If you know your radio history, you probably recall that among his many wise career moves, Howard Stern got out of broadcast radio before the advent of PPM. His exodus to Sirius in 2005 was about a year before meters became the currency of radio ratings.
But that can’t stop “The King of All Media” from weighing in on what it takes to keep audiences riveted – getting them through commercial stopsets (and Stern’s were notoriously long). In an article in the New York Times about David Letterman’s swan song, Stern talked about how the Late Night‘s perennial #2 ranking to Jay Leno became a gift, liberating the former Indiana radio host to be true to his craft and his talent.
Stern noted that part of Letterman’s DNA was his radio broadcasting roots, providing him with the fundamentals to become a runaway success on TV. Here’s Stern’s money quote:
“He was a broadcaster. When you’re on television and drag people through quarter-hours, which is really the job in a nutshell, how do you make someone sit through commercials? How do you make them feel so compelled to sit in front of a TV when they’re dead tired and have to get up to work the next day? A broadcaster knows how to do it. It’s not about the joke. It’s about being compelling, and it’s about being a leader so people want to follow you and want to hear your every word.”
The same could be said of Stern. As his empire expanded after leaving broadcast radio, the blocking and tackling, that mandatory need to be essential, and earning a position of trust in the collective mind of the audience are still the key components that can propel any show business career – whether it’s hosting a late night talk show, being a cast member on a reality TV show, or doing mornings in Bakersfield.
I have met morning talent who thought they understood Stern’s appeal – believing that because his show sounded like a casual conversation, it was obviously unprepared and loose. They couldn’t have been further from the truth.
In Letterman’s case, many of the skills that he perfected while on the radio translated wonderfully to TV, especially benchmarks. Letterman’s “Stupid Pet Tricks,” along with the iconic “Top 10 List,” kept audiences coming back night after night. He may have borrowed some of those tricks from his early radio days, but it’s noteworthy that so many radio hosts stole them right back for their shows.
I recently spent time with Jeff Smulyan whose parent company was Letterman’s boss at WNTS-AM in Indianapolis. He has fond memories about Dave’s early years as the midday guy. Back in 1997 in a cover story in Indianapolis Monthly, Jeff had this to say about Letterman’s early days on the radio:
“When he took the job, he said, ‘I’m gonna try to make it in Hollywood.’ The guy who replaced him was Rick Cummings, the first employee here at Emmis. David also bought shares in Emmis and was on the board for a while before it went public. We don’t see each other often anymore, but I always thought he was the most brilliant, funniest human being who ever lived. I just think he’s incredible.”
So it comes down to the basics – having that God-given talent, but honing those skills and gaining a fundamental understanding of human behavior, emotions, and connections – assets that both Letterman and Stern have mastered well beyond their early radio years.
As for Cummings, he did pretty well for himself, too.
Thanks to J LaLonde for the tip on this story.
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Great point: No one had longer stopsets on radio than Stern! Much like TV. This is a great article that makes the connection between Letterman and Stern. Obviously they had a lot of the same DNA but you could also see the mutual admiration whenever Howard and Dave were together on Letterman’s show.
Yup – like two kindred geniuses who quickly came to realize they shared many of the skills and values. Thanks for the comment, Jack.
I had the great pleasure of growing up in Indianapolis, listening to Dave hone his talents on local TV, then on WNTS almost every day he was on the station. Even back then, it was clear that this guy had something special. I’ve also listened to early Howard Stern airchecks, and he showed the same qualities.
I used to tell my Air Personalities that Howard Stern was the best format jock in America and they’d look at me like I had three heads. But even when he was on broadcast, Howard knew how to keep the interest level up throughout the show, tease what’s coming up before and after the breaks, and get his audience to act and respond exactly the way he wanted them to. Very few people in radio (or television) have the keen understanding and intellect to figure out how the game works and how to play it better than anyone else, making it sound completely improvised and natural while calculating every move.
It takes humanity, superior intelligence, and an understanding of human behavior that many think they have but very few do to become a true “broadcaster” like Letterman, Stern, Carson, and the legendary local Air Personalities whose names deserve to be mentioned here but won’t be because I’d surely leave someone who should be on the list out. We’re losing that generation of truly great broadcasters and the people who employed them and let them develop their skills every time they cracked the mic or walked on camera. There will never be another Letterman, another Stern, or a climate to let the next heirs to the throne grow and prosper.
Mark, thanks for the note and the insights. There’s no question that Howard has an innate ability and great instincts. To me, the genius is that he took that talent and then honed his craft, learning from every job, perfecting those skills. I know that at moments like this with Stern being out of commercial radio for a decade, and Letterman moving on that it’s easy to conclude there will never be others like them. But I think they’re out there, and they’re bubbling under. We have to find them, give them a shot, and see how it works out. I know the climate is a lot more arduous, but that’s not just a radio thing. I appreciate the comments, Mark, and would welcome a return comment as well as others who wish to chime in.
Fred, I think the fragmented media landscape we now live and work in makes it harder for “the next big thing” to emerge. Not that he/she won’t, it’s just so difficult to cut through the noise. For example, when Letterman hosted “Freeze Dried Movies” late Saturday nights on WLWI (now WTHR) in Indianapolis, there were four or five TV stations serving the market. I don’t remember if the PBS station had signed on yet. Add to that that the other TV stations in town (and a few radio stations as well) signed off not too long after midnight, and Dave’s off the wall show had a big built-in share of voice. Sadly, it doesn’t work the same way in the world of 200 channels, video on demand, and nothing to watch.
