Who's That Girl?

Academy of Radio and Television Broadcasting PI and Vocal Coach Michelle Merker was the guest lecturer for radio students on the topic of "News Journalism" this week, and she stressed the importance of being professional at all times.

So we asked her about this....

No judgement, it was the 80's.

"The Search for Animal Chin" starring Tony Hawk (whatever happened to him?) and Michelle Merker, available on amazon.com and through your favorite skate shop. Because when you think of extreme sports, you think of Michelle!

Michelle's actual bio can be seen below in a previous blog.

Advice for the hunt!

Excerpted from an article by John Cox, editor of Classified advantage for Cynopsis Media:

Anyone who says practice makes perfect is a bad job seeker.  Write all the bad resumes you want, it isn't going to help.  

Perfect practice makes perfect.  If you can't write the perfect resume, show it to your friends. You have friends that are better writers than you, you have friends who are better business people than you and you have friends that are just plain old smarter than you.  Show each and everyone of them your resume and cover letter.  Show them each new copy you write, incorporate their suggestions, write it again, and show it to them again.  This process can take a while, be patient but understand, your finished product will be much better than what you started out with, and you'll learn to be a better writer.

Find the meanest friend you know as ask them to mock interview you for a job.  Why the meanest, ask a sports coach.  Most good coaches want game day to be the easiest day of the week.  Every practice should be harder than any game.  Its what brings the joy and the enthusiasm to the game, or the interview.  Plus you'll be ready for anything.  Isn't that what a good coach does?  Prepare you for everything?  If you have a nice person do the mock interview, what have they really prepared you for, and won't your nerves be just as bad?  Have a son of a b**** mock interview you, not only will you be better prepared, but your poise and confidence will be evident.

And what if the interview starts out badly?  What would the coach tell you?  Keep doing what you're doing. Companies interview for a reason, the same reason why athletes play games.  Because paper can never tell the whole story.  So stick to your game plan, keep plugging away, never give up, you may have to throw a Hail Mary, you might not get the job, but if went down swinging, and even if that means nothing to the interviewer, it should mean something to you.

All coaches run drills to improve your skills, but great coaches keep this at a minimum, great coaches fill their practices with game situations, at game speed.  Great coaches never need to run sprints at the end of practice, because their athletes have sprinted in every drill, during every practice.  Why would you walk through a drill, when you have to run during the game?  Same with looking for a job, you cannot lack the intensity needed, just because you're not in an interview.  You want an interview? Write, call, talk, email, network and work with all the intensity you can muster.  

Nobody wins every game, nobody gets every job they interview for, but the secret to both, is to never quit, not for one second.  Every second you're in the running, you have a chance, so you give it your all, especially when it seems pointless.  And make an impression on those who can make important decisions about your life.

The greatest thing a coach ever told me, and the best piece of advice I have for job seekers is this, "What did you do today to become better at what you do, that your opponents did not?  When you can answer that question in a positive manner, day after day, good things will come your way."

Dan the Cameraman!

ARB TV students received some hands-on experience during the Hands on Camera module this week.  Guest lecturer Dan Donley is an award-winning DP/Director who has been working in Southern California for over 20-years, shooting a wide range of productions including commercials, broadcast TV, features and corporate videos. Just this last week Dan worked on projects for a major car company, an international upscale hotel chain, and something with Betty White.

Here's a few of the things Dan covered during lecture: how to join the cameraman's union, filters, pedestal tripods, grips vs. gaffers, prime lenses, depth of field, the Golden Globe awards, film vs. tape, directors who don't look at monitors, camera assistants and operators, "24" and shooting Jack Bauer, aspect ratio, why he loves Tom Cruise, different types of focus, matte boxes, zooming, and the definition of "upstaging."

And then he covered what he was supposed to from the book.

Here, Dan demonstrates one of his cameras, a Sony F-900.

The Further Adventures of Ken Anthony!

Ken returned to The Academy this week to talk Ratings and Research with Radio students.  Here's a continuation of his bio from a few weeks ago...

Ken came back to Southern California in 1991 to take on the number one rock programming job in America at KLOS, directing the station to number one in adult demos in several books during his two year tenure. For his work at KLOS, he was named Radio's MVP of the year by Album Network magazine and Billboard Magazine's Major Market Program Director of the year in the Rock category.

Ken the moved to St. Louis, where he created and launched alternative station KPNT (The Point,) which has since become a franchise radio station in the midwest.

Returning to L.A., Ken programmed Classic Rock KLSX until they switched to talk in 1995.

Ken has since worked as Rock Editor for the trade publication Radio & Records, and now concentrates on his own consultancy firm, Radio Think Tank.

Thanks for sharing your varied experience with us, Ken!

Lisa Brings the 411!

ARB Radio students enjoyed hearing from this week's guest lecturer Lisa Osborne on the topic of "Owning Your Own Business." 


She's familiar voice to many in the Southern California area, having been on the air in Los Angeles for more than a decade. She can currently be heard as a news anchor on KFWB, and previously anchored weekend newscasts on KFI.

She has also been a traffic reporter, talk show host, program director and deejay in Southern California. Lisa is also a host on a ‘60s & ‘70s music network, airing on more than 300 radio stations across the USA.

