A NEW LOW FOR RUSH LIMBAUGH

[Holland Cooke]

Fast-forward to 2007...

Rush saved AM radio; AM radio did not save Rush.

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. Back in the late 80s, one of my anchors at WTOP was quoted in The Washington Post predicting that, by now, the AM band would be used to hail taxi cabs. With analog TV channels now-in-use transitioning to first-responder walkie-talkie allocation in February '09, his prediction was prescient. GOOD THING for AM radio then-showman Limbaugh came along.

And you know why I say "then-showman."
THEN, his show was entertaining.
THEN, he got to a caller before 45 on Open Line Friday.

THEN, he hadn't read-as-many-of-his-clippings as he has now...now that EVERYTHING -- even the murderous massacre at Virginia Tech -- is all-about-him...which was the genesis of this thread.

Rush brings listeners to affiliates; not the other way around.

Correct, and it's a mixed blessing. SMART affiliates do three things:

1. Make Rush sound like part of THEIR on-air family, rather than letting-him-make-THEM-sound-like-part-of "The E.I.B. Network." With Arbitron measuring diarykeepers' ability to remember the THREE LETTERS a station doesn't-have-in-common with competitors, and Rush too-big-a-star to voice affiliates' liners, this "E.I.B." malarky isn't doing affiliates any favors.

2. Leverage his tune-in. WHAT ELSE can we invite Dittoheads to listen to? ON OUR AIR, I mean...not on his web site. Unfortunately, on many Limbaugh affiliates, his hours are the station's highest-rated. Mathematically, morning drive should be the biggest hours on a healthy non-music AM.

This is why program directors (and the consultants who take their money) don't like drawing card personalities. That's why radio has spent the last five decades trying to minimize or elimate personalities (talk radio and morning drive being the only places personalities ever exist any more in radio).

Au contraire...

3. Surround Rush with talented local hosts. BUT WHO? 11 post-de-reg years of automation/syndication/homogenization have gutted radio's farm team. The campus radio station isn't NEARLY as bustling as it was when we Boomers aspired to radio. Now, radio isn't the career goal it used to be for young people.

FIND ME A HALF DOZEN KICK-ASS HOSTS and I'll hook 'em up with jobs.
Find me an up-and-coming PD, and I'll introduce him to a chance-of-a-lifetime gig RIGHT NOW.
WHO?

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[Radio_Realist]

Now, radio isn't the career goal it used to be for young people.

Nor should it be. If one goes to journalism school to learn to be a reporter, one aspires to be a reporter. One can be a reporter for a radio station, a television station, a daily newspaper, a newsmagazine, or even an internet blog. Radio is merely one place in which to ply that trade.

Other people aspire to be performers. If they can make people laugh, they'll attempt to find work doing that in comedy clubs, or on the legitimate stage, or on television programs, or as a radio DJ.

One of the things that's killing radio is the insular attitude that it's some sort of separate entity, in and of itself, unconnected to the rest of the world.

If you want to find people who are good at hosting radio shows, why not try looking at people who express opinions on current events in other media? Why not look at stand-up comics, newspaper columnists, bloggers, and others to see if with a little training they can learn to translate their skill to radio? And don't bother answering, that's a rhetorical question. The answer is already well-known. It's because people in the radio industry think no one who's working in any other industry could possibly know anything about the arcane and mystical art of audio broadcasting.

 

[Holland Cooke]

As Phil Hartman-doing-Ed McMahon used to say: "You are correct, sir!"

One of the things that's killing radio is the insular attitude that it's some sort of separate entity, in and of itself, unconnected to the rest of the world.

THANK YOU.
As I've been preaching-out to-anyone-willing-to-listen: "think brand."
Radio -- properly exploited -- is still one helluva marketing medium.
But USE radio.
Think of it as the means, not necessarily the end.

If you want to find people who are good at hosting radio shows, why not try looking at people who express opinions on current events in other media?

YAH-mon!

Looking for a late-night host?
Look for someone in your area who's got engaging podcasts on a MySpace page with a gazillion "Friends."
He/she is already "doing a show" that just happens not-to-be-on-the-radio.

"Sex With Emily," (www.SexWithEmily.com) began as a Bay Area podcast, and attracted SUCH a following that CBS Radio hired her! She's now heard late-late-night on Free FM, San Francisco.

AND you read it first in my May newsletter...

