Peggy Noonan

Sometimes I think Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan is the best talk radio consultant for these times.  She offers insightful, thought-provoking advice — for free.

Her latest pearl appeared in a recent column eulogizing Andrew Breitbart.  Noonan recounted how she and Breitbart hashed-out a disagreement about their respective styles by agreeing that while passion is essential in the political arena, an obsession with the fight is dangerous.

“In a way the argument between conservatives and progressives is that for the left, everything is about politics. Because they seek to harness government and the law in pursuit of what they see as just and desirable ends, everything becomes a political fight. Conservatives fought that narrow, constricted, soulless view of life: ‘We are not only political, we have other spheres, we are human beings.’

“But in their fight against liberalism and its demands, too many conservatives have unconsciously come to ape the left. They too became all politics all the time. Friendships were based on it, friendships were lost over it. “You agree with me? You’re in. You don’t? You’re out.” They became as good at ousting, excluding and anathematizing as Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, as Jacobins. As self-righteous, too, and as adept at dehumanizing the enemy.

I'm sorry, so sorry...

Rush Limbaugh’s unprecedented apology for his attack on law student Sandra Fluke provides an important reality check for spoken-word performers at every level of every platform.

Some lessons and observations:

DO NOT cost your employer money – This was hardly Rush’s first trip to the nasty-remark rodeo, so why did he apologize this time?  We don’t really know.  Maybe he truly felt some remorse for ripping into a young woman who is barely a public figure.  Maybe his wife glared him into it.

But it’s more likely that Rush backed off because sponsors began cancelling their buys.  While the Big Man may have been nudged into the apology by management, he surely didn’t take much convincing.  Recall Rush’s own oft-stated mission statement for his show: “To attract the largest possible audience and hold it for the longest possible time, so we can charge confiscatory advertising rates.”

And he no doubt understands that the bosses are in no mood these days to be losing revenue.  Not one dollar of revenue.  Need more proof?  Look at KFI/Los Angeles’ recent one-week suspension of highly-rated hosts John and Ken.  Again – these guys are about as harsh as they come.  Why did they get spanked for their Whitney Houston  “crack ho” comment?  Because the groups that hate them finally got it together and managed to put some revenue in danger.

Said one source familiar with the John and Ken dust-up, “When there was suddenly money on the table, that changed everything.”

Understandably so.

Stop that whining, right now – Don’t you dare complain that this episode somehow limits talk radio’s ability to do creative and compelling programming. That’s non-sense.  There are lines – drawn by the marketplace and social norms – that any performer in any medium crosses at their own risk.  Rather than blame the “lamestream media” for “blowing this all out of proportion,” we should thank Rush’s sponsors for showing us exactly where the line is when it comes to personal attacks.

Learn from Rush’s reaction.  Rush believes in the free market – for better and worse. When his advertising customers started walking away from his show, he promptly apologized, thus bringing his product back into line with what customers want to buy.

And finally…

Don’t take the WRONG lesson from this episode.    I know you are tired of hearing this, but you aren’t Rush Limbaugh. Barring something really unforeseen, Rush will survive this episode and continue to enjoy a remarkable career.  If you do something like this in the current climate, you will get fired.

In this 2011 interview Breitbart expressed his desire to see a more sophisticated conservative media, including right-leaning radio with the resources and depth of NPR.  He’s not the first person to dream that dream.  Radio pros have been talking for years about creating a “conservative NPR” — a show or network that would feature world class journalism and thoughtful talk with a right-of-center POV.  Why hasn’t it happened?  Not commercially viable?  Too expensive?  Share your thoughts at randall@talkfrontier.com

Mashable

“Develop a unique voice” – As Rush Limbaugh used to say, “You can get the news from a lot of places, but there is nothing like getting it from me.”

“Focus on the Content, not Re-tweets”  – Don’t get hung up on trends, meters, phone calls or downloads, especially at the outset of your career.  The only way to succeed is to ignore the metrics and stay focused on creating consistently great material.

The Mashable piece says that Twitter’s 140 character limit can help improve one’s writing by imposing a ruthless discipline.  I would argue it can also help a podcaster or talk host hone their talking skills.  More than a few radio talkers should learn to talk less and say more.

Read the full Mashable piece HERE.

In a recent Wall Street Journal column, Peggy Noonan noted that by several indicators Americans are showing a distinct lack of interest in the Presidential race.  Here’s her case:

[Voter turn-out] in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri this week were all down, Iowa and New Hampshire were flat, Florida, that Little America, was down almost 15%. All this in a volatile race, in a time of crisis.

What are the reasons? Maybe it’s the increasing negativity of the campaign, maybe it’s widespread dissatisfaction with the field. Maybe it’s that, and more.

There are some small indicators something else may be going on. Cable news ratings, which should spike in an election year, and which indicate interest on both the left and the right, are relatively flat, with mild increases here and there. Broadcast evening news ratings continue their gradual decline. One network anchor, on being urged to capture more of the joy and ferocity of the Republican contest, sighed. “Every time we show those guys, our numbers go down.” A major website operator tells me people aren’t clicking on political stories.

