Audacy Tour Recap
Posted by [email protected] on Nov. 22, 2023 / Subscribe 0
Located at 2400 Market Street, Audacy is a giant in broadcasting, home to B101, KYW Newsradio 103.9 and 1060AM, SportsRadio 94WIP, BIG 98.1 WOGL, New 965, Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Home of Eagles Radio Network and Phillies Radio Network. Last week, they graciously hosted 20+ PPRA professionals for a behind-the-scenes tour of their beautiful headquarters – led by Michael Steinberg, Senior Account Executive focused on Integrated Marketing and Sponsorships, as well as KYW Brand Manager (aka Program Director) Kristina "Luca" Koppesar – followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with Audacy staff and newsmakers.
On the tour, Steinberg explained the strategy behind choosing the location at 2400 Market St. when planning Audacy’s new corporate headquarters, as well as the history behind the name Audacy itself. Why Audacy? Steinberg explained that as CBS and Entercom merged in 2017, brand confusion emerged. This new multi-platform company would not be focused solely on radio but broadcasting beyond the traditional radio format, so its new name should reflect that reach. Their product is audio, it’s audacious, and they put that together to form Audacy.
Walking through Audacy’s offices, it became clear just what a media giant they are. We began with SportRadio WIP, discussing recent host changes and what it means to be the official home of the Philadelphia Eagles. Insider scoop: If you listen to WIP, you’ve likely heard the words “Live from the Tastykake Studio.” We were lucky enough to witness the Tastykake wall (yes, it’s a real thing!) be replenished (or get a Tastykake “re-up” as former Eagles defensive end and WIP host Hugh Douglas says) as we walked past.
The group was taken inside the traffic center with Justin Drabick (don’t worry, he was on a break) to witness the one-stop-shop and learn the truth behind Audacy’s boast that “all traffic reporters are Grammy Award-winning freestyle rappers.” The tour continued with KYW (they have two dedicated studios), and the names kept coming: 1210 WPHT, New 96.5, 98.1, B101… as we saw first-hand, Audacy is a leader in spoken word and sports; in fact, they’re the #1 media company in terms of sports rights properties.
Following the tour, PPRA attendees were invited to sit down for a panel presentation and conversation with Luca Koppesar, KYW News Director Kevin McCorry, and KYW Community Impact reporter Racquel Williams. Each gave the group an overview of their own professional histories and the work they’re doing here in Philadelphia then invited a Q&A time from the group.
Quick takeaways from the conversation included:
- Making sure you get to the heart of an issue in a pitch. Avoiding pitches that are clearly transactional and only for the benefit of a client rather than noteworthy for the Philadelphia region and/or related to a recent trend/recent news story.
- Know the reporter’s beat before pitching.
- Are press releases still important or relevant? The answer is yes. (For KYW, the press release is particularly helpful to their digital team.)
- Remember, radio has a FAST turnaround. If you’re emailing someone for a radio interview, have your interviewee ready to go within 24 hours.
- What about AI? Chat GPT can be helpful in some ways, but these reporters can tell when AI is creating a pitch or email, reminding us all that we need still human intervention and human curation.
- And finally, don’t assume everyone who works in Philadelphia-based news is aware of the city or the little things about it.
Special thanks to everyone at Audacy for hosting us for this thought-provoking morning behind the scenes.
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