Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Michael Harrison | Publisher of Talkers Magazine | 06-05-26

Transcript

Michael Harrison | Publisher of Talkers Magazine | 06-05-26 · Sid & Friends In The Morning

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  Speaker 1: So, as I mentioned earlier, big to do today in
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  Speaker 1: the radio world, they do it once a year. Talker's
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  Speaker 1: Magazine they hold this annual radio Day, this conference at
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  Speaker 1: Hofstra University. So my guy, Bruce Blakeman wunning for governor,
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  Speaker 1: He's going to be very excited. I'll be in Nassau
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  Speaker 1: County tomorrow and it's a big day. They got a
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  Speaker 1: lot of the radio legends. I was just a guest
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  Speaker 1: in fact on Wednesday Joe pag Show, and ironically he's
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  Speaker 1: in San Antonio right before my Knicks beat his Spurs
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  Speaker 1: in Game one on Wednesday night. All these great radio
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  Speaker 1: guys get together later on today at Hofstra And just
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  Speaker 1: a couple of days ago two Talker's Magazine released but
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  Speaker 1: they called their Heavy hundred list, which is a big deal.
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  Speaker 1: I can tell you this. Every program owner, every station manager,
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  Speaker 1: every producer, every program director, every talent, they all read it.
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  Speaker 1: It's a very very big honor wating the top one
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  Speaker 1: hundred shows. There's thousands and thousands and thousands of personalities shows.
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  Speaker 1: So if you make it, it's no small beat. And
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  Speaker 1: for the second consecutive year, win number thirteen. I'll keep
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  Speaker 1: in mind every show in the top twenty five outside
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  Speaker 1: of me is syndicated. For example, Sean Hannity over seven
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  Speaker 1: hundred stations, Mark Levin one step Aheadmy at number twelve,
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  Speaker 1: should be high with it. That's fine, he's at over
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  Speaker 1: four hundred stations. I'm on one now. Yes, the sell
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  Speaker 1: pone allows you to download the free app. So I
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  Speaker 1: have listeners in Tel Aviv. I've got listeners in Miami,
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  Speaker 1: all over the world. But I'm the only show that's
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  Speaker 1: not syndicated to make the top twenty five, let alone thirteen.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a big deal. And the guy that's in
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  Speaker 1: charge of all of it is a dear, dear friend
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  Speaker 1: of mine for many many years, the beloved and revered
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  Speaker 1: Michael Harrison. Michael, good morning, buddy.
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  Speaker 2: How are you sid that's such a beautiful introduction. Thank you,
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  Speaker 2: and congratulations to you because you are in what they
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  Speaker 2: call rarefied space and in some ways, yeah, you're the
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  Speaker 2: highest ranked local, non syndicated host. And of course you
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  Speaker 2: know it's hard to syndicate morning shows and you're such
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  Speaker 2: an intricate part of New York. But I think you're
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  Speaker 2: going to go further. I think the sky is the
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  Speaker 2: limit for you. But congrats to you for a remarkable career,
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  Speaker 2: and you're riding high right now. As I said, the
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  Speaker 2: sky's the limit. You haven't we ain't seen nothing yet
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  Speaker 2: in terms of your career.
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  Speaker 1: You've always been that way with me, even in my
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  Speaker 1: toughest times. And I was basically excommunicated to South Florida
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  Speaker 1: and working at one of my stations I've worked out.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not kidding you, Michael. I want to tell you
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  Speaker 1: the size of the station was the size of this
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  Speaker 1: little studio that is on the opposite side of my
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  Speaker 1: studio at ABC right now. It was a broom closet,
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  Speaker 1: literally a broom closet. And I went through four stations
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  Speaker 1: over an eleven year period down in Miami with the
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  Speaker 1: hope of getting back to New York. But over those
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  Speaker 1: years you and I kept in touch. You know, you
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  Speaker 1: kept putting me on the list, not the numbers I'm
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  Speaker 1: at now, but still put me on the list, which
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  Speaker 1: I think helped me too. So You've always been a
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  Speaker 1: big chier leader of mine, and I appreciate that you
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  Speaker 1: don't have to be that again. You've got a long
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  Speaker 1: career working with a lot of radio greats. So with
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  Speaker 1: all that said, Michael Tell me what later on today
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  Speaker 1: at Hofstra is really.
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  Speaker 2: All about basically, in a nutshell, radio is facing a
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  Speaker 2: crossroads as to which direction it wants ago as the
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  Speaker 2: technology changes. You know, everything in the world, including your refrigerator,
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  Speaker 2: has a computer screen on it. Radio, the theater of
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  Speaker 2: the mind is basically designed to be an audio medium.
