Home ->
News/Talk Forum BBS
-> Bulletins
News/Talk Forum BBS - Bulletins
Bulletin #(s) [1 thru 5], L)ist, N)ew (Press [ENTER] to quit)? l
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BULLETINS FROM TOM AND CHRISTINE ON THE NEWS/TALK RADIO FORUM
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1) ***MUST READING!!!*** Tips to make using the News/Talk Radio
Forum easier and quicker. (updated
11/22/87)
2) Welcome: why we're here and what we do. (updated 11/22/87)
3) Why do trade publications give news/talk professionals short
shrift? (updated 11/22/87)
4) Mutual Broadcasting and Westwood One: Is Larry King Worth
Everything You Have To Give Up To Get Him? (updated 11/22/87)
5) Controversial Guests Are Good For Talk Radio! A response to
charges of bigotry and racism against many radio talk show hosts.
(Published in Electronic Media, February 1, 1988)
* [Ctrl K]/[Ctrl X] aborts [Ctrl S] suspends *
*****************************************************************
* IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!! *
* *
* Tips to make the News/Talk Radio Forum more useful *
*****************************************************************
Now that we have been in operation for awhile, we've been
observing the ways in which users actually USE the NTRF. The fact
is that many of you are new to computers, and much of the BBS
lingo is confusing. Let's simplify things...
General back and forth conversations through messages left
on this "electronic bulletin board" go on in the message base you
meet when you first log on. You are offered chances to "E)nter
msg" (leave a message of your own), "R)ead msg" (read any of a
number of messages by number, or all messages you haven't already
read, simply by pressing "*"), and "T)opic of msgs shown" (which
allows you to view a list of titles for messages left by others
that will give you a hint about which ones you might want to read).
Generally, what is known as "e-mail", or electronic mail, on
other systems, is left on this main board you see when you first
log on. If you want to just establish contact with another user
or let EVERYONE konw you're out there, do it here.
Don't leave general messages on the Conference Boards!!! The
Conferences (JOBS and IDEAS) work just like the main board,
except NOT EVERYONE READS THESE! One user left a "hello" message
to another user on the IDEAS Conference, which is primarily read
by talk show hosts and producers. This message will probably
never be seen by its intended receiver! The Conferences were
created for more specific uses, which are explained when you
"J)oin" a Conference.
Also, if you are in one Conference, and want to switch to
another, just type "j;(conference name)", for example,
"j;jobs". This will save loads of time and confusion.
Right now, the NTRF is not equipped for casual users to
upload and download files, although in the future, if there is a
demand, this feature will be added. A number of useful
suggestions have been contributed by users, and your suggestions
are always welcome. Just leave them by typing "C" ["C)omment"],
and following the various prompts and instructions.
Read these bulletins often, as they will be updated as
frequently as is necessary. And thanks for using the News/Talk
Radio Forum!
* [Ctrl K]/[Ctrl X] aborts [Ctrl S] suspends *
*****************************************************************
THE NEWS/TALK RADIO FORUM: WHY WE'RE HERE AND WHAT WE DO
*****************************************************************
The News/Talk Radio Forum was created out of a need...a need
for a feeling of professionalism among the pros in the news/talk
radio format. CHR program directors and music directors all seem
to know each other. They meet at conventions, trade secrets, and
always seem to know where to find the right talent when they need
them. News directors have the RTNDA...they meet once a year and
feel a certain camaradarie with each other.
But as a news/talk professional, have you ever noticed how
hard it is to find great talent? Or how no one seems to agree on
such essentials as hot topics, topic rotation, controversial
guests, the need for news or open phones, or a myriad of other
issues?
Talk radio program directors and talent operate in a vacuum,
without a consensus on what works and doesn't work. Unfortunately,
this format is just too expensive to operate to be guessing at
what will work. News and talk formats are the most "people-
intensive" formats there are, and if general managers don't know
what they're doing, tons of money can (and frequently are) lost.
We need to be able to exchange information, to forge
friendships, and to develop a feeling that we are professionals
within a larger profession: radio programmers who operate the
most risky and rare formats in American radio today.
Your sysops are Tom and Christine Leykis. Tom is a
controversy-oriented talk show host at KFYI/Phoenix, and has
worked at stations in New York City, Miami, and Albany, New
York. Christine is a television news anchor in Spanish at KTVW-
TV 33/Phoenix.
Please log on often (there is no charge, of course, except
the cost of your call), and leave comments about whatever issues
you feel need to be addressed. Also, visit our JOBS (C)onference
if you are looking for a job, or looking for some talent. And, of
course, leave your opinions on what we are doing. We want to be
the resource for America's news and talk programmers.
*****************************************************************
WHY DO TRADE PUBLICATIONS GIVE NEWS/TALK RADIO SHORT SHRIFT?
*****************************************************************
Think for a minute...how many times have you hungered for
some sort of information about the news/talk format? Maybe you'd
like to know where good people are working or how a David is
slaying a Goliath in another market. Or possibly you're a PD
arguing with a consultant about which slogans will work or
whether guests or open phones work best and in what proportions.
