ADIO

January/February 1988 Volume 2, Number 1

MERICANMUSIC AWARDS

Nomination SpecU

HOSTED BY DICK CLARK

American Music Awards Nominations Special ... athree-hour extravaganza focusing on those performersand groups who have earned norninatioris into music'selite ... the American Music Awards. Hear the bestin contemporary music and hear interviews with someof this year's most exciting nominees.

Scheduled for broadcast January 22-24, the weekenddirectly preceding the actual telecast, the AmericanMusic Awards Nominations Special provides anexcellent opportunity to capture your audience of musicfans who have made this 15 -year -old music awardsshow one of the highest rated in the history oftelevision.

The American Music Awards Nominations Special isproduced and distributed by the United StationsProgramming Network and Dick Clark TelevisionProductions.

For station clearance information, call the UnitedStations Programming Network in Washington, D.C.tocay at (703) 276-2900 to reserve this programpa:kage in your market

For national sales information, call our New York officeat (212) 575-6100.

1988 Nominees include: Paul Simon, U2, George Michael, Luther Vandloss Madonna, Bob Seger, Bon Jovi,Peter Gabriel, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Nhitesr ake.

New York Washington, D.C. Chicago Detroit Dalias Los Angeles London

CoYGROWING THROUGH UNITY: RAB UPDATE By Bill Stakelin

Page 4

ART IMITATES RADIO By Steve BloomPage 6

VERBATIM: A PROGRAMMER'S POLL MOR remarks on current musicversus standard hits

LIZA MINELLI ON STAGE, SCREEN AND LIFE As told to Douglas HallPage 8-9

ON LINE By Reed BunzelPage 10

COMMERCIAL -FREE: DOES IT EVER WORK? By Tom CobinPage 11

IS YOUR PROMOTION DIRECTOR PROMOTABLE? By Jodi GoalstonePage 12

PILLOW TALK: RECOMMENDED BY MATURE AUDIENCES By Steve BloomPage 14

ON TAKES Interview ExcerptsBack Cover

Managing Editor:

Editorial Assistants:

Staff Photographer:

Contributors:

Director of Artist Relations:

Artist Relations Assistant:

Bureaus:

Correspondents:Designed by:

Page 7

Janis Burenga

Suzanne Devine, Mary McCarthy

Pamela Robinson

Reed Bunzel, Chris Charles, Tom Cobin, Jodi Goalstone,Douglas Hall, Marty Pekar, Tom Roland, Rich Rosenfeld,Ed Salamon

Janice Ginsberg

Cindy Sivak

New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas,London

Lou Miliano - London, Dorothy Newell - Moscow,

Petree Graphics, 1443 Emerson Avenue, McLean,Virginia 22101

January/February, 1988 - VOLUME 2, NO. 1, Copyright 1988 by United Stations Radio Networks, Inc. All RightsReserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. ON Radio is published monthly except for combinedissues January/February. ON RADIO, ON RADIO MAGAZINE, are trademarks of United Stations Radio Networks,Inc., 1440 Broadway, Fifth Floor, New York, New York 10018, (212) 575-6100

rom the Editor

Happy New Yearfrom thestaff of

ON Radio!We Hope1988 is a

year of prosperityfor all.

RADIOPROGRAMMERS!

Satellite time availableon

Satcom 1R Transponder 1971/2 or 15 kHz Digital Audio

Transmission to over 4300radio stations

Prices from $175 per hour

Call EDDIE QUE212-575-6159

ATTENTIONLOCAL RADIO

We want to run your color photos!Give us your best shot of your on -air

staff, your management or your successfulpromotion along with your station logo, andget your station ON Radio!

Ob

GrowingThrough

Lnity

Unity among broadcasters is a themethat has been raised time and again sincethe '50s. When I started at the RAB fouryears ago, we were still looking for aunited, strong and forceful team of radioprofessionals to shape a long-range, far-reaching effort to expand our medium.In the last year, a number of initiativeshave encouraged my great optimism forradio.

During the last year our industry hasmade significant progress toward work-ing together. The merger between NABand NRBA allows radio to speak withone voice in the Congress and before theFCC. And while we will continue towork toward building a unified positionin the sales arena, this doesn't eliminatea very healthy and vigorous debate abouthow we can accomplish our goals to bestserve America's radio broadcasters.

Radio Futures CommitteeRAB is working with NAB in the

Radio Futures Committee toward the ul-timate goal of a broad -based marketingplan for our medium which will increaseradio's advertising share, raise the pub-lic's awareness of radio, influence opin-ion leaders and instill a feeling of prideand professionalism among the peopleworking in radio. The first fruits of thiscombined effort is expected in early1988.

In our quest for an increased share ofad budgets, the positioning of radio isvital. Locally more and more broadcast-ers are setting aside immediate competi-tive ideas in favor of working togetheras local associations to sell radio as amedium and to expand our business.RAB is committed to doing everythingpossible to aid and encourage these col-lective self-help measures. RAB's newResearch Award program should stimu-late local radio marketing efforts andmarket -wide activities to promote radio.

B UpdateRegional Marketing

The National Spot Radio MarketingTask Force has initiated a targeted de-velopment program and produced a vid-eotape to address problems and oppor-tunities in spot radio. A by-product ofthe station reps association - workinghand -in -hand with RAB-this group'saggressive and positive action marketsspot radio directly to clients as a distinctbrand of radio. With an impetus towardnew business development spawned byconsolidation among reps, we can expecta renewed and improved effort todevelop new spot clients and to exploittrends toward regional marketing.

RAB routinely works with the Net-work Radio Association to improve per-ception of radio's national dimension andto offer national clients insights intousing radio to solve their marketing prob-lems.

State Teams

On the grassroots level, RAB is work-ing with state organizations to build re-gional business development teams. OurWisconsin pilot team, led by Lee Davis,has targeted and called on Wisconsin -based clients. Armed with RAB re-search, sales and marketing materials,state teams will add a new dimension toradio's overall marketing effort. I expectthe grassroots marketing model to be im-plemented in many other states, alongwith communications, research and pre-sentation support from RAB, by the endof 1988. This will be complemented byRAB's New Vendor Development pro-grams which will empower stations toget inside the retail merchandising anddistribution system to create new radiodollars.

