What does the future hold for the Minnesota Timberwolves? It may be hard to know when it comes to the on-court product. The same is true for the radio broadcast right now. The team is parting company with WCCO.
“We appreciated our partnership with WCCO and the radio broadcast opportunities we were able to accomplish with them,” team spokeswoman Sara Perez wrote in a statement. “However, we are looking forward to announcing a new radio broadcast partnership in the weeks to come.”
The team’s COO Ryan Tanke says what comes next is “super non-traditional”. The broadcast partnership may not last long. He said the team is entering a “one-year trial”.
Since 2011, the Timberwolves have been partnered with WCCO. The station served as the flagship of the team’s 30-station network across Minnesota and the Dakotas.
An announcement should be coming soon. The team opens its regular season schedule against the Raptors in Toronto on October 25.
Congratulations to Chuck Damico! After serving as the assistant program director at the legendary Philadelphia rock station WMMR for 18 years, he is getting elevated to the PD role following the retirement of Bill Weston. That leaves the PD role at 97.5 The Fanatic open.
Damico became the PD of The Fanatic in June of 2020 following the departure of Eric Johnson. He held the role and the APD position at WMMR simultaneously.
“I’m very excited that I have finally completed my 29-year job interview,” Damico said in a press release. “Seriously though, WMMR is the top rock station in the world, and I am truly honored to be the next PD. It’s a dream come true.”
No plans have been announced yet for The Fanatic. A new programmer is expected to be named later this year.
In a twist of fate tying the past and future of The Fanatic together, Johnson is returning to the building. He had served as the afternoon host and program director at Beasley’s Mix 99.5 in Wilmington, DE after exiting The Fanatic. He will take over as program director of classic rock station WMGK, which Weston also programmed.
Mike Greenberg is one of many singing the praises of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for trying to find a solution to the load management practices that keep some of the league’s biggest stars from playing in regular season games on a national stage. He won’t be part of ESPN’s NBA coverage next season, but says it is important to him as a fan.
“For the last two years, I had the magnificent pleasure and privilege of hosting our coverage of the NBA on ESPN and ABC through the Finals,” he said Thursday on ESPN Radio, “and I am delighted to hand that baton off to Malika Andrews, who is ready to take it and run with it faster than anyone ever has before, but what will not change is that the NBA is in my blood. I love it. I will love it for the rest of my life.”
Among the provisions in the new rule are a limit on how many star players can sit in a single game and a clause that says all players must be available for nationally televised games and any games in the new in-season tournament. The NBA has also made it clear that they would prefer that teams rest their stars for home games, instead of for road contests, which may be the only chance paying fans in that city have to see the visiting teams’ stars play.
Greenberg said there was a time when these rules would not be necessary. It is why he is always quick to defend players of the past in debates about what some of those greats might be if they played now.
“The biggest problem that we have is that there was a mentality amongst players who grew the league that one of the important things, your love of the sport, which I’m not questioning the love that all these players, the current or the previous ones have for the sport,” Greenberg said. “But everyone from Magic Johnson to Larry Bird to Michael Jordan to basically the stars of the eighties and the nineties, I think they felt a real obligation and a priority to leave the league in a better place than they’d found it. That was one of the things that they felt proud of. It was important to them.”
He was quick to point out that those players could never even dream of the popularity that the NBA enjoys now. That popularity is why players in 2023 don’t have to think the way players did thirty or forty years ago.
“It’s not a criticism. It means these guys have grown up in a in a world in which the NBA has been as popular as almost anything could possibly be. They take it for granted because they don’t know any other way, and it never occurs to them that me sitting this game out is going to have any impact on that whatsoever.”
Media consultant John Kosner agrees with Greenberg’s assessment. He thinks the new rule is important for the league as it heads into media rights negotiations. He told Front Office Sports that the league has to be able to deliver the kinds of audience in the regular season that it does in the playoffs in order to add value.
At the 2023 BNM Summit, one of the final panels of the conference featured a Shark Tank style competition for three news/talk brands competing to win a $4,000 advertising contract from Direct Results and Omaha Steaks.
Contestants in the live version of Shark Tank had three minutes to present their pitches to “sharks” Direct Results Founder/CEO Jill Albert, Andy Bloom, and Peter Thiele for why Omaha Steaks should place a $4,000 buy with individual radio station.
