Issue #176 |  December 13, 2019   |   View online
Highlights In This Issue:
More news below!

Show Us Your Best Work from 2019:
Entry Deadline is Less Than One Month Away

The Entry Deadline for the BEAs is  January 9 at 12:00 p.m. Awards will be presented at the Great Lakes Media Show on March 4. For more information, visit BroadcastExcellenceAwards.com

GREAT LAKES MEDIA SHOW

Derron Steenbergen will bring 'Swagger' to the #MABshow 
Derron Steenbergen, President and Founder of the Swagger Institute, will present workshops for managers on March 3 and sales professionals on March 4 during the 2020 Great Lakes Media Show at the Lansing Center.   The Swagger Institute specializes in sales and leadership training, motivational speaking, custom service training and business consulting. He is also the Chief Revenue Officer of Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation. Commonwealth Broadcasting owns and operates 17 stations in Kentucky. Learn more about our speakers and register to attend at MABshow.com

Stations: Sign-Up for the MABF Career Fair and discover your next star at the #MABshow
It's the MAB Foundation's most popular and highly attended career fair and we want YOU to be a part of the action! The number one request from our stations is assistance with gaining new employee leads and that is exactly what participation in this career fair will give you! Click here to reserve your booth today.

The Exhibit Hall is FILLING UP FAST!!!  
Find out who will be at the #MABshow and register HERE

 
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Legislative Leaders and Governor Read Deal on Budget
On Wednesday Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders were able to come to an agreement on a supplemental budget that would restore funding to some of the vetoes that occurred back in October. The deal that passed will fund high priority items such as schools and public health and safety. Pure Michigan and hospitality workforce development funding has not been restored in this initial supplemental. Read More

Sports Betting and Online Gaming May Soon be Legal in Michigan
The Detroit Free Press reports that Internet gaming and sports betting is soon expected to be legal in Michigan after the Legislature sent a package of bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday, the last session day of the year.  The bills, which are expected to be signed by Whitmer, will allow existing licensed casinos to offer poker, blackjack, slots and other casino-style games over the Internet. Read More

More on Required Public File Disclosures of Issue Ads - Comment Dates on NAB Petition for Reconsideration and Another Admonition for Inadequate Disclosures
By: David Oxenford
Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP 

The FCC on Friday (11/29) issued a Public Notice seeking comment on a petition for reconsideration by the NAB and several broadcast groups seeking review of the FCC's October decision, deemed a "clarification" of the public file disclosure rules for federal political issue ads requiring that all candidates and issues mentioned in any political issue ad be disclosed in the political section of the online public file. The Public Notice sets the deadline for comments on the NAB petition as December 30.  Read More



ENGINEERING & EAS
Latest National EAS Test Results Released
The Federal Communications Commission has released a public notice reporting the results of the 2019 Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alert System, which took place August 7.  The notice indicates that more than 84% of radio broadcasters successfully received the National Periodic Test alert, and then 82.5% of those retransmitted the code, averaging slightly better than all of the EAS participants combined. Read More

Nominations are Open for the 2020
Carl E. Lee Engineering Excellence Award
Candidates must have been an employee, officer, or owner of any company, subsidiary or division whose primary business is broadcasting, or is directly in support of radio or television stations in Michigan. The nomination deadline is January 9. The Carl E. Lee Award is presented annually at the Great Lakes Media Show. Click here to learn more and submit your nomination.

ABIP 11Reserve Your 2020 ABIP Inspection Now
Scheduling has begun for the 2020 Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP). The MAB conducts these alternative inspections regionally from April to October.  Learn More

IN THE NEWS
Michigan Radio Wins Alfred I. duPont Award for Believed; April Baer Joins Station as Stateside Host
Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism announced December 11 that Michigan Radio is a winner of a 2020 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for the station's podcast series, Believed. This marks the second time Michigan Radio has been the recipient of this prestigious award, the first being in 2017 for Not Safe to Drink, a documentary on the Flint water crisis.  Read More

Wayne State Extends Sports Broadcast Agreement with Salem's WDTK
Wayne State University Director of Athletics Rob Fournier has announced an extension of a radio broadcast agreement with Salem Communication's WDTK-AM (Detroit) for football and men's basketball through the 2022-2023 school year.  Read More

MI News 26 Debuts New Name, New Studios, New Weather Computer
MI News 26, (WMNN-LD/Cadillac), Michigan's only 24-hour local news channel, debuted a new name this week as part of an overhaul of its on-air look. The changes tie in with both the launch of a Cadillac-based national news network in January, and the construction of a new, local broadcast facility which has been ongoing since May.  Read More

