KBA WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

December 2, 2021

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

ELLE SMITH, WHAS11 REPORTER, NAMED MISS U.S.A.

Elle Smith, University of Kentucky graduate and WHAS11...

University of Kentucky graduate Elle Smith, a reporter for WHAS11 in Louisville, was crowned Miss USA 2021 Monday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Smith, who won Miss Kentucky USA in May, graduated from UK in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism...

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www.kentucky.com

KBA'S BOARD GAVEL CHANGES HANDS

TOM MCMAKIN TAKES OVER AS 2022 BOARD CHAIR

As 2021 winds down, I want to take a moment and reflect on how proud I am of broadcasters in Kentucky for being resilient and adapting to change over the last 2 years. So much innovation and integration has happened before our eyes as we all strive to serve our communities, listeners and viewers.

Broadcasters were and are up for the challenges before us. The same can be said for the KBA. When I joined the board in 2016 it became very clear the vital role the KBA plays in serving member stations. And through one of the hardest seasons in the history of our industry, I hope that we’ve been an aid and an asset to your operation.

I’m very grateful to a supportive board, strong committees and an outstanding Frankfort leadership team in Chris, Amber and Lisa during my term as chair.

Christy, Taylor, Anna, Alayah and I wish for you and your family the most blessed Christmas and the best life can offer in 2022. God Bless You!

Mark Buckles

2021 KBA Board Chairman

mbuckles@k105.com

I am proud of what the KBA has been able to accomplish in the past year, considering the challenges that we have faced as an industry. We are very fortunate to have a strong membership, committee volunteers, board members, PEP sponsors and dedicated staff.

We have worked hard to provide the best member services available and we will continue to do so for many years to come. The dedication that I have seen since having the honor of serving on the board is tremendous.

I look forward to serving the members in the coming year, offering more benefits and opportunities that will help grow and protect your operations. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly or reach out to anyone on the KBA staff with suggestions, questions or concerns.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tom McMakin

2022 KBA Board Chairman

tom.gatewayradio@gmail.com

IS YOUR PUBLIC FILE LINK BROKEN??

A RELATIVELY EASY FIX IS AVAILABLE

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman attorney Scott Flick is warning stations to be aware of a change at the FCC that might affect your station’s Public Inspection File link found at the bottom of most station websites.

Broadcasters suddenly found themselves technically out of compliance with the requirement that they post a link to their online Public Inspection File on their station website. The URL link on their home page suddenly didn’t work, resulting in an FCC “404 – Not Found” message instead. Admittedly, it’s one of the more attractive 404 pages you might encounter, but not something any broadcaster wants to see when you click on the FCC-mandated link to your Public File.

A little investigatory work by the various state broadcasters associations quickly discerned the issue. The FCC has apparently been doing some technical work on its Public Inspection File database, and somewhere in that process, required that the part of the URL for each station’s Public Inspection File containing a station’s call sign be in capital letters. So if the link on your station website to its online Public Inspection File contains — as most URLs do — all lower case letters, your Public File link is broken. However, if you change your call sign in the URL to capital letters (“WPIF” rather than “wpif”) it will magically start working again.

We have reached out to the FCC to see if whatever system update created this issue can be rolled back, but in the meantime, the simple fix is to update your Public File link to capitalize the station call sign. Just one more unexpected obstacle to overcome on the road to regulatory compliance.

AP TO ASSESS US LOCAL NEWS A.I. READINESS, WITH YOUR HELP

The Associated Press is bringing its know-how in artificial intelligence to local news operations and would like to understand your organization’s familiarity with AI technologies and any applications you may be using to augment your journalism or automate news and business functions. AI can be used to help with Friday night football coverage; to sort story, photo and video archives; convert website traffic into subscriptions; and many other tasks. Please fill out this form to help assess the US local news AI readiness. We want to hear from newsrooms of all sizes. AP membership is not required.

BROADCASTER TO RUN FOR MAYOR

HENRY ROYSE SEEKS TOP OFFICE IN GLASGOW

Royse announces Glasgow mayoral candidacy

GLASGOW, Ky. - Henry Royse filed his papers Monday as a candidate for mayor of Glasgow.

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www.wcluradio.com

JEFF SCHMIDT'S SALES TIP OF THE WEEK

ARE YOU THE PLACE TO WORK?

Cindy’s company was our cleaning service at the office. They were impeccable. The attention to detail made our offices feel brand new every day. It’s amazing how a clean, tidy, and neat working environment can contribute to productivity. Years ago, I had the occasion to visit Cindy at her office. With the attention and care they gave to our office I was expecting their offices to be equally clean and tidy. I was wrong. “I’m sorry, we spend so much time cleaning other offices, we don’t have time for our own.” That was how Cindy explained the condition of their offices as I arrived. “I guess we need to hire a cleaning company,” she chuckled.

As marketing experts, we spend a great deal of time helping out clients maximize their brand identity in the marketplace. We teach the purpose of branding is to be known before you are needed. Like Cindy, is our work so outwardly focused that we fail to recognize the importance of our own company brand identity in the market? And what does our work with clients about the importance of branding have to do with recruiting, hiring, and retaining?

Turns out, A LOT!

LinkedIn research reveals that a strong employer brand reduces turnover by 28% and cost-per-hire is reduced by 50%. Following our own advice about the power of branding can help us achieve our staffing goals:

Organizations with positive brands can get up to twice as many applications as companies with negative brands.
When top candidates WANT to work for an organization, recruiting costs can drop by 43%.
When organizations fail to invest in their brand, it can cost them an average of $5,000 per employee.
50% of workers said they wouldn’t work for an organization with a bad reputation, even with an enormous increase in compensation.

A strong employer brand starts by reviewing the purpose and mission of the company. Do you have an external-facing messaging strategy to share your purpose? An employee value proposition is the unique set of benefits employees receive in return for the skills capabilities and experiences they bring to your organization and can also be a core component of your brand. Do outsiders know how good it is to work for you? Do outsiders, those beyond your client list, know what your company is all about?

Author and pastor, Dr. Sheldon Nix says, “Your brand is what people think of you when they think of you.” What does the outside world think of your company? What do potential employees think of you? That’s your brand.

Might be worth investing some brainstorming time with your team to determine the strength of your companies’ brand or need to enhance it.

A strong brand can help you in many ways, and we are the experts on branding and marketing, but are we practicing what we teach?

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.