Content Creators Nightmare

Time Warner Cable is in play.

Les Moonves got them to pay double the compensation fee to carry network TV programming that Millennials are skipping out on.

CBS Radio set an acquisition price.

Netflix is killing the network TV business.

Radio now celebrates a pathetic 1% increase in revenue as “growth”.

WTF!

Something major is happening to the media content business but there are some things that work so well, you’ll want to check what you’re doing against it.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you will get:

1.  Why content is no longer “king”.

2.  How content creation is about to be turned upside down in a way that is unimaginable.  Focus -- you don’t want to be late on this.

3.  Who almost always loses in a transaction – the buyer or the seller.  Management guru Peter Drucker answered this at one of my conferences before his death.  When looking for your next media job, work for this employer not that one.

4.  The only bulletproof media business – you want to be in this!

5.  The Big Question!  This is how you profitably make the transition from traditional to digital media -- The 6 Immutable Laws of Content Creation presented in order.

Access this story now here.

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Save the date:  March 26 for my 2014 Media Solutions Conference in Philly.

Start a $3 Million a Year Video Business

Radio stations think I am crazy for repeatedly saying they should be in the video business.

Not the streaming of their on-air signal that makes them chump change at best.

Not the promotion based manipulation of social media – anyway, they’re focusing on the wrong social media.  Not that it matters since social media is a utility like a mobile carrier or electric company and can’t really be monetized.

I know we’re in the radio business but an entire generation of Millennials is choosing on-demand content not broadcasting.

Radio needs a Plan B.

I have discovered a young entrepreneur who is doing one 4-minute video a week.

She uses social media to get followers to subscribe and she has a huge following.

She doesn’t serve banner ads.

Doesn’t accept product placement.

She doesn’t even do commercials.

Yet her reported annual income from this video business is an estimated $3 million.

Wait until you hear how she makes all that money.

Oh, did I mention that she doesn’t sell subscriptions to her video, either?

This is what radio folks who are serious about digital revenue should be going to school on.

And it’s one of the things you’ll learn at my upcoming 2014 Media Solutions Conference in Philadelphia.

Click here to register now.

Here’s the curriculum for this seminar based on the seven most important areas radio stations must excel in today’s radio business:

  1. How to disrupt your radio station before digital competitors do.  It used to be we feared our competitors, now it is technology, an infinite number of alternative content choices and the whirlwind impact of social media we fear.  We need to understand how to really disrupt our stations without damaging them – and I will show you.  You’re going to like it and get good at disruption.  After all, Google and Apple made a fortune doing it.
  2. Master digital.  Streaming, websites and fumbling around with social media will not be sufficient.  I will tell you about an entrepreneur who uses video with social media and earns her $3 million a year.  That’s without selling any advertising, no product placement and – are you ready?  No commercials.  This will be my gift to you and since the Media Solutions Conference is never streamed or recorded for sale to non-attendees, you’ll want to be in Philly for this learning module.
  3. Shake up social media strategies.  To be honest, the Millennials who drive social media are fickle and they are in the midst of bailing on Facebook and Twitter right now.  Yet most stations are dependent on these social networks as part of their media strategy. Earlier I said we must use our resources more judiciously so wasting time on social media that 80 million people are abandoning is not a good use of resources.  You’ll learn the social media sites to embrace including a few new surprises and the ones to back off of.  Attend this conference and I promise -- your station will not be the one caught trying to be cool when the audience has moved on.
  4. Reinvent radio for the digital age.  The big conundrum is where should on-air radio and digital content meet?  What is the new purpose for an FM radio station?  Is there a use for AM for a large youthful audience that is not inclined to like any kind of radio including satellite radio?  How to know what Pandora really is which is not your on-air competitor at all – it’s your advertising competitor and there are strategies to shut them down or out of your local markets.  There is a more effective way to reinvigorate your radio station that is increasingly under attack from digital competitors and you’ll leave Philly with that.
  5. Growth opportunities in short-form video.  Let me be blunt.  It doesn’t matter if you’re number one in your radio market; it’s now mandatory that you be number one in video as well.  YouTube is the new hit radio station to teens.  Netflix is the new TV.  Cable is dead with them and bundling will end after a long fight by the cable companies to keep it on life support.  Radio stations are natural content creators for video and I will explain the opportunities, risks and rewards on March 26th.
  6. Engage 80 million Millennials.  Radio talks to itself these days.  Unless we know the things that Millennials really care about then it will be difficult to remain viable in the radio business.  They hate hype.  Respectfully, we are the masters of hype.  Millennials are a very civic generation.  We do a lot less of getting involved in civic pursuits than we used to and nothing near what will get them to give a second listen to radio.  Millennials don’t see color or gender and yet our stations are largely run by men, with too few women on-air and very little diversity.  But there is a comeback plan and you’ll get it.
  7. Time-shift radio.  Think about it.  Now we all want to access content when we want to, where we want to and how.  But radio is a broadcast medium, how does it time-shift?  The out of touch think that they just need to podcast some programs or personalities and that would be incorrect.  In fact, learning the exact length of content for the younger end of the money demo will be worth the day in Philly if the other modules are not enough.  Plainly put, we all must learn to time-shift radio.  First in wins.

March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia.

A few on-site hotel rooms available at conference pricing.

Click here to register now.

Inquire about group rates.

Things That Will Change Radio Next Year

Radio will look very, very different.

The past few years have set the stage for what is to come in the next 12 months.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what we’ll cover:

1.  How Clear Channel will get even cheaper.

2.  Major change to station playlists (first in decades).

3.  Most endangered radio job.

4.  Say bye-bye to this radio format.

5.  Layoffs reinvented.

6.  A scary new business for radio and it’s not digital.

7.  Bob Pittman’s big plans for Bob Pittman.

8.  Lew Dickey’s next big move.

Access this story now here.

Search Archives.

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It’s worth it!  You can’t get honest and insightful media information like this anywhere else. Thousands of members are all in.  Unlock this story and see for yourself.

When you see news or want to report an email, click here -- Confidential NewsTip Hotline.  There is a $100 award for the best tip of the month.

Save the date:  March 26 for my 2014 Media Solutions Conference in Philly.

URGENT!  PLEASE HELP ONE OF OUR OWN:  My friend Mike Knar who worked for Cumulus in Colorado Springs and is now part-owner of SOCO Radio in southern Colorado urgently needs our help.  His son, Aden, who has successfully fought leukemia from age 4 to 8 has relapsed and is in serious condition.  He will likely need another bone marrow transplant to survive.  Please contact Mike and see if you can help:  mike@socoradio.com.  Thank you.

The Most Useful New Media Secrets For 2014

It’s always bad news:  rating revenue trending down, audiences getting older, digital taking more local dollars, audiences preferring on-demand content over broadcast.

STOP!

We’re making it worse than it has to be.

I’ve identified 7 critical areas that must be mastered for radio stations to compete in the digital world.  Things that will absolutely make a difference even if you can improve only one or two of them over the next year.

It comes down to this …

Innovation. 

Mastering digital.

Rethinking social media.

Reinvention of on-air programming.

New revenue streams from short-form video.

Engaging 80 million Millennials.

And time-shifting radio content.

On March 26 I am going to lay out the plan from top to bottom making a case for why we should master the strategies it takes to dominate in these areas.

And we’ll work together – collaboratively – so that you can really benefit from being there.  Interrupt.  Interact.  Question.  This seminar will not be available by video or streaming because we need to do this together.

I will utilize my experience as a professor at the University of Southern California where I taught generational media.  My associates were outstanding resources for understanding the 80 million strong Millennial generation and it was there that I created the prototype to my annual Media Solutions Conference which is now presented for broadcast media executives.

I’ll have some new eye-opening information about Millennials that will make you double down on the attention you pay to them.  The oldest Millennial just turned 30!  We want to get good at making content they will crave.

