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10 Questions with ... Tom Tradup
July 7, 2009
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NAME:Tom TradupTITLE:VP/News & Talk ProgrammingNETWORK:Salem Radio NetworkMARKET:National (Based in Dallas)COMPANY:Salem CommunicationsBORN:Syracuse, NYRAISED:Syracuse, NY
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
2003-PRESENT VP/News & Talk Programming, Salem Radio Network (oversee national talk hosts Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Michael Medved and others plus SRN News which serves 1,200 affiliates nationwide; 2000-2003, President/Syndication, Sabo Media, New York, N.Y.; 1996-2000 V.P./General Manager, USA Radio Network, Dallas, TX; 1989-1996 President/General Manager, WLS AM & FM Talkradio, Chicago, IL; other programming/management stints included KCMO/Kansas City, WASH-FM/Washington, D.C., and KRLD/Dallas, TX.
1. It's been five years since you were last featured here. Where do you see talk radio going in another five years? Ten years? Same as ever, or changing?
Talk radio's future has never been brighter because it is the last bastion of unrehearsed, unscripted and dynamic programming left on the American radio dial. Our industry faces strong challenges from the Obama FCC, which has crafted Pearl Harbor-style sneak attacks on talk radio under the guise of such innocent-seeming terms as "localism" (code: no Limbaugh or Bennett) and "community advisory boards." But the good news is we're onto them, and if our audiences are half as smart as we assume, we'll win these battles in the end.
2. Are there special challenges or benefits to programming a solidly conservative lineup in an era when Democrats and liberals are in control of the White House, Senate and Congress?
The primary benefit is that we're honest about what we are and what we program: solid, conservative hosts whose opinions clearly reflect the opinions of a massive core of the American public. Administrations come and go, Senators and Congressmen rise and fall, but the common sense and intelligence of our SRN hosts have sparked incredible affiliate and audience growth in recent years, and position us for continued success in the future. (For example, when we partnered with the National Center for Policy Analysis to generate signatures for an online petition to keep the government's hands off our healthcare system, we hoped we might generate 50,000 signatures. Early on 4th of July we passed 250,000... and our new goal is 500,000!) We are the antidote to political handwringing even as Democrats, you are correct, are temporarily in control of the Executive and Legislative branches in Washington.
3. By the same token, do you see "liberal talk" or "progressive talk" gaining a foothold? Why, or why not?
At last summer's Democratic National Convention in Denver, our SRN broadcast booth was positioned next to "progressive" Pacifica Radio... and it was like climbing into Mr. Peabody's WayBack Machine and attending the Woodstock Festival. I wish them well, but we're in the sector of radio where folks expect results. There are only two so-called "liberal talkers" who have gotten even a modicum of traction: Air America's Rachel Maddow and the pride of Fargo, N.D., Ed Schultz (both of whom reach literally hundreds of other households with their MSNBC television shows, as well). Liberals consistently fail because they commit the #1 sin in radio: they are boring. Give me an entertaining conservative like Mike Gallagher or Ann Coulter and they will always -- not mostly -- always beat a "liberal" in ratings and revenue. Exhibit A: Al Franken, who ended up limping into the U.S. Senate to find work after he couldn't cut the mustard on talk radio.
4. What should programmers and stations be doing to remain competitive in an era with increased new media competition?
Focus on what radio does best: getting the story on first, accurately, and then giving audiences the opportunity to react live on the air. Whether we're tapping into joy or outrage, triumph or tragedy, talk radio remains the single best communications medium the world has ever known: where else can you pick up an ordinary phone and talk to an entire country? Keep your website up-to-the-minute, and feel free to reach out to folks via Facebook(TM) or Twitter(TM) or text-messaging, but avoid the tendency of abandoning your core business to chase the "next exciting thing." That didn't work out too well for folks who bet on LP albums, 8-track tapes, or Beta format video.
5. You recently did another short-term stint on the air in Dallas. What was it like being back on the air? Do you miss it?
I absolutely loved it! Earlier this year, KSKY/Dallas had been running a 2-hour "local" Mike Gallagher show prior to Mike's 3-hour national program on SRN. When Mike wanted to concentrate exclusively on his national network program, we thought we'd slide SRN's Bill Bennett's MORNING IN AMERICA into the previous AM Drive slot... but Bill's cross-town affiliate held onto him for another three months. So I saddled up again from 6A-8A weekdays starting the day Barack Obama was inaugurated as President. The experience of once again hosting and taking calls from listeners reminded me of how really hard it is to execute a great talk show. The great hosts make it look easy but it is a real challenge every day. Hopefully my brief return to the other side on the microphone will help me do a better job of guiding the talented hosts and producers I work with each day.
6. Where do you think radio will find talent in the future? Is there still enough of a farm system to develop talent, or will the new blood come from elsewhere?
Traditionally the "bench" at any station or network came from weekends and guest hosts, and that is still a great "proving ground" on which to "field test" new men and women. But really the future talent in talk radio is limited only to our imaginations. Since 2004, two really smart guys named Bill Bennett (SRN) and Mark Levin (ABC), who had been operating behind the scenes with Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, have stepped forward and found solid success in front of their own microphones. Other potential hosts are out there operating as producers, researchers, or maybe the taxi driver who just picked you up at the airport. If they're smart and they can talk... visionary programmers will find them and develop their talent.