Marketing Through FormatsRAB has also begun to work with

special format associations. The 35-64

committee's "Amazing Invisible Market"presentation is the leading edge for mar-keting specific audiences and formatsmore effectively on the local level. RABis committed to working with the CMAand other groups dedicated to marketingradio to large scale market segments.

The upshot of all this activity is: fromcoast -to -coast and border -to -border,radio broadcasters today are workingmore like a team than ever before.

In 1988, we enjoy a consensus of whatmust be done. That's a very positive sign,one which we haven't enjoyed in years.And while there's still a great deal ofdiscussion about how we should do it,there's more dialogue, more ideas, moremotivation, and more innovation thanever before! We must not let down ourcommittment to collective action even ifour revenues increase as a result of thePresidential election and/or the Olym-pics.

Cannot CannibalizeOne of the most important areas where

we need to hang together is on the localscene, where radio can do the greatestdamage to ourselves. We cannot continueto cannibalize ourselves nor can we ig-nore opportunities to work together tobring new clients onto our airwaves. Yet,in doing so, keep in mind, that we canand should control our inventory, ourprices and our commercial practices.And while agencies, buying services andclients are very willing to tell you thevalue of your own inventory-until wemaintain rate integrity and aggressivelyassert the value of our stations, our audi-ences and our medium-we'll get theorder, but take two steps backward.

RAB's Managing Sales Conferenceconvenes in Atlanta, January 23-26.

Bill Stakelin is President of the RadioAdvertising Bureau.

cogleny

pliek1 9 8 8

Memorial DayHank Williams, Jr.: Entertainer of the Year

Deciding who to salute on our Memorial Day special hasnever been easier. Both the Country Music Associationand the Academy of Country Music have awarded HankWilliams, Jr. their highest honors as Entertainer of the Year.It's about time) After recording over fifty albums andstretching the boundaries of country music by collaboratingwith artists as diverse as Ernest Tubb and Van Halen, HankJr. is rowdy, willing and able to be this year's leading countrymusic personality.

Fourth of JulyVocalists of the Year: Randy Travis and Reba McEntire

This year's Male and Female CMA Vocalists of the Yearsymbolize the fresh, back -to -basics approach of so manyyoung country artists. In one short year Randy Travis hascarved out his own. immediately identifiable place in today'scountry scene, right alongside his Hall of Fame idols: LeftyFrizzell. George Jones and Merle Haggard. Reba Mcir.ntirehas been charting consistently fine country hits for over adecade and growing in popularity each year. You can hearthe past, present and future of country music in everysong that's ever been recorded by Randy Travis and RebaMcEntire.

Labor DayThe Glen Campbell Silver Anniversary Special

Glen Campbell has spent the past twenty-five years dis-regarding the supposed barriers between pop and country.His million -selling country/ pop crossovers include "WichitaLineman", "Galveston", "Rhinestone Cowboy", and "Gentleon My Mind", the theme from his TV series, The GlenCampbell Goodtime Hour Today Glen Campbell remains asolid country favorite with such hits as "A Lady Like t'ou","It's Just a Matter of Time", and "Still Within the Soundof My Voice".

New York

Washington, 0 C

Chicago

Detroit

Dallas

Los Angeles

Landon

ThanksgivingThe Waylon Jennings Story

Waylon Jennings has had a long, fascinating career. Hewas a member of Buddy Holly's last touring band. He's along-time friend and collaborator with Willie Nelson whoco -wrote Waylon's 1972 hit "Good Hearted Woman". Andhe's credited with being a part of the first purely countryalbum to go platinum ... and to go platinum again withthe first country single ever to do so, "Theme From theDukes of Hazzard". 01' Waylon has had hits with stylesthat range from western swing to rock & roll to pure country.Recently he began work on "A Man Called Hogs", anautobiographical one-man show that will bring the WaylonJennings story to the stage!

ChristmasChristmas Around the Country- 1988

Here's our annual Christmas present to programmers. Thisthree hour program mixes the best old and new Christmassongs by country's hottest artists with fresh, holiday -relatedinterviews. Christmas Around the Country is an eight -yeartradition that listeners all across America look forward toevery holiday season. All new for '881

New Year'sAlabama's Golden Decade

The '80s belong to Alabama. Alabama is country music's#1 act. And it all began with Alabama's first charted singlein 1979. Since that time, Alabama has achieved morenumber one singles, sold more records, and entertainedlarger audiences than many country artists with longer careerhistories. Everybody embraces Alabama, and their biggesthits have become country/pop staples, including "My Home'sin Alabama", "Feels So Right", "Love in the First Degree"and "Take Me Down". The best place to ring in the new isAlabama . on your station!

Each Country Six Pack special is produced by Ed Salamon.For station clearance information call (703) 276-2900.

For national sales information call US in New York at (212) 575-6100

SOMETHING

DIFFEREN1 NINO II II II I II I II

New York

Wislonoton D.C.

Chicago

Ostroff

Dallis

Loa Amities

Lorthon

EVERYDAY

Your station has something to cele-brate today, and every day, 365 days eyear! And here's the place to find outwhat that is.

Country Detebook, the two -and -a -halfminute daily feature from United Stations,makes every day a little special. Whetherit's Willie's birthday ... Dolly's first goldrecord or the day of Randy Travis'first recording session ... there's alwayssomething!

And host Del DeMontreux is alwaysready with a tightly -produced montage offun facts, fantastic music and stories bythe superstar eventmakers themselves.

Best of all, hundreds of stations havefound that by promoting upcoming install-ments of Country Detebook they keeplisteners tuned -in longer.

Now that's what we cell worthcelebrating!

Country Detebook is available on aswap/exchange basis to stations in thetop 170 Arbitron-rated metro markets.For station clearance information call703-276-2900. For national sales informa-tion call 212-575-5100.

COUNTRY__datebook

AD'

From Woody Allen's Radio Days toEric Bogosian's off-Broadway play TalkRadio to Roger Waters' high -conceptalbum Radio K.A.O.S. to such books asStephen Singular's Talked to Death andCousin Bruce Morrow's My Life in

Radio - radio was in the mediaspotlight throughout 1987.While Allen and Cousin Bruciewaxed nostalgic about radio'spowerful past, Bogosian, Wat-ers and Singular took a moredisturbing view of radio today.

