Industry Interviews

Join us as we present John Pelkey’s wide-ranging look at the broadcasting environment from his Washington communications lawyer perspective. Among many other things, Pelkey discusses the odd and still-disappointing transaction financing environment, the disparity between television and radio deals, and the chances of the Fairness Doctrine being exhumed. Enjoy!

Before moving over to Spotify, Brian cut his teeth in radio--most recently as President of Katz Radio Group’s Katz 360 Sales. The focus was on expanding the company’s digital efforts by offering national advertisers the ability to reach their target audiences through several different channels--on-air, online, HD and mobile. Katz 360 Sales capitalized on Katz Radio Group’s 2007 acquisition of Net Radio Sales (Jennifer Lane) by consolidating all of KRG’s digital assets into a single unit. Benedik was previously the President of KRG’s Christal Radio. Here, we asked Brian about working for the competition—Spotify.

Bill has been the Voice of Westchester County, NY and the Big Apple in general for decades with two stations that cover the market well. Untold numbers of local and national politicians, organizations and voices in general have aired behind the mic of WVOX and WVIP. He's now working on his fifth book, another in the line of the life and voices of NYC, based on the invaluable relationships he's made over the years in the business.

Mark Ramsey has a point – radio management may think it is in control of its own destiny, with its hands on the traditional corporate levers that allocate expense and generate income – but at the end of the day, it is the listener who decides who wins and loses. And it’s not just a radio v. radio thing any more, it’s radio v. everything else. We think you’ll find this interview worth a read.

NAB’s Dennis Wharton has had a front row seat and a role as a participant in the constant action in Washington between broadcasters, Congress and the FCC, first as a reporter and for the past many years as the leader of the NAB’s communications team. Here’s his battlefield report from the front lines for television, radio and broadcasters in general.

MMTC President David Honig has been on the beat trying to increase the diversity of ownership in the communications industry going all the way back to 1971, and believes the effort must continue until there is nothing short of “full participation.” Here’s a look at his multi-faceted and practical approach to reaching that goal.

The streaming music services business is getting a lot of attention—and competition—lately with new and upcoming entrants like Apples iTunes Radio; Google’s All Access Music and MySpace’s My Radio. To get and keep subscribers, advertisers and social media buzz, each service is trying to offer the most music and features possible. We’re taking a look at that today with Jim Cady, Slacker CEO. The company was founded in 2004 by Celite Milbrandt and Dennis Mudd who launched it in March 2007. Dennis was the former CEO of MusicMatch, which was purchased by Yahoo Music and is now known as Yahoo! Music Radio. Cady is the former CEO of Rio.

One of the most-read observers of the business of broadcasting these days is Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker. We’ve given her a chance to pull back from her usual in-depth analysis of individual companies and comment on the broadcasting business in general. Among other things, she addresses the primary difference between the immediate futures of television and radio, and offers a hint as to who is most influencing her own media consumption.

Here’s an informative interview that takes a look at how local radio is done today, and how much small or unrated market listeners depend on their local stations for news, entertainment, sports, weather, emergency info and in this case, regional agricultural news. 1-kW KNAB (1140 AM “The Peoples Choice”) Burlington, Colorado, airs an Adult Standards music format and features programming and news from Cumulus Media Networks and Dial Global. KNAB-FM, at 51-kW, features Modern Country music. The station also has a website, www.knabradio.com. RBR-TVBR spoke to the owner and GM, Bette Bailly:

RAB’s Erica Farber has followed a path to her current post from what will be a familiar starting place for a lot of radio professionals – she was handed a phone directory and told to get started. Today, she is stressing the development of all available revenue streams as the key to radio’s growth, and urges strong efforts to attract the young, not just as listeners, but more importantly as employees.

Dave Schutz has done it all – been on the air, made sure stations had the technical facilities to stay on the air, and made sure stations had the financial wherewithal to stay on the air. This varied background fuels his wide-ranging observations on the state of the industry, and he concludes with a full-throated sermon on what radio needs to do to thrive in future that you won’t want to miss.

We had a good year across the board in 2012 and so far, so good in 2013. But as Satchel Paige would say, “Don’t look back; they may be gaining on you.”

Heineken’s new TV spot, “Déjà Vu,” ushers in the redesigned Star Bottle across the US. Paired with a

Delivered via Cumulus Media Networks daily, Dr. Savage is independent-minded and fits no stereotype—especially when it comes to politics. For example, he attacks big government and liberal media bias, but champions the environment and animal rights. Go figure!