Category Archives: Media

A true legend

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Howard Finch reading copy at KTRH-AM

I stumbled upon a photo of Howard Finch that opened a flood of memories for me.

Howard was one of those once in a lifetime talents who transcended the airwaves. He originally worked in Michigan and was known as “Michigan’s Arthur Godfrey”. He was a writer, director, salesman, producer, sportscaster, newscaster, emcee. Howard was also a play-by-play announcer for the Michigan State football team and one of the early voices for the radio program The Lone Ranger.

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Howard Finch awarding prize money to a WJIM-AM listener.

Howard went on to work for KTRK-TV and filled various roles including hosting its “Soundtrack” program which featured celebrity interviews and news updates. An archived version from Jan. 14, 1959, also featured News Director Bob Stevenson who went on to host a fishing show on KTRH-AM (which was one of my very first jobs producing a live radio show).

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Comedian Jonathan Winters sits on the set of KTRK’s Soundtrack show with Howard Finch on Jan. 14, 1959.

After retiring as the general manager of KTRK-TV, Howard moved to KTRH-AM to read poetry on the air and perform other announcing duties. Howard was famously known for the widely popular “Keeping Christmas with Howard Finch”, a three-hour program that aired every Christmas morning which was filled with holiday music and Howard reading inspirational stories as only he could.

When I became the operations director at KTRH-AM, I got a voice mail the day after Christmas. The person said he was traveling for business and got stuck in Houston on Christmas Eve and spent the night in a hotel miserable and depressed because he was going to miss spending the holiday with his family. Somehow, he found “Keeping Christmas with Howard Finch” on Christmas morning and started to listen. He told me he was in tears by the time the program ended, so moved by Howard’s voice and storytelling. All the sadness left him, and he wanted to share how much that program and Howard meant to him that day.

I was fortunate enough to work with Howard for a few years. He could be funny, crusty, and gruff (he would sometimes swear like a sailor which was the total opposite of his on-air persona). I also enjoyed listening to the many stories he shared with me.

Howard taught me the importance of timing and editing copy. He would pull out his pencil and completely re-write radio ads for Blum Furniture complaining that people did not know how to write anymore (and he was right).

I can still picture him holding his arm in the air, then lowering it slowly, queuing me to bring down the music as he started his soliloquy, adding a voice that will never be matched. It’s funny, but I never really understood the tremendous impact he had on me. I was a young piss-ant just happy to be working at a radio station with no idea the enormous talent I was surrounded by.

I just took it for granted at the time, but looking back at it Howard Finch, along with Bill Zak, Bob “Pappy” Stevenson, John Breen, Garvin Berry were just some of the legends I was blessed to watch and learn from.

A not so “Original Sin”

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“Original Sin”, a new bestselling book co-authored by CNN Anchor Jake Tapper and Axios journalist Alex Thompson delves into the cover-up about Joe Biden and the true nature of his mental and physical health.

Tapper and Thompson have been on a book tour just days after Biden announced an “aggressive” prostate cancer diagnosis which has added more fuel to fire on Biden’s health, wellbeing and his ability to lead the nation.

The book has generated a great deal of scrutiny with many on the right claiming that Tapper’s coverage of Biden during the campaign was part of the cover-up. It’s hard to argue that point. As members of the media, why weren’t Tapper and Thompson more diligent in getting to the truth of what was happening? Can they be blamed for consciously hiding the truth from the public to help Biden or were they simply complacent and satisfied with what they were being told without some sort of fact checking and following up?

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time media has not truly understood the health of an American president.

Grover Cleveland developed a large cancerous growth due to his heavy smoking. This condition was kept secret from the American public and even his own vice-president was unaware. In 1893, Cleveland underwent a secret operation aboard his yacht with an explanation of his suffering from a “severe toothache” as the reason for the change in appearance to his mouth.

Woodrow Wilson suffered a major stroke in 1919 resulting in brain damage and paralysis. The White House conducted a major cover-up keeping it a secret from even his cabinet and vice-president. Twenty-eight bills were passed without Wilson’s signature while being incapacitated with the American public only learning about it after Wilson died.

