Hey {name},

Here's your Local Radio Newsletter for June 14, 2026. Enjoy!

As a convenience, you may view and download a PDF of the current and back issues; instructions are at the end of this email.

Comments? Questions? Phone 949-533-4912 or email info@localradionewsletter.com.

Have a great week!

Best,

Jay

JAY MITCHELL
Publisher

SALES

AI Prompt for Sales Calls

By Rick Murphy

Here’s a copy/paste prompt you can plug in to your favorite AI engine to create a complete radio sales call plan for a local business:

Business Name And Category: [Insert Business Name And Category]

Location: [Insert Location]

The goal is to help a radio sales professional prepare for a live sales visit. The plan must be practical, local, direct, and useful in conversation. Focus on how radio builds recognition, repetition, familiarity, and helps the business become the known name in the market. Avoid generic marketing fluff.

Format the plan in the following sections.

Section 1. Market Reality List

List the following for this business category:

1. The top 10 daily operational pain points.
2. The top 5 emotional or unspoken stress points the owner may not admit.
3. The top 5 revenue leaks common in this type of business.

Keep all points realistic for an independent business with fewer than 50 employees.

Section 2. Discovery Strategy

For each of the top 5 pain points, provide:

1. One strong open-ended discovery question.
2. One deeper follow-up question.
3. What the salesperson should listen for in the answer.

Make each pain point and each question bold.

Section 3. Radio Alignment

For each of the top 5 pain points, provide:

1. A radio strategy tied to recognition, repetition, and familiarity.
2. A short explanation of how consistent radio reduces that pain.
3. One short positioning line the salesperson can say in the meeting.

Section 4. Objection Anticipation

List the top 5 objections this business category may give about radio.

For each objection, provide:

1. A calm response under 20 seconds.
2. A tie-back to local recognition, consistency, and becoming familiar in the market.

Section 5. The Bridge

Write:

1. A 20-second transition from discovery into radio that does not sound salesy.
2. A 15-second close asking for a next step with a specific date and time.

Section 6. Clean Question List

Create a clean numbered list of all discovery and follow-up questions.

Use 14-point type for this section.

[Page Break]

Sales Call Field Sheet

Create a separate one-page printable Sales Call Field Sheet that a sales rep can carry into the meeting and leave with the client.

Title it with the company name.

Focus mainly on the pain point questions the client can think about after the salesperson leaves.

Do not ask the client, “Where did you hear about us?” or any version of that question.

Use 12-point type for the Field Sheet.

Style Rules

Use short, clear paragraphs.

Cut down extra spacing between sentences.

Turn short sentence fragments into logical paragraphs.

Make the writing sound local, practical, and direct.

Make every answer usable in a real sales conversation.

Do not use generic marketing language.

Using artificial intelligence intelligently can save you time and make you money!

Rick L. Murphy owns Murphy Broadcasting, with nine Arizona radio stations. He has built or operated 32 stations. An inventor, author, pilot, former whitewater rafting guide, and founder of an international sales software company, Rick worked in Hollywood for Merv Griffin and Sammy Davis Jr. He was later sent to Romania through the Citizens Democracy Corps, founded by President George H. W. Bush and Henry Kissinger, to help privatize radio after the fall of the Communist Iron Curtain.

PROGRAMMING

What Buffett Taught Me About Radio

By Gary Berkowitz

I recently read an interview with “The Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett. It struck me how many of his investing principles apply directly to radio programming, and that's the subject of AC Programming Today.

When Buffett made investment decisions as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, he focused on one thing above all else: facts. He believed opinions and emotions usually lead people in the wrong direction. Here are Warren's quotes, followed by my "spin" on programming.

BUFFETT: “Being contrarian has no special virtue over being a trend follower.” Buffett says the key is gathering facts and focusing on what is “important and knowable.”

Radio Translation: If you know me, you’ve heard me say it before: I’d much rather argue facts than opinions. That matters more than ever today because radio is flooded with opinions. Social media comments. Text messages. Internal feedback. Everybody has a take. But not every opinion matters. Example: “Everybody says this song is burned out.” Maybe. Maybe not. If the music research still shows strong passion and familiarity, the facts matter more than hallway chatter. The same goes for listeners who say, “You play the same songs over and over.” Sometimes they simply dislike one song and notice it every time it plays. Good programmers know the difference between anecdotal noise and actionable information.

