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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

INTERVIEW: ED CHRISTIAN Winner of the 2009 NAB National Radio Award

PROGRAMMING DONE RIGHT

MANAGEMENT & OWNERSHIP GROUP HEADS SHARE:

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE RECESSION

PROMOTIONS

SUCCESSFUL PROMOTIONS AND MARKETING IDEAS THAT WORK FOR PROGRAMMING & SALES

RADIO ENGINEERING DONE RIGHT

Diana Fleming Tom Taylor, Dana Hall, Sean Ross Andrew Wilson Kevin Forsyth & Sarah Gray Henry Mowry Kristy Scott & Melissa Garn Sarah Cowser

publisher: editorial staff: design + layout: information technology: director of sales: sales representative: administration:

WHAT YOU NEED FOR 2010 AND BEYOND

Powering the Billboard Charts • 29 different Format Charts updated daily • Comprehensive Custom Reports enable music analysis for up to five years • Digital Download Data from iTunes, Napster, and more • Deep Current/Recurrent/Gold analysis • Powerful automated reporting of Power Adds and Big Movers in all 29 formats • Drill-down exploration via Era Mapping, Song-View, and Artist View • Sortable Listening Room with detailed reconnaissance of top-performing stations

S O M E

T H I N G S

J U S T

C A N ’ T

B E

I M I T A T E D .

E X C L U S I V E

• BDS Realtime—The most accurate and speedy music recognition tool available. • SoundScan—Reporting national and market level album, single, and digital sales. • Yahoo! and AOL Music Streaming and Video-On-Demand Data. • Song Research Surveys Powered by Pinnacle Media. • Head-to-Head Report—Hour-by-hour, compare your station against competitors. FOR A FREE TRIAL OR MORE INFO, PLEASE CONTACT:

Kristen Guarino at 323.817.1507 or bdsradio@bdsonline.com

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

COMMUNITY DONE RIGHT ... ONLINE

WELCOME TO THE NAB RADIO SHOW, AND PLEASE enjoy reading our publication, Radio Done Right. In this issue, Radio-Info.com’s team of veteran radio industry journalists takes an in-depth look at several different aspects of our theme. Tom Taylor tackles radio management (not literally, you’ll be pleased to know). In his feature, broadcasting group heads share some of the things they’ve learned from the recession. Taylor also sits down with NAB National Radio Award recipient Ed Christian for a comprehensive interview. Sean Ross takes a look at radio programming done right in a piece that features 10 winning ideas from programmers and consultants, as well as a feature that spotlights some radio talent we can all learn something from. Dana Hall takes on radio promotions, spotlighting some marketing and promotional ideas that will work for both programming and sales. Readers will be able to take away from her piece five great ideas they can steal, er, “borrow” from industry professionals. This issue also includes a pair of radio engineering features, which take a look at what radio stations need for 2010 and beyond. These include an interview with Society of Broadcast Engineers president Barry Thomas, whose day job is VP of engineering for the Lincoln Financial Media chain. In a separate story, engineers from companies large and small weigh in on their important preparations for the future. The remarkable contributions to this publication have reinforced for me the importance of the “community” aspects of radio, including social networking and online communities. When done right, radio can reach out and become part of a community, and many stations are now embracing social networking platforms as a way to strengthen their community ties. At Radio-Info.com, that’s something we’ve been doing since day one. Our motto — and in fact our core business — is to be “Radio’s Online Community.”

Our readers have been using our lively and popular message board forums for just such a purpose since long before the term “social networking” was even coined. Well before MySpace, Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter were widely known, the radio industry has turned to Radio-Info.com. That community has now made Radio-Info.com the most visited radio news site in the United States with more than half a million visits each month. Our readers post thousands of comments on our boards EVERY DAY! Radio-Info.com was founded in 1999. In Internet years, like in dog years, that puts us squarely in the “mature adult” category (even if some in our community don’t ALWAYS act that way!). While that maturity doesn’t give us all the answers, we do have the benefit of the collective wisdom of the entire radio industry (a.k.a. our “community”). Since its launch a decade ago, Radio-Info.com has evolved into a full-service radio information site. While the discussion boards remain a vital component, we’ve bolstered them with cutting edge news, expert commentary, music charts from Nielsen BDS, and the widely read newsletters “Taylor on Radio-Info” and “Ross On Radio.” And we’re just warming up! “Radio’s Online Community” isn’t just our slogan; it’s also the model for our workplace. “Community” translates to a collaborative work environment where teamwork is a valued part of our culture. It’s an environment where a seemingly crazy idea may just find its way to production. We stay away from terms like supervisor, manager, and the “D” word, department. Our concentration is always on the product, and that product is a community effort. Managing such a business—and its important interactive relationship with the industry we serve—is fast paced, challenging, and fun. Understanding our users and the needs of the community is crucial to our success. Radio-Info.com sees its relationship with “Radio’s Online Community” as a partnership. As such, when we look at our internal statistics, it is not to measure our prowess and compare ourselves to the competition. Rather, we watch our users’ movements and endeavor to understand their needs. Then we continually make adjustments to accommodate their preferences. Over time, our users have remained loyal, and our “unique visitor” and “time spent online” statistics have continued to grow. That’s how we know we must be doing something right.

- Diana Fleming Publisher and CEO

INTERVIEW: ED CHRISTIAN winner of the 2009 NAB National Radio Award

by Tom Taylor

CHRISTIAN FOUNDED SAGA COMMUNICATIONS 23 YEARS AGO AND TOOK IT PUBLIC IN 1995.

He’s been an industry leader through his role as President/CEO/Chairman at Saga, and through numerous roles in organizations such as the Broadcasters Foundation, Radio Music License Committee, Associated Press Broadcast Advisory Council, Arbitron Radio Advisory Council and the National Association of Broadcasters. His charity work includes the National Autoimmune Related Disease Association and St. John Hospital in his native Detroit. Christian is an adjunct professor at Central Michigan

University and is Honorary Consul for the Republic of Iceland, where Saga once owned radio stations. The company still proudly uses a Viking ship in its logo and, like his Norse forebears, Ed isn’t afraid to sail into unknown waters to pursue potential profit and to satisfy his own avid curiosity about the world. Ed Christian was kind enough to talk with Radio-Info.com about what’s dangerously wrong about the radio business and the magic of doing radio right. Here’s our freewheeling conversation -

WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW “We’re so set on self-destruction. We don’t take a step back to say, ‘What do we need to do with this business to restore the magic?’ Everybody’s treating us like rugs on their floors. Few understand the magic or mysticism that exists here – the ability to connect with people on a one-to-one basis. “If you do compelling radio, people will listen. If people listen, you can go out and call on advertisers and sell advertising. If you have good creative, radio advertising will work. The customers are happy and they will come back and do more business with you. Therefore, you make profits and life is good. That’s what it’s all about. “But you have to have all the component parts. We don’t manufacture widgets. We’re a business where our assets go home every day. We need to re-examine what it is that gave us this sense of awe in the first place.”

ABRACADABRA “I always talk about Disney and magic. We have an ‘advisory’ to our stations. When contest winners come into one of our stations, the GM or somebody else comes out to greet them. He or she says, ‘Do you have a moment? I’d like to show you the station and the studios where so-and-so broadcasts.’ It takes a minute or so, but you own that person and family forever. That contest winner goes home and says to her friends, ‘They took me around and they showed me the studios.’ What we fail to remember is that, in her mind, she’s going to DisneyWorld. She’s going to the radio station where her favorite people live. But we, as broadcasters, just regularly hand them their envelopes with their tickets and send them out the door. These are the basics, and we don’t even look at our own business.”

“I WANT PEOPLE TO WALK INTO ONE OF OUR STATIONS AND SAY, ‘THESE ARE THE PROS.’” the paneling had fallen off the sides of the consoles. The computers were like Radio Shack TRS 80s. It was so bad I said, ‘I will not come back here until we have a new building. How can you possibly get excited about being in this business? How can I get you to feel there is a sense of adventure, if you have to come to work in this every day? I am the new guy here, but I will be back to celebrate when you’re in new facilities.’ Sure enough, eight or nine months later, we built a new building right next to the old one on the site. When we had the backhoe there to take the old building down, we said to the employees, ‘Go in and take whatever you want now, because everything else is going – desks, whatever. There is nothing else in there that we want.’

“WE’RE THE PROS…”

“People come visit your radio station - listeners, contest winners, advertisers – and, if they walk in and see dirty floors, dirty carpeting, paint peeling on the walls, cheesy art, cluttered walls with rock posters and everything looking downtrodden…well, you wouldn’t deal with a bank that looks like that. You wouldn’t deal with an insurance company that looks like that. You wouldn’t buy a car from a place that looks like that. Yet so many stations in the United States have let their physical plants run down, but still expect people to treat them as professionals.

“Several years ago, Saga bought WKVT-AM/FM in Brattleboro, Vermont. On my first visit, I pulled up in front of it and it was like a house from the 1920s that was crumbling in. It was awful. I said, ‘My God, I can’t go in there and say ‘Welcome to Saga.’ My team said, ‘Ed, the people inside are waiting for you. They’re probably looking out the windows now.’ So I went in there. The studios had the orange shag carpeting, and

“I want people to walk into one of our stations and say, ‘These are the pros.’ It’s not conspicuous consumption. You’re not going to see marble, but you are going to see a very competent, professional business. That’s what we have to sell and that’s who we are. They’ve got to come in and say, ‘I feel comfortable dealing in this environment. These are the pros, and I choose to give them my money.’”

