WHY HUBBARD RADIO EXPANSION MAKES SENSE NOW

FROM ONE MARKET TO FIVE, THREE-STATION GROUP DOES IT RIGHT

Minnesota-based Hubbard Broadcasting is purchasing half of Bonneville’s radio markets in a deal that could indicate how smaller groups expand intelligently now that the economy is nudging its way back. Bonneville revealed this week that it is selling its radio properties in Chicago, St. Louis, Washington, DC, and Cincinnati to Hubbard for $505 million. Hubbard, which has owned KSTP (AM) in the Twin Cities (Arbitron market # 16) since 1923, has only two other radio properties, both also in that market. It has a full complement of TV stations.

Bonneville will retain its radio stations in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Seattle and Salt Lake City as well as KSL-TV there. Hubbard hasn’t owned radio stations outside the Twin Cities since it sold KOB (AM/FM), Albuquerque, to Citadel several years ago.

An Instant Radio Group

Hubbard’s acquisition of the Bonneville package makes it, in one stroke, a major, though not a mega-, radio group. The company is creating Hubbard Radio, which will be chaired by current Hubbard boss Ginny Hubbard Morris. From owning KSTP AM/FM and KTMY (FM) only, the new group will pick up four stations in St. Louis, six in Washington, three in Chicago and four in Cincinnati – 17 new properties. Here’s the list:

Chicago (ARB # 3)

WDRV/WWDV (FM)

WILV (FM)

WTLX (FM)

Washington, DC (ARB # 9)

WTOP (AM/FM)

WTLP (FM)

WWWT (FM)

WFED (AM)

WWFD (AM)

St. Louis (ARB # 21)

WIL (FM)

WXOS (FM)

WARH (FM)

KZQZ (AM)

Cincinnati (ARB # 28)

WREW (FM)
WYGY (FM)

WKRQ (FM)

WUBE (FM)

Why The Deal Makes Sense

Many industry eyeballs will be watching for details on this transaction, which is the first major radio deal of 2011.

Radio station trading has been at a virtual standstill for at least three years, as any starving broker can tell you. One big question, of course, has been when the ice will break, especially in large and major markets. The other key question has been: What will the multiples be? Radio & Television Business Report says that in this transaction it may be eight times broadcast cash flow, which is what most buyers and sellers are talking about these days.

Hubbard runs a high-class, very professional operation which has always been smart with its money. The President of another major market group told me: “Hubbard, like Bonneville, is an excellent broadcaster with strong ties to their community. Their attention to ‘localism’ including live, local talent is very good for radio and bodes well for its future. I hope this becomes a trend as opposed to the cookie cutter, cost efficient models that have been adopted by many of our country’s largest radio media companies.”

Hubbard wasn’t a player in the last big wave of radio consolidation because it was starting up a satellite TV business, which later sold to Direct TV in a deal valued at $1.6 billion. So there was plenty of cash for this deal. Hubbard is also a mature operation, which is reflected in the stations it’s buying. Several are either at or near the top of their market rankings. They’re all competitive. This was no pig-in-a-poke numbers grab.

A major reason why this deal makes sense is that Hubbard is buying proven assets all the way through. Reportedly, there are no significant changes planned for any of the stations. Bonneville’s top radio hands are going along with the deal, too. CEO Bruce Reese and COO Drew Horowitz and their staff will soon be drawing their paychecks from Hubbard Radio.

Looking Through A Long Lens

Ginny Hubbard Morris shares the DNA of a great broadcasting pioneer, Stanley E. Hubbard, who started KSTP in the Twenties and added KSTP-TV in 1948. So unlike giant mega-merger players and investment bankers, she can take a solid long view of the industry. Hubbard told Radio-TV Business Report: “We believe in the future of radio...We now know that what we all experienced a couple of years ago was related to the recession, not some underlying cracks in the broadcasting industry.”

She added: “Everything that made (radio) a good business in the ‘30s makes it a good business in 2011”.

Expect the Hubbard-Bonneville deal to at least open a lot of group owners’ eyes if not to mark the beginning of a return to healthy station trading this year.

RIGHT AND WRONG WAYS TO FIRE TALENT

YET ANOTHER RECENT EXAMPLE SHOWS MANAGERS HOW NOT TO FIRE AIR PERSONALITIES

Firing air personalities is part of any radio station manager’s job. Most don’t like it. Some, however, take the view that out-of-sight is out-of-mind when hustling fired talent out the door. This can backfire in a big way as recent events prove.

Reasons for firing air talent usually boil down to four favorites:

• Quality and performance issues
• Poor ratings
• Budget problems
• Personal issues

Deciding to fire an announcer is your business. When you do it the way many recent managers have snipped their talent off the payroll, however, it becomes a more universal concern because it can make our industry look foolish. And it can be disastrous to a station’s image.

A SHOW ENDS, A QUICK MEETING AND...GONE

Consider: An announcere who had been on the same station for fifty years is fired. He is walked out of the station by the program director and station owner after his show. And he disappears from their air. But a lot more happened that made the station look like a chump. The upshot in a moment.

Commonly, management fires an announcer with no warning, usually right after he or she gets off the air. Then it’s out the door and gone, a tactic more fit for police states than radio stations. It’s done this way, of course, out of fear that announcers might say something, might be nasty about the management, station, advertisers, whatever. The best way to avoid that, weak managers believe, is to simply make them disappear.