The contestants included 93.1 WIBC Program Director David Wood, Audacy Buffalo Market Manager Tim Wenger, and Guaranty Media President Gordy Rush.
“Sharks” Jill Albert, Peter Thiele, and Andy Bloom chose 930 WBEN as the winner of a $4,000 advertising buy from Omaha Steaks.
After each contestant made their pitches and were asked difficult questions, the “sharks” ultimately decided the Tim Wenger and 930 WBEN was named the victor of the competition.
“It was interesting to be able to make up a pitch for one of our brands, and I just thought it was important to bring to the table the passion that the people have on the air for that town, and it goes two ways the audience has a passion for the people and the personalities on the air,” Wenger said.
Wenger’s pitch centered on the station’s role in informing the Buffalo community during a blizzard that killed 47 people on Christmas weekend in 2022. He shared the station’s role in helping save the life of a listener who had been stranded in his car for two days and how six employees volunteered to spend three days inside the station to inform the community.
“We proved that last year in very extreme circumstances. And ever since, every endorsement campaign that these guys have done have been super successful. The clients love it. No one leaves. We have a waiting list. So I mean, this is awesome news. And the other two presentations were were great. There’s no losers here. It was a fun way to present something to this audience.”
“I think that we always choose people that we trust — first and foremost — over the excitement and the numbers and the ‘Wow‘ that goes along with with personalities,” added Albert. “So it’s important to have a great personality that’s super passionate, but it’s also important to have a sales team that you believe in that can stick with you that describes their their product in a way that is believable provides connectivity and allows for partnership.”
When asked how rare it is to view the connection with listeners as bigger than seeking strictly scale and broadest audience, Albert said connection has always been an important factor.
“When it comes to marketing and strategy, it’s all about connecting with people. And in this world right now that we’re in where everybody is so fragmented in their time and their attention, we have to figure out a way to connect with them,” Albert, the Direct Results Founder and CEO, concluded. “And that can only be done with some time some thought and some leaning in to do a great job.”
Learfield will avoid bankruptcy. The company has completed a $1.1 billion recapitalization to reduce its debt. The move also injects $150 million in equity investment into the company.
The company is the rights holder for nearly 200 colleges’ radio broadcasts across the country. It was facing over a billion dollars in debt, but the racapitalization reduced that debt to $500 million.
With the investment, there is a new group of majority owners. Clearlake Capital Group, Charlesbank Capital Partners and funds managed by Fortress Investment Group will all have equal representation on the new board of directors.
Learfield’s previous majority owners were Endeavor, Silver Lake and Atairos. They will all maintain a minority stake in the company.
Former National Football League defensive end J.J. Watt is joining The Pat McAfee Show for a weekly appearance throughout the football season. Watt, who recently signed with CBS Sports as an analyst on The NFL Today, serves as an example of a voice from another network being able to join the program despite it being televised on ESPN.
Watt made his debut with CBS Sports on Sunday, joining James Brown, Bill Cowher, Boomer Esiason and the rest of The NFL Today cast prior to kickoff of the afternoon games. He reportedly received widespread interest during his broadcasting free agency, but ultimately decided to join CBS Sports in the inaugural season of a new 11-year media rights contract.
While Watt is enjoying the early days of his career in front of the camera and is enjoying retirement, he feels like he could still play professionally. His brother, TJ Watt, is a star linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers and is thoroughly enjoying his time in the city with the team. For the time being though, Watt is focusing on performing at his best in sports media and making an impact on football coverage.
Watt will be back on the air for the second week of The NFL Today at 12 p.m. EST/9 a.m. PST ahead of CBS Sports’ slate of afternoon matchups, which includes the Baltimore Ravens’ clash against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Las Vegas Raiders visiting the Buffalo Bills. All of the action leads up to the 4:25 p.m. EST/1:25 p.m. PST showcase game when the Dallas Cowboys open their home slate against the New York Jets.
The announcement of Watt joining the Wednesday edition of The Pat McAfee Show is the third recurring guest to be revealed since McAfee took his show to ESPN. Last week from Tuscaloosa, Ala., he divulged that Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban will be on the program each Thursday, while New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers will appear every Tuesday.