INTERVIEW: ED CHRISTIAN winner of the 2009 NAB National Radio Award

“I RECOGNIZED THAT I HAD RELEGATED MYSELF INTO OBSCURITY – THERE HAD TO BE MORE, SOMETHING MORE IN MY LIFE THAN WHAT I WAS EXPERIENCING.”

“I GREW UP WITH MY NOSE PRESSED UP AGAINST A GLASS, LOOKING AT RADIO AS SOMETHING SPECIAL.” “I remember studying the Morse code when I was in the principal’s office in fifth grade. I was there because I had done something bad. Amateur radio was my only entry into the business at that time. In my teen years, FMs were popping up around Detroit like popcorn. I’d listen for empty carriers, waiting for them to come on the air. I volunteered to work for a number of radio stations, and I’d take a bus there, when I was 14 or 15 years old, to run the board. When I was a little older, traveling around the state, I’d stop into a radio station and just introduce myself, and talk about the business. When I was 16, I was looking for a summer job in northern Michigan, and I found one in a tiny town named St. Helen. WMIC was a kilowatt daytimer at 1590, with a ground system in the sand, so you can imagine the signal. I made $54 a week, and you’d have thought I was in hog heaven. I did the afternoon shift, and that’s when all the commercials were on reel to reel, on Magnecords. After that, I worked at some FM stations my senior year in high school. Then I went to Michigan State, and I was probably close to an abject failure as a student, because I was so consumed with radio. I ended up booking bands, I had a record company, and I was doing record hops on Friday night. I was working at WJIM and then WITL. I was more concerned with career development than going to school.

“I transferred to Wayne State, to beat the sheriff out of Dodge, grade-wise. I was also working on air at WTRX in Flint. I met a guy who was selling for us and I said to him, ‘I’m on the glamour side of the business. All you guys in sales are just frustrated jocks hoping you’ll take in the excitement by osmosis.’ He said,

‘Oh yeah?’ He pulls out his paycheck, and I’m looking at mine, making $125 a week and he’s making twice what I am. That’s when the light clicked on and I got into sales. I came down to Detroit, worked for a small agency as a copywriter and creative guy, and then I started with Hy Levinson at WCAR, Detroit. I did that for a couple of years before I left and went with a rep firm, the John C. Butler Co, as Detroit Manager. When the rep company folded, I went back to ’CAR as National Sales Manager. When the rep firm ended, John Butler became general manager of KRLD in Dallas and I went too. I was very frustrated. I was 27 and I wanted to be a general manager, but nobody would make me a GM because I was too young. I figured the easiest way was to buy into a station and call myself one, which is what I did, in this little town of 8,230 people in Charlotte, Michigan. The first year was fun, because I could go home and look at my tower lights blink. The next year, I was very active in the community. I was president of the United Fund, the Board of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Kiwanis. The third year, I recognized that I had relegated myself into obscurity – there had to be more, something more in my life than what I was experiencing. “Back in Detroit, what had been Keener, WKNR, now WNIC, had been foreclosed upon by State Mutual Life Insurance out of Worcester, MA. I was recruited by them, and they said under law, we have to own this for three years, because it’s a distress sale. They said, would you take this for three years? Absolutely, it’s home, it’s getting back to Detroit. I made the silly promise, at age 30, that I would never ask the

insurance company for another dime to operate the station. The only thing that saved me was that one of the previous stockholders was Van Patrick, the announcer from Mutual. He had died and he had a key-man insurance policy that benefited the station, and that was my operating money, the proceeds of his life insurance policy. Then after three years, the station was sold to ICM, and they asked me to stay on and run the broadcast company for us. I did, and that’s when we bought Norfolk, Columbus, Milwaukee and Rochester, NY. Essentially, after seven years, ICM changed directions.

they’re branded, because we want them to have this patina of localism. I was visiting WNAX in Yankton, North Dakota, which, by the way, has the largest land mass coverage of any station in the U.S., and I saw an engineering truck that said ‘Saga Communications’ and I said, ‘Get it back to the garage. Nobody in town knows who Saga is, nobody cares.’ I was invited to Greenfield, Massachusetts for the 70th birthday party of WHAI. It was a big gathering of clients and listeners. The general manager said he’d make some remarks and then introduce me to say a few words and I said, ‘No – the last thing I want is for anyone not to

“THE LAST THING I WANT IS FOR ANYONE NOT TO THINK OF YOU AS THE CENTER OF FOCUS. THESE ARE YOUR RADIO STATIONS, NOT MINE.” “I was in my late 30s, but I didn’t know anything about money, about deal structure. I started meeting bankers. I said to them, I’ll teach you everything you need to know about radio, if you’ll teach me everything I need to know about money. Several bankers did that. Then when ICM decided to sell, I was able to get my ducks in a row. Then you learn that with private equity, they never get emotional about an asset. They said when it was time to harvest, they said you can have all this money, or you can take some stations. I took some stations. That was the start of Saga, 23 years ago. Then in 1995, Saga became a public company. We were the smallest one that was able to get through, because we only had about $10 million in cash flow. “I always had these couple of watchwords – anybody can buy a station. Paying for it is another issue. I’m not into self-aggrandizement. I wanted secure markets – state capitals, college towns. They may not grow a lot, but the downside is de minimus. In the meantime, all these big guys would say, with scorn and derision, that I wouldn’t swing for it. Well, I stopped comparing male genitals in the locker room in high school. Because everybody has a different company. I’m not here to say that I’m bigger than or better than anybody else.

LOCALLY, THERE’S NO “SAGA” “One of the things I learned from ICM is that they never mentioned their name in public. ICM is a trade name. We have a local operating name in each market. You won’t find ‘Saga’ mentioned anywhere in the station. We’re ‘Charlottesville Radio’ in Virginia, the ‘Cascade Radio Group’ in Bellingham, and we’re ‘Tidewater Communications’ in Norfolk. That’s how

think of you as the center of focus. These are your radio stations, not mine.’ “I say to market managers, many times, ‘If you owned this, and your banker was knocking at the door, what would you tell him? Think as if you have to make the payments on these properties.’”

KICKING THE ADDICTION TO ARBITRON AND SELLING WITHOUT RATINGS. Arbitron has said the diary system was flawed, or else they wouldn’t have created the PPM, right? We have said, until you get the PPM right, why are we paying for it? I’m an adjunct professor at Central Michigan University, and I teach sales. I bring a bunch of Arbitron diaries into class, the sample ones with the holes punched out. The students look at me like I’m orbiting another planet: You want me to do what? The world has changed since the diary started. People don’t keep contemporaneous records. The diary system, by its nature, is flawed. Basically, in major markets, we’re buying more qualitative research, not ratings. We’re currently not subscribing in Norfolk and Milwaukee. We do still subscribe to Arbitron in Columbus, Manchester and Des Moines. Des Moines is an interesting case, because there are three big groups there, and Citadel, Clear Channel and Saga are all using Katz. Initially, what happens when you go without Arbitron, it’s like an addict: I can’t go off this, I’ll die. You go into withdrawal. Then you don’t care. We’ve been without Arbitron in Champaign for several years. Springfield, the state capital of Illinois, hasn’t had Arbitron for

INTERVIEW: ED CHRISTIAN winner of the 2009 NAB National Radio Award

several years. What this does is allow you to sell radio, what it’s really all about. Ratings only serve one purpose – to help somebody beat you down, by shopping you on an invalid cost per point.

ABRACADABRA AN ARMY OF ANTS FROM M B A Stalk C Habout O O LDisney S . and magic. We have an “I always

‘advisory’ to our stations. When contest winners come one of our stations, the GM or somebody “Why into are so many people forgetting the basics? If you else comes out to greet them. He or she says, do compelling radio, people will listen. We’ve‘Do hadyou an have I’d like to show youus,the stationusand army aofmoment? ants of MBAs descend upon treating no the studios than where broadcasts.’ It study. takes aI differently anyso-and-so other Harvard B-school minute or so, but you own that person and family was visiting with a banker recently, and he had charts forever. That contest winner goes home and says to on the wall about when each company is going to hit her friends, ‘They took me around and they showed the wall. It’s all charted and graphed. But radio’s not me What we to remember is that,and in like the anystudios.’ other business. Youfail can’t take a Cumulus her mind, she’s going to DisneyWorld. She’s going to marry it with Saga. You can’t marry a Jeff Wilks off to the radio station where her favorite people live. But some other company. we, as broadcasters, just regularly hand them their envelopes with their tickets and send them out the door. These are the basics, and we don’t even look at RourAown D I Obusiness.” CAN’T SURVIVE BY

“ELIMINATING THE BASIC NECESSITIES”

“We’ve hit the re-set button, and so has the country. But there will still be people [advertisers] who need to have their share of market, and radio is still the cheapest way to disseminate information. Especially now that newspapers are in the shape they’re in. “We’ve got to get our infrastructure in line. But that doesn’t come by squeezing it down or by eliminating the basic necessities. We still have journalists at our stations, because why else would somebody listen to your station? People need the connection, the contact to the community. We’d better provide that, or we are doomed. Some groups are perilously descending to the first level of hell. But there’s still an escape route. “Radio is not the collective Borg. Radio differs from market to market. A good station on FM goes out 30 miles, so you’ve got a 30 mile piece of land that you own. If you’re lucky, that’s yours. And that’s where you make a difference.”

