Innholdsfortegnelse for March 6, 2017 i Radio Ink Magazine

My thick skull often takes decades to learn important lessons, but one lesson has made me more money in the last two years than in the prior five years combined. I’ve moved my business from gradual, incremental income to a tsunami of cash, and in a very short time. It turns out I was the dam holding back that flood of cash, because of that thick skull telling myself, “This isn’t the business I’m in.” Before I share it, please know that your own thick skull will immediately discount the possibilities. Yet if you follow this track, your profits will soar beyond anything you ever imagined. Though I’m only one example, I can tell you that I’ve never seen anything like it. This journey started five years ago, as I…

Michelle Duke’s approach to fostering workplace inclusion combines innovation with inspiration. As vice president of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, she developed a concept for the NABEF continuum of programs, creating a number of successful ones that are helping move the diversity needle in the broadcasting industry. What has been the progress in terms of minority ownership since you joined NABEF in 2005? A lot of work has been done to build the pipeline of women and minority broadcasters who are prepared for station ownership. This year, we will have 289 graduates of our Broadcast Leadership Training program — over 80 percent of whom are women and/or people of color. That leaves access to capital an issue that still needs to be addressed. Recently NAB and the NAB…

Radio Ink: Tell us about your time as VP of programming with Radio One. Hegwood: I was with Radio One for eight years (1995-2001) as the VP of programming and 2007 to 2009 as operations/program manager in Atlanta. An incredible experience. I enjoyed working closely with CEO Alfred Liggins and former COO Mary Catherine Sneed as the company expanded and acquired additional markets. It was very exciting to launch new stations in Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, St. Louis, Detroit, and Los Angeles. I have immense respect for the historic company Radio One has become. Radio Ink: In the late ’90s you started On Top. Hegwood: I formed On Top Communications to focus on owning and operating a few medium- and small-market stations. On Top started with Albany, GA, in 1998. In…

It looks as though 2017 could be a good year for Hispanic-focused broadcaster Spanish Broadcasting System. And good news for one company that owns and operates radio stations in major markets is good news for the radio industry. SBS has been involved in Spanish-language radio since the 1950s, when Pablo Raúl Alarcón Sr. established his first radio station in Cuba. He founded SBS in the United States in 1983, and today it’s the largest Hispanic-controlled radio company in the U.S. Early this year, SBS CEO Raúl Alarcón made the unusual move to announce some preliminary results for 2016, stating that the company had its strongest performance in over a decade. The company was getting set to release actual 2016 results as we went to print with this issue, and of…

1. Use Words That Have Specific Meanings. “The bug moved along the ground, deciding which way it should go.” “The ant crawled between the blades of grass, peeking left and right at every intersection.” Bug is nonspecific. Ant is specific. “Moved along the ground” is mildly specific, but not vivid. “Crawled between the blades of grass” is specific and vivid. 2. Don’t Tell. Show. “Deciding which way it should go,” tells you what the ant is doing. “Peeking left and right at every intersection,” shows you the ant and leads you to conclude that the ant is deciding which way to take. You are, for a moment, seeing through the eyes of the ant. 3. Write Tight and Clean. Short sentences hit harder than longer ones. What I’m doing now…

Radio Ink: Back in 1994, when you won the Radio Wayne, what were you doing at the time? Finley: In 1994 I was one of the principal owners of WKYS-FM in Washington, DC; my partners were the late Bertram M. Lee, the late Ron Brown (former U.S. secretary of commerce), Jim Kelly (former husband of Sharon Pratt Kelly, mayor of Washington, DC), and Michael B. Elefante, an attorney and partner at Hemenway & Barnes. We enjoyed a time when it was meaningful to be the number one-ranked station in audience and revenue, and at an Urban-programmed station in a major market. Radio Ink: What was it like managing radio stations in 1994 compared to what you hear when you talk to friends today? Finley: This was prior to deregulation, when…

Now in its fifth year, our Future African American Leaders in Radio list, as it has in previous years, includes people from every aspect of the business and from all over the country. On the 2017 list you’ll see several trends: Many of the people listed credit their success to having a mentor, many credit their success to a great team that works for them, and many talk about how blessed they are to have advanced in an industry they love. Every member of this list was nominated by a respected peer and voted on by a panel of experienced managers across the industry. Each nominee was asked to respond to an extensive Radio Ink questionnaire that asked them about their passion for the radio industry, why they chose radio…

Is your sales team working the same way radio sales were being run 10 years ago? If so, and you are not getting the results corporate is expecting, there’s a good chance you need to update your sales playbook. “Sales playbook” refers to the rules, guidelines, standards, and best practices you use when presenting your station and selling solutions. When you have a solid playbook, sales-enablement tools, like software that tells you when an e-mail has been opened or when someone downloads a case study from your website, can give you extremely powerful information. And powering your updated playbook with a customer relationship management system (some popular CRMs: Salesforce, Hubspot) will lead to even more success. If you answer “No” or “I don’t know” to most of the following questions,…

After a 13-year run in television marketing and sales management (working for ABC and Multi-Media), Greg Davis made the decision to go out on his own. His original goal was to purchase a television station. But after he couldn’t find a TV station he wanted in Columbus, GA, Davis heard there were radio stations available for purchase in Augusta. “Sales is sales,” he says. “If you can sell television, you can sell radio, and that’s how we got into the business.” In 1986, with the purchase of stations in both Augusta and Columbus, Davis Broadcasting was born. Greg Davis and his wife, Cheryl, started the company 30 years ago, with Greg as the CEO and GM and Cheryl as the operations manager. They are still running the company together today,…

CHARLAMAGNE What are your hobbies (outside of radio)? Comic books, producing television, and writing. Who is/was your role model, and why? I have a few. Howard Stern, Jay Z, Petey Greene, and Steve Harvey — all of these individuals are authentically themselves and have made a living off being themselves. Jay Z, Steve Harvey, and Howard Stern are also great businessmen, which is something you have to be if you really want to make the most of this game. What are you reading right now? I’m currently reading Michael Eric Dyson’s Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America. I’m also constantly proofreading my first book, Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It, which you can preorder now at www.cthabook.com, and it will be available everywhere books…

I’ve spent the last 20 years in the media sales industry. During that time, my career has faced its share of challenges, perhaps none greater than being at a market that was bought and sold six times. We also had eight different general managers going in 10 different directions. During that time, I found myself relying on a set of core principles that helped me realize I was here to stay and that I had a true passion for this business — a passion that has only increased as my career path has taken me to my current position as vice president of sales for iHeartMedia Washington, DC. Even now, I still consider my journey to become a vice president as a work in progress. And time and time again,…