Ann Arbor's WKQL Rockin' for the Hungry
Cumulus Media's WKQL-FM (Ann Arbor) held its annual "Rockin' for the Hungry" food drive December 3-8.  The station exceeded its goal of one million meals, raising a total of 1,055,222 meals, including more than 4,000 pounds of donated food.  Read More

Liggett Helps 'Stuff the Bus' in Port Huron 
The Liggett Communications/Radio First stations in Port Huron, along with First Student Port Huron Schools, just wrapped up a month-long effort to stuff school buses with new coats and toys for local kids in distress.  Read More

WLNS 12th Annual Day of Giving Nets over 36,000 Meals for Food Bank
On December 6, Nexstar Broadcasting's WLNS-TV (Lansing) held its 12th Annual Day of Giving, to benefit the Greater Lansing Food Bank and the South Michigan Food Bank and fight hunger in area neighborhoods. This year, WLNS viewers and the Greater Lansing Community helped donate a total of 36,482 meals to the Greater Lansing Food Bank.  Read More

WXYZ Staff Continues 'Giving Tree' Tradition
The staff at Scripps' WXYZ/WMYD-TV (Detroit) has continued its tradition this year, donating toys, gloves, diapers and other necessities to children in need in Metro Detroit.  The station calls it the "Giving Tree."  Read More

MAB FOUNDATION 


Looking for Sales Professionals?

The MAB Foundation Board of Directors approved a new partnership with Central Michigan University's School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts for the Fall 2020 semester.
The partnership will focus on developing mentoring relationships between students with an Electronic Media Sales Minor and industry professionals. 
Contact Jacquelen Timm for more information.

Looking ahead... Career Fairs 2020

Great Lakes Media Show: March 4, 2020 
Lansing Center in Downtown Lansing

Western Michigan University: April 9, 2020
More information coming soon. 
TRAINING & EDUCATION
LOCAL BROADCAST SALES will be here in 2020!
The MAB is excited to share that Local Broadcast Sales (LBS) will be available to members in 2020 at no cost. Learn more and sign up here.

LBS will replace P1 Learning in 2020. P1 will be available through December 31, 2019.
 

Course Description:  Now that we've covered the sales funnel, we're going to flip it around and look at approaching it in the opposite way. Wait, what? How can that work? Well, rather than casting a wide net and narrowing down prospects until you get into sales, this method has you connecting with your current customers. You use them and their word of mouth to expand your sales opportunities. In this course, we'll talk about the rationale behind turning the funnel upside-down. We'll go over why this method may work for you, and the steps you should follow to flip the funnel successfully.   Click here to log in and watch this course.
 
Support: For questions, support or additional information please contact our amazing support team by email at
support@p1learning.com or by phone at (888) 944-9377.

Don't miss out on your opportunity for free, online training as an MAB member! More information here.


As the MAB adjusts membership services in 2020, P1 Learning's On-Demand training campus will be phased out at the end of December.

We realize there are a number of Members that frequently access P1 Learning's training campus, so prior to December 31, we suggest saving your stations previous training data by navigating to the Reports tab ( here) to pull any information that you would like to retain for your files.

For those MAB Members who would like to continue to use the services offered by P1 Learning, they will be offering a discounted rate along with payment options for 2020. 

For more information, please reach out to either 
Katey Woolam ( katey@p1learning.com) or 
Bryan Marriott ( bryan@p1learning.com) with P1 Learning.



January 16, 2020 | 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
"2020 Election Cycle FAQ"
with Pat McGee & Treveor Heaton, Katz Media
Primary Season is almost upon us: what's the forecast for the 2020 election cycle?

January 16, 2020 | 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
"2020 Election: Making Local Reporting Resonate"
with Emily Lawler, Public Interest Reporter, MLive
You might not be in line for a one-on-one with President Donald Trump or have a reporter embedded with his challenger. But in an era of viral video clips and allegations of "fake news" flying, local reporters play an important role in covering presidential elections. Tune into this webinar for tips and tricks on making the most of candidate visits, keeping a pulse on which way people are leaning in your area and finding the election stories that make your audience tick. MLive.com political reporter Emily Lawler has covered elections in Michigan for eight years.