- Tom Taylor 10

“PEOPLE NEED THE CONNECTION, THE CONTACT TO THE COMMUNITY. WE’D BETTER PROVIDE THAT, OR WE ARE DOOMED”

G N I M M A R G O T PR H G I R s s o E R n a e N S by DO LONG BEFORE THE ECONOMY TOOK ITS DRAMATIC TURN FOR THE WORSE LAST FALL, radio as an industry had a head start of several years on the rest of the nation’s pain. Suddenly, even the broadcaster groups that considered themselves “programmers’ companies” were forced to make the same decisions as many of their peers – less local staff, less marketing, less research – fewer resources overall.

And yet, our informal survey of programmers and consultants found that “Programming Done Right” is still not considered an impossibility in 2009. Some of that may be because the introduction of PPM has led to a deliberate sparseness in programming. But we also found programmers determined to empower their staff, create an experience for listeners, and dominate new platforms, even with all the inherent challenges. Here are 10 ideas for “Programming Done Right.”

TRANSCEND FORMAT

While radio is still the most personal media, listeners are quick to leave and sample many more stations than the diary showed. For that reason you need to make your station as broad as possible. Even a country music station needs to be willing to take chances musically along both edges. Content wise, stations really must be broad … Make sure that your personalities are on top of everything. Content is not format specific. The listener is not format specific.

-Charlie Cook

Senior Manager Country Programming, Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters; VP Of Country McVay Media

UNDERSTAND WHAT’S WORKING

Look at the Persons Using Radio audience flow through every quarter hour from 6am Sunday to Midnight Monday. Assess your programming offering in each quarter hour with the highest cume potential based on the market's Persons Using Radio and be sure that your offering in those quarter hours is competitive with the best in the market. Next, look at your strongest quarter hours. Figure out what you’re doing in those time periods and shore those strengths up, using them to both drive more usage and also recycle out of into weaker quarter hours. Finally, study your weakest quarter hours in terms of your cume audience flow. Fix your programming in those quarter hours.

PROGR D O N AE M M I N G R bI G H T y Sean R oss

REPACKAGE YOURSELF

Just the move to a new band is not enough. When we [put WIBC Indianapolis on FM], careful thought was given to re-imaging our sound, both programmatically and promotionally to make it work better to the need to appeal to a younger audience … News and personalities are still key but the station has to sound contemporary and the ‘playlist of news and topics’ must appeal to a younger target.

-Jon Quick The Q Consulting Guys

-Jaye Albright Consulting Partner, Albright & O'Malley Country Consulting/RadioIQ

In today’s environment that requires immediate access through as many platforms as possible, great programming is content that translates into experiential interaction in ways that appeal to multiple senses: Audio, video, social network ‘buzz’ and direct-to-consumer on demand performance. Find the common thread that fulfills these high consumer expectations to achieve truly great programming.

-Bill Pasha

VP of programming, Entercom

CREATE AN EXPERIENCE The Country format is lyrically one giant story song, but stations never seem to reflect all the emotions that the music brings out in listeners … We create stationality that reflects the many moods and themes of Country … Stations throw away the setup for new music; how do you expect the audience to get into the music if you’re not?

-Scott Mahalick Director of Programming, Music Stations, Alpha Broadcasting

G N I M M T A H R G I Ross G n a e R O S P R D O N E by

FIND THE HOLE

You've got to provide something that a lot of people like — that they cannot find on any other station, cannot find on satellite radio, and which is not available on the Internet … There are many U.S. markets with large Hispanic audiences and in those markets there are no major Hispanic broadcasting companies competing … That audience, and those advertisers, are sitting there waiting for a station. There are large U.S. markets that do have Hispanic broadcasters and there are still Hispanic opportunities available in those markets … Just because a few stations in your market are doing Hispanic formats does not mean all of the Hispanic opportunities are gone.

-Bob Perry

President, Bob Perry International Radio Consulting

INCLUDE YOUR STAFF

We actually include anyone who is interested in our music meetings and the best add we had all month came from an intern … Especially important is [getting] the thoughts of young people for the CHRs. They aren’t as biased or closed-minded. They don’t think ‘we can’t do that,’ they say ‘I don’t see why we can’t do that’.

-Sue O'Neil

OM, WKSE/WTSS/WWWS Buffalo, N.Y.

PROGR D O N AE M M I N G R bI G H T y Sean R oss

DETAILS MATTER

A well programmed station begins with an involved and informed team on the ground everyday. The best stations I’ve had the pleasure of listening to, working for and working with have all had a team committed to the success of the station. From the newest part-time Board Op to the GM, everyone knew the plan, knew what was expected and would call out whoever was not holding up their end of the deal. When you have the luxury of working at a place where details matter, where people are given the opportunity to learn and expected to grow and where ideas are heard, great things happen.

-Jules Riley

PD, WBEN-FM (95.7 Ben FM) Philadelphia

The lessons we've learned in PPM markets have forced us to re-examine audience usage of our products and to focus on the nuances of our stations. This is a good thing. The same lessons can be applied to improve our diary rated stations.

SCRUTINIZE EVERYTHING Is EVERYTHING on the air in Programming interesting, entertaining or useful? If not, take it off!

-Byron “Ron” Harrell

-Francis Currie

Managing Director, Francis Currie Consulting

PD, WDVD/WDRQ (Doug FM) Detroit

I think it’s very simple at the moment for music stations: play the absolute strongest material (breadth not depth), play lots of it in a row, eliminate everything you possibly can that stops the momentum, be fun and creative and don’t do anything that needs a long explanation. Make it easy for people (as opposed to what we have always called ‘listeners’) to enjoy the station. I grew up listening to the Top 40 wars of WLS and WCFL in Chicago in the late ‘60s and this sure sounds like what made those stations great.

-Jim Owen PD, KSLX Phoenix

[Everything] must be compelling from how the music (or talk) is presented, how the station fits within the world of social networking, all while being on the pulse of what listeners are talking about at the moment.

-Skip Dillard

OM, WBLS/WLIB New Yorkt

I am asking personalities to think about their content like a [tweet] or text. Keep it concise. In a text you rarely have room to repeat yourself. Get to the point and then get out of the way.

-Charlie Cook

Think about how much time is spent on your station talking about stuff that the listener doesn't care about. We live in a world of the now ... technology has advanced to the point where you can pretty much get everything on demand. Attention spans are shorter and if they can't get what they need from you, listeners will tune out quicker than they have in the past. The personal interaction you have with your audience will make your programming stand out in a market of stations playing a lot of the same music.

MAKE “EYE CONTACT” WITH LISTENERS Far too many air personalities use radio as a substitute for psychotherapy. There’s a litany of ‘I, Me, and My’ instead of the more audience-inclusive ‘You, We, and Ours.’ Their excuse is usually some variation of ‘I’m establishing a unique personality’ when, in fact, they are coming across as the type of self-absorbed blowhard that most listeners would cross the street to avoid.

-Rob Miller PD, WKTU New York

I do like the ‘listener control’ idea because it addresses the fact that most listeners think we're all corporate playlists. But in the examples I've heard, I don't think anyone's done it right, yet.

-Bob Moody

VP of programming, Regent Communications

-Gregg Swedberg PD, KEEY (K102) Minneapolis

Eye contact and relevance are the commodities we need to remember to cultivate. My top axiom for programming in 2009 is ‘don’t be like an iPod.’ The way to win is to be different, interesting, entertaining, informative.

-Steve Goldstein

VP of programming, Saga Communications

DON’T GIVE UP ON DOING IT RIGHT Programming done right in 2009 means growing your audience despite having fewer resources at your disposal. Tom Peters said, ‘You can’t shrink your way to greatness’ and he’s right. Do not let the economy become an excuse for weak product. Find a way to get it done right. Programming done right in 2009 means continuing to invest in great talent, audience research, and marketing. We have a wealth of new media resources, social networks, and evolving technologies. Use them. Change is inevitable, growth is optional.

-Steve Jones

VP of programming, Newcap Radio

Despite the economic downturn, our audiences are still demanding more. They want to experience our brands when they want them and how they want them and have no forgiveness towards our profit margins. Spending resources on better quality streams, iPhone Apps, text messaging short codes, social networking sites, and consumer generated media platforms might seem like a luxury, but the companies and programmers that do it right understand that being where the audience demands us to be is our best chance at growth, not just survival.

-Chase

OM, Emmis/Austin, Texas

DESPITE WHAT RADI O TA SOME MIGHT HAVE DONE LENT Rb I G H US BELIEVE IN y Marty T Raab RADIO TODAY, Talent – true radio personalities – is a key element of Radio Done Right. When Radio-Info.com was inquiring about “Radio Programming Done Right,” Marty Raab, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Events for Reach Media Inc./Tom Joyner, responded with this list of Radio Talent Done Right.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the biggest names in radio, and media for that matter … and they all had unique talents that differentiated themselves from others. Their lessons in programming and marketing remain a constant and we would do well to go back and listen to each and apply to Radio Done Right today.

