cell phones and talk radio

Cell phones have had an impact on talk radio.

Now we get a ton of callers who are out and about, in their car, on a walk, they don't need to be by their landline.

Cell phones generate tons of talk hours. Should they be allowed on the plane; what do you do when the guy on the bus is having a loud cell conversation next to you; when should you give your kids a phone, hands free driving laws...you get the idea, the topics are practically endless.

On the downside, they lead to dropped calls, a lot of static, and other issues.

There was a point when a cell phone caller, due to novelty and the high per minute cost would get priority on the call list; now it does not significantly impact the screener's decision.

A Good Week

Boy, a week like this it’s sure a lot easier to do what we do.

Hilary vs Barack. Should McCain name a veep.

The guy who spends 26 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. And who knew he was innocent? The lawyers for the guy who actually did commit the crime, and they’ve known almost the whole time.

Or how about the lawyer who is suing Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos for allowing her to lose over a million dollars. And she figures they owe her 20 million dollars to compensate her for her compulsive gambling.

And I think something might have gone on with the governor of New York. And his wife. And 80 thousand dollars worth of prostitutes.

A good week.

Without Taking Sides

Clinton. Obama. She's coming back. He's gonna win.

From the mindset of a talk show producer, it doesn't really matter who the ultimate candidate is for the Democratic party.

Just the fact that the contest continues provides endless hours of talk topic for our programs.

Without a doubt, this is one of the most fascinating and important races in years, perhaps since Lincoln. Not just because of the issues of terrorism, the economy and war facing the country; not just because of the historic nature of a woman running against an African American for the opportunity to win the most powerful seat in the world.

We could even be looking at a brokered convention.

I think we have things to talk about.

self published authors

We've been challenged by some blogs regarding our decision to remain anonymous.

We are all working in various capacities at major stations, and some, perhaps rightfully, are concerned that either our jobs could be threatened if we were public, or we could not be as candid on certain issues as we would like.

We are often asked about booking self-published authors on our programs.

The truth is they have a tough row to hoe when it comes to getting booked. For one thing, the fact that they are self-publishing means that they were not picked up by a major publisher. There could be many reasons for that, and it doesn't have to be a bad thing, but having said that, it does provide a level of validation when a major publishing house as invested in an author.

Then, in our opinion, there are better ways and worse ways to go the self-publishing route.

There are exceptions to everything we say here, but one major red flag is when the book is published by either Xlibris (owned by Random House) or iUniverse (owned by Barnes and Noble). They are not automatically a death knell, and some very successful books have started life under these labels, but they are a large hurdle to over come.

Why? First of all, if the book is branded as either Xlibris or iUniverse it SCREAMS self-published. Many self-published authors name their own publishing companies – if it's called “Harrison McCartney World Wide Press” it just sounds like a company we haven't heard of yet.

In it at least some or our opinions, and its not unanimous, we feel that the business deal offered by branded self publishers is generally bad for most authors, which causes us to question their judgment, and therefore validity as a possible guest. For example, if the author wants copies of her own book, she can purchase them at a 30% discount off retail!!

They can give up control over pricing their own book and even though they are substantially responsible for promoting their book – the same is true with traditional publishers, by the way – yet they don't get a lot of the money for each sale. In our opinion, again not unanimous, just indicates bad judgment.

It's not impossible to get booked as a self-published author, but it requires that the rest of the pitch be perfect

Rumors flying out of San Francisco

Our eyes and ears on the ground in Northern California are muttering things.

Hot Talk pioneer KSFO may have let go of Melanie Morgan, key member of their popular morning show with veteran Lee Rodges and Officer Vic.

She has been a fixture on the program for years, as well as one of the most visible faces of the KSFO on the cable shows.

And her husband is head honcho Jack Swanson

Our Call Screener Vents

There are a couple of things that drive the call screeners up the wall; some of them assure that your odds of getting on the radio are minimal.
Or they just tick us off. Either way, not good - not good.

start the call by saying "...you're not going to put me on..."; first of all they're often wrong, but needless to say, I don't waste the time talking to you. I'm not here to chat with you, I'm here to put the best caller on the air that's going interest and motivate our listeners. Just hearing your opinion is conversation.

"I don't have time to go on the air, but...." see above.

Don't call and bring up the topic we talked about last hour, especially when we have a guest and a completely different topic on the air right now. Again, I am not your sounding board, and frankly, I don't care about your opinion. At least not at the moment I'm working another topic. Now if we were having a beer at a bar, we could talk each others ear off.

Don't spend a lot of time getting to your question - just give it to me. I've had people cite author notes and dates and where they were when they heard so and so say something, and I have no idea what they want to talk about. I don't care what you had for breakfast while you watch Regis.
Don't talk to me about other hosts, on my station or the competition. They have their own programs for you to debate their opinion. I want to know what's on your mind.

Likewise, don't tell me about all the other programs you call, or have been on, or anything like that. Your resume doesn't impress me, your opinion and your ability to express it does

I'm waiting for the pitch

We get a lot of guest pitches- a lot of guest pitches.

Does the pitch need to be personally addressed to the producer or the program to have a chance to be booked? Yes. And No.

A book addressed to me is going to get opened, just like a book addressed to the program or the station.

If the cover letter is addressed directly to me, that gets noticed; but sometimes if its just mail-merged onto a generic pitch, that gets noticed too.

On the other hand, if the cover letter is addressed to me, and it includes specific reasons why the booking is suitable for my unique audience, it tells me the publicist has put some thought into it, and gets it.