This is our mission:

  1. How to disrupt your radio station before digital competitors do.  It used to be we feared our competitors, now it is technology, an infinite number of alternative content choices and the whirlwind impact of social media we fear.  We need to understand how to really disrupt our stations without damaging them – and I will show you.  You’re going to like it and get good at disruption.  After all, Google and Apple made a fortune doing it.
  2. Master digital.  Streaming, websites and fumbling around with social media will not be sufficient.  I will tell you about an entrepreneur who uses video with social media and earns her $3 million a year.  That’s without selling any advertising, no product placement and – are you ready?  No commercials.  This will be my gift to you and since the Media Solutions Conference is never streamed or recorded for sale to non-attendees, you’ll want to be in Philly for this learning module.
  3. Shakeup social media strategies.  To be honest, the Millennials who drive social media are fickle and they are in the midst of bailing on Facebook and Twitter right now.  Yet most stations are dependent on these social networks as part of their media strategy. Earlier I said we must use our resources more judiciously so wasting time on social media that 80 million people are abandoning is not a good use of resources.  You’ll learn the social media sites to embrace including a few new surprises and the ones to back off of.  Attend this conference and I promise -- your station will not be the one caught trying to be cool when the audience has moved on.
  4. Reinvent radio for the digital age.  The big conundrum is where should on-air radio and digital content meet?  What is the new purpose for an FM radio station?  Is there a use for AM for a large youthful audience that is not inclined to like any kind of radio including satellite radio?  How to know what Pandora really is which is not your on-air competitor at all – it’s your advertising competitor and there are strategies to shut them down or out of your local markets.  There is a more effective way to reinvigorate your radio station that is increasingly under attack from digital competitors and you’ll leave Philly with that.
  5. Growth opportunities in short-form video.  Let me be blunt.  It doesn’t matter if you’re number one in your radio market; it’s now mandatory that you be number one in video as well.  YouTube is the new hit radio station to teens.  Netflix is the new TV.  Cable is dead with them and bundling will end after a long fight by the cable companies to keep it on life support.  Radio stations are natural content creators for video and I will explain the opportunities, risks and rewards on March 26th.
  6. Engage 80 million Millennials.  Radio talks to itself these days.  Unless we know the things that Millennials really care about then it will be difficult to remain viable in the radio business.  They hate hype.  Respectfully, we are the masters of hype.  Millennials are a very civic generation.  We do a lot less of getting involved in civic pursuits than we used to and nothing near what will get them to give a second listen to radio.  Millennials don’t see color or gender and yet our stations are largely run by men, with too few women on-air and very little diversity.  But there is a comeback plan and you’ll get it.
  7. Time-shift radio.  Think about it.  Now we all want to access content when we want to, where we want to and how.  But radio is a broadcast medium, how does it time-shift?  The out of touch think that they just need to podcast some programs or personalities and that would be incorrect.  In fact, learning the exact length of content for the younger end of the money demo will be worth the day in Philly if the other modules are not enough.  Plainly put, we all must learn to time-shift radio.  First in wins.

One day focused on the 7 critical things that will make a difference for your station, company and career.

March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia.

Click here to register now.

Inquire about group rates.

What Radio Groups Are Hiding

Here’s what those cheap bastards ruining the radio industry don’t want you to know.

You’ll laugh so hard until you cry.

Or you’ll just cry because these real events actually happened and radio groups have been covering them up.

Until now.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

  1. The new way Clear Channel cuts back expenses when they DON’T bring in a syndicated national personality and keep a local morning show live. 
  2. How one group takes cutting expenses to new heights (or depths) by choosing cheaper music that can save money on their simultaneous streams.
  3. Wal-Mart is getting hammered for asking its poorly paid employees to give to the needy this holiday season.  Now this radio group that pays shit for money is hiding behind its own version of charity and making it a big on-air promotion.
  4. Oh no, tell me it ain’t so – one of radio’s best groups took a page out of Clear Channel’s playbook to save on salary.  This tactic is catching on everywhere.
  5. Exposing the iHeartRadio version of that great contest Christmas Wish that requires a lawyer to understand it and the luck of a lottery winner to win a prize.
  6. How Cumulus is taking billing away from local stations sending it directly to corporate instead and then requiring local stations to make the amount they stole locally in an already-challenged ad market.

Access this story now here.

Search Archives.

Try some FREE SAMPLES.

It’s worth it!  You can’t get honest and insightful media information like this anywhere else. Thousands of members are all in.  Unlock this story and see for yourself.

When you see news or want to report an email, click here -- Confidential NewsTip Hotline.

Save the date:  March 26 for my 2014 Media Solutions Conference in Philly.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Radio

There are 7 critical areas that must be mastered for radio stations to compete in the digital world.

Innovation. 

Digital. 

Social.

Reinvention.

Short-form video.

Engaging Millennials

And time-shifting.

Imagine taking away a powerful understanding and useful, actionable strategies in all of the 7 most important areas of broadcasting today.

Many of you know my background as a professor at the University of Southern California where I taught generational media.  My associates were outstanding resources for understanding the 80 million strong Millennial generation and it was there that I created the prototype to my annual Media Solutions Conference which is now presented for broadcast media executives.

With significant generational media changes in lifestyle, content and technology along with the challenges of being a radio station in the digital age where the car is no longer a monopoly for radio, we need to refocus, refresh and reinvent.

I’ve built a one-day seminar around the 7 habits of highly effective radio:

  1. How to disrupt your radio station before digital competitors do.  It used to be we feared our competitors, now it is technology, an infinite number of alternative content choices and the whirlwind impact of social media we fear.  We need to understand how to really disrupt our stations without damaging them – and I will show you.  You’re going to like it and get good at disruption.  After all, Google and Apple made a fortune doing it.
  2. Master digital.  Streaming, websites and fumbling around with social media will not be sufficient.  I will tell you about an entrepreneur who uses video with social media and earns her $3 million a year.  That’s without selling any advertising, no product placement and – are you ready?  No commercials.  This will be my gift to you and since the Media Solutions Conference is never streamed or recorded for sale to non-attendees, you’ll want to be in Philly for this learning module.
  3. Shakeup social media strategies.  To be honest, the Millennials who drive social media are fickle and they are in the midst of bailing on Facebook and Twitter right now.  Yet most stations are dependent on these social networks as part of their media strategy. Earlier I said we must use our resources more judiciously so wasting time on social media that 80 million people are abandoning is not a good use of resources.  You’ll learn the social media sites to embrace including a few new surprises and the ones to back off of.  Attend this conference and I promise -- your station will not be the one caught trying to be cool when the audience has moved on.
  4. Reinvent radio for the digital age.  The big conundrum is where should on-air radio and digital content meet?  What is the new purpose for an FM radio station?  Is there a use for AM for a large youthful audience that is not inclined to like any kind of radio including satellite radio?  How to know what Pandora really is which is not your on-air competitor at all – it’s your advertising competitor and there are strategies to shut them down or out of your local markets.  There is a more effective way to reinvigorate your radio station that is increasingly under attack from digital competitors and you’ll leave Philly with that.
  5. Growth opportunities in short-form video.  Let me be blunt.  It doesn’t matter if you’re number one in your radio market; it’s now mandatory that you be number one in video as well.  YouTube is the new hit radio station to teens.  Netflix is the new TV.  Cable is dead with them and bundling will end after a long fight by the cable companies to keep it on life support.  Radio stations are natural content creators for video and I will explain the opportunities, risks and rewards on March 26th.
  6. Engage 80 million Millennials.  Radio talks to itself these days.  Unless we know the things that Millennials really care about then it will be difficult to remain viable in the radio business.  They hate hype.  Respectfully, we are the masters of hype.  Millennials are a very civic generation.  We do a lot less of getting involved in civic pursuits than we used to and nothing near what will get them to give a second listen to radio.  Millennials don’t see color or gender and yet our stations are largely run by men, with too few women on-air and very little diversity.  But there is a comeback plan and you’ll get it.
  7. Time-shift radio.  Think about it.  Now we all want to access content when we want to, where we want to and how.  But radio is a broadcast medium, how does it time-shift?  The out of touch think that they just need to podcast some programs or personalities and that would be incorrect.  In fact, learning the exact length of content for the younger end of the money demo will be worth the day in Philly if the other modules are not enough.  Plainly put, we all must learn to time-shift radio.  First in wins.

The best way to invest one day in your future.

March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia.

Click here to register now.

Inquire about group rates.

Clear Channel’s Defiant Tactic To Replace Local Talent

The most devious, disingenuous tactic yet for firing talent and cutting expenses …

  • The divide and conquer tactics now in play when Clear Channel negotiates with morning talent.
  • Clear Channel’s unbelievable new solution when it can’t add a Seacrest or Duran.
  • After salary, the one thing that is now almost guaranteed to get a Clear Channel personality fired.
  • Regional morning show networks are safe, right?
  • How long this talent purge will last.

Access this story now and try a monthly subscription, here.

Access this story PLUS 2,508 previous stories, here.  Search Stories.

It’s worth it!  You can’t get honest and insightful media information like this anywhere else. Thousands of members are all in.  Unlock this story and see for yourself.

