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Neuhoff on Growing Your Group
Beth Neuhoff shares her expertise on the state of the industry from an independent owner’s perspective.
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Dave Ramsey Up Close
Financial guru and radio host Dave Ramsey explains how his staff helps station owners maximize marketing his show.
Dan Mason Still Loves Radio
An exclusive chat with the former CBS Radio leader about his role with iHeartMedia, including the future of in-car radio.
M&A Crystal Ball
Media Services Group’s George Reed, a station owner and a broker, on what could help move M&A.
The Coming Political Windfall
Katz Radio Group’s Stacey Lynn Schulman and Pat McGee on how owners can get more of those ad dollars.
Acquisition Myths Busted
Garvey Schubert Barer attorney Erwin Krasnow, DEFcom Advisors’ Doug Ferber and SNL Kagan’s Bishop Cheen explain what you need to know before you buy a station.
Next National EAS Test Looms
The FCC’s David Simpson, chief of the Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, tells us what to expect from the second national EAS test, which is happening next week.
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Beth Neuhoff Drives Neuhoff Communications Upward By Leslie Stimson Beth Neuhoff has been at the helm of Neuhoff Communications since 2012. Over that time, she has dramatically enhanced operations and improved the value of the privately held company. She was previously executive vice president of the Midwest division of Interep, and today is on the board of Gray Television, as well as second vice chair of the NAB Board. The company owns 20 radio stations and is still growing. RBR+TVBR sought her input about the state of the industry, from the perspective of a smaller, independent broadcast owner. RBR+TVBR: About political ad dollars, is anything moving in your markets? What’s going on there? Neuhoff: We had some surprises because you’ve got Illinois, typically a blue state, and Indiana, typically a red state. We have a hot Senate race in the state of Illinois. So that’s great, with an incumbent Republican versus a fairly popular Democrat coming up. Bring on the fights. RBR+TVBR: Yes, bring on the fights. Then there’s the general election too, all the way into November — that would be good, right? Neuhoff: Yes, I hope so. You know, the special interest groups and the PACs are really where the money is. So we will see what happens. We will keep our fingers crossed — not enough to drive our listeners away, but enough to give us a bump, a much-needed bump. RBR+TVBR: Do you go after political? Do you actually go to the campaigns or the PACs and say, “These are our stations and this the kind of demographic you can reach if you buy on us”? Neuhoff: At a much larger level, at a federal level, I would say not so much. On the local level, we absolutely do. With those local races, we do go out and talk to them about their business. But it gets handled and funneled, generally, through general managers, not through salespeople, just to control rates. We do go out and sell radio to them in the idea of spending money there as opposed to someplace else. RBR+TVBR: How can radio get more political ad dollars away from TV? Neuhoff: I think that so much of political spending is driven by what state you’re in. Political has totally moved into a space of “Are you in the right place at the right time?” So how radio gets a bigger share of that, I think, is really determined by the folks in those states and how they go after it. RBR+TVBR: What are your company’s biggest challenges right now? Neuhoff: I would say our biggest challenges are twofold. Number one, because our business is primarily in the state of Illinois, having no budget passed there and having the state on the verge of bankruptcy has created some challenges we hadn’t ever imagined or anticipated. We’ve been in the state capital, we’ve been in college markets, and those are traditionally very resilient. But when your state is in arrears to your clients, sometimes for more than a year, it impacts their ability to spend. So that’s a real challenge, number one. The second challenge is having made two acquisitions, one in December and one in February. I think on a much more macro level, cultural integration is just so absolutely important to how we operate our business. I think we are really fortunate. Particularly where we picked up Lafayette, IN from Shores — phenomenal people, but their culture is just a little different. That’s not a negative, but it is a challenge, because how do you preserve what makes them great and at the same time, add your secret sauce to the mix? It doesn’t happen overnight.
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