4-30-2012
If your station, at the request of the NAB, ran any free spots promoting the FM Chip issue or The Performance Rights Act, this story may be of interest to you. Some may perceive this as a back door attempt to revive a little "Fairness Doctrine" debate. It's also a great reminder to keep your public up-to-date just in case anyone calls and asks you to provide anything remotely political. In a letter to the Comptroller General, Congressmen Darrell Issa (pictured) and Mike Quigley are requesting the radio industry be investigated for lobbying expenditures and disclosure practices.
This all has to do with spots radio stations ran to promote the FM chip and the Performance Rights Act. "Presumably these spots were intended to influence legislators to vote or act to benefit the stations airing them," the letter said.
The accusation is that radio may not have met its disclosure obligations concerning "lobbying activities and political advocacy ads." The NAB's Dennis Wharton says the "NAB believes appropriate disclosures were made on these messages. When free and local broadcasting is threatened by bad public policy proposals, we have a First Amendment right and responsibility to educate our millions of listeners and viewers."
The two Congressmen are asking the General Accounting Office to provide a long laundry list of information, that would undoubtedly have to come from radio stations. Here's that list:
- How many spots were aired between 2007 and 2010 intended to influence policy makers concerning the Performance Rights Act (such as the "No Performance Tax" spot), spectrum actions or FM chips in phones?
- What other types of editorials were aired during the same period that were intended to influence legislation that impacted the broadcast stations economic interest, and in what numbers?
- What would the fair market value of these spots be?
- Did broadcasters accept these spots presenting opposing views?
- Did the cost to advertisers presenting these spots vary depending on their point of view?
The two Congressman are awating a delivery schedule "of a credible, objective and responsive report on an expedited basis, so that they may consider whether legislative action is needed."
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listeners, our fans and a wider swath of New York because now we are also going to be able to serve the Hispanic sports fan." Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan told Radio Ink last night, "We are very pleased with this agreement. While it is very, very difficult to part with WRKS, it was the right decision for our company. Traug and I are good friends and he is absolutely terrific to deal with."
network ESPN Deportes which will take the AM slot later this year. 10% of the Hispanic population resides in New York City and Keller sees this as a huge opportunity for ESPN Deportes which will launch in New York during Hispanic Heritage month (September 15th - October 15th). Keller says that was a big win for the company. "You'll see us get involved in some local play-by-play here in New York. I'm very excited and very bullish about the Hispanic side of our business. One half of my body lives in that space every day. The Hispanic sports fan is a rabid sports fan. To have a 24/7 talk station in Spanish language in NY is going to be tremendous."
April 25, 2012True confession time. I've always been more interested in talk radio than music radio. I could never get around the basic truth that an Usher song on my station doesn't sound any different or better than the same Usher song my competition could play. The only place I could see an opportunity to differentiate my morning show from the rest, and seize the competitive advantage, was during the talk breaks. It always worked. 
4-25-2012
4-24-2012
4-23-2012Only recently have I been sensing a quivering in the music radio zeitgeist. Sporadic considerations are emanating from a number of smart, senior executives that there might be something worthwhile to bringing talent back into the fold. The rationale suggests some positive impacts on ratings and revenues by dropping in more relevant "local" content by local "live" personalities ? qualifying as more appealing broadcasting. They are dangerously mistaken.Even as Ringo sings, "Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues," readers are encouraged to key in on the word "dues." In our case, it refers to developing knowledge and expertise ? elements that are sorely missing in the resumes of a majority of today's on-air presenters. How this all came about is well documented and need not be revisited here. In my view, hiring on new and/or used talent, or opening up the talent that is already working, is comparable to being complicit in arranging for a car wreck around the next bend in the road. All anybody will have to show for the effort are hospital bills, insurance claims, and lawyers' fees. This would be the unwanted consequence or "blowback" even when the good and heartfelt intention was just to get a better grip and go a little faster. Music radio, I contend, finds itself in a state where the simple fix is now unavailable. We have watered down our gruel to the point where there are no longer any nutrients, no proteins, no carbohydrates, no fats, no texture and no taste. What remains is just a murky, questionable?moistness. Furthermore, security cameras have, for years, been recording the cooks horking loogies into the pot. Some might read into the behavior a little spiteful, but still unconscious, sabotage ? based only on perceptions of the attendant body language. In other words, foisting even more of the menu that is already on the air on an unsuspecting and innocent audience, is a recipe for ptomaine poisonings of the audio kind. Audiences will