This HAD to happen: ABC-TV has green-lighted a pilot of “Cavemen,” based on the Geico TV commercials that have been such a hit. Geico gets a licensing fee but no creative control. Still, viewers would mentally connect-the-dots to Geico’s brand.

In addition to this commercial hint, the plotline itself will have something to say. Like the TV spots, the series will depict Blackberry-toting, Armani-blazer-wearing, metrosexual Neanderthals, coping with modern day prejudice (in Atlanta). It’s a proven formula you’ll remember from one of television’s all-time greatest hits, M*A*S*H, ostensibly about the Korean War, but a thinly-veiled morality play about Viet Nam.

Will Speck, who, with partner Josh Gordon, created the prehistoric characters for The Martin Agency, told Creativity magazine, “as we started to do the second round of spots, we realized that what we were doing, inadvertently, was developing these characters and telling a longer story.”

Have you got an engaging or loquacious or quirky advertiser-voicing-her/her-spots, or a Promotion department elf, or some other peripheral station character, who may be a show hiding-in-plain-sight?

ALWAYS looking for talent, and enthused cheerleader PDs, WHEREVER they may be, and not just for AM/FM exposure,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com
www.GetOnTheNet.com

 

[evnlee]

Re: You guys are THE MODEL!

My beef with El Rushbo is that he's hijacking affiliates' listeners.
FreeTalkLive.com's online stuff ENGAGES them.

Never forget: Arbitron is a memory test.

Problem is they are not "affiliates' listeners." They are Rush's listeners.

Rush brings listeners to affiliates; not the other way around. That's why they pay him (when other shows are free or will pay affiliates). That's why they agree to his commercial requirements (and make up his spots when the show is pre-empted).

Rush saved AM radio; AM radio did not save Rush.

This is why program directors (and the consultants who take their money) don't like drawing card personalities. That's why radio has spent the last five decades trying to minimize or elimate personalities (talk radio and morning drive being the only places personalities ever exist any more in radio).

well put.

as per FTL, I respect and admire them for what they set out to do, but lest we forget, FTL's MAIN purpose is to promote FTL first. And well they should, they put out a better product then most. It's great they have terrestrial affiliates, but thier coup was using the web as a marketing tool as well as a communications platform, and that is something I see EIB doing as well.

Holland, my problem with your take is that anything Rush does to promote himself or his online antics could be damaging to the affiliates. And then you complain how there is no 'farm team' to 'build' around Rush, the one guy who brings the ratings and $$$. It was not Limbaugh that created this situation.

But in terms of N/T the emergence of Rush coincided with new technology and the destruction of the ironically named 'Fairness Doctrine', which could not be predicted 2-3 years prior. Furthermore, you seem to display a tendency to promote what you think is 'right' rather then what makes $$$.

Case in point: Imus. You claimed you thought he was reprehensible, and should have been removed, but he was the monetary anchor for MSNBC. You also praised Katie Couric, although she has been shown to be a ratings disaster! Everyone saw that one coming a mile away.

I guess it goe to the old axiom ' those that can, do. those that can't, teach. those that cannot do either, consult.'

I like you, you seem nice enough, but I want my consultant to make me the most $$$ without

 

[Holland Cooke]

Now JUST a minute...

First-things-first...
NOBODY gets away with misquoting Woody Allen here.

those that can, do. those that can't, teach. those that cannot do either, consult.'

The line is actually, "Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, teach gym."
- Annie Hall
(http://members.aol.com/cookeh/top10flix.html)

Now that we've gotten THAT straight, are you saying you want to compare resumes?
Be careful. It'll cost you your anonymity here.
But, if you insist, mine is @ http://members.aol.com/cookeh/hcbio.html
That's the mercifully-short version.

NOT included there, but speaking-of-teachers, I also managed to get certified to teach in the public schools of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts the very last year they gave 'em out for life. I always figured that little "IBM card" (as we called such documents then) was my spare tire...my "free-floating life-raft," as Woody's character said in Annie Hall. If radio didn't work out, I could always teach. But I got so busy DOING, that I never got around to teaching.