Lisa also has a voice over business that creates marketing on-hold messages, podcasts and audio prompts for talking websites and transit agencies. She is the founder of Traffic411, one of the first web sites to deliver real-time traffic information.

Thanks Lisa, we really enjoyed your insight!

More Mandiie!

2009 ARB Radio graduate Mandiie (Amanda) Martinez has checked in with her latest venture, she's working at the startup No U Aint Radio! The site overs celebrity gossip and entertainment news, as well as the latest in pop culture and music.  Mandiie's bio can be seen here http://nouaintradio.com/meet-the-crew-2/mandiie-martinez/



Congrats Mandiie!

How Time Flies!

Want to make an interesting video? Have you got a year? Then how about two minutes to watch this?

Norwegian media professional Eirik Solheim created this video time-lapse from more than 3,500 high resolution images that were shot from one location in 2010.

His camera clicked away every 30 minutes for a year... leaving him with more than 16,000 images to work with.

Add a little music... and a viral video is born!

Where in the World is ARB Graduate Jason Nast?

Well, last week he was at CES in Vegas.  This week, he dropped us a line to let us know what he's been doing since leaving The Academy:


I graduated back in '97 I'm pretty sure. Loved the program, cherish the friendships I made many of which I still maintain today.

Since graduation I went on to work at 3 of the greatest radio stations in Phoenix. 
Kool -94.5
100.7 KSLX
93.3 KDKB

And now I travel the world as a professional speaker, trainer and develop new product ideas for infomercial TV.

I LOVE my life... thanks ARB











Thank YOU Jason, and congratulations on your successes!

Programmed for Success!

ARB Radio students enjoyed hearing from guest lecturer Ken Anthony this week on the topic of Alternative Programming.

Ken's career as one of radio's premiere rock radio programmers started at KSJO/San Jose, took him to KISS/San Antonio, then to KLOL/Houston, arguably one of the most famous rock stations in the nation.  For his hard work, Ken was named one of the "Ten Best" PD's in the nation by Inside Radio, as well as Billboard Magazine's Major Market Program Director of the Year in the Rock category.

Ken then returned to California... read more about his successes in two weeks!

What Did You Watch in 2010?

Excerpted from TV Newser:

So which stories received the most coverage from the network evening newscasts in 2010?

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was by far the most covered story of the year, drawing 1,410 minutes of coverage from the three newscasts, though “NBC Nightly News” led the way with 549 minutes, nearly 100 more than CBS.

The oil spill was followed by the earthquake in Haiti, which drew 426 minutes of coverage, and the war in Afghanistan, which drew 416 minutes. “ABC World News” and “Nightly” dedicated more time to Haiti, while CBS spent slightly more time on Afghanistan.

Rounding out the top five stories was coverage of health care reform legislation, which drew 307 minutes of coverage, and winter weather, which drew 249 minutes.

The 2010 midterm elections, which so utterly dominated the cable news cycle, placed seventh with 193 minutes of coverage across the three newscasts.

One other story of note was the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which received only 17 minutes on ABC and 18 minutes on CBS, as compared to 84 minutes on NBC. That probably has something to do with the fact that NBC owned the rights to the games, and as such broadcast “Nightly” from Vancouver.

Crystal Ball: 2011 TV Gazing

Here's a look at what will be making news in the TV world this year:

Ratings king "American Idol" and the new judges

Ratings queen Oprah ends her daily syndicated show, and launches her "OWN" Network

The NBC Universal-Comcast merger

3-D Television

Increased use of mobile TV



Can you think of any more?

Sunny Skies for Local TV

Excerpted from rbr.com:

They may have cable channels out there devoted to nothing but weather reports, but a poll from Rasmussen recently found that the majority of Americans still rely on their local television station when they want to know how the weather may affect their plans.

As it turns out, cable didn’t even come in second.

Here is how the results shook out from Rasmussen’s survey, which asked respondents to identity their primary source of weather information:

* 54%: local television

* 20%: internet


* 19%: cable television

* 5%: radio

* 2%: newspaper


According to Rasmussen, 51% of respondents believe the media makes the weather sound worse than it really is, compared to 37% who think the media plays it straight and 12% who don’t know or have no opinion.

Stick and Stones... Will Get You Pulled Off the Air!

From SPORTSbyBrooks:


Longtime ESPN announcer Ron Franklin was pulled off ESPN's Saturday Fiesta Bowl radio broadcast by ESPN executives after an incident involving the veteran broadcaster and ESPN-TV sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards. 


Scheduled to work on the ESPN-TV broadcast of the Chick-fil-A Bowl Friday, Franklin and Edwards were part of a production meeting before the game that was also attended by ESPN announcers Ed Cunningham and Rod Gilmore. During the meeting, the subject of Gilmore's wife, Marie, being elected Alameda, Calif., mayor came up. 


As Gilmore, Cunningham, and Franklin discussed the subject, Edwards tried to join the conversation. When she did, Franklin said to her, "Why don't you leave this to the boys, sweetcakes." Edwards responded to Franklin by saying, "Don't call me sweetcakes. I don't like being talked to like that." Franklin then said, "OK then, a-hole."