-
George Laughlin
March 20, 2018
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
There are very few scenarios in radio that haven't been done many time before, but YEA Networks CEO George Laughlin encountered a challenge that hardly anyone ever overcame when in 2013, Kidd Kraddick suddenly passed away, leaving his highly successful morning show in the lurch. Yet Laughlin and the talent cast members of the show were able to not only keep the show afloat, but make it more successful. That has allowed Laughlin to expand YEA's catalog to include more on-air content - including the just-announced launch of Tino Cochino Radio -- as well as digital and experiential products. Here, Laughlin describes how YEA Networks was able to succeed through challenging times.
Was it a no-brainer joining YEA Networks in 2011?
It was good timing. Kidd Kraddick and I had been friends for a long time. When GAP Broadcasting merged with Townsquare, Kidd came to me and said he needed someone to run his company. The timing was right; I was ready to sell my broadcasting interests to Townsquare; I went from being on the road in small markets non-stop to staying in Dallas where I could spend more time with my family.
Where did you initially devote your energies at the company?
I got some advice from some smart people, who advised me to diversify the company, to set ourselves up for where the industry was going. So when I first started at YEA Networks with Kidd, we began to diversify by bringing in more talent and entering the digital space, then the experiential space, which enabled us to diversify our talent even more.
With Kidd's sudden passing, you faced what some would consider the ultimate challenge -- maintaining the success of a morning show without its lead star. How did you and the team handle that?
I couldn't think of anything like that happening in radio's history; we couldn't follow a script that told us how to maintain the success of a show without its star. So we did a lot of related research on the show's development; we got advice on the best way to go forward. In the process, we found out that our brand was still really strong. Kidd set himself up with great talent around him, who had the chance to survive and thrive on their own. We had some great affiliates and advertising partners who supported us and didn't drop us; they gave us the time to get it right. Today we have more affiliates, all with great ratings, so we feel very fortunate ... and we always want to make sure we do the right thing by them.
Was there a moment when you felt the post-Kidd ensemble was going to survive on its own?
It probably took about a year. In that time, we were asking the talent to assume different roles and to respond differently than when Kidd was there. It took about year to get into that groove where we knew this was going to work; that was when the research came back and showed that the audience still felt part of the family. Their support gave us the leeway we needed to succeed. In actuality, the audience stepped up and embraced the show in its new form, which is a testament to Kidd's original vision of a show that was truly an ensemble effort.
How did you go forward in terms of expanding the Network brand and portfolio?
Obviously, we've had The Bert Show for the past five years and some weekend shows. We recently signed Tino Cochino Radio, which is the fastest-growing show in radio, and we're really excited about it. It's growing like crazy with over 20 affiliates - and we just launched it. We also entered the digital business with three different Digital Ad agencies based in Dallas, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Additionally, we formed new businesses and partnerships in the experiential marketing space. We also launched a talent agency for syndicated DJs called RadioDJs.com. RadioDJs.com has over 475 DJs nationwide and originally was the Uber for DJs. We help people find gigs and fill their calendars, and now we also work for large corporations to find the right talent for their specific needs. More recently, we launched Simple Booth -- mobile photo booths that are socially interactive and data-driven to energize and promote events and offer another revenue opportunity for stations through brand sponsorships. We already have 170 stations using it - and it's growing fast. My goal, as CEO of an independent network, is to be able to work with a lot of different broadcasters and understand their priorities to grow their companies. We'll be an asset by bringing them new products and services to help them hit their goals.
What made you interested in bringing Tino Cochino into the fold?
He's an exciting young talent who is rapidly capitalizing on every opportunity, providing great entertainment content at every listener touchpoint, not only with the show, but with video, social and through his podcast. He's a self-motivated person who's open for coaching and is committed to succeeding. He's already in several big markets, including San Antonio, Phoenix, Portland, and Albuquerque, and we're getting daily calls on how to get his show in other markets. It's a good problem to have.
Are YEA shows competing against each other in certain markets - and if so, how do you deal with it?