Franklin D. Roosevelt suffered from a severe attack of poliomyelitis which resulted in total paralysis of both legs. Along with the full cooperation of the press, Roosevelt was never shown being wheeled or carried leaving the American people in the dark about his true health condition.

Dwight D. Eisenhower had a massive heart attack just eighteen months into his office but broke with tradition by allowing information to be released, albeit it being carefully screened so as not to alarm the public. Eisenhower also developed a serious bowl obstruction which also required major surgery nine months later.

John F. Kennedy suffered from Addison’s disease and back problems so severe he was not even able to pick up his son. Kennedy was treated by Max “Dr. Feelgood” Jacobson who was eventually barred from practicing medicine after being found guilty of professional misconduct including illegal prescriptions to patients.

There are other examples of the status of a president’s health being kept from the public and one can understand the difficulty media has when reporting on the health of an American president which, on the one hand become very personal and on the other hand, impact everything from the economy to foreign relations.

I’m just not sure I would be hawking a book Monday morning quarterbacking about how I was part of the cover-up because I didn’t report the real story of what was taking place.

Video did not kill the radio star

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The holidays can be the most wonderful time of the year unless you work in radio. December is when the corporate suits look for ways to cut costs and reduce budgets (aka: fire staff). Here in Houston, two very high-profile morning shows were shown the door in the same week (Dean & Rog and The Bull ‘Morning Bullpen’).

There is now a growing fear that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over the radio airwaves slashing the need for even more staff, but AI is only the next step in the demise of what was once the king of media.

When I started my career at KTRH-AM back in the stone age, the station was owned by the Jones family. While they were focused on the bottom line, they were also interested in what was good for the community. Once, there was hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and the newsroom needed petty cash to help cover the storm. The news director walked down the hall to the general manager who wrote a check for cash. No corporate approval was required.

They eventually did sell the stations in 1993 to Evergreen Media which later merged into Chancellor Media, which in turn was bought by Clear Channel Communications, the forerunner to today’s owner, iHeartMedia.

It was the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which eliminated the number of radio stations a company could own and opened the door for corporations to buy up commercial radio stations across the country which led to the two most dreaded words in broadcasting “shareholder value”. What was best for the community now came in a distant second to the bottom line.

Deregulation was not the only issue that changed radio. New technology (at the time) led to stations using voice tracking where radio stations created the impression of a live DJ when one isn’t actually present. A person would record audio clips and a computer would insert them between songs to create the illusion of a live broadcast.

Now, a DJ could “virtually” host shows on several stations around the country each day since it only took an hour or so to put together a four hour show saving a lot of money. I would not be surprised to see AI become the next virtual DJ and voice track thousands of shows thereby saving even more expense.

Another technology that led to the reduction in staff was automation. In the old days, you needed a producer to insert commercials, switch networks and be ready to interrupt with important information (weather emergencies, etc.). Now it’s all done by a computer by simply pressing a button. WKRP, the widely popular television show about a fictious station in Cincinnati actually foreshadowed the fate of radio in 1980 when, during a Dickens “Ba Humbug” style dream episode the station becomes fully automated with only a single salesman left to run things.

The proverbial genie is out of the bottle. South Korea cable channel MBN introduced the first artificial intelligence virtual news anchor back in 2020. And it’s not just broadcasting jobs, there are many other workforce sectors impacted by AI.

Customer service is becoming more automated with tools like chatbots and virtual assistants handling a broader range of inquiries and requests. Graphic designers are now in the crosshairs of the technology having to compete with AI-generated art which is available to everyone looking to create professional images without an ounce of artistic expertise.

Don’t look now, but advanced technology is slowly substituting jobs everywhere. Notice the word “substituting”, AI will eliminate some jobs, but it will also create new opportunities.

What does this mean for radio? As the saying goes, “stay tuned”.

