The Creation of a Talent Foundation

Good Morning!

I trust you had a fine holiday. How many of you think talking the week between New Years and Christmas is just a bit too long? Many of the people I talk to wanted to get the year started by last Friday. That said, let's get right to the issues.,

On Tuesday at least five national (or regional) radio shows began their quest for the piece of the ratings pie. (David Lee Roth, Adam Corolla, Penn Jillette, Jay Severin, and Rover... I may have missed a few.) In this new era of "AH" (after Howard) there will be a lot of cume chasing in an increasingly competitive world. Although there will be at least one failure it should be noted that at least there is an attempt to try something new.

The ratings comparison to Stern will be inevitable. In markets like NY, LA & Philly, where Howard was number one for most of the twenty years he was there, it will be totally impossible for anyone to duplicate the success he had. The press will point this out, but the bigger issue will be the expectation on the part of the host and management.

Doing talk radio is hard. It's much harder than it looks. Many people who come into the business from other mediums marvel at the amount of preparation it takes to be successful. Most of us can do a talk radio show for a week. It's the next 700 weeks that will separate the winners from the pretenders.

Mr. Roth & company will find that there are nuances to radio that professionals already know. Target, average time spent listening, topic selection, production, and branding, (to name a few) all play a significant part in the success or failure of the show. Most successful radio shows have a radio "foundation" to work from. Rush, Hannity, Howard, and others have it. Many learned from their "top 40" DJ days. Most coming in from the outside don't.

As we scour the landscape for the next great "talent" please bear in mind that if they are not given the foundation to understand how the radio game is played, their chance of success will be limited. Although the radio landscape may be changing, and the delivery system (on air, broadband, satellite, podcasting, whatever) different, the way people use radio is essentially unchanged. People still want to be entertained one or two average quarter hours at a time. They expect to have a companion with them on the way to work, they know the difference between sincerity and hype, and they will only devote their listening time to you if you devote the time to them. Bringing new talent to radio from other occupations is a good thing. Learning the way listeners "tick" when it comes to using radio is important for management to understand. Only then can they impart that knowledge to the talent. Hire a "name" from another medium, putting them on the air, and expecting them to become a ratings leader in a few trends is unrealistic. Then when it doesn't work, the press bemoans the "death of radio" bla, bla, bla.

In every market there are talented people who perform day after day, year after year, to huge audiences. They understand the foundation that radio performance is built on. Someone took the time with them early in their career. I hope we are doing the same to these "new" professionals.

A couple of random notes,

I think the changes in Washington DC to WTOP are so smart! The local folks at Bonneville understand the brand needs to be available on AM/FM/on line/HD/print/podcasting, wherever the people are! The WTOP (news, information) brand can be extended, whatever the delivery system. There is no way you can use any medium in the Nation's Capitol and not see WTOP. The future? You bet! Your local brand should be delivered in every local way possible. (www.wtop.com)

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Have a great week everyone! As always, your input us welcomed!

Fig