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Be Relevant In The New Radio Industry

In an industry where less is always more, it is hard to stay relevant.

Success is cutting expenses to consolidators.

But even good local-minded broadcasters have to operate differently in this business climate.

They need to watch their expenses just like everyone else, but they also need to be smarter about creating and selling local content and they can’t afford to be caught only streaming as their major contribution to digital media.

Many of you know my background as a professor at the University of Southern California where I taught generational media.  My associates were outstanding resources for understanding the 80 million strong Millennial generation and it was there that I created the prototype to my annual Media Solutions Conference which is now presented for broadcast media executives.

With significant generational media changes in lifestyle, content and technology along with the challenges of being a radio station in the digital age where the car is no longer a monopoly for radio, we need to refocus, refresh and reinvent.

That’s what this conference is about.

  1. How to disrupt your radio station before digital competitors do. It used to be we feared our competitors, now it is technology, an infinite number of alternative content choices and the whirlwind impact of social media we fear.  We need to understand how to really disrupt our stations without damaging them – and I will show you.  You’re going to like it and get good at disruption.  After all, Google and Apple made a fortune doing it.
  2. Master digital.  Streaming, websites and fumbling around with social media will not be sufficient.  I will tell you about an entrepreneur who uses video with social media and earns her $3 million a year.  That’s without selling any advertising, no product placement and – are you ready?  No commercials.  This will be my gift to you and since the Media Solutions Conference is never streamed or recorded for sale to non-attendees, you’ll want to be in Philly for this learning module.
  3. Shakeup social media strategies.  To be honest, the Millennials who drive social media are fickle and they are in the midst of bailing on Facebook and Twitter right now.  Yet most stations are dependent on these social networks as part of their media strategy. Earlier I said we must use our resources more judiciously so wasting time on social media that 80 million people are abandoning is not a good use of resources.  You’ll learn the social media sites to embrace including a few new surprises and the ones to back off of.  Attend this conference and I promise -- your station will not be the one caught trying to be cool when the audience has moved on.
  4. Reinvent radio for the digital age.  The big conundrum is where should on-air radio and digital content meet?  What is the new purpose for an FM radio station?  Is there a use for AM for a large youthful audience that is not inclined to like any kind of radio including satellite radio.  How to know what Pandora really is which is not your on-air competitor at all – it’s your advertising competitor and there are strategies to shut them down or out of your local markets.  There is a more effective way to reinvigorate your radio station that is increasingly under attack from digital competitors and you’ll leave Philly with that.
  5. Growth opportunities in short-form video.   Let me be blunt.  It doesn’t matter if you’re number one in your radio market, it’s now mandatory that you be number one in video as well.  YouTube is the new hit radio station to teens.  Netflix is the new TV.  Cable is dead with them and bundling will end after a long fight by the cable companies to keep it on life support.  Radio stations are natural content creators for video and I will explain the opportunities, risks and rewards on March 26th.
  6. Engage 80 million Millennials.  Radio talks to itself these days.  Unless we know the things that Millennials really care about then it will be difficult to remain viable in the radio business.  They hate hype.  Respectfully, we are the masters of hype.  Millennials are a very civic generation.  We do a lot less of getting involved in civic pursuits than we used to and nothing near what will get them to give a second listen to radio.  Millennials don’t see color or gender and yet our stations are largely run by men, with too few women on-air and very little diversity.  But there is a comeback plan and you’ll get it.
  7. Time-shift radio.  Think about it.  Now we all want to access content when we want to, where we want to and how.  But radio is a broadcast medium, how does it time-shift?  The out of touch think that they just need to podcast some programs or personalities and that would be incorrect.  In fact, learning the exact length of content for the younger end of the money demo will be worth the day in Philly if the other modules are not enough.  Plainly put, we all must learn to time-shift radio.  First in wins.

As you can see, my 2014 Media Solutions Conference has a full agenda and will be a game changer for radio broadcasters who understand that they must change to be relevant to a changing audience.

I do hope you will join me for this face-to-face learning session with lots of take home pay.

March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia.

Click here to register now.

Inquire about group rates.

Clear Channel’s Daring New Cutbacks

Just when you thought Clear Channel ran out of ways to shrink the company, they come up with this harebrained idea.

A corporate fatwa has been issued to local markets – they’ve even been given a deadline to comply.

Maybe this is what Bob Pittman was trying to cover up when he told The New York Times he liked his employees to dissent.

As you’ll see, I am suspecting Clear Channel is getting ready to do something drastic in order to wrestle with its $20 billion in debt.

Click “read more” below.

Bob Pittman Wants Dissent

Bob Pittman recently told The New York Times he encourages dissent.  But on Monday, September 23rd, Pittman took action to cut off dissent throughout Clear Channel.  What’s coming to surface is how Pittman operates like a dictator.  What is he up to now by saying one thing quite publicly and doing the exact opposite privately? 

Click “read more” below.

Cumulus Fire Sale Coming

There are at least two Lew Dickeys – maybe more.

One is the button down business exec that Wall Street money people like to hear because there is never a bad day or bad quarter at Cumulus.

Then there is the other Lew Dickey.

The guy on the street corner selling fake Rolex watches.

Okay, maybe not that desperate but desperate enough to have to start selling stuff to trim his balance sheet.

You may be amazed at what Cumulus could be selling off next to stay afloat.

If you’re a subscriber, thank you for joining our group.  Just click through and unlock this story.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

  1. The most mind blowing move to sell off local assets to raise needed money.
  2. The stations most likely to go on the block.
  3. One business that would shock everyone if Cumulus sold it – and there’s a good chance of it.
  4. Two new ways to cut expenses – some pretty dramatic.  And that’s saying a lot from this company.
  5. The “doomsday” scenario – doing this is better than having to file for bankruptcy in a few years but it might hurt some egos.

Click “Read More” below for the answers.

Discover A New Revenue Stream

Best plan is to do great radio and squeeze out as much money as possible while it remains viable.

Strangle your competitors.

Super serve your advertisers in ways that previously unheard of.

But that’s only one part of future monetization.

The other is to establish a second stream of free cash flow that compliments the skills sets, assets and people who are driving radio revenue.

Radio people erroneously think this is the Internet.

It is not.

Some concepts from our upcoming Media Solutions Conference in Philly:

  • Education, not information, not entertainment, not social media is that revenue stream.
  • Ask me to tell you about the media companies that are secretly dabbling in this area right now afraid that the news will get out too soon.  They want to keep this away from competitors and you should, too.
  • Close down the website, they don’t make money and they distract.  Real revenue comes from enabling people to be better at that which they aspire to.  Come away with a plan.
  • Virtually unlimited growth because radio can get into this business but not everybody can.
  • And the big consolidators do not have an advantage over smaller operators when it comes to this new second stream of free cash flow.

You’ve heard about the importance of the second screen.

Come to Philly and go to school on the second “stream”.

Reserve a seat now. 

Reserve one day, all meals included – hurry to get the last few on-site hotel rooms left at event prices.

Inquire about group rates.

Here’s the curriculum:

1.  Disrupt Your Radio Station

  • Blow it up without losing listeners.
  • We clear up how to gain audience by attacking all the things digital age listeners hate about radio before a digital competitor does it.
  • Use this plan to drastically alter and destroy the old structure the way Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Netflix did.
  • Turn ordinary radio into new revenue streams.
  • Solve virtually every critical objection digital-age listeners have about radio with newfound confidence to innovate.

2.  Master Digital

  • Learn how people you probably don’t know make millions of dollars in digital without running commercials or even selling banner ads.  It is being done right now but traditional media isn’t doing it.  Consider this your game plan. 
  • Reinvent the station website to churn out money.  Rethink social media.  Forget clicks and “likes”. 
  • A better option than streaming and a way for your station to become the “Netflix of Radio”.

3.  Succeed With New Social Media Strategies

  • End radio’s social media slump:  Instagram is ousting Facebook.  And Twitter is in trouble.  Time to alter the way you do social media with this new plan.
  • Social Media Shakeup: texting with pictures is where you should be.  Fast track it.
  • Social Media SOS:  social media is no longer just about staying connected so if your radio station is relying on today’s social media, this is a heads up to get with it.