So you go to the trades to find these things out. Where do
you go? Well, there's "Vox Jox" in Billboard, but not only is
much of their information "borrowed" from other sources, it's
mostly about disc jockeys. The news/talk column formerly written
for Radio & Records by Brad Woodward, and later by Yvonne Olson,
was discontinued earlier this year, while Country music seems to
take up page after page, week after week. Broadcasting Magazine
is great if you plan to buy stations or satellite uplinks (which
all of us do, of course, if we ever pay off the bedroom
furniture).
Why is it that the traditional trades basically ignore our
format? One reason may be that there are so few news/talk
stations around. (The number has been hovering around the 150-160
range out of approximately 4,900 AM stations.) We don't hold
conventions, have professional organizations or buy a lot of
advertising space the way record companies and CHR consultants
do. There is no sense of unity amongst our programmers and
talent, no set of professional standards in this format.
CHR programmers meet regularly at conventions like Bobby
Poe, news directors specifically meet at the RTNDA. News/talk
professionals fly blind, without any help from their colleagues
in other markets.
If you're a news/talk programmer, you probably know how hard
it is to find good people. Where do you look? Do you also wend
your way through the broadcasting school graduates and jock
hopefuls in R&R's "Positions Sought" section? And if you're a
talk host, how do you find a job? News/talk stations rarely place
ads in the trades...they ask around to see if anyone they know
might be interested, then they frequently put just ANYONE on the
air until they figure they'll find someone. (One station in Miami
put a news anchor in as a nightly host; until recently, another
station in that market had a full-time host who used to be a
REGULAR CALLER! This is professionalism?) Programmers figure that
talent doesn't read the trades, talent knows that programmers
don't use the trades.
We need to come together like never before. With stations
being trafficked like never before, novice owners are buying
ailing AM stations at record high prices (sometimes as much as
15-20 times cash flow), then install news/talk formats, expecting
them to take off like a Z-100 (remember KFYI in San Francisco?).
They don't realize how much time it takes for one of these
stations to take off (you're not only asking listeners to listen,
you're asking them to TRUST you). It costs millions in losses in
a major market for up to four years before a profit can be
demonstrated, and that assumes you have a decent signal. There is
no place for ownership to learn about this, thus an awful lot of
good professionals get shot down for not performing unprecedented
miracles.
We need support from the trades. We need to support each
other. Hopefully, that will begin in some small way on the
News/Talk Radio Forum.
* [Ctrl K]/[Ctrl X] aborts [Ctrl S] suspends *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MUTUAL BROADCASTING AND WESTWOOD ONE: IS LARRY KING WORTH ALL YOU
HAVE TO GIVE UP TO GET HIM?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every now and then, it's time to stand up and say some
things that will ruffle feathers, and this bulletin will
certainly do that!
How many of you have carried or are considering carrying
Mutual's Larry King Show? Remember when the King show started,
back in 1978? It ran from midnight until 5:30 AM, and many
stations gleefully accepted the idea of a nationwide network talk
show because it would reduce costs, specifically, the cost of
hiring radio's equivalent of the loss leader, the overnight air
talent.
The show perked up the moribund Mutual network, whose news
product has notoriously been considered among the worst of the
major networks, a fact that has been only whispered amongst
friends, as long as Mutual could continue cranking out this cheap
solution to the expense of overnights. Many stations merely
carried the spots and refused to carry the newscasts, and,
especially in markets where inventories are large, and costs must
be kept small, the tradeoff was happily accepted.
The last thing that many in the industry expected was that
Larry King would become the national institution he seems to be
becoming. The guest list became prestigious, the Peabody Award
was bestowed, the TV gigs, including a syndicated show, a spot on
NBC's NFL pre-game show, and the CNN nightly program, keep
coming, newspaper columns in USA Today and The Sporting News, and
on and on and on. All of a sudden, this cheap overnight
alterative became a hot property, probably Mutual's first hot
property since the Golden Age of Radio.
It seemed almost as if the King show was the salvation of
the network, and, it retrospect, it probably is the singular best
reason why Norm Pattiz, through his Westwood One concern, decided
to buy Mutual from the Amway Corporation in 1985. (When is the
last time YOU bought anything from Amway???) When WW1 bought
Mutual, Pattiz and Company decided to take full advantage of the
product he had bought. The spot rates on the show were hiked
dramatically. The inventory stations must carry has shot up
beyond 400 minutes per week. And, most disturbingly, Dr. Toni
Grant's psychology show, which never in three years on ABC's
Talkradio network ever proved any appeal beyond the borders of
California, was grafted onto Mutual's schedule and rammed down
the throats of stations who knew better, but wanted to get the
King show.
In our opinion, the Grant show is merely another spot
carrier which stations are generally loath to promote and which
will probably ultimately die out from neglect, as well as audience
disinterest. The spot load required by Mutual is the largest of
any radio network. And Mutual News, although it has improved
under President Ron Nessen, still has no image in the minds of
the public, and is therefore not promotable like a CBS, or a Paul
Harvey. And with Larry King's heart problems (including his late
November open heart surgery), the roster of fill-ins has been
disasterous and worrysome, and the ratings here in Phoenix for
the program have dropped dramatically.