We do strategically talk about it in certain situations. Currently we have The Bert Show and Kidd Kraddick in Dallas - and they're #1 and #2 in their key demos. Suffice it to say, I don't mind being #1 and #2 in any market. The Tino show is more focused on afternoons and nights. He could do well in mornings, but there's not a lot of shelf space there. A lot of stations have good, talented shows already. This is a golden opportunity for Tino to grow nationally more quickly in afternoons, and there's a lot of demand for that.
These days, what do you feel are the keys that differentiate good shows from or bad?
You just have to be well aware of the world changing. It's not just what you say and do on-air; you have to be able to interact with the audience in all places, socially and digitally. You have to understand all that goes into success now. It's a new era for on-air talent. You can't just walk into a studio and do a four-hour shift, play songs and walk out. You have to do a lot of prep and post work.
On our end, we also look for innovative ways to accommodate affiliates. That includes custom breaks for each market to make the show sound as local as possible.
What's your take on the current radio environment?
Radio is very vibrant; it's not just surviving, but thriving as the reach medium. It used to be the niche medium, but now it's reach, with 92% of America listening in. However, the biggest opportunity at hand is to integrate radio with digital and experiential marketing. Events/remotes and endorsement advertising are Radio's strong suits, but I've seen firsthand how ad agencies are moving money from traditional to digital spending, using these same strategic tactics but using different terminology. If we change two traditional Radio terms -- "the remote" to "experiential marketing" and "endorsement radio" to "influencers" -- that would open up a huge opportunity of revenue for something we're already doing, but not getting credit for. Of all industries, we know how powerful words can be. Everyone in our business must move into the 21st Century now by, very simply and fundamentally, changing the vocabulary of our business and taking credit for what we do well. Instead of talking "remote vans" and "prize wheels," we're talking about "capturing data socially with influencers." Something as simple as the language we use can change the game for us right now.
You really think that perception is more important than reality when it comes to terminology?
The terminology is very important; language is essential to positioning our medium and effectively communicating our product benefits. For example, we're talking to Millennial buyers who are familiar with Spotify, Pandora, iHeart streaming, and if we talk "album sales," they'll think we're old and out of touch. We definitely need to change our vocabulary when selling to young, millennial buyers who don't know what remotes and endorsements are.
How would you get radio to more quickly adapt to the digital world terminology?
Like everyone else, you have early adopters, the first 10% who really just get it and run with it, then the rest of radio, the next 80%, who will see what the early adopters are doing and jump on board. It's the domino effect. At that point, people will start integrating it into their budgets and advocating for it to their bosses. You need to spend money to take chances and you need time to do it -- and we have to do it! Fifteen years ago, we were asking ourselves, "Do we really need a website? We don't have the budget for that!" It's no different today. You need to utilize the devices that capture data or you don't get credit for it. My teenage daughters tell me if you don't post it on Snapchat, it never happened. Seriously, though, if you don't capture that kind of data at your events and share it socially, you'll get no credit for it.
What are the new and immediate challenges facing radio?
I believe it's a good thing that some of the larger broadcasters are going through restructuring because that will eventually allow them to have funds not to pay interest on their debt, but to put back into their product. You're going to see over the next year, once they all go through their restructuring, a new industry that will seize on opportunities for new innovations. This has already started with Entercom buying CBS; that was the first shoe to drop. As a new entity with low debt, Entercom can compete and find new ways to innovate.
What about YEA Networks ... is it a goal of yours to grow the company as large as Premiere?
I don't believe bigger is always better. We could sign another 50 shows tomorrow, but our standards wouldn't be quite as high. We don't want to be known as just another product and service network; we want to be known as the top of the class. So we don't necessarily want to be big enough to compete with Premiere, but we want to be so consistently good that broadcasters need and want to use us.
With that said, I'm always looking for opportunities that are top of the class; we're looking at a couple different opportunities right now. But overall, we're happy with where we are and with the organic growth we're having. That all starts with the product, and you see that quality and focus throughout our business. That's been the key to our success and growth.
What long and short-term goals do you have for YEA ... and yourself?
Obviously we want to see the company grow, but I want to grow it the right way. We have three and five-year plans we keep internally on where and when we plan to grow. We think we are in a good spot right now and we typically like to stay under the radar. We are very fortunate to have a great group of people we work with day in and day out and enjoy our best-in-class strategic partners and believe we will grow together over the next decade.
-
-