Radio Ink Magazine August 9, 2021

I recently got into conversation with an acquaintance about the state of radio. His lament echoed an opinion held by some people of a “certain age”: that radio is dull, lacking passion, and in spite of listening levels to the contrary, on a downward spiral amid a growing host of compelling audio platforms. His proposed solution — one calling for a united approach — reminded me of industry marketing from years gone by. It was one of radio’s all-time great campaigns, “Who Listens to Radio?” designed to promote the medium back in 1965. It was an inspired series created by the late Stan Freberg with a rousing jingle belted out by jazz great Sarah Vaughan and backed by an orchestra arranged and conducted by the legendary Quincy Jones. And it was…

During my career, I’ve been lucky enough to do just about everything inside a radio station, including being a general manager and a program director. So it seems appropriate that in this, the Best Managers issue, we share those things program directors should do for success in managing their own managers. 1. Respect. It starts with respect. If you don’t respect the person, then at least respect the position. If you don’t respect your market manager, and they don’t respect you, then you will never be able to satisfy them, and you will surely fail. I’ve seen situations where a PD had no respect for their manager. Often it’s not the manager who hired them, and it often ends with their being terminated as the program director. I’ve counseled some who…

Bad marketing is about the client, their company, their product, their service. “I, me, my, we, our…” Good marketing is about the customer, and how your client’s product or service can elevate their happiness. “You, you, you, you, your…” With every purchase we make, we shout to the world who we are. We are attracted to products and services and brands and celebrities and organizations and friends because we see a reflection of ourselves in them. Our purchases and alliances are identity reinforcement. I’ve built a career on this belief. Simon Sinek says the same thing, but differently. Four minutes into his famous TED-X talk in Puget Sound, Simon says, “Here’s how Apple actually communicates. ‘Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.’ At 5 1/2 minutes: “People don’t…

Radio Ink: How did you get started in radio? Kosann: The radio industry has always been an industry of innovation and honor. During my days in college I would religiously read Broadcast and Cable, studying all the companies — New City Communications, Cox, Jacor, Infinity — admiring their content, community involvement, and ultimately how the shadow of the industry was bigger than its parts. It was an industry I aspired to be in. My first step into the industry was in college, where I was the editor of the Brown Daily Herald and then ran WBRU. At the time it was a legendary Class B station in Providence. It occurred to me that I could aspire to own stations. Radio Ink: How does someone go from running a class B to ownership? Kosann: I…

Our 2021 top managers are certainly a group of experienced and successful leaders. They come from all over the country and from large, medium, and small markets. They’ve accumulated hundreds of years of combined radio and management experience. Some are leading 20 employees, others 50, many a hundred or more. They may operate a single station or run multiple clusters across several markets. We peppered our list of Best Managers with tough questions, and we know their answers will help you become a better manager as soon as you read what they have to say. We asked them what it takes to be a successful manager following a worldwide pandemic. We asked them to describe the perfect workplace environment where everyone operates on all cylinders, rowing in the same direction and achieving…

Recruiting and hiring good people have always been tough, but in today’s climate, it’s all-out war. Every business you see is hiring and looking to fill positions. For now the power has seemed to shift away from the employer to the employee. As sales managers, we must remember that great people have a lot of options right now, and we must do our part to sell them on why they should be with us. For small to medium-sized markets, we tend to not have the resources the larger markets have when it comes to attracting and retaining people. So you must change up how you recruit quality people. Like selling advertising, one business may buy for one reason, but another business may buy for a completely different reason. It’s the same for…