Friday, June 14, 2013 Mike Francesa Tells Industry: Change the Sports Talk Demo to 35-69. Appearing at the Talkers New York 2013 conference last week, WFAN, New York afternoon drive legend Mike Francesa said the industry should change their sales strategies to sell to the Men 35-69  demo “because guys 60 to 69 have all the money. And guys who are 25 live at home and can’t pay their rent. 25 -54 is dumb! I’ve been yelling that one for years.” Francesa also argued with the notion that hosts like him are content machines and they should put their content everywhere. He states, “If I’m on for five and half hours every day from 1:00 pm to 6:30pm, why do I want an interview that I do at 1:30 on the damn internet at 3:30 competing with myself? It’s not rated!” He says he wants people to tune in to his show between 1:00 and 6:30 because that where he makes his living. Being on someone else’s show to give his take on a sports issue or put it on the internet means the listener won’t have to tune in later that day and that goes against the fundamental rules of radio. View Mike Francesa’s entire speech from Talkers New York 2013 by clicking here. 
Arbitron and Edison Research’s Infinite Dial Looks at News/Talk/Sports P1s. The breakdown of news/talk/sports P1s from the Arbitron and  Edison Research Infinite Dial 2013 study has been released and offers some insight into the digital media habits and perceptions of the aforementioned subset. Some of the notable conclusions from the study: - News/talk/sports P1s are very aware of digital music services such as Pandora and iHeartRadio although they are far less likely to be regular users than are P1s of other radio formats.
- They are slightly more likely to have listened to a podcast in the last month compared to the larger group of all radio users 12-plus (15% versus 12%).
- News/talk/sports P1s are big YouTube users with 43% saying they watched a YouTube video in the last week compared to 37% for all radio users 12-plus.
- News/talk/sports P1s are far less likely to wake up to a cell phone (19%) than are all radio users 12-plus (30%).
- News/talk/sports P1s are fans of tablet devices with 34% claiming to own one versus 29% for all radio users 12-plus.
- They are less likely to follow a radio station on Facebook (2%) than are all radio users 12-plus (9%).
- And they are also less likely to be frequent social media users (“several times per day”) with 20% saying they do so compared to 27% for all radio users 12-plus.
Free Talk Live Co-Host Ian Freeman Has Video Arrest Case Dismissed; Receives Settlement. Nationally syndicated talk radio host Ian Freeman, who co-hosts “Free Talk Live” with partner Mark Edge, reports his charge of disorderly conduct and violation of a town ordinance in Palmer,  Massachusetts for attempting to videotape a proceeding in the community’s town hall was dismissed and he received a $5,000 settlement. Freeman, who is well known for championing personal freedoms and the right to a free press calls the result “a total win for press freedom, except for the fact that it happened in the first place. It could happen to you or a staff member at your station next.” Freeman says as he was recording a proceeding at the town hall, a uniformed officer told him to turn off his video recorder. When he refused, citing freedom of the press, he was arrested and charged. Freeman was represented by the ACLU and he states, “Eventually, the misdemeanor was dropped and the town ordinance violation changed from criminal to civil. The ACLU of MA came on board to take the case, and they knocked it out of the park. Palmer crumbled and agreed the charges should be dismissed ‘with prejudice’ (meaning they can't be brought again) and also agreed to a $5,000 settlement with no gag order preventing me from talking about it.” With more and more radio news departments using video for their web content, the issue of where and when civil servants can be recorded doing their jobs is one that is very real and may become more high profile as time goes on. 
The 2013 Radio Show to Feature Two-Pronged Program Agenda. The National Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau announce the 2013 Radio Show – scheduled for September 18-20 in Orlando – will feature two new conference  tracks, the Programming Masters Series and Sales Consultants' Corner, both on Friday, September 20. According to a release from the organizations, “The power tracks, which will run concurrently on Friday morning, are designed to provide radio programming and sales professionals a comprehensive training opportunity in a consolidated format. Attendees will learn strategies and best practices that can be immediately employed to increase station revenue and enhance programming content.” The fast-paced Programming Masters Series will address how today's multi-platform media environment impacts radio programmers as they juggle the demands of programming multiple stations and cultivating talent. Sessions include: "The Art of Story Telling;" "The Next Gen Programmer," featuring tips from college radio on how mainstream radio can connect with diverse audiences; and "What's Working at Work," featuring unique research on media consumption. Panelists include Evan Harrison, executive vice president, content and entertainment, Univision Radio; Laurie Cantillo, program director, WTOP; Buzz Knight, vice president, program development, Greater Media; and Steve Reynolds, The Reynolds Group. During the four-hour Sales Consultants' Corner, radio's top sales trainers and consultants will discuss effective strategies for training salespeople, prospecting new leads and growing revenue. Sessions include "The Seven Steps for Selling Success," "Getting the Appointment" and "Addressing Objections and Closing." Additionally, RAB will provide resources and tools stations can use to support the sales process. Panelists include Paul Weyland, president, Paul Weyland Communication Strategies; Marijane Milton, international director of revenue innovation and training, MultiBrand Media International; Michael Guld, president, The Guld Resource Group and author of "The Million Dollar Media Rep;" and Susan Novicki, president, Morrison and Abraham. 