4.  Reinvent Radio For the Digital Age

  • Shake up the way you do radio to make it a growth industry again.  3 month plan of action to get started.
  • Better radio on a budget
  • Harnessing personalities – how to build a stable of personalities from you station, your farm system and the ones let go by competitors to be part of a new venture.  Best yet, you never have to pay their salaries.
  • Finding the digital sweet spot – creating something so compelling that you put a big price tag on it and wait until the first advertiser pays it.  It won’t be a long wait.
  • Don’t go down with Facebook and Twitter, boost social connectivity by building your own local replacement.
  • Fiscally responsible alternatives for innovating local radio. 
  • Learn the most effective approach to reinvigorating a radio station that is under attack from digital competitors.  The secret is in one paragraph you will want to memorize as your credo. 

5.  Growth Opportunities in Short-Form Video

  • Discover how entrepreneurs are making millions by doing short form video that contains no ads and has no subscription fees.  This more than pays for your tuition!
  • Target key areas of growth for short-form video.
  • The one-stop solution to making social, short-form video for a profit.

6.  Engage 80 Million Millennials

  • Audience building secrets to engage Millennials and win them back to radio. 
  • One-Day Life-Changer:  Make radio instantly cooler.
  • I will share my work in generational media that indicates this young and massive audience is available to traditional media such as radio, TV and the record industry but not by continuing the status quo. 
  • Come away knowing their hot buttons and their turn offs.

7. Time Shift Radio

  • New rules:  All content must be available on-demand – everything.  The audience is demanding it all and all at once. 
  • The real solution for creating time shifted radio content. 
  • Critical question that will be answered: Whether to rely on over-the-air broadcasts for time shifting or create new content. 
  • Boost revenue by marketing time shifting as a new stream of revenue.  Go to school on time shifting.

March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia 7:30 to 4 pm.

Click here to register now.

Inquire about group rates.

Look Out for Joel Hollander At Entercom

The appointment of the man to the Entercom board who failed his way right out of a job running CBS Radio is not what you think it is.

Joel Hollander has a real future at Entercom – consider this a warning.

If you’re a subscriber, thank you for joining our group.  Just click through and unlock the content.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story right now, let me tell you what you will get.

1.  The real reason Joel Hollander may have been recruited to join the Entercom board of directors – it ties into a bigger scheme.

2.  The big elephant in the room – underperforming sales and how that is putting the pressure on Entercom CEO David Field to step up.

3.  Most of Entercom’s problems are being caused by corporate management.  But who is going to pay for these mistakes.

4.  What one option does a company with a reputation for being “cheap” have left.

5.  Plus, the big question, can Entercom keep losing money with no repercussions?

The answers begin by clicking “read more” below for your options.

My 2014 Media Solutions Conference March 26 in Philadelphia is the go-to place for broadcasting in the digital era.  Reserve a seat or inquire about sending a group.

Always confidential – my NewsTip Hotline

The Endangered Album

Katy Perry’s new album sold fewer than 300,000 copies during the first week when it was recently introduced.

Not even 300,000 copies and includes digital.

And the first week of album sales is usually the best week.

Lady Gaga is out hyping her ArtPop album because the pressure is on this huge star to keep the hits coming.

Gaga even has to become Stefani Germanotta again if that will help.

It’s not just that the album is dead – it’s that no one wants to pay for music anymore.

And it’s no longer about piracy.

It’s about a lack of interest in owning music.

We did this to ourselves – the music and radio industries and Steve Jobs assisted by playing to the paranoia of record execs who feared Napster more than recording a bunch of stiffs.

This is a Spotify and Pandora world.

Radio doesn’t make hits not because people don’t listen to radio – that too – but because the public’s attitude toward music has changed so much in the last 12 years that there is no going back.

Going forward, everything about music – the one thing we’ve always taken for granted – is about to change again.

Click “Read More” below to continue …

New Live & Local Strategies

The big radio groups may be hell bent on syndication, voice tracking, “best practices”, direct media buying and consolidated management but not everyone is.

There are lots of medium-sized radio groups and smaller operators who are outperforming their big brothers by doing radio the right way.

But it is getting tougher.

Pressure is on even for them to cut costs.

One of the things on the agenda for my upcoming Media Solutions Conference in Philly is how an independent group of radio stations can effectively compete with the sheer size of the Clear Channels and Cumulus Medias of the world.

This is an area rich with ideas that can promise great outcomes for good, local radio operators.

  1. How to sustain a world-class morning show on a more modest budget.  Consolidators just fire great assets like morning talent.  But ask me about one plan that changes the entire working relationship with your station and ties up the talent for seven years as well.  A win-win at just the right time.
  2. How do you participate against a company that has “partnerships” with record labels that give them early access to new music and direct contact with recording artists?  There is one way you can beat a big national radio group at their own game without having to do partnership deals with record labels.  In fact, the advantage goes to the local stations.
  3. Even great local stations need to be cost conscious, but how do you do it without compromising the quality of programming?  I’m going to share some ideas about redirecting your operating budget.  But don’t do it by having department heads slash here and slash there.  I’d be honored to show you how to determine which 20% of what you do as a radio station is worth you budgeting a whopping 80% of your available funds.  This is critical because in today’s business world, you can’t do everything but getting to what is most important takes a new set of skills.  We will discuss.
  4. They have iHeartRadio and streaming alternatives but streaming doesn’t make money.  Would you like to know a way to invest modestly in your digital future and begin a simultaneous second stream of free cash flow to add to your spot radio income? 
  5. Big consolidators seethe when they talk about Pandora.  They hate Pandora, but Pandora has discovered something so powerful and potentially so profitable that you should rip off their idea right now as they are going after local radio advertisers.  This idea alone more than pays for your tuition to the conference.
  6. Direct selling is coming at Cumulus, Clear Channel and maybe even Cox, which has developed a model for digital.  What then?  If you’re a good local operator do you resist this trend or buy into it?  Turns out that there is a third and better strategy that enables you to make buying radio easier without the downside of having direct media buying bid against your rate card.  We’ll get into it.
  7. Radio can’t seem to attract younger listeners and with 80 million Millennials out there left to their own (digital) devices, recruiting younger demos is now at the critical point.  There is a sure-fire way to get them to take a second listen to radio.  No consolidator will ever do it.  But a good local operator can and should.  Let’s discuss.

There are tons of industry radio shows, conventions, summits, seminars and all sorts of gatherings that are great opportunities to socialize.

But the Media Solutions Conference now in its fifth year is the recognized leader in learning new skill sets, seeing the future and gathering usable ideas that can be implemented immediately.

Reserve a seat now. 

Reserve one day, all meals included – hurry to get one of the few on-site hotel rooms left.

Here is the curriculum:

1.  Disrupt Your Radio Station

  • Blow it up without losing listeners.
  • We clear up how to gain audience by attacking all the things digital age listeners hate about radio before a digital competitor does it.
  • Use this plan to drastically alter and destroy the old structure the way Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Netflix did.
  • Turn ordinary radio into new revenue streams.
  • Solve virtually every critical objection digital-age listeners have about radio with newfound confidence to innovate.

2.  Master Digital

  • Learn how people you probably don’t know make millions of dollars in digital without running commercials or even selling banner ads.  It is being done right now but traditional media isn’t doing it.  Consider this your game plan. 
  • Reinvent the station website to churn out money.  Rethink social media.  Forget clicks and “likes”. 
  • A better option than streaming and a way for your station to become the “Netflix of Radio”.

3.  Succeed With New Social Media Strategies

  • End radio’s social media slump:  Instagram is ousting Facebook.  And Twitter is in trouble.  Time to alter the way you do social media with this new plan.
  • Social Media Shakeup: texting with pictures is where you should be.  Fast track it.
  • Social Media SOS:  social media is no longer just about staying connected so if your radio station is relying on today’s social media, this is a heads up to get with it.

4.  Reinvent Radio For the Digital Age

  • Shake up the way you do radio to make it a growth industry again.  3 month plan of action to get started.
  • Better radio on a budget
  • Harnessing personalities – how to build a stable of personalities from you station, your farm system and the ones let go by competitors to be part of a new venture.  Best yet, you never have to pay their salaries.
  • Finding the digital sweet spot – creating something so compelling that you put a big price tag on it and wait until the first advertiser pays it.  It won’t be a long wait.
  • Don’t go down with Facebook and Twitter, boost social connectivity by building your own local replacement.
  • Fiscally responsible alternatives for innovating local radio. 
  • Learn the most effective approach to reinvigorating a radio station that is under attack from digital competitors.  The secret is in one paragraph you will want to memorize as your credo. 

5.  Growth Opportunities in Short-Form Video

  • Discover how entrepreneurs are making millions by doing short form video that contains no ads and has no subscription fees.  This more than pays for your tuition!
  • Target key areas of growth for short-form video.
  • The one-stop solution to making social, short-form video for a profit.

