12-29-2011
At the end of every year Radio Ink magazine picks a single broadcaster who has had an outstanding year and names that person Broadcaster of the Year. For 2011 that person is Ed Christian. As of yesterday the Saga Communications (SGA, AMEX) stock price is up 38% YTD. That's PLUS 38%. For the most part Radio has become the ugly duckling of media stocks on Wall Street. Quarterly conference calls for 2011 were nothing short of depressing as CEO's sang a consistent song of "flat" and "limited visibility" and so on and so forth. For sure the economy has been stagnant and Washington's political bickering deflates the consumer, but through it all Ed Christian's company, with his medium and small market stations, has weathered the storms others could not. But at Saga it's more than the stock price. Employees and managers love to work for Ed Christian.
25 years ago Saga Communications started with stations in Columbus, Norfolk, Milwaukee and Rochester (NY). In 1992, the company went public. Today, Saga operates 61 FM's, 30 AM's 3 state radio networks, 2 farm networks 5 television stations and 4 low-power television stations in 26 small and medium markets. Ed Christian has been at the helm since day one.
Regarding his 25 years of successful radio, Christian says everything you do and say has to be centered around the community. Here's an excerpt from our January 9th issue with Ed Christian on the cover (which you can order HERE) "Growing up in this business, I always thought there were certain precepts that were important to make a radio station valuable to a community. It can be a very simple business if you want it to be. That is, if you do compelling radio, people will listen. If people listen, you can go out and sell advertising with absolute assurety, that it will work as long as you have good, creative copy. If that happens, the merchant can advertise and get results. He's happy. He will repeat, and you will make money. The whole premise starts with compelling radio. God knows there are a lot of awful radio stations out there and people at those stations sit around and say "Oh my God, we can't sell". I would suggest they analyze their product. If you look at the failure of any company, the failures have basically been because their products were not germain or relative or natural to what?s going on in the marketplace. You have to be able to reach the needs and sensitivities of the marketplace. You don't really need to be a general manager. You need to be an environmental behaviorist, and judge the pulse of the people. You have to find out what's important to them, what's necessary to them."
And as mentioned above, employees love to work for Ed Christian. Senior Vice President of Operations for Saga Warren Lada says ?Ed has been able to attract, hire, and retain some of the best broadcasters in the business. We have never once lost a GM to the competition and many of our GM?s have been with us for many years.? Ray Garon is a Vice President for Saga in Manchester. "Ed Christian is a broadcaster. He thinks like a broadcaster. He is still excited about a good blood drive. At the same time, of course, he is a business man, he acts like a CEO, he expects you to run a profitable operation. But, boy he gets excited when you call him and tell him you had a good promotion, or you did a good spec sell, and you got this client on because you did a good ad for him."
Congratulations to Ed Christian of Saga Communications for being named The Radio Ink Executive of the Year for 2011.
(12/30/2011 12:33:31 PM)
Congrats Ed--well deserved!
(12/30/2011 12:07:11 PM)
Ed is an excellent choice for this honor! I always found his input perceptive and on-target when we served together on the AP Board. He always had great radio stories to tell over dinner.
(12/30/2011 10:58:16 AM)
I'm new to Saga this year and my family and I have counted ourselves blessed since day one. There is more heart in this company than I/we've ever experienced, both for its people and for the communities it serves. Thanks and congratulations Ed!
(12/30/2011 10:14:11 AM)
Ed has served as a mentor to other broadcasters and is always willing to share his passion, knowledge, resources and connections with others. Great choice!
(12/30/2011 9:21:01 AM)
Radio Ink, you chose well. Never have I been as enthusiastic about a selection for Broadcaster of the Year. Radio needs more leaders like Ed Christian. Congratulations, Ed! It is an honor well deserved.
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