Welcome to the Barrett News Media Top 20 of 2024 series presented by JJ Surma Voiceovers. JJ is an avid supporter of the news/talk format. Be sure to check out his work when time permits. This series is voted on by news/talk radio program directors and executives across the country. To see each day’s results visit the website, follow BM on X at @Barrett_Media or Facebook at Barrett Media or sign up for our newsletters here. We appreciate the support.
The six categories featured are news/talk radio’s Major and Mid market morning, midday, and afternoon shows, the top program directors and radio stations, and the format’s best national talk shows. Major Markets represent shows, stations, and PDs in markets #1-#20. Mid Markets are for markets #21 and below. Not included in our lists are NPR brands and shows. Mainstream talk radio outlets are our main focus.
As you review the results, please remember that they represent the collective opinions of our radio industry executive panel. Decision makers receive lists and are asked to vote on talent, shows, brands, and leaders. We don’t participate in the voting process, we simply add up and present the results.
Three Things To Be Aware Of
#1 – We try to be thorough with the spelling of names, shows, cities, and the use of photos and logos. However, we’re creating 200+ images to highlight an entire format, so mistakes happen sometimes. If you see an error, please email Jason@BarrettMedia.com. Additionally, we ask voters to send in photos and logos in advance to avoid headaches. Once the series is presented, there are no changes unless it involves a mistake. Thanks in advance for understanding.
#2 – 70 mid market morning shows appeared on ballots turned in by our executive panel. Executives were asked to rank their Top 20 selections for each category based on a few key factors; quality of show (ear test), originality, ability to entertain-inform-connect across multiple platforms, ratings success, clearance (national shows) and industry buzz. Remember, our voters live in different cities, have individual tastes, work for different groups, and value certain factors higher than others. This is not a perfect system but it’s the best we’ve come up with to showcase the industry’s best.
#3 – The executive panel includes programmers, consultants and corporate executives from radio’s top companies including Audacy, iHeart, Cumulus, Hubbard, Cox Media Group, Townsquare Media, Salem Media Group, Bonneville, FOX News Radio, Westwood One, and Radio One. Our total number of voters this year was forty six (46). Most vote on six categories, but some only vote on national shows and/or program directors. We involve people from different groups and cities in order to provide a balanced view of the format.
I want to thank Dylan Barrett for doing a great job with this year’s graphics. I’d also like to thank all who took part in the voting process. Now without further delay, here are the Top 20 Mid Market Morning Shows of 2024.
Additional Notes:
Tony Katz finished ahead of Mike McConnell by twenty one (21) points. This is Katz’s first time winning the category. He finished 3rd in 2023, and 2nd in 2022.
Spots 21-25 belonged to Bill Spadea, Good Morning Orlando w/ Simon Conway, KMJ Morning News, Fort Wayne’s Morning News w/ Kayla Blakeslee, and Wake Up Memphis w/ Ben Deeter.
We had a tie for 18th between Kevin Miller and Jeff Angelo. As a result, it paved the way for Tony Cruise to make the cut at #20.
Of the 70 shows to appear on submitted ballots, seven (7) received at least one 1st place vote.
BNM Top 20 of 2024 Remaining Schedule:
Tuesday January 7 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Midday Shows of 2024
Wednesday January 8 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Afternoon Shows of 2024
Thursday January 9 = BNM Top 20 National N/T Radio Shows of 2024
Friday January 10 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Program Directors of 2024
Monday January 13 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Stations of 2024
Welcome to the Barrett News Media Top 20 of 2024 series presented by JJ Surma Voiceovers. JJ is an avid supporter of the news/talk format. Be sure to check out his work when time permits. This series is voted on by news/talk radio program directors and executives across the country. To see each day’s results visit the website, follow BM on X at @Barrett_Media or Facebook at Barrett Media or sign up for our newsletters here. We appreciate the support.
The six categories featured are news/talk radio’s Major and Mid market morning, midday, and afternoon shows, the top program directors and radio stations, and the format’s best national talk shows. Major Markets represent shows, stations, and PDs in markets #1-#20. Mid Markets are for markets #21 and below. Not included in our lists are NPR brands and shows. Mainstream talk radio outlets are our main focus.
As you review the results, please remember that they represent the collective opinions of our radio industry executive panel. Decision makers receive lists and are asked to vote on talent, shows, brands, and leaders. We don’t participate in the voting process, we simply add up and present the results.
Three Things To Be Aware Of
#1 – We try to be thorough with the spelling of names, shows, cities, and the use of photos and logos. However, we’re creating 200+ images to highlight an entire format, so mistakes happen sometimes. If you see an error, please email Jason@BarrettMedia.com. Additionally, we ask voters to send in photos and logos in advance to avoid headaches. Once the series is presented, there are no changes unless it involves a mistake. Thanks in advance for understanding.
#2 – 43 major market morning shows appeared on ballots turned in by our executive panel. Executives were asked to rank their Top 20 selections for each category based on a few key factors; quality of show (ear test), originality, ability to entertain-inform-connect across multiple platforms, ratings success, clearance (national shows) and industry buzz. Remember, our voters live in different cities, have individual tastes, work for different groups, and value certain factors higher than others. This is not a perfect system but it’s the best we’ve come up with to showcase the industry’s best.
#3 – The executive panel includes programmers, consultants and corporate executives from radio’s top companies including Audacy, iHeart, Cumulus, Hubbard, Cox Media Group, Townsquare Media, Salem Media Group, Bonneville, FOX News Radio, Westwood One, and Radio One. Our total number of voters this year was forty six (46). Most vote on six categories, but some only vote on national shows and/or program directors. We involve people from different groups and cities in order to provide a balanced view of the format.
I want to thank Dylan Barrett for doing a great job with this year’s graphics. I’d also like to thank all who took part in the voting process. Now without further delay, here are the Top 20 Major Market Morning Shows of 2024.
Additional Notes:
Bill Handel finished ahead of Sid & Friends, but saw his lead shrink from 122 points in 2023 to 83 points in 2024. Handel earned a category best eight (8) first place votes.
Spots 21-25 belonged to ‘JR Morning’ w/ Guy, Lloyd & Jamie, Joe Piscopo Show, Kayal & Company, Chris Stigall, and Dan Proft & Amy Jacobson.
The closest contest saw O’Connor & Company finish two points ahead of WBZ News w/ Jeff Brown.
Of the 43 shows to appear on submitted ballots, eleven (11) received at least one 1st place vote.