Talk Radio which closed inNovember after 228 perfor-mances at New York's PublicTheatre, was the story of arapidly burning -out late -nighthost named Barry Champlain.Played by Bogosian (and laterby Larry Pine), Champlainroutinely cut off callers or, bet-ter yet, berated them until they

would hang up. The limited plot devicerevolved around the show's last night be-fore it was going into national syndica-tion. Sponsors were listening, so Champ-lain was asked to be on his best behaviorwhich, of course, was like asking New

A AYork Yankees' manager Billy Martin notto argue with the umpires.

Wrote The New York Times: "ImagineLenny Bruce as a popular talk -show hostand you may have an idea of the whiplashintensity and black, hard -edged cynicismof Talk Radio."

Radio K.A.O.S., created by the formerleader of Pink Floyd, painted an evenbleaker picture. Inspired by two currentevents-the story of a handicapped Irishboy and the demise of Los Angeles rockstation, KMET - Waters fashioned a fic-tional relationship between the boy,Billy, and the suddenly out -of -work DJ,Jim (played on the album and in concertby Jim Ladd, who was actually let gowhen KMET changed formats). Waterstold one journalist, "I'm concerned withthe idea in this piece that rampant, unre-stricted market forces are trampling overeverybody's lives and making a world ahorrible place to live."

The Radio K.A.O.S. tour, from Augustto October, was quite a spectacle, al-though it failed to sell out in many loca-tions. About the album, Rolling Stone re-marked: "Radio K.A.O.S. stands as acomplex and surprisingly convincingmetaphor for interpersonal communica-tion. Waters makes a provocative casefor the argument that there's far more atstake in the format wars than mereplaylists." Waters is back in the studioworking on a sequel to the album.

On a much lighter note, there wasRadio Days - Woody Allen's affectionatehomage to '40s radio. The story centeredaround the love lives of the charactersplayed by Mia Farrow and Dianne Wiest,but much of the action occurred in livingrooms and kitchens, wherever a now -antique radio was located. Without radiothere was no immediate source for news.Without radio there were no SymphonySids and "Make -Believe Ballrooms." Ifyou haven't seen it, Radio Days, now outon video cassette, is worth renting. Ifyou would rather listen to it, the sound-track is a compilation of the stylishsounds of ten big bands from "Swing &Sway" with Sammy Kaye to XavierCougat & His Waldorf-Astoria Or-chestra. Now those were the radio days.

- Steve Bloom

6

mORA P

PollHow much interest is there for current

music at your station as opposed to thestandard hits?

How do you integrate the standard ar-tists' new music?

How do your listener's respond?

Jim Ferguson - PDWGSM-AM, Huntington (NY)

"Whenever we get a chance we playnew stuff; especially Tony Bennett's Ber-lin album [which] I think is terrific. Wealso have been featuring Linda Ronstadt,of course, but that's old hat by now.Teresa Brewer did a great album withCount Basie, Frankie Laine did somegood stuff. And I think a lot of peopleare forgetting about this. There's a JimmyRosselli album that was produced in Eng-land that we found through one localsupplier and nobody else in the worldhad it for a long time. And it caused alot of talk among our listeners. So if it'sa standard artist doing a standard song-or in the Rosselli case, something a littlerare - it catches on like wildfire."

Victor Knight - VP/GMWDBF-AM, Delray Beach, FL

"We're strictly Big Band. Not only wasDBF apparently the first radio station 11or 12 years ago to revert back to theall -Big Band format, but I am an all -jazzmusician and we operate a live 18-22piece Big Band. 52% of the total popu-lation of a million (in Palm Beach) isover the age of 50 - with 17% of thewomen over 65. We do mostly monsterconcerts and Big Band bashes: on theaverage of 75 events a year. The WDBFAll -Star Big Band is comprised of allmen from the name bands. So we're notremotely involved in the contemporaryartists or - quote - current hits. We playthose tracks which eventually relate tothe Big Band genre - even though it maybe Stevie Wonder. For example, "I JustCalled To Say I Love You": there's anincredible Big Band arrangement of that.We include that in the playlist. All of theBarry Manilow things are of the BigBand genre, if you will, and Neil Sedaka.Now, Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are"- that's generic. That's a standard now.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

IN OE COMO SPECIALSolid Gold Country With Mike Fitzgerald

Here's the network radio program that'sbeen turning ordinary weekdays into SolidGold for five solid years!

Solid Gold Cointry satisfies radio's hungerfor tasty, promotable daily programmingby dishing up five all -new one -hour specials

each and every week!

Every program is another masterful blendof hot interviews and tantalizing informa-tion sandwich3d between classic countrymusic. All of it comes fresh each day,prepared especially for today's countrymusic fan.

Listeners eat it up ... tuning in everyday to hear wtat Mike Fitzgerald is cook-ing up now. And stations across Americaare finding So id Gold Country their dailyrecipe for success!

Solid Gold Country is available on aswap/exchange basis to country radiostations in the top 170 Arbitron-ratedmetro markets.

sP

For station clearance information callUnited Stations Programming AffiliateRelations in Washington, D.C. at703-276-2900.

For national sales information call US inNew York at 212-575-6100.

New York Wasmington, D.C. Chicago Detroit Dallas Los Angeles London

Several of the Stevie Wonder things arestandards. So WDBS still attempts tocross the lines - just a little on tippy-toe ."

Dean TSrler - PDWPEN-AM, Philadelphia

"Well, there's a great deal of interest,first of all. We welcome it because itgives us a freshness that we might nototherwise have. Of course we integrateinto our music not only "new things" bya Tony Bennett or a Perry Como, butalso Barry Manilow and Neil Diamondto a lesser degree. But we consider themall sort of "standard artists." If it's a stan-dard artist like a Tony Bennett doing astandard song that - either he has not re-corded before, or he's recorded it andthis is a new arrangement, such as hisnew album - then it would probably be

treated pretty much like any of his otherstandards because it's a recognizablesong by a recognizable artist. If it's some-thing not quite as familiar to our basicaudience, say, Perry Como doing "That'sWhat Friends Are For," we would prob-ably treat it in one of our more contem-porary categories because: although it'sfamiliar, it may not be quite as familiarand probably doesn't stimulate quite thesame kind of emotional response, butcertainly deserves play. Although it maynot be a classic yet due to time - it'sprobably going to be a standard song.And certainly (Como) lends a great dealof credibility to the song with our audi-ence. So whether it be something newby a standard artist or a standard doneagain or in a new style or arrangement,we welcome them and look forward tothem."