When this happens, I wonder whether the radio station manager ever bothered to form a relationship with the talent involved.

Obviously, if there’s a history of testy relationships, contract squabbles or the talent is just plain crazy there’s a reason for caution. In this case, a quick excision is probably the best way to go.

Usually, though, making a fired air personality disappear is simply the easy way to go. The manager can congratulate himself on what a tough businessperson he is or tell herself “Well, it had to be and I took care of it and that’s that.” Really? Are you aware that you have at least a few listeners who may not share your opinion? What about them? And what about the image of your station in the community?

Radio station managers who have formed decent relationships with talent who've been on their air for more than a few months have made an investment in that personality, one of time, resources and community image. If you can’t afford that talent anymore or he won’t fit in with a format change or you just want to “go in a new direction” (a phrase that should be eliminated from the English language), you need to show enough class and professionalism to do it right.

HOW A DEPARTURE CAN MAKE EVERYONE FEEL OKAY

Assuming no hard feelings between you and the soon-to-be-departed personality it isn’t hard to do a departure right. You just have to want to. Here's what you need:

First: a frank talk with the talent about when and why the move is taking place. No debating. Just facts. And in a businesslike atmosphere.

Second: a witness and a written agreement so there are absolutely no misunderstandings.

Third: a formal departure plan. This is where you say, “You can do a last show, say goodbye, reminisce a little if you like. But no disparaging remarks about the station, sponsors, fellow employees or me. If you play nice, here’s a severance package. If you don’t, you lose it. Okay? Cool. Sign here.” One page, one paragraph, nice and clean.

Then everyone knows what’s going to happen, rewards and consequences are dealt with and the personality’s final day can go quite smoothly.

OR THIS CAN HAPPEN

I don’t know the people or backstory involved at the station that bounced the fifty-years-on-the-air announcer out the door – but I do know what happened next:

• A competitor gave him a morning in which to do a final show on their station
• Another competitor held a day-long celebration event for him
• He’s so popular in the community that there’s talk of running him for office
• All of these were well covered by local newspaper and TV

How you fire on-air talent really comes down to how you view them in the first place. If you’re the type who doesn’t want your air personalities to get “too big” or looks at them as budget-challenging ego problems, you’re always going to have trouble. If you look at them as talented, valuable employees who represent your station to the public then you’ll be creative – and humane – if you have to replace them.

But don’t break your arm parting yourself on the back if you simply hustle fired talent out the door. As noted above, that can bite you back hard and fast.

HOW NEW LPFM ACT WILL AFFECT YOUR MARKET

THEY MAY BE SMALL – AND NON-COMMERCIAL – BUT DON’T IGNORE THE NEW KIDS WHEN THEY COME TO PLAY

President Obama’s signing last week of the Local Community Radio Act means you’re likely to have new radio competition regardless of your market size. Before you dismiss Low-Power FM (LPFM) stations as “Amateur Night at the Bijou”, consider this: All those volunteer program hosts will be talking about local issues, local music, local people. How often does any of that happen on your stations?

Prometheus Radio Project, the national community radio organization, wanted only one thing from the Act: elimination of third-adjacency protection of full-power FM stations. They got that. Now, LPFMs can be as close as two “clicks” from your frequency.

But they got more:

• LPFMs and translators will now exist as equals as far as interference is concerned. Whichever one was there first has to solve any interference problems between the two

• The FCC can now also issue waivers to LPFMs that don’t meet the minimum protection standards but can be shown through modern measurement methods to not create interference (for instance, if there’s a mountain between the LPFM and a full-power station)

• The new Act could have speedy legs if FCC Chairman Julius Genechowski’s promise to “take swift action to open the dial to new low-power radio stations” has any meat to it.

All of which means you’re going to have company – and, believe it or not, competition – from micro-broadcasters sooner or later.

Why Bother About the Pipsqueaks?

Sure, a new LPFM might have a range of five miles with a strong wind. And underwriting rates are unlikely to put a serious squeeze on ad dollars in your market. So why bother to do anything more than send them a nice plant and a “Welcome To Town” card (if that) when they fire up their little transmitters?

Because if you’ve paid attention to what LPFM broadcasters have been up to over the last few years, you’ve noticed that they do a lot of interesting things. Things that local broadcasters used to do but often don’t anymore.

Such as:

Remotes – from anything and everything

Where local-market radio used to originate coverage of parades, meetings, Memorial Day ceremonies and the opening of the municipal swimming pool, satellite feeds have taken over. Listeners used to enjoy those broadcasts and advertisers used to sponsor them. They still do – but not on full-power commercial radio.

Discussions of community issues

LPFM stations are far more than just outlets where home-brew program hosts can play their rap or bluegrass or progressive rock records (yes, records sometimes). Many provide the only divergent voices in their communities by organizing and airing debates, round-table discussions and extended coverage of all sorts of events and issues.

Being a local resource – for everything

You can find many LPFM stations that broadcast want ads, even personals, along with swap-and-trade shows and public service announcements by the bucket. Listeners may not stay with an LPFM all day and night but since most thrive on variety, they’re going to attract audiences that crave something original, different, fresh on the radio. Scarce commodities on many full-power stations.

Giving a voice to minorities

Lots of LPFM stations reach out to minority audiences, many of which are underserved or have never been served at all locally. Each of these constitutes a community-within-a-community and the ties that bind are incredibly strong.