BNM Top 20 of 2024 Remaining Schedule:
Tuesday January 7 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Midday Shows of 2024
Wednesday January 8 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Afternoon Shows of 2024
Thursday January 9 = BNM Top 20 National N/T Radio Shows of 2024
Friday January 10 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Program Directors of 2024
Monday January 13 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Stations of 2024
Your Morning Show with Michael DelGiorno has picked up another station. The Premiere Networks show will now be heard on 910 WFDF in Detroit.
After being launched into national syndication in 2024, the show has quickly gained traction, with the Adell Media station marking DelGiorno’s 50th affiliate.
“I’m always singing, ‘Oh, how I wish again, I was back in Michigan!’ So, it’s a song come true for me,” said DelGiorno. “All joking aside, as a Flint native, I’m thrilled to be coming home to start the day off right on Detroit’s Superstation and just in time for my Lions’ first Super Bowl! Your Morning Show is informative, interactive, and a great way to start the day right. We don’t yell, fight, or tell you how to think, but we do give you a lot to think about. I’m looking forward to 2025 and whatever comes our way – we will go through it together!”
The show will replace local host Justin Barclay in the station’s daily lineup. Barclay had hosted mornings since the station’s debut in September 2023.
“It’s been an amazing ride, and I’m so grateful for all the conversations, laughs, and moments we’ve shared,” Barclay shared on social media. He will continue to be heard on Newsradio WOOD in Grand Rapids.
DelGiorno’s show is the latest Premiere Networks show added to 910 WFDF — dubbed as the Superstation — in Detroit. Others include The Glenn Beck Program, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Jesse Kelly Show, and Our American Stories.
“Michael DelGiorno is a perfect fit to lead our impressive weekday lineup featuring the biggest talent in talk radio,” said Kevin Adell, Chief Executive Officer of Adell Media. “In just over a year since launching our conservative talk format, we continue to see incredible audience gains and look forward to continued growth and success as we provide a leading source for news and information in our community.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
The past two weeks were supposed to be vacation time for yours truly. I grabbed a breather from client calls and listening sessions, but truth is, I never am really off. I’m driven by my work, live in my phone, and even if I’m without it, my brain is thinking of something I can do to help a client or improve our media business. I love what I do, and live it 7 days per week, 24 hours a day. I’ll take an occasional trip with my family, but even when I get away, I’m still accessible and plugged in.
Rather than mentally disconnecting, I began sorting through resumes for openings at Barrett Media, talked with my crew about upcoming content, and sent nearly 500 emails to music radio executives, programmers, and consultants for our upcoming Top 20 series in music radio. If we’re going to do things to highlight the industry, I want to do them right, and big. There’s always more to do, and never enough time to do it. Some of you might’ve read that and screamed ‘JB, you need to shut down’ but that’s not an option for me.
I did though find time to watch the Aaron Rodgers docuseries ‘Enigma‘. The Jets quarterback’s pursuit of spirituality in Costa Rica did little for me, and I know some people will get charged up over his comments from the past about Covid and other personal issues, but I found the series interesting. It had many relatable items that media members can connect with, some even hit close to home.
First, Rodgers is a very driven and complex individual. Having a chip on his shoulder whether it was from media criticisms, disrespect from the front office, issues with his childhood and family, or not being drafted high, pursued by a top college football program or taken under Brett Favre’s wing gave him the fuel he needed to put in the work to be great. The more adversity he faced, the more he rose to the occasion. It didn’t always result in wins or championships, but his best performances happened often when his back was against the wall.
What stuck with me most was when Aaron spoke about struggling to have fun and be present in the moment. He said that after he won the Super Bowl in 2010 he thought ‘That’s it? What’s next?’. Being a perfectionist, he’s always chased the perfect game, play, and career. What should have been one of the best moments of his professional life was over in an instant, and he wasn’t aware enough to enjoy it. Given his age at the time, and quick rise to stardom, it’s easy to see why he’d think it’d happen a lot more.
I remember Jeff Van Gundy once telling Mike & the Mad Dog that he struggled getting over the losses, and couldn’t enjoy the wins during his Knicks coaching tenure. A lot of Type-A people face this struggle. They’re constantly ‘on’ and can’t turn off.
As I listened to Rodgers, I realized he was describing me, and many others in the media industry. If you watched the movie ‘Money Ball’ you might recall the scene at the end of the film where Billy Beane is offered the largest contract to a GM in sports history. He’s so obsessed over his team losing the final game that he failed to understand how much he had just changed the game of baseball.
During my studio days, I sat in numerous staff meetings where bosses talked about the importance of work-life balance. I tuned it all out. The idea of taking a break was nice, but when you work in a competitive industry, and are driven to be great, it’s hard to take your foot off the gas. Imagine telling a QB to take a few days off from practicing. The second they do, the backup, their backup, and every other backup in the league is working to close the gap and pursue the opening. It’s no different in the media business.
If the ratings came out and my station was 1st, I thought ‘we can get beat next month so we can’t let up’. When I created special content, landed new business or hit homeruns with our conferences, I thought ‘We were supposed to do that – what’s next?’. Competitors are always competing, and don’t do well staying stagnant or patting themselves on the back. We should do that more, but we don’t.
The blessing of being wired that way is that you’re known as a hard worker and identified as a professional success. You’re also invested in something that has personal meaning to yourself and others. Being able to wake up, and as Jim Harbaugh is fond of saying ‘attack the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind’ is a great feeling. I’ve never had my work ethic questioned or been called out for slacking. It’s usually the opposite ‘slow down, JB’. I take great pride in that.
However, it can be a curse too. You miss key parts of conversations, and are never truly happy with the body of work you’ve produced. While you’re chasing the bigger moment and perfect outcome, you fail to enjoy and appreciate the one you’re in. There’s always another giant to slay, which can be exhausting for others. Your expectations of others can also be difficult to manage especially if they’re not giving 100%. I’ve learned over time that it’s unfair to expect others to want it as bad as I do. Not everyone is wired the same, and just because they don’t put in as much time, doesn’t mean they don’t care.
Rodgers asked an important question at the end of the series. It’s one that every media professional should think about today. He said once the carousel stops, and it’s time to get off, who are you going to be? For a player whose identity is forever linked to football, who is Aaron Rodgers without it? What does he do once there are no more games to suit up for?
