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

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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.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
That was not excuse me, that was not always the case,
but we consciously did that because our affiliates tend to
take the evening show, and that will continue to be
the case.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
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 that for
years and that will continue. We do focus on some
Houston news pretty heavily, and for our careers, it would

(03:12):
be better if we didn't because other cities don't want
to hear about Houston's news. But if we 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

(03:35):
that the conversations revolve around the President and to a
lesser extent, Congress, and so important issues that are happening
in Miami or Houston or Chicago or LA and even

(03:56):
more so in smaller markets are not being addressed any
longer because the radio business, which is entertainment. The entertainment
business needs as big an audience as possible to survive,
and that generally means your platform covers as much as

(04:17):
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 this makes
some people very uncomfortable. This is a business just like
your favorite ice cream shop, and just like your church.

(04:38):
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 the lives
of veterans, but we have to keep money coming in

(04:59):
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 of hope
and healing for veterans with PTSD across the country and

(05:23):
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 no direct effect.

(05:45):
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 It'll be just

(06:09):
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 people will hear

(06:30):
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 Boot Company

(06:52):
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 to us,

(07:14):
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 put this

(07:35):
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 you liked

(07:57):
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 Berryshow dot com,

(08:20):
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. Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans

(08:46):
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, we take all the credit for ourselves.

(09:07):
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

(09:27):
one seven PTSD and a combat veteran will answer the
phone to provide free counseling.