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  Speaker 2: So what is the future of an audio medium in
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  Speaker 2: a world that everybody is obsessed with screens? So radio
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  Speaker 2: is facing the challenge of keeping its essences, you know,
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  Speaker 2: its vibe, its art form, it's aesthetic. That's the word
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  Speaker 2: I was looking for. Keeping that live into the twenty
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  Speaker 2: first century, which we're deeply into at this point, without
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  Speaker 2: falling behind and being too analog to twentieth century. How
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  Speaker 2: do you get into the twenty first century with a
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  Speaker 2: very special platform that radio and not become archaic? And
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  Speaker 2: that's the challenge. And I would say, you know, we're
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  Speaker 2: going to be talking about a lot of issues credibility, justice, truth,
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  Speaker 2: the financial end of of talk radio and media, But
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  Speaker 2: the most important thing we're facing is the existential issue
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  Speaker 2: of what is radio going to evolve in as the days,
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  Speaker 2: in the months, and the years go by and still
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  Speaker 2: remain that wonderful, magical art form, that wonderful, iconic community,
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  Speaker 2: grassroots person to person medium that radio has always been.
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  Speaker 2: What do you think said, what do you think is
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  Speaker 2: the future of radio?
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  Speaker 1: I think it's alive and well. I've been hearing the years.
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  Speaker 1: I've been doing this now for twenty eight years, and
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  Speaker 1: every couple of years to keep hearing the same thing,
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  Speaker 1: especially AM radio. You're dead, you've finished, it's over. It's over.
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  Speaker 1: Serious excepting came along and most of the folks that
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  Speaker 1: work there are out of work, and I'm making a living.
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  Speaker 1: I think radio is still the most intimate, most retaining,
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  Speaker 1: the most enjoyable form of media. Today. You get on TV,
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  Speaker 1: you got six minutes. They put the words right in
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  Speaker 1: front of you on a teleprompter. There's nothing authentic or
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  Speaker 1: original about it. Radio is still the best. I'll tell
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  Speaker 1: you something. A couple of weeks ago, I had Trump
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  Speaker 1: back on the show, and nobody has Trump on more
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  Speaker 1: than me except for Hannity, and he was not for
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  Speaker 1: forty six minutes, and we discussed all the major issues Iran, Israel,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the economy, the midterms, but we spent quite
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  Speaker 1: a bit of time talking about this here. Love this
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  Speaker 1: Michael AM Radio. My boss here, John Katzmatidis, who's also
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  Speaker 1: on your list. He does two great shows at this station.
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  Speaker 1: He has been working really hard, really hard the last
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  Speaker 1: couple of years to make sure that AM radio does
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  Speaker 1: not go away on I told Trump on this show
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  Speaker 1: less than three weeks ago that they're trying to get
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  Speaker 1: rid of it. He was furious, furious, he said, I'm
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  Speaker 1: not gonna let that happen. He goes, you know, Sid,
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  Speaker 1: I stopped it my first time around in twenty seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, I'm gonna stop it again. So maybe you're
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  Speaker 1: old time, right, It's not like me Trump and catch
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  Speaker 1: Matito's are in our thirties. Well, there's a whole generation
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  Speaker 1: of people who realize how important radio is, including AM radio.
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  Speaker 2: Oh no doubt. AM radio is very valuable as an
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  Speaker 2: art form and as a utility. It covers both grounds,
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  Speaker 2: which is what radio is. I do want to say
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  Speaker 2: that John Katsumatitis is a hero in the industry, and
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  Speaker 2: he's a rare kind of a talent. The CEO of
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  Speaker 2: a major company. He's got other businesses or even bigger
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  Speaker 2: than the radio business, and yet he finds time not
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  Speaker 2: only to invest significant money in a local New York
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  Speaker 2: iconic radio station. But he also is a talent. It's
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  Speaker 2: like a guy that owns, you know, a chain of
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  Speaker 2: restaurants and works behind the counter, you know, slicing pastrami.
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  Speaker 2: It's an amazing thing. I do want your listeners to know,
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  Speaker 2: because listeners get spoiled and don't always realize what they got.
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  Speaker 2: I want people to realize that what you're doing in
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  Speaker 2: the morning, and what the rest of the folks at
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  Speaker 2: WABC are doing is rare. You don't have that everywhere anymore.
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  Speaker 1: Where.
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  Speaker 2: You're experiencing radio from a station that's a cultural center,
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  Speaker 2: with a vibe and an attitude and comaraderie among the
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  Speaker 2: people on it and their listeners. Stuff you know that
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  Speaker 2: I grew up with that is certainly pertinent going forward.