Making celebrities out of everyday folks

How many program hosts does it take to run an LPFM? A dozen? Twenty? For many, it’s even more than that. And what they lack in polish and professionalism (traits they often achieve with surprising speed, by the way) they make up for with freshness and localism.

The FCC’s Genechowski also remarked that, “Low-power FM stations are small but they make a giant contribution to local community programming”.

Now, I don’t envision squadrons of tiny LPFM transmitters rising up to overwhelm your stations and take over your market. I do think well-run low-power community stations – the kind we’re about to see a lot more of – can put a serious dent in your image as a local broadcaster if you don’t take them seriously.

GIFFORDS SHOOTING: WAKEUP CALL FOR RADIO NEWS

WHY RADIO NEWS, NOT POLITICS, NEEDS A HOUSE CLEANING

Today, due to the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson over the weekend, I’m preempting the usual Monday Sales Blast to provide updated coverage on the state of radio news. We’ll sell stuff again next Monday.

I live and work in Arizona. Like most residents, I’m shocked and saddened by the assassination attempt Saturday against Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the mass shooting that ensued, leaving six dead. I’m a broadcast journalist, too, which means I’m also appalled by the sloppiness that characterized some of the coverage of the shooting. And of the scarcity of coverage of ANY kind on radio.

She’s Dead. No, Wait – She’s Alive

Several major national media outlets reported within hours of the Tucson shooting that Giffords was dead. A couple of others didn’t even get her name right. On them, she was “Gifford” (like Cathy Lee), not Giffords, like the Congresswoman who’s fighting for her life.  A journalist friend reminded me of the time during the hours following the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan when ABC-TV anchor Frank Reynolds snapped at his producers to get the facts straight before they gave them to him to report on the air. He was right to do so but the need should never have arisen.

My grandfather was a newspaper editor. I have newsmen on both sides of my family. So I learned early on the axiom expressed by Rudyard Kipling, the one that every journalist of every stripe ought to know and practice automatically:

I have Six Honest Serving-Men

They taught me all I knew;

Their names are What and Where and When

And Why and How and Who

Some of those famous “Six W’s” got lost in the coverage surrounding the Giffords shooting. 

How Radio News Misplayed the Giffords Shooting

Here’s how I found out about the shootings in Tucson: By hearing a phone report on my local NPR station.

Here’s how my teenaged daughter heard about it: from postings on Facebook. She attends the University of Arizona in Tucson so there was naturally quite a bit of interest from fellow Wildcats. Especially since the attack took place within miles of her dorm and Congresswoman Giffords, along with some other victims, was taken to University Hospital, about a five-minute walk away.

It's disturbing enough that this is how many people get their news. What we have to do is provide accurate, reliable information for everyone else.

From the moment the shots were fired – about 10:10 on Saturday morning – radio stations in Phoenix and Tucson scrambled to figure out how to cover the story. Most, it seems, settled for not covering it at all. When I scanned the dial around 11:00. I heard music, commercials and network programming. It wasn’t until over an hour later that a couple of stations began to offer some news. This was especially trying since the aforementioned national media – The New York Times and NPR, among others – reported initially that Giffords had died. Where was the fact checking? The attribution?

My Journalism 54 professor must be squirming in his grave with rage.

One of the aspects of radio news coverage of the shootings that I found particularly irksome was the extent to which radio talk show hosts took over coverage of the story. Several did try to get the facts straight or at least to put people on the air who could tell the story.  But in almost every case, I heard talk hosts doing their usual shtick: arguing, interrupting callers and each other and going for the sensational angle. The actual facts seemed to take second place to the usual listen-to-me-I’m-outrageous acts that are the lifeblood of many talk stations.

That may be entertaining to some listeners but it isn’t news.

We have enough issues in Arizona. The political air is already rancid at times and an ABC TV anchor wasn’t far off in referring to the climate of public debate here as “poisonous”. But this isn’t about finger-pointing and name-calling. It’s about how local radio handles breaking news – or even if it does.

Think for a moment: there are plenty of whack-jobs out there with weapons. What if a Congressman or other politician – none of whom routinely have security assistance – were gunned down in your market. If you have a news person or news staff, are call trees and other emergency coverage systems in place to jump on the story? Do your talk hosts have the good sense to ride with the story instead of their egos for a day or so? How about your deejays: can they handle sensitive breaking news intelligently if it isn’t framed by liners and format clocks?

Even more challenging in this era of network programming and voice-tracked music radio: What if something like this happened on a weekend, as it did in Tucson? Who you gonna call?

If you can’t handle a tough breaking story like the Giffords assassination attempt, listeners will find their news somewhere. Which means television. The Internet. Their cell phones. Anywhere but on your stations.

The shootings in Tucson provide a living textbook for journalism students in 2011. They should also provide a wakeup call to radio station managers that hot news, big news, can and does break at any time, even on weekends. How your stations respond can make or break you as a trusted community resource.

HOPE FOR ALL BECAUSE OF HOMELESS “GOLDEN VOICE”

IT HAPPENED FOR TED WILLIAMS; IT COULD HAPPEN FOR ANY OF US

If, like me, you’ve been thrilled by the good fortune that has suddenly cascaded upon Ted Williams, the homeless man with the throat painted in gold in Columbus, GOOD. Many skilled radio professionals are out of work and some have been for a long time. Perhaps now, at the start of the  year, is a perfect time to either recall or to understand for the first time that something fantastic could happen for you, too – any time.