NSA Data Collection Program Top News/Talk Story for Week of June 10-14. The controversy over the National Security Agency’s widespread telephone and internet tracking program and contractor Edward Snowden’s leaking of information was the most-talked-about story on news/talk radio during the week, landing atop the Talkers TenTM. At #2 this week was the DOJ’s investigation of journalists. Coming in at #3 was the immigration amnesty legislation followed by the IRS scandal at #4. The Talkers TenTM is a weekly chart of the top stories and people discussed on news/talk radio and is the result of ongoing research from TALKERS. It is published every Friday at Talkers.com. View this week’s entire chart here. TALKERS Weekly Affiliate Roundup. The Peter Schiff show, syndicated nationally by Radio America, announces the show is added to the program lineup at the following  stations: WLOE, Eden, North Carolina; WMYN, Mayodan, North Carolina; KLEY, Wellington, Kansas; KKLE, Winfield, Kansas; WRJM, Charleston, Illinois; KXAR, Hope, Arkansas; KTPA, Prescott, Arkansas; and WLBK, DeKalb, Illinois…..“Free Talk Live” featuring Ian Freeman and Mark Edge is added to the air schedule at WBLF, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania; WEEO, McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania; and KOMY, Santa Cruz, California…..“Stuart Vener Tells It Like It Is” adds the following stations to its roster of affiliates: WTAN, Clearwater, Florida; WDCF, Dade City, Florida; WZHR, Zephyrhills, Florida; KCAA, Loma Linda, California; and WRGC, Sylvia, North Carolina.   
The 10% Solution
By Chris Miller
Miller Digital
 SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH — “Being consistent is good. That applies both on the air, and in your social media, too. Your fans build up expectations of what you’re going to post. If they choose to engage with you about what you post, that’s great. Nice work.
There’s a dark side to consistency, however. When you get into a rut, or your favorite ways to interact aren’t getting interacted with, it’s time to take control by losing a little control.
You never want to just change everything at once about what your station is doing in social media. However, I’d recommend taking about 10% of your posts, and just try different ideas. Do this whether you’re wildly successful, or not happy with your fans’ level of engagement. If you’re always curating content, linking to sources online, try posting a great photo, or just asking an open-ended question. Here’s an example. Read the complete story here.
 “Situational Baseball Return Liners” Maximize Play-by-Play Promotional Potential
By Chris Pendl
Bonneville Seattle
 SEATTLE — “ If you’ve made the investment on play-by-play sports on your station, it’s important to maximize the return on your investment by trying to recycle that audience to another day part on your station.
Arbitron tells us that MLB drives cume increases anywhere from 50%-65% on flagship stations when the baseball season starts. This influx of audience is one of the reasons we pay rights fees, share revenue, or give up inventory to carry this programming. In a climate with little or no external marketing dollars, I’ve often joked that our promotional time within baseball play by play is the closet thing we’ll get to an interstate billboard or TV campaign.
A few years ago in Seattle, we decided to take a different approach to how we used our in-game promotional inventory during Mariner broadcasts. We wanted something that was more dynamic than a recorded promo — something that cut through and made the listener feel like someone was watching the game with them.” Read the complete story here.
WTOP Hacking: Why You Should Worry
By Steven J.J. Weisman
TALKERS
Legal Editor
 BOSTON — As reported in Talkers earlier in May, Washington D.C. radio stations WTOP and Federal News Radio had their websites hacked resulting in the possible infection of anyone who accessed the two websites using the popular Internet Explorer web browser prior to the discovery and correction of the problem.
The hacking of these two websites is particularly insidious because unlike infections that occur when a computer user is lured to a phony infected website set up for the specific purpose of infecting unwary computer users — a technique called “phishing” — in this case, the computer users were infected when they went to legitimate websites that they believed were trustworthy.
One of the two malware programs that became installed on the computers of those people who used Internet Explorer to access the websites of WTOP and Federal News Radio resulted in the victim having a pop-up message appear telling him or her that their computer was infected with a virus and then provided a link to a website offering phony security software and invited the victim to order the software by providing credit card information. This is a common scam. You should not click on the link to go to the phony security software website and you certainly should not provide your credit card information.” Read this entire story here.
Crud (and Other Stuff)
By Thomas R. Ray, III CPBE, AMD, DRB
Tom Ray Consulting
 NEW YORK — “So I was working on this transmitter today. Seriously – I know this starts off like a joke. Problem was actually a bad air switch. All transmitters have a way to sense air flow. If there is no air flow in the transmitter, if, for example, the blower motor quits, it will shut down. In the case of a tube transmitter, this is to prevent the final amplifier deck from melting down and starting a fire. In a solid state transmitter (which also uses temperature sensing in the final amplifier), it prevents the transistors from self destructing causing a fire and/or other severe damage to the amplifier.
