THE JOURNAL RECORDTuesday, May 7, 2013 www.journalrecord.com Vol. 118, No. 90 • Two Sections

FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS

Marketing and media: Tyler keeps it in the familyBY DAVID PAGE

THE JOURNAL RECORD

OKLAHOMA CITY – In 1965, Okemahnative Ralph Tyler started an advertisingagency in Oklahoma City.

Over the next few years, he left theadvertising agency business, purchasedan FM radio station when there were notmany FM radios and started an outdooradvertising business to help promote theradio station.

Somehow, it all worked out prettywell.

The radio station – KEBC for KeepEvery Body Country – became one of thetop country radio stations in the nationbefore Ralph Tyler sold it in 1986. He pri-marily focused on the outdoor advertis-ing business until selling Tyler Media tohis two sons, Tony Tyler and Ty Tyler, in1995.

Today Tyler Media, founded by RalphTyler in 1965, is still a local and is familyowned by Tony and Ty Tyler as 50-50partners. The 2013 version of Tyler Mediaincludes four television stations, sevenradio stations and Tyler Signs andOutdoor Advertising, which has morethan 1,400 outdoor advertising displays inthe Oklahoma City metropolitan area andStillwater.

Tony said he did not really plan andprepare himself to lead the company withhis brother.

Ty and Tony were both history majorsand played basketball at the University ofDallas.

“Tony played and I sat on the bench alot,” Ty said.

Tony played enough basketball andplayed well enough to be inducted intothe University of Dallas Athletics Hall ofFame in 1998.

After graduating, Tony had a couple ofdifferent ideas about what he wanted todo – go to graduate school and coach bas-ketball.

But neither of those endeavors lastedvery long.

After a few days of classes he realizedhe did not want to be in graduate schooland his coaching career did not last longeither.

“After a semester into coaching I real-ized I was not cut out for that,” Tony said.“I did not have enough distance betweenplaying and coaching basketball.”

So in 1995 when Ralph Tyler decidedit was time to sell Tyler Media and his twosons took over.

“In 1986 he sold KEBC and focused onTyler Outdoor Advertising until 1995when we became of age,” Tony said. “Hesaid he was going to sell the company andhe would sell it to us or sell it to someone

else.”The two brothers had a good founda-

tion to work with, Tony said.“It was such a great company and it

had a great staff,” he said.Tyler Media’s foundation was built

with a good bit in ingenuity and somegood – including some unplanned – tim-ing.

“When dad acquired the FM radiostation in 1972 there were not many FMradios and rock was king,” Tony said.

Most cars of the day had AM radios soTyler Media started giving away and sell-ing FM radio converters for car radios.

“People would come by the stationthey would install the converters forthem,” Tony said.

The FM station featured countrymusic. It became KEBC and was promot-ed by the slogan “Keep Every BodyCountry.”

Keep Every Body Country bumperstickers were distributed and appearedon cars and pickups around the area.Ralph Tyler also got into the outdooradvertising business as another vehicle topromote the radio station.

More people tuned into KEBC and itscountry music format as access to FMradios increased and then came a bit ofunplanned timing.

“In 1978, Urban Cowboy hit and youtalk about luck,” Tony said.

As interest in country music soared,

so did the popularity of KEBC and it wasrated one of the top country stations inthe country before Tyler Media sold thestation in 1986.

The company did not get back intoradio station ownership until after Ty andTony purchased Tyler Media in 1995. In1998, 93.3 FM was purchased.

“It was a classic country station simi-lar to KEBC,” Tony said. “We were able tobring back some of the KEBC talent.”

It now operates as 93.3 JakeFMOklahoma’s New Country.

Tyler Media also purchased KTUZtelevision in 1998, which is a Telemundoaffiliate, Ty Tyler said.

Other purchases included buying tel-evision stations in Oklahoma City andTulsa in 2004. Both stations – 36 KUOKin Oklahoma City and 25 KUTU in Tulsa–are affiliates of Univision, a Spanish lan-guage network.

Tyler Media also owns 106.7 FM, aradio station featuring Spanish music.

