Monday, July 23, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Today's TALKERS magazine
Aurora Tragedy Sparks and Challenges Talk Radio.
There are few events that news/talk radio programmers in the age of cutbacks fear more than a major story that captures the entire nation's consciousness breaking on a weekend when their stations' key stars are off and brokered or syndicated "how-to" shows are on. The Aurora, Colorado movie theater massacre came very close to being such a story, except that it technically broke on a Friday morning, giving weekday hosts the opportunity to at least address it in the early stages of information being available and programmers a full day to organize a weekend strategy. This type of blood-chilling, high-drama story takes days to develop as information slowly disseminates amidst knee-jerk speculation, leaving a number of news/talk outlets incapable of fully diving into it on a Saturday and Sunday when personnel is at a minimum and "regular" programming takes a break from core stationality. Regardless, the industry has had all too many unfortunate chances to learn from this problem in recent years and according to TALKERS monitors across the country and conversations with programmers, there was a far better state of readiness to appropriately handle the Aurora tragedy than for similar instances in the past. Initial reports indicate that the main topics and debates being fueled by this mega-story are gun control, violence in entertainment, and the relationship between mental illness and crime. There has also been strong interest in talking about appropriate parenting prompted by the fact that a child and an infant were in attendance at the midnight movie. As an example of news/talk radio taking control of this situation, Salem Radio Networks VP of programming, Tom Tradup tells TALKERS, "On SRN News, we gave the shooting priority coverage -- including three hours of Special Reports -- and we are featuring perspective from Murphy Wells, a KNUS, Denver reporter who is part of the local morning show at KNUS with studios in Aurora. Also Larry O'Connor, editor-in-chief of Breitbart.TV guest-hosted a special edition of the Hugh Hewitt show on Friday from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm ET focusing exclusively on the deaths and injuries in the shootings."
Fox Sports Radio and Mile High Sports Remember Colorado Shooting Victim.
By now, most of us who work in the media are aware that one of the victims of Thursday's movie-theater shootings was a young woman named Jessica Ghawi who had just missed  being a potential victim of a similar shooting in Toronto in June. The San Antonio native had interned at Lincoln Financial Media's KKFN, Denver earlier this year and was due to speak with Mile High Sports Magazine editor-in-chief Doug Ottewill about her sports media career the next day. On Friday, Mile High Sports and Fox Sports Radio talk host Peter Burns spoke with Fox Sports Radio's "Loose Cannons" about Jessica. Burns told the program's listeners, "Her mom told me early this morning, 'I want you to talk as much as you can. Celebrate everything that Jessica did, and celebrate everything that these victims did.' And I'm glad that you guys are giving me the time to celebrate that and talk about how amazing of a person she is, rather than giving a minute or 30 seconds to this coward that did this." Burns recounted how Ghawi wanted to set up a charity to help the victims of the Colorado wildfires and was working toward that goal when her life ended tragically on Thursday night.
Cox Media Group Realigns Corporate Management to Fit New TV Signals and Announces Radio and TV Properties to Be Sold.
 Twenty-seven radio signals in six markets are going on the block as Cox Media Group announces a realignment of its business strategy that will include the sale of several TV operations and some corporate officer changes to dovetail with the recent acquisition of several TV stations. The only spoken-word format up for sale is the new sports talk FM WZNN, Birmingham that had been part of the Paul Finebuam-Cumulus contract dispute that's since been settled. The rest of the signals are music FMs and AMs or ethnic outlets in Birmingham, Alabama; Greenville, South Carolina; Hawaii; Louisville, Kentucky; Richmond, Virginia; and Southern Connecticut. There are five TV signals in four cities going on the market. As to the corporate structure changes, former group VP Kim Guthrie is named Cox's new senior vice president responsible for radio markets, and former Austin American-Statesman publisher Jane Williams is the company's new senior vice president responsible for TV markets, both reporting to Bill Hoffman, EVP over broadcast. Other additional leadership changes effective immediately include: former group VP Rich Reis who becomes VP and GM of digital operations reporting to EVP Neil Johnston; former group VP Ben Reed is now VP and market manager of Atlanta radio reporting to Kim Guthrie; former group VP Jay O'Connor, as previously announced, is the new VP and GM at KIRO-TV, Seattle. EVP Mike Joseph continues to oversee CMG's newspaper operations and CMG Ohio. Cox Media Group president Doug Franklin states, "This simplified structure will enable CMG to capitalize on continued growth and synergies, while retaining its size financially. All of our media outlets, regardless of size, are valuable, profitable brands with strong futures thanks to the hard work and dedication of our talented professionals who serve their audiences, advertisers and communities. We thank the leaders and employees in the locations we're selling for their outstanding contributions to this company over the years and the valuable service they will continue to provide their respective communities."
Your Target Demographic: Not A Number.
