December 9, 2021
ROGER GRIBBINS TO JOIN KBA STAFF
BROADCASTER NAMED DIRECTOR OF MEMBER SERVICES
The Kentucky Broadcasters Association is pleased to welcome Roger Gribbins as Director of Member Services. Gribbins, a member of the Bardstown Radio Team, got his start in broadcasting at age 16 in Lebanon, KY. After graduating from Marion County High School, Gribbins went on to attend the Communications Institute in Louisville, where he graduated with honors. Since that time, Roger has worked for several stations in the south-central region and spent 15 years as sales and marketing manager for a national firm, overseeing client development and retention in a multi-state region.

“The Associations primary objective is to serve, protect and advocate for its membership. Hiring Roger as the new Director of Member Services is a tremendous step of commitment by the Association to better serve our members”, said Chris Winkle, KBA President & CEO.

Roth Stratton, managing partner of the Bardstown Radio Team, said, "The Kentucky Broadcasters Association has picked up one of the best and I will have trouble finding anyone close to what he brought to our radio stations."

Roger and his wife Michelle have been married for 26 years and reside in Bardstown. They have three children - Hannah (24), Natalie (22) and Jude (17). Gribbins said, “I can not express nor hardly contain my excitement for this new season in my career. Working for the KBA and advocating for our members is a dream come true. Broadcasters make up the very fabric of Kentucky’s communities and I am committed to supporting them as they serve their listeners and viewers."

Gribbins will join the KBA staff on January 3, 2022.
RISING ABOVE SUMMIT 3
SAVE THE DATE: JANUARY 26-27, 2022
Industry trainers from Media Staffing Network, Instant Sales Training, Creative Ready, Advantage Systems Interactive, Fan Solo Learning, Girl Twin Solutions, S. Paul Moehring LLC, the Swagger Institute and P1 Learning have joined forces to provide you with the sales and recruitment training you need to be successful.

Rising Above: A Virtual Sales & Management Media Summit is a day and a half summit that will be held January 26-27th  through a LIVE video feed. Which means you can tune in from comfort and safety of your own home or office! Registration for this summit is FREE, complements of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association.

Registration is now open!
IS YOUR TOWER SITE TAX BILL CORRECT?
JOSH O'BRYAN, KBA LEGAL COUNSEL
We have become aware that at least one KBA member has received a Kentucky real property tax bill misclassifying its radio/broadcasting tower as a cell tower. Broadcast towers are subject to a preferred $0.15/$100 ‘state only’ rate, pursuant to KRS 132.200, and are exempt from local taxes. Cell towers, on the other hand, are subject to both state and local taxes. The following is a general guide as to how to address a possible misclassification of a tower.

If the tax bill is for real property:
 
With limited exceptions, any changes to the assessment of Kentucky real property, including classification issues and valuation, must be made before or during the annual inspection period, occurring in May, by reaching out to the local PVA. If the PVA agrees that the property should be reclassified, the PVA will make the change at that time. If the PVA disagrees, the taxpayer can file a formal protest. However, if the taxpayer does not reach out to the PVA before or during the May inspection period, there is no way to later protest the classification for that tax year. As a result, if the taxpayer did not file a protest, it is very difficult to make changes to the assessment. While KRS 133.110 does provide a special procedure for correction of certain clerical errors, this statute does not clearly apply in connection with a misclassification. If you have received a tax bill misclassifying your tower on your real property tax bill, you may wish to attempt to correct the issue in the current tax year, rather than waiting until the next tax year, by paying the taxes and seeking a refund. Additionally, you can correct the issue going forward by reaching out to your local PVA after January 1 of next year, and filing a formal protest if the PVA denies your reclassification request. 

If the tax bill is for personal property:

Unlike the land on which the tower sits, the value of tower itself is assessed by the Kentucky Department of Revenue, not the PVA. If you receive a tangible personal property tax bill for your tower that shows your tower taxed at anything other than the ‘state only’ $0.15/$100 rate, you may protest this assessment within 60 days from the date on the bill. Protests must be filed with the Kentucky Department of Revenue. If you receive such a bill and would like to protest, feel free to contact Josh O’Bryan at Frost Brown Todd, LLC for further advice or help.