And I cite all this not-just-to-be-responsive to your post, but knowing full-well that the-list-of-stations-YOU'VE-managed or performed-on could be more impressive than mine. Maybe your house and boat are bigger than mine, and your car is flashier than mine are too. Feel free to upload photos. Heck, you've got twice-as-many posts here as I do. What kind of a consultant am I??? But back-to-the-matter-at-hand...

your take is that anything Rush does to promote himself or his online antics could be damaging to the affiliates

Scroll-up and use radio-info.com's handy Quote feature to show where I say that.
Frankly, I worried that I had OVER-explained to-the-contrary.

One more time:
Like Arbitron, I don't care. I'm agnostic.
If my client's station is the affiliate, Rush is the biggest star in Talk Radio. I have a playbook for that.
If my client's station is the competitor, Rush is the biggest buffoon on Talk Radio. I have a playbook for that.
I have six defined weather strategies.
Got AccuWeather? Use a local TV meteorologist? I can help those, and 4 other options, "show up" best in Arbitron.
And make more money for station owners.
And, ultimately, it is they, not you, not I, who-decided-I'm-a-consultant.

Back to Rush, which is, after all, the topic of this thread: In a market where Rush is no longer heard, I recently recommended that my client station snap-him-up. They chose not to. So he's still dark there, and we went to Plan B.

Why shoot-the-messenger, when I convey what I'm hearing from exasperated station owners and managers? There is a roiling discontent for this biting-the-hand-that-feeds-him. Say-what-you-will about me, and others who-do-what-I-do, but that won't change "what is." THEY think it's getting old. I'M merely sharing that here.

You also praised Katie Couric, although she has been shown to be a ratings disaster! Everyone saw that one coming a mile away.

Everyone BUT me. And if you call me (401-330-6868) tonight, or any-weeknight-I'm-home, between 630-7PM ET, you'll go straight to voicemail, because I've got a date with Katie. Heck, I'd tune-in to watch her read a dang grocery list. But her delivering the-best-written copy of the three shows, and with what I find to be the most-impressive correspondent bench of all three shows, doesn't hurt either. You might prefer that lad Shep' over on Fox News. He's wearing more make-up than Katie, and the show seems to feature more music than copy. But help yourself.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

PS: While I've got you, groove on this: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4569021939106575335&pr=goog-sl

DO YOU, or DO YOU NOT, just LOVE that WTIC/Hartford time tone?

 

[evnlee]

Quote from: evnlee on Today at 12:21:09 pm

"your take is that anything Rush does to promote himself or his online antics could be damaging to the affiliates"


Scroll-up and use radio-info.com's handy Quote feature to show where I say that.



"Back to the topic-at-hand, the thread subject-changed: Limbaugh's hate speech adds nothing."

"As for El Rushbo, my experience has been that very FEW affiliates can point to Rush-specific revenue"

"Buffoon-though-I-find-Limbaugh-to-be, he (not I) has to look-in-the-mirror after that crack about the Virginia Tech shooter. "

Hey, like I said, I 'm not surprised he said it, but I'm not the one posting about it, then proclaiming my '2 playbooks' that somehow make me 'objective'. I dont qualiify any speech as 'hate speech' , I would be very wary-of-any-consultant that would, though.

I'm glad I dont measure my success on whether some poster's "house and boat are bigger than mine, and your car is flashier", that's why I wouldn't respond by saying something like " Holland, my wife is hotter then anything you could convince to spend the night. I saw your myspace page, shouldn't you be retiring soon? Whats is your social security number, 2?'

I'm just looking at the facts:

you dislike Limbaugh and he's the #1 radio host

you love Katie Couric and she's a hot mess, and last in the ratings.

You make good points sometimes, but don't be surprised if you throw stones here and get a couple chucked back!

 

[Holland Cooke]

So we WON'T be comparing resumes then...

OK so we're at-least-on-the-same-page about Woody Allen.
That's a start.

RE "As for El Rushbo, my experience has been that very FEW affiliates can point to Rush-specific revenue"

I'm not asking that you identify yourself, or cite ALL your experience.
But has your experience been otherwise?
Perhaps you've interacted with Sales at more Limbaugh affiliates than I have.
Do tell.

And have you NOT heard station owners/managers articulate the dissatisfaction I convey here?
And if you've not had occasion to speak with any, does what-I'm-reporting seem counterintuitive?

RE "Buffoon-though-I-find-Limbaugh-to-be, he (not I) has to look-in-the-mirror after that crack about the Virginia Tech shooter."

Perhaps you and I were raised differently.
That was my point about Limbaugh.