Our prediction is that once Larry King has retired or gotten
a better offer, the network will be right back where it started,
unless it begins to deal with these issues NOW while it can. What
do you think? Enter a message and let everyone know. Let the
dialogue begin!
* [Ctrl K]/[Ctrl X] aborts [Ctrl S] suspends *
CONTROVERSIAL GUESTS ARE GOOD FOR TALK RADIO!
by Tom Leykis
*****************************************************************
(An opinion piece in the January 11, 1988 edition of Electronic
Media assails talk radio hosts who allow racists and bigots to
appear on talk shows. It also attempts to make a comparison
between controversial talk radio and the "shock radio" practiced
by a number of disc jockeys around the country. We submitted this
response to Electronic Media, and it was published in their
February 1, 1988 issue.)
*****************************************************************
A number of sanctimonious opinions have been published in industry
trade papers recently (including Electronic Media) regarding the
wisdom of programming controversial issue-oriented talk radio.
Electronic Media's recent piece by Harold Applebaum, special
assistant to the executive vice president of the American Jewish
Committee, contained terms such as "shock radio", "problem", and
"deterioration", all of which are designed to provoke and concern
station owners just as much as any expert practitioner of
combative talk radio knows how to poke and prick his audience
into responding.
It is fascinating to note that, while many folks such as Mr.
Applebaum like to consider themselves First Amendment advocates,
they are the first to howl when the opinions being expressed
don't agree with their own points of view, and to demand
"responsibility" on the part of broadcasters. But the
"responsibility" they are demanding is nothing more than good,
old-fashioned censorship.
No responsible broadcaster likes to "pander to prejudice". What
makes a great talk show host great is the ability to dissect the
convoluted logic of the most abhorrent fascist or racist. Inviting
individuals such as David Duke of the National Association for
the Advancement of White People or Tom Metzger of the White Aryan
Resistance to appear on talk shows is valuable when a skilled
surgeon proceeds to slice and dice them. Yes, if it's done well,
it's entertaining. What's wrong with that? It certainly gets an
anti-racist point of view across to more folks than a stack of
handbills on a street corner. Are we better off letting these
folks fester under their rocks? I think not.
Why shouldn't a talk show host have the right to object publicly
to the Pope's visit to the United States? Why shouldn't ethnic
stereotypes be examined on the air? If someone wants to tell the
old lie about the "Holocaust Myth", why not let a talk show host
go after him? The mere fact that a representative of a racist
organization appears on a radio talk show does not legitimize him
anymore than does being listed in the telephone book. The idea of
limiting the subject matter of radio talk shows under the guise
of "responsibility" is positively chilling.
Should radio talk show hosts give out the telephone numbers of
private individuals on the air? No. Should they engage in
slinging ethnic slurs at their adversaries? Of course not. It is
distressing, however, when individuals use the excesses of an
industry to prove that the entire industry is no good. For
example, there is an insidious effort afoot to link the bathroom
or locker room humor of disc jockeys such as Howard Stern or the
Greaseman with bona fide interviews of Americans with unpopular
views on radio talk shows. Just lump it all together as "shock
radio". But is there really a connection? The fact is that a good
talk show host could have a field day tearing apart a disc jockey
who uses minorities as the butts of jokes just as much as he
could by tearing apart the garden-variety goose-stepping guest.
For every Neil Rogers asking little boys to call in and tell him
what they look like with their shirts off, there is a Gene Burns
who eloquently articulates the rage of his listeners with wit and
grace. For every Ed Tyll referring to a black Congressman as
"Buckwheat", there is a Jerry Williams, often outraged,
frequently outrageous, but always getting his listeners involved
in their community with campaigns such as the one that got the
seat belt law repealed in Massachusetts. And let's not forget
that most news/talk radio stations, including those that engage
in controversy, attract the most attractive demographics of any
radio format there is. Folks with high incomes and higher
education are listening to these verbal battles. Are these people
just a bunch of rednecks who run looking for a pencil when the
White Patriots' Party is giving out their address? Hardly.
The Great American Free Market will rid broadcasting of
broadcasters who promote dangerous opinions or who do not
broadcast in the interest of their communities. "The Aryan Nations
Hour", a radio program on KZZI-FM in West Jordan, Utah that
promoted white supremacy, was whisked off the air in just two
weeks. Why? Because the good folks of West Jordan, including the
station's advertisers, threatened to end their support of that
radio station. Fantastic! Free speech and the free market working
hand-in-hand.
But if radio listeners want to hear Morton Downey Jr. call a Nazi
a "fat slime", or to hear Tom Leykis debate Louis Farrakhan, and
if advertisers want to support this kind of programming, why
should anyone, including pressure groups, federal regulators,
self-serving protectors of the public taste, or anyone else have
the right to hamper this process?
The fact is that controversy-oriented talk radio is good business
for many AM station owners with once-declining audiences. It is
bringing listeners under 55 years old back to the AM band. It's
informative. It's interesting. It's entertaining. And the folks
who work at it know that it gets the public involved. Involved
in the news. In the political process. In the radio station. It
is hard to see what is wrong with something like that.