Howard and Dave are bigger than the platforms they perform on. They’re almost “universal stars”, like Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra were. What one act can you mention that everyone from 12 to 75 will recognize today? Maybe the Rolling Stones. maybe Paul McCartney. Not Jenna Marbles or Adam Corolla or Meghan Trainor. Sure, they’re all stars in one or two platforms, but they don’t have the opportunity to build universal appeal that the stars of the last few generations did. Add to that the relative lack of visionary leaders in all forms of media, and it’s harder for someone with even huge amounts of raw talent to find an employer who really believes in them and will put up with a slow start in the interest of long term reward. Bob Iger and ABC are doing it with Jimmy Kimmel and there are probably a handful of radio GM’s doing it with local Air Personalities we just haven’t heard about yet. But there aren’t enough of those leaders to foster creativity, encourage failure in the name of progress, and accept experimentation as there used to be and should be.
I believe with every fiber of my being that there won’t be another Stern, Letterman, Carson, Hope, Sinatra, and other multi-platform superstars. Not because the uber talented aren’t out there, but because it’s so much harder to get noticed on a number of platforms and become universally popular.
You may be right, Mark, that the long tail makes it difficult for there to be another King (or Queen) of All Media. It won’t be the same, but it will be different. Sean Waldron’s comments about Ryan Seacrest may describe that next generation of talent – radio, TV, production, etc. My point is that there are incredibly talented people out there and while they may not end up being as expansively successful as a Sinatra or a Stern, success will be defined differently. Thanks for continuing this dialogue. And to think I figured this would be a slow holiday week!
Not that Jimmy Fallon is a radio guy but he has taken the Letterman/radio model and run with it. Fallon does a lot of bits. When done well benchmarks translate to the digital age because not only are you getting people to tune in to see the regularly scheduled bit but benchmarks also transition seamlessly into the digital landscape. For instance I may not watch Fallon every night but when he does a “classroom instrument” bit I watch online the next day.
Speaking to Mark’s excellent points, while it is true that the media landscape is fragmented now more than ever I still believe there are opportunities for rare talent to grow and flourish. Doing what Dave did and transitioning from radio to TV has always been difficult but more recently Ryan Seacrest has made the jump. He is a different brand of broadcaster but he did do it. We won’t see the likes of David Letterman again but we will see a successful broadcaster thrive nationally as he did. For that to happen though it is the responsibility of broadcast companies to nurture talent which includes coaching and mentorship. That is still being done in many markets just not to the extent that it once was. Radio need not look any further than Howard Stern for a lesson on how important it is to be constantly developing new talent. Like a great NFL quarterback hosts that can transcend markets are truly rare but just like great QBs an exceptionally talented host must be taught the fundamentals and put in a position to succeed early in order for it to pay off later.
Sean, I’m with you. It’s different, but it’s the same. The same work ethic, instincts, and sensibilities are still in place and they matter. I think the fact that Howard put that out there to explain how Dave did it should be inspirational for broadcasters (and other entertainers) to learn from the greats. Thanks again.
By the way Fred that article you retweeted yesterday, sent to you from J LaLonde as credited above, dovetails perfectly with this article. Leslie Moonves was echoing some of the statements that Howard Stern made about how in many ways being number two benefitted Letterman. Moonves makes an important point in the quote below from that New York Times article that the weight that image holds can trump the bottom line. Obviously CBS had to make money on The Late Show but they didn’t force Letterman to be something he wasn’t and water down the product just to say their talk show was number one. In other words, if one of your products is considered cutting edge you don’t have to be number one because that reputation will benefit your entire brand and not just the one show. Not to beat a dead horse but that is a lesson radio still needs to learn.
“We were still making a profit. It’s not like we were losing money,” Mr. Moonves said. “One of the things about my job is the image of the corporation. That matters on Wall Street. Yes, the bottom line is important, but guess what? The business has changed rapidly, and it was really important to us from an image perspective to have the best guy on at late night.” – John Koblin, from the New York Times quoting Leslie Moonves
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/business/media/prickly-innovator-counts-down-to-his-exit-from-late-night.html?_r=0
It’s a great line, Sean. And it says a lot about the power of imaging and brands. Appreciate you weighing in.
The path is different and it remains to be seen whether it will be easier or harder to become the next Letterman/Stern. On the one hand, number of radio opportunities is way down. The usual bullpens of nights and small markets are almost all tracked now, so most likely the next generation of stars will have to hone their skills somewhere other than radio.
But there are so many new places to polish a craft with fewer barriers to entry than even nights in Grand Forks used to have. Anyone can podcast, blog, and/or become a YouTube star and some of the biggest make a lot of money at it. Andy Samberg was discovered on YouTube and now he’s a well respected comedy actor. Production tools are cheap and available. The downside is you have to somehow create your own audience – there’s no platform with built in listeners where you can start with nothing like radio anymore.
It may well be that Letterman’s retirement and Howard’s reaching for the golden parachute are signals from two of the masters that the days of media kings are in fact over. Time will tell if there can be another one and if so, what their platform will be.
Bob, I think you’ve laid out a smart argument about how the changing times/technologies will redefine how personalities will establish themselves in the digital world. And you’re right – it will be different from the way past media kings have done it. Thanks for a great comment.