"Holland, my wife is hotter then shouldn't you be retiring soon?

Not with THIS mortgage...

 

[AKLes]

The few owners/managers I talk with anymore (living where I do) seem to agree that Rush is a sort of tar-baby. They picked him up years ago because they needed to build audience. The numbers he generated were very nice to present to potential advertisers who are not very skookum about what the numbers mean; they're just BIG when compared to most competition.

Not that much direct revenue; spots within the show might bring a small premium but not all that much.

They just feel they can't let go. They don't want to spend the money for some really good local programming that might, in the long run, prove more profitable. Those managers who are not also owners can also read the tea leaves about what happens to them when the corporate ownership sees a fall-off in ratings and the short-term drop in revenue. Ownership thinking of 30-day figures as the ultimate measure of success are not about to understand that, over the long haul, dropping Rush might bring in more profit.

But that short-term mentality is not unique to radio.....

 

[Holland Cooke]

Amen!

They don't want to spend the money for some really good local programming that might, in the long run, prove more profitable.

And -- beyond disserving local listeners -- this complacency is:

a.) Relinquishing control to syndicators. Imus just showed us the consequence of that.
b.) Relinquishing local radio's advantage over other media, unique content; and
c.) LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE.

Take the same dough spent on Limbaugh's fee, reallocate it to local talent,* and KEEP the avails, including that morning drive unit attached to the daily rant.

* NOT trivial: FINDING local talent, a point obscured by off-topic zingers above.

Ownership thinking of 30-day figures as the ultimate measure of success are not about to understand that, over the long haul, dropping Rush might bring in more profit.

You betcha.

 

[Radio_Realist]

* NOT trivial: FINDING local talent, a point obscured by off-topic zingers above.

And, not as difficult as one might think. It's too bad that almost no station management personnel have even the slightest clue about things like interviews, auditions, or actually leaving the building to go look for possible talent. I wonder how many of the people who claim that finding local talent is just too difficult ever went to an open-mic at a comedy club, or checked out the members of the local speakers bureau, or called in AFTRA free-lancers for an audition, or called any local newspaper columnists just to hear the sound of their voices or did anything other than sit back and wait for professionally produced audition tapes to simply land on their desks.

Finding anything is extremely difficult for those who won't get off of their butts and actually look.

 

[Holland Cooke]

You're RIGHT. And it IS work.

It's too bad that almost no station management personnel have even the slightest clue about things like interviews, auditions, or actually leaving the building to go look for possible talent.

Although I think you're over-stating it SLIGHTLY, I can't disagree that many stations are remiss when it comes to recruiting. The process itself has atrophied since programming became SO non-local. Since de-reg in 1996, an entire new generation of managers has taken over, and they're unaccustomed to recruiting-on-an-ongoing-basis, which is the ONLY way to fly.

That said, today's applicants could do a better job too...and, yes, they too are less experienced at making-the-handshake, since openings are rarer now than back-when-most/all-of-the-station's-line-up-was-station-employees.

EVERY SINGLE DAY, I get two kinds of calls:

1. MANAGERS, saying "I need a [job description for open position];"
2. FREE AGENTS, saying "I need a job."

If they both started looking sooner, they'd be in better shape. But for the decade we-as-an-industry have been hooked on syndication, we're OUT-of-shape in this regard.

Hopefully, one of the unintended consequences of the Imus fiasco, and Limbaugh's hubris, is the-pendulum-swinging-back.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

PS: I also get a third call, "How can I syndicate?"
FIRST thing I do is try-to-talk-'em-OUT-of-it.
It's not easy doing a synication-quality show.
But doing-the-show is the easiest part of syndicating.
Putting something UP-on-the-bird is a snap.
Getting stations to take-it-DOWN-off-the-bird is the hard part.
What's exciting about this podcasting explosion is taking-the-bird-and-the-station-out-of-the-loop.
Enabling technology (Internet-as-"transmitter;" computer or iPod as "receiver") would've happened anyway.
Radio homogenizing its programming, and mailing-it-in with syndicated fare, helped.
Personally, I blame the consultants...


