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Dennis Green
November 26, 2019
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People are always writing off radio, but here we are celebrating our 100th anniversary. There has been a renaissance in the popularity of audio thanks to podcasts, mobile and steaming. It's not just that radio has maintained its cume; it's rapidly becoming the last free medium. Those two things bode well for those of us who work in radio - and it's going to be that way for many years to come.
After 22 years at Westwood One, what made you decide to join Key Networks in May of 2018?
I had a great run there. I loved all the time I spent at Westwood One, but this was an opportunity to do something more entrepreneurial with a lot of upside and growth. It was something in my vision that was very appealing. When Rob Koblasz and Roger Fray, who started Sun & Fun, came to me with an offer to be CRO, it was too good to be true.
Was there an adjustment period going from a huge syndicator like Westwood One to a veritable mom-and-pop like Sun & Fun, and eventually its syndication arm, Key Networks, when that launched in March?
No question about it. To go from 1,000 employees to employees in the two digits where I'd work out of a small office was a big adjustment. But it was a great challenge. They brought me in to find new opportunities for revenue beyond their core business and [to] get into the syndication game. And right from the start, we were very particular. We didn't jump at any opportunity to syndicate someone; we waited for the opportunity to have elite talent the level and stature of Bill O'Reilly, who was perfect for what we wanted to do in launching our syndicated arm. We didn't launch Key Networks until I was here for over eight months. We launched the company in March and announced Bill's show in April.
Sun & Fun is also tied to Premiere ...
We have a sales representation agreement with Premiere for the barter we receive from stations for the service.
At 15 minutes long, Bill's show is not your typical Talk product; it's more like Paul Harvey's commentary pieces back in the day. Was that format something you wanted to emulate from day one?
No question about it. From the start, we asked ourselves, "What do we want to do different?" It's been 17 years since Bill launched "The Radio Factor." To just launch the same "Radio Factor" 17 years later would not be very innovative. So we thought of a new format that would capture the spirit of Paul Harvey news and commentary. If we [brought] something like that back to radio, there would be people who wouldn't know it had been done before.
We were able to clear on over 160 stations in four months on the air, and a vast majority take the 15-minute show and try to do something innovative by marketing it in a very strategic way. We want to keep the local station in mind by not just clearing the show, but hopefully giving them something that can generate local money and ratings. We don't just go, "Here's the show, have a nice day." We work with them on how to hopefully make the most of Bill O'Reilly's avails.
Key Networks provides the marketing services for its affiliates that are standard fare for syndicated shows: liners and promos by the host, call-ins to the local show and more. We can go further doing something other syndicators don't provide with marketing packages through Sun & Fun that can be marketed locally to listeners and advertisers. Trips, merchandise and other opportunities can be packaged with the program affiliation providing a turnkey option that no one else in syndication offers.
Having been in syndication for a long time, I know there are people who just want to get the show cleared. Obviously, we want to do that too, but we feel that's when our job begins. We think, "What can we do that make our show special for you?" One thing we try to do is generate revenue beyond the ratings.
Were you at all concerned about selling the show because of the unique length, or did Bill O'Reilly's brand overcome that?
We knew of the power of Bill O'Reilly's brand, but we were not sure how the marketplace would receive this new product. I've known Bill for a long time. He's a true professional and an iconic broadcaster, just the type of talent we wanted to help put us on the map. Bill had been gone from radio for 10 years, and he only left the "Radio Factor" because he was doing so many other things. He never said he was leaving radio for good. He enjoyed the medium. To get a new syndicated show off the ground running, I knew he was the one talent who could pull it off.
Now that O'Reilly is your tentpole show, what kind of talents are you looking for for other shows - all established brand names, or are you looking for new talent as well?
It's both; there's no playbook here other than it has to be talent of the highest magnitude. With that said, Bill O'Reilly helped us launch with authority, and initially we'll have to come with more name talent. It's all about the brands in 2019 -- especially in the News/Talk format -- and our challenge is to match Bill up with other talents who have great brands. But even with brand names, you want to be selective and not just take anything to get something on the air.
How do you plan to break new syndicated talent in such a difficult terrain?
No doubt about it, it's a hard process, but having worked at Westwood One, I know that its relationship with Cumulus, and Premiere's with iHeart, made it a bit less challenging because you have a base of O&O stations to get your new talent on. What we have going for us at Key is that we're like the Swiss. We work especially hard with all radio groups because we don't have a "favored nation" status. Still, it's a crowded space, so we can't experiment with someone we don't feel totally good about it. We have to feel that not only is the talent top-notch, but we can have success working with them. The litmus test for us is not just can we clear it, but can we make money with it.