I know what I’m talking about. I’ve been blessed to be given a second chance in my profession, too. That time, it resulted in the job of a lifetime – up to then.  Right now, I’m searching for and confidently expecting yet another “second chance”. You might be in the same situation. We need it. We deserve it. The trick is to be absolutely certain that it WILL happen for us. Because call it what you want, the power that surrounds us is all for the good and it is unlimited.

Not to go all New Age on you here but this belief in the abundance of the universe really does work. (New Age is a terrible term, too, since this belief goes back to the dawn of time. However...)

I’m writing about second chances today because so many radio professionals need one. I don’t believe the phrase is accurate, by the way. There are PLENTY of chances. Let’s call them ADDITIONAL chances instead of second chances, which implies that there might be only two. One thing I know from personal experience is that there is no limit – none whatever – on Additional Chances. Only on our belief that they could exist for us.

Amid all the reportage surrounding the Ted Williams story this week was a little piece on TV about his ex-wife. I mean, the guy has had a full life – way too full, by his own admission – as well as a wife and six kids. She remarked that only last Sunday in church, the sermon was about – go ahead, guess – second chances. The minister asked “Who would you pray for to get another chance?”

His ex-wife’s answer, and that of her current husband: “Ted”.

I’ll borrow that question for today’s column: Who would you pray for to get another chance?

We all know one or more radio pros who desperately need another shot at the business right now. I’ve just been in touch with one of the top air personalities I’ve ever heard, a thoroughly talented broadcaster and a good guy. He’s on the beach simply because an employer reached too high and wound up not being able to do what he planned. Thanks and so long.

Frankly, I’m in the same boat.

More than anyone else, those of us who have earned a crust for a few years in broadcasting know that great talent can wind up unemployed – even in desperate straits – through no fault of their own. This business has a long, bitter history of discarding its best and brightest. Those who make it back again and again have what a long-ago writer called That Something Within: a core belief that not only is great abundance available to you – but that you deserve it.

It’s hard to keep a grip on that, I know. But it works and it works because it’s true.

I’m excited about what’s ahead for you. For me, too. Because it’s going to be terrific and it’s happening right now, whether we realize it or not.

If you need an amazing voice, Ted Williams is your man.

If you could use a terrific morning drive personality, I can steer you straight to a couple of the best you’ll ever meet.

And if you need a strong radio station manager well, humbly, I happen to know one of those. (He doubles in play-by-play, too!)

Most of all, if you’re reluctantly basking with thousands “on the beach” right now, I strongly urge you to reach inside and find That Something Within that reassures you that you are very, very good at what you do. That not a second chance but Another Chance from an unlimited supply is out there for you right now.

Most of all that, like silken-throated Ted Williams in Ohio, no matter what lies behind you, you deserve to survive and thrive right now. And you will if you BELIEVE that you will.

NEXT: 3-D RADIO – SAY WHAT?

WHY THE BBC’s NEW TECH GIVES FRESH ENERGY TO RADIO RESEARCH

Okay, radio rangers, here’s a new tech term to know and share: AMBISONICS. It's a system for broadcasting radio in 3-D and yes, they've made it work in Britain. Just when much of the broadcast world is either deploying or grappling with HD radio, along comes a real live way to broadcast not in two dimensions but in three. Does this mean you need a hole in the top of your head to hear it? No, but you might need one in the ceiling of your car.

Before I proceed, please note the date of this column – specifically that it is NOT April 1^st. Although some of this might reek of an April Fool’s gag, it’s all real. And just wacky enough to have come from our broadcasting buddies in Britain.

I got this lead from a mention in Larry Shannon's excellent industry blog, Radio-TV Daily News. If you aren't already on Larry's daily mailing list, jump aboard NOW . There's no better source for a wide variety of radio news and insight.

A recent article in The Daily Telegraph, one of Britain’s leading newspapers, reports that an experimental unit of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has already demonstrated its Ambisonics system of 3-D radio. First reports are impressive. Whether the new technology has any application for real-world radio is another matter.

Toto, We’re Not In Stereo Anymore

Imagine yourself in a car with music or talk on the radio. You have your basic left-right stereo speaker configuration. In many vehicles, there’s also a front-rear mix control. However you blend them, you still get one thing: two-channel stereo.

Very Sixties.

Now imagine that a third dimension in sound appears – above your head. That’s where the BBC system places the third speaker. The results, the report claims, are something special: a whole new way to experience broadcast audio.

For the demo, a memorable sound effects-heavy scene from The Wizard of Oz was produced for radio using the new 3-D system. According to The Telegraph, the 3-D transmission “makes music sound impressive (but) it’s most revelatory for drama...the tornado scene, with the wind swirling towards Dorothy’s house, took on a new atmosphere”.

The concept of radio in 3-D would seem best suited to automobiles, where it’s a lot easier to mount a speaker overhead than in, say, your family room.

How It Works

I’ll just quote The Daily Telegraph article:

The system uses more channels and so is able to pipe sound to more speakers independently. Although it requires new ways of initially recording sound, it can also be mixed from existing recordings. The result is an advance that does not require rewiring of the radio process and so could, if the BBC chose, be implemented over the Internet.

Okay...