7

8

SCION...AND

LIFE

As told to Douglas Hall

Liza Minnelli, winner of three TonyAwards, two Golden Globe Awards, anOscar, an Emmy, and a Peabody Award,is currently at the peak of her performingcareer. This past summer she shattered allrecords at Carnegie Hall by appearing forthree straight weeks of SRO concerts tounanimous critical acclaim.

When I was about eleven, I started tolearn lyrics as a hobby. The lyric booksthat were around our house were JeromeKern, Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart andCole Porter, so I learned those like somekids learn poetry... or collect stamps.That was my hobby.

By the time I was fifteen, I really hada vast knowledge of all of these songs.And because it was during puberty thatI learned them, they were very importantto me. There was a song for everywrenching experience I seemed to gothrough. It was like somebody knewwhat I was thinking. I was thrilled thatI wasn't by myself. And I developed greataffection for those songs.

Liza On IceBut, as a teenager, I didn't want to be

a singer. I wanted to be a professionalice skater. I wanted to go to the Olym-pics, and everything. Then I saw Bye ByeBirdie and I thought, that's what I wantto do! More than anything I wanted to

be in the chorus of Bye Bye Birdie. Itlooked like such fun.

Best Foot ForwardWell, there was no way to get into Bye

Bye Birdie. So, at 17, I auditioned forthe off-Broadway show Best Foot For-ward. I got something like the fourthlead, and there I was in my first show.The theatre only had eight rows. But wehad a terrific cast and we had a greattime.

An album was released, and I wasthrilled at the time. But now, listeningback, I sang so badly! If anybody reallywants to hear how hard I've worked, lis-ten to "Best Foot Forward" followed bysomething from the new Carnegie Hallalbum. It's a vast, massive difference.

The Kander/Ebb ConnectionRight after Best Foot Forward, I was

18, and Capitol wanted me to make arecord. In those days, people looked fornew songs to put on albums. And thenew songs weren't rock... the crossoverfrom pop to rock hadn't happened yet.So I went to writers who were moreBroadway -oriented... because that'swhat they expected me to do. And that'swhere I met John Kander and Fred Ebb.I recorded their song, "Maybe ThisTime," and later they put that song intoCabaret.

First Tony

Kander and Ebb hired me for FloraThe Red Menace, my first Broadwayshow. It was also their first show, so ina way we kind of started together. Thesongs they wrote for me in that showwere so beautiful!

We didn't run for long, but I was for-tunate enough to win the Tony. And Fredand I became such close friends thatwe've managed to work together eversince. He and John have really writtenevery night club act, concert and showI've ever done, including Liza with a Z.

That was the first piece of special mat-erial anyone ever wrote for me. And itcame out of the truth. Everybody wascalling me Lisa. And I couldn't help butsay, "Thank you very much, but it's Lizawith a Z." Fred and John thought thatwas funny, and they wrote the song. And

in a funny kind of way, that's what reallylanded my identity for the first time.

Now I do a medley of songs by Kanderand Ebb that I was lucky enough to haveintroduced over the years, and it's quitestartling and wonderful to hear them alltogether and realize that there's such abody of work there. "New York, NewYork," one of the best-known songs writ-ten for me by Kander and Ebb, wrapsup the medley quite well... especiallyat Carnegie Hall.

Wait For The MovieHal Prince, the producer of Flora The

Red Menace, had an idea that he wantedto remake I Am A Camera, the 1955British film, as a Broadway musical.Originally he wanted the same "Flora"team... Kander and Ebb and myself. Butlater he decided that he really wanted anEnglish girl for the part. Since I didn'twant to do another Broadway show rightaway, that was alright with me.

But, somewhere in the back of myhead I thought... I'll wait. I'll do themovie. And that's the way it worked out.I got the movie, and I got to work withBob Fosse for the first time.

Come To The CabaretThey sent us to Germany to do it. At

the time nobody believed in musicals.And there we were, really isolated in thehills of Munich, saying... 'I wonder ifthis'll work...'

But since nobody knew what we wereup to, there really weren't a lot of restric-tions on Fosse. He made the movie hewanted to make. And it worked.

Everybody won Academy Awards forCabaret. Bob Fosse, Joel Grey, the editorwon, I won. It was a terrific team effort.And it reminded me of something myfather said: "If you just use your head,and think about it, there's a way to makeit work."

Songs My Father Taught MeYou take for granted that certain things

happen a certain way, because it seemslogical. And rarely is that the way it hap-pened. This may surprise a lot of peoplebut it was my father who really got meinterested in music.

My mom didn't particularly sing

around the house. I guess because it washer business to sing.

But my father was always singing. Myfather taught me "Love For Sale," "ItHad To Be You," "If I Had You"... mostof the songs I learned as a child.

It also didn't hurt that Ira Gershwinwas my father's best friend. 'Til I wasseven I had my birthday parties at Iraand Lee's house. And yes, it's true, IraGershwin was my godfather.

With Mom and MarvinThe only time I ever got to sing with

my mom was on the live album recordedduring two nights at the Palladium. Mar-vin Hamlisch, who was 18 at the time,did all my arrangements for me.

I've been working with Marvin eversince. He did the arrangements for theTV special, Liza with a Z. And we'veworked together on albums through theyears. But that Palladium album was thefirst credit he ever got.

I Gotta Be MeI studied everybody. Helen O'Con-

nell. Doris Day. I think Doris Day is afine singer. If you listen to some of herrecords from the period, she had greatintonation. Mostly I studied KayThompson. But I'm not happy beingcompared to anybody.