PPS: BUT SERIOUSLY, about podcasting:
See-and-hear www.portablemediaexpo.com, the podcasting convention.
It's in Ontario CA in September.
This year's will be the 3rd annual.
I went to #1 and #2, and it was mind-boggling.
Year #1, 2000 people...more than both annual Talk Radio conventions combined.
Year #2, 2500...and the 500 newbies were wearing suits...smelling money.
Sure, the crowd looks like the bar scene from "Star Wars."
They're PODCASTERS!
People passionate about gastrointerology, cigars, sex, Ninjas, bonzai trees, you name it.
But the exhibit hall "shure" looks familiar.
Shure microphones has probably sold radio stations most of the microphones radio stations will need.
This crowd is fresh meat, an entire new industry...an exciting conversation between speaker and listener.
No station manager, no FCC, no CONSULTANT in-the-middle.
VERY cool.
Possibly I-man's next stop...

 

[evnlee]

Re: So we WON'T be comparing resumes then...

I'm not asking that you identify yourself, or cite ALL your experience.
But has your experience been otherwise?
Perhaps you've interacted with Sales at more Limbaugh affiliates than I have.
Do tell.

I did, kind sir. If you choose to use the 'scroll feature' I gave you 2 examples of where your theories were wrong, and all I had to do was look in my backyard.

WFOM~ Imus is anything but 'robotic'. His presence requires affiliates hire special board ops to 'babysit' his ( not failed ) show nationwide. If anything, he was more of a technical burden, then some programming to 'plug,play and forget about it'. With him now gone, Sporting News enter the slot, and the staff is reduced by 1. Plug,play and forget about it.

WGST~ if they dump Limbaugh today, the ONLY revenue generating talent left at that station, they go spanish tommorrow. I don't need to ask Randall Bloomquist or the Sales Manager if that's true or not. It is as sure as death,taxes, and 'hyphens-in-a-Holland-post'

Look, we can agree on some things, and disagree on others. You obviously have a beef with Limbaugh, no matter what 'playbook' you are using. And I think I would prefer a consultant with just 'one' playbook, so I wouldn't have to always wonder which one I'm getting. But hey, that's why I'm just a poster..........With a huge house,boat,car, hot wife and all I have to do for fun is sit here and tease radio consultants

 

[Holland Cooke]

And thus we conclude our collegial dialogue on this topic.

"You've been a great audience! Thanks for coming! Drive carefully!"

 

[DavidFWhite3]

Does this mean you'll be recommending clients drop Limbaugh?

And, if so, replacing him with what?

I'd be glad to take his place!

 

[XTalker]

The Limbaugh Delima – to drop or not to drop!

Many GMs and PDs would dump rush tomorrow if they could be certain of two things:

1- They really could make more money in the time slot!
2- He wouldn’t resurface somewhere else on the dial!

The Money – stations pay a bundle for Limbaugh AND give up lots of avails AND “in content” product mentions (no one actually gets to count “subscribe to the website” mentions as commercials. The major markets are into RL for seven figures. Even medium markets pay thousands of dollars a month! I have often wondered if I had half the ratings, but al of the avails, how much more money could I make in the daypart.

Where would he go? That’s the problem. What also ran station in your market would see RL as the chance to take you out.

It is a set of questions that most GMs don’t have the courage to ask, much less answer.

 

[SaltyDog]

Many GMs and PDs would dump rush tomorrow if they could be certain of two things:

1- They really could make more money in the time slot!
2- He wouldn’t resurface somewhere else on the dial!

The first question is likely to be yes, but the second answer is "No".

In most markets, it would be foolish for a Limbaugh affiliate to cancel him to save money and avails and open the door to another station to change format. Even in the unlikely event no one took over the show, you still have to deal with unhappy advertisers and listeners punishing you for taking him away.

A lot of people don't realize just how hard it is to make money when the local affiliate gets so few avails.

It is a set of questions that most GMs don’t have the courage to ask, much less answer.

More likely, they have asked themselves those questions and they don't like the answer so they pay up.

 

[Holland Cooke]

It's a-world-turned-upside-down...

I think I would prefer a consultant with just 'one' playbook

So you would prefer that consultants make stations sound as-alike-as-possible, regardless of what other-stations-in-the-market are up to?

 

[Radio_Realist]

So you would prefer that consultants make stations sound as-alike-as-possible,

Isn't that the definition of "radio station consultant"? I mean, how different can stations possibly sound when they're simply plugging into whoever they can get off of a satellite?

And before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, I am referring to all radio consultants in general, and not to any specific individual.