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April 2, 2010
Beck’s Star Shines Bright
RUSS HILL
Recently, KTAR/Phoenix OM Russ Hill posted
the following essay about Premiere Radio
Networks talk host and FOX News Channel
personality Glenn Beck to his personal
website, RussHillMedia.com. Written from his
perspective as a radio program director and
fellow Mormon (Beck joined the faith in 1999),
this week Hill shares his Five Reasons Why
Glenn Beck Is Radio’s Brightest Star.
1) Beck is an alcoholic, depressed, khaki wearing, chubby guy:
The bottom line is Beck is normal. In other words, he’s one of us.
Beck shares something in common with Oprah in that he has warts
and isn’t afraid to reveal them. Those of us in media have watched
an amazing trend over the last several years. The era of the polished,
flawless, perfect, fake, Teleprompter-reading media anchorman is
over. Beck clearly gets this.
Other conservative Talk radio icons, like Rush Limbaugh and
Sean Hannity, aren’t as real as Beck. Both keep their audiences
at arm’s length. When Rush had to admit to his prescription pain
killer addiction he barely acknowledged it on air and made sure he
never handled the issue in a way that would allow him to appear
vulnerable to his audience. Rush doesn’t have children. He’s had
three failed marriages. Rush knows these aspects of his personal life
could be unappealing to some conservatives in his audience, so he
avoids them. When you listen to Rush you don’t picture him sitting
next to you, you see him at a podium with a syllabus.
Issue 139
Hannity is a man dedicated to faith and family. But, neither are
topics you should expect him to dive into too deeply on his radio or
TV show. He keeps his personal life personal and his audience at
a distance. Beck does the opposite. Heck, he’s the guy who made
a home movie and posted it on YouTube of when he almost died
in the hospital. While media executives cringed at the video, his
audience embraced it. When Beck talks of when he considered
suicide, listeners value his risky honesty. When Beck discusses
his challenges in raising his kids, his audience relates. When Beck
talks about his first failed marriage, he connects with millions of
divorced Americans. Beck is real. He’s authentic in an age when
the Internet has convinced media consumers to attach a premium
to real and raw.
2) Beck is ‘one of them Mormons’: Mormons are a loyal
bunch. While millions of them are spread across the U.S., there
are still relatively few in prominent media roles. Those few
end up attracting a very large amount of Mormon viewers and
listeners. Beck knows how to play to the Mormon audience. He
uses phrases and references that people who don’t belong to The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wouldn’t notice, but
that Mormons latch on to. When Beck talks about the Constitution
of the United States hanging by a thread under Barack Obama,
many Mormons believe he’s referencing the LDS prophet Joseph
Smith’s prophecy made in the 1800s. When Beck advocates
storing food in case of emergency he’s supporting a directive
of LDS church leaders. When Beck talks about the evils of
government, he finds an incredibly receptive audience who will
never forget that their government issued an order demanding
the murder of any and all Mormons. My Mormon ancestors were
(continued on page 3)
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March 26, 2010 NTS MediaOnline Weekly
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PERSON-T0-PERSON
NETWORK /SYNDICATION NOTES
Dennis Glasgow has exited his post at Red Zebra Broadcasting as
the result of a budget reduction. Reach him at ldglasgow@msn.com
… WBAP AM & FM/Dallas inks a five year deal to be the radio
flagship of TCU Horned Frogs football and men’s basketball. WBAP
Morning News co-host Brian Estridge also serves as the “Voice of the
Frogs” … WDEL/Wilmington debuts a new weekly radio message
to Delaware residents from Governor Jack Markell. And talk about
covering all the bases -- WDEL will air the audio on Saturdays, which
will then be posted to the guv’s website. The weekly feature will also
be available as an iTunes podcast and transcripts will be posted online.
A new video component is also pending … WOOD-WTKG/Grand
Rapids board op/producer John Illk joins Oregon-based Talk Radio
Network as a production technician … Shane Warner takes over as
PD and morning host at Clear Channel News/Talker KWTX/Waco
… Congrats to KQV/Pittsburgh as the Pennsylvania Associated
Press Broadcasters Association awards the station 1st place for its
“spot news coverage” of the city’s Stanton Heights police shooting,
anchored by Bob Bartolomeo, with reporters David Riley and Elaine
Effort … Congrats also go out to WHJJ/Providence morning talker
Helen Glover who will take home an AP trophy for “Best Talk Show”
at regional ceremonies to be held in May.
Dial-Global syndicated talker Clark Howard adds WJNL/Traverse
City. The station also picks up D-G’s syndicated Real Estate Today.
