COVID-19 isn’t finished with us yet. As the virus continues to spread, its impact is being felt on businesses both large and small. So, what can you do to support your employees, whether you’re still open for business (online or otherwise), or shut down for the foreseeable future? Morale-wise, probably the most important thing you … Read more
What are the most common mistakes we hear from television, radio and podcast hosts? Here are the top three and what you can do about them. Weak start How you begin determines whether your audience listens to you or not. The first words out of your piehole in the first few seconds are where your … Read more
What are the most common mistakes we hear in ensemble television, radio, and podcast shows? Here are the top three and what to do about them. Talk-over and interruptions A multi-player show sometimes becomes a cacophonous din where no one is understood. On new shows, there is sometimes a lot of stepping on toes as … Read more
The 2020 general election promises to be one of the most consequential in modern U.S. history. The Lowest Unit Charge (LUC) period begins Friday, September 4, 2020. With the flood of calls coming in to clarify LUC issues, it might be a good time to take a breath and review the basics of LUC. The … Read more
Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it. One of my favorite radio stories from the 1940s may be repeating itself in 2020. As president of NBC, David Sarnoff was a technology guy. Sarnoff believed that once you owned all the radio stations and built the network, you had won. And NBC was … Read more
The future of local television involves podcasting. Some stations repurpose newscast audio into downloadable shows while stations like WTTG in Washington have dedicated studios for creating original podcast content. Experts predict that podcast advertising will surpass $1 billion in 2021. News content has always been popular with podcast listeners, and demand has surged during the … Read more
It is exciting to hear more local television and radio stations producing podcasts. But I often find myself waving a yellow caution flag to our podcast coaching clients about copyrighted music. Music copyright infringement is potentially a huge problem for podcasters. Many folks are surprised when I bring it up. I created a game called … Read more
Every morning in 6th grade, I listened to Monty DuPuy, Greenville’s favorite on-air personality on WFBC-FM. Monty had a jabbering myna bird named Moe, who interjected frequently. But at 10 AM, WFBC went dead. You heard mechanized time checks and canned “hosts,” saying, “Here’s Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce” exactly the same way … Read more
Once upon a time, your radio show or podcast talked about something other than the COVID-19 pandemic. Today your listeners are more interested in that topic than in anything else. Ratings are way up for TV news and news radio. Health-related podcasts like NPR’s Coronavirus Daily and CNN’s Coronavirus Fact or Fiction are tops on … Read more
With the adoption of the new Children’s Television Programming Rules Report and Order in July of 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) updated many of the children’s television rules, providing relief from some of the more burdensome reporting obligations. Due to the timing of the changes, and the need for the FCC to … Read more