ENDURING VALUES – PAUL HARVEY

Paul himself stressed that radio needed to be enduring, that shock was short-lived. Every day he delivered on his expectation, in a consistent manner with relevant stories to the listener that were also entertaining and informative.

PERSONAL CONNECTION AND PRECISION –CASEY KASEM

Casey Kasem was quality, reality TV before that even existed. His long distance dedications provided intriguing personal insight that struck an emotion and his stories behind the songs happened long before the success of VH1’s Behind the Music. Plus, he made every word count, re-writing and refining that made for a perfect show every time.

EMPOWERMENT – TOM JOYNER

In working with Tom, starting back in 1993, I’ve witnessed his ‘party with a purpose’ every morning with the promise to entertain, inform and empower. Tom has built incredible trust and equity with his audience by making people feel good, but also by letting them know that ‘he believes in us,’ and the collective power of community. He’s been highly interactive in the community with education, health/wellness and voter registration initiatives. When a business decision pulled him off the air for four weeks this past April in Chicago, his community rallied and has made the show as strong as ever in the market.

RADIO TALENT DONE RIGHT

THINKING BIGGER – RYAN SEACREST

Give him a simple concept or copy and within seconds he makes it bigger than life. Finding strong talent always makes your product stronger.

EXTENDING THE ENGAGEMENT – ESPN RADIO

From the day that John Walsh worked as executive editor of ESPN, the radio product has always had a journalistic approach. Every segment on the Mike and Mike show is on point, built with facts, followed by debate and discussion that leaves you wanting more – all done without listener call in. In a PPM world, they know exactly how to hold you through the commercial break, extending the engagement, going to commercials stating, ‘When we come back you have to hear what was said after the mic was off during the Terrell Owens interview…’ or ‘when we return, we’ll give you the five things you really need to know for this weekend’s championships.’ They also let you know that with ESPN.com you NEVER miss a thing! They have you covered in every way.

MAXIMIZING THE INTERNET – RUSH LIMBAUGH

Rush knows how to layer stories and he understands the value of the Internet. He takes a topic on the radio, provides additional depth and comments on his website, and then you can go to the paid tier to get even more ‘proprietary’ information. Plus, he figured that with a daytime programming with people at work - that listening on the Internet was vital to out of home listening. If you listen to his show, you hear how he subtly integrates in the Internet to create the desire to use it and then feeds you back to his show.

SMART MARKETING – BARACK OBAMA

Radio could take a lesson from Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, because:

.01 .02 .03

He had a clear and exciting message, offering ‘hope’ and something to ‘believe’ in. He created excitement by differentiation; He offered a new approach that was all about ‘you’ the constituent. He consistently re-engaged and displayed momentum. His full use of 360 media, mybarackobama.com, a grassroots mobilization, allowed everyone to be part of his campaign.

At a time when there’s a glut of shock/gossip Internet sites (many without accountability) and television scrambling with low budget reality shows - looking at the values [that] radio talent offer is the foundation of personal audio interaction in an evolving environment. — Raab has served in executive marketing positions at ABC/Disney, AMFM Radio Networks, Premiere Radio Networks/Clear Channel and currently works with Tom Joyner on marketing his radio show, initiatives, events, BlackAmericaWeb.com, social media and television.

RMAA DN AI OG E M E N T

& OWNERSHIP

DONE RIGHT GROUP HEADS SHARE: WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE RECESSION

WGN, Chicago’s Tom Langmyer says “The planets have collided” to produce the current box that radio’s in. So while employees are dodging falling meteors in the station parking lot, they’ve still got to get the job done, even while the long-established rules are changing. But only some of them are changing. Three Eagles Communications Chairman/CEO Rolland Johnson says his group hasn’t deviated from being “live, local and relevant.” They’re even hiring salespeople and adding “good news” segments to their on-air content. Art Sutton of GA-Carolina Radiocasting puts it another way:

by Tom Taylor

“Radio stations and their staffs which are viewed as integral parts of the community will be able to pay their bills, versus those which are just jukeboxes or iPods.” Curtis Media Group COO Phil Zachary says it’s still possible to do “great local radio without collapsing your margins” – though it helps if you were operating with that mindset before the recession and new media slammed into the galaxy of American radio. Four top operators answer the Radio-Info question, “What we learned in the recession” —

ROLLAND JOHNSON - Chairman and CEO, Three Eagles Communications, Monument, CO

THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO BE LOCAL, LIVE AND RELEVANT. But then, that is all we have ever done. We take very little syndicated product. We think you need to be live throughout the day and do radio that is of interest to people in your locations, so we continue to emphasize news, sports, weather, agricultural reports and personality. We continue to do big radio promotional events. So our stations are traditional full LIVE, LOCAL AND RELEVANT IS NOT A CLICHÉ service operations and we SOMETHING RADIO BROADCASTERS SHOULD believe that makes them important in people’s daily lives. In other BETWEEN 6 AM AND 9 AM MONDAY THROUGH words, Live, Local and Relevant is not a cliché and not something radio broadcasters should do only between 6 am and 9 am Monday through Friday.

AND NOT DO ONLY FRIDAY.

- Rolland Johnson

WE HAVE HIRED ADDITIONAL SALES PEOPLE, rather than reduce the number on the street, and we have continued to extensively train them. This year we are using Chris Lytle’s program, we have hired Jim Taszarek to help with website establishment and sales, and we have contracted with the RAB so that all of our sales people can earn their CRMC accreditation. Even with that, we find we have to work harder and smarter. Even though we’re in small to medium markets, many of our recent hires are good radio people coming back to the Midwest from bigger markets. Fortunately, most of our sales are and have been local direct. And our broadcast footprint is in the middle of America with heavy agricultural emphasis - the area that has a large concentration of corn, soybean, hogs and cattle. Most of our markets have not experienced the heavy unemployment that other markets might have encountered. Most of our markets remain below 5% unemployment in the area, and there have been few home foreclosures in our markets. People in our area tend to enter into mortgages they could afford.

STILL, THE CONSUMERS AND THE MERCHANTS HEAR THE NATIONAL NEWS and read national magazines and hear the politicians continue to harp on how “bad things are.” So even in our area of influence, merchants and consumers have come to lack confidence and therefore are reluctant to spend out of fear of what might happen. Actually in our newscasts, we have just begun a program that specifically says when we have something good local to report: “That is what is going on in other parts of the country, but in order to provide balance in the news, here is a good story about something happening locally …” In other words, we highlight for people without trying to be Pollyannaish - that things are pretty good in our areas of operation.

WE HAVE DE VELOPED PACK AGES TO EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF SPENDING LOCALLY. We have packages that get the people involved in advising our stations on issues of public importance. In short, we scrambled, we’ve added people, we’ve trained them

better, and we work them harder and hopefully smarter. But I cannot over-emphasize the importance of being local and relevant to the listeners in our markets. We’re not jukeboxes. We provide entertainment, personality, fun promotional ideas, and information. And, yes, we provide some music that they like as well.

THE HOMOGENIZATION OF RADIO, OR MAKING IT COOKIE-CUTTER RADIO, OR WALMARTINIZED - CHOOSE THE MOST PEJORATIVE TERM YOU WANT - IS EXTREMELY BAD FOR RADIO, long term. We’ve bucked that trend. Unfortunately, we’re just small fry. For years our slogan has been “at Three Eagles we focus on Main Street, not Wall Street.” Never has that slogan been more appropriate than today!

SALESPEOPLE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR FOOD IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD. IT’S IN OUR DNA.

PHIL ZACHARY

- Chief Operating Officer, Curtis Media Group, Raleigh, NC

YOU CAN DO GREAT, LOCAL RADIO WITHOUT COLLAPSING YOUR MARGINS. Over the years we resisted the temptation to overpay for non-commissioned employees because we’ve seen too many stations, clusters and groups held captive by the sky-high compensation packages of two or three on-air stars. From time to time it’s made for some challenging talent negotiations, and we’ve rightly earned a reputation as fiscally conservative. But as we see the recession’s end now clearly in sight, I can proudly say we’ve not furloughed a single Curtis Media employee — nor have we cut anyone’s income — because of the temporary downturn in advertising. All of our consultants remain in the budget, we’re still doing research, and we’ve been able to take advantage of some incredible opportunities for marketing our stations on television. Perhaps best of all, our employees routinely express their appreciation for their job security and our refusal to cut back on those tools that make our stations strong. Ironically, I believe we’re a better Curtis Media — with more loyal employees — precisely because of the recession.

- Phil Zachary ADVERTISING AGENCIES ARE THE FIRST TO ABANDON YOU WHEN TIMES TURN TOUGH. It’s not their fault. They’re only doing what their clients tell them. So when a major account tells their agency “we’re not spending any money for the foreseeable future,” that’s exactly what the agency does, and they in turn lay off their employees until the client starts spending again. Yet, what we’ve found is that the entrepreneurs, owners and CEO’s of those same companies who say they’re not currently advertising, are actually seeking ideas, solutions and opportunities that would cause them to invest, even during a recession. As unproductive and pessimistic as our agency discussions have been over the last year, that’s precisely the opposite of the promising dialog we’ve experienced when dealing directly with the clients themselves. In fact, our new/direct business count is well ahead of 2007 and 2008 at this point in the year.

