Cosby Says Forecast Panel "Monumental"

11-21-2012
Rita Cosby is an Emmy-winning TV host and best-selling author who anchored shows on Fox News Channel and NBC. She's currently a special correspondent for CBS' Inside Edition and will moderate Radio Ink's Group Head panel at Forecast in New York City next week. "Given the incredible transformation and digital innovations in the radio world today, and our recent presidential election, this is a monumental time to hear from those who move the dial and move the markets. I really look forward to moderating this insightful panel of dynamic leaders at Forecast and hearing from the true visionaries of our industry." Radio Ink has assembled the biggest names for this panel. They are setting the agenda in radio for years to come.

Lew Dickey is Chairman and CEO of Cumulus Media, the second-largest radio group in station count, a revenue leader, and a company with ever-growing industry influence. Cumulus Media Networks, meanwhile, serves more than 4,500 affiliate stations nationwide. Dickey co-founded Cumulus in 1997, and earlier founded Stratford Research; his background in research and statistics remains evident in his management style today.

David Field serves as President and CEO of Entercom Communications, which owns and operates more than 100 radio stations, including newest acquisition KBLX-FM/San Francisco. Field has been with Entercom since 1987 and became CEO in 2002, and he's known as an active and high-profile advocate on a range of industry issues.

John Hogan, longtime president and CEO of Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, added the title of Chairman earlier this year. He's been with the company since 1999, when CC purchased Jacor, and now manages more than 800 stations and the top revenue generator in the radio industry. Under Hogan's auspices, Clear Channel's iHeartRadio platform is growing fast and attracting partners like Cumulus Media.

Jeff Smulyan, founder and Chairman/CEO of Emmis Communications, wields outsize influence in the radio industry as a respected industry spokesman, most recently as an advocate for FM chips in cellphones, urging their importance as a matter of public safety. After operating WNTS in Indianapolis and KCRO in Omaha, Smulyan formed and became principal shareholder of Indianapolis-based Emmis in 1980.

Peter Smyth, Chairman/CEO of Greater Media, Smyth is known an industry leader on the local, state, and national levels, working with the NAB and RAB on various industry initiatives. He joined Greater Media in 1986 as GM of WMJX-FM/Boston. He became President/COO in 2000 and CEO in 2002, and added the chairman's title in 2008.

Jose Valle is President of Univision Radio, the leading U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster. Before his most current post, he was VP/GM for Univision's Los Angeles cluster, and bfore joining Univision, Valle served as President and GM of Telemundo flagship KVEA and oversaw operations for Spanish-language independent KWHY-TV in Los Angeles. Prior to that, he was VP/GM of KXTX/Dallas from 2002-2008.

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(SOCIAL) Social Media Strategy Reveal For 2013

11-21-2012

Thanksgiving weekend hopefully allows you to ?pull the plug? after working so hard to prepare your brands for the long holiday weekend. Some time with family and friends is exactly what most broadcast professionals need after slugging it through tough battles for ratings and deep challenges on the employee level in this business, among other things. However, if you are fortunate, this time of year also allows you to reflect on your success and think about additional ways you can improve in 2013 and grow your business.

The opportunities you have to get more for less are not bigger anywhere than they are when you think about what you are currently doing in social media for your radio brand or brands. Is there real value in social media? Of course there is. No one invests hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars without an expectation that the bet could turn into billions. Did you know that Google invested in YouTube because they feared that people would one day stop searching using words and only search video? It?s true. I mention this here because a lot of radio station content managers try to do so much with words, and the emotion of our business is so completely visual. Visual is a huge key to scoring in social media.

The world is changing. You know this. You know that social media is something important if for no other reason than listeners are choosing to waste tons of time on social media platforms. You will either be there sincerely and effectively encouraging them to come back and spend time with your brand or brands, or you will be left more and more out of touch and out of the future. The question is:  Do you have a plan to use social media for your purposes or are you falling in with everyone else so you have a Facebook page and you are on Twitter, but little is actually happening on a local level for your brand or brands?

Between now and January 1, 2013, shouldn?t you really pull back the ears on your social media and take a look at why you do what you are doing on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms? Shouldn?t you spend the time to really see if you have a plan that works for the goals you want to reach in 2013?

How do you do that? Here we go:

1. Review all of your social media. How effectively are you using each platform? What do you know about your listeners and the reasons they use Facebook? Why are they on Twitter? What are the local-based activity levels on each and the other social media platforms?

2. Think about your local radio brands. How do you encourage the listeners you most want to attract in your local market to share your content, make you part of their ?social media life,? and ultimately think about your radio station or stations at the moment of decision (which happens in both PPM and diary markets)?

3. What is your visual presence like on each of the social media platforms? Are you representing the reasons people in your market choose to listen to your radio brand?

4. Are you encouraging the relationship as a two-way conversation or are your social media efforts a promotion vehicle only?

5. Finally, think about the things you would like to accomplish with social media in 2013 and build a plan that involves true engagement, higher two-way conversations, affirmation for local listeners (to drive more loyalty for your personalities and brands), and make sure your content is really reflective of a friendly and fun local companion for people who really just want to escape the daily grind of things in their lives.

Radio has always been social and personal. Your mission is to always focus on radio. However, social media platforms now represent a significant opportunity for you if you choose to take up the challenge.

Are you ready for your 2013 social media review? 

Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Americalist and programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes for years, including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY. Learn more about Loyd here:  http://about.me/loydford. Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE  Visit his Facebook radio social media page HERE

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Royal Throws Hunger Under The Bus

11-20-2012

This week, WZRV-FM in Front Royal, Virginia, hosted its "Throw Hunger Under the Bus" promotion. The campaign raises money, collects food, and provides vital information about hunger to the community. Station personnel broadcast live and sleep on a school bus parked at a shopping center. Listeners donate food for the local food pantries. Royal Broadcasting President Andrew Shearer tells Radio Ink 30,000 pounds of non-perishable food and $3,000 was collected. Congratulate him and his team on a job well done HERE

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S.F. Media Blogger Gets Radio Show

11-21-2012

Former broadcaster, turned blogger Rich Lieberman is getting his own radio show in the Bay area. Lieberman has become sort of a media critic in the San Francisco area, using his contacts, at times, to break stories about the media in and around San Francisco. His weekly program will be heard on Michael Zwerling's KSCO and KOMY beginning this Saturday night. We spoke to Lieberman about the show.

Tell us about your radio background
My radio background: I was sports reporter for K-101 Radio, (FM) in SF at the age of 19 in 1981. I covered sports for Mutual Broadcasting and was a Bay Area correspondent for ABC Radio, AP Radio and the CBC in the late 1980's and early 90's. And as I've indicated, I've been

How did your new show come about?
Michael Zwerling, the KSCO and KOMY was a fan of my blog,  (415Media: http://www.richliebermanreport.blogspot.com), and was convinced that I could bring quality content to his enterprises. I did a lot of fill-in and he was open to providing me a forum where my fans of the blog could listen to me.

When does it start and what will it be about?
The show starts Sat., Nov. 24 and Sunday Nov. 25 from 8-11 PM PST. I asked for that time slot because I like the idea of night-time radio and more of a free-form style. It will be about "everything." We'll be live. We'll discuss what's topical. Being that it's the "Black Friday" weekend I'm going to rant on the absurdity of this growing phenomena in America that is pure lunatic. I'll elaborate.

Where do you want this show to go?
I want this show to grow to syndication. I'll be the brand. No gimmicks, straight-forward, no sound drops, no bizarro stuff--just real, genuine, talk, discussion, surprises and some intense interviews, my specialties. So we might be light, but if a hot topic emerges, we may be heavy. What's not to like?

Why will it be of any interest to regular listeners?
Because regular listeners always want good content and live, original programming, which lacks in a lot of today's radio. I'll deliver on that.

How can people listen? Will it be streamed?
Yes, the show has a streaming audio link: http://ksco2.got.net/komylive.m3u ...so anybody, including all my 415 Media followers will be able to listen and take part.

How can you get passed the thought of some that you are just a Cumulus hater?
I've moved forward. It's all about business. Cumulus is a business and has managed to gobble up over 500 radio stations. Great. It's a free country. Time to think about the future. So if you think I'm going to use my show to rip Cumulus, don't listen--that's not on the itinerary. I'm ready to move on.

Read Lieberman's blog HERE
Reach out to Lieberman about his new show HERE

(11/21/2012 7:03:22 PM)
Let's hope Amici's sponsors the show. Best of luck Rich.
(11/21/2012 5:43:13 PM)
It is Bay Area (a proper noun), not Bay area.
(11/21/2012 1:09:48 PM)
Watch this guy, a rising star in talk radio.

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CBS Chicago Goes Wall-To-Wall Sandy

11-21-2012

The storm is long gone, however there's still a lot of rebuilding and recovering to be done before life returns to normal on the east coast. As we've been witness to since the destructive storm cleared, companies do not need to live in the path of Sandy to help their fellow Americans. In Chicago, for example, all CBS media properties (television, radio, digital, and outdoor) joined forces with the American Red Cross Tuesday to raise money. CBS Local Media dedicated a significant portion of its programming on Tuesday to raise money.

CBS Chicago Cares: Red Cross Sandy Relief was a live telethon/radiothon, which ran from 6:00AM to 7:00PM.  During the 13-hour fundraiser, volunteers from the Red Cross along with CBS broadcasters accepted donations from a phone bank set up inside the CBS 2 Broadcast Center, at the corner of Washington and Dearborn Streets. Market Manager Rod Zimmerman said "Hurricane Sandy struck real close to home. We have colleagues, business associates, and family members who are still living with the devastation from this horrific event. It is our civic responsibility as broadcasters to do everything we can to help make a difference.?

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Happy Thanksgiving to Our Readers

11-21-2012

Everyone at Radio Ink Magazine and Radioink.com would like to wish our readers a very happy Thanksgiving holiday. Daily headlines will return Monday, November 26th. If there's important breaking news during the holiday, we'll send you an e-mail, post to our Facebook and Twitter pages and here on our website. If you see or hear about news happening in your market, be sure to send an e-mail with all the details (in confidence) to edryantheeditor@gmail.com

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Cumulus Raises $120K For Rescue Mission

11-20-2012

Cumulus' Super Talk 99.7 (WTN) in Nashville raised over $120,000 for the local Rescue Mission during its 6th Annual Hunger to Hope Radiothon this week. Market Manager Mike Carpenter said, "Our gracious listeners and clients helped raise over $20,000 above and beyond our original goal. We are very proud to be a part of this effort to support the community through the Nashville Rescue Mission.?

53,100 is the effective number of meals provided by businesses and listeners to the Super Talk 99.7 WTN Radiothon.

The radiothon ran from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. and was spearheaded by talk show personality Michael DelGiorno. Donations ran the gamut in terms of size, but every single one of the 1,100 donors made a genuine contribution to the final total. Nashville businesses rose to the occasion as well, with Accurate Mortgage, Paul Winkler Investments, Service Jewelry and Repair, Ceramic Tile Distributors, Dr. Gil Center for Back, Neck, and Chronic Pain Relief, Tim Leeper Roofing, Ascend Credit Union, and Zander Insurance all making significant contributions. Additionally, Zander Insurance and the Pain Management Group made matching funds available at different times during the day.

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