Anyway, this isn’t related to the air switch, but it could be (the air switch in this case was 33 years old – it simply had enough). The air filters on the transmitter were caked with crud.
The air filters are there to keep crud out of the transmitter (obviously, in this case, they did their job). In a tube transmitter, crud can cause an arc over in the high voltage areas. In solid state transmitters that do not have high voltage inside, the crud acts like a blanket holding heat into the transistors. Heat is an electronic device’s worst enemy. Read the complete story here.
Five Secrets to Hiring Excellent Digital Sellers
By Walter Sabo
Sabo Media
 NEW YORK — “Made you look!
There is nothing harder than finding effective digital sellers. So hard, it is logical to conclude that there aren’t any great digital advertising sellers. The job listings are packed with ads begging, “Sharks wanted.” “Are you a shark?” “Can you bring business with you?” “Closers only.”
The account executive turnover at major digital firms is very high. Start-ups raise funds to salary qualified, experienced shark-sellers but their hires sell—nothing. Not a little, but nothing. In talking with dozens of start-up CEO’s they share the same story:
“I hired a seller with a killer resumé and they sold, nothing. All the billing we have was sold by me and my co-founder.” Read the complete story here.
Talking in the UK: Perspectives from an American Talk Show Host Working in London
By Charlie Wolf
Talk Show Host
 LONDON — “Working in London, England, as an American talk show host has its challenges. For instance, for the first two-three years of my six year stint as a host on commercial national talk station, TalkSPORT, (Talk Radio UK) doing a political/news-based show – it was the audience’s view that I was not allowed an opinion at all, either as a host and especially as a “Yank.”
For years on the BBC – where there is “speech radio” (drama, news, news analysis – and done very well) there had been very little interactive talk, and even then the host – though he would occasionally explore or challenge a point – was mostly a moderator not an instigator or opinion former. Talk shows on the BBC, now more opinionated than they used to be, are very much in the mould of “on the one hand there is …. But on the other hand…. what do you think?” British radio – due to over-regulation, a fairness doctrine, dominant licence funded BBC, a lack of competition, and a “scared-of-one’s-own-shadow” attitude to regulators – will never have a thriving talk radio market as in the US. There is not the space for talent to truly develop in talk commercially. Read the complete story here.
Can the Radio Station Overcome Smothering Debt and Become a Viable Business Again?
By Mike Kinosian, Managing Editor
TALKERS
 LOS ANGELES — “Chalk it up to misreading the economic tealeaves or perhaps to good old-fashioned avarice, but several radio groups have fallen victim to the, “(S)he who has the most toys, wins” hypothesis.
“Winners” managing to run the board in today’s all too real game of Radio Monopoly are rewarded by becoming further ensconced in deeper, darker, debt.
Administer sodium pentothal to a cross-section of radio managers and the overwhelming majority will vociferously state that, owing to its cookie-cutter nature and mounting pressure to deliver grossly unrealistic percentages to the bottom line, the business is no longer fun. Countless executives at high-billing, strong ratings performing outlets have been unduly placed in the gut-wrenching position of laying off personnel and making other vital cutbacks – forced to share the load of paying for what could be considered out-of-control acquisition sins at the corporate level.
Capitalism has functioned exceptionally well for years, so to be clear, this is not a condemnation of mammoth radio groups, nor a suggestion that they are run by evil, incompetents.
There can however be hiccups such as the painful one we are witnessing with revenue survival.
Those who did not overly-consolidate or did not allow themselves to be enthralled with the “biggest is best” notion seem to be in a better position to thrive. Read the complete story here.
The 2013 Heavy Hundred
 The editors of TALKERS magazine, with input from industry leaders, present the 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America –– a popular annual feature that has come to be known as the “Heavy Hundred.” This is one of the most challenging tasks that TALKERS undertakes each year considering that there are thousands of talk show hosts across the country, ranging from national icons to those laboring in relative obscurity. Aside from the hosts whose sheer numbers and fame demand their inclusion on this list, the selection process is subjective with the goal being to create a list reflective of the industry’s diversity and total flavor as well as giving credit where credit is due. The TALKERS magazine editors who painstakingly compile this super-list draw upon a combination of hard and soft factors when evaluating candidates. These include (in alphabetical order): courage, effort, impact, longevity, potential, ratings, recognition, revenue, service, talent and uniqueness. We acknowledge that it is as much art as science and that the results are arguable. There is one concrete qualification for inclusion. Hosts must be working at the time TALKERS magazine initially posts the list in order to be considered. They must have a regularly scheduled professional show on the air at a minimum of one terrestrial or satellite radio station at “press time.” The list remains intact from that point forward until the next year’s edition. In past years, TALKERS magazine has included sports talk hosts in the Heavy Hundred. Last year, due to the massive growth in the sports talk genre, sports talk radio has earned a Heavy Hundred of its own, the 2013 installment of which will be published by TALKERS in the coming months. TALKERS magazine salutes the fine broadcasters who made this year’s list. To view it click here.
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