not be amused or forgiving ? and they'll know who to blame.Hiring new or used talent has always come with serious risks and responsibilities. It's like taking half a dozen cats into the family household. More food costs. Buying more scented, self-clumping kitty litter. Developing cat-herding techniques. More grooming. More petting. More cat toys. Plus, there are those times when kitty-pshrinks will have to be engaged for those felines who insist they are entitled to everything because they are actually Simba.If I were sitting in the "Big Guy's" chair, and was presented with encouragements to bring in more talent and to open them up to live, local references, I would refuse ? categorically. But then, I already know what new talent is going to be asked to do. I also already know how, specifically, they are going to do it, and I can predict ? with confidence and some stridency ? how messy and expensive an exercise that would be. After ignoring high-quality advice and engaging in a hiring exercise anyway, any consideration of an ROI becomes more than just an embarrassing concept. It becomes a bitter, tragic laffer.While I tip my hat to those many magnificent on-air individuals whose talent, wit, intelligence, and humanity bulges out of the speakers to make listening to the radio a compelling, satisfying, and personally intimate experience, they are, indeed, the rarest and most breathtaking of birds. The rest of us chickens will have to get by on something else. But we can't, and won't, get by on what we've got right now.I would not let one soul back on the air unless I had directly or indirectly trained them ? thoroughly. Until that happens, I wouldn't let them utter anything other than what is written on a 3x5 card, and even then only if I had directly or indirectly trained whoever is writing up the cards. I wouldn't allow for one member of the staff to stretch out on the air until they had demonstrated they were knowledgeable and skilled in the techniques in which I had directly or indirectly trained them. They would have to earn those opportunities. I wouldn't let one more promo hit the air unless I had directly or indirectly trained the writer. The creative department would also have to undergo the same training. This would be a condition of employment for all. The benefit, however, would be that, instead of flightless chickens, there would be eagles dominating the airwaves.Now, I am not so caught up or self-absorbed in this position that I can't recognize arrogance when it is presented. In my last piece, I distanced myself from the position of a zealot, as well. What I am referencing is a completely new paradigm for music radio ? all radio, for that matter ? but more particularly for music radio as it does have certain unique dynamics.Generally, people claim to like the idea of new paradigms and even a willingness to embrace one or two ? at least up to the point that it's their own, old paradigm that is getting hammered in the process.Meanwhile, some have suggested that my premise is akin to the one in the movie "Field of Dreams": Build it and they will come. As much as I enjoyed the film and reveled in the philosophical possibilities, I wouldn't offer the premise as a garden-lined pathway down which to stroll. Not if I was trying to get to the bank! There is an element of faith explicit in the position, and while faith might be acceptable to certain folks in some areas of experience, it is hardly useful as a strategic element in the programming of radio stations. In this context, faith would be synonymous with gullibility and wishful thinking. If I were in the "Big Guy's" chair, I would insist on some evidence. But then, if I were sitting in the "Big Guy's" chair ? I would have the evidence already.Yes, I do appreciate how these comments can easily generate accusations of "arrogance" and "stridency." To the charge of "stridency," I plead utterly guilty. But, not to the one of arrogance. Still, one could ask who am I to be making such bold and broad statements? As fortune would have it, I am a radio guy who was presented with an opportunity to learn more about broadcast communications than most of us have ever learned or are learning today. I'm a guy who studied, worked, tested, and applied the knowledge; and I'm the guy who generated the results. I'm a guy whose "dues" are paid. I'm a guy who has taken what were, once, philosophical speculations and, through years of application, turned many of them and more into a powerful methodology. As Walt Whitman put it: "If you done it, it ain't braggin'."Indeed, promoting a new, communications paradigm for music radio is akin to walking into an evangelical church and attempting to recruit members for a club that celebrates the life and times of Carl Sagan. Folks can get right lathered up.Ronald T. Robinson has been involved in Canadian Radio since the '60s as a performer, writer and coach and has trained and certified as a personal counsellor. Ron makes the assertion that the most important communicative aspects of broadcasting, as they relate to Talent and Creative, have yet to be addressed. Check out his website www.voicetalentguy.com
Veteran consultant Jaye Albright penned a different take on contesting that we thought you needed to read. Here's a snippet, followed by a link to the full blog. "I know the radio promotion people and our air personalities generally prefer to limit folks like Brad to "you can only win once per month" or similar limitations, but in spite of this excess, I still feel that's a mistake. Radio contests are about making it fun and rewarding to listen. Smart stations make it easier and simpler for the kind of folks who love to play radio games and contests + participate in radio research to win more often." Get the full blog HERE 