Getting high on information

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A research team at the University of California, Irvine, with collaborators at Microsoft Research have used computer logging techniques that measure attention spans and heart rate monitors and wearable devices to determine stress.

They discovered that, since 2004, the average time a person can focus on one thing has dropped from around 2½ minutes to approximately 45 seconds. There are a lot of reasons behind this shortened attention span, but the main culprit appears to be the technology we rely on more and more.

In the old days (my time), news came in the form of a morning or evening newspaper along with television news during dinner time (morning radio was also a good source of information). Now information is instantaneous. News alerts pop-up constantly on our computers, phones and even watches. By the time television broadcasts the story (or God forbid newspapers), the news is already old.

Now factor in a new technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI). This new software is turning the world on its head, creating content at a record pace and adding to the ever-increasing noise we already hear. While exciting (and frightening), there are still many questions that need to be answered.

For example, what happens when you ask Chat GPI to write a news story on the presidential election and it takes content found on the internet from the Associated Press? Is that considered stealing, plagiarizing or simply product leakage (a term AP uses to define when someone uses their content without paying for it).

There are also very serious moral implications at play. Say the military uses AI to plan an attack on a terrorist cell hidden in several buildings in a city block. Also contained in that block is an orphanage. Does AI consider that as factor when deciding to go bombs away?

AI is also having an impact on the Public Relations world. PRNewsOnline.com reported…

“This indiscriminate use of AI for mass communication simultaneously dilutes the quality of pitches and strains the relationship between PR professionals and the journalists, who now face an overwhelming amount of low-quality outreach.”

Information overload is a real thing which begs the question, when is too much, too much?

I have always been a big proponent of less is more, keeping things simple and easier to understand. It can also lead to clarity when trying to process information and trying to determine what is important and what is simply fluff.

Where was radio during Winter Storm Uri

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Radio, especially local terrestrial radio, likes to tout itself as the place to turn to during a disaster, so it’s odd that when Houstonians were looking for information during the recent Winter Storm Uri, there was none to be found.

Many residents were without power (which also means no TV or internet) and had no idea what was happening. We have always been told to have a battery powered radio on hand in the event we lose power during hurricanes, storms, etc., but that it seems is no longer the case.

Check out this submission to the Houston Chronicle who asked people to submit what their experience was like…

So where does this leave us? It is interesting to draw a parallel between what took place with the Texas energy grid and today’s broadcasting environment. Deregulation is a popular term for politicians to use (especially here in Texas) when it comes to doing business.

Rick Perry, former Texas governor and Secretary of Energy, was quoted as saying ‘Texans would choose to be without power for longer ‘to keep government out of their business’ in a blog on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s website. (McCarthy later said the comment was “partially rhetorical”).

Deregulation also took place with local broadcasting. Let the market figure it out and keep government out of it. Well the Houston market did figure out that it was not worth staffing a radio newsroom, or even try to provide comprehensive coverage. To TV’s credit, they were able to provide continuous coverage of the events taking place, but you needed to have power (or backup power) to watch it.

National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith recently defended broadcast news as ‘indispensable’ at the NAB New York show in 2020.

“I like to say that broadcasting is America’s indispensable communications medium. Available to all, regardless of income, rural or urban, Republican or Democrat,” said Smith. “And unlike our competitors – our programming comes free of charge. Our listeners and viewers know they can count on their local broadcasters to provide the news they trust most and to be their eyes and ears at the most pivotal events in history.”

I guess the adage that you get what you pay for can apply to both, the Texas energy grid and Houston radio news.

A problematic culture

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The reverberations following Major League Baseball’s report on the Astros sign-stealing scandal continues to rock the Houston sports world. It did not take long for Astros owner Jim Crane to “dismiss” A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow once MLB suspended both for the 2020 season (which makes me think  Crane knew this was coming and already made the decision before MLB announced the suspensions).

