What People Are Saying about Valerie Geller’s Creating Powerful Radio “If you want to understand what makes radio work, read this, then read it again.” — Jon Faine, Air Personality ABC Radio 774, Melbourne, Australia “It should be a textbook.” — Chris Berry, General Manager WMAL, Washington, DC “If you want to achieve compelling radio and increase audiences, read this book immediately! LBC 97.3 in London has experienced massive growth using its methods.” — Scott Solder, Programme Controller LBC Radio, London “Making it in broadcasting takes more than just luck. Think of Creating Powerful Radio as your ‘Road Guide’ to success in radio.” — Andy Vierra, Program Director KNUU, Las Vegas “This book will help your show get better.” — Al Rantel, Talk Show Host KABC, Los Angeles “Wonderful.” — Paul Fisher, Vice President Rogers Radio Vancouver, BC, Canada “Valerie Geller’s fi rst book was a triumph. It has proved to be an excellent primer for my staff. Valerie is an inspiration. If you can’t get her for your station, buy this book.” — John Ryan, Managing Director BBC Radio Manchester, Manchester, UK “Creating Powerful Radio is a fi ne guide for people inside the radio biz and an explanation of that biz to people outside, including the people who would like to get in. It’s the kind of book where the reader thinks, ‘Oh that’s why they do that.’” — David Hinkley New York Daily News “Creating Powerful Radio might eventually make an executive’s job at a satellite formatted affi liate much tougher.” — Professor Peter Hunn Communications Studies Department State University of New York, Oswego “It’s great. Read it!” — Kim Komando, Syndicated Air Personality “I recommend it to everyone and I use it in my classes. I love this book.” — Jo Maeder (The Rock ‘N Roll Madame) Air Personality and Instructor New York University “Packed with insights, well written, and fun to read. It’s obvious why so many radio people consider this book ‘a must’!” — John Sawatsky, Professor of Journalism Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada “Brilliant.” — Phil Taylor BBC, Scotland “Creating Powerful Radio contains valuable tips and information for presenters, managers, and programmers.” — Julia Sullivan Music & Media “Useful and practical.” — Jan Ørskov, Journalist Danmarks Radio, Denmark “It’s my bible!” — Åsa Paborn, Program Director SBS Radio, Stockholm, Sweden “We gave copies to the entire staff.” — Viktor Worms, Antenne Bayern Munich, Germany “Anyone even considering a career in radio should read this!” — Adele Scheele, Ph.D, Career Strategist Author of Skills for Success Creating Powerful Radio Getting, Keeping & Growing Audiences News, Talk, Information & Personality Broadcast, HD, Satellite & Internet VALERIE GELLER Edited by Turi Ryder AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier Senior Acquisitions Editor: Angelina Ward Assistant Editor: Doug Shults Publishing Services Manager: George Morrison Project Manager: Marilyn E. Rash Marketing Manager: Christine Degon Cover Design: Alisa Andreola Production Services: Graphic World Inc. Printing and binding: Sheridan Books Cover printer: Phoenix Color Corp. Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK Copyright © 2007, Valerie Geller. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, E-mail: permissions@elsevier. com. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://elsevier. com), by selecting “Support & Contact” then “Copyright and Permission” and then “Obtaining Permissions.” Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, Elsevier prints its books on acid-free paper whenever possible. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Application submitted. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 13: 978-0-240-51928-9 ISBN 10: 0-240-51928-0 For information on all Focal Press publications, visit our website at www.books.elsevier.com 07 08 09 10 11 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America For Lyla and Fred Other Books by Valerie Geller Creating Powerful Radio: A Communicator’s Handbook for News, Talk, Information & Personality The Powerful Radio Workbook: The Prep, Performance & Post Production Planning Contents Permissions ix Foreword xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv 1 Creating Powerful Radio 1 2 Finding and Developing Talent 7 3 Generators and Reactors 25 4 Performance and Formatics 29 5 Morning Shows 45 6 From Rock to Talk 55 7 Talk Shows 71 8 Integrating News and Talk 79 9 Interviews 87 10 Show Prep 95 11 Producers 113 12 Call Screening 123 13 High-Ego Talent 133 vii viii Contents 14 News 137 15 Traffi c and Weather Together 153 16 Newswriting 159 17 News Anchoring 169 18 Multi-version News 177 19 Integrating Radio and TV News 191 20 Public Service Announcements 197 21 Avoiding Burnout 201 22 Airchecking 209 23 Promotion 245 24 Sales and Commercials 275 25 LifeStage Demographics 299 26 Research 311 27 Final Notes 321 Resources 323 Index 327 Permissions Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following people and organizations for permission to reprint previously published materials. Bonus Books: Excerpts from Writing Broadcast News. © Copyright 1987 by Mervin Block. Reprinted with permission of Bonus Books. Leo Cullum cartoon: “That’s not my political opinion. That’s just stuff I hear on the radio.” © The New Yorker Collection, 2003. Leo Cullum from cartoon- bank.com. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Leo Cullum cartoon: “It’s always ‘Get me a Godzilla type,’ never, ‘Get me Godzilla!’ ” © The New Yorker Collection, 2004. Leo Cullum from cartoon- bank.com. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Leo Cullum cartoon: “That’s not what you told my screener you wanted to talk about.” © The New Yorker Collection, 2001. Leo Cullum from cartoonbank. com. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Leo Cullum cartoon: “It’s come to my attention that you have a life outside the offi ce.” © Copyright 1992. Reprinted with permission of Leo Cullum, Sandhill Arts. Leo Cullum cartoon: “They say the early forties is the new late thirties.” © The New Yorker Collection, 2005. Leo Cullum from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Pantheon Press: Excerpt from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. © Copyright 1994 by Anne Lamott. Reprinted with permission of Pantheon Books. Perseus Press: Excerpt from On Listening. © Copyright 1976 by Carl A. Faber, Ph.D. Reprinted with permission of Carl A. Faber. The Radio Store: Excerpts from Write Good Copy Fast: The Broadcast Professional’s Guide to Writing Effective Copy for Direct Advertisers. © Copyright 2003 by Maureen Bulley. ix x Permissions The Radio Store: Excerpts from “The Certifi ed Radio Copywriter Course.” © Copyright 1999 by Maureen Bulley. The Radio Store: Excerpts from “Radio Power Tools,” “The Copy Navigator,” and “Creative Advice” by Maureen Bulley. © Copyright, The Radio Store, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Reprinted with permission of Maureen Bulley. Turtle Bay Books, A Division of Random House: Excerpt from Talk, NPR’s Susan Stamberg Considers All Things. © Copyright 1993 by Susan Stamberg. Reprinted with permission of Turtle Bay Books. Foreword Opinions regarding the future prospects of broadcast radio have been, to say the least, mixed, if not disconcerting, in recent years. Traditional radio’s popularity and audience shares have taken a hit as the result of the rollout of satellite and Web radio, and the most signifi cant impact on the fortunes of the eldest electronic mass medium has come from music downloading. Young people have been abandoning music radio in droves in favor of their MP3 and iPod players. These recently evolved audio services have taken considerable luster away from over-the-air radio, and station consolidation has added to its listening audience’s disenchantment as well. Critics claim media conglomeration has bred more sameness on the radio dial and has fostered an intensifi cation of commercial clutter. Many of these same detractors point to the decline in localism in favor of voice tracking and music playlists originating from faraway studios as yet another reason for terrestrial radio’s mounting woes. However, to paraphrase Samuel Langhorne Clemens, stories in the press about radio’s so-called death have been greatly exaggerated. The “talking box,” as radio legend Fred Allen once called it, still claims more listeners in an average week than all of the new audio technologies com- bined, and then some; but this does not mean that broadcast radio can rest on its fading laurels. The contrary is true. It is an undeniable fact that the medium’s audience numbers are eroding, and if it treads water (as many contend it has been doing for a long time), it will lose its dominance and end up as just another store in the burgeoning audio mall. Indeed, radio is not dead, nor is it moribund, but it is in need of some major fi rst aid by talented professionals who have a genuine passion and appreciation for the medium and the expertise to restore its fl agging health. Enter Valerie Geller. Never has the medium needed someone with her vision and knowledge more. For years she has been reinvigorating stations around the globe by focusing on the development of on-air talent—radio’s eternal mainstay—as well as by providing dynamic workshops on creativity in programming, news, promotion, and sales, among a host of other areas.