The National Basketball Association Board of Governors has approved a new rule that will prohibit “load management,” vernacular that has been used to describe resting healthy players. Often associated with superstar players such as Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, having teams opt to rest healthy athletes takes away from the fan experience, especially if parts of the crowd attended the matchup just so they could see some of these luminaries of the game. The decision comes two years ahead of the expiration of the Association’s national television rights deal and ahead of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
These new rules will give the league office authority to fine teams over $1 million for each violation, along with more oversight regarding the enforcement thereof. There has been a player resting policy since the 2017-18 season that fined clubs $100,000 per infraction, which also included policies for resting players during away games or multiple players at a time. For the 2023-24 season and beyond, the policy has been tightened to indicate “star players.”
According to the league, a “star player” is defined as someone who has made an All-Star or All-NBA team within the past three seasons, but there are exceptions to the rule. Players over the age of 35 on opening night or those who have workloads of 34,000 regular-season minutes or 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff games will be allowed back-to-back rest days; however, it must be approved by the league in advance.
Just how this impacts the league’s media rights negotiations remains to be seen, nor is it known whether or not The Walt Disney Company or Warner Bros. Discovery pushed for it to occur. The current television media rights partners pay a combined $2.6 billion annually and are both expected to demonstrate interest in renewing their packages. Multiple reports, however, divulge that the league is said to be looking to add digital and streaming components into the next deal, which could be worth between $50 and $75 billion.
“Raising interest in nationally-televised regular season matchups is frequently about which star players are going to play,” media consultant John Kosner told Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. “The NFL and, to a far lesser extent, college football generate playoff-level ratings during their regular season. They’re the only ones.”
ESPN recently announced a new lead NBA commentary team of Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Doc Rivers, which came after the network opted to lay off Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. Moreover, NBA Countdown is adopting a new cast this year with host Malika Andrews and analyst Bob Myers joining Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon. Conversely, no major changes are expected to take place with Inside the NBA featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. The cable network has employed the lead broadcast team of Kevin Harlan, Stan Van Gundy and Reggie Miller since the retirement of Marv Albert after the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
“The more the NBA can bridge the gap between audience levels for regular season games versus [nationally-televised] playoff games, the more value it creates,” Kosner added. “So, of course, that’s important to the NBA, its broadcast partners and advertisers, and [it] matters for the league’s next media deals.”
The University of Wisconsin Badgers have had the same broadcast booth for many of its athletic events since 1994, providing students, alumni and fans with a familiar sound each year. Prior to the start of the 2023 season though, one member of that team was asked to leave his job in a request that left him “blindsided.”
Mike Lucas, the school’s sports color commentator, has been working with play-by-play voice Matt Lepay since 1994 but is now out of the booth in favor of former NFL offensive lineman Mark Tauscher. The former secondary analyst for home games over the last decade is now being elevated to the lead booth and has been hosting an ESPN Milwaukee radio show since 2016.
During a recent appearance on The Wisconsin Sportscast podcast, Lucas, who is working with the Madison, Wisc.-based news outlet, The Capital Times, expressed his sentiments towards the ordeal. The discourse started with the expression of envy towards Tom Oates, who used to write for the Wisconsin State Journal, in that he had the ability to choose when he wanted to step away from the role. Conversely, the decision seemed to be implicitly forced upon Lucas, who voluntarily left the role and avoided the school potentially choosing to fire him from his post.
“I got kicked to the curb by [athletic director] Chris McIntosh – my radio assignment and along with my writing for the UWBadgers.com,” Lucas said. “It’s their prerogative to pick who they want in the booth and they wanted jocks in the booth, which is fine; I’m fine by that, but handle it with dignity; handle it with class; handle it with a little professionalism. Don’t be callous, [and] don’t be cowardly.”
The forthright, candid remarks came from a place of indignation and understanding from Lucas, who was commended for his years at the school in May through a social media post on X. The university expressed their gratitude for his more than 50 years covering the program in various capacities, which included being on the call for nine Big Ten championships and three Final Fours in men’s basketball.
Yet Lucas believes that the characterization of the announcement indicated that he was retiring, which was not the reality of the situation. Instead, he feels that he was forced out by the school and wishes that the decision could have come at his own accord. Nonetheless, he is elated to be back in print journalism with The Capital Times, an outlet he previously worked with for over 39 years and is making the best of the situation.