What I think that means is that you might see such a technology deployed

in non-broadcast media first (or exclusively). And with the approach of Internet in car radios, that makes something like 3-D radio a very real possibility.

Bigger Picture: Radio Is Pushing Technological Boundaries Again

The BBC points out that the wider significance of its dance with 3-D radio is that radio is back in the pushing-the-tech-envelope business. That’s a good thing. With DAB iffy in some countries and outright stalled in others, television and new media take the prizes for most recent innovations.

As the BBC’s audio guru, Tim Davie, remarks: “It’s vital we plug radio (back) into the landscape of innovation."

It may be years before we see any meaningful rollout of 3-D radio. It could have a haphazard life like HD or an extended twilight a la AM stereo. It could also fall into the category of gimcrack tech, the likes of Quad FM. What I like about the BBC’s experiments with 3-D radio – and hardly any organization holds the record for more innovative work than the “Beeb” – is that fresh thinking should always be welcome in radio.

Sometimes, it takes new thinking like the BBC's Ambionics 3-D radio system to remind us of that.

ESPN/RON FRANKLIN: CAUTION LIGHT FOR BROADCASTERS

CONSIDER YOUR WORKPLACE CULTURE IN LIGHT OF ESPN’S "INAPPROPRIATE REMARKS" BLOW-UP

The public blow-up of ESPN play-by-play announcer Ron Franklin’s image – again – should have radio station managers very much on the alert for similar inappropriate behavior in their operations. Franklin is in the spotlight for a verbal exchange with a female reporter during an ESPN game-day production meeting last weekend. If reports of his remarks are accurate – and so far, they haven’t been denied – they point up the sexism that still exists in many businesses. As operators of federally-licensed facilities, we can ill-afford to let it linger in ours.

Over many years as a TV and radio play-by-play announcer (including events for ESPN) I have partnered with a number of female reporters, sideline contributors, production personnel and on-air partners. I value the woman who was my season-long on-air partner on Fox and enjoyed working with a number of other female co-conspirators on other broadcasts. All were professional, most were nice and even if they hadn’t been, I’m not wired to take sexist potshots at them. I firmly believe most other play-by-play guys are the same.

Naturally, there are a few who didn’t get the memo. Franklin now swims in the same stew as Navy Captain Owen Honors, the former Top Gun pilot who is now also the former captain of the nuclear carrier Enterprise following disclosure of several videos made abord ship that, at minimum, call his judgement concerning gender issues into question.

From a radio station manager’s perspective, the Franklin/ESPN mess serves as a big fat flashing WARNING light: This is 2011. The girls are just as smart – if not smarter – than the boys. And they won’t play nice if you’re going to be a sexist clod. OR allow those who work for you to slip that kind of misbehavior under your radar screen.

Which means that this applies to female managers, too. I’ve seen as much sexist behavior at radio stations run by women as by men. It isn’t rampant by any means but it exists, probably for the same reasons it happens at male-run operations: the boss is simply too busy and trusts his or her employees to act like grownups around each other.

It would be nice if that would reliably happen.

The Challenge: Your Employees Are Who They Are – Period

But here’s the thing: you can’t control how people were raised. Most child psychologists will tell you that an individual is pretty much imprinted for the long run by the time he or she is seven. Even younger. Which means that by the time you get ‘em, your employees are fully-formed class acts or confirmed morons.

What makes it more of a challenge for a radio station manager is that we often hire people for certain on-air roles. Could be the “giggle girl” on the morning show, the sex kitten who heats it up at night, even the overtly gay character who’s part of a morning or afternoon drive zoo. Those are essentially actors playing roles. In real life, they must be treated as professionals and not subjected to bias in any way.

I don’t believe you as a manager will reform confirmed gender-idiots any more than you can re-mold a racist. Or that you should waste your time trying. However revolting those attitudes may be, people are people. It’s rare to find one who will readily shed the scales of prejudice.

What Managers Can and MUST Say To Those Who Don’t Get It

But you can and must lead. You are the boss. When employees are drawing pay from your company, you have not only the right but the obligation to impose and ruthlessly enforce these three policies:

• Employees will engage in ZERO behavior that in any way insults or denigrates anyone on the basis of gender, appearance, race or anything else

• As the manager of this radio station I will not permit you to endanger my business or my federal license by such behavior

• Leading by example, I will immediately bounce out the door anyone who won’t play like a mature grownup

Prohibiting snarky comments about other people isn’t simply good business policy. It is morally high ground you must take. Because not only is it the right way to manage a radio station – it’s also the law.

It will be interesting to see how the ESPN/Ron Franklin situation plays itself out. Hopefully the network will realize that this isn’t a case of being Politically Correct but of being a responsible broadcaster. That would be a strong example to set.

HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN THE NEW YEAR

WHAT YOU MUST DO TO MOVE AHEAD IN 2011

This is going to be a terrific year for radio, much better than its naysayers care to believe. That will be especially true for radio station managers and owners who embrace the new realities of radio life. It isn’t about tightening up the morning show, tweaking the music or cleaning up your interns so remotes don’t resemble college radio outings. Happily, it’s all about things you can directly implement and manage.

THE ONE THING YOU CAN’T DO: LOOK BACK

Hey, I love history. We can learn a lot from it. But when it comes to financial performance, I can’t think of a year when year-over-year numbers are more meaningless than they are right now. After three years of battling a recession-addled economy, past sales figures tell us only one thing: this has to get better.

