Here Comes 2016! - NTS MediaOnline

January 8, 2016
Here Comes 2016!
Happy New Year! The start of the New Year is always accompanied by
a sense of new beginnings and new opportunities. Optimism is the word
of the day and pundits everywhere ‘pundit’ about what we can look for
as we turn the calendar page. With that in mind, in this first edition of
NTS MediaOnline Monthly for 2016, we share a number of posts on
the topic, with predictions and pontifications about the year ahead from a
variety of prognosticators.
Boost Your Social Media Strategy
A post by Josh MacDonald for
SocialMediaToday.com offers
seven tips to help you boost
your station’s social media
strategy in 2016. With the world
of social media marketing in a
state of constant change and
evolution, it just makes sense to
review and tweak your strategy
regularly – that’s assuming
you’ve already committed to a
strategy to begin with. Among
MacDonald’s suggestions: Using social media to gain an edge on your
competitors. “More than likely, all your competitors are already using
social media. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to track their accounts.
This can give you good ‘intel’ and present you with openings to develop
a competitive advantage with social media engagement. Adding your
competitors’ followers may also allow you to lead some of them back to
your own social media accounts.” Read the full article HERE.
What’s Ahead For Social Media?
In a post at CNBC.com, the network’s Senior Media and Entertainment
Correspondent Julia Boorstin pulls out her crystal ball to predict some
social media moves we’ll see happen in the year ahead. Among them:
“Snapchat will go public” with Boorstin reporting that, “all signs” are
pointing to a pending IPO for the popular social media site in the near
future. She also believes, “Messaging apps will embrace commerce.
On the heels of Facebook announcing it will integrate Uber into its
Messenger app, we can expect messaging apps to do far more than just
text and make voice calls,” says Boorstin. Read more insights HERE.
Do You ‘Slack?’
Courtesy of syndicated digital goddess Kim Komando, we learn about
a growing service called Slack that she says is “taking offices by storm,
including ours.” So just what is Slack, and why has the service grown (as
Kim reports) “from 12,000 users to over 1.7 million” in the past year?
“At first glance, Slack just looks like and old-school instant messaging
program, albeit a very pretty one,” says Kim. “However, it aims to be the
only communication tool that your company needs.” Komando details
how the system works and what she’s learned it can do to help streamline
office communications in a post at her website HERE.
Is Radio Still A Good Career?
In his first blog post of the New Year, Jacobs Media President Fred
Jacobs debates the question as to whether or not radio is still a good
career path for the Millennial generation to consider. “The idea of whether
radio is on the ‘up’ escalator or heading ‘down’ is something those of us
in the business ponder everyday,” writes Fred. “And for those of us with
kids in high school and college, it’s also a household topic.” Asking if
radio veterans would recommend to their own sons and daughters getting
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January 8, 2016
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into radio over the next five years, Jacobs offers a solid case for what he
believes the answer to that question should be. Read his full post HERE.
Improving AM Talk Stations
Recently, our daily email newsletter, NTS MediaOnline Today,
reported on Sabo Media CEO Walter Sabo’s suggestions of five things
that any AM Talk station can implement to improve. The responses he
received triggered a second post from Sabo on the topic. “Every one
of the numerous responses and comments I received on that post was
identical,” writes Sabo. “Great ideas. Too bad no one (station owner)
will listen.” As a result of those responses, Sabo has expanded on his
original ideas and as we enter 2016, he’s urging the industry to make a
new commitment – the kind that other entertainment media and industries
makes to developing successful programming content and talent. “Let’s
get better at this and create a radio lab,” suggests Sabo. “Radio does
not offer a rich environment for experimentation and innovation. Other
industries institutionalize the creation of new ideas. They have research
and development. Budgets and labs in other national industries test, test,
and test new ideas to improve their success rate before launch. Television
tests everything and their development budgets and staffs are formidable.
Movies conduct constant test screenings. Even those cheesy painted plates
for sale in the Sunday newspapers are tested in mall intercept studies
(“Do you think the dog’s ribbon should be blue instead of red?”). At this
moment of vital new competition, most radio companies have eliminated
research and consultants. An R&D budget represents a commitment to a
future. It is not a luxury.” Read more ideas and insights from Sabo on how
to make your AM Talk station better in 2016 HERE.
