| Contents > Talkback radio: power and perception by Liz Gould |
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Commercial influence
Contemporary talkback radio has groomed a small number of professionals who hold considerable commercial clout; in addition to being paid large salaries many of the metropolitan radio talkback hosts also hold supplementary commercial contracts. Since the 1970s, John Laws has set the benchmark for active product endorsement, quickly becoming known in the industry as a master salesman (see McGregor, 1979). He has most famously become a patron for Toyota automobiles and his contract with automotive products company Valvoline, begun in 1990, runs until his death (Hornery & Wyld, 2002). Over his long career in radio, Laws has also penned poetry books, and inspired two (authorised) autobiographies. He holds commercial agreements with a number of sizeable corporations: Qantas, Toyota, Valvoline, McGuigan Simeon Wines, Sony BMG Music, Biomedica, Dymocks, Telstra, Key Sun Laboratories, and Insurance Australia Limited. His practice of offering advertisers a ‘live-read’ for an extra fee has become commonplace for many of the high profile metropolitan hosts; these ‘personal endorsement’ contracts are generally offered only to those hosts with an established name and sufficiently large audience to attract advertisers). Neil Mitchell in Melbourne is an exception; Mitchell refuses to do product endorsements not wanting to create a conflict of interest’ (Linnell, 1999, p28).
Recently retired late night talkback host, Stan Zemanek, is possibly the most entrepreneurial personality on Australian radio; his wide-ranging interests exceed Laws’ in number and range, though not in terms of wealth creation. Zemanek is the Chairman of Metro Media Corporation Pty Ltd (an umbrella organisation comprising Advertising consultancy, Financial Services, and Media Communications). Zemanek also has an eponymous Home Loans business, and is chair of PR company The Publicity Machine. He performs at corporate speaking engagements and promotes and sells a Stan Zemanek merchandise range – mugs, keyrings and a cabaret album.
Over the years, many talkback hosts have also fostered a media presence outside of radio. Zemanek, following in the footsteps of radio greats such as Eric Baume, has a long-running involvement with the provocative women’s television chat-show Beauty & the Beast. Derryn Hinch and Alan Jones have both attempted heading television current affairs programs (although both returned to radio). John Laws has hosted television series, and worked as a columnist for Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph. Neil Mitchell writes for Melbourne’s Herald Sun. Others, particularly those in Sydney and Melbourne, have established careers across television and radio including Bert Newton, Ernie Sigley, Ross Stevenson, Steve Liebmann, and Tim Webster.
Arguably the most powerful man in radio today, the agenda-driven king of Sydney talk-radio, Alan Jones, presents daily commentaries on the Today show on Channel 9. This agreement has been held since 1995 between TCN Channel Nine and his production company ‘Belford Productions’. Jones is also the face of the 2GB book club, reviewing several books a month, and has released a CD entitled Alan Jones Nostalgic Favourites (2GB, 2006). He also endorses DVD titles through EzyDVD online (see EzyDVD, 2006). However, Jones’ business interests are far more extensive than his public declarations indicate, veiled by the three ‘production’ companies he controls: Belford Productions, Nadarci, and Hadiac. He also has equity interests in two Macquarie Network radio stations, his home radio station 2GB as well as Sydney station 2CH. Both Nadarci and Hadiac also have interests in these stations (AMCA, 2006, p16). Widely reported at the time he also allegedly negotiated a 20% equity share in station 2GB’s profits after his defection from 2UE (ABA, 2003).
The commercial nature of talkback is a defining value underpinning the production of talkback radio programmes. Not only do advertisements make up a considerable portion of the on-air program, the station – as a business – relies on substantial advertising revenue. The Southern Cross broadcasting network, for example, which includes stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, reports that flagship station 2UE generates advertising revenue of around $190 million and Melbourne station 3AW generates $122 million (Southern Cross Broadcasting, 2006). Talk radio uses more advertising than its musical counterparts and the higher salaries of its stars rely on higher profits from this advertising. The talk radio industry also markets itself to advertisers as a far more effective advertising medium than music radio, claiming greater attentiveness and engagement amongst talk radio listeners.
While the industry is generally candid about its reliance on commercial revenue, in 1999 the ABC’s Media Watch programme revealed that in the case of a number of high profile industry figures, the receipt (and therefore the influence) of commercial funding was not transparent. The subsequent regulatory inquiry – into what was dubbed the Cash for Comment affair – revealed that a number of high profile talkback hosts were duplicitously accepting money to endorse products and companies without disclosing these agreements, compromising a position of public responsibility and violating broadcasting regulations (see Kirkpatrick, 2000). Investigating the business affairs number of high profile talkback hosts, including Laws, Alan Jones, Jeremy Cordeaux in Adelaide and Howard Sattler in Perth, the broadcasting regulator determined that a number of talkback radio hosts had been remiss in declaring all commercial interests, and that henceforth all radio announcers must openly declare all commercial affiliations. Adelaide broadcaster and station owner Jeremy Cordeaux, for example, was criticised during the regulatory enquiry on the basis of an initiative taken by his station for raising revenue. The ABC reported at the time that:
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For $30 000 businesses could secure industry authority status on the Jeremy Cordeaux program, and whenever a comment on the client's area of business was required, Cordeaux would use someone from that organisation. The station's former news director Neil Vissy claims he was subjected to pressure from management to tailor news bulletins to meet the desires of clients. (ABC, 2000)
These revelations suggested that advertising revenue could exert significant pressures on programme content and programmers, in a manner that interfered with the listener’s ability to distinguish between information and product promotion. In addition to the lack of transparency in the material selected for Cordeaux’s program, this form of commercial influence on the program agenda was also manifest as bias through omission. The Cash for Comment inquiry called into question whether the commercial underpinnings of the industry compromise the ability of these radio stations to provide forthright and unfettered public service.
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| Contents > Talkback radio: power and perception by Liz Gould |