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!!

The Future of Radio with Kevin Spacey

There have been so many great radio conferences this year focusing on the future of our industry; Dash, Hivio and NextRadio to name a few. (Both Hivio and NextRadio have free videos of sessions to watch and share if interested.) The future – the idea of what’s next? and what’s to come? – is a fascinating topic to me. Which is why a speech by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival caught my eye and ear. Use your imagination and watch this speech replacing references to television with radio.

  

GIFFORD’S TAKEAWAYS

“Kids aren’t growing up that TV (radio) is the aspirational place to be.”

“Culture is not a luxury item, it’s a necessity”

(consumers want) “…a multi-layer story with complex characters that plays out over the course of time.”

“The audience wants the control. The freedom. They want to binge.”

“Give people what they want, when they want it, how they want it, at a reasonable price.”

We all want the same things…“Quality, artistic freedom, to be innovative, to make money.”

“Challenge: Can we create an environment where executives are emboldened and empowered to support the creative.”

“We need to surprise. Break boundaries. Take viewers to new places.”

“Put talent at the center of everything we do.”

“Patience. A much overlooked quality.”

“Shows should be treated as assets and protected.”

“It requires guts to stick with a show when the numbers don’t come.”

“The more we try things the more we learn. The more doors open creativity and business wise”

“Myth: Nobody knows anything…that making good programming is just a crap shoot. Frankly, that’s just Bullshit! We do know how this works. And it’s always been about empowering artists. It’s always been about total abandon. The only thing we don’t know is why it’s so hard to find the executives with the fortitude, the wisdom and the balls to do it.”

TV Writers Taking Cheap Shots at Radio

Maybe I’m too thin-skinned, after all I grew up watching TV turn the name Larry into a punch line (Larry, Darryl and Darryl — Larry the neighbor on Three’s Company — Larry Fine of the Three Stooges — Cousin Larry on Perfect Strangers – Larry David – and “Larry” the goofy guy in seemingly every TV spot in the 80s.) – but I have noticed a trend on TV lately and it has me wondering how radio has wronged so many TV writers.

Cartoons, sit-coms and dramas are all taking cheap shots at radio. DJ’s, talk hosts, producers — everyone is being bullied! (It’s a hot topic of discussion on this week’s Radio Stuff Podcast – click here and FF to 26:00 to listen)

I first became aware of the anti-radio trend in January when Rich Eisen guest starred on NBC’s GO ON! with Matthew Perry. Eisen congratulates Perry’s radio host character for…”being the number one host in a local market of a dying medium.”

 

I cringed, laughed and tweeted about it. And forgot it, until I was watching Curious George with my son. George is locked in a radio studio and somehow figured out how DJ. I instantly recalled the snarky remark by Eisen and thought, “hmmm.”

A monkey as a DJ? A little “on the nose” for me as it comes to commentary about the industry, but it was the closing line of narration that slammed it home, “George was very proud of himself. He had run an entire radio station. Maybe someday he could even learn how to tie his shoes.” Listen: Curious George – Runs the radio station

Then (gasp!) Bob the Builder started taking jabs and mocking radio. Here’s DJ Mike Turntable (a nice reference for parents) who teaches a scarecrow how to be a DJ in two steps, “Just push this button right here and remember, when telling stories on the radio…BIGGER is WAAAAY better!” Listen: Bob The Builder – Easy Peasy

But, Bob the builder didn’t stop at mocking DJs. At one point a producer — who knows “lots and lots” about radio — is asked for an idea and responds by saying, “I’m the producer, I don’t actually have any ideas myself.” Listen: Bob The Builder – Im the producer – no ideas myself

Sigh.

But, wait there’s more.

And then my wife was watching a new show “Under the Dome” and there’s a radio station inside the dome which is rich with radio stereotyping. Listen: Under The Dome – DJ v Engineer

ENGINEER: I lost the signal and trying to get it back. It’s not as easy as queuing up the next Van Halen track.

DJ: Now, why is it that engineers always act superior to DJs?

