Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Date Set for TALKERS New York City Conference.
 Save the date! The 16th annual TALKERS Conference is set for New York City on Thursday, June 6, 2013. Formerly called "The New Media Seminar" the event - now simply titled TALKERS New York 2013 - will again take place at the comfortable and modern Concierge Conference Center on Manhattan's East Side. It will be a power-packed full day of special addresses, panels, presentations, and social networking opportunities tackling the key issues facing talk radio and its relationship with the new talk media (internet, satellite, cable TV) as well as the general radio industry including music radio and the changing role of the disc jockey. According to TALKERS VP/executive editor Kevin Casey, "This will be a TALKERS conference for the new era. Our presentation this year will be so fresh and vital to the survival and 'thrival' of the business that we actually are moving beyond the title 'New Media Seminar.' It is not to be missed." Stand by for full registration, sponsorship and unfolding agenda details posted here before the end of the week. Registrations will not go on sale until next Monday, February 4 after which, due to limited space and seating, it is expected to be a rapid sellout. Registration will be limited to members of the working media only.
Clear Channel's KFAN Network Re-Signs Dan Barreiro.
Sports talk host Dan Barreiro and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment agree on a multi-year contract extension for the  KFXN, Minneapolis-based sports talk host. Barreiro hosts the afternoon drive program on the company's KFAN sports talk brand that is distributed to numerous stations across Minnesota. CC Minneapolis vice president of programming Gregg Swedberg says, "Dan has been the top afternoon drive talk personality in the market for decades and has many loyal listeners all over the country through iHeartRadio. We are delighted that Dan will be with us for a long time."
Chris Baker Lands at KFAB, Omaha for PM Drive.
Talk radio pro Chris Baker's next gig is at Clear Channel's KFAB, Omaha where he'll host the afternoon drive program. Baker – a  veteran of the Houston, Minneapolis, Miami and Omaha markets – recently exited the Dan Patrick-owned KSEV, Houston talk outlet. He says, "Since my family and I are in Omaha to visit friends and relatives on a regular basis, it's only natural that I would want to put down root here. KFAB is a legendary Midwest radio powerhouse and I'm excited to work with Gary Sadlemyer and the whole crew." His new gig begins February 11.
Odds & Sods.
NBC Sports Radio Network brings former NFL star Donovan McNabb aboard to eventually be part of a daily sports talk show to  begin on April 1. Until that time, McNabb will begin as a weekly contributor as the build-up to the Super Bowl takes place. McNabb will serve as a lead NFL analyst and will call in to affiliate station programs…..Former Yahoo! Sports Radio personality Tim Brando begins a new gig with SiriusXM Satellite Radio where he'll host his eponymous program on the SiriusXM College Sports Nation channel. Brando's program will continue to be simulcast on cable TV's CBS Sports Network…..WTOP, Washington news anchor Richard Day has retired from the Hubbard Broadcasting all-news brand. Vice president of news and programming Jim Farley says Day's retirement was handled with no fanfare at Day's request…..Chicagoland Radio and Media reports that WFLD-TV sports anchor Lou Canellis is beginning a regular hour-long, daily appearance on WLS-AM, Chicago's "Roe & Roeper" PM drive program with Roe Conn and Richard Roeper. Canellis is now part of the 5:00 pm hour every day to talk sports on the Cumulus Media station. The blog speculates that the move is part of a greater effort to add sports content to the station to improve its ratings…..The "4th Period Live" program returns to SiriusXM's NHL Network for its second season beginning Saturday, February 2 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm ET. The show is hosted by David Pagnotta, 4th Period's editor-in-chief from Toronto and Dennis Bernstein, its Los Angeles-based senior writer. The show is an extension of TFP's brand of hockey lifestyle content that includes a highly visited website (www.thefourthperiod.com) and quarterly print magazine available on newsstands throughout North America.
Huckabee Visits Reno.
 
Cumulus Media Networks nationally syndicated talk host Governor Mike Huckabee is pictured here with KNEZ, Reno news director and afternoon drive host Sean Patrick at the sparkling new studios of the Shamrock Communications news/talk station. Huckabee's program is carried by "KNEWS" – a new FM signal and news/talk brand that Shamrock recently put on the air in the market.
Southern California Sports Personality Joe Cala Named to Hall of Fame.
