programmers and as businessmen,” said Carr. “And they never had a successful show, let alone a station. They inherited a few stations that kind of work, but they never put one together, and they never put together a show. They never put together a format that worked.”
Howie Carr continued by sharing his belief that the company would simply let its AM stations die before shifting a liberal talk format to some stations on the FM band.
“My theory is they’re just going to let the AM stations go. They’re going to take some of the FM stations and try to make them into an FM, 21st-century version of Air America. Air America couldn’t get any audience when there was no streaming,” said Carr. “It was a different world that basically there was not much of an answer back when Air America was running. Nobody wanted to listen to it.
“You know why? There was already an Air America of left-wing programming. It was called National Public Radio, and it is still called National Public Radio. Who’s gonna listen to this crap that George Soros puts out? So he’ll probably take a few other crappy FM stations like WEEI off the air and put on some left-wing crap. But I mean, who’s gonna listen to it? If you’re a moonbat, you’re used to listening to NPR. NPR is like 200-proof distilled Democrat deep-state propaganda.”
It isn’t the first time Howie Carr has criticized his former employer. After Audacy announced its bankruptcy filing, the Boston-based host shared that with the news “my prayers had finally been answered.” Carr left what was then Entercom in 2014 after a contentious seven-year period where he publicly bashed the broadcaster for failing to let him out of his contract. He eventually returned in 2015, but stayed with WRKO when the station was eventually purchased by iHeartMedia.
