Confessions of a media broker (35 years in the trenches)
Ah, the life of the media broker. Make a few calls, show up at closing and get a big check. Right? Not so fast Kemosabe. Like anyone who sells a big ticket item, it’s usually a long time between sales. I know at the start of every year that 90% of my time, money and effort will be wasted…It’s finding that other elusive 10% that keeps us going.
Digital media, information & technology spotlight on digital data
In advertising and marketing data is fundamental. The mission is
Equal opportunities issues that arise as on-air personality runs for office
It’s political season, and somewhere, some on-air broadcast air personality is making the decision that they really
The Aereo case: A summary of the issues and a prediction
The Supreme Court heard the oral arguments in the Aereo case yesterday, it has received all the briefs, and now we all just wait for a decision – to probably be released late in June before the Court’s summer recess. The transcript of yesterday’s oral argument has been released and is available here. It makes for interesting reading, as the questions from the Court seemed to be dubious of Aereo’s claims that it can retransmit the signal of a broadcast television station over the Internet, to the public for a fee, without the consent of or any payment to the stations. While dubious about the Aereo service, the Court was also concerned about the potential impact of any decision against Aereo on cloud services and even on other distributors of media content. Lots of issues came up during the course of the argument, and it will be very interesting to see how the Court resolves these in its final decision. Keep reading, and I’ll make my prediction.
The dongle takeover: How the “Streaming Stick” is revolutionizing TV
If you are up-to-speed on news within the TV space, you hear the words
How to keep on-air talent
Given the increasing disfavor of judges and state legislators against the enforceability of non-compete agreements in the broadcasting industry, should prudent
FCC requests comments on proposal to require multilingual EAS alerts
With so much going on at the FCC and in connection with other topics
Finding great salespeople in unexpected places
Does it feel like the talent pool in sales is shrinking just as demand for qualified salespeople is growing? The truth is, there are talented people waiting to be hired. The challenge is learning where to look. A good company must continually prospect for promising salespeople.
Coming issues and events that will change the USA
Several situations loom that need to be confronted. Folks who have followed my list of predictions since 1985 have to admit I nailed them all correctly. Several network shows had my list and have interviewed me. Here’s what’s coming:
YouTube is no competitor. YouTube is radio’s new BFF
Infinite Dial 2014 identified YouTube as radio’s quiet competitor (https://rbr.com/infinite-dial-radios-quiet-competitor-is-youtube/), but the reality
FCC attributes JSAs to examine SSAs, network nonduplication and Syndex Rules
The FCC meeting (3/31) proposed to attribute Joint Sales Agreements
Viacom ready to black out millions of rural cable subscribers
Over 100 years ago, Consolidated Communications was founded as a
Strong radio station positioners
Strong positioners move a radio station past utility grade. Nearly all of the listening going on in the United States is utility not foreground, not a reason for listening. It’s about getting your radio station near the useful part of the curve. That means moving away from being a utility.
This date in radio & television
March 26th: A major medical moment of the 20th century occurred on this date in 1953. That's when noted researcher and virologist Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh revealed on CBS Radio that the testing of his polio vaccine on a 90-member group of adults and children had proven successful. The testing continued for two years with the vaccine declared sound in April of '55, paving the way for the licensing of the injected substance and the subsequent mass immunization campaigns. On this night in 1956 comedian Red Buttons made his TV acting debut on CBS's "Studio One."
This date in radio & television
March 24th: As Jackie Gleason would say, a little traveling music!!! We offer it for radio, vaudeville, Broadway and film performer Belle Baker who became the first person to host a radio broadcast from a moving train, on this day in 1932. That variety program was heard on New York's WABC. Eddie Cantor paid this lady quite the compliment at one time in saying Belle Baker is, "Dinah Shore, Patti Page, Peggy Lee and Judy Garland all rolled into one."