ENGINEER: Because we’re smarter, Phil.

And then there’s another scene (Listen: Under The Dome – not a news station) where the TV reporter confronts the folks at the radio station why they hadn’t reported the news that that they are all under a dome. The engineer responded, “we’re not a news station.” And so the TV reporter took control of the radio station. Sure, she did.

Yes, I know, mocking radio has been a favorite hobby of TV for a while now. But, WKRP and Newsradio always seemed to be kind, good-natured, eye-winking, send-ups of radio. Laughing WITH radio at its absurdities as opposed to laughing or mocking AT it. (LISTEN: WKRP in Cincinnati)

Radio – we’re not so bad, are we?

Maybe it’s time for the industry to hire a PR firm.

A Picture For The Voice

For the better part of 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with big voice guy Jim Cutler (ESPN Radio Network, E!, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The CW, and gobs of radio and TV stations across the country including 97.3 KIRO FM and 710 ESPN Seattle). Jim and his awesome wife Dawn are on vacation and stopped by the Bonneville Seattle studios yesterday. If Jim wasn’t blessed with a big voice and the talent to use it, he’d likely be a professional photographer. He takes his Nikon everywhere he goes. Last night he brought it to the Mariners v. A’s game and has posted photos on his blog…

Here he is taking some of the pictures…

In a previous blog I interviewed Jim about how what he has learned from photography relates to radio. It’s worth a read if you missed it before…

The other thing that struck me after meeting with Jim and Dawn yesterday is a great reminder that the more often you can work with and talk with people in this industry whose opinions and talents you trust, respect and challenge your own complacency – do it.

Video Blog: Forward Momentum

Do you make your listeners feel like they are at the party or like they show up late?

Do You Know Your Listeners?

Your listeners are regular guys with regular jobs, regular families and regular problems. They work hard and can’t afford to go to a lot of sporting events. They’ve likely never been court side, walked on a Major League Baseball field or even talked to a pro athlete.  You are their ticket inside. They crave local sports information.  These guys are smart, more media savvy than you think, and they know what they like when they hear it. They have high expectations for sports content whether it is on TV, radio, the internet or other. They likely know more about at least one local team than you do and certainly believe that to be true. They are passionate about these teams. They don’t want you to rely on the audience to provide your content, they won’t be calling in and they won’t enter contests.  They don’t want you to try too hard to be funny, smart or connected. They don’t want you to waste their time. They are listening by themselves and using you as an escape from real life. These guys are tuning in to hear YOU talk about the things that matter most to them. They want to like you, but often times think you are an idiot. They have no loyalty. If you are boring, they will find someone who isn’t. They want you to take a side, have an opinion, provide unique information, explore an angle, or a go in a new direction. Tell them a story. They want to know you, recommend you, rely on you, and trust you. They want you to entertainment them and tell them something they don’t know. They will steal your opinions and use them as their own in front of their buddies. They’re not as sick of Brett Favre, steroids, and BCS talk as you are, even if they say they are.  These are your listeners to lose. What are you doing today to win them over?

How Getting a New Job is Like Dating a Millionaire

My wife sometimes likes to watch mindless TV to wind down after a day. There are few shows more mindless than Millionaire Matchmaker, but occasionally you do find good advice where you least expect it.

Patty Stanger, “The Millionaire Matchmaker,”insists that her clients create a list of five non-negotiables for a potential mate. It may be that they must love kids, or sailing, or are vegan. Whatever.

This is, however, an excellent exercise for you to do as you begin a job search. Don’t apply for any old job, because it’s better than the one you have. Figure out what is important to you. It may be more sunshine than rain, it could be you want to be able to ride your bike to work, your spouse may not be able to find work in certain parts of the country because of what they do. Ok, eliminate the cities and states that don’t fit into your non-negotiables and start from there.

Your non-negotiable may be more about the job itself; you want to work for a certain company, in a specific role (host vs. anchor, PD vs. GM) or you want to be at an established station with a history in the format.

