This week's All Access newsletter includes two more-or-less unrelated topics, one about the Fairness Doctrine, indecency, free speech, and stuff, and the other wondering why there isn't an HGTV on the radio:
A couple of scattered thoughts in the wake of last week's convention:
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It's soapbox time.
I was thinking about a couple of speeches from last week's seminar in New York, one being Walter Sabo's talk challenging people in talk radio to have the guts to take chances, do controversial things, and not be afraid, and the other being Allen Hunt's invocation at lunch the following day making a strong case for the freedom to say what you want on the radio in America. Then, later in the week, the Congressional bill to stop a revival of the Fairness Doctrine was stuck in committee and in need of support, and an article in the New York Times talked about how out of step the U.S. is with its presumably more enlightened allies because it, alone, doesn't ban offensive speech and opinion.
Well, then, it's time for the industry's leaders to take action and protect your right to talk, huh? Yeah, well, there is no cavalry on the horizon. The NAB last opined on the Fairness Doctrine in July of last year; it might be time to get back on that one, but they've got their hands full fighting the localism proposals, fighting the satellite merger, fighting performance fees, and planning the "Radio Is Ginchy!" campaign. (Forget about indecency; the NAB's position seems to have always been "hey, what about satellite? Regulate THEM, too!" The idea that maybe the rules themselves are unfair doesn't seem to get much traction) And... that's about it. You're on your own.
Why should you care about the Fairness Doctrine? So your station has to throw a liberal or conservative fig leaf into the lineup -- that's all it'll take, right? Er, well, see, no, that's not how it's likely to play out. If talk stations are going to be under the gun to be "balanced" and a single listener's complaint could plunge a station into a legal battle involving -- gasp! -- lawyers, do you think station owners are going to want to do more talk? Remember, you can't get into too much trouble if your station's format is a computer playing the hits. "Jack" and "Mix" and "Hot" and "Fresh" don't require "balance." Nothing will stunt the growth of your format -- and the number of available jobs -- like the perception that doing it will buy you legal troubles.
Why should you care about indecency rules? You don't say nasty things, so it won't affect you, right? Maybe not now, but it's a short slide down the slope to what those other countries do, punishing any speech that someone might find offensive. Today, it's sex and the "f-bomb." Tomorrow, it'll be violence, and FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein spoke just this week about cracking down on that. Then, it'll be "hate speech," which of course has never been strictly defined, and that's when they come for you: Remember, to people who disagree with talk radio, ALL talk radio is "hate speech." (Go ahead, Google "talk radio" and "hate speech" and see how many hits you get)
It takes toughness to do this format. If you do it right, your opinion might draw virulent opposition, red-faced anger, and pressure from unions and politicians. You have to be able to handle that. But if there's a possibility that politicians will change the law to silence you, it's time to say something. Your elected officials hear from people who want to shut you up. They don't necessarily hear from you. But if you want to head off the Fairness Doctrine or move the politicians away from more speech regulation, you can't rely on anyone else to do it.
It's perfectly OK if you disagree with me on this, but in an industry based on freedom of expression and creativity, I would hope that the idea of certain words and ideas being subject to official punishment would make you at least a little uncomfortable.
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On an entirely unrelated topic, it also struck me while idly paging through the cable box guide listings the other night (hey, it was an off night for the NBA Finals) that radio is missing the boat in the current media mix. I can turn on my TV and find several home improvement and real estate channels. I can find at least four channels explicitly dedicated to women's programming. There are a couple of channels for gay viewers, there are a few aimed squarely at your skateboard/surf crowd, there's the Food Network, the Travel Channel, and many other specialty channels. And, sure, some of them have few viewers, but some of these are quite successful and lucrative. Yet we don't have too many analogous formats for talk radio, and some weekend shows aimed at the same categories have a hard time battling for clearances while stations air infomercials instead.
Here's the thing: A manager will tell you how his or her staff can't sell weekends for the same kind of money that the brokered stuff generates. Fine, but is that because it's legitimately hard to sell weekends or radio just isn't good enough at selling specialized programming? These kind of shows used to be staples of talk radio, but while they've become full-fledged networks on TV, they keep shrinking on radio. I'm not talking about doing the same old musty shows like the gardening show that sounds like it's 1956, either. Take a look at the cable shows; they're fast-paced, youthful, trendy, and entertaining. If cable can sell those channels, why don't you see radio loading up on similar shows and targeting similar clients? Real estate, home improvement, food, the economy, travel, done the way the cable networks do it -- seems like that would work in 2008, and it's possible that you could make a whole week format out of that kind of stuff, updated for younger audiences.
I might be way off base. After all, I'm not programming anymore and I don't sell ads. And I don't have investors to please or numbers to meet. I'm just throwing ideas out there and seeing if they float or sink. But I have to think that emulating the specialty cable offerings, on the weekend or as formats, would be a better idea than selling your station's credibility down the river for the Colon Blow Hour.
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Enough of the pontificating and dreaming for this week. It's time once again for the obligatory plug for All Access News-Talk-Sports and the Talk Topics show prep column, where you'll find a lot of ideas for topics. A whole lot. The idea behind it is to throw a lot of ideas at you so you can cherry-pick what you need and run with it. It's the kind of thing I did with shows back when there was no Web and we'd rip stories out of the paper and stack them up. This week's stack includes the "staycation" trend, why criminals ought not to post on MySpace, pet rats, vinyl shower curtains, Rip Torn, checked baggage fees, a disgusting frat house, a surprise birth for a woman dressed as a bumblebee, a bartender fired for laughing, people arrested for cheering at graduation, a guy arrested after falling off his sofa laughing at a TV show, potent pot, the unbearable lightness of being Katherine Heigl, more Pledge of Allegiance fun, bird poop facials, the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, expensive corn, a nail in the head, and plenty of "real news" and election-related stuff. "10 Questions With..." visits WJFK/Washington's Chris Kinard, and you'll also get the rest of All Access with industry news, job listings, ratings, message boards, columns, the Industry Directory, and much more.
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Oh, yeah, a quick plug here -- the Conclave Learning Conference is almost here, so if you want to come to Minneapolis for panels and talks designed to help your career (there's a novel concept), including one with me (there's a frightening concept), go to theconclave.com for all the information. It's June 26-29 at the Marriott City Center in Minneapolis. See you there.
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Finally, it was great to see so many of you in New York last week. Let's see: great people, New York pizza, hot pretzels from street vendors, running in Central Park, that glass-box Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, more pizza... now, that's a worthwhile trip.
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