Max Krasny

After working its way through the tumult of reorganization, Westwood One has emerged with a renewed energy in disseminating its product. SVP/GM Entertainment Division Max Krasny has had his hands full, working a full plate of music and entertainment talk programs, as well as aggressively looking for new content. Here he explains how Westwood One is rebuilding its success.

How big a challenge was it to do business during Westwood One's recent reorganization?

Times have been challenging for everyone in the industry. Fortunately, we've had a very strong leader in Rod Sherwood along with the Gores Group and our Chairman/Founder Norm Pattiz, who spearheaded our turn-around. The good news is that we've been able to come out on solid financial ground, well-positioned for the future.

What exactly are your duties?

As SVP/GM of the Entertainment Division, I generally work with all of our talent and programming that falls under the entertainment umbrella on the FM dial, including Billy Bush, Dr. Drew and Mike Catherwood of Loveline, Randy Jackson, Lon Helton, Cody Alan of CMT Radio Live, Eddie Webb of VH1 Classic Rock Nights, as well as our heritage shows like Off the Record with Joe Benson and Out of Order with Jed the Fish, to name a few. My role is really threefold - work with the shows we have to make sure our content is solid for both affiliates and advertisers; look for new opportunities within existing and new shows; and work with our affiliate and ad sales teams to help drive demand for our products.

A popular story going around has Delilah's syndicated show taking a major hit when the PPMs came into being, prompting her to revamp her show to optimize the new measurement. Have you done the same with your shows?

The People Meter is something we're embracing. We're continually studying its intricacies through research as well as affiliate feedback, and we're making the necessary programming changes to successfully live in a PPM world. For instance, in our music-intensive shows, we've altered clocks to make sure the shows are PPM-friendly. In the past, under the diary method, we may have included four stopsets an hour, but now with PPM, we're doing two or three at most to help retain the audience.

We're also keeping our content concise and right on point. In this PPM world, we're keeping products more focused as research shows that is what our listeners want. We're also very cognizant of the importance of setting up, promoting and teasing a big pay-off.

What do you look for in evaluating new, prospective shows?

We look for a couple of things. First and foremost, the talent and/or content has to be right. If it's an existing show, we have to see a ratings success story, be it on a local or national level.

When we went after Billy Bush, we made sure we didn't just grab any TV personality to bring to radio. Billy had a background in radio and was quite familiar with it. That bettered our chances for success.

On the content side, we're looking for projects that fit both the needs and current interests of the marketplace, as well as the advertisers. A great example is our new partnership with Harpo Productions, which has enabled us to bring The Gayle King Show to broadcast radio this year. Also, another example would be the Fab 30 with Perez Hilton.

We're always looking for new talent and opportunities.

Is it more of a challenge in choosing a new morning show to syndicate, considering the competition out there?

The morning daypart is the most challenging because it's so important on the local radio station level. We've had success in the past with some morning shows. We had Don Imus on the roster for a long time and, of course, had the ability to sell Howard Stern. We also did well with Adam Carolla. More recently, we launched the Kevin & Bean Show, syndicating it to 15 markets around the country.

We also make sure the particular show's content works on a national level and not just locally. Kevin & Bean became very successful in L.A. in good part because they're very locked into the area's mindset, but at the same time, they've managed to make that content suitable for a national audience.

Has the PPM, which seems to have de-emphasized mornings compared to other dayparts, made non-mornings syndication more viable to your clientele?

Yes ... and we are exploring other dayparts. We recently launched a couple of shows for evenings, such as "CMT Radio Live" with Cody Alan, which delivers a Country music program weeknights from 7-midnight, and "VH1 Classic Rock Nights hosted by Eddie Webb" - a Classic Rock product for that same timeslot.

Is there a time frame for success, in terms of giving it a certain length of time before deciding whether the show is working?

In the world of syndication, the old saying applies: "It's a marathon, not a sprint." There are times when it takes a while for a show to gain momentum with a national audience. For instance, we are now about two years in with Billy Bush and we're really seeing some major momentum with that show.

Is it better for you to get your shows in a major market - even if the station there is not doing well ratings-wise - or in a couple of small or medium markets, on stations that are already winners?

We'd like the best of both worlds. Naturally, we'd like major-market distribution because there's so much audience in those markets, but to us, every station counts. The smaller and mid-sized markets are very important to us. A show can grow and develop based on the feedback that those markets provide. It can be very valuable to help us define the product and get major-market distribution. It's best to have all these pieces fall together. As an overview, everything is very important, but we really strive to have not only tremendous distribution in small and medium-market stations, but definitely in major markets as well.

Is getting your shows on major call letters influential in generating more smaller-station interest?

We definitely take advantage when a major-market station jumps on board a show. It does prove to the marketplace that these are viable, solid products that can deliver to radio. For instance, WPLJ/New York never took anything syndicated on weekdays, so when they added Billy Bush on 'PLJ Monday through Friday, it was quite a coup. Having the show on WPLJ and KBIG/Los Angeles helps prove Billy's worth to anybody considering taking the product.

Do you consider Ryan Seacrest, Elvis Duran and Kidd Kraddick competition for the syndicated dollar - even though they may air in different dayparts than Billy Bush?

Not so much. We look at those shows as complements to Billy. He takes over radio stations at night, while Ryan is in afternoons and afternoon drive outside of the West Coast, so we look at our products as complements. From an advertiser perspective, it is important for all of us, the competition included, to drive demand for our medium. The more successful the shows are the better chance of additional advertisers associated with them.

Now, there are other examples where we definitely compete against other networks for business. In those cases, we look at it strategically, and decide whether it's something to compete against or to move to a different daypart.

When we go out to the marketplace, we prefer to find voids where a station can fully embrace our talent and product. When we went out with Billy Bush, there were other products out there. Our successful CMT Live also had another nighttime Country show to compete against. We just have to let our product and passion speak for itself. We don't compete by discounting the competition; we just make sure we are doing it better.

Radio likes to think its main advantage over iPods and Net radio is being "live and local." Are you concerned that your business runs counter to that advantage?

In these challenging times, unfortunately, local radio has had enormous pressure on their budgets. The mindset at Westwood One is to try to complement them, provide a service with quality content in areas that can help them not only continue to maintain strong ratings and attract more local advertisers, but at same time, save money.

We also strive to leave plenty of opportunities within our shows for local and live programming, so that stations can integrate key local initiatives and messaging to reach their listeners.

Do you see Westwood One product on Net radio stations and other non-terrestrial media?

Absolutely. Westwood One has embraced the digital landscape, whether by providing content to station websites or utilizing our own content platforms, be it websites, mobile or podcasts. Many of our entertainment shows have destination websites of their own where fans go to receive exclusive content, stream programming, and interact with show hosts. We also use the digital medium for promotional opportunities and contests. We wholly embrace the digital arena; we feel like this is an area with strong growth opportunities.

How bullish are you in the future? Is syndication reaching a saturation point, or is there still room for considerable growth?

The shows that have been successful for us will continue to grow because of the demand from stations, their listeners and advertisers. At the same time, there is space for new show development and growth, while still allowing radio to have room for their necessary local content. Radio has always attracted large audiences through quality content, which is stronger today because of the popularity of music and entertainment in popular culture. By extending our content to digital platforms, our audience will continue to grow. I am very bullish about the future.