Strive For Less Distraction
A post for FastCompany.com by Michael Grothaus caught our
attention because, for those of us in the media business, the level of noise
and distractions in life has increased exponentially in the past few years,
as every new platform or trendy new social media site is rolled out. “A
professional end-of-the-year cleanse just requires letting go,” writes
Grothaus. “Letting go of distraction. Letting go of annoyances. Letting
go of clutter.” He goes on to suggest five distractions you should consider
cleansing from your professional life to help you have a more productive
2016. Among them: “Eliminate 90% of your messaging apps. WhatsApp,
Facebook Messenger, Viber, Skype, Kik, Google Hangouts, Slack,
iMessage -- the list goes on and on. There are so many messaging apps
it’s hard to keep track of who contacted you where. More than once I’ve
missed an important message from a colleague because it was received in
a messaging app I usually use for friends and family and not professional
connections. Recently I’ve decided to cleanse all but one messaging app
from my professional life. Colleagues and clients can contact me through
it, where they can be assured I’ll see their message promptly. Or they
can always contact me via old, trusty email.” Read more of Grothaus’
suggested ways to reduce time-consuming distractions HERE.
‘‘
An R&D budget represents
a commitment to a future.
It is not a luxury.
Condolences
’’
One final note: Before jumping headlong into the New Year, we pause to
take a look back to remember some of the industry friends and colleagues
who signed-off for the final time in 2015: Rush Limbaugh Show Chiefof-Staff, Christopher “Kit” Carson … KKOB/Albuquerque weekend
host Terrie Q. Sayre … Retired CBS Radio News reporter/anchor Lou
Miliano … CBS News reporter Bob Simon … Retired KEX/Portland
News Director Jim Howe … Legendary broadcaster Gary Owens …
Retired WCCO/Minneapolis newsman Dick Chapman … Longtime
Los Angeles Sports/Talk personality ‘Big’ Joe McDonnell … Jack
‘Charlie Brown’ Woods, half of the legendary radio team of ‘Charlie
& Harrigan’ … Broadcaster and consultant Ed Shane … Former
WJR/Detroit GM Mike Fezzey … Comic genius (and great friend
of radio) Stan Freberg … CBS Radio West Coast Regional Director
of Engineering Scott Mason … WSCR/Chicago host Doug Buffone
… WFBG/Altoona, PA host Charlie Weston … Longtime Chicago
broadcaster Ty Wansley … Veteran WSYR/Syracuse host Joe Galuski
… Longtime Cleveland radio personality Chuck Collins … Former
Houston Oilers broadcaster, John O’Reilly … Radio equipment
manufacturer George Marti, whose name became synonymous with
the remote transmission technology he helped to develop … Michigan
and Rhode Island talk host Dave Barber … KFGO/Fargo weather
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January 8, 2016
Page 3
(continued from pg. 2)
forecaster Terry Spies … Legendary Buffalo Bills play-by-play voice
Van Miller … WWL/New Orleans talk host and WWL-TV anchor
Andre Trevigne … KOMO/Seattle news anchor Jane Shannon …
Veteran network newsman Pat Clawson … Legendary former Houston
Astros voice Milo Hamilton … Longtime Washington, DC broadcaster
Ed Walker … Veteran San Antonio radio personality and news reporter
Johnny ‘Solid Gold’ Shannon … Syndicated Talk radio pioneer Stan
Major … Former U.S. Senator and Westwood One syndicated talk
host Fred Dalton Thompson … Retired New Jersey shore radio legend
Pinky Kravits … Veteran talk host Austin Hill … Former WHAM and
WBBF/Rochester host Jack Kinnicut … Retired WCCO/Minneapolis
host Charlie Boone … Chicago media entrepreneur Brad Saul … WHO/
Des Moines weekend host and Assistant PD Cheryl Pannier … Former
Chicago radio newsman Steve Yount … Pioneering Rochester, NY and
St. Louis broadcaster Ann Keefe … Network radio and marketing pro
Ellyn Ambrose … Veteran broadcaster and founder of the Children’s
Miracle Network’s Radiothons Bob Lind.
FEATURED PHOTO OF THE MONTH
That’s CBS Sports Radio personality Doug Gottlieb (L) and Westwood
One Sports announcer John Sadak as the duo called the action at last
month’s CBS Sports Classic. A reported 300+ stations nationwide carried
the holiday season college hoops match-ups that saw North Carolina
defeat UCLA and Ohio State upset Kentucky.
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