Dems need to get in there and fight

Boston Phoenix blogger Adam Reilly offers an insightful post-mortem on talk radio’s role in Scott Brown‘s election to the U.S. Senate. The bottom-line: Relationships and engagement matter — a lot.

True, most Beantown talkers were ideologically pre-disposed to support the Republican Brown.  But Brown also benefited tremendously from his long-time courtship of  the radio crowd.  Even before the U.S. Senate campaign, then-State Senator Brown would often call local shows unannounced just to share an opinion or bit of news. Conversely, Democrat Martha Coakley‘s campaign typically didn’t even bother to return calls from shows they deemed hostile.  The result: hosts who were inclined to disagree with Coakley came to dislike her. (Coakley is not unique in this attitude.  I’ve seen it many times, including at WMAL/Washington, where we were never able to get Democratic candidate/Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD-8) on the air — not even with our easy-going morning guys.

The lesson Reilly offers is the same one we learned in the climactic scene of Top Gun: You can’t win the dogfight unless you overcome your anxiety and engage your opponent.  Of course, you need the skills necessary to mix it up with a professional talker, but most hosts aren’t that daunting.

While a liberal politician may not “win” every talk radio encounter, their very appearance can help blunt the harshness of future criticism.  As WTKK-FM/Boston personality and former political activist Jim Braude observes in the Phoenix post: “Democrats should start dialing. Most if not all conservative talk-show hosts are paper tigers. It’s also hard for any human to completely eviscerate someone who talks to them, and most talk-show hosts are human. And in my experience, after I called a show, I’d get e-mails saying, ‘You know, I hate everything you stand for — but I gotta give you credit for having the courage to come on.’

WMAL's Grandy and Andy

How do you keep in touch with your station’s loyal listeners?  The occasional text email or static HTML piece touting an upcoming contest?  Check out WMAL/Washington‘s answer to that question.  The “Grandy and Andy Rewind” is a fantastic e-letter that promotes the station’s morning show by highlight the week’s best moments with audio, text and the occasional video.  Grandy and Andy producer Ann Wog admits it took a lot of effort to get the “Rewind” up and running but says she can now put out an issue in about 30 minutes.  That’s time well spent.

Randall Bloomquist

Dear Friends and Colleagues –  I started  TalkFrontier.com eight months ago as an experiment, as a way to learn about New Media while continuing to share my opinions and ideas about talk radio.  At the time, I took a pretty dim view of radio’s prospects.  But a funny thing happened across those eight months and 95 blog posts.  The more time I spent  talking to smart broadcasters, listening to “the infinite dial” and studying endless reports and statistics, I’ve concluded that talk radio has an exciting future, and I want to be part of it.

So, here it is:  Talk Frontier Media, a company offering talent management, content development and talk media strategy services to all segments of the growing spoken-word media. By the way, the Talk Frontier blog will continue to be a source of information, ideas and analysis for talk media professionals.  No charge.  So be sure to sign-up for our RSS feed.

TALK RADIO EXPERT RANDALL BLOOMQUIST LAUNCHES TALENT  MANAGEMENT AND CONTENT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

ATLANTA, November 12, 2009 –Randall Bloomquist, a veteran talk radio programmer with a reputation for developing new talent and saving troubled stations, has launched Talk Frontier Media (TFM), a talent management, content development and talk media strategy company.

Bloomquist’s professional achievements include the successful transformation of two legendary radio stations, WBT/Charlotte and WRVA/Richmond, both of which are now market leaders in ratings and revenue.  He is also credited with developing several successful talk personalities including WTKK-FM/Boston’s Michael Graham and former WBT stars Richard Spires and Brad Krantz. Bloomquist has programmed two Top 10 market stations, WMAL/Washington and WGST/Atlanta. Prior to working at the station level, he was News/Talk Editor of the trade publication Radio & Records, where he founded the R&R Talk Radio Seminar, an annual convention for the talk radio industry.

Talk Frontier Media provides a full range of talent services from one-time air checks to on-going career management and image building. TFM specializes in working with up-and-coming talent and those who aspire to join the ranks of talk media — whether as traditional talk radio hosts, Internet radio personalities or podcasters.