RADIO PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO FIND REVENUE IN ANY ECONOMY. As challenging as the last few months have been for radio, it’s been an absolute meltdown for newspaper, television and cable. We’ve witnessed decades of rate integrity in some great local media all but

evaporate as agency avails cooled. Faced with no meaningful local/direct business effort, and a sales premise grounded in reach (as opposed to results), these media monoliths retreated to the only position they could: price. We happen to think we’re pretty good at selling the benefits of radio advertising, but faced with CPM’s on network television affiliates that were half our asking price, we had no choice but to let the business pass. As one veteran radio sage once told me, “Sometimes when a client wants to fail, you have to let him.” Our concern, however, is the credibility clean-up that will be necessary in the post-recession aftermath of this pricing free-for-all. There will be scores of very unhappy TV and print advertisers who paid too little for campaigns that were destined to be ineffective, and they’ll be understandably hesitant to advertise again even as the economy begins to heat up.

SALESPEOPLE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR FOOD IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD. It’s in our DNA. We never know when the agency avails will idle, so our sellers are far more likely to be face-to-face with business owners addressing their real issues, in real time, day in and day out. In doing so, we ask questions that lead to frank discussions which, in turn, build trust and ultimately yield advertising commitments with a likelihood of success. While our media competitors impatiently await the return of availed business, that radio work ethic has served us well through the downturn.

D O. U G L A S M “ART” SUTTON JR. - President/CEO, GA-Carolina Radiocasting, Toccoa, GA

SOLID BUSINESS COMMON SENSE IS STILL APPLICABLE. I'm not sure there have been new lessons from this Great Recession (I really think it's a Depression in the advertising business) as much as it's affirmation that solid business common sense is still applicable: The more things change, the more they remain the same. Make hay while the sun is shining. The higher the highs, the lower the lows. When the "experts" say we've entered a new reality...or business concepts are undergoing a fundamental change, head for the hills. We're in for a big economic tsunami.

THE REAL LEADERS BECOME EVIDENT DURING TOUGH TIMES, NOT GOOD TIMES.

WHEN THERE ARE WEAK LINKS IN THE BUSINESS, PERSONNEL OR STATIONS, FACE THE MUSIC AND DEAL WITH IT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

LARGE ADVERTISING BUDGETS GET CUT, SMALL ADVERTISING BUDGETS GET CUT OUT.

- Art Sutton DEVELOPING ANNUAL CONTRACTS AND OTHER LONG TERM LOCAL BUSINESS to have a larger monthly base of sales is critical to carry a radio station through economic challenges.

SALES PEOPLE ARE REMINDED THAT JUST BECAUSE A CLIENT HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR MANY YEARS DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE NECESSARILY GOING TO BE AROUND TOMORROW. Success follows success but failure also follows failure. Always be prospecting for new advertisers even when you may not think you need them to make your monthly sales goals.

EVERYONE IS IN SALES.

- Tom Langmyer

STATIONS AND THEIR STAFFS WHICH ARE VIEWED AS INTEGRAL PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY will be able to pay their bills, versus those which are just jukeboxes or iPods.

LARGE ADVERTISING BUDGETS GET CUT, SMALL ADVERTISING BUDGETS GET CUT OUT. Be important to the advertiser and sell them enough advertising to do them good during good economic times. They may cut back during tough times but if they don't view your station as important to their success, they will cancel.

MAKE MENTAL NOTE OF ALL RADIO STATION PURCHASES IN AREAS OF INTEREST TO YOU AT ALL TIMES. Know the terms of the deal, etc., so when tough times hit, you will be aware of which situations may be best primed for a "deal."

A RECESSION IS A REALLY GREAT TIME TO BUY A RADIO STATION, AS PRICES HAVE FALLEN BACK TO REALISTIC LEVELS. They are worth based on what they are producing now. Don't mortgage sky blue potential, and last but most important of all:

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE BAD ECONOMIC TIMES. A key part of your radio station budget should be profits set aside for a rainy day. Have a savings account so you will have options when times are tough and can take advantage of opportunities which will come along. Most radio operators don't have a rainy day fund.

TOM LANGMYER

- VP/General Manager, WGN, Chicago

GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER. The planets have collided. Not only did a recession hit us, which involves some pain and readjustment, but the PPM world is here too. For those who lead in markets where PPM has become currency, many are realizing that decisions made prior to change in measurement systems ended up being wrong. Check your ego at the door, own those decisions, make the needed changes now — and move on with the right decisions. Work hard to hit the 2009 number and make 2010 a great year based on the pain you have endured this year. Results aren’t instant these days.

DON’T TAKE CUSTOMERS FOR GRANTED. If you aren’t there to support your customers, business will dry up even further, as market confidence remains lower. Do not allow AE’s to hurt advertisers through “benign neglect.” Don’t let your customers become helpless, down, isolated. Use the tough times to show them you are a true friend. Personal connection costs nothing and creative solutions are incredible “currency.” A relationship that goes deeper than an “incentive trip” is much more meaningful anyway, and actually bears more fruit in this new world. It is amazing how revenue can be measured against real relationships.

EVERYONE IS IN SALES. Re-state that mantra. Spell out how each person on the team is part of the sales process. Regardless of job title, all must understand and embrace their critical role in getting, keeping and growing the customer base.

BE AN HISTORIAN. Understand what businesses thrive during these times. Understand the mindset of people experiencing economic downturns. Talk to those who lived through previous recessions and those who survived the Great Depression. This isn’t the first recession, but may be the first one for some of your advertisers and some of your A/Es.

UNDERSTAND THE STRATEGY OF BUSINESSES WHO DO WELL DURING RECESSIONS. Many upstart businesses or those who didn’t traditionally lead in their category are now able to take advantage of the recession to compete with those brands that dominated previously and might have cut back their advertising. Radio is a very affordable medium and now is the time to help new companies to be competitive with their brands.

INVENTORY YOUR PRIORITIES. In both your personal and professional life, make sure your belief system is in order for today so you can lead to success. The opportunity to lead in this industry during this period is actually pretty incredible. Listeners still need to be informed and entertained, but in a way that fits them today, and advertisers need solutions now, more than ever. So much rests on understanding changed sensibilities, given current conditions. Being keyed-in to the psychological effects of the recession on listeners and advertisers is critical.

INNOVATE NOW FOR FUTURE SUCCESS. Think long-term. With business off 15-20% (or more) across the country, this is about changing our whole game. Even those pacing ahead of the market are likely still down significantly, year-to-date. Some questions that might start the creative solution process: In what ways might we innovate to better serve our listeners and communicate with them in a way that connects with their current sensibilities? In what ways might we innovate to connect advertisers to consumers (who are lacking confidence)?

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RADIO DONE RIGHT:

SUCCESSFUL PROMOTIONS AND MARKETING IDEAS THAT WORK FOR P R O G R A M M I N G & S A L E S by Dana Hall As a programmer, how many times have you had this scenario happen to you? An account executive from your sales team approaches you with “a great idea for a promotion.” His latest client, Marty’s Shoes, is doing a three week flight, and he wants to give the station free coupons to give away. The coupon says “With every shoe purchased, we’ll give the other shoe, FREE!” O.K., so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but, you get the idea. The point is, Sales and Programming often have two separate goals when it comes to promotions – whether they are on air, online, or a live event. Programmers want to create concepts that are exciting and valuable to the listener, and that will market the station to the biggest audience. The goal for sales people is to create value for their client. Now, the key for both sides is to come up with ideas that will please both “Customers.” Radio-Info.com asked “What radio promotions and marketing campaigns have you worked on, that have been successful from both a programming and sales perspective?” Here are five great responses:

From Consultant Fred Jacobs:

PUT YOUR “WORKFORCE” TO WORK FOR YOU For our client stations, the best 360-degree promotion has been "Workforce" - encouraging listeners to tune into the station while they're on the job. The genesis of this concept came out of an Arbitron/Edison research study, conducted in '97, that indicated that rock radio fans were already heavy listeners at work - even though this had been the province of AC radio. Our job as consultants is to translate research findings into smart action steps, and that's precisely how "Workforce" has functioned for scores of our clients.

The "Workforce" campaign has been a win-win promotion for programming and sales. Stations "hire" listeners for $100 an hour ("The best job you've ever had"), reading a new name/workplace each hour, and giving that person x minutes to call and get on the clock. Listeners can remain on the payroll for successive hours if the next name called fails to call back in time. If not, you have a new hire at the salary of $100 an hour - just for listening to the station at work. This promotion marries tactics and strategies, and provides these benefits: • It capitalizes on the Arbitron diary system where listeners have a tendency to draw the line from 9-to-5 down each weekday's listening grid. And at-work listening is a key component in PPM, so "Workforce" continues to be a popular strategy with this new ratings methodology. • It builds the listener database. In order to have your name called, listeners need to sign up for the station's email club. Thus, "Workforce" stations add new members in droves each time they participate in this promotion.

• It's more convenient than 9th caller contests because listeners wait to hear their names in order to get "hired" instead of competing against thousands of speed-dialers.