People sometimes ask why I don't singany of my mother's songs. It's for thesimple reason that I can't imagine any-body else singing her songs. When youhave something that's perfect, I figureyou don't mess around with it. I'd muchrather be a first rate version of myselfthan a second rate version of anybodyelse.

Mama SaidI knew my mother mostly, not as the

movie star, but as my mom. She waswonderful, loving, and she tried to giveme a good sense of values. She didn'ttry to keep me out of show business, butshe would always tell me that it wasrough, and that you had to be thickskinned. So she gave me some goodwarnings. But I've always loved music.And, for me, the joys are far more thanthe tough times.

- Edited by Marty Pekar

9

Hats off toAP's "RadioPower"

news study, which reit-erates the staying power of

radio news. Just when themedium seems to be writing off news

as simply an ancillary feature, thisstudy - conducted by research firmReymer & Gersin - illustrates that lis-teners still perceive radio as a primarysource of news. The report also insiststhat listeners want harder news, not justlifestyle reports tailored to custom -con-sulted psychographic microsegments.Just something for local and networknews directors to keep in mind.

Of course, perception and reality arevery distant cousins; how else can oneexplain Suzanne Somer's consistently -high TV -Q ratings and dismal failureson the tube.

Even several months after the stockmarket crash, the financial stability ofbroadcastings properties - public andprivate-is very much evident. Stationtransactions are proceeding (at a less -frenzied pace), although the rush to gopublic seems to have slowed. On thewhole, broadcast stock prices rightedthemselves a little more quickly thanthose in some other industries, but mediastocks trading far above their value-some as high as 20-40 times revenue -were in for a shock. Investors are nowusing a bit more caution, investing theircapital in stocks with good returns, andare spurning highly speculative and over -leveraged situations.

10

On LinebyReed Bunzel

As long as the economy remainshealthy and advertising doesn't dry up,most analysts feel the industry shouldfare generally well in the next 12

months.

As we turn the calendar page and stepinto a new year, keep in mind that 1988could prove to be a banner year. Withtwo seasons of Olympics and an exten-sive primary and general election in theoffing, ad revenues could help balancean otherwise wobbly financial picture.But beware complacency, and remember1984.

With Procter & Gamble squaring offwith the National Association of Black -Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) overallegedly low advertising expenditures inBlack/Urban radio, one vital question israised: should racism or ethnicity be usedto pressure advertisers to place an order?P&G says its black -targeted radio expen-ditures have quadrupled over the last twoyears, while NABOB insists expendi-tures are far below black consumer ex-penditures on P&G products.

It's no secret that black radio suffersback -of -the -bus status when it comesto certain Madison Avenue types, a situ-ation that warrants prompt correction.But let's keep things in proper perspec-tive: advertising should be targeted toradio listeners, not to radio owners.

Charges of racism also recently sur-faced again at the FCC. The NationalBlack Media Coalition (NBMC) hascharged the Commission with trying tostrip away minority preferential treat-ment programs, refuting FCC claims thatsome sham investors are using minorityfronts to obtain minority ownership taxcredits. NBMC officials claim the FCConly wants to eliminate minority owner-ship incentive programs, and thus haspledged to keep such programs intact.

Music videos can lead to pregnancy,drug abuse, cult worship, suicide, andalcoholism, according to a rechargedParents Music Resource Center. De-

cency watchdog group PMRC is takinganother hard look at industry efforts toregulate lyrics and video content - anddoesn't like what it sees or hears. Withmuch of today's campaign contributionscoming from the entertainment industry,PMRC co-founders Tipper Gore andSusan Baker wives of Presidential can-didate Albert Gore and Treasury Secre-tary Jim Baker, respectively, could findtheir efforts becoming increasingly polit-ically -charged over the next few months.

"Blue radio" also is under more fire,this time from Reagan administration of-ficials who are proposing stiff new penal-ties for broadcasters (and others) whostep over the pornography line. Most re-sponsible broadcasters agree that radioshould retain its self-respect and de-cency, but many are concerned thatguidelines, at best arbitrary and at worstdangerous, could set a constructive pre-cedent.

Meanwhile, the venerable minds at theFCC are still trying to define exactlywhat constitutes obscenity. Start with"regulated free speech."

Still, "hooray" to FCC commission-ers who reversed last year's proposal toeliminate geographical delineations for"K" and "W" broadcast call letters. The"make work" plan was ridiculous fromthe start and served no substantive pur-pose than to ensure utter chaos for thenext few decades.

Kudos also to the Tennessee SupremeCourt, which recently (and unanimous-ly) ruled that reporters have the right tokeep sources' names a secret. Good newsto every news operation in Tennessee,possibly the rest of the nation's reporters,as well.

Finally, good news and bad for therecord labels. Recording Industry As-sociation of America (RIAA) figuresshow almost a 20% unit sales increaseover 1986, resulting primarily from brisksales of compact discs. The bad news isthat several pro-DAT support groups haveemerged to fight the proposed DATCopycode chip which will eliminate orseverely hamper unauthorized digital re-cordings. Could it be that what digitalgiveth, it can also taketh away. Staytuned.

It sounds like a lis-tener's dream. Weeks,maybe months of music,with no commercials. Butis it a sensible way tolaunch a station? Do theratings last? And who canafford the start-up costs? Will it alienateadvertisers - radio's bread-and-butter?In short, are the risks worth the potentialbenefits?

These questions are being raised anewby the inaugural 102 -day "MusicMarathon" held last summer at WMYI-FM in Greenville, South Carolina. It re-calls the "Commercial -Free Summer" of1982 at the Big Apple's WAPP. The de-bate still rages over just how well itworks.

A Matter Of Necessity

AmCom General Corporation boughtWMYI ("My -102") with plans to buildnew facilities - including a new trans-mission tower. But regulatory snags,rough weather and construction prob-lems set AmCom back nearly a year inbuilding what it claims is the highesttower on the East Coast (3,317 feet).

President/CEO George Francis, Jr."had to get on the air." But he also hada problem: no staff and no studio. (Thenew facility couldn't be started while thetower was being built: "You drop some-thing, you kill somebody.")

Francis did have lots of records, someCD players, and a new tower. So he just"hired some people to sit there and playmusic." Francis describes the MusicMarathon as "a matter of necessity,"which "turned out to be a great marketingploy... a great marriage of conveni-ence."