BUFFETT: “If something’s important but unknowable, forget it.” Buffett’s point is simple: don’t build strategy around fear or speculation.

Radio Translation: You don’t know what’s going to happen in your market. You don’t know if a competitor is flipping formats, if ownership strategy will change, or what new technology is around the corner. What you can control is whether your station sounds great today. Too many stations spend time reacting to rumors and hypothetical disasters that never happen. The stations winning today are usually focused on execution: better music, stronger personalities, cleaner imaging, and consistency.

BUFFETT: “What others are doing means nothing.”

Radio Translation: One of radio’s biggest mistakes is overreacting to competitors. Programmers track every move another station makes, while listeners are simply living their lives. Most are not comparing stations with a scorecard. Listeners want familiarity, mood, ease, and connection. Strong brands win because they consistently deliver those things, not because they copy every trend in the market.

BUFFETT: Buffett also warned investors against obsessing over short-term swings.

Radio Translation: Today’s programmers have more data than ever: PPM, streaming numbers, app usage, and social metrics. That information matters, but only if you interpret it correctly. Not every bad week requires a format tweak. Not every negative comment requires a music change. Not every competitor move deserves a response.

My son Michael is a first officer with United Airlines. I once asked him what happens when he flies through clouds and can’t see anything in front of him. His answer was simple:

“In bad weather, pilots trust their instruments.” Radio programmers should do the same.

Trust the research.

Trust the strategy.

Trust the discipline.

Gary Berkowitz is a consultant specializing in Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary formats. Reach Gary at (248) 737-3727 or gary@garyberk.com, or visit www.garyberk.com.

PROMOTIONS

July Opportunities

Business

The following businesses have above-average sales in the month of July:

• All Retail Sales
• Appliance Stores
• Auto Dealers (New)
• Auto Dealers (Used)
• Auto Parts, Accessories, and Tire Stores
• Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
• Building Supply Stores
• Drugstores
• Family Clothing Stores
• Food and Beverage Stores
• Full-Service Restaurants
• Furniture Stores
• Gasoline Stations
• Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
• Grocery Stores
• Hardware Stores
• Health and Personal Care Stores
• Home Furnishings
• Office Supply Stores
• Paint and Wallpaper Stores
• Shoe Stores
• Sporting Goods Stores
• Supermarkets
• Warehouse Clubs and Superstores

—RAB Top Business Trends

Promotional

Months

• Alopecia Areata Month for Women
• Air-Conditioning Appreciation Days (July 3-Aug 15)
• Blood Type Awareness Month
• Blueberry Month
• Cellphone Courtesy Month
• Deli Salad Month
• Dog Days (July 3-Aug 11)
• Doghouse Repairs Month
• Dry Eye Awareness Month
• Grilling Month
• Horseradish Month
• Hot Dog Month
• Ice Cream Month
• Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month
• Make a Difference to Children Month
• Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
• Park and Recreation Month
• Sarcoma Awareness Month
• Smart Irrigation Month
• Watercolor Month
• Watermelon Month
• Women's Motorcycle Month

Weeks

• July 4-10—National Marijuana Facts Week
• July 5-11—Be Nice To New Jersey Week
• July 12-18—National Farriers Week
• July 12-19—Sports Cliché Week
• July 18-26—National Moth Week
• July 19-25—Captive Nations Week