6.  Engage 80 Million Millennials

  • Audience building secrets to engage Millennials and win them back to radio. 
  • One-Day Life-Changer:  Make radio instantly cooler.
  • I will share my work in generational media that indicates this young and massive audience is available to traditional media such as radio, TV and the record industry but not by continuing the status quo. 
  • Come away knowing their hot buttons and their turn offs.

7. Time Shift Radio

  • New rules:  All content must be available on-demand – everything.  The audience is demanding it all and all at once. 
  • The real solution for creating time shifted radio content. 
  • Critical question that will be answered: Whether to rely on over-the-air broadcasts for time shifting or create new content. 
  • Boost revenue by marketing time shifting as a new stream of revenue.  Go to school on time shifting.

March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia 7:30 to 4 pm.

Click here to register now.

Inquire about group rates.

Effectively Compete With Consolidators

One of the things on the agenda for my upcoming Media Solutions Conference in Philly is how an independent group of radio stations can effectively compete with the sheer size of the Clear Channels and Cumulus Medias of the world.

This is an area rich with ideas that can promise great outcomes for good, local radio operators.

  1. How to sustain a world-class morning show on a more modest budget.  Consolidators just fire great assets like morning talent.  But ask me about one plan that changes the entire working relationship with your station and ties up the talent for seven years as well.  A win-win at just the right time.
  2. How do you participate against a company that has “partnerships” with record labels that give them early access to new music and direct contact with recording artists?  There is one way you can beat a big national radio group at their own game without having to do partnership deals with record labels.  In fact, the advantage goes to the local stations.
  3. Even great local stations need to be cost conscious, but how do you do it without compromising the quality of programming?  I’m going to share some ideas about redirecting your operating budget.  But don’t do it by having department heads slash here and slash there.  I’d be honored to show you how to determine which 20% of what you do as a radio station is worth you budgeting a whopping 80% of your available funds.  This is critical because in today’s business world, you can’t do everything but getting to what is most important takes a new set of skills.  We will discuss.
  4. They have iHeartRadio and streaming alternatives but streaming doesn’t make money.  Would you like to know a way to invest modestly in your digital future and begin a simultaneous second stream of free cash flow to add to your spot radio income? 
  5. Big consolidators seethe when they talk about Pandora.  They hate Pandora, but Pandora has discovered something so powerful and potentially so profitable that you should rip off their idea right now as they are going after local radio advertisers.  This idea alone more than pays for your tuition to the conference.
  6. Direct selling is coming at Cumulus, Clear Channel and maybe even Cox, which has developed a model for digital.  What then?  If you’re a good local operator do you resist this trend or buy into it?  Turns out that there is a third and better strategy that enables you to make buying radio easier without the downside of having direct media buying bid against your rate card.  We’ll get into it.
  7. Radio can’t seem to attract younger listeners and with 80 million Millennials out there left to their own (digital) devices, recruiting younger demos is now at the critical point.  There is a sure-fire way to get them to take a second listen to radio.  No consolidator will ever do it.  But a good local operator can and should.  Let’s discuss.

There are tons of industry radio shows, conventions, summits, seminars and all sorts of gatherings that are great opportunities to socialize.

But the Media Solutions Conference now in its fifth year is the recognized leader in learning new skill sets, seeing the future and gathering usable ideas that can be implemented immediately.

Reserve a seat now. 

Reserve one day, all meals included – hurry to get one of the few on-site hotel rooms left.

Here is the curriculum:

1.  Disrupt Your Radio Station

  • Blow it up without losing listeners.
  • We clear up how to gain audience by attacking all the things digital age listeners hate about radio before a digital competitor does it.
  • Use this plan to drastically alter and destroy the old structure the way Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Netflix did.
  • Turn ordinary radio into new revenue streams.
  • Solve virtually every critical objection digital-age listeners have about radio with newfound confidence to innovate.

2.  Master Digital

  • Learn how people you probably don’t know make millions of dollars in digital without running commercials or even selling banner ads.  It is being done right now but traditional media isn’t doing it.  Consider this your game plan. 
  • Reinvent the station website to churn out money.  Rethink social media.  Forget clicks and “likes”. 
  • A better option than streaming and a way for your station to become the “Netflix of Radio”.

3.  Succeed With New Social Media Strategies

  • End radio’s social media slump:  Instagram is ousting Facebook.  And Twitter is in trouble.  Time to alter the way you do social media with this new plan.
  • Social Media Shakeup: texting with pictures is where you should be.  Fast track it.
  • Social Media SOS:  social media is no longer just about staying connected so if your radio station is relying on today’s social media, this is a heads up to get with it.

4.  Reinvent Radio For the Digital Age

  • Shake up the way you do radio to make it a growth industry again.  3 month plan of action to get started.
  • Better radio on a budget
  • Harnessing personalities – how to build a stable of personalities from you station, your farm system and the ones let go by competitors to be part of a new venture.  Best yet, you never have to pay their salaries.
  • Finding the digital sweet spot – creating something so compelling that you put a big price tag on it and wait until the first advertiser pays it.  It won’t be a long wait.
  • Don’t go down with Facebook and Twitter, boost social connectivity by building your own local replacement.
  • Fiscally responsible alternatives for innovating local radio. 
  • Learn the most effective approach to reinvigorating a radio station that is under attack from digital competitors.  The secret is in one paragraph you will want to memorize as your credo. 

5.  Growth Opportunities in Short-Form Video

  • Discover how entrepreneurs are making millions by doing short form video that contains no ads and has no subscription fees.  This more than pays for your tuition!
  • Target key areas of growth for short-form video.
  • The one-stop solution to making social, short-form video for a profit.

6.  Engage 80 Million Millennials

  • Audience building secrets to engage Millennials and win them back to radio. 
  • One-Day Life-Changer:  Make radio instantly cooler.
  • I will share my work in generational media that indicates this young and massive audience is available to traditional media such as radio, TV and the record industry but not by continuing the status quo. 
  • Come away knowing their hot buttons and their turn offs.

7. Time Shift Radio

  • New rules:  All content must be available on-demand – everything.  The audience is demanding it all and all at once. 
  • The real solution for creating time shifted radio content. 
  • Critical question that will be answered: Whether to rely on over-the-air broadcasts for time shifting or create new content. 
  • Boost revenue by marketing time shifting as a new stream of revenue.  Go to school on time shifting.

March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia 7:30 to 4 pm.

Click here to register now.

Inquire about group rates.

Big Changes Coming to Consolidated Radio

Sources close to the situation reveal four of the most batshit changes in the way a radio station is going to be run in the year ahead.

Owners are desperate as revenue falls, radio audiences age and money demo listeners depart for mobile digital media.

Now, if you’re still working at a radio station, you’ve got all this to be worried about.

If you’re already a subscriber, sign in and have at this story.  You can also comment privately to our group.

If you’ve been dillydallying, you won’t get information like this is in the rah-rah radio press.  Today’s story is a great day to start a “trial” subscription for a test drive.

Here’s what you’ll get:

  1. You’re likely to have a new boss to answer to next year – a type of animal that you’ve never seen before.  Bone up and get prepared.
  2. Format radios will be morphing into something so alien many radio people who have survived layoff after layoff will just up and quit.  What’s going to be forced on radio people will be impossible to live with.
  3. Sit down and remove nearby sharp objects – wait until you read the most cockamamie plan to replace declining spot radio revenues.  On a bad day, you couldn’t come up with this sorry solution.  Yet, it’s on the way.
  4. The perfect radio employee – with plans like these if you’re good at what you do at a radio station, you may be too good for what the major consolidators have in mind.  Are you their new “perfect” employee?

Try it for a month.  Thousands are already in and have replaced free happy talk radio publications with honest reporting like this.  Over 98% keep their subscriptions active.  No risk.

Click “read more” below.

Report news in our Witness Protection Program.  $100 Award/Best Tip of the Month

The recognized best media seminar every year, 2014 Media Solutions Conference

Contact Jerry privately

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Chris Christie As Your Next Program Director

The recently reelected New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is popular for all the reasons radio stations, TV networks and record labels tend not to be.

Go ahead and laugh.

I’m dead serious.

If you’re a subscriber, thank you for joining our group.  Just click through and unlock this story.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

  1. Christie has an abundance of the one thing your audiences crave.  Do you know what it is?  Bottle it and start doing it to increase your reach.
  2. The controversial governor could teach radio stations how to get almost anyone – old and even young – to agree on listening to your station if you knew the tactic he employs so skillfully.
  3. Did you see Christie on Letterman a few months ago?  He pulled a radio trick that we should be doing every morning between 5-10 am.
  4. Christie may not be for every Millennial but here are three ways he (and you) should cater to this audience of 80 million people now coming of age.
  5. The List – what younger in-demo listeners want you to give them.  It’s not too late.  This stuff works.

