8-6-2013
Nancy Abramson started in radio as a DJ at WLIR in 1981. In 1986 she was hired by ABC Radio Networks as a manager of network programming. Abramson worked for the ABC Radio Network for 10 years until taking a position as a radio marketing manager at the Wall Street Journal Network. It was the start of a very long career with WSJ. Abramson would eventually rise to executive director of the network in 2006, a position she'll occupy until next month. As the network goes through a re-organization she's decided to move on. We recently interviewed Abramson to ask her why she stayed so long, what her biggest accomplishments were, how the network survived the recession, and why she's leaving.
Her former boss at the network Paul Bell worked with Abramson from 1999 until 2013. "We had a great run together. It was a challenging, creative and very collaborative environment. We worked for a great brand and made the most of a tremendous opportunity to re-shape the way business news on the radio was reported, so that listeners could hear money news in a way they could easily relate to. Nancy has been a outstanding advocate for the Journal's early morning and evening long-form shows, as well as audio delivered on the web. And her relationships with our affiliates across the country were more often than not long standing friendships as well as strong business partnerships. I miss working along aide Nancy and I wish her all the best wherever she lands in business ."
Here's our full interview with nancy Abramson
You've been with the WSJ network since 1996. That's a pretty long time to be with one company. What has kept you there so long? I worked for a classic, big brand. Yet we ran our network like a small business. Everyone was empowered and was asked to handle different roles. I also worked for a great boss, Paul Bell, who gave me independence, support, and was interested in collaboration. I personally think happiness is often dependent on control, both personally and professionally. If you feel you have control of your environment, feel that you can make an impact, and have a creative outlet, then you are a productive and happy employee.
The big question is the obvious one: Why are you retiring?
We are re-organizing and I am moving on. I am not retiring. I still have things to do.
What would you consider your biggest accomplishments over the years?
We built the WSJ Radio Network into the largest business news provider in the U.S. by following some very simple sales and programming rules:
-- Listen to the customer. Don?t tell them what they want, listen to what they need.
-- Make the news and information conversational and listener oriented. Business news can be confusing and very technical. It?s not easy to take complicated market information and make it relatable.
-- By following these rules, we turned The Wall Street Journal This Morning into a morning talk radio staple. The show originally started as a business show. It was fairly successful as a pre-morning drive program. But it really hit its stride four years ago when we moved to a more general news approach, following the lead of The Wall Street Journal newspaper. We are now on 240 stations, 90 run more than one hour of the program. Many stations use the entire four hours as their morning drive program drive including WGST Atlanta, WLAC Nashville, WHLO Akron, WLAP Lexington.
-- Also, we had to overcome adverse business conditions. For example, in 2008 we were confronted with ratings declines based on talk-radio attrition and PPM reporting. But we managed to keep our ratings stable by continually adding new affiliates. Sometimes it felt like we had to run to stay in place, but I am proud that we were able to keep our audience numbers relatively consistent.
-- I am also proud of the launch of The Daily Wrap. Unfortunately, the show was a casualty of various revenue issues, but I think we provided a welcome alternative in the talk radio arena ? particularly in evening talk radio. The show was built upon the resources of The Journal, summed up the day?s events, featured marquee guests and newsmakers, was PPM friendly, and integrated easily into our affiliates? formats.
-- I am also proud of putting together a tremendous team, including Susan O?Connell and Susan Moran, with whom I worked at ABC Radio Networks. That?s where we learned the rules of syndication, namely the importance of customer service and the significance of establishing a relationship of trust with the customers. I am proud I created that environment of trust for our team here, and for our clients. We continually aspired to be excellent. That goal permeated our dealings with our customers, our product, our marketing, and our technical performance.
When the recession hit, what did you do to keep the business alive?
Fortunately, that created an even higher demand for business news, enabling us to attract more radio customers and add new content. Our sales agent also saw an appetite for business news and was able to attract advertisers who wanted to associate their messages with our iconic brands during a time when people were searching for information about their money. Our research shows, year-in and year-out, that readers stay with the Journal because it?s an information source they trust. So when the 2008/2009 recession hit, the radio marketplace knew that they could broadcast our reports and be assured the information was accurate.
What is/was the hardest thing working at the network as it relates to working with radio stations?
With so many big groups having their own syndication arms, we have had to work harder and be more persuasive to convince stations that we fit a need that they couldn?t fill. That takes creativity and relationship building. We have always maintained that we are the ?Switzerland? of network radio.
What is your opinion on how the network business has evolved since 1996?
Holy cow. How hasn?t it? Aside from consolidation, PPMs, Internet radio...not to mention the balance of local to network programming on radio stations has changed dramatically.
What advice could you give to radio managers?
Be multi-faceted and keep learning. I remember about 10 years ago I was in a meeting with a senior manager at Dow Jones. He asked me for a risk analysis of the next year?s revenue. He just assumed I had an MBA and that this was something I could do in my sleep. Meanwhile, I?m thinking, ? MBA? I started in this business as DJ.? But, I learned. More recently, I?ve had to increase my word power beyond ?AQH" and ?50 K-W blow torch? to include webcasts, session starts, iHeart, Stitcher, Tune In. In the past year we expanded our digital reach with online partnerships and added exclusive WSJ Radio content on the Ford SYNC AppLink system.
What are you planning to do next?
I love radio and have been talking to folks about my next move. I have a couple of requirements: to work in an environment where the business is building and people are laughing.
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