Days

• July 1—National Nil Day
• July 2—World Porcupine Day
• July 3—American Sparkling Wine Day
• July 3—Compliment-Your-Mirror Day
• July 3—Independence Day Observed
• July 3—National Crown Day
• July 3—Stay Out Of The Sun Day
• July 4, 1776—Independence Day: 250th Anniversary of U.S. Independence
• July 4—United Nations: International Day Of Cooperatives
• July 6—Take Your Webmaster To Lunch Day
• July 8—SCUD Day (Savor The Comic, Unplug The Drama)
• July 9—Deadhead Day
• July 10—Don't Step On A Bee Day
• July 10—National Kitten Day
• July 10—National Motorcycle Day
• July 11—Make Your Own Sundae Day
• July 11—United Nations: World Population Day
• July 12—Different Colored Eyes Day
• July 12—United Nations: International Day Of Combating Sand And Dust Storms
• July 12—United Nations: International Day Of Hope
• July 13—Be Your Own Hero Day
• July 13—Embrace Your Geekness Day
• July 13—Gruntled Workers Day
• July 13—International Town Criers Day
• July 13—National Beef Tallow Day
• July 13—National French Fry Day
• July 15—International Balloon Dog Day
• July 15—National Hot Dog Day
• July 15—Take Your Poet To Work Day
• July 15—United Nations: World Youth Skills Day
• July 16—National Atomic Veterans Day
• July 17—Park And Recreation Professionals Day
• July 17—World Emoji Day
• July 18—National Woodie Wagon Day
• July 18—Toss Away The "Could Haves" And "Should Haves" Day
• July 18—United Nations: Nelson Mandela International Day
• July 18—Women's Dive Day
• July 19—National Ice Cream Day
• July 20—National Get Out Of The Doghouse Day
• July 20—United Nations: World Chess Day
• July 21—No Pet Store Puppies Day
• July 22—National Be A Good Teammate Day
• July 22—Rat-Catchers Day
• July 23—Hot Enough For Ya Day
• July 24—Cousins Day: 30th Anniversary
• July 24—National Drive-Thru Day
• July 25—National Day Of The Cowboy
• July 25—United Nations: World Drowning Prevention Day
• July 26—Auntie's Day®
• July 26—International Day For The Conservation Of The Mangrove Ecosystem
• July 27—National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day
• July 27—Take Your Houseplants For A Walk Day
• July 27—Walk On Stilts Day
• July 28—World Hepatitis Day
• July 29—Global Tiger Day
• July 30—National Cheesecake Day
• July 30—United Nations: International Day Of Friendship
• July 30—United Nations: World Day Against Trafficking In Persons
• July 31—World Ranger Day

—Chase's 2026 Calendar of Events

OTHER VOICES

News Radio’s Most Severe Silencing Hits Rural America

Network news, public funding, and local on-air talent are all being stripped out of American radio

American radio is dying faster, reaching populations newspapers never did, and getting a fraction of the coverage. And I think we have about five weeks before the most underreported structural media story of 2026 lands in everyone’s lap all at once.

The collapse is concentrated in places that had no fallback to begin with, and that geography is mostly absent from the national coverage. A metro desk cut in Cleveland or Denver still leaves residents with TV affiliates and a crowded field of digital startups competing for their attention.

If we are to have a serious conversation about the state of local news and the structural flaws that create news deserts, we must truly consider the cost of losing an essential medium to millions of Americans.

A small rural AM signal going dark in South Dakota or rural Alaska often leaves nothing behind it. Broadband does not reliably stream out there, cell coverage drops in the canyons, and the last weekly paper folded a decade ago. The AM signal was what was left. Federal funding was the thin subsidy keeping it lit, and that subsidy is now gone.

Strip out the public money and the network feed in the same year, and what disappears in rural America is the apparatus that carries wildfire evacuation orders and tornado warnings to households who cannot get them any other way. Journalism was bundled into that infrastructure, and most rural listeners could not separate the two if you asked them.

—Luis G., Substack

CREATIVE

How to Make A List of Items Work In a Commercial

By Jeffrey Hedquist

A fellow broadcaster writes with a client challenge that you may have experienced:

They expect me to name each article being sold, the price, the hours, the location, the owner’s name…AGHHHHHHHHH!!!

Of course they do. They assume it’s a print ad. Your client is interested in the details of their business and forgets that the public doesn’t share that interest.

V1: Is your kid a future Olympic athlete, or an intramural goof around? This is the stuff they’ll need.

V2: Wilson basketball $xx.xx Adidas track shoes $xx.xx. Under Armour T-shirt $xx.xx. (list continues under)

V1: Their sports may change, but there’s one place to get the gear they’ll need to be their best – Jack’s Sports Emporium, and when it’s time to get that…

V2: (in the clear) Rawlings catcher’s mitt $xx.xx. (List continues under)

But listeners want to have their problems solved, to feel better, to be happier. All those items can help achieve those goals, but you need to tell a story about the listener.

Example:

Music: dramatic, building (under)

This is the hot dipped galvanized screw that holds down the end of one of the 114 planks in Ralph Johnson’s deck. After hundreds of barbeques, dozens of kids’ parties, a few raucous family reunions and 48 seasons of weather, it’s still holding firm. That’s because the experienced guys at Luckman Hardware knew which of the 53 kinds of screws they carry would be the best choice. Luckman’s – all the stuff you’ll need, from folks who know how to use it.

In some cases, you can turn a list into a story.

