Think Of NASH As The ESPN Of Country Music

10-28-13

2014 is expected to be the big national rollout year for Cumulus' NASH Country brand. Part of the reason for waiting another quarter is the expected close of Westwood One. That would allow Cumulus to roll all of its Country network products into the NASH brand, which will include everything from magazines to radio shows to merchandising. And platform buys for advertisers. There will be a lot of experimenting with the NASH brand in 2014, including a subscription model for the magazine which the company hopes to get into Target, Wal-Mart, and other stores across the country.

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Here Are The Cumulus Numbers For Q3

10-28-13
Cumulus released Q3 numbers Tuesday, and revenue in July, August, and September was up $5.7 million to $281.1 million (2.1%), compared to $275.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2012. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said 42 of the 60 categories the company tracks showed positive growth in the quarter. (Auto made up 14% of total Q3 revenue.) "We have a well-functioning sales organization today. We have turned nine of our 10 code-red stations around and we're making a stronger effort to execute our sales strategy and sales plan."

This increase was primarily attributable to a $4.6 million increase in local spot advertising revenue, an increase of $2.1 million in national advertising revenue, an increase of $1.3 million in live event revenue, and an increase of $0.9 million in revenue due to the addition of stations in the Bloomington and Peoria markets which were acquired in July 2012, all of which was partially offset by a decrease of $2.9 million in cyclical political revenues.

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(SALES) Awesomeness Is Being And Feeling Fit

10-28-2013

?Never let success go to your head, and never let failure go to your heart.?
    -- Old Chinese proverb

I?m not sure about you, for me failure can be not staying in decent shape physically.

After some long summer months of road traveling, I felt recklessly out of shape. No excuses! Back to the gym. From time to time, I get some ?re-grouping? time and, over the past three weeks, I?ve been able to hit the gym hard. Not easy keeping up with energetic reps in the field either as a sales manager or as a sales consultant! You need to be in shape. I get the reps best day when I?m out in the field with them calling on advertisers. The rep sometimes gets me for a day -- I get them for a week, one rep after the other and they are pumped up giving their best. Can?t be dragging along. Back to basics! Back to the gym!

Starting to get back in shape meant taking some of my own medicine that I give out in my seminars. Understanding the four components of motivation came in handy. They are: Passion, Drive, Risk Taking, and Commitment. In exercising, all of these components come into play. In order to perform your best, you must feel your best. On those long days where you don?t feel like making any more sales calls, you have to be mentally tough to make that one more call when you don?t feel like it. Mental toughness equals being physically fit in my opinion.

Often when it comes to mental toughness, I refer to the late Bobby Fischer. He?s not a football player; he?s the former world chess champion who defeated Boris Spatsky for the world chess championship in 1972. (Yes, I know many of you weren?t born yet.) It?s a good lesson on why physical fitness is important to being mentally on your game every day.

This American hero started working out every day for three hours in a gym in upstate New York. He started swimming underwater laps, playing tennis, and doing aerobics and running, all to build up the power of his lungs. Bobby Fischer?s coaches had thought he had lost his mind. They couldn?t understand what he was doing swimming underwater laps when he should be at the chess table studying the great Russian chess player, Boris Spatsky, who he was to play for the championship.

According to Bobby Fischer, he found out something about Boris Spatsky that his chess coaches had not noticed: he only lost between the 9th and 10th hours of a match. Fischer had pictures of Boris Spatsky always sitting in a slouch, thereby cutting off his lung capacity. When you lose lung capacity, reducing oxygen to the brain, your brain works slower.

So what is significant about Bobby?s Fischer?s remarkable victory over what was then the greatest player who ever lived in Boris Spatsky, is that when Fischer started his exercise routine, it gave him the ability to outlast Boris Spatsky in the final hours of the game, which is when Spatsky made uncharacteristic mistakes, thus losing.

Bobby Fischer said something else about the mental toughness that it takes to be a champion. In his book "Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy" Frank Brady says this about Fischer?s exercise program: ?Fischer?s routine was Spartan. Like Steinitz, who was the first chess champion who trained as an athlete, Fischer too believed that he had to be in superb physical shape in order to play his best.? Your body has to be in top condition.? Fischer is quoted as saying in the book. ?Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can?t separate mind from body.?

Maybe, you like me, sometimes get out of physical shape. It?s tough to get started on that Spartan routine again. The holidays are coming and many people wait until they are over to get started on their exercise program. Start now. No need to wait. It?s starting that?s the hard part. Just remember the three keys to any exercise program:

1) Frequency: Three to four times a week. It doesn?t have to be every day. Once you get into the rhythm, it becomes habitual.
2) Consistency: 21-28 days to create new neuropathways in the brain. No different with exercise. Make a commitment to try your program for at least 21-28 days. You?ll never be the same mentally and physically.
3) Intensity: Keep your target heart rate between 55 percent to 90 percent for 20-25 minutes minimum during your workouts. Beginners start out at the low range. Make sure you have a good five- to 10-minute warm-up, work your heart rate for 20- 25 minutes, and then have a cool-down period for five to 10 minutes.

Kobe Bryant, all-star NBA basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers recently said, ?I need to get my fat #@& (expletive) back in shape." He?s been undergoing rehab for an injury. I concur Kobe, thank you for the push. I needed to get my #@& back in shape (and back into martial arts shape too). One cannot be walking around in YouTube ?Behind the Scenes? videos and be out of shape, that?s for sure!

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group International and can be reached at Sean@luceperformancegroup.com or www.luceperformancegroup.com.

