August 2014 Highlights

We last checked in with Mark Margulies and BENMARadio 22 years ago this month, in August of 1992. Mark later became a regular contributor to Radio And Production with his “Way Off the Mark!” column which ran throughout the ‘90s. Today, Mark’s company BENMARadio is still going strong after 27 years. Focusing primarily on providing a copywriting service to stations, BENMARadio’s script database now contains over 105,000 pieces of copy, most of which Mark wrote. Needless to say, Mark knows a few things about copywriting and about holding down a business for decades despite the changing industry and economy, and he’s managed to find the time in there somewhere to write a novel. We get the latest on BENMARadio and hunt down some copywriting tips and more in this month’s interview. Be sure to check out the R.A.P. CD for a sample of some of Mark’s favorite spots.

Production 212: Produce Dave Foxx 2

by Dave Foxx

In 2008, we held a little competition here at RAP Magazine, for which I provided the voiceover. Producers were encouraged to design and build a promo using my VO, which essentially took the VO quality out of the equation. The idea was to even the playing field a bit so that those who participated could have their work evaluated against others who were using the same voice track. The results were predictably mixed, but the overall quality was quite high. So we have decided to try this again, while upping the ante just a bit.

The "Producer's VU" is Back After 16 Year Hiatus!

by John Pallarino

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” ― William Faulkner

It seems only fitting to start this column off with a quote much like the original author Craig Rogers did back in November of 1995. Craig quoted Theodore Roosevelt with “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” He then when on to say, “Perhaps that sums up the essence of being a Production Director. Every day we are asked to produce spots and promos as good or better than our past work, using the same tools we had yesterday. So the real trick is to learn new ways to use what we have. Hopefully, this column will help you do just that.

Multiple Personality Disorder for Fun and Profit

by John Pellegrini

A question was posed recently on the RAP Facebook Page, and it’s interesting enough that I thought I would weigh in with some thoughts. The question was essentially, ‘how do you image multiple stations with different formats?’ This is the strange situation so many Production Directors find themselves in these days. Clusters with five or six different stations, each one a different format, and all have to sound ‘authentic’ or ‘unique’. More often than not it’s one production person handling the imaging sound requirements of all those stations.

The Local Myth – Take 2

Mike Lee’s article, “The Local Myth” in the June 2014 issue of RAP sparked a spirited email exchange between Mike and one of our readers, Andrew Laird, the General Sales Manager at 1075 Kiss FM in Vernon, BC. Both gentlemen agreed to let us publish their emails. We feature Andrew’s response to the article, followed by Mike’s reply.

Radio Hed: Keep Engaging Your Listeners throughout the Commercial

by Jeffrey Hedquist

Your audience is distracted, they’re over-communicated, they’ve had too much coffee, or not enough. In other words they’re difficult to engage. How do you keep their attention for a full 10, 15, 30 or 60 seconds? Hook ‘em and keep pulling. What pulls? Consistent variations. What the…?

Daleks on Demand

by Matthew Morse

Whovians rejoice! The BBC television series “Doctor Who” resumes in August, imported to the U.S. primarily via the BBC America cable channel. A good part of your audience will likely consist of fans, so it’s time to have a little production fun all month. If you are familiar with the program’s history, you are familiar with the “Daleks”, a race of murderous machines that have tormented The Doctor since the 1960s. The actor responsible for bringing the voices to life uses a Coles 4104 “Lip-Mic” ribbon microphone, slightly overdriven and fed through a Moog “Moogerfooger” ring modulator to achieve the terrifying “Ex-terminate!” shouts the Daleks are known for. Using gear we already have, it’s easy to recreate this effect.

The Monday Morning Memo: Statistics versus Stereotypes

by Roy H. Williams

Today we call it Data but we used to call it Statistics. Statistics are boring. That’s why a clever boy in Silicon Valley gave them a new and better name. A scientist is willing to change a belief when presented with data, facts and logic.
But very few customers are scientists. This is why you must accommodate their perspectives, reinforce their biases, anticipate their preferences and leverage their stereotypes.

...and more!

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