Sabo Sez: More from the Book of Secrets
By Walter Sabo
Consultant, Sabo Media Partners
A.K.A. Walter M. Sterling
Radio Host, “Sterling On Sunday”
Talk Media Network
To be an expert in marketing requires expertise in how memory works. Early in my consultant practice, I studied and read every book I could find on the processes of memory. The best book is Effective Frequency: The Relationship Between Frequency and Advertising Effectiveness. Put simply, how many times does a consumer have to hear a message before it has impact? The book, a collection of studies, is the foundation for every qualitative study in the field today.
Knowing the foundation studies of frequency’s impact facilitates sales, promo scheduling, topic rotation and external station marketing. No marketing budget? Mistake. The most efficient investment in a radio station’s growth is external advertising. Heightened awareness of a station increases cume, key for direct response advertisers, and makes sales calls shorter because the station is familiar to buyers, improves morale, and minimizes competition.
Key take aways from this book of secrets:
The Law of Six: For a message to have impact, it must be heard by the target six times during the length of the campaign.
The Law of Seven: Why are there seven (7) digits in phone numbers? Over a hundred years ago the phone company had to determine how many digits we could handle. They researched how many items we could remember in any product category. How many brand name soaps, tires, shampoos, deodorants. etc. Try it. Write down all the shampoo brands or tire brands you can think of. I’ve performed this magic act with large audiences around the country.
Almost no one can write down more than seven shampoo, deodorant, cereal, or tire brands. The exception is if the question asks you to write down brands of an industry in which you work. Memory activity applies to the use of presets on car radios. Analog car radios rarely fill all five or six pre-set buttons. In your digital car, even though you’re in radio, I bet the most you’ve programmed is four.
Flight or Dose? A $5,000,000 national campaign was tested for flight effectiveness. What works best? Two weeks on, two weeks off or continuous spots. Same number of spots, same budget but continuous or flighted? Two surprising answers: The flighted campaign resulted in more sales. But the continuous run actually hurt sales and after an initial positive impact, sales declined to pre-campaign levels.
Youth Matters: The younger the customer, the more often they must be exposed to the message. A young person has more distractions than an older person.
People Forget: This is the key takeaway: If a product is not advertised for nine months, customers have no memory of the message. None. They might remember that the product exists, but they have no recall of what the product does for them or why they should buy it… or listen to it. A tragic, industry-wide mistake has been made to cease advertising radio stations. Obviously not advertising is hypocritical for a medium that survives on ad dollars. The no-marketing argument is that with the PPM there is no need to remind listeners of a station’s name because the listener no longer has to write it down in a diary. How much has your city changed in nine months? How many new streams, websites, podcasts have distracted your listener from your station? External marketing of a station protects the investment made in its operation.
Walter Sabo has been a C Suite action partner for companies such as SiriusXM, Hearst, Press Broadcasting, Gannett, RKO General and many other leading media outlets. His company HITVIEWS, in 2007, was the first to identify and monetize video influencers. HITVIEWS clients included Pepsi, FOX TV, Timberland, Microsoft, and CBS Television. He can be reached at walter@sabomedia.com and www.waltersterlingshow.com. “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network airs 10:00 pm-1:00 ET, now in its 10th year of success.
and podcasts are all a part of what we do, so show us what you’ve got. The successful candidate will be responsible for all aspects of programming including scheduling content, coaching on-air staff, station and AM/FM cluster strategy, development of on-air/online promotions and generating associated revenue, oversight and content creation for digital extensions (including streams, websites and podcasts), and have a strong customer service approach towards listeners, staff, & sales. Additionally, the candidate will act as the program director for Legendary News Radio KKOB and KNML The Sports Animal. 
Original ideas are golden and rare. Here are five ideas worth stealing because of their novelty, success and oh-wow factor!