“This is an exciting time for talk media,” said Bloomquist. “We are on the verge of a new golden age for spoken-word entertainment when listeners will have nearly unlimited choice on the aptly named ‘infinite dial.’  But one thing will never change.  The winners — regardless of platform — will always be those personalities who are able to effectively deliver unique content and create intimate bonds with their audience.”

Talk Frontier Media also serves as a force-multiplier for talk media outlets, providing critical programming services on a contract basis.  These include talent searches, talent evaluation, content development, station critiques and competitive analysis.

According to WRVA Program Director Jimmy Barrett, “The reason WRVA is enjoying its current ratings success is because of the groundwork laid by Randall.  He can certainly help any station identify its strengths and weaknesses and develop a plan for better numbers.”

TFM’s Talk Media Strategy programs help businesses and other organizations employ talk media to achieve their goals via relationship-building, public service campaigns, content development and production, and paid advertising.

For more information about Talk Frontier Media and its services go to the company’s website at www.talkfrontier.com.

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So, we got that goin’ for us…

Operation Homefront -  This San Antonio-based organization provides emergency assistance to military families faced with a deployed spouse or a recovering wounded warrior.  If the furnace goes out in January and the family can’t afford the repairs, Operation Homefront gets it fixed.  The group has chapters in most states, which means all donations stay local.   Operation Homefront’s website includes links to the state chapter sites.

Fisher House Foundation - Think of it as Ronald McDonald House for the military community.  Fisher House maintains residences at several military hospitals across the country where the group provides lodging and other support to families of recovering military personnel.  This partnership works best if Fisher House operates or hopes to build a house in the station’s market.

These are excellent causes for conservative news/talk stations because they resonate with an audience that loves to show its patriotism and has great respect for America’s fighting men and women.  Since 2004, WMAL/Washington listeners have donated $4 million to Fisher House.  WTKK/Boston raised $250,00  for Fisher House during one week in December 2008.  WGST/Atlanta’s audience has donated $434,000 to Operation Homefront/Georgia over the past three years, including $250,000 during a 2007 holiday campaign.

Both groups are excellent partners.  They bring resources to the table and are wide-open to including a sales component in the fundraising effort.  For more information and ideas based on my experience with these organizations, contact me at randall@talkfrontier.com

With a bit of creativity and effort,  those Costas hours can be filled at no cost with programming that will generate buzz and appeal to both listeners and sponsors.  Three quick ideas:

1. Tap the blogosphere.  Offer local Internet radio hosts and podcasters the chance to step-up to the big league.  Post links to the entrants’ shows or podcasts on the station’s website.  Pick a group of finalists and give them a try-out show.  The winner gets a limited-run show in the Costas slot.  Not sure how to find local Internet yakkers?  Consider partnering with www.blogtalkradio.com.  Your contact there is Philip Recchia (philiprecchia@blogtalkradio.com).

2. “Talk Idol” –  Same as above, only for listeners. Come up with a way to identify a group of finalists and give them a one or two hour show.  The winner gets a “contract” to fill that slot for a set number of weeks.  When we did this at WMAL-AM/Washington, would-be talkers were asked to submit a 3-minute monologue.  The best of these were played on-air.  Listeners were invited to share their opinions about the candidates on the website — but we picked the finalists and winner.  Our champ, by the way, was a very promising young African-American conservative.

3. Do it for Charity.  Sell one-hour shows to listeners who are dying to host a show.  Proceeds go to  a worthy cause.  This concept works especially well on sports-talk stations.  WRNL-AM (Sportsradio 910)/Richmond did this for a week of summer evenings under the theme “Walk-on Week.”  The station sold all 15 hours that were made available.  The event made for great radio.  Some hosts were just horrible, others were pretty darn good, including the Army lawyer/Red Sox fanatic who became the station’s go-to fill-in host.

For many PDs, time is more scarce than money.  But the opportunity to tap into one of radio’s great strengths by creating a local show is worth whatever juggling must be done.  One thought: PDs who still have the luxury of an Assistant PD could turn over the entire project to the APD.  This is a perfect way for an ambitious up-and-comer to hone his programming skills.  And that’s important.  Despite its current woes, local talk radio still has a future; and that obligates the current generation to invest in the next.