Ed Christian is one of the true pioneers in the radio industry, having been involved with it since the early ‘70s. He has been President, CEO and Chairman since Saga Communications’ inception in 1986. As a member of the NAB Board of Directors, he is an active industry voice as radio moves into the future. FMQB decided it was time to reintroduce ourselves to Christian after an ad – titled “Saga Communications Wants To Grow… But, There Is A Problem“ – caught our eye. In the ad, Christian states Saga is looking to acquire stations that fit the company’s profile, but he is not willing to do so without the proper management staff in place, and is looking for people to fill the void. It’s not often that a radio company openly solicits for talent in this manner, so we touched base with Christian for insight to why he placed the ad, among other subjects facing the radio industry today.
e-QB presents excerpts from the June FMQB magazine Cover Story featuring Ed Christian, CEO Saga Communications
On running the recent ad looking for management level people… The issue here is that I don’t want to be in a situation where I make a commitment to spend our money to buy a station, and then have to find a manager, because that’s unfair to the radio station, and sometimes a good search for a manager takes a number of months. Finding a manager in today’s marketplace has changed from when I started, because people would move. Today, people don’t move. This is one of the biggest things that you find in trying to find great talent. So because of this cocooning effect of America, getting somebody to disrupt their lives and change their career to grow has proven to be much more difficult. At the same time, the talent pool has shrunk through consolidation. We have many fewer general managers out there, and many of them have just left the industry. That’s why we wrote the ad, to try and entice people out of the woodwork. In the end it was quite successful for us.
On his issues with the concept of posting… Here’s where I have problems. How can I post if I don’t subscribe to Arbitron? Does that mean that I don’t get any national business? Is this mandating me to subscribe to Arbitron? Will this put me in a situation that I have to buy Arbitron when I don’t believe in the diaries? Clearly the diary method is so out-of-date and out-of-touch with what’s going on. I’m stuck in an antiquated system that I don’t believe in. There has to be more thought about posting and it should be something that is openly brought up and discussed in forums with the state broadcasters and in those markets that are really affected by this.
On selling radio advertising… Let me go and sell radio the way I believe it should be sold by doing creative together, because it’s the copy that will make the difference. Let’s work on creating great copy. We have guy in Jonesboro who is a firm believer that if you don’t have effective copy, don’t take the schedule because you’re doing a disservice. If I sell advertising to a guy that doesn’t work, then don’t advertise with me. That’s what this business is all about. If I get you results, you’re going to be a loyal advertiser on my radio station because people listen and they respond and they buy your product
On the proposed revisions to the FCC regarding HD power assignments… The power increase is critical, because building penetration problems can be solved, and doubling the power is not as scary as it sounds. I’ve gone through the math with a number of engineers and it really would help a lot if we were able to increase them.
On what the holdup is with the FCC’s decision XM/Sirius merger… The FCC marches to its own drum. You can ask them about status, and they’ll say, “We’re working on it.” XM and Siriusare cute little boutiques. It’s not an advertising medium. Only six-percent of America are subscribers and after all these years, ninety-four-percent of the country doesn’t have satellite radio.
On the amount of money spent lobbying against the merger… David Rehr did an admirable job in presenting the industry’s position on XM and Sirius, and I hope that he is equally committed to the more serious problems that confront the radio industry right now in front of the Federal Communications Commission.
On the recently introduced Performance Rights Act… I’m Chairman of the Radio Music License Committee, and we negotiate with ASCAP and BMI, which are composers, authors and publishers. We’ve always historically paid royalties to them. What’s happening here is the record company revenue model was broken as they never anticipated what was happening. So where’s the next place to go? Well, that is on a fee basis to the radio stations. In the proposal that theRIAA is sanctioning, fifty-percent of the money for the composers’ royalties goes to the record company. And they’re bringing all these indigent people out who say, “Well, I’m starving.” Well, pardon me, that’s because your label gave you a shitty deal 30 years ago. Don’t look at radio.
On the relationship between artists and radio… We’ve always had this wonderful relationship with artists whose careers were built upon radio in this country. And to change it now is not necessarily in behest of the artist, but it’s on behest of the recording industry that wants to get that fifty-percent of the tax that they’re trying to impose.
On picking a favorite Saga station… First of all, that’s an unfair question because all of my children are the same. You have to understand, to me, the smallest station is just as important because I have a passion for radio. So it’s just as important for me in our smallest market to do compelling radio, as it is in our largest market. Whether it’s big or small, they are my children and nobody gets hand-me-down clothes in this company.
** QB Content by Michael Parrish *