That’s something I thought about in 2015 before launching this company. I could have left the business then, and pursued another path. The more I thought about it though, I realized that my identity was tied to media, radio, content, programming, etc.. Being connected to the business I love, doing work that challenged and fulfilled me, and pursuing excellence was important to me. My location and title were going to change, but my desire to create impact wasn’t. I just re-directed my focus from running a radio station to running a media company.
When you’re 30, 35, 40, 45 or 50 years old, it’s easier to do that. You’re in your prime with plenty to offer. But one day, I’ll be 65, 70 or 75 and forced to answer the same question that Rodgers will when he leaves the football field for good. Who are you after it’s over?
Aside from knowing that I’ll be old, I can’t answer the rest right now. Hopefully I’ll figure it out by then, but maybe I won’t. All I know is that if this is what I’m known for, and it provides purpose and value to my life, that’s not the worst thing in the world.
Being just one week into a new year, I thought this was a good time to explore this issue. A lot of people got laid off in 2024. Many of them are linked to radio, TV, podcasting, advertising or another form of media. They’re going through the process of figuring out who they are without the job, and asking themselves ‘What’s next?’
If there’s one thing I’d like to get better at in 2025 it’s enjoying the moment more. We do a lot of really cool things at Barrett Media, and sometimes it fades fast due to the rapid pace of the news cycle. Slowing down the news isn’t possible, but enjoying what we’ve created, and the lift it provided is. No matter how perfect I try to make every aspect of the operation, I know there will always be holes to fill, and work to complete. Expecting a ride without bumps is unrealistic.
Eventually all good things come to an end. Fortunately for media folks, the ride lasts longer than the average football career. We’re all chasing individual journeys, and while doing so, it’s ok to check out the scenery and enjoy the view. If you can do it without spending days in darkness and wearing face paint in Costa Rica, that’s even better.
BNM Top 20 Update
The Barrett Media Top 20 of 2024 for News/Talk radio drops daily at 9am this week, and also next Monday January 13th. Today starts with the top Major and Mid Market morning shows. We will push the results live on the website at 9am, and follow up with an email blast, and social media posts. Keep an eye out for it. A big thank you to JJ Surma for sponsoring the series.
BMM and BSM Top 20 Details
I’m fired up to deliver the Top 20 of 2024 in Music Radio in a few weeks. The debut series is scheduled for January 20-24, and January 27-29. Putting this together is a giant undertaking because we have to include voters for each format. Sports and news involves gathering one group of programming executives. Music involves eight.
Going through this process has been very rewarding. I sent hundreds of emails, unsure of what type of feedback we’d get since music radio is relatively new for us. We just entered the space in July 2024. To hear from so many people how much they appreciate my work, our brand and staff, our commitment to the industry, etc. was eye opening. I felt their excitement about being asked to take part in the voting process for our first top 20 series for music radio.
When you’re creating content and running a brand, you’re hoping what you do connects. But without being in front of each person, it’s hard to know what stuck with them. Judging by the responses, we’re doing something right. It’s why I’m determined to make sure this series is a homerun. It’d be much easier to gather 10-15 voters, complete our process, and enjoy a needed rest, but I don’t like doing things half assed. I want to do work that matters, and get the entire industry involved and talking. Over 100 people are confirmed to participate, and I expect that number to rise by the end of today. That alone is pretty damn cool.
If I haven’t responded to your email yet, hang tight. I’ve read every single one of them. I’m expecting it’ll take me 1-2 weeks to dig out of this latest inbox avalanche. If you received my email about voting and haven’t replied, please let me know asap. Lists and details are going out to all programmers, execs, and format consultants today and tomorrow.
Sports media voters, your lists are being sent out later next week. The BSM Top 20 of 2024 is scheduled for February 3-7, and February 10th. My thanks to Steve Stone Voiceovers for making it possible. As we do each year, the series drops during Super Bowl week. That makes the banter on media row very entertaining.
If you missed my final column of 2024 due to the holiday break, check it out here. I made my personal picks for the year’s best and shared some details about a Top 20 series for television, a 10-year anniversary bash, where the BNM Summit will take place, and more.
You’re closing out the year after the holiday chaos and rest. Your focus is on the change and opportunity the new year will bring. Then, you get the call, the meeting, or the video conference. Your job is ending.
It’s a familiar scene in any business or brand’s downsizing or rightsizing. Movies like Jerry Maguire, American Beauty, Office Space, Mr. Mom, Falling Down, or Up In The Air include the comedic, dark, romantic, or tragic themes of life after job loss. It happened last week in the radio broadcasting industry when Salem Media Group announced it would sell its remaining seven music stations and focus the company on the spoken word format and assets.
Educational Media Foundation (EMF) is acquiring the Salem 7, including iconic Contemporary Christian Music brands like KLTY-FM Dallas and WFSH-FM Atlanta, along with The Fish-branded stations in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Portland, and Sacramento. In February, EMF will place the networks of K-Love or Air1 Worship Now on these signals.
This column isn’t about the hundreds of people being displaced from their jobs at Salem. Any normal, decent person empathizes with their surprise, disappointment, and fear. This column isn’t about the conquering savior, EMF. Like any healthy well-managed organization, the iHeart of non-profit radio is making strategic decisions based on its vision to sustain and excel.
This column is about those Left Behind. Pause. I reference the eschatological book series because I’m writing about companies delivering Christian-based content to audiences through audio, video, and digital platforms. How could I pass on the obvious pun?
If seven more radio brands in medium, large, and major markets will sound like one national network next month, where do the competitors of those former Salem brands find opportunity? Yes, opportunity. Salem’s exit will leave a mark when EMF appears with its well-programmed formats.
The difference in the Salem/EMF deal is the sameness of music content. The audiences of those seven CCM-formatted stations will hear much of the same CCM music but with different hosts, audio imaging, and jingles. If Audacy or Cumulus were purchasing these stations, the marketplace would be concerned about the various formats of those seven signals. Portland would likely have a different format than Cleveland because the marketplace needs would differ.
The Salem/EMF scenario makes it easier for analysis and strategy. The other stations in the market know what’s coming and they know the current audience will get a similar format replacing the Salem brands. Much of the audience cume will remain with the station because there’s music familiarity. However, as with any format change or brand adjustment, the cume will scatter because they don’t like the music the hosts or the overall presentation. Changes in any business create improvement and failure.
Here are categories to consider when your marketplace experiences a format change or brand adjustment:
Difference
How are we different from the incoming competitor? Maybe the first question is, “Does our difference matter?” I’ve known some great-sounding brands that were different, but the marketplace wasn’t attracted to their unique approach, and it failed. Research is important to discover your opportunities before you change your brand.
