Innholdsfortegnelse for December 17, 2018 i Radio Ink Magazine

As we head toward the end of the year, many are burning the midnight oil, poring over budget numbers on spreadsheets, and prepping for how those numbers are going to be made in the coming year. May I suggest that it might also be time to pull out that dog-eared list of thought starters and bullet point reminders that have possibly been sitting on the shelf or filed away on laptops since your first day at the station? Ideas that can still serve to shake the cobwebs out of a numbers-numbed cerebrum? Ideas that can help reinforce some very basic but strategically sound habits that lead to sales success? For even as the industry continues to evolve and grow, the saying that “what’s old is new again” still bears heeding,…

If every employee were hardworking, organized, driven, unselfish, focused, and timely, there really wouldn’t be a need for managers. But that’s not the case! Managers have a very defined role: to keep employees focused, motivated, improving, continuing to do the right things, and producing. You are part motivator, trainer, psychologist, referee, friend, confidant, evaluator, and prison guard! After interviewing 1,000 top salespeople, Steven Martin wrote an article for Harvard Business Review titled “Seven Personality Traits of Top Salespeople.” The traits he listed are: 1. Modesty. Not arrogant, and positions the team as opposed to themselves as a centerpiece to win the account. 2. Conscientiousness. Responsible and reliable, with a strong sense of duty. They take their jobs very seriously and feel deeply responsible for the results. 3. Achievement Orientation. Goal-oriented,…

Surely, you’ve heard them. They’re rampant. Your sales staff hears them every day. Do you believe them? Should you believe them? Should you pay any attention to them? Should your clients and prospects believe them? Do they believe them? Let’s put them under the microscope, and then we can decide. Lie No. 1: “Radio is dead. Nobody listens to radio anymore.” Believe that, and I’ll sell you a bridge in America’s largest city. Let’s start with our friends at Nielsen. The findings are widely published that 93 percent of the U.S population still listens to good old-fashioned, legacy, over-the-air radio. That’s roughly 245 million weekly listeners. Mind you, we are not even including satellite radio — which, by the way, still only has little more than 10 percent of terrestrial…

Few radio formats possess the ability to generate buzz the way Sports radio does. With apologies to music and News/Talk personalities, Sports radio is full of local and national talent who often are recognized as larger-than-life superstars in their local communities. You’re seeing some of those superior performers recognized in this very issue of Radio Ink. When questions need to be asked of key decisionmakers in sports, fans turn to the Sports radio host. If further explanations are required following a critical game or offseason move, fans flock to Sports radio. And if a fan is watching a game and stumbles upon a piece of valuable information, or if they’re triggered and want to get something off their chest, Sports radio gets their phone call. Think about it. What other…

Radio Ink’s most glamorous event, the annual Forecast conference, was held November 14 in New York. Forecast 2019 offered talks and panel discussions on finances and the future, as well as a very special closing conversation between Entercom Chairman/President/CEO David Field and iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman, led by media consultant and former VP of CBS Radio News Harvey Nagler.…

Speaking at an annual meeting of some of the most innovative and successful small-business owners in America, I was handed a series of questions during the problem-solving session. Most of the questions had to do with recurrent frustrations in business. When I saw the group excitedly taking notes, I was a bit surprised. Then it hit me: “I’m a lot older than most of these people, so they haven’t learned these things yet.” If they were glad to hear these solutions, maybe you will be, too. Your work doesn’t always speak for itself. When delivering a script or a fully produced ad, explain what you did and why you did it. Talk about a couple of ideas you considered but rejected, and explain why you rejected those solutions. Only then…

If you’re talking about media research, pretty soon you’ll be talking about Gordon Borrell: Borrell Associates is one of the most trusted sources of trends and forecasts for local media today. Borrell himself started out as a newspaper reporter, then programmed audio for an “audio text” service — and that’s when he became interested in radio. He went on to work as VP of new media for Landmark Communications, helping that company’s media assets get a foothold in new media back in the early ’90s. He soon saw the potential of the Internet, and Landmark put up some of the earliest websites for TV, radio, and newspapers — they even got CBS onto the ’Net. Borrell launched Borrell Associates in 2001, believing there would be a long-term demand for the…

It’s not about who won or lost the game anymore. In the Sports Talk radio world, it’s the platform where diehard-to-casual fans go to vent, to commiserate, and to celebrate their teams. Winning the hearts and minds of fans, and ultimately the market, is the challenge Sports PDs face daily. We have put together a panel of experts who understand the nuances of the format, the subtleties of how to select and motivate talent, and how to create product and content that enhances the bottom line. Here is our panel of sports programming experts: Armen Williams, PD at Bonneville’s 104.3 The Fan and ESPN Denver 1600; Jeff Catlin, PD of Sportsradio 1310/96.7 FM The Ticket and 103.3 FM ESPN and OM of Cumulus Media Dallas; Allan Davis, PD of Entercom’s…

Back in November, at Radio Ink’s Forecast — our annual event at the Harvard Club in New York — one of the speakers predicted that there will be “the biggest ad spend in political history” for the 2020 presidential election, saying there will be a spending increase of 18 to 20 percent. He also highlighted the massive spending in local and state races during the recent midterms. Unfortunately, he said, radio isn’t on anyone’s radar — that money is slated to move into digital. You and I both know the power of radio and how it can reach and persuade people of a political point of view and make great strides in an election, even while some campaigns are spending all their money in other places. But if radio isn’t…

As 2018 ends, we need to ask ourselves the following question: “How was my year?” Were you happy with your performance? Did you exceed your revenue expectations for the year? If you grew your business and beat the market growth, then congratulations! If you fell short of budget expectations, ask yourself what you could do differently to improve your performance. Now is the time to get real with yourself and up your game, because in sales, we must compete at a high level every day to win the business. Below are five steps to up your game and crush your budget expectations! 1. Set a benchmark for new business meetings. How many new meetings do you need to set each week? There are thousands of companies in need of our…

What are your hobbies? I’ve played the drums since I was 11 and am an avid gardener. Who is/was your role model, and why? My father. He was a proud WWII Marine, disciplined, quiet, honest, hard-working, smart, and he loved my mother. By example, he taught me everything I needed to know. What are you reading right now? Impossible to Ignore, by Carmen Simon. Favorite movie? Twelve O’Clock High, with Gregory Peck. Favorite TV show? Cops. Twitter handle? @goborrell Who are the three most interesting people you know (outside your family), and why? Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research known as the most quoted man in the advertising industry. He’s incredibly prolific and is able to churn out fresh insights every single day based on some very solid research.…

This is the seventh year for our local sports talkers list. One thing we’ve learned over the years: in this format, the spoken-word professionals are very consistent. Once they master their craft, in the market and with the teams they are passionate about, they stick around for a long time. That longevity helps them build bigger brands for themselves and stronger ratings and revenue for the stations they work for. It also solidifies the strong local relationships they have with listeners. Our list is not all about ratings, although that has to play a role in how we come up with our final choices. We also set out to recognize hosts in smaller markets, the sports talkers you may not always read about in the headlines but who are working…