“This is not about grievance,” Lucas said, “but I felt in fairness to some people who still thought I retired, but in fact I was retired, I thought it was important just to get it out there. Now that it’s out there, it’s done. Like I said, I’m playing the cards I have in my hand, and I’m glad to be doing so.”
On Wednesday’s edition of First Take on ESPN, featured commentator Stephen A. Smith spent nearly half of the show interviewing National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell after an eventful Week 1 around the league. Broadcasting live from ESPN’s South Seaport Studios in New York City, Goodell spoke about topics including the Jim Trotter lawsuit and debate between grass and turf. After the interview, First Take host Molly Qerim commended Smith for the job that he did, acknowledging that she can sometimes be a harsh critic.
Qerim’s remark came during the “What Are You Mad About!?” segment of the show, which takes place every Wednesday when Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo joins the program. Throughout the 10-minute aside, the “Mad Dog” conveys what perturbed him in the last week, discussing topics from the New York Giants to Smith’s recruitment and collaboration with Shannon Sharpe. Not being able to be part of the interview with Goodell, however, disappointed Russo considering that he had not conversed with the Commissioner in almost eight years. While he did not mention this source of discontent on ESPN, he ensured to discuss it on his Mad Dog’s Daily Bite radio segment on SiriusXM
“I sat down and came in and they said, ‘Chris, what are you doing?’ ‘What do you mean what am I doing?,’” Russo recalled. “These are not even producers; these are floor tech guys. ‘Chris, scoot over.’ ‘I’ll scoot over, where is Roger going to sit?’ ‘No, scoot.’ ‘Alright, I’ll give him enough room. I’m not going to bite him.’ ‘No Chris, scoot out.’”
It was at that moment where Russo recognized that he would not be part of the interview, which was promoted over the last week during First Take. Moreover, he has since discovered that Smith will also be interviewing Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. with Dominque Foxworth and will not be joining First Take for its Friday show from Boulder, Colo. Russo has interviewed Manfred in the past and currently hosts an afternoon baseball program, High Heat, on the league-owned MLB Network. Although he was present on site at the US Open earlier in the month, he seems annoyed that Smith has not included him in additional opportunities.
“That’s a kick in the you know what right there,” Russo said.
Before Goodell left the set, he made sure to converse with his public relations staff to see if it would be possible to have the Commissioner make an appearance on his radio program. Russo shared that he was told that they would try, which could be something to watch for down the road.
Day two of the 2023 BNM Summit is originating once again from Vanderbilt University’s Student Life Center in Nashville, TN. We’re keeping you updated on news, key information, and interesting perspectives shared on stage by our speakers. BNM editor Garrett Searight will be updating this column throughout the day as each session wraps up, until the show is over, so be sure to check back multiple times to avoid missing anything important.
Also, make sure you’re following us on Twitter/X at @BNMStaff. We’ll be sharing photos, video clips from the stage, and backstage conversations inside the Core Image Studio green room courtesy of our friends at Steve Stone Voiceovers so be sure to follow along.
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Barrett Media President Jason Barrett welcomed folks back into the room, thanking sponsors for their support of this year’s show. That was followed by an announcement of the BNM Top 20 of 2023 coming out in mid-December, and plans for the next Barrett Sports Media Summit in March 2024. After the promotional items were done, Barrett set the scene for the day by highlighting the three key areas of focus for today’s show; Business, Future, and Ideas. He explained how they connect to the upcoming sessions before pivoting to the first session of the day, a deep dive into the art of interviewing.
9:10-9:45 = The Art of Interviewing presented by:
Jason Barrett – Barrett Media
Barrett showcased some of the teachings of interviewer John Sawatsky.
The best questions are open, neutral, and lean. It gets people in a mood to share information. Also, good television or radio doesn’t mean it was a good interview.
These are the seven deadly sins of interviewing.
No Query
Not even having a question or making a statement to a guest is a problem. Just having a big guest doesn’t mean it’s great content.
Double Barreled
What do you think happens when you ask a guest two questions? They only answer the one they want to answer and avoid the tougher question. If you offer an “off ramp”, your interview will take it. Your subject will take the path of least resistance.
