Counting Down the Top Posts of 2013 #15 to #6

As the New Year approaches we continue the 2013 Count Down of the year’s top blog posts (#25 to #16 here). Interesting to note, one of the blog posts below (#12) was written and posted in October 2010, yet still gets tons of traffic each year.  Another  (#15) was posted in May 2012.

#15 Brock & Salk Turn a Battleground into Common Ground

Despite being posted in May 2012, this post detailing the relationship and partnership of Seattle sports talkers Brock Huard and Mike Salk was popular, because Salk left the show for a gig in Boston this year.

#14 Does Internet Radio Value Radio More Than Radio?

Observations of a radio guy seeing signs of how the internet has hi-jacked the brand of “radio” that the industry has developed and earned through decades of blood, sweat and tears of building relationships with listeners.

#13 Recipe for a Paula Deen Parody

Oh, Paula Deen…

#12 Look Who’s Talking: Jim Cutler

Profiling one of the best voice artists in the world.

#11 The Producer Game Is Changing

I offer a response to a host’s open letter in Talkers about his producer and I offer 20 Tips on being a more effective producer.

#10 For Different Results – Change

In the wake of my resignation from KIRO Radio, I offer some observations. “Too often, I hear employees (hosts, producers, board ops, etc) want more, expect more, and demand more, but are unwilling to change to get it. There’s an overwhelming sense of entitlement in our business from the newcomers to the veterans…”

#09 Arbitron Panelist,”F— this!”

Real audio from a real panelist fed up with PPM.

#08 Wanted: A Passionate Disruptor or a Computer Literate Promo Assistant

One reason why traditional radio stations are having trouble attracting young, creative talent.

#07 77 Websites for Radio Hosts, Producers, Anchors and Reporters

A growing list of must-bookmark websites.

#06 The Keys to Sports Radio Success

The inspiration for this comes from a sports radio chat on twitter (#srchat). The question — what are your biggest pet-peeves of sports talk radio? — was posed to everyone on the chat including special guest Clear Channel’s VP of Sports Bruce Gilbert. I’ve taken their answers and turned-them-inside-out like a secret decoder ring to unveil the keys to sports radio success.

The top 5 posts of 2013 will be unveiled next week!

I Didn’t Die in 2013 and Other Great Things

It’s the time of year where I like to take stock. How’d we do? At Larry Gifford Media this burgeoning empire based on a blog, we – and by “we” I mean I – had a great year and I appreciate all the support. Just last week the blog hit a milestone of 25,000 page views. 10,000 of those coming in 2013.

THE WORLD IS WATCHING

When you dig into the numbers, visitors to the blog originate from 88 different countries. The most hits come from the USA, followed by UK, Canada, South Africa and Greece. (Side note: I’ve been to US, Canada and UK this year – looking for invites from friends in South Africa and Greece – hint, hint.)

SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING…

How are people finding the blog? Knowing this can be disturbing and fun.

Somebody searched “larry gifford obit june 2013” – Apparently, someone thought I died – or wished I had. That person was either heartened or bummed upon discovering I was alive and well. Another searched, “you’re mean go away cat.”  And for some reason the blog popped up for this search “if you spill something on yourself chance you’ll miss ‘mary tyler moore.’” I have to believe the people searching those terms were very frustrated in what they found. Hopefully that wasn’t the case for everyone.

I find people’s names attract the most people to the blog. Here are the top 13  search terms used to find LarryGifford.com

• Complaint
• ways in which radio  has embraced social media
• tom leykis
• steak shapiro
• larry gifford
• the nba
• keep looking up because that’s where it’s at (Kidd Kraddick)
• jim cutler voice over
• lex and terry fired
• life is good radio
• paula deen parodies
• jimi hendrix vocal range
• bruce gilbert fox sports radio

THE TOP POSTS OF 2013

In the coming days I’ll be unveiling the top 25 blog posts of the year.