A pitch that doesn't come addressed to me won't be eliminated, not by any stretch. It just needs to stand on its own merits. The guest has to be good – that means a recognized expert, and/or a house hold name. The pitch itself needs to be complete in the other components. Good outline of the topic, strong media resume (other appearances/interviews), talking points.

One publicist copies me on most of her email pitches, even though she knows most of them will not work for our program. But when she has one that she believes is a fit, and years of experience tell me she had good instincts when she thinks its a fit, she will put my name in the subject line of the email; assuring that I open it, and give it a good look.

email to one of our programs - as is

The name and address have been removed - but the syntax, grammer and misspellings are all the listeners - as are the opinions and misinformation - please share your opinions as well:

why is it that if a election is being held in fl. every body tries to guess how the cubins will vote. Then if there is one inthe southwestern part of the country the latino vote will be chased. Go to Mi. in the heavy musllim district and nothing,NOT a word is said about how they will vote.the cubins and the mexicansvoice their opinons very loudly, but do you hear one word from the muslim group? NO! because I think they have been forewarned not to for the damage it might cause Obamah.There was quite a stir about Romany mormon religion and all the others except Obamah's muslim religion. Why? He refused the bible when he took the oath for the senate office.He refused to wear the lapel pen showing the flag, as all the other members wear it.If Obamah's parants were of the christian faith then why would they give him a muslem name?and haveyou or anybody else ever heard him use his middle name ?Ican't understand why public figures such as you and other radio talk show hosts don't bring this out in the open. I belive the man is dangerous to this countryif he is elected president.He can sway and influnice the younger people like nobody else since the 1930 period in europe..He has shown his disrespect to our country any number of times and nobody it seems will stand up to him! I am 78yr. old, have seen a lot of changes in this country,but this is the most dangerous time in my life.People are being led around by their noses and letting a few people distroy our way of life.I can't put into words what I want to say like Rush or Sean or NO SPIN. They are our voice if only they would speak a little louder and more to the point. poplar bluff Mo 63901

Things Some Publicists do That Really Piss Me Off

They want me to book their client on one of the shows I work with. But they don't seem to have a clue. Instead of helping me decide to schedule their guest, I don't just cause I don't want to deal with the publicist in the future.
Some of the things that get in the way of booking:

• Putting the press materials in an envelope that's almost impossible to open - If I gotta spend more time opening it than I'm gonna spend looking at the stuff inside - I'm not going to bother.
• Leaving me a voice mail that doesn't tell me anything about the guest - just that I have to call them cause I will love the guest. Nothing worse than unrequited love.
• Leaving me a message asking me to call back, and then calling a whole bunch of times because I haven't called them back yet - less than two hours after the initial message.
• Calling me on my cell phone - during my program. Besides the fact that I'm focussing on other things when the show is on the air - it just tells me this is not a pro.

These are just a few of the things publicists can do to hurt their cause. Other producers - feel free to weigh in with your own stories.

What the hell, if you're a publicist, feel free to weigh in with things producers do to give you the short end.

Big Trouble in San Francisco

It's not looking good for Bernie Ward, former KGO liberal talker, recently under indicted under federal child pornography charges.

Ward was a frequent fixture on the various cable news channels, the self-proclaimed "Lion of the Left" was an articulate and passionate counter to the often more conservative voices heard on many of the channels.

The case goes back to a series of chats that took place December 2004-January 2005with an online dominatrix with the screen name of "sexfairy"; The Smoking Gun website reveals her to be Linda Figueiredo. Click here for the entire indictment. She was communicating with someone going by the screen name "Vincentlio" on a computer that was subsequently traced back to Ward's San Francisco home

Ward, a former priest, has claimed, through blog postings, lawyer statements and interviews, that he was researching a book on hypocrisy. Journalist Ben Fong-Torres is one of many raising questions about notes or other proof of such a book. Read his email exchange with Ward here.

The question here is should KGO, or any station, consider putting Ward back on the air at some future time? Regardless of what happens in court, how do you put him on the air? You think callers are gonna be forgiving, or let bygones be bygones?

Reports from inside sources at the San Francisco power house station is their other talk show hosts are not permitted to even discuss Ward on their programs; it's left to the news department.

Michael Savage - foot in mouth or calculated attention grabber?

Michael Savage, syndicated conservative host, makes controversial statements that Congressman Tom Lantos, who passed away earlier this week, exploited his status as a holocaust survivor.

Read about it here in Brad Kava's blog, Radio Soup.

Is there such a thing as bad publicity? Should there be a consequence for insensitive statements?

Talk Radio and Politics

Why does it seem the conservative hosts are all the rage - we hear a lot more about Rush Limbaugh then about liberals like Bill Press. Hannity seems to be the star, Colmes the foil.

Is it because our current administration is so far to the right?

Doesn't make sense to me, since the Savages of the radio world got most of the press during the Clinton administration as well, though then the rationalization seemed to be it was a reaction to the "liberals" in the White House.

Why, the big news about liberal radio was the fact that an entire network, Air America, was being launched to serve the views of the left and piss off the right. Are they still on?

Welcome to Our New Inside Radio Blog

This is created by several radio professionals, who are or have been affiliated with some of the most prominent talk radio programs in the industry.

We find that we are asked common questions, whether it's from listeners, potential guests or publicists.


It's kind of fun to peek behind the curtain, and find out how it really works.

One or the other of us will try to put something down just about every day. If there is something in particular you would like to see addressed, shoot us a note.