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  Speaker 2: And the kind of show that you're doing, the dynamic
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  Speaker 2: radio show that you're doing every day. As I said,
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  Speaker 2: you're at the peak of your career. The listeners might
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  Speaker 2: take that for granted. And in this world between John
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  Speaker 2: Katsumatidis holding radio up and pushing it forward and you
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  Speaker 2: performing it on the ultimate level, I hope the listeners
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  Speaker 2: in the world that listen to you online understand what
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  Speaker 2: a treat they have and they should support it and
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  Speaker 2: hope that not only continues that it inspires other broadcasters
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's nice here to say thank you. And I agree.
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  Speaker 1: John is terrific on so many levels, and he and
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  Speaker 1: I are very, very very close, and he does a
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  Speaker 1: great job with us here at WABC's a terrific and
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  Speaker 1: all the way out. Look, I've got a you know,
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  Speaker 1: I've got a kind of a map in my head
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  Speaker 1: of how I want the show to go every day,
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  Speaker 1: a procedure and in terms of what I want to
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  Speaker 1: talk about. And I still maintain this. Look, do I
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  Speaker 1: talk about events all over the world, Sure, I do.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm going back to Israel in two weeks.
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  Speaker 1: I've had dinners and lunches and long conversations in Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: with Bbntial. I'm going to see him again in two weeks.
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  Speaker 1: I have the President of United States on this show
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  Speaker 1: every couple of months, Secretary of State Marcaruvio. But but
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  Speaker 1: but I don't lose side of the fact that I'm
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  Speaker 1: in New York City. So for example, this week, the
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  Speaker 1: Nixon spurs your local basketball team in the NBA Finals
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  Speaker 1: with the first chance at winning of Binals in fifty
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  Speaker 1: three years, that becomes center stage. I've got a mayor
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  Speaker 1: that the whole world is talking about, a governor that's
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  Speaker 1: no good with a dear buddy Mune running against her.
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  Speaker 1: So my philosophy has always been, when you're doing a
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  Speaker 1: show like this, and i Miss had the Saint philosophy.
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  Speaker 1: You know his son now, Wyatt, I'm miss listen to
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  Speaker 1: me every morning from their ranch, the Imus ranch in Texas.
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  Speaker 1: Why at Imus listens to me every morning because he's
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  Speaker 1: still a New York guy. But you have to if
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  Speaker 1: you're in a city, a major city or a small one,
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  Speaker 1: you have to maintain that local presence. When you start
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  Speaker 1: to drift away from that, that's when you'll notice the
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  Speaker 1: ratings are not going to be the same.
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  Speaker 2: There's no question. Fortunately, New York City is interesting to
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  Speaker 2: the world, and the world is interesting to New York City.
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  Speaker 2: It's not provincial like many cities where they don't care
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  Speaker 2: about anywhere else. They're totally hung up on their own
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  Speaker 2: history and their own culture. They don't like outsiders. New
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  Speaker 2: York is a melting pot. It's a great place to
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  Speaker 2: do any kind of radio, and certainly talk radio. So
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  Speaker 2: You're absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Right, Michael. It's fun doing the show here, there's no question,
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  Speaker 1: and it's going to be fun seeing you out at
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  Speaker 1: Hopshoal later on today. Again. You know you talk about
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  Speaker 1: heroes at radio. You mentioned John Katzmatitis, and I'm not
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  Speaker 1: patronizing you. I'm really not. You really are a hero
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  Speaker 1: of radio. What you do daily with Talkers Magazine, what
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  Speaker 1: you do with this conference coming up later on today
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  Speaker 1: in New York and around the country can never be overstated.
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  Speaker 1: So Michael Harrison, I love you. I always have look
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  Speaker 1: forward to seeing you. Let her on this afternoon from
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  Speaker 1: my little panel, and thank you so much for everything
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  Speaker 1: you do. You're a terrific guy.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Sid. Good luck to your talk
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  Speaker 2: to you, so.
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  Speaker 1: See you soon. There is Michael Harrison Talkers Magazine and
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  Speaker 1: I'll be seeing Michael later on today. This huge event
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  Speaker 1: to do a terrific job. Hofstra University of Bruce Blakeman,
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  Speaker 1: your county in Nashall County. I'll take a short break,
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  Speaker 1: lots more to do. It's the Foddy edition of Sid
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  Speaker 1: and Friends in the Morning.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to Sit in Friends in the Morning.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: You can hear Sid and Friends in the Morning weekday
• 10:47
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• 10:50
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• 10:53
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• 10:56
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• 10:58
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• 11:02
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• 11:07
  Speaker 3: for a new episode, so you never have to wonder
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here