Here are #25 through #16

25. Covering Colin Cowherd

24. Eight Things I Takeaway From HIVIO

23. TV Writers Taking Cheap Shots at Radio

22. Beware of “The Line”

21. How Do You Get Better? Improv(e).

20. Unsolicited Advice: Don’t Do This

19. How to Handle Host’s Controversial Comments

18. Lessons from NextRadio, London

17. Four Things Hosts Can Do To Improve Ratings

16. Seven Take Aways from Mike McVay

DON’T JUST READ, LISTEN TO ME

This year I also launched THE RADIO STUFF PODCAST with co-host Deb Slater this year. It’s been tons of fun and really interesting. A couple of the blog posts listed above were inspired by podcast segments. It’s been great flexing my “hosting” muscles again and extremely rewarding talking to so many interesting and remarkable people around the world who make radio so special.

Thanks to you and everyone who has read, listened, talked about, shared, liked, commented, or agreed to be interviewed. Wishing you and yours a great holiday and a safe, happy, ratings-filled 2014!!

Are You A Host or Personality?

HOST vs PERSONALITY

There are a lot of “hosts” on radio and some of them are very good. They do the basics well, they talk about the right stories, they are likeable, and they never embarrass themselves or their bosses.

CBS Radio Programming VP Bruce Gilbert says, “Being a good host is nothing to be ashamed of, but if you really want to make huge money, cut through and achieve significant ratings you must advance from “host” to “personality.”

Gilbert admits the true radio personality is rare and exceptional. He created this chart to demonstrate the subtle but important distinctions and has graciously agreed to share it with us all.

HOST	VS	PERSONALITY
Knows the Science of Radio	vs	Knows the Art of Radio
Wooden	vs	Animated
Harsh & Pretentious	vs	Self-Deprecating (imperfect, human, lives life)
Wrecking Ball	vs	Architect
Plain	vs	Real, Genuine
Announcer	vs	Seller
Sprinter	vs	Marathoner
Reads Stories	vs	Tells Stories
Rehearsed	vs	Real
Know More Than You	vs	Never Assumes They Know More Than You
Meander	vs	Always Knows Where They Are Going
Copycat	vs	Original
In Hurry	vs	Develops Over Time
Safe	vs	Uncomfortable
Shallow	vs	Deep
Always Goes With First Thought	vs	Always Explores New Angles

A good personality will generate complaint calls to your office, fans will call for him to be fired, he/she will make you nervous or uncomfortable from time to time, and you will have to protect them. He/she also will increase your station’s ratings and revenue.

Sports Talk of the Town

Stephen A. Smith

Sports radio consultant Rick Scott hosted a panel on sports talk with heavy hitters; ESPN’s Scott Masteller, Fox Sports Radio‘s Don Martin, CBS Radio‘s Bruce Gilbert and Fox Sports Radio talent Stephen A. Smith. Here are the consensus five keys to success for sports talkers.

 Talent, Talent, Talent  Talent is your life blood. It is what makes your station unique and creates all the original content you need for all the different platforms.

“A PD’s respect of talent is important to establishing trust.” – Stephen A. Smith

 “Hire really good people that are smart, engaging and compelling and let them do their damn job. Get out of the way.” – Bruce Gilbert, CBS Radio

“PDs need to understand: number one, you need patience and number two, you need courage. Patience for PPM and courage to hire people you’re going to back. Quit over-programming talent after you teach them how ‘radio’ works.” -Don Martin, Fox Sports Radio

Play by Play Obtaining rights are key to driving CUME. If you can get the NFL, get it.

“Football is king!’ – Scott Masteller, ESPN

Credibility Some sports stations venture into guy talk, which is fine as long as you don.t miss a big sports story.

“You can’t just do this job, you gotta live it… I came out of the womb opinionated… I’m a personality you can reach out and touch. I say what I say, I believe what I say and I stand up and defend what I said. I’m approachable. I go to games and interact with the people. I was a beat writer for a decade – I’m known for breaking stories. Hate me or love me, as long as your listening, I don’t care.” – Stephen A Smith

Seize the Moment When something is given to you, ride that pony until it’s out of breath. You may be sick of Brett Favre talk, but your fans can’t get enough of it.

Event Programming These will drive ratings (Super Bowl, Lebron Press Conference, etc.), but you must have a plan to drive listening and capitalize on the additional CUME through recycling.

Rick Scott posted the audio here