• It's often a group effort. In a typical workplace, many people are listening to the same radio, and co-workers help one another. Oftentimes, a new hire will tell stations that someone else at work heard their name called. Thus, group listening often occurs. • It's a vicarious promotion. Even for listeners who aren't engaged in the promotion, there's drama involved. Will a new hire stay on the clock to earn an additional $100? Will he be knocked off by a new hire? On the sales side, the customers and clients they call on are...at work. Thus, some of the basic merchandizing that goes well with "Workforce" for listeners - mouse pads, Post-It notes, screen savers - can all be branded with a station logo, or better yet, a station's specific "Workforce" logo as sales promotions. Additionally, sales sees the long lists of "Workforce" entrants and their workplaces, which is often impressive. Typically, they include law offices, medical practices, corporations, etc. This clearly raises the qualitative for sellers. Obviously, the $100/hour price package can be sponsored. And daily special prizes can also be included, over and above the salary. Thus, if a station acquires 8 pair of concert tickets or 8 free meals at a local restaurant, they can be added to the $100 salary. Example: Everyone hired today also receives a "Workforce perk" - a pair of tickets to the Eddie Money concert this weekend. Other tie-ins include the "company car" (a vehicle purchase or lease), the "company suite" (tickets in a suite for a concert or sporting event), a free vacation from the boss (trips, etc.) - in short, anything that would be considered a company "perk" in your own workplace qualifies as a benefit in the "Workforce" package. Even in an economic environment where unemployment is high, "Workforce" is the gift that keeps on giving.

® From Tom Calococci, OM for WPOW “Power 9 6” Miami

PARTY PEOPLE ARE THE BEST LISTENERS (& CLIENTS)

For Power 96 we do our annual Beach House promotion which has taken on a life of its own. We take over a hotel on the beach (this year Miami Beach, last year it was South Beach) and over the course of a weekend, we try to do what MTV used to do with their spring break events. We have a ton of artists, a huge stage set up in the pool area, lots of DJ mixing between the performances, a fashion show, a bikini contest, a lingerie and pajama party (this year), mechanical bull-riding, etc. This ends up being a win-win-win for programming, sales/clients and our listeners as everyone benefits. Programming benefits by generating and taking advantage of the viral buzz that occurs when we do this. It also gives us ample content opportunities from ticket giveaways, interviews with some of the bigger name artists, and it also helps us maintain and build on our image as “Miami’s original and only party station.” Our clients benefit by having a unique opportunity to showcase their brand, products and services while generating significant revenue (non-spot in many cases) for the event. Listeners benefit by having the opportunity to be a part of an event that is compelling, entertaining and much talked about along with other like-minded lifestyle driven young people. Plus, the list of events and performances in the setting of a huge hotel pool deck overlooking the ocean is simply something that people want to be a part of. We shoot a ton of video [to post] on our website (plus the various social networking websites such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, etc.) and many of our listeners who attend post their own video of the event and happenings - which of course creates more word of mouth/viral chatter, etc. The trick is to have a decent budget to pull it off while at the same time, balance the sales/sponsorship elements of the promotion with the ability to create “good radio” in a way that complement each other.

Plus, it’s fun.

| conference planner BROKERS Andy McClure, Erick Steinberg; The Exline Company, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown; Cell: Andy 415-497-3855, Erick 415-209-4890; Office: 415-479-3484; Exline@pacbell.net, ericks@esteinberg.com, www.ExlineCompany.com

Elliot Evers, Brian Pryor, Bill Fanning; Media Venture Partners; Philadelphia Marriott Downtown; Cell: 415-205-7242 Office: 415-391-4877; pch@mediaventurepartners.com; www.mediaventurepartners.com

Richard L. Kozacko, George Kimble; Kozacko Media Services, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown; Cell: Dick 607-738-1219, George 520-465-4302; Office: 607-733-7138; rkozacko@stny.rr.com, GeorgeWKimble@aol.com

Your passion for creating great radio got you where you are today. Now it’s time to take advantage of the techniques and technologies at the NAB Show™ to ensure your programming will be heard everywhere your listeners are tomorrow. This is the ultimate venue for exchanging strategies and identifying sound solutions at the global level. And the smartest way to guarantee the programming you create reaches more consumers — at home, at work and at play. At the NAB Show you’ll find virtually every innovation driving production, editing, programming, transmission, ad sales and new media solutions for your thriving radio enterprise. Visit the unparalleled exhibit floor to see, touch and test

advanced technologies that enable HD, live audio streaming, video archiving/streaming, revenue-generating web sites and more. Then experience a wealth of hands-on educational opportunities presented by top talent, producers, advertising managers, PDs and web developers, the stars influencing today’s best radio content. Join professionals who share your passion for radio excellence at the NAB Show this year. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

From Marty Raab, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Events for Reach Media Inc./Tom Joyner

JOYNER’S TRIUMPHANT CHICAGO RETURN In an environment when people need results now, brand and talent equity - much of it developed t hrough longstanding commitments to the community - are still the basis for promotions and marketing done well. There is a must read book called “Lovemarks: Loyalty Beyond Reason” about consumer loyal products such as Apple and Virgin Airlines, that is vital to understanding enduring marketing. This past year offered a radio promotional effort that belongs in Lovemarks and is the latest best marketing example I’ve participated in with Tom Joyner and the staff of Reach Media. While this case is about the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show, the lessons and the tools are applicable on all levels of marketing and promotion.

The Story: After airing on one radio station for over 13 years in Chicago with ratings success, Tom Joyner was pulled off with short notice and remained off the air for more than four weeks [before he joined Crawford Broadcasting’s Urban AC WSRB “Soul 106.3 and relaunched his show in the market]. The greatest asset [during this time] was Tom’s equity with the audience. He has always been active in the Chicago community, many times related to entertainment/music events, but most notably listeners interviewed knew Tom as the guy that “believed in us.” Every person interviewed knew Tom for, “… his Party with a Purpose slogan, always celebrating our culture, but focused on what is important to us, supporting the Chicago community with initiatives such as education, health and wellness, voter registration and just helping his audience feel better about what was going on.” This is a talent with almost 110 affiliate stations, but they knew Tom as “theirs.” That’s equity…and love!

Finding the platforms: While he was without a station, BlackAmericaWeb.com, which Tom had founded, was a key meeting place for his listeners to see what was going

on with blogs and links to the latest news. Chicago press provided news, even posting tweets on Tom. A well established geo-targeted database also gave Tom the vehicle to send messages to his audience to hold tight and continue to provide support for, “…keeping their voice alive on Black Radio.” WCIU television, which has had a long relationship with Tom, created TV spots with Tom. The “We love you Tom Joyner” TV campaign broadcast on their airwaves, as well as their own website that allowed television viewers to post comments about Tom. There was even contesting created online that allowed people to win a trip to join Tom in studio since they could not hear him in Chicago. Viral marketing and social sites allowed proactive advocates to amplify the message of support through their “friends” and “followers.” Once back on the air, old school techniques assisted in promoting Soul 106.3 as the new station for the Tom Joyner Morning Show – Tom purchased the four-hour weekday morning block as a further commitment to Chicago! A press conference took place that included leaders from the Chicago community, many of whom have had long standing relationships with Tom … The message went through both mainstream media as well as black media. [Tom made] appearances in Chicago at locations such as a McDonalds, where a thousand people came out to show their support for him. A remote broadcast from The Kennedy King School on the South Side underlined his commitment to the community. When he was part of the famed Chicago Bud Billiken parade, he wanted to be on a float with the people rather than in a broadcast booth. Amazingly, in this tough economy and crowded information space, new media and old school methods of marketing and PR took Tom right back to the top in Chicago radio after what could have been a devastating situation. Ultimately the real work was done over all the years and commitment that Tom had made with his radio listeners in Chicago. In addition we now have more marketing tools to amplify his values and equity. While he’s been a strong advocate for issues important to the community, ultimately it was the community that became a strong and mobile advocate for him.

From Consultant Alan Burns

From Ken Johnson, Director of Urban Programming for Citadel Media

MORE BLING FOR YOUR WEBSITE

For the nationally syndicated “Brian McKnight Show” we created a video product for the website that was both interesting content for the user, and, a great marketing tool for a sponsor – Ford Motors.

While Brian was in the Atlanta market recently doing an affiliate event, we had him driving around in the new Lincoln MKS, which Ford is aggressively marketing. The entire time, he was being followed by a video team as he made his way around the city, appearing at different events. We also had him interview Sheree Whitfield from “The Real Atlanta Housewives”, as she showed him around her town, checking out the hot places to eat, drink and have fun. We then created a three-minute video for the website, with the highlights from the day. This created unique content for Brian’s site [www.BrianMcknight.com], as well as enhanced the talent’s exposure in the market with the high-profile drive around town and provided creative exposure for the client both in the market, and online – which they can use on their website as well.

GOOD TO THE LAST BITE These [kinds of promotions] are hard to get done, but worth it.

We once got virtually all the franchisees for an entire market's McDonald's restaurants to co-promote a "numbered ticket" promotion with us. Our station got signage [at the locations] on store windows, countertops, hanging signs in the stores, and tray liners, for the contest. The McDonald’s stuffed [the numbered] tickets in every bag [of food bought]. We announced ticket numbers on the air, with on-air prizes consisting primarily of cash. Results were: 1. The station made money on the promotion 2. McDonald’s sales were up 25% during the promotion 3. 12+ ratings increased 2.5 shares!