Overloading
Overloading is basic double double barreling. Rapid fire questioning, and asking several questions without allowing the guest to answer.
Remarks
Most hosts have the idea that they have to show the guest how much they know. That’s not the case. Your job is to ask a question to get information from your guest. Your subject should be reacting to your statements
Trigger Words
These can often lead to great television or radio, but can be bad for the interview. You still have to show respect and get great answers without triggering your guest.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is great in a monologue, but not in an interview. If you listen to your shows, and you really care about the quality of content, you can hear hyperbole often in interviews that don’t advance a topic.
Closed Query
Asking yes or no questions. It can be the worst question in an interview. It shows poor planning and leads to poor execution. If you have a great plan, you’ll get great results.
Barrett concluded the presentation by giving tips to program directors on how to manage their talent, which type of questions produce the best results, and what tips they could give to help create better interviewers.
9:45-10:20 = The Marketplace of Ideas presented by:
Dave Tepper – KOA
Martha Maurer – KTAR
Peter Thiele – KZRG
Tepper took the stage first to showcase three promotions KOA has attempted.
He shared the station aired an “alternate broadcast” of the State of the Union address. They called it the “KOA Kast”, and utilized inspiration from the Monday Night Football “Manningcast”.
The station also also put together a strong New Year’s Eve promotion around tickets to Denver Broncos games, which featured targeting to both news/talk listeners and the franchise’s listeners.
The final promotion Tepper discussed was “A Hero’s Thank You”, which features military veterans winning $2,500 in cash. Five sponsors contributor to the money, with five winners receiving the winnings. Hosts and former Denver Broncos help present a suprise to the winners.
Maurer took the stage to share that Bonneville’s purpose is to provide leadership that builds up, connects, informs, and celebrates communities and families.
She shared the Community Impact Spotlight promotion showcased buriness and organization leaders in the Phoenix community. An interview during the morning show then is turned into a web story and social media posts on KTAR.
She continued by noting the station’s Tribute to a Teacher that honored area teachers based on entries by the community. Each month, a teacher is awarded $2,500 and is presented a check in the classroom. A local Toyota dealer completely sponsored the promotion.
The final promotion featured was the “Action Alliance” featured by midday host Mike Broomhead that supports community initiatives that make a difference in the community.
Peter Thiele featured a giveaway that would give away a tornado shelter. An F5 tornado destroyed large portions of his community in 2011, killing 161 people. However, he noted the giveaway was a failure. He shared that despite 65% of their audience being men, the overwhelming majority of the 1,200 entries were from women. Ultimately, actual listeners of the station were not entering the contest. They tried the giveaway again the next spring, and entires were cut in half. He joked men weren’t interested in the giveaway because they want to watch the tornado and aren’t preoccupied about having a potential place to avoid the storm.
He continued by showcasing the KZRG Morning News Watch Happy Hour, where once a month the morning show does a live appearance at a local restaurant or bar and meet with every table in the location.
The final promotion was a $500 a week giveaway to local listeners. The standard “enter a keyword” and “listen four times a day” promotion. Thiele shared that several of the winners brought gifts to the station when they came to claim their prizes because the station’s hosts had built such a personal connection with its audience.
10:20-10:55 = The Digital Dilemma presented by:
Tim Clarke – Audacy
Jeremy Sinon – Hubbard Radio
James Derby – Federated Media
The panel was asked to describe what they view as digital.
Sinon shared that “every department is the digital department, especially in 2023 and beyond” before saying anything in an online world is digital.
Clarke said the word grew in usage to differentiate that segment of content from traditional media, before saying he views the word as fading in usage and will ultimately be obsolete.
Derby says Federated Media views digital as “content marketing”. “I think it really goes back to the phone in my pocket. All of that is centered there,” Derby added.
The purpose of a company’s digital department really isn’t all that different from any other.
“You try to cobble together what you can with what you have,” Sinon said. “We’re trying to build more audiences, period. We say it’s the future all the time, but at some point, we need to realize it’s the present.”
Podcasting continues to be important to companies, and making it work can be a challenge.