I will leave the impact this will have on the field to the sports experts, but there was something in MLB Commissioners report that caught my eye…

“while no one can dispute that Luhnow’s baseball operations department is an industry leader in its analytics, it is very clear to me that the culture of the baseball operations department, manifesting itself in the way its employees are treated, its relations with other clubs, and its relations with the media and external stakeholders, has been very problematic.”

Manfred pulled no punches in describing the culture established under Luhnow’s leadership. You will recall back in October 2019, the Astros fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman for targeting female reporters with inappropriate comments regarding relief pitcher Roberto Osuna who was accused of domestic violence when playing for the Toronto Blue Jays.

At first, the Astros disputed what took place calling the reporting “misleading and completely irresponsible.” They then released a mea culpa statement apologizing to Stephanie Apstein (one of the reporters targeted) and to all individuals who witnessed the incident. Taubman is now ineligible to work for any MLB club through the day after the 2020 season ends at which point he will be allowed to apply to commissioner Manfred for reinstatement.

Following the aftermath of Crane’s announcement that Hinch and Luhnow were “dismissed”, the Astros issued a media advisory making Crane available to meet with the media.

Pretty standard stuff, but what caught my eye was the line…

“Please note that media outlets are not permitted to carry the news conference live on the air nor online” (it did note the Astros would stream it on Astros.com).

Maybe I’m too old school (#OKBoomer), but inviting the media to a news conference with the caveat you can’t broadcast it live is wrong. Are they trying to drive traffic to their website? If a media outlet did broadcast it live, they would probably lose their credentials and not be allowed access to the team. I wonder what kind of reaction that would have gotten in markets like New York, or Boston. My guess is not too well.

All this does not bode well for an organization accused of, not only cheating, but having a “problematic” culture of the way it treats media. You would think the Astros would be trying to mend relationships and not continue its usual ways of doing business.

Flipping the narrative

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There is a negative connotation to the phrase “flipping the narrative”. Some might call it “spin” or “propaganda” and find it dishonest, but that is not always the case. Take Wells Fargo for example.

The California Department of Insurance accused Wells Fargo of issuing nearly 1,500 insurance policies without their customers knowledge or permission from 2008 to 2016. The bank agreed to pay a $10 million penalty in January 2019 as part of a settlement agreement. This caused severe brand perception causing customer trust to free-fall.

So how to rebuild that trust? The bank took the steps to acknowledge what it did and that is was wrong and flip the narrative to move the story forward.

Check out their video that was posted to YouTube.

As you can see, the video walks the viewer through the history of the bank with a dramatic fade to black and no audio after their mistake was shown. The effect of going to black sends a powerful message that shows they knew what happened was wrong. The video then picks up with a sense of optimism about the future and how it is moving forward to regain customer trust.

I realize this is just one video, but I found the courage to produce and post it extraordinary. Nobody likes talking about past mistakes and I can’t imagine the suits in the corner office being comfortable with reminding people what they did, yet America, if nothing else, loves to forgive.

Remember Mike Tyson (arrested and charged with raping beauty queen Desiree Washington in 1991) who ended up starring in The Hangover? Other celebrities like Robert Downey Jr., Mark Wahlberg and Martha Stewart have all been able to resurrect their careers after various offenses.

I get the Wells Fargo is an institution and not a celebrity, but it does feel that Americans can find it in themselves to forgive, especially when someone, or something is willing to own up.

Pedaling in place

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Advertising is often a hit and miss proposition. Some ads generate tremendous buzz and resonate with audiences, while others miss the mark altogether. That being said, I have to say I am a little surprised at the backlash Peloton is getting on their latest TV commercial.

The commercial begins with a young women whose spouse/partner surprises her with a Pelton bike on Christmas morning. She then chronicles her yearlong fitness journey on her phone and makes a video diary that she plays the following Christmas.

So what’s the problem? Many people (I assume they are not BOTS or the Russians) on social media are blasting the ad for using a thin, young women who apparently does not look like she need to exercise. Some have gone so far as saying the ad had a dystopia vibe and brought visions of a horror film.