Then again, just what's a successful show? It's not solely based on how many affiliates you have. Howard Stern never had 200-300 stations; he had maybe 50 stations, but they were the best stations. I'd rather be on the best 30 stations that will market and promote the show properly in their local markets.
But is the "best station" so obvious? And how long do you wait for an opening on a station to pop up in a big market?
You have to be careful. First of all, we're just [a few] months into this. Give us a couple of years before we can think big picture here. We always want affiliates in markets large and small. If there's a station that will promote us properly in the local market and value the affiliation, we want that station as an affiliate of Key Networks.
The one thing about syndication is that if you're just out there and a station wants to grab a show, you just can't sign a contract to get it on board. The #1 thing you want from an affiliate is that they know how to do a good job of marketing your show. It's not worth having an affiliate, no matter how big it is, if all it does for your show is bury it on its website and nobody knows you're there. I'd rather have a smaller station that does everything to pitch our show to its audience than a bigger station that buries it and no one knows about it.
We've already gotten some great clearances for Bill, and in other cases, we're waiting for stations to come forward. But we've gotten so many stations so early in the project that we can move forward with new talent as we get some other stations on board.
Does podcasting have a place in syndication?
It's separate in that with a podcast you don't have to go to 100 markets. Instead, the audience all goes to one place. The most successful podcasters are on platforms with hundreds of different podcasts. You don't really syndicate that like you'd traditionally do for a show on radio, but there's so many people in the space and, clearly, this is the future. It also comes back to content. A lot of syndicated personalities are podcasting, and we encourage our stations that are podcasting to come up with original content. Once we have more talent in our stable, if there's an opportunity get a seat at the table, we'd jump on it.
Are you concerned about AM's viability? Can you foresee a time when talk would be a digital-only format?
As I'm sitting here in New York, three of the top major-market AMs are the top billing stations in the country - WINS, WFAN and KFI. The problem with the AM band is that there are rich stations and poor stations - but not a lot in the middle. What happens to all of those stations is what concerns me.
When 70% of the listening is on FM, not to mention the AM translators and low-power clutter, how all these poor AM stations can market themselves and rise to the top concerns me. But I still believe that if you have the right content, people will find their way to you, whether it's on the AM band or FM band. Now you can stream it, send it on mobile or even put out a podcast. You can push it out all these different areas and platforms. Obviously, you want your content on the radio, but you also have access to all the other media. Besides, they're not going to turn off the AM band entirely. What are you going to do ... shut off 4,600 stations? I don't see that happening.
AM sure comes in handy during weather disasters. I was in my basement when Hurricane Sandy hit, and radio was my only means of finding out what was going on. People are always writing off radio, but here we are celebrating our 100th anniversary. There has been a renaissance in the popularity of audio thanks to podcasts, mobile and steaming. It's not just that radio has maintained its cume; it's rapidly becoming the last free medium. Those two things bode well for those of us who work in radio - and it's going to be that way for many years to come.
Do you see a potential for finding talent and Talk product that attracts younger demos? Is that even worth looking for?
Not so much younger, but we do need more female voices and minority voices -- especially in the News/Talk format. It's hard to make an effort to find talent that would skew the format younger ... The majority of our stars are older, Caucasian males. That's not stopping us from looking for the next generation of Talk stars. Maybe a YouTube sensation, maybe someone from Australia. We're just looking for more diversity in our young guns more than anything else.
Where do you see Key Networks' future? Would you like it to grow to be the size of a Premiere, or are you more content with a more boutique stature?
I would tell you what ...my CEO Rob Koblasz told me: We're never going to be the size of a Premiere or Westwood One. We prefer to be a smaller, boutique company that can super-serve clients and our affiliates -- just do the best job we can and be there for our stations who will know they won't get lost in the shuffle. That goes for even the on-air talent who will work for us. If they come here, they'll know they're getting carte blanche, top-quality, superior customer service. Sun & Fun Media is the best company in customer service, whether it be for affiliates, clients or talent. Key Networks will emulate that success. We feel we can make a positive impact by going lean and mean.
Now that we have hired [Pres./COO] Jim Higgins and [EVP/Ad Sales] Rich Baum to run our sales effort, Key Networks offers content providers and producers and turnkey, full-services opportunity, marketing, affiliate sales and ad sales representation. We have the best team in the business, and I've been fortunate to assemble a dream that is ready to deliver for our partners.
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