Defining The Difference
A brand may own some unique qualities, but it does a poor job defining those strengths to the audience. Review what’s coming out of the speakers/devices and determine if the messaging and the content match the competitive strategy of the brand.
Market Your Brand
I know there’s some eye-rolling going on right now. “What marketing money?” is the question being asked. If I had a coffee shop named Ron’s Robust Roasters, and I found out a Starbucks was finally moving into my neighborhood marketplace, I would find a way to put up a billboard or buy some targeted digital ads. My coffee may be smoother, my music may be better than their AI-curated playlist, and my baristas may engage more with their book recommendations to my clientele. I must remind the neighborhood about those qualities when the big monster arrives. Starbucks doesn’t have to do anything but show up and I suddenly have a problem.
Debut Your Brand
Change brings cume fluctuations, even if the change is not a direct competitor. Ask yourself, “Would I know what this station is doing if I were listening for the first time?” We typically do a good job debuting a product in the marketplace, but the messaging and vision get cluttered or unfocused over time. When change comes to the market, do a silent relaunch and present your best content for the new cume scanning the dial or the app store.
These subjects should be in constant review and motion. Format and marketplace changes are a good time to be reminded of the opportunity to improve our proven or heritage brands before we get Left Behind by the invaders.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Since the calendar flipped to 2018, it has been quite a ride for Travis and Jason Kelce. The two were already top players at their positions at the highest level of football, however up to that point they had zero Super Bowl wins between them, and neither was dating the hottest global superstar on the planet.
Since that time, Jason won a Super Bowl, would later retire and get hired by ESPN. Travis has won three Super Bowls, including one directly against his brother. And he also started dating Taylor Swift.
In addition to those amazing things, they also created one of the most consumed podcasts in the sports genre. New Heights, the content I chose to eavesdrop on this week, launched in September of 2022 and was a huge hit from the get-go. The first episode has been viewed almost 400,000 times on YouTube alone. New Heights was named 2022 Podcast of the Year by Sports Illustrated and only aired one-third of the year.
Today, the show has 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube and the most recent episode has been viewed almost 850,000 times since being released three days ago. That doesn’t even count the who knows how many more people who listened to the audio.
2025 marks the start of a new deal for the show with Amazon’s Wondery, which is believed to be a three-year agreement worth more than $100 million.
Wondery CEO Jen Sargent told Variety this when the announcement was made about the partnership: “New Heights on the surface is a sports podcast, and sports is such a well-listened-to category. But it’s become a cultural phenomenon — they’re in that cultural zeitgeist.”
Combined, Jason and Travis have 25 years of experience in the NFL, but the show covers anything from what is happening in the league to their personal lives, their significant others, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and UFOs and everything in between. In addition, they get to talk with some of the biggest names on the planet and the episode I tuned into happened to be with one of those as they interviewed WNBA star Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever.
As the episode kicked off, Travis says, “We’re your hosts, I’m Travis Kelce, this is my big brother Jason Kelce out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio…” Jason follows up by saying, “This is a big one, a guest you guys have all been waiting for…we finally got her…Caitlin Clark is here.”
Before they get to that, they do a quick version of a segment called ‘New News’ and promote Jason’s upcoming late-night show on ESPN, They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce which was debuting a few days after the release of the episode.
Travis asked Jason for a tease or an anecdote about the show and Jason replied, “We are going to have some awesome guests. The whole purpose of the show is to celebrate the sport of football…It’s really just an excuse to get together a bunch of guys and bullsh** about a sport we all love and do a bunch of fun creative comedy bits with some incredible writers. Being creative is just a joy and I think that between the band, the audience, the players and all the people that are going to be there, I just think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m incredibly intimidated by it, I’m terrified about how it’s going to go, but at the same time it makes you feel alive. There’s something about being afraid that makes you excited.”
Travis replied, “That’s such a great feeling to have…I’m happy as hell for you brother. I can’t wait.”
Then they get right to the conversation they had recorded with Clark. It is pretty obvious from the start, the Kelce brothers are hyped to have her on and say she is “the most requested guest in the history of our show.”
Clark later says when she is brought in, “I don’t get excited about many things, but this, this was at the top of my list.”
Mixed in with a lot of laughs and cracking each other up, Jason asks a lot of good questions and because they keep it very loose, they tend to get good answers. Jason makes the point to Clark that she is “like the Wayne Gretzky for basketball” and explains her accolade list is a mile long similar to all the records Gretzky holds.
After Jason learns he and Catilin were both marketing majors, he asks her about being a Chiefs fan, which she has been since a young age. Clark said she was “a Midwest kid” who had family in Kansas City and grew up just a few hours away in Des Moines, Iowa. “People think I was a bandwagon Chiefs fan,” she said. “I was there before Patrick (Mahomes) and Travis, we were ride or die.”
Even something as simple as sideline heaters led to some compelling content. You would think only football players have had to deal with those, but Clark mentioned a college exhibition she played in which required the heaters. All agreed they can get dangerously hot and that at times you want to stay away from them.
“I’m out on the heaters,” Travis said. “It has to be under 20 degrees…I can’t feel too hot…I’ll start to fall asleep.”
Something else all three have in common, somewhat surprisingly, is a relationship with current Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach. Jason knew him as Andy Reid’s assistant in Philadelphia, Travis obviously knows him now in his current role, while Clark said she met him while he was in Indianapolis, staying at the same hotel as her college team, while he was at the NFL combine a few years ago. The two have stayed in touch since then she said.
Seeing multiple stops on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was yet one more thing the three had in common. Clark said she saw three shows and took her mom to the one in Indianapolis. “I don’t know how you couldn’t have a good time,” Clark said about seeing the show.
The trio also talked about the differences between coming into the NFL versus the WNBA. Whereas the NFL has plenty of time between the draft and the start of the season, the WNBA draft happens right after the college season ends and the season starts fairly quickly after the draft. Clark said while she would have preferred more time, it did happen so quickly she really had no time to think much about it, it all just happened so fast. She said the Olympic break ended up working out in her favor as she was able to get about a month off.
They talked about what it is like being a rookie in pro sports and while Clark said she thought it took her some time to figure out what to say and get a handle on everything, Jason Kelce said to her, “For not knowing, you nailed it!”
They mentioned older players being there to help them and Catilin said for her it has been former Indiana Fever great Tamika Catchings who has been helpful to her since shortly after she was drafted, making her feel welcome and checking in on her from time to time.
