Jim McVay
Jim McVay started his radio career at the age of 14 as an intern at WSSZ-FM/WHJB-AM in Pittsburgh, PA. His career travels have included WCPZ/Sandusky, WDOK/Cleveland, WZAK/Cleveland, WVAF/Charleston, WLDE/Ft Wayne, WAZY/Lafayette as well as having worked for Cumulus in Toledo and Nashville. He’s held a wide range of positions up and down the radio chain of command including on-air, production, producer, news reporter, remote engineering, promotions, and sales. In addition, Jim was a media buyer for Media Prince Marketing, and is a founder of McVay Solutions. He’s been working on projects for McVay Media since 2001, and officially became VP of Sales in January 2006. His role at McVay Media is to prospect opportunities for the company to increase revenue, primarily in terrestrial radio. In addition, he consults a hand full of clients consisting of successful executives interested in expanding their portfolio in the media world. FMQB caught up with Jim for this week’s eQB.
McVay Media grew its consultancy from a strong base of AC radio relationships, but the company has expanded beyond that. Discuss some of the company’s other facets.
Today the company consults radio stations around the world, advises syndication and network programming, Internet initiatives, television, the film and music industry, and serves as a consultant to authors, and artist management & music companies. McVay Media also consults an on-line cruise company, as well as the magazine and newspaper companies. The consultancy has evolved into a total media and communications firm.
As a consultant, you are involved in all aspects of radio. Discuss the importance of an individual station’s staff having a well-rounded view of radio’s inner-workings.
No matter what business you are in, it is important for the entire staff to have a clear understanding, and mutual respect for one another’s roles at the company, playing on each others strengths, while reinforcing each others weaknesses. This is the only way to build a successful entity.
What are the keys to building a strong sales staff?
Quality leadership, mutual respect, product knowledge, and a strong brand are all a must.
There are plenty of cases where radio stations deliver strong ratings, yet sales are weak. How can radio better connect station performance with sales?
Radio must give a client a deeper understanding of what the numbers truly represent in the real world, and what that will mean to them directly equating to their bottom line.
On the opposite end, some stations have a really strong brand, yet weak ratings. Discuss the nuances of selling a brand vs. selling ratings.
When selling a brand (meaning without ratings), the selling is more of an emotional connection. Selling the station brand requires everyone’s focus at the station; it is the overall “mission” of the station. We need to all remember we carry our station’s “invisible call letters” everywhere we go. Having strong ratings are ideal, however, having your entire staff representing your station as a sales force, is phenomenal, and will not only strengthen your station’s brand, but will also contribute to your station’s bottom line
What are your thoughts on PPM and the way it will change sales? How do you see it opening doors for radio sales staffs to experiment with new ways to sell a station?
Radio will become more of a reach medium when the People Meter is widespread. Instead of selling frequency, we’ll be selling cume. Having said that, it’s still about selling results. We’re selling the car dealer’s autos. We sell the air conditioning company’s window units. We move product, we sell services, and we increase awareness of products for advertisers. That’s what we really do. From that standpoint, the PPM will not immediately impact how we sell.
We recently had a conversation about text messaging and that radio isn’t utilizing this tool enough. Can you expand on that and explain what radio should be doing that they are not already?
With cell phone penetration now reaching more than 238 million Americans, broadcast and agency clients are asking McVay Media how to harness the revenue potential of the mobile consumers. Radio should simply adopt the mobile phone as a wireless extension. There are programming benefits to implementing a SMS text element. For example, expanding our P1 database and reaching loyal listeners when they are not even listening, encouraging them to tune back in. Some benefits for radio sales are aiding in the ability to achieve higher rates, addressing advertiser pressure for accountability and gaining data to prove radio schedules work. These are just some of the reasons McVay Media formed an alliance with SMS text message experts Hip Cricket.
In general, is radio doing enough in the new media arena?
Radio is still learning how to embrace new media. This is why McVay Media has expanded our New Media Division, and placed Daniel Anstandig, a 24-year old programming and new media genius, at the helm of the division. It is to help radio harness this energy and reap the benefits via programming, promotions, marketing and sales.
You are employed by a family owned company and worked in family owned radio. What are your thoughts on working in such an environment? What does it bring to the table that you don’t get in a corporate world?
Working for family owned radio in the past, and now working for my family’s company, creates its own challenges. It is healthy to separate your business and personal relationships as much as humanly possible. One obstacle I have observed working for family owned radio stations is non-family employees accepting the family members for their business accomplishments. McVay Media is very much a corporate culture and an international media consultancy, which has 14 consultants from across the globe under its umbrella. So, while it is owned by my uncle and aunt, it is larger than the two people who created the company.
** QB Content By Michael Parrish **
