Now that we see what striped down radio stations look like, here’s what I’d add back if money was no issue. And it shouldn’t be.

Secretaries. The falsest economy is voice mail and email. Congratulations – you’ve turned the six figure executive into a clerk. A bad clerk. What happens when a six figure executive type mails, sorts, answers the phone, drops off the fed-ex and puts on their own stamps? They start thinking that stuff is important.

Is it really a prudent, cost conscious use of management time to miss a call, leave a voice mail, miss the callback and then use email to schedule a phone call? How about re-hiring someone to just answer the phone that knows if a call is important?

Strategic thinking, new ideas for promotions, quality time with the air talent, and coming up with clever ways to increase product value, vanish after a day of typing and mailing. Eliminating secretaries and placing their functions on executives allows executives to feel a sense of satisfaction for being a good clerk – much easier than coming up with a new idea.

In other industries (such as investment banking) the secretary is so important they get the six figure checks. A great secretary allows an executive to actually see what her own job is and what needs to be tackled next.

Driver for the prize van. Look in your parking lot. You’ll see one or more nicely painted vans. Groovy logos. Why are they in the parking lot? Because there is no one to drive them. At the very least, those vans should be parked at every busy location in town at lunch time.

The prize van comes out of the capital budget which has a kinder tax impact on your company than the operating budget. Therefore, the van was pretty easy to get. BUT paying for someone to drive it – that was cut. It’s INSANE.

BTW, smart finance people know how to put the van operator in the capital budget.

All night host. There are certain time periods that are gifts to radio. They include overnights. Any station with a strong, live overnight host, who is focused on local people, places and events, will achieve dominant ratings.

People who listen to all night radio really listen to all night radio. They’re alone, seeking a friend or companionship, and tune quickly to the honest voice. The great storyteller – the voice who knows the back alleys of your town – will draw the crowd to your station at 3 AM.

Overnights is 25% of the broadcast day. You throw it away when it is voice tracked or music only or “best of” talk shows. (Hint: All caller driven talk shows are worst-of shows when repeated. Think fish.) Nothing will generate more response for a retailer than a live read on an all-night show. Nothing. Want NTR? Sell all-nights.

Marketing budget, not an option. There used to be a grand, major market radio company called Group W. Oh, they were solid and strong and had one rule at budget time: Cut anything but not the promotion budget. At NBC, I had the same rule. Result: Their stations were untouchable across the demos.

AMAZING TRIVIA: For decades the single largest TV Spot advertiser in the month of May throughout the country was – local radio.

Have at least one news person at every radio station regardless of format. A good newsperson allows a radio station to act like a radio station in times of crisis and protects the industry’s edge. But in other times, they’re profound monitors of local market needs and tastes. They know about press events and activities that impact your listeners. They can get you into stuff. They can get your morning man out of jail.