While it’s always tempting for a manager to base budgets and goals on previous-year numbers, we need to do better than that in 2011. This is a time for a zero-base look at budgets and expectations – paring everything down to the bones then adding, first, what we need and second, what will give us extra muscle in moving our stations forward. That’s never a bad idea; this year, it’s just about required.

Another way that looking back on the least three years won’t help us is in the confidence department. Your properties may have behaved superbly. Probably, they didn’t. Most likely, you were at least in a holding pattern if not worse. So let’s not give in to doom-and-gloom by excessive archaeology into recent financials.

Instead, let’s concentrate on where we go now.

FOUR TRAITS OF RADIO MARKET DOMINATORS IN 2011

Regardless of your market size, you want solid traction to get going in the new year. More than ever, these four things will get you there:

Get A Grip On New Media – So you have a website. So what? It needs to be valuable to your listeners and advertisers or it’s nothing more than something you checked off a to-do list. Listeners don’t care about your air personalities’ favorite movies or what the national group owner supplies that might be interesting to website visitors. You need to provide a reason for listeners to visit your website every day – or they won’t.

I’ll talk more about winning radio station websites soon. For now, look at your website home page like a listener would. Anything interesting? Valuable? Funny? Or do you have to register, click several times and generally wade through meaningless junk to find what you want?

Apply PPM Tactics Even If Your Market Isn’t Rated

One of the big lessons we’re learning from Arbitron’s PPM ratings system is that air personalities need to look at every segment of each hour as equally important. That means spreading good content throughout the hour. It also means get to the point without lengthy lead-ins.

Gone are the days when we load up the first quarter-hour with the big stuff and plan every major bit or guest for the 7:20 AM segment. Listeners, we are discovering, don’t listen that way. So we had better not be programming that way.

Provide Compelling Local Content

Make sure everything on your air has at least some local flavor. Yes, if you’re a talk station or employ another format that relies heavily on satellite programming, much of the day is beyond your control. But it’s still your station and your listeners live in your market, not New York or Washington or L.A.

This means providing something other than canned weather updates without current temps. Disembodied voices intoning “community calendars” and other content. Celebrity gossip instead of local news. This is the year you have to do it differently.

Build and Keep A Stable Sales Force

In my best-selling book, The Zero Turnover Sales Force – conveniently on sale now at your local Barnes & Noble or Borders or, if they’re sold out, at online at Amazon.com – I offer many ways of building and keeping a sales team that succeeds in part because managers aren’t constantly recruiting, training and ramping up new people. Buy a copy, for cryin’ out loud. What are you, cheap? Okay, trade it out. I’m game.

One important point is that local business people won’t tell their story to the salesperson of the week. When your staff is stable it builds relationships with clients and prospects and avoids meaningless cold calling. If a key requirement of a sales job applicant at your station is that he or she has been born. you need to look deeper and hire better. There is an enormous payoff to having a stable sales force.

You know what I wish for you: An incredible, profitable, highly satisfying New Year. Join me here regularly and I’ll share insights that will help you get there.

NEW YEAR’S EVE RADIO IN A PARKING LOT

HOW A STRONG ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BRIGHTENED A YOUNG JOCK’S LONELY NIGHT

This is a personal story. I include it here because it shows how a top salesperson should relate not only to a strong client but to an air personality as well. It’s about a cold New Year’s Eve in a Midwest capital city. Yours truly was on the air, doing the ubiquitous end-of-year countdown show. Nothing unusual about that except for the locale: I was broadcasting from a converted camping trailer in an office building’s parking lot.

Here’s why: The station where I was night jock and weekend play-by-play announcer had been sold. It planned to move into new digs in a nice downtown office building and the remodeling had been underway for some weeks when it became clear that we would have to vacate the old building – owned by our former partner, a TV station – before the studio suite in the new place would be finished. What to do? Borrow a remote trailer from a sister station in another market, tow it up to our city, plop it into a corner of the parking lot and wire that baby up.

Welcome To Radio Siberia

The little vehicle was nothing more than a camping trailer that had been gutted and re-purposed for remote broadcasts. I think our new sister station had used it for week-long broadcasts from its state fair. The door opened into a room that housed the remote equipment rack and a counter where the newscaster did his reports.

Across the glass from him was the microscopic control room. To enter, you had to open a door, ease in, then shut it carefully. No visitors, either: there was room for exactly one person. This little studio, which was modestly soundproofed, sported a five-pot Gates Ambassador control board, two Gates turntables and an ITC three-deck cart machine.

Everything else happened across the windy parking lot, inside the building. The newsroom was up and running. A make-shift production room was in there, too, along with executive and sales offices. And the restrooms.

We rarely received visitors in our little corner of Siberia. A news dude would trudge out once an hour and the chief engineer, a young wire-twister who didn’t trust any announcer for any  reason, peered in from time to time to see if we were still on the air. Otherwise, it was actually rather peaceful.  Except when the winter wind gusted across the open parking lot, which made the trailer rock a little. That was solved early on by anchoring it to the pavement with guys.

Now you have the picture.

The AE, The Veep and the GOOD Stuff

And so we come to this particular New Year’s Eve. I had the 8-1 shift, the top-hits-of-the-year countdown show.  The whole thing had been sold to a single sponsor, a major national convenience store chain. That in itself was a terrific idea. First, the time was hardly premium for most advertisers. Second, only the chain’s numerous metro locations would be open for New Year’s revelers to grab last-minute supplies of beer and snacks.

