October 5, 2020, Issue 725
As Radio Contracts, Syndication Surges
Consolidation, debt load, competing platforms and a pandemic have compounded into furloughs and permanent personnel cutbacks at radio. Arguably, the last several months aren’t as much a cataclysmic transformation as a greatly accelerated evolution. Amid the decline, there does seem to be at least one major growth area – syndication. Country Aircheck spoke with several with new and growing shows in the space for thoughts on the shift and resulting opportunities. “The pandemic has definitely sped things up, as there’s economic pressure everywhere,” says United Stations’ Andy Denemark, whose daypart show Backstage Country is Andy already holding down nights for Beasley Denemark stations. “Network radio has been growing in lots of different ways, and it’s all about resources, meaning that we provide resources that local stations need. Country has more stations in America than any other format – almost 2200 – so it has more room for more players, hence all the shows you are seeing.” Danno Wolkoff, COO of Sun Broadcast Group (formerly Envision) agrees syndication is expanding in many areas, including longDanno Wolkoff form weekend and daypart shows, 24-7 formats and voice-tracking. And while some of the growth is pandemic-related, he believes the need for stations to operate more efficiently has been steadily increasing, leading to the creation of new business models and opportunities for many out of work. “Personality On Demand is a new growth opportunity for us that came directly out of COVID-19 when stations started to send everyone home,” Wolkoff says. “We heard from operators who said things like, ‘I have an afternoon show on furlough’ or ‘We’re not set up to work remotely. Can you help us out?’ We saw the need for stations to have plug-and-play options, so we became like a clearinghouse for talented people who were let go and stations that needed help.” (continued on page 14)
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Curb team celebrates Lee Brice’s two-week No. 1, “One Of Them Girls.” Pictured (top, l-r) are Lori Hartigan, Maddi Bayer and Samantha DePrez; (middle, l-r) Brooke Meris, Mike Rogers and RG Jones; (bottom) RJ Meacham and Allyson Gelnett.
Q&A: Records President Ash Bowers Tapped to head the newly formed Nashville division of Barry Weiss’ Records (Breaking News), Ash Bowers has seen the country business from multiple vantage points – artist, publisher, manager, producer and now label chief. The Wide Open Music co-founder spoke with Country Aircheck about his path and the plan. CA: How did you meet Barry Weiss? AB: I cut an EP on Matt Stell to get him a record deal, but I couldn’t get anybody to bite. I got a call from Steve Williams, my partner Ash Bowers in the management and publishing business, who told me his wife watches Chrisley Knows Best and we should try to put Savannah Chrisley in the “Prayed For
© 2 0 2 0 Co u n t r y A i rc h e c k ™ — A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . S i g n u p f re e a t w w w. c o u n t r y a i rc h e c k . c o m . S e n d n e w s t o n e w s @ c o u n t r y a i r c h e c k . c o m