Innholdsfortegnelse for December 18, 2017 i Radio Ink Magazine

“And there is no such thing as a no sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you a reason he can’t. Either way, a sale is made. The only question is, who is gonna close? You or him?” — Jim Young (Ben Affleck’s character in Boiler Room) One of the biggest drains of time and energy in broadcast sales is wasting time with elusive decisionmakers who won’t close. Oh, they’ll engage, but ultimately you are never able to close them. And there is a reason they’re not closing. The simple answer is that you have failed to convey value. In other words, you have yet to convince that person, in language that he or she fully…

In August I had the pleasure of spending time with Jim Rome at his studio in Irvine, CA. We taped an episode of the Barrett Sports Media Podcast, and something he said during the course of our conversation stuck with me. While reflecting on his early days in local radio before becoming a national sports radio star, Jim mentioned how important it was to get his mind right and identify what made him unique as he chased his dream of becoming a successful sports radio talk show host. He’d ask himself, “Why me?” “What do I have that no one else does?” “How much am I willing to grind and sacrifice to be great? Before enjoying his first taste of mainstream success, Jim had already prepared himself by developing a…

“Radio can do what some of the other new technologies can’t. We have such creative and fun personalities. We support the community and are in the community.” After nearly 20 years with the company, Linda Vilardo will be stepping down as chief administrative officer at Urban One at the end of this year. Vilardo's name hasn't always been in the news when you read about Urban One, but she's certainly played a big role behind the scenes, advising CEO Alfred Liggins on many of the deals the company has executed. Vilardo started her professional career as a law clerk with a boutique communications firm, ultimately advancing all the way to partner. In 1995 one of her former partners was advising Alfred Liggins and Cathy Hughes on music licensing issues. That…

Never in my lifetime did I hear my dad talk about the past — until one day when we were in the back of a limo, on the way to the cemetery for his father’s burial. When I asked about it, he told me he doesn’t spend a lot of time looking back, and he never wanted to be one of those people who were always looking at the way things used to be. It was a good lesson, and one I have tried to adopt in my life. The year 2017 was an exception, because all of 2017 was the celebration of Radio Ink at 25 years old. It’s been fun looking back at the things that occurred over two and a half decades and fun to go down…

That’s a funny question. I don’t think we have just one major challenge affecting us daily. Some of the challenges that tend to consume my day include, but are not limited to: Keeping radio relevant to clients and media buyers. Cumulus’ “Best Buy and Why” presentation goes a long way toward shoring up the perception of radio. Keeping radio live and local, entertaining and informing the communities that license us. All with more voicetracking, more syndication, and less local staff than ever. Understanding, explaining, and selling the new digital products we have recently taken to market. This is critical if we want to grow our business. Investing in infrastructure and equipment. We have cut budgets for so long and so deep that everything from the building to the equipment is…

Skyview Networks was launched by Ken Thiele and Dave Chamberlain during the 1995-1996 NBA season. Working in conjunction with longtime Phoenix Suns broadcaster Al McCoy, the goal was to get the games broadcast to markets outside Phoenix. McCoy was distributing the games via phone coupler and wanted someone to help him with satellite distribution. Thiele and Chamberlain had just sold their traffic company to Metro Networks. They didn’t know much about satellite delivery, but set out to learn everything they could to address McCoy’s needs. Sixty days later, they were delivering a Suns game via satellite uplink. The company was small, just a handful of employees early on, including Jeanne-Marie Condo, who was hired on to lead the sales effort as the company expanded more and more into the world…

Since the days of the ancient Babylonians, some 4,000 years ago, people have made New Year’s resolutions. Today, most focus on self-improvement, which may account for the dismal success rate, reported to be in the single digits. Perhaps some of the reason for failure stems from too much hope and not enough strategy, too much vision but not enough effort. As humans, we are subject to the frailties of our earthly nature. Dreams are big, but reality and everyday distractions intrude along the road to fulfilling loftier aspirations. The kids get sick, this month’s budget is in the tank, and after days of brainstorming big goals and bright ideas, you turn around and no one is behind you, much less alongside you. The can is kicked down the road. And…

“I was told that repartee heightens the attention of an audience.” “Is this going to be like that time you told me about ambergris?” “What do you mean?” “There I was, minding my own business, when you started telling me how the most expensive perfume in the world comes from whale puke. Like I needed to know that.” “Yes. This is another interesting fact that will broaden your horizons.” “Okay, let’s get this over with. So tell me, what in the name of King-of-the-Sea Poseidon and Chicken-of-the-Sea tuna is repartee?” “Repartee is the banter between interesting characters.” “Great. I appreciate you sharing that with me.” “But I haven’t told you why you need to know.” “I don’t know that I do need to know.” “You need to know.” “For the…

This month’s Innovators and Entrepreneurs focuses on a video technology innovator that works with companies as diverse as TED, the New York Times, Nike, Tesla, Nasdaq, and the Country Music Association. The company is Livestream, and this fast-growing organization is rapidly enabling radio stations in the creation of new content and revenue opportunities. Livestream has long worked with TV stations to stream newscasts live online, but now the company is also providing a new level of content distribution and revenue to radio stations — also through live video. That may seem counterintuitive in an audio medium, but this groundbreaking company is already working with dozens of radio stations. Including both TV and radio, Livestream works with 457 stations in 95 countries, and streams to more than 168 million viewers. Livestream’s…

I first met Skyview President Ken Thiele at CES in January 2014. Soon Ken, EVP/GM Jeanne-Marie Condo, and I were working with our teams to relaunch the ABC Radio business. It was an enormous task, creating a distribution structure and developing a sales strategy that would bring the iconic ABC Radio brand back into the marketplace as a self-syndicator. We launched with 1,000-plus affiliates on January 1, 2015, and today, with Skyview, we are providing news and entertainment programming to more than 1,650 stations. Our revenues have grown steadily, and this summer we extended our exclusive sales and distribution partnership to 2026. I work very closely with Ken and Jeanne-Marie, and I can’t speak highly enough about their integrity and commitment to excellence. We work hard, but we also make…