You could really tell throughout the interview that Clark felt comfortable, so comfortable she started asking questions back to the guys. When she was asked about her draft day and going No. 1 overall, she asked Jason and Travis about their draft day experiences, which led to a couple of good stories.
Travis had a great line when he said that in the third round he got a call from a Missouri area code and figured it was the St. Louis Rams because, “I had no idea Kansas City was even in Missouri.”
Clark talked about her start in college which came during COVID where only athletes were on campus at first. Clark described the dorm as, “A huge mansion with just college kids running wild.” Jason followed by quickly saying, “I’m not going to lie, that sounds like so much fun, sign me up.”
The entire conversation, all three are so laid back you would think they were best of friends who had known each other for years. Travis threw in questions here and there but spends a lot of the show just dropping in comments and opinions and a lot of what he says is laugh out loud funny. The podcast is so entertaining you sometimes forget how much information and how many peek-behind-the-curtain moments you are hearing until you think back on the episode in its entirety.
Even the ads are somewhat entertaining. Jason and Travis are so uncomfortable doing the ad reads that it gives them a certain charm and authenticity.
As the episode went on, they hit on everything from whether or not they preferred an ocean or a lake to Clark’s recruitment and how she ended up choosing Iowa over Notre Dame. “[Iowa was a] perfect distance, where your parents can’t just show up, but you can go home if you want to.”
We learned about how much hockey Jason and Travis played growing up and what schools everyone dreamed of going to when they were younger.
Clark just continued to get more and more comfortable as the show went on and the episode was very different than a lot of the interviews Clark has done previously. The whole vibe of the show lends to the guests feeling as if they are just talking with a couple of buddies and the audience gets to listen in.
There was a lot of back and forth as the episode went on with the brothers trading off asking questions which had been prepared beforehand. Clark talked about the role her parents played in keeping her away from things until it was time for her to do so and monitoring how much she played so there wasn’t an early burnout.
Later they played a game with Clark called ‘Name a Person,’ which was them going one by one to name athletes from Iowa until they ran out of names. Clark was impressive mostly with her knowledge of which NFL team certain players played for. The game ended when Jason ran out of names, but they had each named quite a few players.
Afterwards the subjects of NIL and the transfer portal came up and each had strong opinions on making sure the athletes get help with the processes and putting limitations on things. Travis even asked, “Have you heard of anyone paying their taxes?” It was a funny question but a serious point in that most athletes won’t think about the money they will need to report and pay because they may not have the guidance or knowledge in that area.
It was great content with terrific insight from three top athletes.
The show ended with ‘We Gotta Ask…’ a segment which Travis quickly explained to Clark that she doesn’t have to answer if she doesn’t want to. Clark obliged each question as they talked about the NBA All Star format, how to improve NBA television ratings, Clark hitting a person in a golf Pro-Am event, her karaoke songs, her favorite basketball shoes, what she would be doing if not playing basketball, her desire to own a rib restaurant and what sides she likes with her barbecue.
It was the perfect way to end the podcast, as it was a segment which was fun and loose, capping off a compelling sixty-minute conversation with one of the most popular athletes on the planet. That, in a nutshell, is what New Heights is all about.
For the first time in its storied history, WWE has entered into a deal with Netflix to present Monday Night Raw exclusively on the streaming platform. Michael Cole, the longtime voice of World Wrestling Entertainment, recently was in Los Angeles to meet with Netflix executives. Cole came away impressed, and convinced that the company is 100% invested in their groundbreaking partnership.
The agreement, which is reportedly for 10 years and $5 billion, expands the global reach of the professional wrestling promotion and provides a new ability to connect with and retain its audience. Cole has been part of WWE broadcasts across different platforms for the past 28 years, but recognizes the importance of what’s about to transpire.
“I think what’s about to happen on Monday changes the game completely for everybody, not only for our company and our product, but I just think for broadcasting live television shows in general,” Cole said. “Netflix has had success with the Tyson fight and then did very well with the NFL games on Christmas Day, but we’re bringing a weekly live television show to them. Monday Night Raw, the longest-running episodic television show in history, and 52 weeks a year, live. It’s amazing to be able to team up with a company that globally leads the world in entertainment streaming.”
According to its latest quarterly earnings report, Netflix has approximately 282.7 million global paid subscribers. The platform recently presented a doubleheader of Christmas Day NFL games that attained an average minute audience of more than 30 million global viewers with improved overall performance. While Cole understands that some people are concerned about watching on Netflix, he feels that the issues the platform first encountered during the Tyson-Paul fight have been corrected. He’s confident that everything will run smoothly.
“I think this is going to be groundbreaking, it’s trailblazing,” Cole said. “I think there’s going to be bumps along the road, but I think we’re going to iron it out pretty quickly and we’re going to be ready to roll.”
There won’t be a preset run time for episodes of Monday Night Raw on Netflix, eliminating the need to hasten certain parts of the show. Over the last 19 years the show has aired on USA Network, there were constraints surrounding built-in commercial breaks that needed to run for a set duration.
“I think we’re going to have enough time to be able to develop our stories to the best of the ability,” Cole said. “There’s no rush to get through things. If we need a couple extra minutes in a certain match or segment, we’re going to be able to provide that for our audience, and they’re not going to feel like they missed out on something.”
Cole said the program could last for an hour or three hours, emphasizing that it depends on what is written into the show every week. On top of that, he is optimistic that WWE superstars will be able to branch out, conveying that Netflix probably has interest in talent to do things along the platform aside from Monday Night Raw. As viewers tune in for the premiere episode on Monday night, they can expect to see a lineup filled with champions and newcomers, some of whom include Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Liv Morgan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena.
“I think it’s going to be a huge opportunity for us, and it’s also a huge opportunity for the world who may not have sampled our product before or who may have watched back in the ‘80s and ‘90s when it was, ‘Your dad’s wrestling show,’ that we’re different now,” Cole said. “We’re sports entertainment, we’re episodic television. It’s a lot different than it was 30 years ago, so hopefully we bring in some lapsed viewers and people start to watch the product and gain a better appreciation for what we do.”
Paul Levesque, WWE’s Chief Content Officer has worked with Cole and those across the company to create an entertaining television product. Before Levesque took the reins, Cole communicated frequently with WWE’s longtime owner Vince McMahon. Cole believes that McMahon helped him grow as an announcer and taught him everything about the business, but he expressed that Levesque understands that WWE has an All-Star team working on the property.