“We’ve struggled on the revenue side on the local direct selling side. We sell our stream local direct, and we’ve been really successful, but have struggled on the podcast side,” Derby said, before adding his company asked everyone in the organization if they’re interested in hosting a podcast. 40 of the 120 full-time employees responded they were interested. He shared that endorsements of radio hosts haven’t carried over to their individual podcasts, which was unexpected.
Generating revenue in that space is important, and Clarke said he knows Audacy has scale, which helps, but there’s a balance.
“We have that benefit of having that national presence, but we need to think about where we can generate meaningful audiences. A great idea for an original podcast can come out of any newsroom, and that’s the benefit we have. That great idea for an original podcast that tops the charts could come out of any newsroom. The feed is the goal, right? If we can create a feed of meaningful subscribers, that’s going to be worth a lot in the long run.”
Podcasts migrating to YouTube has become more frequent, and the panel agreed if your podcast isn’t on the platform, you’re missing an opportunity. 24% of Coleman Insight responders said that not all of their favorite podcasts are available on YouTube.
Sinon noted that the CPM payments from video are simply more than audio CPM payments, so companies and creators are missing out on revenue by not putting their podcasts on YouTube.
Clarke argued that he’s not a big fan of simply pushing listeners to YouTube because there’s not a gigantic benefit to companies.
“We need to make our content available when they want it and how they want it,” Derby concluded.
The panel did agree that every station needs a video strategy.
“People are searching for content constantly. YouTube may be the best discovery engine out there,” shared Sinon. “If you’re just taking the YouTube pennies, it’s not the best thing for us, but the discovery is. You have to be careful how you play the game, but it exists and you have to play in the space because people live there.”
“YouTube is a great sampling opportunity for audiences that haven’t completely invested in our brands,” Clarke continued. “Video is hard. It’s much easier to create great audio than it is to create great video. We don’t always need to do Emmy Award winning production, but I would think deeply about the ‘how’, and particularly in news, and I would think about how we do it scrappier and more efficient in time to help our brands.”
The panel argued that there isn’t a one-stop social media shop.
“I think a lot of it depends on the format. We try to live everywhere, but we focus on where our audience is going to be living most,” Derby said.
“There’s an opportunity in accessing with younger news consumers. You have to force rank based on the resources you have, and not do all five in poor way,” added Clarke.
“They all matter,” Sinon said of social media platforms. “If your brand doesn’t exist on that platform, you don’t exist. They’re not all the same, and we have to utilize the resources best we can, and it’s not easy, but if I had to pick one, I’d pick TikTok. I mentioned YouTube as a great discovery engine, but TikTok is right there.”
11:05-11:40 = News/Talk Sales Opportunities and Advertiser Challenges presented by:
Pierre Bouvard – Westwood One/Cumulus Media
Bouvard shared five key take always for the news/talk industry.
Spoken Word Audio Deserves a Premium CPM
Social media has the least attentiveness from media consumers, while spoken word is at the top of the list. Radio is the least-skipped advertising mechanism. Plus, 51% of consumers seek out spoken word content to learn something new.
Your Stations Need a Podcast Strategy
In 2017, 4% of ad-supported audio listeners in 18+ was spent with podcasts. That number is now 19% in 2023. It is only going to continue to grow. Meanwhile, AM/FM Radio has dropped from 77% to 60%. In 25-54, podcasting went from 5% to 25%, while radio dropped from 73% to 50%.
Double Down on News
“News is a goldmine for your format,” Bouvard said.
66% of listeners 18-34 turn to AM/FM radio when news breaks.
In a media study, the highest-level of credibility and attention was on radio news.
News is the Solution for Brand Safety and Brand Suitability
The Global Alliance of Responsible Media has created benchmarks for advertising and media platforms. Most of the concerns presented by GARM are invalid for radio stations due to FCC guidelines.
A company judges brand safety and brand suitability for advertisers. News, traffic, and weather reports are unlikely to trigger any problems for national brands.
Ask Elected Representatives to Devote a Great Share of Political Advertising to Radio/Spoken Word
Elected officials are often eager to appear in radio interviews. However, only 2.7% of political advertising is spent on radio.
According to Nielsen, radio accounts for 14% of all media consumption. 45% of the population is zero to light television users. However, campaigns use 45% of their advertising budget. 30% of all ads on Georgia television were political in nature in a recent election time.
