Media Info Bureau

According to the statisticians at National Day Calendar, August 20 is, in fact, National Radio Day. The fact that it took a Tweet from Fred Jacobs for us to know this is yet another pathetic F on the Radio Industry Report Card.

MoffettNathanson's two big analysts, Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson, were horrified at the then still-preliminary Q2 cord-cutting results. The final numbers are in, and they are indeed distressing — not just for traditional distributors, but for the programmers as well.

"Love it or hate it, this is the chart that gets the most attention every year," says noted local advertising analyst Gordon Borrell. "It's basically a barometer indicating where it's going to be sunny, cloudy, or stormy in the local advertising world."

This column, says Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner, is respectfully dedicated to the memory of the thousands of innocent worldwide terrorism victims and to those who will continue to suffer the same fate as these horrific practices continue to escalate.

Barney's New York on August 6 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. CNBC reported that the move "makes the luxury department store the latest victim of the retail upheaval, as shoppers buy online and from brands directly." The National Retail Federation takes issue with this.

"Sales training is critical for growing and sustaining a successful sales team, but you've got to do it right," says expert sales trainer Barrett Riddleberger. "You can't afford to waste your money or time." This Media Information Bureau column is guaranteed to be a winner.

The latest "Chart of the Week" from Borrell Associates features a particularly intriguing insight from its recently completed survey of 442 local ad agencies. "[It] looks like they're still in love with broadcast TV, but they've started open relationships with other video platforms," says Gordon Borrell.

"It all began in the summer of 1964, when hundreds of radio and television stations received an envelope addressed simply to the 'Chief Engineer,' postmarked Cleveland, Ohio." That's how columnist Ken Benner begins his latest installment -- a tribute to the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

Multicultural consumers comprise almost 40% of the total U.S. population, yet multicultural media investments make up only 5.2% of total advertising and marketing spending. That's according to PQ Media, which conducted a research study on behalf of an ANA group.

Stellar sales reps do things that others don't. Want to learn what they've done to reach these achievements, so it can be shared with your radio or TV sales leaders? Click here for the latest Media Information Bureau installment from sales training expert Barrett Riddleberger.

"It is doubtful any other profession than American Broadcasting has paid a heavier price for irrational legislation spurred by special interests with hidden agendas," notes Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner, a "mock" inspection expert. Today we explore another current example.

"The basket of media that a buyer incorporates into their measure of inflation should evolve." That's just one of the nuggets found in this latest post from Brian Wieser, formerly of Pivotal Research Group and now GroupM's Global President of Business Intelligence.

Another unspeakable tragedy sparked by a gunman unfolded early Sunday morning in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio, home to RBR+TVBR's publisher and key sales staff. While Cox Media Group's WHIO-7 did an outstanding job of covering the mass shooting, the efforts of a Nexstar station were diminished by its parent company's ongoing retransmission dispute with AT&T.

Featured columnist and "Mock" inspection pro Ken Benner will never forget the third station he was assigned to inspect under the ABIP program. The situation was so bad that it became the genesis for the “Authorization and Indemnification for Conducting Alternative FCC Inspections."

In this guest RBR + TVBR Intelligence Briefing from Karla Jo Helms, the head of a public relations firm, how the media can restore goodwill back into the graces of public opinion is tackled. The author calls on her firsthand experience of protecting revenue erosion while mastering the keys for "CSR for the Broadcast Industry."