Regardless of whether the tax bill you receive is for real property or personal property, the bill will be issued by a county official. Thus, in order to determine who to contact for correction and whether you have protest rights for personal property bills, you must determine the type of bill you have received. If you are unsure whether the bill you received is for real property or personal property, check to see if the bill has a “map number” in the upper right corner. A bill with a map number is a real property bill.
LBS WEBINAR: DECEMBER 14TH @ 12PM ET
PROVIDED FREE TO KBA MEMBER STATIONS
"THE GIRLFRIEND'S GUIDE TO CLOSING THE DEAL"
A message every broadcast leader and seller should hear
An honest and intimate conversation with Melody Spann-Cooper, Chair & CEO of Midway Broadcasting Corporation, as if she's speaking one deal-making woman to another. Here is wisdom passed down from mentor to mentee. A message on how to spot what and who is "real" in business, and pivot successfully, even under adverse circumstances. Melody was inspired to write the book “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Closing the Deal” after receiving rave reviews for a similarly themed speech she delivered to the National Association of Women Business Owners' annual luncheon in Chicago following the 2016 Presidential Election. Melody huddles down with broadcasters to share colorful observations - both humorous and serious - from her upbringing and her entrepreneurial journey. Success. Failure. Regrets!
JEFF SCHMIDT'S SALES TIP OF THE WEEK


STOP MAKING STUPID MISTAKES
October 30, 1935 - Dayton Ohio. Military members gathered for what the Defense Department called a “live demonstration” of the capabilities of the next-generation bomber. In short, they were “shopping” and had invited manufacturers to come “pitch” them. Boeing Corporation was among those seeking the contract.

For many, inviting others was a mere formality - Boeing’s new Model 299 would be the hands-down winner. A reporter from Seattle called the plane a “Flying Fortress.” It could carry five times the number of bombs that army specifications called for. It flew faster than previous bombers, and nearly twice as far. The plane taxied onto the runway, an impressive 103-foot wingspan with four engines – it was a magnificent beast in motion.

Major Ployer P. Hill pushed the throttle levers forward. Speed increased, the plane lifted off the runway climbing to just past 300 feet. It stalled, slouched to the right, and came crashing down in a fiery Mess. Two of the five crew members died, including Major Hill.

The investigation revealed nothing mechanical had gone wrong. Pilot error was cited as the reason for the crash. Major Hill forgot to release the locking mechanism on the rudder and elevator controls during takeoff. This error caused the Army to go with a much simpler design by Douglas and considered the Boeing plane too difficult for any pilot to fly.  

Boeing nearly went bankrupt. A group of test pilots was brought in to solve the problem. Given the complexity of the aircraft, they decided on a simple approach: the pilot’s checklist. Atul Gawande, in his book The Checklist Manifesto, credits this story as the origin of “the checklist.” 

What does flying a B-17 have to do with selling?  Selling today is far more complex. Channels of communication are exploding; information access is beyond our ability to contain. Just as flying a plane is both as fundamental and yet much more complex and complicated than when Wilbur and Orville -or Boeing, for that matter--first took flight – selling today requires the same attention to minute details.  Salespeople need a system to remind them of the basics and simplify the complexity of the sales process.

If you’re like me, you’ve walked away from more than a few meetings with clients, and said, “Darn it, why didn’t I remember to...” A checklist helps prevent that. Because checklists are so important in a variety of professions from flying planes to performing brain surgery, you can easily find or create checklists for your sales process. 

At the RAB we have a Pre-Contact Checklist. Critical things you should do, before having ANY contact with a client or prospect. If you’d like a copy of the checklist, please send me an email at JSchmidt@rab.com.
Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can also connect with him by email JSchmidt@rab.com or on Twitter and LinkedIn.
KBA NEWSLETTER SPONSORED BY PEM
DATES TO REMEMBER
JANUARY 24, 2022
Virtual Video Streaming Conference

JANUARY 26-27, 2022
Rising Above: Sales & Management Media Summit

SEPTEMBER 25-27, 2022
KBA Annual Membership Conference - Owensboro, KY

*All times shown are Eastern
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