January 29, 2020 | 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
"Getting Into the Weeds on
CBD Advertising"

with Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth
In 2018, Congress enacted a new Farm Bill which decriminalized certain hemp products. As directed by that Bill, the US Department of Agriculture in 2019 published interim rules on the "Establishment of Domestic Hemp Projects" adopting a national regulatory framework for hemp production and inviting the states to create their own hemp and hemp-derived CBD laws. This laid the groundwork for a multi-million dollar industry for the legal production, sale, and advertising of CBD-based products. With so much growth (...get it?) broadcasters are clamoring to know if they can accept advertising for CBD-based products.  To answer these questions, Fletcher, Heald, & Hildreth's Frank Montero, Dan Kirkpatrick, and Seth Williams will present a webinar to unpack the new rules, the dos and don'ts and to guide broadcasters through the weeds (ahem...). Tune in on Wednesday, January 29, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time.

PROGRAMMING
The Lost Art of Air Checking
By: Gary Berkowitz
Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting

If you are a regular reader of my articles, there's one thing you know for sure; I believe in being "brilliant with the basics." One of the most basic (and important) jobs a PD can do is critique talent.  Read More

DIGITAL / SOCIAL / WEB
5 Ways Radio Broadcasting is Different From Podcasting (From a Podcaster Turned DJ)
By: Seth Resler
Jacobs Media Strategies

Over the last several years, I've worked with a lot of radio broadcasters who have become podcasters, but I haven't worked with many podcasters who have become broadcasters. So I was excited to learn that Clay Groves, who had his Fish Nerds podcast airchecked by broadcasting professionals live on stage at Podcast Movement as part of my Podcast Makeover panel a few years ago, had landed himself a bona fide radio gig at his hometown station.  Read More



Subscribe to
MAB News Briefs
Follow Us!  Like Us!
CALENDAR
January 9
BEA Entry Deadline (Noon)

January 16
Free Webinar: "2020 Election Cycle FAQ"
(Learn More)

January 16
Free Webinar: "2020 Election: Making Local Reporting Resonate"
(Learn More)

January 29
Free Webinar: "Getting into the Weeds on CBD Advertising" (Learn More)

CAREERS

Multi-Media
Account Manager
WOOD-TV
(Grand Rapids)
Posted: December 6, 2019

Advertising/Digital Sales Position
WNWN/WFAT-FM Radio
(Battle Creek)
Posted:  December 5, 2019

News Producer/Anchor
WBUP/WBKP-TV
(Ishpeming)
Posted: December 4, 2019

Share Your News!

We know your station is great. Now lets show all the other broadcasters across Michigan just how great you are. Send pictures, video and news releases about your station's accomplishments to be featured in the 
weekly MAB News Briefs


MAB FOUNDATION
The MAB Foundation's mission to encourage, support, and sponsor educational activities for students interested in broadcasting cannot be accomplished without supporters like you. The Foundation wouldn't exist without your continued support and interest in the mission. The Broadcasters must work together to sustain the future of this industry by encouraging the brightest, most creative and energetic students to choose broadcasting as a career. You can make a difference by MAKING A DONATION TODAY at MABFgive.com


THANK YOU 
Foundation Supporters

Kenneth Baynard
Dena Blair
Dan Boers
Julie Brinks
Kristin Burns

Scott Clow
Rob David
Detroit Radio 
Advertising Group
Marla Drutz
Susanne Elkins
Rebecca Falk
Bruce & Sue Goldsen
Colleen Grant
Tom Hahn
Wendy Hart
Bill Keith
Dan Kelley
Dick Kernen
Julie Koehn
Fred Jacobs
Paul Jacobs
Mark Libke
Jim Lutton
Pam Manor
Stephen A. Marks
Janet Mason
John E. Fetzer Memorial Trust
Christopher Meller
Dr. Peter Orlik
Robert F. Ottaway
David Oxenford
Lawrence Patrick
Jam Sardar
AnnMarie Scaramuzzino
Stephen Schram
Dirk Spillemaeckers
Jason Springer

Rick Sykes
Peter Tanz
Jacquelen Timm
Denise Weston
Karole White
Jon Whiting
Jennifer Williams
Follow the MAB Foundation on Social Media!

Support the MAB Foundation, and stay in touch about upcoming events, awards programs, scholarships and more, by following the MAB Foundation on our social media pages!

@MABFoundation1


@MAB_Foundation


Thanks for the Support of Our Associate Members!











Great Lakes News























Michigan Association of Broadcasters | 517-484-7444 | mab@michmab.com | MichMAB.com
820 N. Capitol Ave. |  Lansing, MI 48906