RADIO ENGINEERING DONE RIGHT

WHAT YOU NEED FOR 2010 AND BEYOND

by Tom Taylor

BARRY THOMAS IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE SBE (SOCIETY OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS) AND VP/ENGINEERING FOR LINCOLN FINANCIAL MEDIA. HE’S GOT A LOT ON HIS MIND ABOUT RADIO ENGINEERING DONE RIGHT, AS YOU CAN SEE ─ SEVEN WISHES, IN ALL. “Here's the thing: Our industry is constantly confusing the product and the delivery mechanism. Radio has the hardest time really knowing what we're about. This goes back 80 years. TV was going to kill radio! FM was going to kill AM!, etc. During these changes the road was littered by the companies and stations that could not understand how to think of radio outside of a limited perspective. This time is not that different. What is the product we call Radio? Is it only the thing that comes out of an AM or FM transmitter? I think not.

“So I guess the #1 wish for 2010 would be: That we, as an industry get a better understanding of what our product is and our purpose. Maybe re-learn what we are again. “We are as ubiquitous and important as a commercial utility (water, power, etc.) to many people. People are often just not aware of when they use us. If it were not so, would you have people fighting for LPFM? Putting FM Formats on TV-6? Feeding translators with HD multicast channels? C'mon. “I heard something the other day on NPR that made me want to crawl through the radio and yell at Ira Flatow. A guest was making a point that delivering the program using ‘these big towers and transmitters was horribly inefficient’ and that it was much more efficient to stream it directly to listeners. WHAT? Are you KIDDING? The cost of transmitting is a relatively fixed cost. It cost me the same to transmit to 10,000 people in Atlanta, as it does to a million. That would seem to be the definition of efficiency. In the streaming

WISH #2 FOR 2010 WOULD BE FOR US TO LOSE INFERIORITY COMPLEX AND STOP BELIEVING LUDICROUS STATEMENTS ABOUT US.

world we have to pay for every listener for every second they are listening. There is no point where the cost to deliver programming to streaming listeners does not rise. An Internet radio stream might have a weekly cume of 10,000 people and the same signal on-air has a cume of over a million, however the monthly cost of each method will likely be similar. Which is more efficient? Plus, the streaming costs continue to climb with every additional listener. If a million people cume a streaming station, they will likely go bankrupt. If more than a million people cume the same audio on an FM station...my costs stay the same as when the station had only a few listeners. Which is more efficient?

“Wish #2 for 2010 would be for us to lose the industry inferiority complex and stop believing ludicrous statements about us. Look at the numbers: 95% of Americans use radio. Back to the original point of the product vs. delivery. Right now the industry chooses to deliver their current radio on-air product using the Internet stream. So:

“Wish #3 would be for a way to manage the cost of delivering programming via the Internet. One that does not climb every time I get a new listener....at least beyond a certain point. “But here's something else. So far everyone's still trying to apply the old product to a new delivery mechanism. The same radio audio product, delivered by Internet streaming. Not sure that's the way it will be. No more than the TV version of a radio soap opera was the same. The Guiding

Light adapted. How many radio soap operas just tried to take the radio show and put it on TV? And how many succeeded? Successful ‘talkies’ were more than just silent movies with sound. They were something different. I daresay this will be a similar circumstance. Radio must understand what the audience considers important.

“Wish #4 for 2010 would be to see more products or services that take the new, untrained creative talent that is our industry, and present them in the best way possible … sometimes in spite of bad habits. “There are plenty of issues that relate to our regulations, however. Like the one for Wish #5

IT’S THE CHALLENGE I FACE AS PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS: TO HELP DEVELOP WAYS FOR OUR MEMBERS TO ANTICIPATE THE CHANGES IN DISTRIBUTION AND BE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALISTS WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN. “We know that people want a few things: Customized content delivered in a manner that they want. But they also want to be part of a community. Isn't creating a community part of what we do? Are the most successful radio stations so integrated into the community and a lifestyle that people consider them a part of their lives? The challenge is finding ways of translating that to a new delivery mechanism. And one of the challenges I've given myself as an executive with this company: to find the ways we can distribute the programming … the unique and creative programming that makes our stations successful in ways that engage our audience. “And it's the challenge I face as president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. To help develop ways for our members to anticipate the changes in distribution and be the customer service specialists we have always been … but to a new type of user. “But back to the Engineering questions … “The equipment marketplace has presented some really great answers to some of the biggest challenges stations are facing − cost being the biggest. Stations must operate with less maintenance and more reliability than ever before. Broadcast engineering is the manufacturing arm of the radio industry … and almost every industry is facing contraction in the manufacturing sector. At the same time we must have unprecedented flexibility...both because of the incredibly different things we're trying to do, but because of the very different skill set of our users. Little things like mic technique, understanding what feedback is, how a phone bit is done, edited and played … all things that must be learned on-the-fly and very, very quickly.

“Wish #5: FEMA and FCC come to a decision on EAS, the Emergency Alert System. We know something is going to be changed … How much is it going to cost me and when do I need to do it? “No discussion could be complete without a conversation about HD Radio, our industry's effort to revitalize the conventional delivery mechanism. We as an industry made a very deliberate decision that this technology was going to be the one we were going to use … Not DAB … IBOC. It's not perfect (nor was the original standard for FM Stereo or Color TV considered perfect) but it's what we've got. That said, we've got a long way to go with this. We still don't really know what to do with it … but we're learning...and pretty quickly. We are realizing that the great potential of the technology may not be just to repurpose what we already have, but to do more. That's fun to watch as it develops. So:

I HEARD SOMETHING THE OTHER DAY ON NPR THAT MADE ME WANT TO CRAWL THROUGH THE RADIO AND YELL AT IRA FLATOW.

“Wish #6, Manufacturers … keep doing what you're doing. Advances in HD Radio products alone over the past 2 years have been amazing and appreciated. As the technology matures I'm looking forward to the next grade of refinements.

There is one final wish. One with two parts but it relates to how radio engineering, programming, sales, business, promotions, etc. all work together. Broadcast Engineers have always been in the possibility business. We work in the relatively static world ruled by the laws of physics. Unfortunately many of us are perceived not as the means to a station’s success but an obstacle to it. Some of this is our own fault. We often see ideas and more easily identify and communicate the problems but don’t engage in a dialogue to solve them. In reality, broadcast engineers generally love to solve problems. We are proud of and like to be recognized for our solutions.

“Wish #7: that the broadcast engineers become better at our role as customer service professionals, to be better at engaging with our co-workers to help their work be successful. Part of this, however, is that our colleagues at our stations, would adjust their perspectives as well. To realize that our purpose is not to impede but to enable. “I've been working in this business for 30 years. To say it's different is a ridiculous statement. Am I concerned with the future? Am I concerned about the outlook for my own career and that of my own colleagues? Of course … How do you think delivery drivers felt when the demand for horse-drawn-wagon shipping was being supplanted by delivery trucks? And what did they do? That's how I look at our future. I hope I can be part of the future … not something from the past. “I am not good with sports metaphors but this one fits … the old Gretzky phrase: ‘… I skate to where the puck is going to be.’ That's what I'm trying to do. Am I worried? Yes … Am I intrigued? Yes. Do I still love this business. Yes. You know why? I love our products. I like how we deliver them – through transmitters. But more importantly I love what we deliver. The one thing I cannot do, is pine for the ‘old days.’ To quote Billy Joel: ‘The good old days weren't always good and tomorrow's not as bad as it seems.’"

BARRY THOMAS, CPBE CBNT HAS SERVED AS PRESIDENT SBE SINCE 2007, AND JOINED LINCOLN FINANCIAL MEDIA IN 2006. Before that, he was VP/Engineering at Westwood One for three years, a Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of StratosAudio Inc., and the principal of Thomas Media Systems & Design. Reach him at barry.thomas@lincolnfinancialmedia.com.

by Tom Taylor ENGINEERS ARE RESOURCE-STARVED, TIME-STARVED – and expected to perform miracles on an hourly basis. (“Daily basis” is so old hat here in 2009.) Programming, sales and management all think they’re running at 110%, but engineers are able to calculate just how far over-capacity they are, and it’s right on the redline. Still, MILFORD “SMITTY” SMITH, the NAB’s 2005 Radio Engineering Achievement Award winner, is able to think about larger topics such as HD Radio and multicasting, and

keeping the Greater Media stations up to date. Station owner and veteran consulting engineer BUD WILLIAMSON has some time-saving tips that might benefit anyone. Done-it-all engineer and consultant RICK EDWARDS talks very frankly about the increasing demands on engineers – and why it’s not a growth profession. LYLE HENRY says “The future radio engineer will be as much about IT as RF” and goes beyond the accepted wisdom that “radio is going digital.”

MILFORD “SMITTY” SMITH VICE PRESIDENT, RADIO ENGINEERING, GREATER MEDIA INC. “To do radio engineering ‘right’ requires a certain amount of resources, both monetary and human. Fortunately, that’s a philosophy that Greater Media has subscribed to since its founding. “Given the current economic situation, the initial key to ‘doing it right’ for 2010 and beyond is a significant improvement in that situation, and the confidence that comes with such an improvement that encourages companies to get back to more normal levels of spending in the technical (and other) areas.