Talk radio hosts and programmers should avoid the temptation to narrow their "target demo" to a number, says consultant  Holland Cooke. "Recently published Nielsen data affirms what you may have suspected all along: The vaunted 25-54 demo is malarkey. Although only 5% of ad dollars are aimed at 'em, 35-64 accounts for half of product purchases." Cooke writes that the key to making the sales department happy is cutting through the clutter and being "remarkable" to people who have children, of any age, still living at home. Read Holland Cooke's piece here.
Cuts Hit St. Paul-Based American Public Media.
MinnPost.com's David Brauer reports 10 employees of the St. Paul, Minnesota public radio company American Public Media  are being let go as the organization deals with the changes in the contemporary media business. Brauer reports engineer Rick "Scooter" Hebzynski, public relations staffer Christina Schmitt and digital archivist Jenel Farrell are three of the casualties and that Current.org is saying "Marketplace" D.C. chief John Dimsdale also is being let go. Minnesota Public Radio CEO John McTaggart writes to staffers in a memo: "There's no question today's constantly changing media landscape presents challenges, but we at APM also see opportunities. The changes we are making today are really about APM's future and help to position us for future audience service and growth. We are reorganizing around two key areas: content and development. We are aligning our priorities to focus on two main divisions that create value for our audiences and cultivate vital relationships with our members, donors and funders. The result is a more streamlined organization design that gives us a strong footing as we look ahead." To that end McTaggart announces MPR COO Dave Kansas leads the content division SVP and chief development officer Randi Yoder heads up the development division.
Longtime KFI, Los Angeles Traffic Reporter Recovering After Crash.
Los Angeles traffic reporter Mike Nolan suffered fractured ribs and a broken collar bone in the Friday evening crash of a Cessna single engine plane he was piloting near the Corona  Municipal Airport. KFI's Neil Saavedra tells the Los Angeles Times Nolan was flying with a student and family friend – who was not seriously injured – when the crash occurred in Riverside County. Saavedra tells the paper Nolan – a KFI employee since the mid-1980s – had more than 40 years of experience as a pilot. He was headed home to land in time to take off again for his two last traffic newscasts when the accident took place. The plane lost power and hit electricity lines.
Odds 'n' Sods.
WTKK, Boston talk host Doug Meehan is broadcasting live from Camp Harbor View this Thursday morning to help raise awareness and funds for the special camp that offers hundreds of children who live in Boston's at-risk neighborhoods the opportunity to have fun and learn at summer camp. Thursday's broadcast will feature coverage of  the camp's 5k road race event…..WFAS, Westchester, New York talk host Lisa Wexler, whose program airs live on the station from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm daily, will have her show re-broadcast from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm daily beginning tonight. WFAS GM Marty Sheehan says, "We are very proud of all that Lisa has accomplished in the short time she has been with us. We want to meet the demand to hear more of Lisa and introduce more of our audience to her show."…..Sports USA is making the Little League World Series U.S. Championship and International Championship games available to radio stations across the country. The games are being played the weekend of August 25 and 26. Ad sales are being handled by Skyview Networks.
Sirius About Fantasy Football.
 Sports talk hosts and celebrities invaded the Hard Rock Café in New York City's Times Square over the weekend for SiriusXM's Celebrity Fantasy Football Draft broadcast. In addition to SiriusXM talk hosts Steve Phillips, Jay Thomas, Scott Ferrall, Steve Covino and Rich Davis, celebrities including actor George Wendt, guitarist Zakk Wylde and Jaguars running back Maurice Drew-Jones took part in the promotion. Pictured here are DirecTV/Premiere Networks talk hosts Nick Di Paolo and Artie Lange who also took part.
Click here to read these full stories and much more at talkers.com
2012 Heavy Hundred of Sports Talk TALKERS magazine's inaugural class of the 100 Most Important Sports Talk Radio Host in America.
Lessons from the Merlin Meltdown. Consultant and former all-news programmer (WTOP) Holland Cooke offers key reasons why Merlin Media's New York and Chicago all-newsers failed to gain listener traction.
When Is a Death Threat Free Speech?
TALKERS legal editor Steven J.J. Weisman provides legal insight into the recent case involving a "death threat" to Wisconsin talk show host Vicki McKenna.
Newspaper Decline Means Opportunity for Talk Radio Sales
H & H Communications president Al Herskovitz says the decline in newspaper dailies gives talk radio a two-pronged sales advantage
Supreme Court Avoids Indecency Controversy
TALKERS legal editor Steven J.J. Weisman writes the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fox TV and ABC but skirted the core issue of whether the FCC's indecency rules are unconstitutional.
New Media Seminar NYC Photos
Kudos and photos from TALKERS' recent 2012 New Media Seminar New York City installment are available here.
Making Live Endorsements Work
KTRH, Houston personality Michael Berry offers sage advice for the successful execution of live endorsements with his "10 Things You Need to Know About Live Endorsements."
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