If campaigns relocated their budgets to an increase to 10% of political ad spending, from 2.7%, campaigns would reach 235,000 more voters at no extra cost.
11:40-12:15 = News/Talk Radio Re-Imaginedpresented by:
Mike McVay – McVay Media
Brad Lane – WCCO
Drew Anderssen – KRLD
Charlie Cook – Cumulus
Gary Kranz – Krantz Media
McVay asked the panelists to imagine what news/talk would like look if it was invented on the stage.
Lane argued that one of the biggest questions would be whether your station is a news station or a talk station. He continued by urging program directors to stop hiring hosts who only talk about politics.
Cook agreed with Lane, saying he’s heard enough about the current President, so hosts need more range than simply politics. He then shared his opinion that news/talk clocks need to be reimagined. “Talk radio stations don’t do a good job of designing clocks for different parts of the day,” Cook said.
Anderssen said the content, hosts, and distribution of talk radio needs reimagined. “We don’t have to be all-politics or all-conservative, we need to be entertaining first,” said Anderssen.
McVay asked what changes the assembled guests had made.
Lane noted a “legendary” moniker can be a double-edge sword, because people have preconceived notions.
“To put hosts on the air that sound and talk about things like my listeners do,” Lane said of his biggest challenges, noting his oldest host is 57 years old. “I continue to go back to that word relevant. I put it in front of our team: ‘Be relevant and be memorable’.”
Anderssen said other formats are also doing good talk radio, mentioning that rock radio hosts are often doing great talk radio. He mentioned Eric Von Haessler of 95.5 WSB is an example of someone doing a non-traditional talk radio program.
“When I came into the business, almost everybody was 21 or 22 years old. The oldest guy in the room was the GM and he was 36, maybe, or the chief engineer. To get more young listeners, we need to bring more young people into the business. It’s not as simple as that, but it makes sense,” said Krantz.
Lane said that depth, range, and storytelling need to matter as much as youth. He shared an anecdote about a midday host who didn’t have the life experience to relate to listeners that didn’t work on WCCO. He continued by noting that pairing a younger host with a more experienced host will set them up for future success due to the credibility a familiar voice has with the audience and helps bridge the generational gap.
Anderssen added that young voices don’t need to necessarily have a place on the air, but having young people in your station can help keep your demographic younger.
12:15-12:50 = The Shark Tank presented by:
Gordy Rush – Guaranty Media Baton Rouge
Tim Wenger – Audacy Buffalo
David Wood – WIBC Indianapolis
With special guest sharks Jill Albert of Direct Results, Andy Bloom and Peter Thiele of BNM.
Contestants in the live version of Shark Tank had three minutes to present their pitches to “sharks” Albert, Bloom, and Thiele for why Omaha Steaks should place a $4,000 buy with their News/Talk radio station.
Rush took the stage first. As operator of Talk 107.3, Rush joked that Louisiana is #1 in the obese tailgating demographic. His pitch included using one of his hosts as an influencer for the Omaha Steaks advertising program, calling morning host Brian Haldane the fabric of the Baton Rouge community.
Questions from the sharks included wondering about the social media size of the brand, with Rush saying the station’s morning show streams live on Facebook and YouTube.
Wenger took the stage next. He shared a story of a “catastrophic” snowstorm that was to hit Buffalo on Christmas week, and was worried about having enough coverage for the potential weekend storm. However, many of his hosts and reporters volunteered to spend the weekend at the station while his home became a studio. In total, six employees spent 72 hours at the station in the blizzard that killed 47 people. The only media outlet covering the storm from a studio was WBEN. A man named James was stuck in his car in the blizzard for two days and was rescued after his phone calls with WBEN, responders were able to find him, and the station saved his life. Wenger said if his hosts were going to sell steaks, the audience will buy them because of the pitches from the station’s hosts.
The sharks questioned how long the hosts had been with WBEN, and if they had a history with endorsements. Wenger said one of the hosts has 13 endorsements, and his travel endorsements have improved greatly in recent years. An additional question asked about potential beef consumption in a city known for its chicken wing consumption. Another shark asked about whether or not citizens in Buffalo will continue to grill with the massive amounts of snow in the market.