The answers begin here.

If you would like to read this story and get daily email delivery, click “Read More” below for your choices.

Report news -- $100 Award for Best Tip of the Month here.

Talk to Jerry privately here.

2014 Media Solutions Conference in Philly here.

Get social with Jerry here.

Monthly subscribers can access my other 2,497 archived stories, save $20 a year and a get an extra free month for doing it here

The Secrets To Success in 2014

Disrupt Your Radio Station

Blow it up without losing listeners.

We clear up how to gain audience by attacking all the things digital age listeners hate about radio before a digital competitor does it.

Use this plan to drastically alter and destroy the old structure the way Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Netflix did.

Turn ordinary radio into new revenue streams.

Solve virtually every critical objection digital-age listeners have about radio with newfound confidence to innovate.

Master Digital

Learn how people you probably don’t know make millions of dollars in digital without running commercials or even selling banner ads.  It is being done right now but traditional media isn’t doing it.  Consider this your game plan. 

Reinvent the station website to churn out money.  Rethink social media.  Forget clicks and “likes”. 

A better option than streaming and a way for your station to become the “Netflix of Radio”.

Succeed With New Social Media Strategies

End radio’s social media slump:  Instagram is ousting Facebook.  And Twitter is in trouble.  Time to alter the way you do social media with this new plan.

Social Media Shakeup: texting with pictures is where you should be.  Fast track it.

Social Media SOS:  social media is no longer just about staying connected so if your radio station is relying on today’s social media, this is a heads up to get with it.

Reinvent Radio For the Digital Age

Shake up the way you do radio to make it a growth industry again.  3 month plan of action to get started.

Better radio on a budget

Harnessing personalities – how to build a stable of personalities from you station, your farm system and the ones let go by competitors to be part of a new venture.  Best yet, you never have to pay their salaries.

Finding the digital sweet spot – creating something so compelling that you put a big price tag on it and wait until the first advertiser pays it.  It won’t be a long wait.

Don’t go down with Facebook and Twitter, boost social connectivity by building your own local replacement.

Fiscally responsible alternatives for innovating local radio. 

Learn the most effective approach to reinvigorating a radio station that is under attack from digital competitors.  The secret is in one paragraph you will want to memorize as your credo. 

Growth Opportunities in Short-Form Video

Discover how entrepreneurs are making millions by doing short-form video that contains no ads and has no subscription fees.  This more than pays for your tuition!

Target key areas of growth for short-form video.

The one-stop solution to making social, short-form video for a profit.

Engage 80 Million Millennials

Audience building secrets to engage Millennials and win them back to radio. 

One-Day Life-Changer:  Make radio instantly cooler.

I will share my work in generational media that indicates this young and massive audience is available to traditional media such as radio, TV and the record industry but not by continuing the status quo. 

Come away knowing their hot buttons and their turn offs.

Time Shift Radio

New rules:  All content must be available on-demand – everything.  The audience is demanding it all and all at once. 

The real solution for creating time shifted radio content. 

Critical question that will be answered: Whether to rely on over-the-air broadcasts for time shifting or create new content. 

Boost revenue by marketing time shifting as a new stream of revenue.  Go to school on time shifting.

These are the topics that deserve your focus in the year ahead.

This is a valuable one-day seminar presented by Jerry Del Colliano March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia with the assistance of clinical guest faculty.

Reserve a Seat

Group Registrations

The Cumulus Firings

The pre-Thanksgiving firings are underway.

Cumulus is going first.

Here’s what people on the ground are saying about the clever way new force reductions will be implemented.

If you’re a subscriber, thank you for joining our group.  Just click through and unlock this story.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

1.  Almost 100 local jobs will disappear from just one move alone.  There’s still time to be forewarned.

2.  A new Nash-FM type brand is said to be in the works potentially threatening jobs in another format.  Here’s the over/under on which format is being targeted.

3.  Another national morning show could eradicate some of the company’s most expensive talent and the Dickeys are slobbering over the prospect.

4.  The two riskiest dayparts to be working at Cumulus after January 1.

5.  What you can expect in the weeks ahead if you are a part-timer.

The answers begin here.

If you would like to read this story and get daily email delivery, click “Read More” below for your choices.

The smartest, safest newstip network – 100% anonymity guaranteed -- NewsTip Hotline.

My upcoming conference is all about the many opportunities ahead for radio people in the digital broadcast space at the 2014 Media Solutions Conference.

The Next Big Thing

Custom content for a type of social media that is beginning to come of age.

Facebook is over as oldsters embrace it and teens run from it.

Radio is hopelessly trying to push broadcasting in a world that wants on-demand content.

And the music industry is a mess because no one has come up with a viable alternative to the record album.  

You want to be in the custom content business.

Audio, video, text and social networking.

Short-form audio that is delivered digitally to smartphones for users to mashup and consume on-demand. 

Video under 2 minutes (I recommend no more than 1:30).

Text that isn’t a news article but concisely and creatively written that cuts to the chase.

The big change will come in social media and I’m going to write about this sometime this week for our group.

Big social networks where everyone is a member are on its way out (Facebook, Twitter, et al).

The thing of the future is smaller, local networks that are built around live interaction – you’ll actually have to know the person or at least have them trust you enough to give you their cell phone number.

This is a business you want to be in – now, not later.

With radio’s ability to create content, what’s missing is a plan that does not involve only programming on the air.

It hurts to say it but audiences don’t need broadcasting when they are now accustomed to getting what they want on-demand.

At my upcoming conference in Philadelphia, let’s talk about this great opportunity.

Here’s the curriculum for what should be an inspirational day working together. 

2014 Media Solutions Conference

FCC’s AM Rescue Plan

What about the FCC’s rescue plan for FM?

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is championing necessary and common sense changes that eliminate or modernize regulations that are not helpful to AM operators.  But they are too little, too late.

Among the proposals is elimination of a regulation that requires stations to prove that any new equipment decreases interference with other stations and loosening rules that affect nighttime signals that have been impacted because of the skywave effect of AM signals in the ionosphere at night.

They’ve got to be kidding.

This isn’t going to help AM operators one bit.

Turning back the clock to 1960 will and good luck with that.

Remember it has only been since the 70’s since FM came of age but now FM is as bad off as AM and it has nothing to do with technology.

It has to do with the greedy bastards who have consolidated the radio industry and put garbage on the air – cheap national programming, voice tracking, syndication.  AM stations that still command an audience are few and far between.

But actually, the FCC is missing the point.

There are things that can be done to help AM and even FM operators survive in the digital age and it has very little to do with rules, technology or even offering AM operators low power translators – like that’s a business.

To continue reading this article, click “read more” below.  The best use for an AM or FM radio station in the digital age, why it is becoming too late for even live and local radio programming and the new role for radio operators in which they can absolutely succeed in a digital world.

A Startling Prediction About YouTube

Here is early warning that the hugely popular YouTube could wind up in the same mess as cable companies.

Things are changing rapidly and the folks at Google know it.

The Google music awards show last weekend laid an egg but that is nothing compared to the big changes afoot that you will want to track.

If you’re a subscriber, thank you for joining our group.  Just click through and unlock the content.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

  1. Big change is coming to YouTube – keep an eye on Google.
  2. The one thing that is keeping YouTube innovators up at night.
  3. Warning:  radio is going to be in the same boat as YouTube.  Here’s the fix.
  4. How to stop the decline of radio because the same solution is the one Google is going to impose on YouTube.

The answers begin here.

If you would like to read this story, learn how to access my entire archive of 2,491 articles and get daily email delivery of future stories, click “read more” below.

Like to try some FREE SAMPLES, click here.

Report news in total confidence through our Witness Protection Program.

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Become Proficient At Time-Shifting Radio

It’s not streaming or podcasting or repurposing radio programming that will insure the future.

It’s time shifting.

Time shifting is the hot trend by consumers to record content for replay on-demand at a later time.  On their schedules not those of broadcasters whose expertise is to air content in real-time.

Time shifting is turning the TV industry upside down right now as network programs viewed in real-time are down almost 30% on the average in Nielsen ratings for this new Fall TV season.

Netflix and HBO Go as well as other on-demand sources are feeding the monster that the radio industry to date has not even thought about.

