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10 Questions with ... Dave Maurer
May 5, 2009
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NAME:Dave MaurerTITLE:Operations Manager; News & Program DirectorSHOW:WSGW-AM-FM, WGER, WCEN, WTLZMARKET:Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, MICOMPANY:NextMediaRAISED:Harbor Beach, Michigan
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Started work in radio in 1967 at St. Ignace, Michigan and moved to Saginaw-Bay City-Midland Market in 1968 where I have worked as an air talent, news anchor, reporter, News Director, General Manager, Program Director and Operations Manager. I have been the morning news anchor on WSGW since 1979.
1. You've been in radio for over 40 years, but, looking back, how did you get into radio? Why radio?
I actually listened to my high school counselor. I was a regular reader at Daily Mass at a parochial school and I played the stage manager in "Our Town." She suggested that I consider broadcasting. Several months of work after graduation as a laborer on the railroad and for a construction company soon convinced me they had to be a better line of work. I went to Career Academy of Broadcasting and most of the focus was on radio as opposed to TV.
I liked the radio side better. I completed my formal education later while working in radio.
2. About what are you most passionate these days?
Keeping our AM-FM news-talk-sports franchise successful and growing it to a new level in the face of the current economic pressures and industry trends away from local programming.
3. You're presently OM for the Saginaw cluster and programming two talk stations, one on AM and one on FM. What's the philosophy behind how you program each of the talkers? DO you see them as competitive or complimentary?
As I said, I see this as a two station news-talk-sports franchise, so I see them as complimentary. I am maintaining solid performance on a heritage AM talker with emphasis on local news, and building a solid FM talker using the 25-54 focused lineup of Beck, Rush, and Hannity. We simulcast our Morning Team on both stations as a means to grow that audience and expose FM listeners to the local news that airs in the morning on AM. The FM signal also gets our morning show into factories, offices, colleges, and hospitals that the AM signal won't penetrate. I use CBS and AP Network News for the AM and Fox News on the FM as we offer people a choice of network news in our franchise. I encourage people to set the first two presets on their car radio to WSGW-AM and WSGW-FM; then, all they have to do is hit the band selector to go back and forth. The three music stations are also aimed at the 25-54 audience, giving us 5 stations targeting the demo. Our hot AC and country stations bring us the lower end in that demo and the Urban AC and news-talkers lock in the full demo.
4. As a longtime newsman and News Director, you're likely sensitive to the industry-wide cutbacks in the news area. What arguments would you make to corporate management against cutbacks in local news -- what are the most compelling arguments for maintaining or growing radio news departments even as the rest of the business cuts back?
Too many radio operators, and now even newspapers, are cutting their local effort. This is a time when we should be more locally driven in news than ever before because of the devices competing for people's time. Satellites and iPods aren't going to inform local people when severe weather, man-made disasters and other threats surface to our audiences safety. Also, when newspapers are cutting back, merging papers and focusing on-line... they have fewer reporters actually out in the field doing meaningful beat and investigative reporting.Television has added many more news hours, but they are doing that without adding more people out gathering the news. We once had 6 fulltime people in our news department... that was 8 years ago. We have been operating since then with three people fulltime and a couple of part-timers, but we have been able to hold our own presenting a solid local news product. I don't see us growing larger, but feel strongly about keeping staff at the current level.
5. In your crystal ball, what do you see for talk radio in ten years -- do you think there will be more local talk, less, or about the same? Do you expect that there will always be a role for local talk, or will most local talk be replaced by cheaper syndication before then?
Hopefully operators will see the value in doing at least some local talk so the audience has a forum for local issues and can get on the air to talk about national issues with from local perspective within our communities. Few actually get in on a national talk show.I think operators in our industry since the mid-nineties have unwisely carved too heavily into local programming. There are a lot of great syndicated hosts and I need two channels to corner the talk format in our market. But I hope we are able to maintain the current balance of local and national shows. I think some of the audience has tired of the political rants and we need to offer multiple national and local hosts. I wish I were able to add one more locally hosted show. There is little room to grow new local talk talent when operators keep adding more syndicated shows. We are fortunate that our company is led by CEO Jeff Dinetz and Chairman Steven Dinetz, who are broadcasters and not venture capitalists, who fail to appreciate creative radio.
6. Of what are you most proud?
I received the Michigan AP Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and there is a great deal of pride that goes with being recognized by your peers for your life's work. I have been able to continue with my 40-plus years of work in broadcast journalism while also moving into the programming chair 15 years ago and enjoy success in both arenas. This has also allowed me to mentor some great people who have since moved on, and grow some strong associates who remain on my team and make my career satisfying and successful in a great area that offers quality of life. I am thankful that I have not had to hopscotch the country to remain in my chosen line of work.
7. Who have been your mentors and inspirations in the business?
On the journalism side I learned much studying the work of Edward R. Murrow, becoming a better writer through the guidance of Merv Block, and inspired by Paul Harvey, who never had a slow day.On the programming side, my mentor and inspiration is John Casey, who was my General Manager for over 15 years. John always taught me to take a chance on new talent such as Rush and if we tried something that didn't work, John always said never be afraid to admit you made a mistake and go back to what you were doing. He also had a philosophy that you have to spend money to make money. Too many managers and operators today don't get that, as they try to succeed through cutback management.
Although John is retired, I still use him as a sounding board. He recently paid me a high compliment by telling me I was the single best hire he ever made in sales and programming. I am deeply humbled by that remark!
8. What do you do for fun?
I enjoy fishing with my three sons, and I walk about 4-6 miles a day.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ___________.
...a bottomless cup of decaf in my Florida Gators mug!
10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?
The best advice was from my high school counselor who suggested I get into this career. I never became rich monetarily, but my life has been enriched through news and programming that makes a difference in our Great Lakes Bay Region.The worst advice was to buy the "dogs of the Dow" which locked me into stocks that matured after the dot.com bubble burst!
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