That’s still a great idea for a New Year’s countdown show sponsorship package.

Here’s where the really important part of this little tale occurs. I was well into the show when the trailer’s door swung open. Since it was always locked for security reasons, this had to be a station employee with a key. Sure enough, in climbed one of our top account executives – and he had a big grin on his face. I squeezed out of the little control room to say hello and he said, “Doug, I have someone I want you to meet.” And he introduced me to another smiling soul, who proved to be the Regional Vice President of the convenience store chain!

I thought it was pretty cool that the two of them, who surely had other things to do on New Year’s Eve, had taken the time to stop by and swap howdies. But then it got even better: the VP and the AE began to bring in bag after bag after bag of stuff from the sponsor's stores: chips, dip, candy, frozen pizza, toilet paper, even loaves of bread and – BEER!

It was all for the staff working on New Year’s Eve during the countdown show. Which meant one news guy and me. He and I later divvied up the goods (I managed to abscond with all the beer) and I happily went home to my apartment in the wee hours for my own little New Year’s party.

The point of this little remembrance is to illustrate how a top salesperson should work with customers. In this case, the AE could have just had some goodies delivered. (Many wouldn't have bothered even with that.) Instead, he had formed such a good relationship with the regional VP that they decided to bring the viands in person. This strengthened their already strong relationship and, of course, it meant the world to a poorly-paid 22-year-old marooned in a trailer in a windy parking lot on New Year’s Eve.

Next time there’s even a question about whether a salesperson should show up at a remote, client event or special program, pull this out as an example of how radio relationships ought to be. And have a wonderful, meaningful, joyous and profitable New Year!

MONDAY: The first Monday Sales Blast of the New Year!

KEEP WAVERING ADVERTISERS ON THE AIR

HERE’S A SHORT LIST OF GREAT REASONS TO KEEP ADVERTISING NOW

What can your salespeople say right now to customers who may be wavering about advertising in the coming weeks? Stay the course and let the others fall behind. Sure, the economy is iffy right now. But local businesses  that maintain and even increase radio buys when their competitors are cutting back often outpace what used to be stiff competition and grab new market share – in any size market.

Get these five key messages across to any advertisers who are on the fence about being on your stations in the first quarter:

FIVE COMPELLING REASONS TO KEEP ADVERTISING

            1.  Advertising has always worked well during recessionary times. You can go back as far as the 1989-1991 recession for some stunning examples of companies that kept advertising – in many cases, increasing their ad budgets – and did much better than companies that didn’t. During that economic downturn, for example, Pizza Hut pumped up its sales 61% and Taco Bell’s sales were up 40%. When many beer brands cut way back on advertising, Coors and Bud Light kept their heads, spent more and each experienced double-digit sales hikes. How about Kraft salad dressing? Figuring more people were going to eat at home, Kraft pumped up its ad budget and catapulted its sales 70 percent.

            Obviously, these are national brands. Does this same thinking make a difference to a small business, even a one-person operation? Sure. Because the logic is the same: Let the competition panic and apply a slash-and-burn approach to advertising; local businesses that survive and thrive keep advertising – and do more of it.

           

2. When the competition cuts back, your message booms through.  Gee, fewer ads from your competitors? That’s…too…bad. Where their commercials used to run regularly on radio only yours are heard now. Where they might even have outspent you, you’re now running ads more frequently. They’re on the sidelines – you’re carrying the ball. It’s a simple sports metaphor but it exactly describes your forward-thinking business activity and their wait-it-out-and-hope-for-the-best thinking.

            3. Advertising reassures your customers, both old and new. Every day it seems we hear of a well-known company or product or brand simply disappearing. It’s happened in your area. Businesses that might have been around for generations had to fold their tents and slip away into the economic night. Not you, though. Sure, you’ve had to keep a firm grip on expenses and rethink almost everything you do. But by keeping your message on the air you’re saying to your customers and prospects, ”I’m here today. I’ll be in business tomorrow. Come to me and I will absolutely be here to take care of you”. Confidence has an enormous impact on buying decisions when money is tight. Your continued advertising campaign tells people they can rely on you, no matter what happens to those other guys.

            4. Consistency creates familiarity. Hit-and-miss never works in advertising. Never has, never will. That’s Advertising 101 and has been for a couple of centuries. Now, though, there’s a new urgency that speaks in favor of consistently putting your message out there. With the broad range of choices assailing your customers’ eyes and ears today it’s more important than ever to realize one thing: attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. 

Your advertising needs to be available to those over-stimulated eyes and ears all the time. 

            5. Community involvement strengthens your message.  Sponsor whatever you can: basketball games, concerts, community celebrations. Everyone needs money, especially when the economy is rocky, and civic sponsorships are generally very reasonably priced. When you associate your name with something that’s important in your trading area you not only project a caring image but create enormous good will with the sponsoring organization. You didn’t give up – you contributed.

Suggest to your customers that they contribute their time as well as their money. That doubles the value to both their businesses and the people and events they help.

BUYING A STATION: “McLEOD’S RULE OF THREE”

THREE MUST-HAVE INGREDIENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL STATION PURCHASE

There is nothing simple (or cheap) about buying  a radio station, regardless of its location or financial health. In today’s market plenty of stations are for sale at prices that look inviting. But there’s a trap here for the over-enthusiastic. It will spring if the three most important factors in buying a station are overlooked.