A Free Sample

When Doubleday Broadcasting tookover easy -listening WTFM in NYC backin 1982 and created album -rock WAPP,then -President Gary Stevens expectedmajor advertiser turnover. He still feelsthe most important thing for WAPP was"to get it sampled," since "there wasn't

'ng to be much introductory businessay."

So he threw down the gauntlet in frontof the chief competitor, ABC's WPLJ-FM, and "found the one thing theycouldn't do. e all their commercialsoff."

Too Much Of A Good ThingWAPP rocketed to

CO MERbefore losing 40% of its audience andleveling off around 3 in the fall andwinter. But Stevens and former VP/Gen-eral Manager Pat McNally insist thedrop-off in ratings "had nothing to dowith commercial -free."

Former PD Dave Hamilton recalls "theerosion began... before we played ourfirst commercial." Stevens blames "poorprogramming," while Hamilton hasanother explanation: "fatigue" among lis-teners. "The station got to be very boringand redundant." Even McNally admits"we may have gone commercial -free toolong."

The same is now being said of WMYI.Steve Green, Media Director at LeslieAdvertising (Greenville's #2 agency),says WMYI "almost proved how back-to-back music can sound boring if youdon't do anything else."

Advertisers SkepticalAdvertisers look at ratings from non-

commercial periods with what one execcalls "a jaundiced eye." The tactic is re-viled as "hype," "fraud," and "decep-tion."

Stevens defends it as the radio equiva-lent of handing out free samples of anyproduct. But J. Walter Thompson Execu-tive VP Richard Kostyra maintains it's"a sample of another product... a prod-uct without commercials, and that's a bigdifference." He likens it to promotingbacon by cutting the fat off samples.

"Not A Flash In The Pan"George Francis is "very happy with

the numbers" at WMYI after two monthsairing commercials. He says the 90 -dayaverages show a jump of more than apoint (to 4.4) after the Music Marathon,along with steady growth in Time SpentListening. Francis trumpets the researchas proof that "we're not a flash in thepan, we're continually growing... upwith shares, up with cume, up withTSL."

The station sold out soon after theMarathon, although there are more indi-vidual local clients than agency buys.One partner at Phoenix Advertising inGreenville says the firm has a "wait andsee" attitude, looking for a proven "track

DoeEverrecord." But with introduc-tory avails in the $20 range,Green says Leslie is "comfortableusing the station" - if they can findroom.

Call It Something ElseWhile radio listeners must learn to live

with commercials, commercial -freepromotions are also a fact of life -whether for a period of months or mi-nutes. McNally calls commercials "thenumber -one tune -out in radio." EvenJWT's Kostyra admits radio withoutcommercials is "strong and appealing forthe listener."

But radio is, after all, a commercialmedium. At the Radio AdvertisingBureau, VP of Marketing InformationKenneth J. Costa says wooing listenersby killing commercials is "prostitutingour medium, and we would condemn itas deceptive."

Young & Rubicam's Lennie Stein al-lows that stations tend to kill spots in"time periods when they're probably notsold out anyway. But still, I've alwaystold them: 'Call it something else."'Many stations do, but Stevens says re-search shows, "Saying, 'We play moremusic' is never as powerful as saying`We play fewer commercials.'"

Biting The Hand...Eventually, spots will return after any

kind of commercial -free promotion. Theidea is not to denigrate commercials orantagonize advertisers, says McNally,but "to build a radio station... so we'dhave an audience to which we could ad-vertise their products."

It's left to advertisers to scrutinize thenumbers and divine distortions causedby such radical changes in programming.The question is perhaps best put by LeslieAdvertising's Green: "Anybody can dogood for one book, but... when will yoube the station you're going to be?"

-Tom Cobin

11

I I

New York

Washington, D.C.

Chicago

Detroit

Dallas

Los Angeles

London

a

1

7". out S

Can't forget the Motor City!

25 years have passed since artists like JackieWilson, The Miracles and Wilson Pickett firstexploded out of Detroit and riveted our atten-tion to a brand new beat.

Composer, producer, entrepreneur Berry Gordytook it from there and built what he called "TheSound of Young America."

Now, a generation later, everybody's calling outaround the world for more, more Motor City

-Beat. Stations from Album Rock to Adult Con-temporary have experienced bigger ratings v, henprogramming blocks of this music.

The Detroit Sound is part of rock's univlanguage, influencing much of the musicing out of Europe, and being played all overradio dial today. And Motor City Beat is theplace EVER to hear the original, hot Dehits, and relive Big Chill memories.

Motor City Beat is an exciting three hourthrough the '60s every week. There's alwafeatured artist or theme, along with insideries from the stars who started it all.

Get YOUR listeners Motor-vated each week.

Motor City Beat is available on a swap/exchbasis to stations in the top 170 Arbitron-rmetro markets.

For station clearance information, call UStations Programming Affiliate Relations in Vbington, DC at 703-276-2900.

For national sales information call US inYork at 212-575-6100.

al

stit

ide

le

d

pd.

a

IS YOUR

PROMOTION

DIRECTOR

PROThe perception of promotion profes-

sionals' role in radio may be changing,but some parts of the "picture" remainunfocused.

"In the evolution of the job, the pro-motion director has never been on thesame level as the program director or thesales manager. The promotion directorwas seen as the person who sent out tee-shirts or ordered buttons. It's only re-cently that the job has had greater impli-cations," says Lee Simonson, Vice Pres-ident and General Manager, WOR-AM,New York.

Not coincidentally, this "role reversal"has evolved as radio recognizes the needto clearly communicate its attributes tolisteners and advertisers.

"Stuffing tee-shirts into a mailing bagmay be an aspect of the job, but it's notthe job," notes Simonson. "The promo-tion manager is involved with the percep-tion and the positioning of a station vis-a-vis sales promotion and on -air program-ming."

Communicating the "Product"Station Manager Don de la Houssaye,

of WWL-AM/WAJY-FM, New Orleans,believes the promotion director acts asan interpreter of radio's niche short -hand."Our audience is upscale, 35-49, and ourmusic is AC. How do we let the worldknow that?"

