I had a chance to talk with a number of "Sports Radio' broadcasters recently and it was rejuvenating! We have a lot of great thinkers and doers in our format. There were so many great points - I want to share a few of them with you.

On PPM: Bruce Gilbert who heads Red Zebra for Daniel Snyder (ESPN 980 in DC). " It's all about the appointments. It's not about getting them to listen long each time. It's about the number of times you can get them to listen." Occasions are a huge driver in PPM. While we all want to try and get listeners to stay longer each time they tune in often their lifestyle and the demands they face don't allow it. Creating something special to bring them back works (provided the content is great). On the sales side of PPM Gilbert believes we have to retrain our sellers to sell the cume! Don't get hung up on lower TSL, That is a function of the cume that went unreported in the diary system but is captured by the PPM. Sell the cume!!

John Kijowski who runs the St. Louis operation for Bonneville which includes 101 ESPN Googled the most influential people in St. Louis and came up with a great contact list. The next step is to send them a personal letter letting them know about 101 ESPN (which signed on January 1) and to get their feedback on the station. The idea behind the project - make sure that people in the influential circle of your community are aware of your station and what you do. It's about building relationships - a key component for success with any Sports Radio station.

What do you think? Share your ideas and feedback with us.

More ideas and insight from other conversations are coming this week!