The television and radio stations fea-turing Spanish programming are in agrowing market, Ty said.

“There is a lot of growth in theHispanic market,” he said. “People arecoming here with jobs and they havemoney to spend.”

Today Tyler Media operates sevenradio stations with a variety of formats,four television stations and Tyler Signsand Outdoor Advertising, Ty said. Tyler

Media has about 150 employees.“We are also a partner in Sooner

Sports Properties,” he said.Radio stations 106.7 FM, Magic 104.1

FM KMGL, 92.5 KOMA, Classic rock107.7 KRXO and 93.3 JakeFM have musicformats.

News talk is the format for 1520KOKC.

In April, Tyler Media converted AM1560 to a comedy radio format. The sta-tion features brief stand-up comedytracks.

And Tyler Media keeps expanding. Inlate April, Tyler Outdoor Advertising pur-chased assets from Mac Signs inOklahoma City. The purchase includedbillboards on the Turner Turnpike, H.E.Baily Turnpike and Interstate 44.

“We hope to continue to grow thecompany if the right opportunities arise,”Tony Tyler said.

Ty and Tony both credit their parents– Ralph and their mother, Donna – withgiving them a good foundation.

“Mom, with her character building,and Dad, with his work ethic and vision-ary concepts, have built a sound founda-tion for us,” Tony said.

And they still get advice from Ralph.“Dad still comes by every day,” Tony

said. “This is his hobby. He has been ourmentor and sounding board since 1995.”

“He is here at 7 a.m. every morning,”Ty said.

From left, Tony and Ty Tyler run family-owned Tyler Media. PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS

FAMILY-OWNED

Forums: Making mostof family business

BY DAVID PAGETHE JOURNAL RECORD

OKLAHOMA CITY – Conflicts oftenarise in family businesses around issuesincluding succession planning roles forchildren and even grandchildren.

Planned family forums can oftenminimize the effects of real or per-ceived favoritism in a family business,said Alan Campbell, director of FamilyBusiness Resources.

“It is a place where family membersgather to discuss the needs of the fam-ily and the business before conflictsarise,” he said.

Family forums usually meet threeor four times a year outside the busi-ness environment, said Campbell, a li-censed psychologist who has 25 yearsof experience in individual counseling,family business counseling, sports psy-chology and marriage therapy.

A family forum session can lastfrom several hours to all day, he said.Family forums can include spouses andolder children.

“Sometimes it will be a family re-treat that will last for two or threedays,” Campbell said. “At family re-treats there are usually several issuesthat need to be discussed.”

Outside facilitators can help familyforums succeed.

“Usually there is a facilitator –someone who is in charge of the meet-ing,” he said. “Someone has to drive theprocess and usually that is the facilita-tor.”

The facilitator can set actions thatare needed between the scheduledfamily forums.

Issues discussed at a family forumcan include family employment orsummer jobs for younger family mem-bers.

“Most parents work hard to main-tain equality with the family,” he said.“If the truth be known, the fear of notkeeping gifts and privileges equalamong children keeps family businessowners from making important discus-sions in regard to succession planning.Sometimes, succession planning forcesfamilies into favoring one child overthe other and this is very uncomfort-able.”

Family forums can be used to estab-lish family employment policy, for ex-ample having a degree in anappropriate field.

“A French history degree may notqualify someone for a job in the oil andgas family business,” Campbell said.“Another expectation may be that thefamily member work outside the familybusiness for three to five years, gainingconfidence and bringing outside expe-rience to the family business.”

Through Family Business Re-sources, Campbell works with profes-

sional advisers to family businesses in-cluding attorneys, financial advisersand certified public accountants. Hestarted working with family businessesin 1995 through a friendship with aMassMutual agent in Stillwater.

He has a master’s degree in commu-nity counseling and a doctorate incounseling psychology from OklahomaState University.

Alan Campbell

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”

It the truth beknown, thefear of notkeeping giftsand privi-leges equalamong childrenkeeps familybusinessowners frommaking im-portant dis-cussions inregard tosuccessionplanning.

- Alan Campbell,director of Family

Business Resources