There is no plan. 

No ideas. 

Failure of a good solid radio station to dominate their brand in the digital marketplace could be catastrophic in terms of audience and revenue.

Time shifting radio content has been added to the curriculum at my upcoming Media Solutions Conference.

Creating content for time shifting.

Assessing whether terrestrial content is also adaptable for time shifting or will new approaches be necessary.  Knowing this one thing alone will save time and money while moving decisively to stay relevant to money demographics.

How to brand it, deliver it, create it and sell it to advertisers.

The Fifth Annual 2014 Media Solutions Conference March 26th in Philadelphia is presented for forward-thinking broadcasters and content creators who want to become proficient at time shifting and the most critical key areas below.  Final weeks to save $200 for each person registered.

Media Solutions Conference Curriculum:

1.  Disrupt your radio station

Blow it up without losing your loyal fans.  Gain audience by attacking all the things digital age listeners hate about radio before a digital competitor does.  Study the plan to drastically alter and destroy the old structure the way Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Netflix did.

2.  Master digital

Learn how people you probably don’t know make millions of dollars in digital without running commercials or even selling banner ads.  It is being done right now but traditional media isn’t doing it.  Consider this your game plan.

3.  Most effective social media strategies

Social media shakeup alert!  Instagram is ousting Facebook.  Twitter is in trouble despite its IPO.  Horror of all horrors – texting with pictures is where you should be but social media is no longer just about staying connected so if your radio station is relying on today’s social media, this is a heads up.

4.  Reverse the decline of radio listening

Learn the most effective approach to reinvigorating a radio station that is under attack from digital competitors.  The secret is in one paragraph you will want to memorize as your credo.  We will brainstorm together on steps that will guarantee that you will find new radio listeners by outsmarting digital competitors.

5.  Succeed at short form video

No matter what kind of content you create, it must include short form video.  But short form video is no longer your children’s YouTube.  There are new risks, new rewards and endless ways to create video content that is compelling and financially rewarding.  We will cover it.

6.  Engaging 80 million Millennials

They hate radio.  And use music like toothpaste.  But there is a way to engage Millennials.  I will share my work in generational media that indicates this young and massive audience is available to traditional media such as radio, TV and the record industry but not by continuing the status quo.  You’ll come away knowing their hot buttons and their turn offs.

7.  Time shifting radio

All content must be available on-demand – everything.  The audience is demanding it and every medium except radio is responding.  How to create time shifted radio content.  Whether to rely on over-the-air broadcasts for time shifting or create new content.  How to market time shifting as a new stream of revenue. Go to school on time shifting.

This is a valuable one-day seminar presented by Jerry Del Colliano March 26, 2014 at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia with the assistance of clinical guest faculty.

Reserve a Seat

Group Registrations

Twitter R.I.P.

Facebook, too.

Talk to teens and you’ll see.

Facebook and Twitter are in a heap of trouble and so is any radio station that relies on them for its digital future.

If the hottest things in social media have peaked, what does that mean for radio?

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If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get:

  1. The most important thing you need to know about the increasing unpopularity of Twitter and Facebook.
  2. Identify what went so wrong with social media – it’s only been around for a decade or so.  Mistakes you will want to avoid.
  3. The 2 best up and coming social media sites to replace Twitter and Facebook.
  4. When is it time to shut your Twitter and Facebook accounts down.
  5. New paradigm:  it’s not the big idea that matters, it’s this startling revelation.

The answers begin here.

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Stop Driving Listeners Away

Listeners have a lot of other options instead of radio.

Most stations can’t really deal with listener criticism because they think it requires changes they are unwilling or unable to make.

But that’s not so.

There are ways to minimize the things that drive listeners away and often they don’t cost a penny.

  1. Take too many commercials, for example.  For decades radio has heard this complaint.  Cut the non-essential stuff in your stop sets and then accurately compute the percentage of fewer interruptions compared to “last month”, “last hour” or “ever before”.  Then once an hour (and not before a commercial break) say, 15% fewer interruptions this hour and leave it at that.  Lie about this and forget about it.
  2. Promoting even a 5% reduction in interruptions is more believable than 50%.  Authenticity pays great dividends.
  3. Avoid saying “fewer commercials”, you’re advertisers pay for those so don’t insult them either.  You want to be known for great commercials.  Expensive ones that make a lot of money.  Not ones that people don’t want to hear.
  4. Live-reads are what young people crave.  Start a commercial set with them and learn how not to make these live-reads sound like an advertiser has a gun to the head of the air personality.  Give them some latitude to be real.
  5. Got guts?  Remove all promotional hype.  I know, I know.  I love them too, but today’s audiences don’t believe them.  Try removing as much hype as you can for a day.  An hour.  Go slow if you want but you’ll see the difference and so will your audience.  Hype is out and that’s all you ever hear on the radio.  So radio is out. 
  6. Listeners can’t recall station call letters and often station branded names.  If you have a popular morning show – and you’d better – make it the “Joe Blow and Mary Smith” station because that’s how money demo listeners identify radio today -- by the very personalities stupid operators are firing.  Play it smart, sync your station with your top attraction.
  7. Too much repetition of music has been and still is a common complaint about radio.  Every program director knows that in a radio ratings world you have to repeat the hits constantly but after an hour and a half of rotation, say, “Here’s 3 new songs never played on the radio before in (your town)”.  Play them once if you like but you’ll be gaining cred.  And it is no more dangerous than an 8-minute stop set of endless crappy commercials.
  8. At 12 midnight, stop everything and play three or more new songs just released.  Very cool.
  9. Albums are dead so avoid mentioning them.  Our audiences live in a cherry-picking world.  Their parents had to buy the albums at great expense to hear the one or two songs they liked. 
  10. Mentioning texting, Facebook and Twitter to show you’re connected will backfire. They are simply means of communicating not desirable programming elements.  Believe me, younger audiences know how to find you on Twitter, Facebook and other social sites without constantly telling them.  We don’t meet someone in person and constantly say, “follow me on Facebook and Twitter” do we?  No need to be uncool on-air.  They get it.
  11. Instagram is the new Facebook – use it, it’s not your programming, just a social connection tool.

Don’t get me started, I’ve got some great ideas for talk and news stations, too.

I could go on and on, but we’ll do more if you invest one day at the 2014 Media Solutions Conference in Philadelphia.

The curriculum:

  • Disrupt Your Radio Station
  • Master Digital
  • Succeed With New Social Media Strategies
  • Reinvent Radio For the Digital Age
  • Growth Opportunities in Short-Form Video
  • Engage 80 Million Millennials
  • Time Shift Radio

Learn more here

Clear Channel Takebacks … Dickey Gets Caught

The two largest radio groups have been caught red-handed.

One is taking back promised revenue from employees hoping that no one will notice and the other is praying the truth doesn’t come out about its finances.

Now they’re exposed.

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If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

CLEAR CHANNEL TAKEBACKS …

Even as they impose forced mandatory online “Code of Conduct” training on all company employees – even the outdoor folks – the company is pulling a stunt of questionable ethics that employees will want to beware of.

It’s coming to you next.

DICKEY GETS CAUGHT …

Cumulus has been caught red-handed fooling with its financial numbers.  Ironically their stock went through the roof after Dickey reported the worst revenue growth of any reporting group – nothing could stop it.

Until now.

The answers begin here.

If you would like to read this story, learn how to access my entire archive of 2,488 articles and get daily email delivery of future stories, click “read more” below.

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Refresh Your Radio Station

I remember when the outstanding researcher Bill Moyes used to say attack your radio station before a competitor does.

And that was before the onslaught of digital competitors that have made life tough for radio stations.

But how?

  1. Hold a very special brainstorming session focused on one thing:  if you were your station’s competitor, what would you attack, improve, replace or reinvent.  But the key is who to invite to the brainstorming session.
  2. Name the one thing your station does best of all – put it into a phrase or sentence, no more.  If this is not what you believe the station’s core strength should be, change it.  If you do, channel whatever resources you have into what’s most important to listeners about your station.
  3. Try this – innovate something new for each daypart.  Putting Ryan Seacrest on doesn’t count.  Be creative and even daring.  New methods, ideas and/or products.  Sometimes even one new thing can freshen up a station and often it leads to more innovation.
  4. My research among young people indicates that they actually like commercials but not the kind radio does.  I asked several groups of young people to design their own optimal commercial, the one which they would be compelled to listen to all the way through.  Hands down, live reads won.  Not phony live reads but ones that were startling for what they included in them.  Conduct your own research even if it is informal or ask me about the treasure trove of input this group has to offer when we meet face to face.
  5. Most listeners cannot correctly identify call letters or even station branded names.  The reason?  Stations come up with names they think are memorable but a generation that relates easily to names like Google, Twitter and SnapChat might be able to teach us something.  Consider making what you call the station as creative as what you put on the air. 