Additionally, D-G’s Michael Smerconish adds WXCO/Wausau
and WOIC/Columbia, SC … Independently syndicated talker Leslie
Marshall picks up KWDJ/Ridgecrest, CA, and KUSH/Cushing,
OK, and expands from weekends to weeknights at WZON-FM/Bangor,
ME … Florida-based Sun Radio Network names Pandora YearginJohnson as VP/Network Sales and Marketing. Yeargin-Johnson,
most recently with Citadel Media, held previous sales and marketing
positions with Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting, as well as
with McDonald’s Corporation and The Gallup Organization.
THE EYES OF DESTINY
EMERGING TALK MEDIA
Former WGST/Atlanta host Kim “The Kimmer” Peterson
launches a new weekly 30-minute podcast co-hosted by
TheConservativeBeacon.net founder and managing editor Josh Price
and hosted at the group’s website www.theconservativebeacon.net
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GIG ALERTS
Salem Communications has a rare opening for a Capitol Hill reporter
at the company’s SRN News network. Solid radio News credentials,
a working knowledge of Congress, and being already based in the DC
area and ready to hit the ground could put you “where the action is”
for 2010 and beyond. VP News and Talk Programming Tom Tradup
says “absolutely no beginners” or “send me in, coach” cases need apply.
Email your credentials directly to him at ttradup@srnradio.com (EOE)
… Got a gig open? Looking for a new challenge? Just email the
details and contact info to al@ntsmediaonline.com and we’ll post it
here, free of charge, as a service to industry professionals.
That’s the unmistakable gaze of a young Rush Limbaugh back in his
pre-national radio days at KFBK/Sacramento. Then college student
Peter Thiele, now PD at WNYM (The Apple)/New York, was the
recipient of this autographed fan postcard from “El Rushbo” way back
in 1985.
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March 26, 2010 NTS MediaOnline Weekly
(continued from page 1)
among those who gave up all their possessions and walked across
these United States to escape a government sanctioned murder
sentence.
If there’s any doubt of how many Mormons feel about Beck, just
look at who’s delivering sermons in front of thousands of faithful at
Brigham Young University. A few weeks ago I actually heard Beck
quoted from the pulpit on Sunday. That wouldn’t be sanctioned by
the LDS church, but it’s a clear sign of how average Mormons feel
about Beck.
3) Beck is controversial: Beck is a former rock jock who knows the
value of controversy. He knows it’s an easy way to get people to talk
about you. I have met and spent some time talking with Glenn and I
believe his statements that have drawn ire aren’t things he’s made up
for effect. Still, he clearly grasps the need to do or say things often
that will draw attention.
4) Beck is a multi-platform brand: Glenn Beck understood several
years ago that being on multiple media platforms would be critical
to success in this informational age. As talented and smart as Rush
Limbaugh is, he’s not drawing new listeners because he exists on
only one platform: radio. Beck is on radio, TV, stage, movie screens,
books, and the Internet. He excels on all these platforms with the
exception of the Internet. Hopefully his just launched expanded
website is the beginning of a campaign that will include iPhone
and Droid apps, two-way text messaging, expanded Twitter and
Facebook presences, staff character blogging, and creative, digital,
grassroots community contesting and promotion. He could be doing
such a better job of mobilizing his millions of loyal listeners to help
him build his media empire.
5) Beck is a workhorse: I have seen Beck backstage and off mic. In
my office several months ago, I worried he might fall asleep during
our conversation. He’d been on stage the night before in another
state, flown in overnight, hosted his radio show before sunrise, met
with clients after getting off the air, met with me, headed to a TV
station to do his Fox News broadcast, had dinner scheduled with
selected fans and clients, took to the stage that evening in front of
thousands of raving fans, then made his way back to the airport to
depart for his next tour stop.
Beck knows he’s the flavor of the month. He knows he has a
limited window in which his star will be this bright and he intends
to maximize every minute of it. In recent months he’s increased
the size of the staff around him, moved into a larger office space
and delegated more to others. There’s no way he’s going to let this
moment pass without doing all he can to have the most impact
possible.
Oh, and I guess I should squeeze in a sixth reason for his success.
Beck’s saying what a whole lot of people are thinking. Those are the
reasons he’s currently radio’s brightest star.
(Russ Hill is the author of this essay and he welcomes comments and
conversation about it at www.russhillmedia.com)
CONTACT NTS MEDIAONLINE
Al Peterson
858-486-7559
al@ntsmediaonline.com
Brooke Trissel
512-218-8228
brooke@ntsmediaonline.com
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