Mark Larsen In This Week's "News Talk Edge" Newsletter

[DToTheJ]

Mark Larsen must be a subscriber of R-I's "News Talk Edge" newsletter. (As he should - it's a darn good read. I personally can't wait until Randall expands to two issues per week... but I digress...)

Anyway, last week, the newsletter profiled Tom Leykis, the former syndicated talk show host ("do you care?!") who is getting by these days with his own Internet radio venture he calls "The New Normal."

This week, Mark Larsen issued a rebuttal:
http://www.radio-info.com/newsletter/html/nte-11042010.html

I won't dilute any of his thunder, but echo his closing sentiment that radio today is a "hideously consolidated, shadow of an industry."

 

[FM 100 Means Music]

I won't dilute any of his thunder, but echo his closing sentiment that radio today is a "hideously consolidated, shadow of an industry."

This coming from the former "King of the Live Reads" who was more concerned with keeping his sponsors happy instead of cutting down on the amount of advertising in his show to better inform and entertain his listeners.

 

[marklarsen]

@D to the J
>Tom Leykis, the former syndicated talk show host who is getting by these days with his own Internet radio venture

Thanks for the props. But please know that part of my premise was that, Leykis had just recently stated something like, he's better off not working right now, because he's making more from his severance checks from his last gig, than someone else could pay him. In other words, I'm not sure that revenue with his web venture is too critical right now. he is still being paid quite well. I wanted would-be pod jockeys (out of work talk jockeys) to be careful before buying a bunch of nice gear for a podcast.

@FM 100
>This coming from the former "King of the Live Reads" who was more concerned with keeping his sponsors happy instead of cutting down on the amount of advertising in his show to better inform and entertain his listeners.

Well, that's one of the most boneheaded things I've seen, assuming you're a real broadcaster. As one of my old general managers once said (at a #1 station I worked for), "Music & content is just stuff we use to fill, in between the commercial breaks." The key is, the music or content must be good enough to keep listeners thru the breaks. I will take your moniker, "The King Of Live reads," as a compliment -- I do perform the best live reads in town. Just ask my clients. I use bullet points -- not scripts. In spite of those live reads, I still had the consistently best numbers on my last station, and double digits on my midday gig at 970. Which means I must have been properly entertaining and informing my listeners. If you knew the format, you'd know that talk listeners have a much higher tolerance for spots, especially live reads, than music listeners. I sure wish you incognitos would identify yourselves. In some cases, you might seem more credible. But in others, we'd know who the amateurs are.

Yours truly in higher billing,
Mark Larsen

 

[coolaid213]

So, how much longer until we hear you in afternoon drive (permanently) on FLA?

 

[BobbyFenton]

1) I always tried to deliver my meager collection of live reads in the same fashion as Mark, bullet points rather than a script. No one does it like him though. He was a great guy to try and learn things from and I was lucky to work at the same place with that guy.

2) I only spent $60 on a microphone to hook up to the computer so I could lay some stuff down here and there. I still think I got ripped off though.

3) What's a severance check?

4) Tampa Bay AM radio is so strong right now and the industry is so dynamic that it definitely softens the blow of having a talent like Larsen sitting on the sidelines. It doesn't seem at all backwards when you consider what we have on. /sarcasm :

- Anonymous

 

[Frank Ferreri]

"King of Live Reads" is a compliment. Aren't many of us can boast of starting a piece of copy with your name because your name attached to the copy gave credibility. There are some posters on this board who do not realize that radio is a business. In order for a business to survive it must produce revenue. In our business, revenue is produced by selling time. Many who came from programming do not understand or appreciate the business side of radio. Larsen does. Mark is probably correct regarding the posters who are only indentified by some sort of screen name and are incognito. To hide behind a nickname and take shots at a true professional is...well....unprofessional.