KNX, Los Angeles sports anchor Joe Cala was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame at the  organization's 22nd annual awards luncheon at the Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake, California. Cala has been with KNX for the past six years and spent the previous 32 years at crosstown KFWB. The SCSB has served as a major forum for recognizing and advancing sports broadcasting in Southern California since 1958. Its Hall of Fame includes Dick Enberg, Tom Harmon, Don Drysdale, Chick Hearn, Gil Stratton, Stu Nahan, Vin Scully and Jim Hill, to name a few.
Town Hall Meeting in Boise Addresses Second Amendment.
You're looking over the shoulder of KIDO, Boise morning drive host Kevin Miller as he addresses the more than 300 area residents who attended the Peak Broadcasting station's Town Hall Meeting to discuss Second Amendment issues in the wake of the Obama Administration's call for stricter gun legislation. Miller tells TALKERS that the event was covered locally by two of the market's television stations.
KOIL, Omaha Adds Weekend Affordable Care Act Program.
The program is called "America's Healthcare Challenge" and is hosted by Sean McGuire. The goal of the program is to provide valuable  insight into implementation of the Affordable Care Act and prepare decision makers for looming penalties and taxes in the law. McGuire states, "This is currently the only radio show of its kind in the US. Business owners are clamoring for credible information and answers to their questions like how employees' benefits will change next year and what innovative ways exist to curb rising healthcare costs constantly squeezing bottom lines all over the country…I was a part of the research team for the Senate Finance Committee five years ago. The law originated conceptually in the Senate and I have read the bill multiple times. It is my desire to bring my listeners information they need to know as if they were Members of Congress."
Justice Sotomayor Visits SCPR.
United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (right) poses for a photo with Southern California Public Radio special correspondent Patt Morrison (left) during an appearance at KPCC, Pasadena's Crawford Family Forum. The venue was packed with local high school and college students, as well KPCC listeners who came to hear Sotomayor speak about her life and promote her new autobiography My Beloved World (Knopf 2013). Patt Morrison interviewed Sotomayor as part of the appearance.
ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg Announces New Novel to Benefit the V Foundation.
 Nationally syndicated ESPN Radio and ESPN 2 personality Mike Greenberg announces the publication of his first novel titled, All You Could Ask For (William Morrow 2013). In making the announcement from the Super Bowl radio row in New Orleans, Greenberg stated that all of the author's proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Greenberg says, "I wrote this book to honor the memory of a good friend of mine and my wife Stacy's named Heidi Armitage, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2009 at the age of 43. The V Foundation is an obvious organization to work with. Mike Golic and I have been honored to be a part of many great V Foundation events over the years. I'm so proud of our connection to the V Foundation."
Dr. Daliah Wachs at the Podium.
Practicing family physician and nationally syndicated talk show host Dr. Daliah Wachs is pictured here at the Nevada Academy of Family Physicians at their conference in Lake Tahoe this past weekend. About 200 were at this lecture where Dr. Wachs spoke about avoiding pitfalls in family medicine, educating them on the liabilities doctors face and what lawsuits have been successful. Dr. Wachs' program is syndicated by Genesis Communications Network.
The Two Types of Radio: Live and Archived
By Holland Cooke
Radio Consultant
 BLOCK ISLAND, RI — Based on how people now consume audio content, "radio" sorts into two piles:
1. There's programming that's valuable because it's live:
• Traffic reports are radio's MOST-perishable information. Save listeners unpleasant surprises and they'll love ya.
• Close second: weather, which can also disrupt listeners' plans, quickly and painfully.
• Play-by-play is high-affinity stuff, often high drama that unfolds moment-to-moment.
• Talk radio gives listeners their voice, and catharsis when a story like the Newtown shooting massacre breaks. Read the complete story here.
Truth vs Hype in the Digital Space
By Chris Miller
Chris Miller Digital
 SHAKER HEIGHTS, Oh. — Here's why it's very important for you to communicate in a scrupulously honest manner online.
Today, there's plenty of trustworthy online info at your fingertips. There's also plenty of misinformation, and a Google search may not help you sort it out. A decade ago, when the internet was a wilder and woolier place than it is now, all sorts of crap masqueraded as truth. "I know it's true; I read it on the internet!" was a sarcastic joke you'd commonly hear at the time.
For anyone old enough to tell truth from fiction when the internet first really got hot, there is still a stigma about online information. It's automatically suspect. What you say online (especially on your site) needs not only be true; you also need to present it in a way that convinces your fans that you are telling the truth. Read the complete story here.
A TALKERS 2013 Sports Talk Special
Part 1: CBS Radio Launches New Network.
Part 2: Peacock Sports Network Playing the Hits.
Part 3: December 2012 Sports Talk Ratings Scoreboard.