“I rarely hear from him in my headset,” Cole said. “When I do hear from him, I know it’s very important and I need to get in the point that he’s having me make, but he lets me do my job. Knowing that you can be free and say certain things, and you can have fun and loosen up without having in the back of your mind that you might get yelled at in 5 or 10 minutes is really important for us. That has allowed us to grow.”
Lee Fitting, a former executive at ESPN who oversaw NFL and college sports broadcast properties, including College GameDay, joined WWE in January. Fitting was hired as the company’s head of media and production, implementing more aspects of sports coverage in its presentation through kickoff shows, camera angles and arrival footage. Cole added that Fitting has changed the perception around commentators, stating that WWE announcers would sometimes “get lost in the shuffle.” He understands, however, that it is the superstars who are stepping into the ring and risking their health and wellbeing.
“We’re not out there putting our bodies on the line each and every week for our audience,” Cole said. “We’re not selling tickets. The superstars are doing that, but Lee has positioned us as commentators now to be thought of differently and in a different light than we ever have in the past because, obviously, we are an important part of the product.”
Cole has built a strong relationship with the fans by being a master storyteller, narrator and salesperson. He’s recently used more historical references on the broadcast, even acknowledging other wrestling companies, something that was previously prohibited. Contextualizing different wrestlers and tag teams and understanding that professional wrestling spans beyond WWE is something Cole has divulged to viewers. Despite professing that WWE is the biggest promotion in the industry, he also tries to make it clear that personnel usually do more beyond the company.
“It’s important to let people know that our guys don’t just operate in a bubble, that they’re doing a lot of other things outside of just wrestling in a WWE ring,” Cole said, “and it’s very important to explain that to people so they know, ‘Oh my God, these guys are everywhere.’”
Cole refers to the current time as the “Triple H era” and considers the team to be his family, sometimes seeing them more than his wife and children. At the same time, Cole also understands that WWE president Nick Khan has been key in leveraging growth and expanding the impact of the property.
“I knew Nick a long time before he started here, and then obviously since Nick has taken over, he’s been nothing but great to me,” Cole said. “He has an unbelievable vision for this company, and is unmatched when it comes to negotiating television rights and sponsorship deals.”
With Khan and Levesque leading WWE throughout the last several years, there have been a variety of new hires among executives and on-air talent. While working more closely with WWE NXT, Cole recommended that the company talk to Pat McAfee, a former punter for the Indianapolis Colts who, at the time, was working for Barstool Sports. Cole first met McAfee at an event, and he communicated his interest in the business and aspirations to be part of it. As he demonstrated his skillset, McAfee earned roles within WWE and was added to the commentary team for Friday Night Smackdown. McAfee will now make his return to work with Cole again on Monday Night Raw.
“I’ve never had the chemistry I’ve had with Pat McAfee. We just hit it off from Day 1 and we continue to do it today, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to have him back, and how excited he is to be back,” Cole said. “He has been dying for this day for four months, and he’s finally going to get it, and he’s so excited to be a part of it.”
Even though events that take place on the show are scripted beforehand, Cole understands the importance of eliciting spontaneity and genuine reactions. Rather than describing himself as a play-by-play announcer, he is a versatile on-air presence who fulfills various responsibilities pertaining to the presentation, sales and perception of WWE and its superstars. Before the show begins, he is at the arena ringside taking notes and speaking with talent to ask how he can enhance their storyline amid the action.
“It’s going to be my job to be able to explain to the new audience who our characters are without insulting our everyday fans,” Cole said. “That’s a juggling act, and you want to be able to explain to people, ‘Okay, who is Liv Morgan? Who is the women’s world champion? What is she all about?,’ without making it sound repetitious to the fans that have been watching each and every week, so that’s a juggling act that I really enjoy.”
Whereas Cole engages in meticulous preparation and is also responsible for sponsorship reads, McAfee comes to the venue and does not want to know anything. Rather than looking at the production run sheet, he will ask Cole if there are important things he needs to know and then simply watch the action and add his commentary.
With Cole and McAfee working together on WWE Raw, the SmackDown commentary team will now include Joe Tessitore with analysts Corey Graves and Wade Barrett. Tessitore called Raw for the last several months after joining WWE over the summer, and Cole is enthused to have added someone from outside of the wrestling universe. In the past, he felt the company was trying to find people to replicate him, but the approach has ostensibly changed under the new regime that will help create a dichotomy between both broadcast teams.
“Joe was a fan, a lifelong fan,” Cole said. “He had been at our events for many, many years before he came to work for our company. Joe is probably the best college football broadcaster on the planet right now. He’s also done combat sports, so he has that fight knowledge and fight background. Joe’s also done entertainment shows like Holey Moley, and he’s a veteran and established, plus he has a very distinct voice.”
Cole recently signed a new multi-year contract with WWE and is energized to continue documenting WWE events behind the microphone. He acknowledged that he’s not sure about the specific metrics that will be used to measure the success of WWE Raw broadcasts on Netflix, but as a commentator, he checks the X platform to see what superstars and fans are saying about certain things. Additionally, he measures the audience and tries to glean their enthusiasm for the lineup.
“I believe I’m at the top of my game, I don’t believe I’ve been any better and I just want to continue to be a part of all this, but at the end of the day, it’s fun,” Cole said. “I’ve got the easiest job in the world. I could be putting shingles on a roof [in] Texas, but I’m not. I’m walking into an arena every day, and I’m sitting behind a desk and I’m acting like a fool and I’m calling wrestling.”
WWE’s longtime voice doesn’t foresee himself retiring any time soon. He adds that he’d love to call a WWE event with NFL play-by-play announcers such as Mike Tirico, Al Michaels and/or Joe Buck. Cole previously worked with college football announcer Brad Nessler on a match on WWE SmackDown last year. For now though, he’s focused on bolstering the prominence and prestige of WWE and its brands to millions of people around the world.
“Even in the dark times when people are like, ‘How do you deal with people yelling at you in your headset?,’ it’s fun,” Cole said. “When that red light goes on at 8:00 Monday night on Netflix and I get to say, for the first time ever, ‘Welcome to Monday Night Raw live on Netflix!’ – I still get goosebumps doing it right now – it’s a part of making history within our small little world of professional wrestling. You never know when that next opportunity to make history is going to be.”
Kevin Robinson is an award-winning broadcaster, consultant, and coach. He specializes in strategic radio cluster alignment, building lean-forward tactics, and talent coaching – legacy and entry-level – personalities.