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Clear Channel Hires Former Magazine VP

10-28-13

Clear Channel D.C. says Cliff Chiet will join the cluster as Chief Integrated Marketing Director. Chiet spent nearly 18 years as a VP of Sales and Publisher at Post Newsweek Media, a division of The Washington Post Company.  He'll now use that experience to leverage the Clear Channel D.C. brands for clients, which are: WASH-FM, BIG100.3, WMZQ, HOT 99.5, DC101, iHeartRadio, and Total Traffic Network.

Chiet said, "I consider it an honor to join Clear Channel and to have the best integrated marketing toolkit available to help local businesses grow. I'm looking forward to creating custom media mixes that leverage all of Clear Channel?s local and national assets using the power of radio, digital, and outdoor."

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ESPN Radio Sets Radio Teams For NBA

10-28-13

Jon Barry (pictured) has reached a multi-year agreement to become the lead analyst for the NBA on ESPN Radio, replacing Dr. Jack Ramsey. He will work more than 40 regular-season and playoff games. Kevin Calabro returns as the play-by-play voice to partner with Barry. PJ Carlesimo and Stan Van Gundy will also work select games.

Ramsay said, ?For the past 18 seasons, it was my pleasure to call NBA games on ESPN Radio alongside the late, incomparable Hall of Fame broadcaster, dear friend Jim Durham. I'll always treasure our time together and the great games we were privileged to call. Now I look forward to listening to Kevin Calabro and Jon Barry -- both outstanding broadcasters who know the game.?

Barry said, ?I am excited to expand my role with ESPN to include games on ESPN Radio. I know I can?t fill the shoes of Dr. Jack Ramsay, but I will do my best to inform and entertain our listeners.?

PJ Carlesimo, who joined ESPN during the 2013 playoffs, will work select games throughout the regular and post season, partnering with Marc Kestecher, who joined ESPN Radio in 1999 and has been part of radio?s Super Bowl, NFL, NBA, MLB, BCS, college football, and college basketball coverage.

ESPN has also reached an agreement with veteran NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy to join ESPN Radio?s NBA coverage team. Van Gundy will serve as a game analyst for 10 broadcasts during the 2013-14 NBA regular season. In addition, Van Gundy will continue to serve as one of the rotating guest hosts on the Miami-based The Dan Le Batard Show ? ESPN Radio?s new, national program ? which he did when the show was a local show.

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Kerby Confer To Sponsor New Talent Institute

10-28-13

Well-known broadcaster Kerby Confer is sponsoring the latest Radio Talent Institute according to National Radio Talent System Founder Dan Vallie. The Confer Radio Talent Institute will be held at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Vallie said, ?I can?t say enough about Kerby Confer; he loves the business, is innovative, passionate about radio, successful in every way, and from the first time I mentioned this to him, he grasped the vision immediately of a National Radio Talent System and said, ?Let?s do this in Pennsylvania.? I know Kerby well enough to know that when he said that, we would have a Radio Talent Institute in Pennsylvania.?

Confer said, ?When I was asked to be the Kellar Radio Talent Institute keynote speaker at Appalachian State University a few years ago, I found myself engaged with dozens of young people vitally interested in all phases of radio. The quality of the mentor teachers assembled for the 10-day 'radio immersion' was amazing. I thought at the time, ?This is just what our industry needs,? and as the digital age is upon us, it couldn?t come at a more opportune time. Art Kellar started something very important by sponsoring the Kellar Radio Talent Institute and I?m excited to be able to extend the National Radio Talent System to Pennsylvania and the Northeast United States starting next summer at Bloomsburg University.?

Kerby Confer?s first job was on the air in Williamsport, PA. He also worked in Harrisburg and Syracuse, eventually working in radio and TV in Baltimore and Washington, DC. He later moved into management and then ownership, owning stations across the country. Confer has owned an interest in, and operated, over 200 radio stations, and still has 70 properties today.

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(RESEARCH) How Radio Wins

10-30-2013

Radio needs to become more effective at understanding listener and customer behavior.

Some radio properties research extensively and frequently, and others do not have those available resources. Our business is in need of better interpretation of the data points we have available to us, along with even greater customer/listener tracking of behavior.

More precision from analytics will keep you ahead of the rapid pace of competition.

Starting with satisfaction analysis on a grassroots level, we can be more tuned to the quickly changing tides. Think of specific methods that can give you real-world feedback from real people.

On a programming and content front, are you constantly finding ways to be front and center in your listeners' minds so they feel you are accessible to their opinions? When your station is in front of listeners have you utilized every available method possible to tap them for feedback?

By simplifying our understanding of how our audience thinks of us and uses us is critical to improved thinking for the future. We also need to find methods to dig deeper on behalf of our clients to study the effectiveness of the job they hire us for.

Have we considered ways to study effectiveness of commercial creative?

We know how important it is for personality live read/endorsements for our clients but have we sought listener feedback to guide us towards improvement? What are the risks-versus-benefits of a looser more comedic copy approach? It's certainly important to try to understand the behavior of a PPM panel but it's equally important to understand behavior of every facet of our customer base. We do listener labs/focus groups for our listeners, so why wouldn't we consider client lab groups to understand how to enhance the client experience?

From the start to the finish of a campaign, what are you doing differently, quicker, and better?

The precision that we bring to our research is important in our quickly changing landscape, both in a pre-testing model and in a postmortem model. Imagine saving your brand from peril by pre-testing a promotion to see if the idea resonates with your core audience or if, on the other hand, they detest it?

The importance of behavioral tracking in parallel to your on-air actions can have important implications for topic selection on personality/spoken word stations or shows. When is a topic being run into the ground and when is there enough life left in it to meet the audience expectation?

In the sales arena, does your process go past just taking orders and are you deeply tapping the client needs of your most significant customers to help them build their business? Are you dreaming of new methods to make their business more successful and keep them coming back with repeat business?

With the pace of competition moving faster than ever we must stay ahead of the changing times and seize every opportunity.

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