By Mike Kinosian
TALKERS
 LOS ANGELES — As sure as 2013 has arrived, personal resolutions have been made, and a plethora of prognostications will bombard us.
Equally as predictable is that not long into this brand new year, those well-meaning self-promises will be severely compromised, and one's forecasting ability becomes cloudy-looking, at best.
Here, however, is something that could actually be a trend this year: Don't be surprised if clusters with multiple talk stations jettison one of those signals to sports.
Associated with that, we very well might witness a spate of under-performing (primarily talk) outlets transition to sports.
Executives at CBS Radio, Cumulus, Dial Global, and NBC have more than a passing interest in whether sports radio will fully blossom in 2013. Read the complete story here..
Social Media Is the New "PR" for Radio
By Chris Miller
Chris Miller Digital
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Oh. — It may not cost you a dime when your radio station is Tweeting and Facebooking and YouTubing. However, I'll bet social media is a major ongoing project for some people at your station. It's probably costing you plenty of hours from your programming or promotions department. Seems to me you'd want return on that investment.
Is there a possible return on investment from your social media efforts? Maybe not the way you're doing it right now. The way to change that is to think of it as "The New PR." Read the complete story here.
Talk Must Expand Beyond Politics to Survive
By Doug Stephan
Stephan MultiMedia
 FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Reading the statements by Spencer Brown at Dial Global about what has happened to the advertising agencies' attitudes toward controversial programming gives me cause to want to add my perspective as an independent producer with almost 25 years of syndicated radio experience…pretty much the same amount of time as Rush Limbaugh.
First and foremost, I'm a champion of and cheerleader for the format. But what is represented here is the same quandary that faces the Republican Party…relevance. Read the complete story here.
The Risk of Talking Politics on Sports Stations
By Richard Neer
WFAN, New York
 NEW YORK — During the recently concluded election cycle, it was surely tempting at times to inject political notes into our sports programming. These comments might range from analogies comparing sporting contests to the "horse race" factor of the campaign, to outright endorsements of a specific candidate. While the former might be be an instructive and harmless explanation of strategy, the latter could result in long term damage.
Most of us are slaves to quarter hours, even more so with PPM methodology, which purports to evaluate even the minutest of trends. Some of us see a higher calling however — if you believe the future of our country is at stake, you may feel compelled to speak out strongly in favor of your beliefs. You might even posit that since it seems everyone is talking politics and news/talk stations traditionally grow this time of year, you might profit from that boost in interest. Read the complete story here.
The TALKERS Interview: Sandi Bergman
 Sandi Bergman, whom Michael Harrison describes as being "a dynamic rising star among today's crop of media brokers," is president/CEO of RadioTVDeals.com – an innovative website dedicated to bringing media outlet buyers and sellers together – and MyMediaBroker.com, a leading edge New Mexico-based national media brokerage firm. An experienced radio station owner/operator in her own right, Bergman served as president/CEO of Bergman Broadcasting Company, Inc, licensee of KSEL-AM and KSEL-FM, Portales, NM and RICKochet Communications, Inc., licensee of KSMX FM, Clovis, NM, from 1994-2002. In 1997, Bergman was recognized by the Small Business Administration as a finalist for "Small Business Person of the Year." She is actively involved in the National Association of Media Brokers (NAMB). The following Talkers Interview was conducted by Michael Harrison.
TALKERS: Please give us a brief overview of your days in radio station ownership and your transition to becoming a media broker.
SANDI BERGMAN: "You can sell a sports package for $200 with 40 spots ROS or a $300 package with 60, and give them two spots in all the games." That was the sum total of education I received on the topic of "how to sell radio advertising" when I was handed the keys to KSEL AM & FM in Portales, NM. Fortunately, I am a quick learner! Barring a small panic attack the night before we closed (I realized I didn't even know how to operate the Marti unit), I was able to make it to the closing table, all for the love of radio. Read the complete interview here.
The Young Guns of Talk Radio
By Kevin Casey
TALKERS magazine
Executive Editor
 SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — There's a perception held by many – especially those working in the consumer media – that all talk show hosts doing shows on news/talk stations are men 50 years of age or older. They further postulate that when those hosts retire (or die!) there will be no one left to work in the format.
Given the radio industry's general lack of a farm system, it's hard to blame those who think it's an industry of old white men. But the truth is there are young people breaking into talk radio and working successfully at stations across the country. We asked some of them what influence they believe their youth plays in hosting a radio talk show on a news/talk station. Read the complete story here. | | | |
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