While criticizing an ad is not uncommon, the fact that the company’s stock lost 9% of its value in one day will certainly make people in the corner office take notice. A representative for Peloton released a statement to CNBC, stating that while they “were disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial,” they were also grateful to their existing community.

One of the problems Peloton faces is that their “existing community” is pretty small. The bikes are really expensive. The basic package runs $2,245 with membership costing $39 a month and you need to figure out where it fits in your homes décor.

The ad missed the mark, not on the messaging, but the delivery. The women appears terrified at times and it feels like she is being forced to ride. Perhaps if the spouse/partner joined in and made it a fun, family thing, it would have gone over better.

The whole thing comes across as snobbish and arrogant, but then that’s how I picture the people that own one.

Is he really running?

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Michael Bloomberg has filed to be a presidential candidate, but does that mean he wants to be in the Oval Office?

CNBC is reporting that Bloomberg has purchased a whopping $57 million on TV ads, outspending almost every other Democratic candidate on TV and digital ads since he entered the race just over a week ago (billionaire Tom Steyer, has spent a little over $60 million since July).

Advertising Analytics, a data company who tracks spending, reports Bloomberg has paid over $6 million on national TV spots, plus $3 million in local ads focused on the New York and Los Angeles markets, and over $4 million on commercials airing in Texas.

That being said, Bloomberg is not participating in the Iowa caucuses and is not on the ballot in some of the other early states (New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada).

So what gives?

There has been speculation that Bloomberg is not interested in being president, but wants to ensure Trump is a one-term president and is running ads that are critical of his term in office. So why file and be a candidate?

Three words…Lowest Unit Rate.

By law, federal candidates are entitled to the lowest rates in the “class” of time they purchase (this only applies in political protection periods) thanks to Communications Act of 1934. The math can get a little complicated, but the bottom line is that candidates running for federal office are entitled to buy advertising at lower rates. By filing as a candidate, Bloomberg has access to purchase advertising at these rates which extends his buying power.

This also puts pressure on the Republican Party to keep up with the spending taking place. Advertising Analytics tweeted this graph Dec. 2, 2019 showing a wide disparity in spending.

There is still a long way to go, but it will be interesting to see how much of a candidate Bloomberg will be.

Is America becoming a news desert?

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Facebook is once again changing the media landscape. The social media giant has announced it is creating Facebook News, a new section of content available that will feature a variety of different news articles.

The stories will come from outside sources, not Facebook employees and will use algorithms to deliver personalized recommendations for further reading. News Corp, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BuzzFeed News, the Los Angeles Times, CBS and Fox’s owned-and-operated local stations are the first media outlets to provide content.

Not everyone is impressed by this announcement.

“It’s great that Facebook is willing to pay The New York Times and Washington Post, among other national news organizations,” Larry Gilbert, Jr., the audience engagement editor for the Sun Journal newspaper in Lewiston, Maine told CNN.com. “But while the tech giant is doing that, newspapers in smaller markets across the country are closing up shop and every day more of America is becoming a news desert.”

There is no doubt the landscape of news is changing. Local newspapers struggle to survive leaving communities with little or no information on what is taking place.

The Pew Research Center reports 71% of U.S. adults think their local news media are doing well financially. However, the study also revealed 41% of Americans say they prefer getting their local news via TV and the 37% prefer it online which is dramatically different to those who favor a printed newspaper or the radio (13% and 8%, respectively).

All of this does not bode well for local newspapers. According to an Associated Press analysis of data compiled by the University of North Carolina, 1,400 cities and towns across the U.S. have lost a newspaper over the past 15 years.

Much like other media industries, local ownership is fading with companies like Gatehouse Media Inc. (the nation’s largest newspaper company) buying up the mom and pop shops. Many of these large newspaper companies are owned by hedge funds or other investors who have no interest in anything other than the bottom line.

While print maybe out of fashion, one still hopes that local communities can take advantage of and even embrace new media to keep citizens up to date on news that have a direct impact on their lives. Perhaps it might even be Facebook News.