When reviewing our industry’s awards such as the Crystals or Marconis there are two categories missing. They are: “Best New” and “Best Innovation.” Imagine if winners were announced for these prizes:
should keep quarterback Justin Fields or trade him in the upcoming draft for the #1 pick. Parkins and Spiegel will kick off the discussion from Audacy Chicago’s Blue Cross Blue Shield Performance Stage from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Football experts and a live audience will join Parkins and Spiegel to weigh in on the looming decision. “The Score” ran a contest this week for a chance to attend the “QB1 Town Hall.” These winners will make up the crowd that will have the opportunity take part in the debate. WSCR VP of programming Mitch Rosen says, “This decision will determine the entire season’s trajectory and the fans are passionate about their views on it. We’re looking forward to opening up this conversation to our listeners and Bears faithful.” The show is being made available via the Audacy app & website, the station’s Twitch, and YouTube channels. 
For several years I’ve had the surprising privilege of serving as a member of the nominating committee of the Radio Hall of Fame. How does the process work? Let me clear up some of the mystery. FAQ:
small attributed lift (0% to +3% lift) to excellent (+15% or more). Across the 17 campaigns analyzed, the average attributed lift was +14%. Three tax preparation service campaigns achieved “excellent” status ranging from a +30% to +48% attributed lift; 2) On average, the 17 AM/FM radio campaigns saw the highest percentage of impressions at the start of the week, peaking on Mondays and Tuesdays. Compared to the Nielsen impressions, the AM/FM radio campaigns outperformed on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Advertisers should increase their use of AM/FM radio on the weekends. AM/FM radio campaigns on weekends drive impact and results; and 3) On average, evenings have a greater share of attributed web sessions due to available devices and free time of consumers. Mornings historically underdeliver their share of impressions since consumers are busy getting ready for work and school. This expected pattern should not be a reason to move campaign weight out of morning drive. Morning drive exposure results in web sessions during later dayparts when consumers have the time and available devices to respond. 
Now that every single thing is a political argument, the angry social media conversation about Taylor Swift is unsurprising. And with the Super Bowl looming, the decibel level amps-up.
talk KILT-AM “SportsRadio 610.” McClain’s role with the station included appearing on the station’s programs, writing stories for its website and co-hosting a podcast with station personality Sean Pendergast. The 72-year-old McClain tells the Chronicle that he’s not ready to leave the Houston radio market, adding, “I’ll see if people are interested. I’m a free agent now.” 
Let’s talk streaming because I don’t get what is happening. Maybe you do.
the Annual Report alone, without also uploading it to its intended destination in a timely manner, here more than nine months late, may, in certain circumstances, constitute (and here does constitute) a violation of the requirements to analyze the Stations’ EEO program. The length of time during which Cumulus failed to upload its Annual Report is persuasive evidence that Cumulus did not ‘routinely analyze the adequacy of their various EEO program elements in achieving broad outreach to all segments of the community’ and address any problems found as a result of such analysis… Consequently, given the specific circumstances of this case, we reject Cumulus’s argument that any self-evaluation it did in fact undertake was adequate and satisfied the self-assessment rule.” 
The United Nations and its specialized agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have given the radio industry all around the globe an invaluable gift. It’s called “World Radio Day 2024.” Now in its 13th installment, WRD takes place annually on February 13 with the purpose of spotlighting the accomplishments, importance, and ongoing relevance of the radio medium as it evolves deeper into the 21st century. This year’s WRD theme is “Radio: A Century Informing, Educating and Entertaining.” By officially designating the platform as worthy of its own officially sanctioned UN International Day, the august world body has recognized, spotlighted, and endorsed radio’s continuing relevance and potential for being a vital force for the betterment of humanity.
The United Nations and its specialized agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have given the radio industry all around the globe an invaluable gift. It’s called “World Radio Day 2024.” Now in its 13th installment, WRD takes place annually on February 13 with the purpose of spotlighting the accomplishments, importance, and ongoing relevance of the radio medium as it evolves deeper into the 21st century. This year’s theme is “Radio: A Century Informing, Educating and Entertaining.” By officially designating the platform as worthy of its own officially sanctioned UN International Day, the august world body has recognized, spotlighted, and endorsed radio’s continuing relevance and potential for being a vital force for the betterment of humanity.