The key is to figure out what is important to you and your family’s happiness. Over the years, I’ve offered jobs to dozens of  people and I can’t remember how many times, after completing the whole interview process, flying them to the city I was in at the time and negotiating salary, the offer was rejected because the spouse didn’t want to move — not to this specific city, but anywhere. Do yourself and everyone else a favor and have those conversations before you begin looking for new work.

Do not just do this in your head. Get out a piece of paper and write down your non-negotiables. If the job you are considering doesn’t meet ALL of the non-negotiables, don’t bother applying.

Look Who’s Talking: Jim Cutler

Jim Cutler specializes in News-Talk-Sports voice-overs. He's heard on Nickelodeon, Judge Mathis, CNN, ESPN, Sunday Night Football on NBC, E!, TMZ, Nat Geo, Spike, E:60, Speed, Weather Channel, etc.

GIFF: How would you describe the state of radio production / imaging among news/talk/sports stations in America?  

JIM: It’s actually pretty good and getting better. Yes, people are working with less and some had even cut out their production person completely, choosing to save money with a national or group service for creative on barter. There was a time when I was reading only tags for stations that all ran the same national promo all over the country. Different tag for each station but the same promo for every market. But IRONICALLY when the bottom fell out of the economy and stations had even fewer resources to work with that radio did some soul-searching and figured out that being cookie cutter is what was KILLING us. Many realized that local creative was the last thing they should have cut. The less local you are, the more you’re handing your lunch right to the other national medias. But this has turned around. The group production services are killer great, and I voice for many of them to use as promo examples. But they are supposed to SUPPLEMENT and boost what you do, NOT REPLACE all your local flavor and local texture, issues, problems, joys…local relevancy, just to save money.  

You only have a certain number of promo avails each day to tell your story. If you just plug-in the same national “Glenn Beck rocks/Obama is bad” promos with your local tag every single day, there is nothing there that makes your city’s station special. People can hear the same promo in 100 different cities, along with the same music and shows. But instead if you take a clip of Beck and use it in something that promotes your town, your situation, your local politicians, your local personalities, your local political slant, your events and community vibe oh and by the way catch more of Glenn at 9am…then you’re taking Glenn and making him local. It’s strong, and that’s what I’m seeing more and more of.

If you’re not local you are going to go away. TV stations now know this. It’s why affiliate TV stations are putting on more local newscasts all day. What once was just 11pm local news, 6pm and a morning news hour is becoming news starting at 4:30am till 10 (not 9am anymore), news at Noon, again at 5p, 5:30, 6 and 11pm. Logically, your viewers can already get news anytime from FOX TV or CNN so why would anyone watch the local channel for more newscasts? Because in a time when listening and viewing is so completely fragmented among all the media screaming for your time, playing the LOCAL card actually is working. And you can make more money with it. I’m seeing a ton of really good scripts these days. it’s like the beginning of the return to creative thinking again. I’m VERY, very optimistic about radio.  

Of the hundred things I could talk about, let me give one solid tip you can use: In a PPM world, you have to make everything shorter. Promos should be 15 seconds instead of 30. I was just a part of an expensive focus group test in New York where we watched 100 real listeners each holding radio hand controls turn the station when they were bored. Anything longer than 15 seconds and they are gone no matter how brilliant you thought the creative was. and YES you can get it all in 15 seconds. When we moved from 60‘s to 30‘s people asked the same question, “How can you get it all into a 30?” You think about what you want to say, you keep your clips short and tidy, you write clear and distinct sentences and  you have a 15. In TV I read the daily news topical promos and they are only 10 seconds long. TV would love to have the luxury of being able to move up to 15’s.

GIFF: You talked about moving to the :15 promo, what are some keys to writing an effective promo in those time constraints?