But it’s not confined to the Republican side. Look at President Obama’s State of the Union numbers. That speech famously blankets all television and radio networks. His first speech to a joint session of Congress, in February 2009, drew 52 million viewers. A year later the State of the Union had an understandable falloff to about 48 million. In 2011, another fall: 43 million watched. A few weeks ago his 2012 State of the Union drew just 38 million.  From 52 to 38: That’s quite a decline. And again, during a continuing crisis and in a presidential election year. As for the president’s interviews and other speeches, well, when was the last time you heard someone ask excitedly, “Did you hear what Obama said?”

Whose numbers are up? The NFL’s.

Maybe the story the political class is missing is not “They don’t like the Republican field,” or “They don’t like Obama.” Maybe the story is that people are tuning out altogether. Maybe they’re bored with politics, and most especially with politicians. Maybe they think our government can’t solve anything. Maybe, even, our political class has done such a good job depicting the crisis we’re in that the American people, with their low faith in institutions, think nothing, really, can be done about it. So let’s check out. Let’s watch the game.

Of course, it might be argued that none of the above applies to talk radio because many of its core listeners are diehard fans of politics who are living for President Obama’s November ouster.  But that thing about cable news ratings should give pause.  And are those hardcores going to be enough to get you to your fall ratings goals?

The lessons here:

1. Be judicious when the boss asks for those fall ratings projections.

2. Make sure you are offering your listeners more than just election information and jabber during the spring and summer – especially if the GOP nomination is wrapped up early.

Do you think the campaign has been driving numbers on your station?  I’d especially like to hear from programmers in states that have already held their primaries.

From Stark County’s coverage of the Edison presentation:

“‘The image is out there that PPM is bad for ratings’, said [Edison principal Larry] Rosin. He noted that the ‘metaphor of choice’ PDs used to described their fear of radiothons’ impact on ratings was death, quoting programmers who used words like ‘killed’ and ‘murdered’ to describe what they felt could happen to their ratings. Rosin then proceeded to at least partially de-bunk that belief, noting that running a radiothon is not equivalent to ‘engaging in ratings ethnic cleansing.’

“Rosin cited numerous statistics from his research showing that while ratings did take a temporary hit during [a] radiothon, they bounced back quickly and by two weeks later were 1% higher on average for stations than they had been in the week before the radiothon.

“I don’t deny stations had to endure a little bit of ratings pain,” Rosin said, but they bounced back slightly higher than their pre radiothon levels, something Rosin partially attributes to the community goodwill generated by running a radiothon.

He also cautioned against applying PPM statistics about radiothons to diary markets. ‘One of the most distressing things I hear about is people questioning the radiothons in diary markets because of info they get in PPM markets,’ Rosin said. ‘I highly doubt that is any kind of diary reality’.”

Rosin went on to encourage local stations to use radiothons as yet another way to bond with the local community in the face of growing competition from satellite and Internet audio providers.  Several radio pros I interviewed agreed with Rosin but urged stations to consider all the factors before undertaking a radiothon, including the strength of their station’s brand, and the timing of the event. Notice that sports-talk 680 is doing their radiothon at the slowest time of the sports year.

Among the best: WRVA/Richmond.  It’s got everything a listener or potential advertiser might need, all in one place — including direct phone numbers and email addresses for every programming, news and sales staffer.  That list includes not only PD Jimmy Barrett, but OM Dave Symonds, as well.  And it’s all just one click off the home page.  This is clearly an organization that’s proud of what it does and welcomes interaction with its customers and community.

How does your Contact page compare?

“If you have an answer to the question, ‘Who are you like?,’ you have a problem. — Merlin Media CEO Randy Michaels 

“Personal branding is not about fabricating a persona; strong personal brands are based in authenticity. You can’t start building your brand until you understand who you are, what you want and what makes you exceptional. What are your superpowers? What do others think about you? Don’t create an image; be yourself — your best self. As writer/aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said, ‘The most exhausting thing you can be is inauthentic.’”  – from TheLadders.com career website

What about you, Spoken-Word-Media-Guy?  Guy-who-makes-his-living-by-talking?  What are you doing to expand your “virtual brand?”  Here’s a tip: Use the freedom that podcasting offers to do something different from what you do on the radio. Surely, there is more to you than politics.  Right…. right?  Try using the podcast to tap into your other passions.

I know.  You won’t make money right away with a podcast.  Probably not.  But you need to consider the wisdom of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who tells his staff, “We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.”  Bring passion and hard work to your project and it will pay off.

Got an idea, but not sure how to proceed?  I’d love to talk it out with you.

Thanks to Don Anthony’s Jockline Daily for hipping me to the Mohr story.

1. Pick a group/person that resonates with your audience:  Patriots fans, the embattled mayor, wives, Democrats, Newt…

2. Post the question on Facebook a few hours before the show to start the ball rolling and create a stack of responses to use between calls.

3. Tease the segment aggressively so listeners can be thinking of clever lines.

4. Have fun with it.

One caveat: This schtick is close to burnt.  Use it soon.