“It is absolutely predictable and understandable that the last several years have seen most stations and groups pursue a far less than normal, very conservative approach to any spending. The future was not only unclear – it was scary. “With that said, the areas where we continue to see significant advances in technology and the attendant need to upgrade and improve include the gradual but inevitable transition to IP-based audio consoles/control surfaces and routing systems. Also the anticipated HD power increase, as well as the attendant rapidly developing data services that HD Radio makes possible, such as iTunes tagging, the delivery of real time traffic information, electronic program guides and the like. “There are also significant advances and improvements occurring with so-called ‘automation’ systems that better support the seemingly endless need to parse and distribute metadata from such systems out to station web sites, RDS and HD Radio PAD streams and the like. Hopefully, with the growing number of HD Radio receivers in the field, we will soon see some ‘numbers’ starting to appear for the HD-2 and HD-3 multicast channels, which should in turn encourage all of us to take a more proactive role in terms of multicast content - which will, in turn, likely require additional facilities to support such efforts.

THE FUTURE WAS NOT ONLY UNCLEAR – IT WAS SCARY … COME ON, ECONOMY! - Milford “ Smitty” ”Smith Greater Media

“Come on, economy!” “Smitty” is at Msmith@GreaterMedia.com.

BUD WILLIAMSON - STATION OWNER, CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING SERVICE PROVIDER AT DIGITAL RADIO ENGINEERING.COM Work smart and be as efficient as humanly possible, but don’t over-schedule, because that leads to stress – that’s what Bud Williamson preaches to clients, and practices with his own growing set of licenses based in New York state, even as he calculates the smartest way to drive to the next job, as you’ll see. Time is money, says Bud: "The engineer needs to make sure their efforts are effective and efficient so that maintaining the facility, maintaining FCC compliance

and reducing downtime is minimal, if not non-existent. The engineer should have systems in place to ascertain that all areas are getting covered adequately. So instead of maintaining daily logs for EAS/Tower Lighting, why not do a weekly log? This way all activity can be viewed on one sheet – RWT’s, RMT’s. received activity, along with seven daily tower light checks. Only one log review and one signature! Log reviews will take much less time, and not to mention taking up less paper, storage space, etc.

I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE THE FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU WALK INTO A TRANSMITTER SITE IS TO STOP, LISTEN AND SMELL. - Bud Williamson, Digital Radio Engineering Being more efficient means saving time and money, even in transmitter site inspections. Bud says “Perhaps you can warm up the backup transmitter while taking readings on the main. Or check the generator and let it run when you walk in. And even if it automatically exercises weekly, it may behoove the engineer to start up the generator manually according to a schedule, to listen to how it sounds, how long it takes to start, etc. I always tell people the first thing you do when you walk into a transmitter site is to stop, listen and smell. Is a fan about to fail, or something else? Sometimes you can smell it and prevent problems.”

incoming travel time was only 30 minutes. Your results may vary, but consider how you can combine travel time and you will likely find a better way.” To Bud, “work smart” also means this: “Don’t overschedule yourself, since that will create more stress and result in less getting done.”

Minutes count, even when you’re on the road: “Determine the most efficient way to drive the monitor points. I had a client whose engineer would come into the station, get his coffee, get the FIM, and then drive out to the monitor points. It took him 2.5 hours door to door. I decided to do the monitor points while I drove into the station periodically, and my increase in

Reach Bud at BudWilliamson@DRE.cc

Finally: “Without getting into the programming needs of radio in the future, the one absolute is that employees will have increased responsibility and additional tasks – however, there will be no increase of hours in a day. Therefore our attitudes and tools need to be supportive of this reality.”

RICK EDWARDS, PRINCIPAL, CITYSCAPE CONSULTANTS

“I expect in a few years that as America becomes more mobile, and as our engineering community gets access to better equipment, the role of the station engineer will continue to diminish. Look at the facts. The largest change in broadcasting over the next 10 years will be the shutdown of TV transmitters. The numbers vary, but from 8% to 15% of the American public now receives their programming via over the air transmission. It is also the single highest expense for broadcasting, other than programming. So you can expect the NAB or other TV

representatives to begin lobbying for an FCC rulemaking that will allow the shutdown of TV transmitters. There is another and bigger reason: the need for more spectrum for portability that will work well in both the VHF and UHF spectrum. Not to mention that FM radio will be lobbying hard for additional bandwidth to operate more stations. “There will always be a place for a technician in a broadcast station. But the job description is more like computer control.

THERE WILL BE FEWER TECHNICIANS, AND THE REASON IS MOSTLY OUR OWN FAULT. ACTUALLY THERE WILL BE LESS OF EVERYTHING, EXCEPT OWNERSHIP. - Rick Edwards, CityScape Consultants “In the very near future there will not be copper wired phones to the homes. You will get your entertainment from fiber, and the wireless telephone folks will convince you to install what they will call a ‘booster’ so your phone will work better in your house, but it will also help your neighbors and about half the block you live on. You will pay the electricity to be a booster to the wireless telephone and wireless broadband in your neighborhood. The fiber will bring in a new TV system that will have first run movies and the Sopranos along with Deal or No Deal or Are You as Smart as a 5th Grader. “There will be fewer technicians, and the reason is mostly our own fault. Actually there will be less of everything, except ownership. “Localism is the only way to salvage radio. TV has the weather report and that is about the most local they are, along with the latest affair of the prominent politicians. I don’t mean to sound cynical: I am a big believer in being the very best you can be, and if you are, you will excel. It happened that way 100 years ago, 50 years ago, and this year. So be the best, and don’t accept ‘No.’” Rick Edwards’ work experience ranges from Chief Engineer/corporate engineering work with companies like Village Communications to tower construction of radio, TV, cellular and PCS, and fun jobs like supervising the RF on four different Super Bowls, setting up the RF engineers at NFL games, and working five different Final Four NCAA basketball tournaments. CityScape Consultants specializes in consulting with government bodies on tower issues. Contact Rick at rick@cityscapeconsultants.com.

LYLE HENRY, “THE RADIO DOCTOR” “Content production and distribution are separating, so radio engineers need to figure out which side of the fence they are sitting on (or both). Radio engineers who can only handle 'RF' are going to find themselves increasingly pigeonholed. The future radio engineer will be as much about IT as RF.

“RF transmission is becoming more and more digital. However, many are not convinced that the current digital implementations for radio and TV are the best for these mediums. “Nevertheless, there are some Radio-TV aspects and applications for which digital transmission can be a

notable improvement. Among these are: More information transfer per unit of bandwidth, reduction of apparent multipath/ghosting effects, higher audio and video quality capability, and somewhat less RF power required. “Non-terrestrial digital transmission will become increasingly prevalent - especially smartphones, Wi-Fi appliances, etc. “Non-audio delivery will be increasingly important: video, text, etc. “Digital really means data transmission, and we must think of it that way rather than as audio or video, though in some cases that may be what the data is carrying. And we must focus on pushing that data through the system without damage. “As a long-time analog FM engineer, I've seen digital applications creeping in, even well before IBOC broadcasting was developed. I'm speaking of digital subcarriers (SCAs) which have been around for a number of years and were used for stock quotes, precise GPS location corrections, paging, message watches, billboards, live traffic flow information, moving information displays, station ID and song/artist on RDS, etc. These are generally thought of as ‘pure’ data applications.

“More recently, the FMeXtra system has made SCAs even more useful by providing exciting video signage applications of extraordinary quality, including HD, as well as high quality mono and stereo audio of special interest to foreign language broadcasters, reading services for the blind, and for niche program formats. See http://VuCastMedia.com. “FMeXtra was built to conform to Internet standards, unlike other digital radio systems, and can be a 'natural' part of the ecosystem – sharing codecs (HE AAC+v2 and AMRWB+), sharing transport format (RTP), and sharing encryption standards (SRTP). “The future will be about how regular radio adapts to fit into the Internet world, not the other way around.” “The Radio Doctor” Lyle Henry, CPBE has done engineering consulting in the U.S. and outside the U.S. borders. Radio-Info reached him while he was working in Guangzhou, China. Contact him at 213-928-5295 or Skype lylehenry

THE FUTURE WILL BE ABOUT HOW REGULAR RADIO ADAPTS TO FIT INTO THE INTERNET WORLD, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. - Lyle Henry, The Radio Doctor

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henry mowry | D I R E C T O R O F SALES T 661 367 6801 C 661 714 4445 F 661 244 4905 E hmowry@in3media.com | W www.radio-info.com

Quincy Jones Keynote/Celebrity Speaker

Radio Active 2010, featuring three days of the finest Radio networking and education, is the ultimate venue for connecting with Radio. There's no better place to interact one-on-one with hundreds of radio professionals - from station management and CEOs to program directors. Running concurrently to CMW Music & Media convention and festival, you will get access to even more great programming. In addition to high-level management, programming and sales sessions, the show also features and celebrates Radio's best at the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards, Canadian Radio Music Awards and The Crystal Awards.

MARCH 11th, 12th & 13th 2010 a part of

"We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters."

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PLAYING OUR Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

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