He says it is the promotion directorwho is able to communicate that essenceto advertisers and to listeners as a tangi-ble "product."

Although appealing in theory, applica-tions differ-especially in a smaller radiomarket - radio executives readily admit.Notes Simonson: "There is a philosophyon the part of some broadcasters, largelybecause of economy, to make the pro-gram director responsible for promotionas well. That's not right... you have tohave enough respect for the product to

recognize that itdeserves full-time at-tention."

Station DumpingGround?

And sometimes,even with a full-timepromotion person onstaff, there is a ten-dency to "use" theposition as a catch-all, "dumpingground."

"Just because you designate a promo-tion director doesn't mean you can sitback and say, 'Okay, it's not my problem;it's yours,"' says de la Houssaye. Detailwork isn't implicit in a promotion direc-tor's job description, he maintains. "Thesales staff, the programming departmentalso should share in the nitty grittywork."

These views notwithstanding, somepromotion professionals see their roles -current and future - as a blur.

Last year, Broadcast Promotion andMarketing Executives (BPME) commis-sioned a state-of-the-art report on mem-bers' responsibilities now and oppor-tunities for career growth in the future.Eighty radio promotion professionals -40% of BPME's radio membership - re-sponded to the Arbor Research studyquestionnaire.

Where Am IHeaded?

Responding to the question aboutwhere they'd be in their careers five yearshence, survey participants, a majority ofwhom were female (67%), ages 25-49(90%), employed in the top 50 radio mar-kets (66%), said the following:

Don't know 21%

Expect to be in the same job . 26%

Expect to be out of the industry 20%

In contrast, 10% of those surveyed saidthey'd be general managers; 5%, opera-tions managers or program directors.

How do radio executives explain thisdifference in "depth perception" from be-holder - station management - to jobholder?

"Someone who is plucked from pro-duction or from an administrative job and

is suddenly annointed with the title`promotion director,' may be perplexedabout career options. These people maybe promotion directors, but they're notdirecting anything," says de la Houssaye.

Adds Lynn Anderson -Powell, Presi-dent and General Manager, KIIS-FM/AM, Los Angeles, "If someone is floun-dering and is not sure what they're doing,then it is their fault."

Mandate Is ClearTo her, the mandate is clear: "If your

station isn't #1 in the market, it's yourjob to help it get there. If it is #1 yourjob is to make it better."

Simonson puts it bluntly: "If you'vegot a cheerleader who hands out tee-shirts and has the creativity of a pieceof plaster," that person's career vision islikely to be limited.

The 1987 BPME study reveals an un-certainty about how promotable thepromotion position is - especially enroute to the general manager's chair. Hereagain, the beholders seem more optimis-tic.

Anderson -Powell says KIIS' Market-ing Director is one of five key departmentheads at the station. "There is no reasonwhy someone from that job cannot moveup to general manager," she says.

That may be true for a major stationin a major market. But what about thesmaller markets?

Managing To Make Money"There is not one general manager,

regardless of the size of the market, whodoesn't recognize an individual's con-tribution to the overall success of thestation," she maintains.

"Growth is up to the individual. Themore value the person brings to the over-all operation of the station, the more op-portunity exists for that person to betaken seriously."

Adds Dean Thacker, Vice Presidentand General Manager, WHTZ-FM (Z-100), New York, "Times are changing;the industry is changing. We're seeinggeneral managers come from sales, oper-ations, even news. So there are oppor-tunities for growth."

He maintains there's little mystiqueabout the path to station management."The reason we're in the business is tomake money. That's the understandingyou need for management-no matterhow and where you get it."

- Jodi Goalstone

13

D00000000000V*0

Pillo-11- talkRECOMMENDED BY

MATURE AUDIENCES

Aunt Minnie stays up all night listen-ing to what's -his -name. "Oh, I lovehim," she gushes. Forgive her for notbeing able to remember his name - AuntMinnie is 82.

Like millions of other senior citizens,Minnie Weisenberger is hooked on talkradio. "We go to bed," Uncle Joe Kaplan,80, says about his wife, Aunt Iris, andhimself, "and if we can't sleep we turnthe radio on. We keep it on low. It helpsget us through the night."

Charlie Alzamora, operations man-ager of WMCA-AM, New York, esti-mates that 75 percent of his audience is65 and older. "They're the backbone oftalk -radio," he says. "For many peopletalk -radio is a friend, it's a familiar voice.It puts a dent into their loneliness."

Radio Days

This new demographic group, the 65and overs, grew up with radio as theironly form of electronic media. Thoughtelevision is now the predominant mediafor most Americans, radio remains a fix-ture for news, information and com-panionship among the elderly. Joe Kap-lan says he watches The Bill Cosby Show,The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour and an oc-casional movie - then the TV goes off atnine and the radio goes on. Anotherreason talk -radio stations are so popularwith older listeners, suggests Alzamora,is that "they never went out and purch-ased FM radios. They still listen to theAM radios they've had for forever intheir kitchens and bedrooms and cars.They listen all day long."

Accordingly, WMCA's programmingleans heavily towards subjects of interestto seniors: health, real estate, finances,current affairs. Barry Gray, who has beengabbing for the last 37 years on WMCA,and Barry Farber, a 16 -year WMCAmainstay, fill up the airwaves nine hours

14

each weekday. "We don't want to do any-thing to drive away our older, more trad-itional listeners," Alzamora adds.

"55-64 Is More"

WOR-AM, New York's preeminenttalk station, has been content with itsconsiderable 45-54 audience... untilnow. "When we visualize our averagelistener," explains WOR's general man-ager, Lee Simonson, "it's a 54 -year -oldwoman. But what about the 55 -plus au-dience? Do you realize that the averageage of a CEO in America is 60? Thereis power in the over -50 market, but themedia is still obsessed with younger de-mographics. That's why we're runningthe ad,`55-64 Is More Than 25-34.'Hopefully, marketers will begin to dis-cover it."

Simonson says WOR does not "speakdirectly" to the 65 -plus audience, "butthat doesn't mean they're not in our mind.We'll get them by virtue of what we do."What WOR does, like WMCA, is con-centrate on issues and answers pertinentto older listeners, and offer personalitiesthe audience can relate to. Like BernardMeltzer, who Simonson calls "the saviorof the over -65 audience." Meltzer's ex-pertise is in real estate and finances, buthe is known as an advocate.

