Legendary radio programmer Lee Abrams recently unveiled a new manifesto for radio. Among his key points: Radio needs to again elevate and celebrate content and innovation. I couldn’t agree more. Take a look at the radio trade press for a week. Who dominates the coverage? Bankers, CEOs and CFOs. Yes, radio is a business. But [...]
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Have you given your audience an opportunity to express their emotions in the wake of SEAL Team Six’s house call on Osama bin Laden? Sure, the phones are still lighting up, but people want to do more than talk; they want to act. We saw that in Sunday night’s spontaneous gatherings from Washington, DC to [...]
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From my 4/14 News Talk Edge newsletter. Subscribe for free HERE. If personality is the lifeblood of talk radio, compelling topics are the format’s oxygen. So why do stations typically refuse to talk about one topic that is sure to resonant with listeners – stories about the station itself? The most recent example of [...]
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ESPN Radio did this… SAN DIEGO, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Slacker, Inc. today announced that ESPN Audio content will be available on Slacker Personal Radio, providing listeners with customizable content from the country’s largest sports radio network. Slacker listeners will have access to an interactive dedicated station covering all facets of sports entertainment, with [...]
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Tags: ESPN Radio, Slacker | No Comments »
Before devoting himself to the art and science of social media, Steve Allan programmed radio stations in DC, Detroit, Boston and Cincinnati and held corporate programming positions with AM/FM and Clear Channel. As a former radio guy, Allen despairs at the medium’s apparent lack of understanding of social media. Too many stations/personalities continue [...]
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Tags: Facebook, Google, Steve Allen, Twitter | No Comments »
The march issue of Newsmax magazine includes my profile of Mark Simone, the go-to sub for Hannity, Imus and Levin. Here are some excerpts from the Director’s Cut… Colleagues praise Simone as talented, versatile, reliable and professional. But the real key to his success is humility. A substitute host’s job is simple enough: [...]
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Tags: Imus, Mark Levin, Mark Simone, Sean Hannity, WABC | No Comments »
Have you ever heard of ”Premiere on Call”? According to the blogosphere it’s a Premiere Radio Networks service that provides high quality “callers for hire” to talk shows for a fee. The story first surfaced in the Tablet Magazine blog in mid-February and was based on an interview with an actor who claimed to have auditioned [...]
Categories: Ethics, Programming Advice, Talk Radio Strategy |
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From my 2/10 News Talk Edge newsletter… Roll Call, a newspaper for Capitol Hill types, recently ran a most tiresome story – yet another breathless report on how much influence talk radio supposedly has with members of Congress. “Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity can mobilize more voters than any press release or floor speech, so [...]
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The talk host was extremely frustrated. He had recently done what he and his team thought was four great hours on the Chinese Tiger Mom topic. The show seemed to have it all – lots of great calls, tons of emotion, several different angles on parenting, and great forward momentum. “We were all high-fiving at [...]
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Tags: Content, PPM, talk radio | No Comments »
I can’t decide if WSPD/Toledo talker Brian Wilson is the luckiest or unluckiest guy in talk radio. The Toledo Blade, which has a history of disputes with WSPD, including a couple lawsuits, recently accused Wilson of racism because he allegedly called Toledo school kids “little monkeys.” As the tape clearly shows, Wilson did no such thing. [...]
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Tags: Brian Wilson, talk radio, WSPD | No Comments »