Sadly, he's now got a power position, writing his thoughts at a website. Hoo-ahh, Bloomquist's a columnist, the final refuge of a consultant! Here's his latest, on talent payment.
The Bottom Line on Paying Talk Talent
While the job market for talk show hosts is still tighter than Clark Howard, vacancies continue to appear as a result of retirements, career advancements and, yes, budget cuts. There is also increasing industry talk about investing in local talent that can take advantage of the hoped-for economic recovery.
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How are stations deciding what to pay hosts in this environment? There are two factors at play. First, the talent glut has driven host compensation to new lows -- and stations are rightfully taking full advantage of that reality. Second, personal relationships, tenure and other ‘soft’ factors are giving way to a more steely-eyed bottom-line evaluation of talent pay.
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Taz Media President Jim Taszarek likes to emphasize incentives. As GM of KTAR/Phoenix, he paid hosts a salary “on the low side,” but gave them $100 per week for every live endorsement client, up to eight clients per week. A host who built his audience and did a good job for clients could earn as much as $800 extra per week -- $40,000 additional per year. According to Taz, “The hosts stayed happy, cooperative -- and loved the station.”
Thought: What about paying a host purely on spots? He could receive commission on what the station sells, or be allowed to sell a significant percentage of the spots in their show. Such revenue sharing deals are increasingly common in the print and on-line media, where writers are paid on a percentage of the traffic or ad revenues generated by their stories.
This isn’t a new concept in radio. For several years, Clear Channel’s Sportsradio 910/Richmond had a morning host who was compensated solely with inventory – several spots in his show and a small number in other day parts. The host (who was a passable talent with deep local roots) made a six-figure income, and the station was local in mornings – something it otherwise could not afford.
Obviously, Bloomquist hasn't investigated the sell-your-own-spots market sufficiently to understand how Mark Klose developed his income here that way and how Frank O. Pinion has made millions selling three lives an hour beginning years ago.
Bloomquist=jerk.
