By Rick Griffin

After 21 years of hosting a one-hour Saturday morning radio call-in, talk show on stock market investing on the same station, San Diego financial consultant Brent Wilsey found himself with the dilemma of switching stations.

Since 1999, Wilsey, president of Wilsey Asset Management, a San Diego advisory investment firm, had hosted his “Smart Investing” show on AM-760 KFMB. The show focuses on the fundamentals of investments and publicly held stocks.

But in February 2019, Midwest Television, which had operated the AM station since the 1950s, along with an FM station and two TV properties, sold the broadcast outlets to Tegna. Then, earlier this year, Tegna sold the two KFMB radio stations to Local Media San Diego, which put the AM station on the market.

“For a couple of months, we didn’t know from week-to-week if we would be on the air,” Wilsey told the Times of San Diego.

Then in March, iHeart Media San Diego purchased KFMB-AM for an undisclosed amount. The deal meant Wilsey had a choice of remaining with KFMB-AM under iHeart ownership or moving to another station.

Starting in April, he switched to KWFN 97.3-FM “The Fan,” a sports-talk station operated by Entercom Communications. His one-hour show airs at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. “Smart Investing” follows “Let’s Talk Hook-Up,” a two-hour show about freshwater and saltwater sportfishing in Southern California and Baja.

“I don’t want to say too much about my conversations with iHeart, but I decided to go with Entercom,” said Wilsey. “My guess is 760-AM will change to a sports talk station after the fall election.”

Smart Investing is considered block programming, which means Wilsey controls content and pays Entercom San Diego for the 58 minutes of airtime. For the past five years, Wilsey has been joined on the air by son Chase, now 27.

“Now, we have no interruptions from sponsors,” Wilsey said. “That means we can have lengthy conversations about such things as valuation ratios, debt-to-equity, earnings growth and profitability. Listeners have said to me they sometimes don’t understand exactly what we’re talking about, but it sounds interesting, which is okay with me.”

Local Media San Diego Producing Live Drive-in Concerts at Petco Park

San Diego radio station operator Local Media San Diego is co-producing the return of live concerts with two drive-in concerts on Sunday, June 7.

The concerts, co-produced with Westward Entertainment and the San Diego Padres and presented by Baker Electric Home Energy, will be held at Petco Park, or rather, next to it, in the Lexus Premier Parking Lot, adjacent to the baseball stadium.

A noontime concert will feature B-Side Players, SM Familia and Los Sleepwalkers, followed by a 7 p.m. concert with Hirie and headliner Switchfoot, a Grammy Award-winning San Diego band. Attendance will be limited to 250 vehicles. Admission is $50 per car for the noon show, $100 per car for the evening show. All net proceeds will benefit Feeding San Diego, a hunger-relief charity serving San Diego County.

Local Media San Diego said the event, billed as “Feed the Need Drive-In Concerts,” will be the first live concerts in California since COVID-19-related shutdown orders in March.

A statement from the radio operator said, “Social distancing and protective precautions will ensure a safe and entertaining event. Attendees will stay inside their vehicles during the performances, staff and crew will be outfitted in PPE gear, and proper sanitation protocol will be implemented. Both shows will feature full stage and sound production, and multiple video screens so all concert-goers can enjoy the performances while inside their car.”

“We need the community to come together, not just to sing songs but to help each other out in our time of need,” said Jon Foreman, lead singer of Switchfoot. “This is going to be a truly unique show with an awesome purpose.”

“Feed The Need is all about San Diego companies and artists partnering to help our fellow San Diegans,” said Gregg Wolfson, president and general manager of Local Media San Diego. “We are grateful for everyone’s generosity and contributions in creating this first time charitable event that will support Feeding San Diego.”

“Utilizing our ballpark and its surrounding areas as a way to help combat hunger in our community during these challenging times is something we are honored to do,” said Erik Greupner, president of business operations, San Diego Padres. “By hosting this concert and other drive-in events, we hope to give San Diegans a unique entertainment experience in the safe and comfortable confines of their own vehicle while raising funds for a great organization in Feeding San Diego.”

“Feeding San Diego is honored to be the charity beneficiary of Feed the Need Drive-in Concerts,” said Vince Hall, CEO of  Feeding San Diego. “Not only will these events help provide a significant number of meals for people facing hunger across San Diego County, they represent hope, resilience and unity in the wake of COVID-19.”

Local Media San Diego owns and operates four radio stations in the San Diego market, including XTRA-FM 91X, XHTZ-FM Z90.3, XHRM-FM Magic 92.5, and (KFBG-FM), as well as Local Media Digital Labs, a locally-focused digital solutions provider, and Local Media San Diego Events for lifestyle event production.

San Diego AMA Cause Conference Becomes Webinar Series

The American Marketing Association San Diego chapter’s 21st Cause Conference, a popular one-day meeting that drew hundreds of attendees and featured more than 50 speakers discussing social purpose and cause-driven enterprise, has evolved into a free webinar series due to coronavirus-related in-person meeting restrictions.

The first webinar will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, over the Zoom online meeting platform. The webinar theme is “From Survive to Thrive: Accelerate Your Impact as the World Reopens.”

Speakers will include Cindi Phallen, president, Create Possibility; and Cameron Ripley, CEO, Community Boost Consulting.

Phallen’s consulting firm provides strategic planning, fundraising development and board development. Ripley heads a digital marketing agency that has served more than 150 nonprofits and purpose-driven organizations with online revenue and impact. In the past year, the Community Boost team has generated over $10 million in direct online revenue for its purpose-driven partners.

Topics will include innovative strategies designed to seize opportunity as the world reopens, tactics to fundraise and sell for the reminder of 2020 and case studies of success during the 2008 recession. For more event information, including registration, visit the chapter’s website. The AMA’s previous 20th Cause Conference, one of the West Coast’s largest gathering of purpose-driven business and nonprofit community leaders, was held in October 2018.

IABC Presents Three Free Internal Communications Webinars

The International Association of Business Communicators will present a three free webinars this month over Zoom on internal communications topics in the aftermath of COVID-19. Participation is open to non-IABC members. Registration information is available online.

“How to Create Connections that Strengthen Community” will be presented at 10-11 a.m., Tuesday, June 2. Presenter will be Abby Guthkelch, global communications solutions lead at Workplace from Facebook. Topics will include why community matters for all employees, how to connect your entire workforce and connecting the frontline with headquarters.

“Introduction to the Modern Intranet in the Age of COVID-19” will be presented from 11 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, June 9. Presenters will be Jamie Yan and Jason Li from Simpplr. They will discuss improving company communication with a remote workforce so that everyone remains connected and avoids risk confusion and disengagement.

“Why Reinforcing Corporate Culture is Key to Returning to Work” will be presented from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30. Presenter will be Abby Guthkelch with Workplace. She will discuss how organizations are preparing to bring back their workforce and the role leaders can play in sustaining a great culture through collaboration.

Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.

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