V1: …Jack’s will have it. In their size, etc.

Start the commercial with a provocative or relatable opening audio headline. Use the list of items and prices your client insists on including in the background and bring specific items to the foreground as you tell a story. End with a callback to the opening of the commercial.

Your client will be happy, future customers will be served and you’ll get better results.

Jeffrey Hedquist, “Advertising’s Storyteller,” has won over 700 awards for clients in 45 states. Hedquist Productions’ commercials have brought in millions of dollars for clients, and his articles, ebooks, seminars, and coaching have helped stations nationwide prosper. He’s the author of 60-Second Copywriter, Top Ten Radio Writers’ Block Busters, and How to Sell More on the Radio Using Stories, available on his website.

THE HOFFMAN REPORT

Ethics in Advertising and Other Fairy Tales

By Bob Hoffman

In 2020 marketers instituted a boycott against Facebook because of its publishing practices. Mark Zuckerberg told his staff, “All these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough. We’re not gonna change our policies or approach.” He was right.

Last month the guilty verdicts against Meta, Google et. al. in the New Mexico and LA court cases exploded in the news and gave a lot of people the opportunity to unload on the platforms. Much venom was spilled in the direction of Zuckerberg and his tech billionaire friends.

While I have nothing but contempt for the creeps that run the social media publishing industry, I can't find an acceptable answer to this question: "Why aren't the puppet masters at least as guilty as the puppets?"

We—the advertising and marketing industry—are the bank. We are funding all of the harm the social media industry is doing to kids. Meta gets over 97% of its revenue from advertising. Every horrifying thing they are doing, we are funding:

• Exposure to dangerously inappropriate content? We're funding it.
• Mental health harm? We're funding it.
• Online addiction & attention damage? We're funding it.
• Cyberbullying & social cruelty? We're funding it.
• Sexual exploitation & grooming? We're funding it.
• Distorted identity & body image issues? We're funding it.
• Disturbing porn finding its way to pre-teens? We're funding it.
• Political & ideological radicalization? We're funding it.
• Gross manipulation by influencers? We're funding it.

We are the one-and-only reason for all this dirty work. The platforms want our ad dollars. And the more the platforms deliver what we want, the more money we feed them.

We have been hiding behind the skirts of the online platforms for years and pretending we have no part in it. It's all a lie. It's a giant lie. It is organized crime on a global scale. And we are financing it.

The "Tobacco Moment?" Not So Fast

The cliche of the week has been that the social media platforms' courtroom losses were their "tobacco moment"—the moment that society would wake up and end their reign of terror.

Count me as officially skeptical. Here are the reasons I'm skeptical:

Follow the money. Tobacco earned its money from the public. The public cares about its health. That's why the public abandoned tobacco.

The social media industry earns its money from the advertising industry. As noted above, the advertising industry doesn't give a flying shit about public health. Consequently we will not abandon the social media industry. We will continue to finance them.

Meta and Google have more corporate lawyers than Brooklyn has tattooed baristas. They will never give up. The LA loss cost them $6,000,000 in fines and damages. Based on Meta's market cap, I have calculated that they have enough money to lose a case like this every day for the next 500 years and still have billions left.

Meta and Google have circumvented the courts for years. They will continue to do so. They make a big fuss about the 'unfairness' of the cases they lose. But behind closed doors they giggle at the pitiful fines and damages they are asked to pay.

Despite the fact that there are thousands of pending cases against social media platforms, both the LA and New Mexico court cases were not fought over the appalling content these platforms publish, but over side issues like mental health and public safety. These are not easy cases to prove. The terrible content the platforms are publishing is protected by the dreadful 1996 Decency in Media Act (Section 230.) This is something that must change.

Bob Hoffman is a prolific writer and sought-after speaker. He has written seven books about advertising, each of which has been an Amazon #1 seller, and he has been invited to speak in 24 countries.

Published by Jay Mitchell Associates, Inc. | 703 Fresh Pond Avenue, Suite 110, Calverton, NY 11933 | Phone 949-533-4912 | Fax 631-727-8320 | Email | Website

Publisher & Editor: Jay Mitchell | Contributing Editors: Pat Bryson, Jeffrey Hedquist, Jon Holiday | Editorial Assistants Gemma Nye, Chatura Gupta | Founder, Bob Doll (1933-2010) | ISSN 1074-0082 | Since 1983 | © 2026 Jay Mitchell Associates, Inc.

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