As a talent coach, Kevin is the only personality mentor who’s coached three different morning shows on three different brands in the same major market to the #1 position.
His work has been recognized by The World Wide Radio Summit, Radio & Records, and NAB’s Marconi, and he has coached CMA, ACM, and Marconi Award-winning talent.
Kevin is this week’s featured consultant.
Jeff Lynn: What is the current state of the radio industry?
Kevin Robinson: The answer is dependent on market size and company size. It’s widely known that Audacy, iHeart, and Cumulus have suffered various stages of bankruptcy. Their music brands are largely jukeboxes with out-of-market, disconnected voices outside AM Drive. Those brands are in survival mode. There are local, digitally delivered content providers that are beating them daily. They are walking The Green Mile. Just last month, Salem Communications bailed on their music stations. “We survived bankruptcy” is not the best look for advertisers.
Locally owned medium to small-market brands of all formats are thriving. In smaller towns where the local newspaper has diminished circulation or has vanished altogether, broadcasters are making bank. In those smaller villages, you find community broadcasters with robust local news gathering, live local talent hosting events and high school sports coverage. We have a client who delivers a local 24/7 online news TV station based on radio content.
JL: How do we get the next generation interested in radio as an industry?
KR: Give them your radio station.
Seriously, engage students in your community with time on your radio station. Start with the elementary students and middle school students. At a recent career day, student teams wrote, voiced, and produced their own commercials. They were engaged and fascinated.
Why not work with local schools to create a Radio Club? Put interested emerging talent on early Sunday evenings. Nobody is at your radio station at that time. Local interest will follow.
JL: How do you coach radio managers on both the programming and sales sides to be effective in today’s environment?
KR: Let’s get back to face-to-face meetings. In the era of Zoom, they’ve nearly disappeared.
When coaching, do it privately, face-to-face, and one-on-one. Group sessions can potentially turn toxic, as coaching needs to be personalized and custom. Not everyone is in the same growth stage.
The same goes for the sales training. Sellers, stop into your client’s location during the commercial flight of the advertising. Leave behind something to remember you by. If the only time you see the client is renewal time, you’re doing it wrong.
JL: What skillset do you see as most needed to be an effective manager?
KR: Employees crave transparency. I have clients that share Manager Meeting notes with the entire building. Employees need to know where the business is growing and where deficiencies lie.
Transparency requires great listening skills. Be consistent with your employees in your communication, punctuality, and treatment of each team member.
JL: What should talent be doing to broaden their skills so they are ready in case they are RIFFed?
KR: First – hire a professional resume writer. Not one built from AI. As I stated in my November 12th column, a real-person resume builder will spend a few HOURS ‘interviewing’ – you. A great resume writer will be unconcerned with your previous resume or LinkedIn profile. Resume writers want to unearth blind-spot skills you’ve developed that you would never place on a resume.
Learn a new craft or skill. Recession-proof and nationwide, a good side career outside retail is substitute teaching. School substitute coordinators will guide you through the certificate process. You can take it anywhere, and you’ll work every school day if you desire. Holidays, nights, and weekends off – unlike radio!
JL: We have all seen brilliant programmers who lack people management skills. What steps can they take to become more effective talent managers?
KR: Correct! Many programmers DO lack the soft people skills and often hide behind a computer.
Hire a coach for your team – even for a short time – and learn from them. Coaches have different processes, personalities, and fee structures. Find one that has a roster that matches your team or cluster. You’ll learn by hearing an outside coach – coach YOUR team.
JL: What tools do you use to break through to someone who doesn’t think they need coaching or is resistant and hangs on to, “That’s how we’ve always done it?”
KR: A story I share is the history of Smith-Corona. As I wrote in my September 3rd piece, Smith Corona was the clear leader in typewriter technology for over 100 years. Peaking at 600,000 new machines annually in 1985, Smith Corona appeared unstoppable.
Times and conditions changed around them as Apple and Microsoft flooded the market with the Personal Computer, which included a typing program.
Smith-Corona’s answer – word processors instead of typewriters.
Although they led the Personal Word Processor market, they failed to anticipate the speed at which PCs came to market and the rapid decline in PC pricing. They had always made typing machines.
Today, Smith-Corona is a label-making company.
Challenge every aspect of your brand. Gather your team and perform a S.W.O.T. Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats.
Do you need new jingles – or musical IDs at all? Is there an event you’ve done for years that’s providing diminishing fans and funds? Do you need to sell :60 second spots?
Question – everything.
JL: Without names, tell me the biggest coaching challenge you have faced and how you broke through or overcame it.
In my personal history, I’ve had the opportunity to work with personality giants. Talent that had seen multiple – and a few over a dozen – different programmers and coaches. I was just the next guy – to them – in the chair.
First thing to accomplish before starting coaching sessions – build trust. Without trust, the learning process will be met with an unwillingness to adapt to constructive feedback.
Most seasoned talent that have sessioned with me tell tales of abusive coaching styles, uneven periods of feedback and frequent calls to the studio hotline. Don’t do that.
Build trust.
JL: What do you see as the first and most important step in starting a Podcast?
KR: Why.
What motivates you to create a podcast? That’s the first of many questions you need to answer before you crack a mic. If you don’t have the WHY – nothing else matters.
Additional questions for future Podcasters are found in my December 10th missive – here.
JL: What was the best piece of career advice you ever received?
KR: Just Do It.
If you’re an emerging broadcaster, find any way into the doors of a radio station, even if it’s a non-profit. Non-coms are starved for man hours. You will learn more from doing it and assimilation than from a seminar or broadcast school.
My first job was overnights on an automation assist music format, where I was also charged with gathering trash in the building.
A few thoughts about the increasingly numerous instances of news media organizations “bending the knee” to President-Elect Trump with donations and policy changes:
First, did you expect anything different from the billionaire media moguls, especially in light of how they all have other businesses that are dependent on federal grants or tax breaks? Yes, Jeff Bezos saved The Washington Post and Patrick Soon-Shiong rescued The Los Angeles Times, but they are neither news people nor hands-off businessmen. If Trump threatens them, they have a large financial interest in trying to curry favor with him. It was a matter of time until “I won’t interfere with editorial decisions” would become “do as I say,” whether explicit or assumed by management trying to head off trouble before it happens (which just creates more trouble).