JIM: It’s what TV does every time so it’s quite easy. Put in the important impact-full stuff and you must leave out the stuff that doesn’t matter. Once you get used to it you then think going back to 30’s feels wasteful. It’s the elevator speech, you have 15 seconds to impress and that isn’t hard. Leave out the stuff that isn’t important. And if there’s a ton of clients that have to be in you have to leave their slogans out of it. If a lot of clients are in the spot do several 15’s and just rotate 3 clients in each. Here’s an example of re-writing a 30 down to 15 seconds:

First the 30:

“WZZZ presents Lunch with a Legend. This month’s Legend is New York Giant‘s Quarterback Eli Manning. Thursday October 4th at Mortons the Steakhouse at 722 West 43rd street in Times Square. Come and meet giants QB Eli Manning. Reserve your spot now by calling Bonnie at 212-555-1212 , that’s 212-555-1212. Lunch With a Legend is presented by Capitol 5 Financial Management. WZZZ’s lunch with a Legend at Mortons the Steakhouse in times Square, Tickets are going fast. Join us for Lunch with a Legend by calling Bonnie at 212-555-1212.”

 Here’s the 15:

 “Are the Giants for real? Hear it from the QB himself, Eli Manning at WZZZ’s Lunch with a Legend. October 4th at Mortons in Time Sq. Presented by Capitol 5 Financial Management. Join Eli Manning and WZZZ for Lunch at Mortons, call for reservations: 212-555-1212”

Boom, your done.

GIFF: What advice would you give to account execs working with clients who want to shove 20 seconds of copy into a :10 sports update sponsorship? 

JIM: Ask them for help. You’re not blowing the order. You want to fulfill the order and make client happy, YOU JUST NEED THEIR HELP because there is something wrong. Tell the agency it doesn’t fit, send them the voice track to illustrate it and tell them you’re standing by. That puts the onus on them and after hearing the voice track there isn’t much they can deny about it. They will cut the copy. It’s when you don’t send the voice track that they live in fantasy land about “Well I can read it at my desk and it all fits”. Sending the voiced example and saying “This ten is coming out to 13 reading at warp speed as you can hear, please let us know what to do” does the trick.

I deal with this almost every day but more on the network or big agency level where people have already approved the way too long copy and legal has locked it in. It’s still way too long but it can’t be changed. I read it at warp speed and send it to them unproduced so they see the problem. 

How about a station promo that’s too long to be a 15 because of all the client mentions? Make several versions of the same promo that rotates the different sponsors in it. 

When you write this stuff from scratch, know that you only have 15 seconds to tell the story. That immediately should tell you to get to the point fast. Boom. Boom. Boom.

GIFF: As an amateur photographer and a v/o artist you’ve had the experience of telling stories with just the eyes and with just the voice – what have you learn from each to make you a better story-teller? 

JIM: GREAT question! Photography teaches a good a lesson about PPM. If you just take snapshots you won’t know the following: A Professional Photographer’s job is to think about what to capture so that you communicate what you want to say, but more importantly the job is to CUT OUT ANYTHING THAT IS DISTRACTING. If I’m making a Larry portrait outside Staples Center I might blur the background so the viewer sees that the focus is you. If there is a distracting sign over your shoulder or some people standing near you I’ll recompose so none of those distractions are in there. Just Larry in the clear well lit, with a creamy out of focus background (called bokeh) where the Staples Center is recognizable behind you but only as atmosphere. Most people don’t know that photography is the art of elimination so your story is clearly told without distractions. In a radio PPM world you need to be much shorter, much more to the point. Say it straight and make it interesting. Leave out the flowery language and the generic. People are going to tune away the first time you give them the opportunity: the ridiculously long intros, the generic writing that says nothing, the music bed that plays out of spots for 20 seconds before your host begins talking. So apply the same photography rule to what you do in radio, tell a great story and eliminate the distractions and the reasons to tune away.

GIFF: What does it feel like to be spoofed by Saturday Night Live? (see the video here)

JIM: Surreal. My coffee came out my nose. It was very funny and the Collinsworth imitation rocked. I think the guy who did me had me down pretty well. 🙂 The guys at Sunday Night Football loved it.

Jim Cutler is everywhere

• Twitter: is jimcutlervo
• Blog is: www.jimcutlersblog.com
• Website is: www.jimcutler.com