It’s easy for first-time buyers to fall into that trap, too. That’s because, despite the down economy and proliferation of new media, the prospect of owning a radio station still carries a certain glamour, a bit of sizzle. And why not? When you turn on the station, wonderful sounds gush forth. It’s cool. Which is why when potential partners—especially non-broadcasters—consider joining a station buying group, one of the first questions they ask is: “What is your format going to be?”

My answer: “I don’t know and I don’t care”.

Establishing a station’s brand with its format is certainly important. But in the early stages of the hunt, it really doesn’t matter very much because format is one of those ingredients that you can always change if it doesn’t work.

There are three elements in the success of any station that are true make-or-break items. Two of them can be changed but not without large investments in time, money and blood pressure. The first, though, needs to be in place up front.

I call them “McLeod’s Rule of Three”.

The One-Two-Three Punch That Makes Or Breaks A Radio Station

Here are the three most important factors to consider when looking for a radio station. If these aren’t covered you’ll be looking up at the world from the bottom of a very deep well:

• MONEY
• MARKET
• FACILITY

Let’s take a look.

1.  Money

Fact: You’re going to need more money than you think you will. Maybe a lot more. It’s the nature of business acquisitions that expenses will pop up everywhere that were not apparent at first glance. This will be the briefest Rule of Three because it’s pretty black-and-white. Either you have a well-thought-out business plan or you don’t. Either you have more money than you think you’ll need or you don’t.

That said, there’s always the question: How much is enough?

Unless the station(s) you want to buy are pumping out solid cash flow month after month and their market looks like it can sustain and grow that level of business, the expenses of buying the station are just part of what’s needed. There are also operating and capital expenses. Simply put, operating expenses keep the lights turned on and people in the building. The capital budget is for equipment, construction and other things that will sustain and improve your business.

Twice the money you think you’ll need is not extravagant. Even more is prudent.

2.  Market

This means the size, location and economic health of the station’s primary service area. But it’s more than that. Put bluntly, there might be a reason you can afford to even look at that station right now, which is probably that it isn’t performing well financially. Does that mean it’s under-performing? Or is that the best it can do?

Knowing the difference can make you very happy or very broke.

If the station is under-performing financially, does its market-of-license have the potential for a turnaround? You’ll never perform more important due diligence than this. In an economic slowdown it’s more important than ever to ask hard questions and take long looks at any market you’re interested in entering.

You have to dig for the info you need. The local Chamber of Commerce is not your friend here. For it, the area is a corker of a business opportunity with a wonderful outlook—and did we mention the schools? Grab some brochures if you like but look elsewhere for hard, actionable economic information.

Many states have economic development departments or something similar. They’re good sources of hard information concerning an area’s population trends, spending habits and capabilities and employment. The U.S. Census Bureau is a fount of valuable demographic statistics.

Get your hands on as much information as you can. Dig deep. It’s vital to get a firm grip on how a market is trending. Yes, times may be a bit lean right now in the local business community but how should they be in three years? In five? In a decade? That info is at the heart of your business plan. (You do have a formal business plan, right?)

Another key element in deciding on a market’s viability is good old boots-on-the-ground personal observation. I know investors who only want numbers and don’t want to be distracted by how the place looks, how well the business district and residential neighborhoods are kept up, whether there are hiking trails or lakes. Not me. I want to meet the place in person.

A few days on stakeout duty will tell you a lot about your potential market. If the business district is attractive, it means a strong shopping environment. Remember, you’re going to live or die on that retail community. Chatting with business owners will tell you a lot, too. If they’re talking about the future in positive terms, that means a lot. Ditto if it’s nothing but gloom, despair and agony.

If the market doesn’t look like it will produce the level of business you need, there is always the possibility of upgrading or moving to a nearby market that’s healthier. It takes time, money, engineering and the FCC but it can sometimes be done.

Which brings us to:

3.  Facility

How well does your proposed radio property cover the market? If your stick is close or your wattage robust, you’re good.

If, like lots of FM licenses that have been granted over the last thirty years, your City of License is either a podunk hamlet or nothing more than GPS coordinates, your challenge is greater. Here is where a consulting engineer is worth his weight in gold. Same for actual in-person monitoring. Don’t trust coverage maps. Many operators have found that just because their signal contours appeared on a coverage map didn’t mean they actually had meaningful market penetration.

Simple rule: Go there and listen. If your FM signal is “fringe” or your AM swims in static, you’re going to struggle against all the nice clean signals in your market.

BUT THE BROKER SAYS THE STATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED!

Great—probably. A number of stations on the market now are listed as having recent upgrades to transmission facilities, studios or both. That’s a common way to improve a property’s value at sale time. Upgrades could save you time and money. OR create headaches if they aren’t done right. There’s a reason a station under-performs. It could be the economy. It could also be the current ownership!

Apply “McLeod’s Rule of Three” to any station acquisition you’re considering. There are good deals out there right now. In fact, this is one of the best times in history to buy a radio station IF you know the right questions to ask going in.

It’s like when a savvy investor asks a broker, “Okay, this stock is cheap. But is it a bargain? Does it have value?” You can always play with the format later on.

MONDAY on The Monday Sales Blast: How your salespeople could close a sale even though they’re doing a Client Needs Analysis!