Bezos, for one, had allowed criticism of Amazon in the Post, but being depicted offering bags of money to Trump in an editorial cartoon was too much truth for him, or his editors wanted to protect him from that. Soon-Shiong went further, suddenly insisting on injecting pro-Trump content (Scott Jennings? Seriously?) and AI-powered “balance” in the Times. In each case, the assumption is that the guy who writes the checks gets to dictate what goes in the paper.
And they do if there are no walls between the owner’s office, sales, and the newsroom. I’ve seen plenty of people on social media take the position that the cartoonist (Ann Telnaes, one of the very best) should have known that criticizing the boss would not be tolerated, but if the boss is in the news, how can you ignore that? Telnaes, for her part, makes her case in a Substack post explaining why the spiking of that cartoon was enough to quit the paper, even in an era where there are practically no editorial cartoonist jobs left.
There are two issues here: capitulating to a hostile administration in advance, and interference with the editorial process. The former isn’t limited to the media; any company or investor who values their own wealth over everything else will try to curry favor with whoever is in power, no matter how odious.
The latter is troublesome, too: say you’re a talk radio host and your GM – not even your PD — walks into your office before a show and tells you not to talk about a particular topic, or insists you take a position that’s not in line with yours. I’d hope you’d be upset by that. And what if they “balanced” every segment you did with an AI-generated “opposing viewpoint” segment? That’s embarrassing, and it’s what The Los Angeles Times plans to do with its reporting. Working under those conditions will not be easy, and the paper will not be better for it.
I’ve been lucky. In almost 30 years of writing this column, I’ve never once had the site owner interfere with the content of a column. I don’t know how I’d react if they did. Then again, there’s a difference between dealing with advertisers and dealing with the White House, and the CEOs of radio companies that have generally been able to handle criticism without demanding my elimination, so there’s that.
It should also be noted that independent journalists are out there and online, providing much more context and detail than traditional media, but few are making a living doing it, and there aren’t too many that are universally regarded as fair and accurate by a majority of the public. At least they still have a voice, even if they’re on the store brand and Lean Cuisine diet.
But it’s more than a little concerning that news media companies and their CEOs are bending the knee at a time when journalism will be needed more than ever. Keeping the watchdogs on a short leash is good for billionaires but it isn’t good for America.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
In the spring of 2023, Nielsen Audio announced that one of the traditions of the radio business — reviewing radio diaries — would be available to subscribers online. Make whatever jokes you like about Nielsen finally moving into the Internet Age, it’s still a step forward.
Since the announcement, I haven’t seen any trade press where someone tried using the system. I’ve reviewed far too many diaries over the years (my first review was on the 9th floor of the old Arbitron building in Laurel, MD…for those of you who know your Arbitron history, that was before the Pat Duggan era), so on behalf of the readers of this column, I looked at a few more using the virtual system.
If you are a program director, operations manager, or a market manager in a diary market and you subscribe to Nielsen, you need to do a diary review at least once in your career. Yes, PD Advantage can show you how diarykeepers’ entries were credited post-editing, but nothing beats seeing the real thing. And now you don’t have to waste time and money schlepping to Columbia, Maryland, sitting in a small room with no windows, and staring at a monitor all day. Doing the review from the comfort of your office or home is a huge plus even if Nielsen will not buy lunch for virtual reviewers.
The software that handles diary reviews is ancient by software standards. The Electronic Diary System Retrieval (EDSR) was implemented in 1995 (before EDSR, you perused the actual diaries) and has been updated occasionally. Converting EDSR to an online version was trickier than you might expect and this being Nielsen, designing an entirely new system for something with no revenue attached was not an option.
If you have never used EDSR, it’s incredibly flexible. You can pull diaries and review them in just about any combination you wish. Core demo is women 32-48? No problem. Only want to see those who listened to a competitor and work 35+ hours per week? You got it. Reviewers can check out ascription situations, modeling (there’s a small bit), and internet listening.
Here’s a screenshot (Albuquerque was the market).
Another wonderful aspect of EDSR is the tally system. How did your stations do week by week? It’s there. How much satellite listening takes place in your market by demo? Yep.
Ideally, you could access the data anytime. You can just imagine the bedroom conversations: “Honey, why aren’t you sleeping?” “I’m reviewing Nielsen diaries…I just can’t stop.” Call it ratings porn.
The reality is not exactly that. Much like visiting Columbia to do a review in person, you need to set up an appointment. Your Nielsen rep can handle it or get in touch with Karen Gavigan at Nielsen. I’ve worked with Karen and she’s incredibly knowledgeable about all the Nielsen edit rules. If there is anyone who knows exactly how every diary entry is treated once the diary arrives at Nielsen, she’s the one. Some years ago, I had her present an overview of the system to all the Cumulus diary market PDs and OMs and she did a great job.
When the day arrives for your virtual diary review, Karen will first send you a document explaining how to get online with the system along with an ID and password. While it takes more steps than you might like to get into the system, it worked for me on the first try. She’ll also get online with you via video to show you how EDSR works if you haven’t used it before.
Invariably, questions arise during a diary review. The system allows you to mark diaries and enter your questions or concerns. Typically, you save these up to review with Karen later in the day. With the virtual system, you’ll go through issues by phone or on video with Karen after your session, and any that can’t be answered initially will go for further review. Expect a letter a couple of weeks later that will contain explanations, some of which you’ll likely find disagreeable.
There’s good news and bad news about virtual diary reviews. The good news? The virtual system is free for the moment as Nielsen considers it to be in “trial mode”. The bad news is the company may start charging for it. Personally, I don’t believe diary reviews should have a price as this is part of the overall service. It’s fine to restrict reviews to subscribers, but for the price being paid, charging for a review seems like nickel and diming.
When I was operations manager of WSPA-FM in Spartanburg, South Carolina many years ago, I used to fly in for reviews on a regular basis. One time, a research person from our rep firm (McGavren-Guild, remember them?) came along. After a long day of staring at diaries filled out by the fine people of upstate South Carolina, she simply couldn’t believe that our business rested on some of the crazy entries she had seen. I don’t remember her name, but I’ll bet she changed jobs and left the radio business soon after.
If you haven’t reviewed diaries before, it will be an eye-opener, and you’ll learn a great deal. Schedule your virtual review now and when the date is set, block everything else from your calendar. Focus on the review, print the tallies, take some screenshots, and learn. Note anything you aren’t clear on, save your questions for Karen, and when it’s over, stop by a bar for a cold one or two. You’ll need a drink, but you’ll be wiser for the experience.
Let’s meet again next week.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
