Michael Berry Show Goes NATIONWIDE – Syndication! The Czar Announces It.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Michael Berry Show. Well, a number of you have
sent words of congratulation. We certainly appreciate it, and if
you didn't know, we will tell you. It's a big honor.
We have been nationally syndicated by Premier Networks, which will
begin on October seventh. The importance of that, as I

(00:21):
said in my statement, was that this is the network
that syndicated Rush Limbaugh and to have sat in his
seat and spoken into his microphone to his audience across
the country is the highest honor in all of radio.
To join the ranks that the bar was set by

(00:45):
Rush Limbaugh. To get to join the ranks of the
Premiere Network's stable is an incredible honor. That is Clay
and Buck obviously, who do USh show, who I consider
personal friends, Jesse Kelly, who is one of my best friends,

(01:06):
Glenn Beck of course, Sean Hannity, and now our show,
and that is an incredible, incredible honor. For those of
you wondering why I thought you were syndicated before we
self syndicated, which means we had to negotiate with each

(01:26):
of our affiliates across the country ourselves, and that is
a very tall order because you are competing against the
biggest distribution network, which is Premiere Radio Networks. And even
though Premiere is under the umbrella of the company that
is our day job, which is iHeartMedia, it is a

(01:50):
different division and it's a whole different business. So the
announcement was made this morning, and we've already added our
first new affiliate, which is Virginia Beach, Virginia. A lot
of Navy seals out there, a lot of Navy folks
out there, and obviously we expect that to continue on
a pretty big basis. How does that affect those of

(02:14):
you primarily in Houston. I know we have listeners in
Lubbock and all over. It shouldn't it shouldn't affect you
one bit. You've probably noticed we have a strategy of
more local in the morning and more national in the evening.
That was not excuse me, that was not always the case,

(02:37):
but we consciously did that because our affiliates tend to
take the evening show, and that will continue to be
the case. Some of them will take the evening show.
Some of them do already. Birmingham, for instance, will take
our evening show and our morning show. Portland has done

(02:59):
that for years and that will continue. We do focus
on some Houston news pretty heavily, and for our careers,
it would be better if we didn't because other cities
don't want to hear about Houston's news. But if we

(03:20):
don't do it, it feels like it wasn't being done
and it's important, and I think that's unfortunately. One of
the negative sides to the nationalization of political talk in
this country is that the conversations revolve around the President

(03:42):
and to a lesser extent, Congress, and so important issues
that are happening in Miami or Houston or Chicago or
LA and even more so in smaller markets are not
being addressed any longer because the radio business, which is entertainment.

(04:08):
The entertainment business needs as big an audience as possible
to survive, and that generally means your platform covers as
much as you possibly can. We feel like we have
found a middle ground that works for us, that works
for you, and that is highly monetizable. Because I know

(04:29):
this makes some people very uncomfortable. This is a business
just like your favorite ice cream shop, and just like
your church. If your church doesn't bring any dollars in,
the church has to close. That doesn't make the church evil.
Those are the realities. It takes dollars and cents. Your
favorite charity, Camp Hope does wonderful work with veterans, saving

(04:54):
the lives of veterans, but we have to keep money
coming in to pay to keep the lights on and
food on the table, and we have staffers, so that's
why we often push for that. One of the things
we are most excited about is that we will get
to share the message of Camp Hope and the concept

(05:16):
of hope and healing for veterans with PTSD across the
country and they will be flown to Houston. They will
get the treatment they need to save their lives and
restart their lives and re enter their family units. And
that gives me more joy than you can possibly imagine.
That's incredibly rewarding for our show sponsors. This will have

(05:43):
no direct effect. And let me explain why our show
that will be syndicated across the country to eventually a
lot of stations, many many stations. In time, that show
will be the same exact show you hear on our
evening show during the commercial breaks. Premiere will have national

(06:08):
It'll be just like here. They will come to me
and say Are you comfortable speaking for Bernha, who obviously
wants to be a sponsor. Yes, I speak for them already.
I like them, I use them, I used them long
before I spoke for them. So that will work. That
process will work exactly the same, and it'll be those

(06:29):
people will hear my endorsement across the country. But in
Houston there is a carve out and that's our deal.
So my Houston show and my Houston sponsors will not change.
I will still speak for Mattress Mac, I will still
speak for Corey Diamonds. I will still speak for Gringos
and Federal American Grill and Big City Wings and Republic

(06:51):
Boot Company and Hawkins Lease Service and on and on
and on. So in Houston, I will still talk about
the one you got to dance with, the ones that
bring you. That was very important to me that we
keep our ability just in Houston to speak for the
show sponsors that we have here who have been loyal

(07:14):
to us, some of them going back to when we
were on one station and that was KPRC, and have
been with us as we've grown along the way. But
most importantly that is a big thank you to our team.
Ramon Chad, Jim Chance, Sandy Rachel, all the people who

(07:35):
put this show together, our show sponsors who have been
with us and supported us through thick and thin, no
matter what financially, but also in so many other ways,
taking care of our listeners. And last and certainly not least,
the people who make it happen. And that is you,
our supporters, our listeners. We love you. Thank you. If

(07:57):
you liked the Michael Berry Show in podcast, please tell
one friend, and if you're so inclined, write a nice
review of our podcast. Comments, suggestions, questions, and interest in
being a corporate sponsor and partner can be communicated directly
to the show at our email address, Michael at Michael

(08:18):
Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking on our website,
Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry Show and Podcast
is produced by Ramon Roeblis, the King of Ding. Executive
producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim Mudd is the creative director.

(08:42):
Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided by Chance McLain.
Director of Research is Sandy Peterson. Emily Bull is our
assistant listener and superfan contributions are appreciated and often incorporated
into our production. Where possible, we give credit, where not,

(09:05):
we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the
memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis, be a simple
man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and God bless America. Finally,
if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD, call Camp
Hope at eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD and

(09:30):
a combat veteran will answer the phone to provide free counseling.