Wood was the final contestant. He joked that “Hoosier” is “French for carnivore”. Per capita, Indiana has the highest sales of the popular Big Green Egg. He added that morning and midday host Tony Katz has a syndicated weekend show about food, and has written a BBQ cookbook. Katz, who was in the crowd, gave a spec spot of how a potential endorsement would sound on the station.
Questions from the sharks pertained to Wood’s current grill and what fuels it. He admitted he owns a pellet grill. The questions then turned to Katz and his thoughts and feelings on the Omaha Steaks brand. He was then asked his favorite Omaha Steaks product, which he responded the brand has a fantastic filet mignon.
Ultimately, the sharks decided Omaha Steaks is looking for passion, and the pitch from Wenger was the one deemed victorious. WBEN earned the client’s business.
12:50-1:25 = The Keynote Conversation Presented By:
Ginny Morris – Hubbard Radio
Julie Talbott – Premiere Radio Networks
When asked about the state of talk radio, Morris said
“It is a format that we have great faith in, for sure. WTOP, to be clear though, is a straight up news station. It’s not a news talk station. We’ve got a female targeted talk station that does really quite well in spite of the fact that it is a relatively small community radio station,” Morris said. “It was product for clients like a university before. And so beyond that, we’re trying to just make sure that we’ve got personality that sounds a lot like talk shows in our music brands as well. Not just a morning drive but afternoon drive. We used to say we need every station needs at least one talent that we can’t afford to lose.”
COVID has completely changed the audio landscape, and Morris said it’s important to capitalize on the shifts and for stations to market themselves.
“The audio marketplace is more fragmented than ever before. It’s going to be more fragmented a year from now than it is today. But brands need to market in their markets. 25 years ago, you couldn’t drive down a highway or a side road without seeing competitive radio stations reminding listeners but they’re there. We don’t remind listeners that we’re even an option anymore. We’ve got dedicated marketing dollars in all of our markets and I think if all the companies were able to do that we would have a much more robust business than we do today,” remarked Morris.
“And then with COVID, people went home and their lives changed and their habits changed and now we can invite them back. Remind them that we’re there. And if I could wave a wand and make anything happen, it would be that the larger companies would invest in promoting brands, because I don’t think promoting the industry per se is anything that would resonate with the consumer and people they relate to the tailor, they relate to the brand they relate to the personality of a radio station industry per se.”
AI has become a hot-button issue in the broadcasting space, and Talbott argued the industry shouldn’t be intimidated.
“Just don’t be scared of it. I think that anything new, our natural instinct is to be fearful. We can’t be and I think that our industry has consolidated to a state where I think we’re at a — we’re running very efficiently, let’s say it that way. And every person I have on my staff, they need help. They need the help in every possible way,” Talbott said. “And if I can help support them in a way that doesn’t affect negatively our product. Let’s go for it, let’s use it, let’s try it, let’s experiment. If we experiment internally, and we don’t like it, we can get rid of it. But don’t be scared.”
The topic of radio’s placement in dashboards of automobiles has a chance of shifting in the future, and has been bandied about. Talbott argued that Ford’s motivation for removing in-dash radio’s was not about removing news/talk stations as much as they wanted to be in the subscription business and force owners to pay for radio. She said the way to ensure radio remains in cars is simple
“You just got to keep putting out the best product we have so people will keep wanting to have us,” Talbott said of keeping AM/FM radios in automobiles.
Barrett asked the pair if there would ever been a future for liberal talk programs.
“I thought Rush Limbaugh was popular because he was entertaining, not because of what he thought or said,” Morris said. “If someone can come on the scene with a similar talent, they’ll be popular.”
Talbott balked at the idea that Premiere Networks wouldn’t syndicate a left-leaning show. “I would absolutely put on a show if there was a great host. If I heard someone I thought was terrific, I’d absolutely put them on.”
1:25-1:35 = Closing Comments
Barrett concluded the conference by sharing with attendees that ultimately the success of the industry relies upon coaching and managing people. We get caught up in numbers and winning the next quarter, but this business is about people.
He added that the industry needs to commit to having a stronger presence in the digital space. Putting together a digital strategy is imperative. You have to be everywhere.
The industry is built on relationships and storytellers. The more you can bring people together and create connections, the more business and listenership you’ll create.
