Monday, November 01, 2010 10:56 AM
“I’ve Gone from Erection Radio to Election Radio” — Jack Silver –excerpt from LARadio.com by Don Barrett.
(November 1, 2010) Bill Moran, entertainment veteran talk show host (KABC, KFI, et al) and 14 years with Billboard Magazine, hosted another industry Talk radio seminar Thursday night at the LA Press Club and this was his best one yet. Perhaps it was the intimate setting of the Steve Allen Theatre where the assembled leaders of the Talk radio community shared their thoughts on the state of the business. (Photo: Robin Bertolucci, John Kobylt, Michael Harrison, Jack Silver, and Patt Morrison on stage at the LA Press Club)’Jack Silver, new pd at KABC, confessed that he was still learning the mainstream talk business from his years at FM Talk, KLSX. “I’ve gone from ‘erection radio’ to ‘election radio,’” he quipped. Michael Harrison, editor/owner of TALKERS magazine and former Talk show host at KMET, flew out for the panel from his home base in Springfield, Massachusetts to talk about the world beyond LA Talk radio. Patt Morrison, host of a show at KPCC at 1 p.m. each day, represented the world of public radio. John Kobylt, owner of the afternoon drive ratings in Southern California radio, along with his partner Ken Chiampou, rushed over from his afternoon drive shift at KFI and riding shotgun with John was his boss and program director Robin Bertolucci.
John talked about the fact that the 30-minute interview with Whitman was commercial free and praised Robin for making that happen. “I knew we needed a different setting. We needed her to come in alone without any of her handlers. We go commercial free so she can’t run out during a commercial break or take a text message. She couldn’t catch her breath. We have five tv cameras in the studio, including one of our own that we videotaped to put on the website. The tv lights were very hot. She is sitting there sweating. She can’t leave. If she storms out she has five tv cameras and that tape loop will run for the rest of her life. We had her trapped and we were very unusually prepared. We looked at it like a prosecution. We wouldn’t let her go back to her talking points.”
