Radio Ink Magazine September 4, 2017

“This is going to make me a ton of money,” said a radio station owner in the Northwest after about 40 minutes on the phone as I explained my system for helping stations make 10 times their current revenue. This man had phoned me after reading a recent editorial about how I managed to hit my annual company budgets this year by March, how I managed to grow the company 300 percent in the last five years, and how it appears I’ll soon have 10-times growth. He’s not the only one who called, but honestly, out of the thousands of people who read the magazine, less than 1 percent inquired about how I did it. In that editorial I stated that this solution was so unique and powerful, it could…

EVP Streamline Publishing parenti@aol.com Early in my radio career, I was a shaggy dog. OK, it was a costume. Fortunately, it was also autumn. Even in milder temperatures, however, the costume was hot and I was grateful to only have to endure that sauna suit for an hourlong ad club reception. And I admit I agreed to do it because I got to go to one of my first media functions. I was young and eager to absorb every bit of radio air I could gasp — even if that air was inside a dog’s head. As a promotion director, I helped marry two cardboard boxes, which resulted in some national press for our station. Later, when I was a sales manager, we commandeered time on the 6 o’clock news…

President Wizard of Ads Inc. roy@wizardofads.com When you’re trying to transfer a thought or a feeling to listeners, the impact of your communication will be determined by the following equation: How big is the thought in your mind, or the feeling in your heart? How quickly can you transfer it? The Law of Impact (or force), documented by Isaac Newton, applies to communication as much as it does to physics: Impact is the product of mass (size and weight) times acceleration (speed). How massive is the thought or feeling? How quickly can you transfer it? Boring people take too long to say too little. Interesting people know what to leave out. If you want to say big things quickly, fill your mind with good poetry and powerful quotes. For as…

A recent episode of ESPN’s 30 for 30 paid tribute to the 30th anniversary of the launch of Sports radio on WFAN and to Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who hosted arguably the most influential radio show in the history of the format. ESPN did a superior job of capturing the beginnings of the format, station, and show. This edition of 30 for 30 was more than just recognition of WFAN’s 30th anniversary or a tribute to Mike & The Mad Dog. The documentary was also a clinic on how to build and develop a tremendous radio program. THE DEVELOPMENT, FAILURES, AND SUCCESS OF SPORTS RADIO The father of Sports radio is Jeff Smulyan, CEO of Emmis Communications. Jeff, who first dreamed of the format in college, is…

Lew Dickey created Cumulus Media 20 years ago, in 1997. In 2015 he was pushed out of the company by its board of directors. The change in command took place as the 2015 Radio Show was launching — in Atlanta, Dickey’s home turf. Board chairman Jeff Marcus was the driving force behind replacing Lew Dickey. As noted in a November 2015 Radio Ink cover story, Marcus, a good friend of Dickey’s at the time, went on a national tour of the company’s stations. Cumulus had been underperforming since the Citadel merger in 2011. Marcus said back then, “We found the ratings in the various radio stations continuing down, not up. We also saw our market share deteriorate, as well as our broadcast cash flow deteriorating. It took a few years of disappointing…

LEGENDARY STATION OF THE YEAR WCBS-AM/New York, NY KNX-AM/Los Angeles, CA WBLS-FM/New York, NY WQHT-FM/New York, NY KIIS-FM/Los Angeles, CA NETWORK/SYNDICATED PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Kim Komando, WestStar Multimedia Entertainment Elvis Duran, Premiere Networks Raul Molina, Sylvia del Valle & Andres Maldonado, Univision Radio Rickey Smiley, Reach Media Sean Hannity, Premiere Networks MAJOR MARKET PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Valentine in the Morning, KBIG-FM/Los Angeles, CA Funkmaster Flex, WQHT-FM/New York, NY Big Boy, KRRL-FM/Los Angeles, CA Raul Brindis, KLTN-FM/Houston, TX Omar “Omarcillo” Ramos, WVIX-FM/Chicago, IL LARGE MARKET PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Linda Lee, WYCD-FM/Detroit, MI The Jason and Deb Show, KROX-FM/Austin, TX Bert Baron, WCTC-AM/New Brunswick, NJ Dave Smiley, WZPL-FM/Greenfield, IN Dave Ryan, KDWB-FM/Richfield, MI MEDIUM MARKET PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR The Hawk & Tom Morning Show, WFBC-FM/Greenville, SC Clovia Lawrence,…