"If you're being screwed by some-body, call Bernie," Simonson reports. "Ifyou have $10,000 and you don't knowwhat to do with it, call Bernie. He'suncle/father/friend, a warm, empatheticproblem solver. He practically inventedthe advice genre on radio."

No -Shock Radio

Though its audience is primarilysenior citizens, WMCA is looking to "goafter everybody, from 25-80," Alzamorasays. In an extremely crowded talk -radio

market that includes WOR, WABC andWFAN as well as the news stations WINSand WCBS-AM, WMCA can't be toochoosy about its listeners. But, in at-tempting to lure younger ears to its for-mat, Alzamora admits he has to be care-ful not to turn off the station's substantialover -65 audience. For instance, he re-cently hired morning jock Paul W. Smithfrom WABC, who he describes as "funnybut not insulting. It's humor for adults,not adult humor. It's not the Zoo or How-ard Stern. It's no -shock radio."

"We'd like to have a more even distri-bution of listeners," he continues. "We'rebringing in a fresher sound, more jingles,a quicker pace. Just because we have anolder demographic doesn't mean we haveto be staid and not take risks. But wewant to keep who we've got. The trickis quality programming."

The Gray AreaLike WMCA, WABC-AM, New York,

doesn't want to be typecast as an "oldies"station. With Bob Grant on the air duringthe day and KABC's Ira Fistell and RayBriem on overnight, president and gen-eral manager James Haviland is con-vinced he doesn't have to do anything tosatisfy the 55 -plus crowd, because"they'll find me. The nature of the talkformat appeals to them." Would he everdesign a program specifically for seniorcitizens? "I could never promote that sortof show well enough so that I could geta majority of that audience," he says."And anyway, I don't want programs thatwould exclude certain listeners. That'spainting yourself into too small of acorner."

Haviland thinks his current programlist caters to seniors just fine. In additionto Grant, who is renowned for his abu-sive, conservative attack, WABC pro-vides financial expert Bill Bresnan, childpsychologist Joy Brown and sportsmaven Art Rust, Jr. as well as New YorkYankees' broadcasts from March to Oc-tober. While maintaining that 60 percentof WOR's audience is women 65 andover, he says that, at times, 40 percentof WABC's listeners are 55 -plus. "Olderpeople are restless at night, they sleepin two to three hour segments," Havilandpoints out. "Some listen to beautifulmusic. But more probably tune in to talkbecause they want to be informed. Dayor night, we give them that forum."

Joe Kaplan, a Bob Grant fan, is thank-ful. "I get up four or five times duringthe night-but not for the reason I usedto," he jokes. "I listen for 15 minutes,then fall asleep for an hour and a half,then wake up again. I like to listen tothe discussions. At least then I don't haveto listen to my wife."

- Steve Bloom

(6)

To?DICK CLARK MAKESADULTS COUNT!

Program Directors' clear choice forWeekly AC Countdown Program

America has always counted on Dick Clark for qualitymusic and entertainment. Now everyone who grew upwith Dick Clark can count on being kept up to dateon the latest Adult Contemporary trends with Dick Clark'sCountdown America ... the first Top 30 for adults onboth sides of 30.

Each week you get to hear the hits and the hitmakers as chart -topping artists such asLionel Richie ... Phil Collins ... Neil Diamond ... Huey Lewis ... Whitney Houston ... alldrop by to talk with Dick Clark on Countdown America!

Everybody loves the excitement of a countdown. And Dick Clark makes each weeklycountdown an event for AC listeners across the nation. No wonder CountdownAmerica was named the countdown program of choice by AC stations in this year'sRadio & Records survey.

Countdown America is available on a swap/exchange basis to Adult Contemporaryradio stations in the top 170 Arbitron-rated metro markets.

For station clearance information call United Stations Programming Affiliate Relationsin Washington, D.C. at 703-276-2900.

For national sales information call US in New York at 212-575-6100.

New York Washington, D.C. Chicago Detroit Dallas Los Angeles London

THE CARS

I rav elin' Man

"When you'retouring, the stage isthe only place that isalways the same. Youdon't know the hotel you just checked into. And you don'tknow the area or the town. But as soon as you walk upthere on stage, you're home. It's almost as if you've arrivedin your own bedroom, because you know every inch of thestage. So it's like people are looking in at your home. Tome it's like being watched through a glass. It's voyeuristicon their part, and I can understand that because I'm voyeuris-tic anyway."

11EuNo4

CARLISLEBelieve WhatYou Say

"People over herehave a tendency tothink that anythingthat comes out of En-gland is cool, so we would send back stories from England...`Yeah, we're huge successes out here' and 'Everyone thinkswe're the greatest.' Everybody believed it in L.A., so whenwe got back, there were lines wrapped around the block,and there was such a buzz! Just because of our little lies wetold." Belinda Carlisle, on the Go Go's

1440 BroadwayNew York, NY 10018

0

0

0cncn

0

ANNE WIRYLow Key

"The records havebeen on the radioover the years, andpeople hear thevoice. They see the face occasionally. But there's no bigdeal. I've just been there, that's all. It's been very low key.I've never been interested in hype or being at the right placeat the right time... or going to Hollywood parties, or doinganything like that. I don't know if any of this is the reasonwhy I've been around all this time or not. But I do knowI've done it very quietly."

DEE SNIDE

TWISTED SISTER

All In The Family

"Where is thisthing that if you'remarried you've gotto be like Cosby? Myhome is more like the Addams Family. This is the truth-ourfamily car is a 1950 Cadillac hearse with a coffin in theback. And boy, believe me, my neighbors love me when Igo shopping. My kid's got hair down to his shoulders andwe let him dress the way he wants to dress. Freedom ofexpression. He goes to his nursery school graduation... allthe kids in their pink and yellow and their little ties... he'sdressed as Rambo. My home is very similar to my stagepersonality. Okay, so it's not like a normal family life."

Bulk RateU.S. Postage Paid

Baltimore, MDPermit No. 3361