No Looking Back

Tyler Media Celebrates 50 Years in Business

In relative terms, starting a company is an easy proposition. File some paperwork with the Secretary of State and you’re in business. Staying in business is the tricky part. Staying in business for 50 years? That is quite an accomplishment, and locally owned and operated Tyler Media is celebrating their silver anniversary this year.

Tyler Media broadcasts on a dozen radio stations and 5 television channels in Oklahoma. Their outdoor advertising division owns 1,400 assets (called “faces” in the industry lingo), including outdoor furniture (think bus benches), print and digital billboards. The majority of the advertising assets are concentrated in Oklahoma City and Tulsa with a smattering appearing elsewhere.

“Oklahoma City has been good to us, and we try to return the favor.”

The company got its start as an advertising agency in 1965 under Ralph Tyler. The family patriarch ventured into radio when he purchased 94.7 FM, giving it the call letters KEBC—short for Keep Every Body Country. This was not a logical leap. Radio listeners in the 1960s and early ‘70s were tuned to AM outlets (FM radio was not yet standard in cars) and rock and roll was in its countercultural heyday. Conventional contemporary wisdom would seem to dictate that an FM station offering a country format would never survive.

But Tyler promoted the station, relying heavily on outdoor advertising, and the station survived and thrived. It also led to a new direction for Tyler Media. The company sold KEBC in 1986 and turned its attention to outdoor advertising, having seen firsthand how successfully that portal promoted their once iconoclastic radio station.

Ralph Tyler sold the company to sons Ty and Tony in 1995. For many family businesses, the transition from one generation of ownership to the next can be devastating. But the elder Tyler passed along some good advice about running the business. Tony Tyler shares, “Dad taught us to do the right thing at the right time because it’s the right thing to do.” Ty Tyler adds, “He built the company with good people, and we’re fortunate to have such awesome people working with us now.”

Another lesson the brothers took to heart was to innovate. “We don’t look back very often,” laughs Ty. Tyler Media ventured back into the radio market in the late 1990s. Today their stations consistently dominate the local top 10 ratings. Drastic changes are rare for Tyler’s radio brands. “We don’t do a lot of changing,” says Ty, “we tweak.” Constant market evaluation drives those adjustments. “We progress with the population,” says Ty. Tony uses the “oldies” radio format as an example. “Oldies radio used to be ‘50s and ‘60s music,” he explains. “Then it was ‘60s and ‘70s, now it’s ‘70s and ‘80s.”

The company’s venture into Spanish-language broadcasts on radio and television demonstrate their acuity in assessing demographic trends. “Oklahoma City’s growth was enhanced by the Hispanic population in the 2010 census,” says Ty. “Oklahoma City Public Schools are over 50 percent Latino.” Just like the fledgling FM country station years ago, the goal of these brands is to serve a niche in the population and do it well.

Constant changes in technology also present challenges to less nimble companies, but Tyler Media is quick to embrace new opportunities. Where some might see a threat, the Tylers see opportunity. “Our product is content,” says Tony. “We view

as a way to deliver that content,” he continues, citing the company’s widespread implementation of Facebook, Twitter, websites and radio apps as portals for the product.

Although the company unofficially spends little time looking back, with half a century under its belt there are a few notable memories. “The bombing [of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building]reshaped the city and the country,” recalls Ty. On a happier note, “Covering the University of Oklahoma’s football national championship was definitely memorable.”

But memories don’t define this company. The brothers marvel about the day-to-day business of being in the media business. “It’s exciting covering the city every day and seeing the investment we’ve made in ourselves,” says Ty. Tony relishes the company’s place in the community fabric. “We’re involved in the community,” he says. “We get to promote what’s going on, make people smile and help grow the city.” Ty states the company’s philosophy succinctly, “Oklahoma City has been good to us, and we try to return the favor.”

Several decades ago, Ralph Tyler had a knack for knowing what was coming next. Passing along an inclination for intuition to sons Ty and Tony helped keep the company going. But the message of doing the right thing at the right time because it’s the right thing to do was not lost in the company’s transition from father to sons. That simple philosophy is what will keep Tyler Media growing.

 

Photography by Emily Brashier