Want more ideas like these?

Invest one day at the 2014 Media Solutions Conference in Philadelphia.

The curriculum:

  • Disrupt Your Radio Station
  • Master Digital
  • Succeed With New Social Media Strategies
  • Reinvent Radio For the Digital Age
  • Growth Opportunities in Short-Form Video
  • Engage 80 Million Millennials
  • Time Shift Radio

Learn more here

How To Make Audiences Crave You

Do these four things and you’ll see a difference in your ratings within a few months.

Better yet, not one thing I am going to share with you costs a penny so the price is right.

You can make a difference no matter what type of programming you have.

If you’re a subscriber, thank you for joining our group.  Just click through and unlock the content.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

  1. The key to making audiences like you and believe you.
  2. The one thing that money demo audiences cannot resist.  It’s like catnip to younger audiences.
  3. The most important promise you will ever make an audience.
  4. How to defend yourself against an eroding audience or tough competitors that may be affecting your popularity.
  5. Plus – what is more effective than hype and promotion in attracting new audiences.  This will make you change the way you do promos.

The answers begin here.

If you would like to read this story, learn how to access my entire archive of 2,486 articles and get daily email delivery of future stories, click “read more” below.

Like to try some FREE SAMPLES, click here.

Report news in total confidence through our Witness Protection Program.

Attend Jerry’s Media Solutions Conference in Philly – Learn more.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – connect.

Cumulus Considering Drastic Options

It’s worse than Lew Dickey is letting on.

Sure, revenue is up but it is the worst performance among reporting radio groups.

What you don’t hear about is the ticking time bombs – not just one, five!

Junior is sure not going to be the one to take the brunt of these drastic changes.

If you’re a subscriber, thank you for joining our group.  Just click through and unlock the content.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get.

  1. The unthinkable decision that Cumulus now has on the table that could mete out pain to everyone.
  2. The shocking options for a previously confident CEO.
  3. The Dickeys dirty little secret that most people – even within the company – don’t know.
  4. A desperate plan to reduce costs.
  5. For Cumulus employees – will the firings escalate?  Who is most at risk and who is immune?
  6. Why it’s worse than you think forcing 2014 to be a year of major change at Cumulus.

The answers begin here.

If you would like to read this story, learn how to access my entire archive of 2,485 articles and get daily email delivery of future stories, click “read more” below.

Like to try some FREE SAMPLES, click here.

Report news in total confidence through our Witness Protection Program.

Attend Jerry’s Media Solutions Conference in Philly – Learn more.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – connect.

The Long Overdue Radio Revival Plan

Hanging on to the 230 million people that RADAR says listen to radio every week is truly tantamount to just simply hanging on.

Look, I’m not taking anything away from the metrics – if you are willing to bet the future on metrics.  Heck, we know that people still listen to radio, just not enough of them and increasingly not the ones advertisers covet.

What I have an issue with – and you may, as well – is that in the money demo, radio has taken a declining position when digital media is factored in.  This is not just 80 Millennials coming of age, but even baby boomers and Gen X.

Can we agree, then, that beating our chest about some meaningless metrics is not a substitute for never seeing a younger person listening to a radio or identifying with a radio personality?  Can we agree that news/talk is an old white man’s format that is actually hard for even 50 year olds to handle?  Or that Pandora is indeed making inroads against music radio and will continue to unless or until radio does the one thing that will stop it in its tracks?

If you’ll give me that, I’ve got some solutions for you.

CREDIBILITY

Younger listeners especially Millennials love authenticity.  Radio is the polar opposite of authentic.  It’s a hype machine for iHeartRadio and other promotions that don’t matter to real audiences these days. 

Try admitting on the air that “we play the same big hits over and over – sometimes too much – but we have also discovered some new hits we’d like you to hear – here are 5 of them”.

Talk stations take a lesson from Fox News’ Megyn Kelly.  We know her politics but we don’t know when she is going to challenge even the usual suspects to say things they don’t want to say – be more unpredictable.  Radio is too predictable.

News is the greatest asset of a radio station and few stations do much that passes for news.  You don’t have to read it, just say it.  Hire a few credible people on staff not to do scheduled newscasts but to break in and be the FIRST to share things that are important to your audience. 

TOO MANY COMMERCIALS

Our listeners have been right about this all along – we did nothing and got away with it because they had few other options.  All that has changed now.

Cut the commercial load in half and charge double for the ads.  But make the ads better.  Test them for your advertisers.  Schedule them in a way that is respectful for an audience.  The first thing I would do to fix a radio station is to cut the spot load in half and make the remaining half great commercials.  The first thing you would do is fire me.  But you would be wrong. 

Keep running a garbage pail of commercials in between whatever your format is and you know what it is going to get you.  There are at least three other options to deal with this number one listener irritant.  At least try one of them and stop killing your audience off.

Let’s also discuss the new role of personalities, the remade morning show, a strategic change in afternoons (radio’s new found top listening time), imaging, where digital makes a radio station more popular – stop doing it to just do it, go digital to increase your audience and revenue or don’t do it at all.

You won’t find the answers to these critical issues at the usual talking heads radio conventions, panels of “experts” or shows.

But you will find them in just one full day at my upcoming Media Solutions Conference Radio Refresher.

The curriculum:

1.  Disrupt Your Radio Station

  • Blow it up without losing listeners.
  • We clear up how to gain audience by attacking all the things digital age listeners hate about radio before a digital competitor does it.
  • Use this plan to drastically alter and destroy the old structure the way Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Netflix did.
  • Turn ordinary radio into new revenue streams.
  • Solve virtually every critical objection digital-age listeners have about radio with newfound confidence to innovate.

2.  Master Digital

  • Learn how people you probably don’t know make millions of dollars in digital without running commercials or even selling banner ads.  It is being done right now but traditional media isn’t doing it.  Consider this your game plan. 
  • Reinvent the station website to churn out money.  Rethink social media.  Forget clicks and “likes”. 
  • A better option than streaming and a way for your station to become the “Netflix of Radio”.

3.  Succeed With New Social Media Strategies

  • End radio’s social media slump:  Instagram is ousting Facebook.  And Twitter is in trouble.  Time to alter the way you do social media with this new plan.
  • Social Media Shakeup: texting with pictures is where you should be.  Fast track it.
  • Social Media SOS:  social media is no longer just about staying connected so if your radio station is relying on today’s social media, this is a heads up to get with it.

4.  Reinvent Radio For the Digital Age

  • Shake up the way you do radio to make it a growth industry again.  3 month plan of action to get started.
  • Better radio on a budget
  • Harnessing personalities – how to build a stable of personalities from you station, your farm system and the ones let go by competitors to be part of a new venture.  Best yet, you never have to pay their salaries.
  • Finding the digital sweet spot – creating something so compelling that you put a big price tag on it and wait until the first advertiser pays it.  It won’t be a long wait.
  • Don’t go down with Facebook and Twitter, boost social connectivity by building your own local replacement.
  • Fiscally responsible alternatives for innovating local radio. 
  • Learn the most effective approach to reinvigorating a radio station that is under attack from digital competitors.  The secret is in one paragraph you will want to memorize as your credo. 

5.  Growth Opportunities in Short-Form Video

  • Discover how entrepreneurs are making millions by doing short form video that contains no ads and has no subscription fees.  This more than pays for your tuition!
  • Target key areas of growth for short-form video.
  • The one-stop solution to making social, short-form video for a profit.

6.  Engage 80 Million Millennials

  • Audience building secrets to engage Millennials and win them back to radio. 
  • One-Day Life-Changer:  Make radio instantly cooler.
  • I will share my work in generational media that indicates this young and massive audience is available to traditional media such as radio, TV and the record industry but not by continuing the status quo. 
  • Come away knowing their hot buttons and their turn offs.

7. Time Shift Radio

  • New rules:  All content must be available on-demand – everything.  The audience is demanding it all and all at once. 
  • The real solution for creating time shifted radio content. 
  • Critical question that will be answered: Whether to rely on over-the-air broadcasts for time shifting or create new content. 
  • Boost revenue by marketing time shifting as a new stream of revenue.  Go to school on time shifting.

Click here to register now.

Early bird discount ends soon.