7. What are the primary strengths of each of Salem's hosts -- what does each host do best?
In daypart order they are:BILL BENNETT (6A-9A Eastern)... the only radio talk host ever confirmed three times by the U.S. Senate. Bill draws on his experience as Secretary of Education, Drug Czar and other key posts to offer the ultimate Washington insider's viewpoint to an early morning audience on over 225 stations that many days includes over-the-road truckers, homemakers, and just plain folks. Bill is featured weekly as a contributor on CNN, and was the featured analyst on CNN's 2008 campaign debates and primary/general election coverage.
MIKE GALLAGHER (9A-Noon Eastern) ... I call Mike the "happy conservative warrior." He is a dynamic, creative talk host and regular FOX News Channel contributor whose solid onservative values resonate with his listeners. Mike distills the big issues, making his show the place where the policy hits the pavement. A risk-taker: once gave an hour of his SRN show to members of an ultra right-wing Kansas sect in exchange for their promise not to picket the funerals of slaughtered Amish schoolchildren in Pennsylvania. Mike is America's #1 cheerleader for our troops overseas.
DENNIS PRAGER (Noon-3PM Eastern)... Nobody in America has a tougher job of heavy-lifting than Dennis, because he operates opposite the "quasar" of talk radio, Rush Limbaugh. (This is the linear equivalent of you walking into a McDonald's but before you can order a Big Mac, you have to wrestle professional wrestler Hulk Hogan) Dennis is a 25-year veteran of Los Angeles and network radio, and his signature weekly broadcast of The Happiness Hour, the Male/Female Hour and the Ultimate Issues Hour have become appointment listening for fans all over the nation. Dennis is a frequent lecturer and originates his show on-the-road almost weekly.
MICHAEL MEDVED (3PM-6PM) is America's cultural crusader, keying off his many years as a lecturer and a movie critic. He was one of the only conservative hosts to back John McCain for President when all other hosts were lining up behind other candidates. Author of many bestselling books -- including his recent "The Ten Big Lies about America" -- Michael is a powerful debater, frequently featured as a guest on MSNBC's Ed Schultz show, CNN's Larry King Live, and others.
HUGH HEWITT (6PM-9PM) is talk radio's "Renaissance Man": talk host, blogger, lawyer, Constitutional Law professor, and author of approx. 1 book each year. Hugh's experience in the Reagan administration and in California politics makes him to ideal person to "bat cleanup" and the end of SRN's talk lineup... generating tomorrow's headlines tonight. A regular panelist on FOX News's Hannity and other shows, Hugh bridges the tradition talk radio and talk TV mediums with new media including Twitter(TM) and other breakthroughs.
8. Do you think that a Fairness Doctrine-like piece of regulation is in the cards for radio in the coming years? How serious do you perceive the threat to be?
If we are to take President Obama and his new FCC chairman at their word, neither wants a return of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine." That's the good news. The bad news is the Democrats in the Senate and House (and, I suspect, a few backbenchers in the White House itself) are even now plotting against talk radio with the same fervor they rushed to take over GM and Chrysler. Only problem is, if they get their clutches into talk radio and begin tinkering with "localism" and the licensing procedures for local stations (via "community advisory boards", etc.), there will be no Ford Motors to point to as an alternative to the government's version. That's why we must remain ever vigilant for any encroachment on our industry by self-serving politicians who would like nothing more than to muzzle conservatives on American radio.
9. What's the hardest thing about doing talk radio on a daily basis (that outsiders don't know)?
For me, it is like navigating a game of 3-D chess: keeping all of our nationally-syndicated shows on-target issue wise, while not having "same song, different verse" all day long. Because each of our hosts has his own perspective on breaking news issues, we are rarely guilty of "cloning" from program to program. But with solid producers who compete to make their show the best, part of my job is to remind our teams that the competition is found on other networks... not other dayparts within SRN. I am blessed and continually amazed, even given that spirit of competition among our shows, that there is nowhere in our business where cross-platform cooperation is better than within the Salem Radio Network. We are a team in every sense of the word, and-as we learned during our recent 12-city OBAMA: The First 100 Days Tour, our hosts genuinely like each other and enjoy spending time on stage together. That makes my job sooooo much easier than my counterparts at other networks where the various programs can most charitably be described as warring fiefdoms.
10. Are your syndicated shows doing anything different, or planning to do anything different, in light of the introduction of the PPM in several of your markets?
Well, PPM represents the future-albeit a still fuzzy future insofar as ethnics and "young ethnics" are concerned. For every PPM advance, there's a grandstanding politician like New York Atty. General Andrew Cuomo seeking to grab headlines battling the PPM. But in my view, this will all shake out in due course and PPM will hopefully straighten up and fly right. (For those of us who-back when the world was young-would ride our dinosaurs to suburban Maryland to leaf through the scribbly Arbitron diaries where people literally determined our future with crayons and spilled Coca-Cola stains, the prospect of measuring actual listening vs. "recall" is exciting. But they've gotta knock the bugs out of it, so we don't see stuff like the Christian non-commercial station in Philadelphia that suddenly popped up with double digits, then disappeared in the next PPM results.) Meantime, as was the case when Arbitron diaries ruled, our hosts operate on the principle that great programming always wins. Period. Some things never change.
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