Longtime technology marketing executive Bill Harland has launched a new venture. I checked in with him about it.
Radio World: Bill what kind of business are you targeting?
Bill Harland: I started a sales and marketing consulting practice, Harland Worx, to serve broadcast hardware and software suppliers with sales training and marketing services. I also provide sales and marketing consulting services to industrial equipment manufacturers outside of the broadcast market space.
My work at ERI, Andrew and Broadcast Electronics has always included working on major project orders, regardless of whether my title included “sales,” and I provide insights and coaching that is useful to clients who supply products that are components of large systems and have a complex sales process.
My target customers are manufacturers and integrators that provide equipment to traditional broadcasters, professional sound integrators, and audio and video production companies. I have also started working with companies that offer RF components for particle physics applications and equipment for manufacturing companies.
RW: What prompted this change?
Harland: I have been considering starting a new venture for the last few years and decided to make a change now while I am still physically active and mentally sharp rather than waiting until the aging process slows me down. I have been focusing on my physical health for most of the last two years, and it has really paid off in terms of my physical condition, energy level and mental acuity.
RW: Many people know you for your time at ERI. What are you most proud of from that period?
Harland: First, the broadcast towers and transmission systems ERI is known for are the products of the work of a diverse team of highly skilled and experienced people. I was fortunate enough to be a part of that group from 2003 until the end of last year.
Over the last 20 years, many TV and FM antennas, transmission lines and combiner systems have been manufactured and shipped, and lots of them included towers, some of which were candelabras and T-Bar structures as tall as 1,600 feet.
The projects I recall most often are the mini-master FM antenna and combiner system for WCBS-FM, WPLJ (FM), and WQHT(FM) and the 19-station FM auxiliary antenna and channel combiner system, both of which were installed by ERI on the Empire State Building.
Another significant project I recall frequently was replacing all 16 of Kentucky Educational Television’s full-service television station antennas and many of the transmission line systems feeding those antennas to comply with the FCC-mandated RF channel changes during the repack. A few of those TV stations were included in the early phases of the transition schedule, so it was a large order with very short completion deadlines, but the whole project was finished on schedule.
More recent notable projects include the Audacy and Hearst master FM antenna and channel combiner modifications in Baltimore, the Audacy and Cumulus master FM antenna and combiner system on the Motower in Detroit, and the WAMU master FM antenna and combiner system manufactured and installed at American University in Washington.
That project also included significant tower reinforcements and fabricating and installing a new support pole at the top of the tower to support the Cogwheel FM antenna, the WMMJ(FM) Rototiller FM Antenna and the WPGC-FM Directional Rototiller FM Antenna.
I also really enjoyed the unusual projects such as the custom rigid transmission line components for the Spallation Neutron Source facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the rigid transmission line and directional couplers manufactured for the X-Ray Linac Coherent Light Source expansion at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, and the Low-Band VHF Bandpass Filter for the Tropospheric Doppler Radar Wind Profiler at the Kennedy Space Center.
RW: What are your thoughts about the radio business today?
Harland: I firmly believe that terrestrial radio and television broadcasting will remain a substantial part of the media landscape now and far into the future.
During iHeartMedia’s year-end earnings call, Bob Pittman recently commented that “he continues to believe broadcast radio is a growth engine for the company and not a declining business.” I also believe that is true.
Over-the-air television and radio will always be the go-to source for local news, continue to provide entertainment programming that is widely viewed, and continue to be the source of critical emergency information during severe weather and other catastrophic events.
The industry is changing, but so is every industry, and the range of services and marketing solutions broadcasters offer to local businesses will include digital advertising and content distribution on the Internet and other digital channels. They will remain an essential part of the value broadcasters deliver every day.
Harland’s website is https://harlandworx.com.
