by Kent Sterling
If it’s Thursday, it must be time for another Sterling Radio Tip of the Week! Can you believe I email these magnificent pieces of guidance to radio professionals across the country. I feel like it’s my duty to help as many mediocre radio managers as possible to deal with talent in a more positive way and build their radio stations with a little additional wisdon. No one has asked me to do this, and frankly I have no inkling as to whether anyone reads it.
Radio is in the midst of a decade long run where cutting expenses to success has been the prevailing direction. For a time it was a decent idea. There was a bit of dead weight, and being forced to get smarter was positive. Then the cuts started weaning away the quality of the programming, and radio became less unique. Management hopes no one noticed.
Anyway, without and chips in the pot, I can sit outside the game and advise. Without being responsible for the outcome of the decisions, being smart is easy. Below is this week’s entry, and if you would like to receive this in email form every Thursday, just ask at kentsterling11@yahoo.com.
Oh boy. Nothing like getting the call from the GM and being asked for your list of who’s next hosts. Wait, there is something like that and worse – having a host pop into your office at 8:30 a.m. to tell you he’s leaving. You better not go to see the GM to relate the news without a list of potential replacements.
A former Notre Dame executive told me that the athletic director always had a list of potential next coaches for every sport. The idea of building a list isn’t brain surgery, but putting the right names on the list is.
There is a great story about Tribune CEO Randy Michaels meeting with the attorney/agent of a potential host at the WLW offices. A few minutes into the meeting, Michaels asked the agent why he shouldn’t be the next host. Bill Cunningham was the agent, and he has been the most popular radio host in Cincinnati for well over a decade.
Listening is key to finding talent. Wherever you go and whatever you do, listen to people talk. Here are three traits of great talk hosts to listen for:
- They make compelling, complete, and concise statements and display passion and a sense of humor.
- After the first five minutes of conversation, you feel like you know them.
- They listen as well as they speak.
- They engage you and others (this sounds ridiculously elementary, but pay attention to how people listen to them).
There are very few people who possess all those traits, so you need to pay attention. When you come across one, write down that name, and somehow find a way to get them on the air.
While you do that, make sure you fill producer and news positions with people you believe have the raw ability to host, and don’t be afraid to give them a shot. The culture we were in the midst of building at WIBC was to use newspeople as hosts to evaluate their chops, hire newspeople who we felt could one day host, and hire board-ops who could one day do news.
There aren’t enough small market radio stations willing to swallow the expense of employing young men and women, and the result is a very shallow talent pool.
Next week: Format clocks. How should they be built to both improve ratings and results for clients?
Pot it up!
