Radio Personality Kevin Rolston’s Live Web Broadcast Hair Transplant Procedure by Dr. Alan J. Bauman Draws Global Audience and is Digital Multi-Media Platform and Social Media Sensation
Over 74,000 viewers tune-in for Live Hair Transplant Surgery in High-Definition.
Boca Raton, Florida July 23, 2012 -- He’d been going bald for 13 years and finally decided to do something about it, but not before talking about it for years on his radio show. And, being the completely transparent radio host regarding his personal life for one of Clear Channel’s leading radio station’s, WILD 95.5, West Palm Beach, Kevin Rolston, the upfront, out-front ring leader of the “Kevin, Virginia & Jason,” a top rated drive-time morning show, not only had his hair transplant procedure, but he did it live, and not just for his listening audience, but to a global viewership via the internet.
Performing his fourth internet web broadcast of a medical procedure, Dr. Alan J. Bauman, one of the nation’s leading hair transplant surgeons performed Rolston’s hair transplant procedure that was broadcast via Livestream’s high-definition webcast platform. Promoted heavily on air and via social media four weeks in advance of the procedure to the station’s listeners, the feed was streamed direct to the radio station’s website where listeners were able to watch their engaging, fun-loving, balding, morning show hero get, as Rolston said on the show, his “follicle intervention.”
Says Rolston, “it was great fun not just for me, but this was a first in the radio industry with the live video simulcast of a procedure of this kind, it was a tremendous success on many levels, and a great opportunity to educate our audience about the incredible breakthroughs in technology in performing this remarkable medical procedure.” According to Wild 95.5 officials, the station’s website received an “impressive amount of traffic” throughout the live hair transplant event.
“As far as listener engagement,” says Rolston, “this event and the model we created to truly involve our listeners for this project was the first of its kind and extraordinarily successful using all digital and media assets, it’s the wave of the future.”
Direct from Dr. Bauman’s web-enabled operating room in Boca Raton, Florida, cameras were set up, a live switcher and director were on hand and in place in the operatory (similar to a CNN broadcast), even a monitor was manned by a Social Media Moderator who was fielding questions from Twitter and chat room audience comprised of more than 23 countries who tuned into Dr. Bauman’s high-definition channel on www.livestream.com/hairtransplantnow.
At noon, a second feed went to The Bald Truth, a Los Angeles based web-radio show hosted by best-selling author Spencer Kobren, dedicated to “the medical community, hair transplants and people interested in hair transplant procedures.” Exponentially reaching the live Internet audience, Kobren and his co-host, Andrew Zarian of Guys From Queens network in New York, hosted a live one-hour call-in Question and Answer Segment. “At one time,” says Dr. Bauman, “the show was being seen and streamed live by multiple entities to a global audience – Clear Channel’s listeners tuned in to the radio station’s website to see Kevin’s hair transplant, our patients and colleagues watched and interacted on our Livestream channel, and others watched it on Spencer Kobren’s widely syndicated “The Bald Truth” via Andrew Zarain’s “Guys From Queens” network, both of whom were talking about it live and split screen while we were all streaming it to our viewing audiences.” In case you missed it, you can watch the replay or download the itunes podcast of The Bald Truth Q&A segment. Dr. Bauman adds, it was the quintessential digital multi-media event.
Huge Social Media Involvement: Twitter, Facebook Live All Day
But wait, there’s more. “Social media played a huge role in the event,” adds Dr. Bauman. During the entire hair transplant process, using two different social media handles, Kevin was tweeting every step of the way. Using the twitter handles @KevinRolston or @DrAlanBauman and the #livehairtransplant hashtag, viewers were chatting live, interacting with each other and asking questions all day long. “This not only increased our consumer interest and engagement,” says Dr. Bauman, “but it also shows exactly how easy the procedure is, that Kevin was up, aware, cognizant and funny as always all while undergoing his hair transplant procedure.”
“By inviting hair loss sufferers into the operating room, and showing them exactly what happens during a modern hair transplant procedure, they can not only see first-hand how sophisticated the minimally-invasive microsurgical FUE/NeoGraft hair transplant harvesting process has become, but also how easy it is for patients,” said Dr. Bauman, a board-certified hair restoration physician. “Our main goal with these live media events is to show people that hair transplantation can be safe, virtually pain-free and completely undetectable. The days of painful ‘hair plugs’ are long gone and ‘strip-scar’ surgery is fading fast. Those who watched were able to see that Kevin and I were talking all day, he was tweeting all day long, and we were both answering questions to a live, real-time global audience all while my staff and I performed the procedure, it was amazing.”
Dr. Bauman, A Leader in Medical Procedure Webcasts
Dr. Bauman’s previous webcasts attracted larger than expected crowds, proving the appeal of “behind the scenes” medical videos. Bauman streamed YouTube “Weblebrity” Kevin “Nalts” Nalty’s transplant in 2009, and their videos documenting the event have been viewed more than 250,000 times. The same year, Bauman also participated in a live broadcast with Greg Benson, actor and director with MediocreFilms, which became the most-watched live hair transplant procedure in history, amid a flurry of emails, blog-posts and ‘tweets.’ And most recently, he performed a second live hair transplant with Nalts, which attracted a record-breaking 70,000 viewers in November of 2011 in the first ever live hair transplant broadcast on YouTube/Live the web giant’s live streaming video platform.
See Still Images and Video of Kevin’s Hair Transplant on his Blog Page
A host of images, before-and-after pictures, Kevin’s late night confessions about his hair loss and his conflicted drama about the procedure, along with incredible still photos of the actual hair transplant, and even video can be seen on the radio station’s website. Kevin’s personal blog page set up on WILD 95.5 is devoted exclusively to Kevin’s hair transplant procedure: http://www.wild955.com/pages/bmg.html or http://hai.rs/kevinshairblog
About Kevin Rolston & Clear Channel Radio
Kevin is the main host of the KVJ Show, which has been entertaining listeners on their drive to work for over 11 years. Kevin tried out radio in his early 20s saying that he would "stay in the biz until he got fired" never dreaming that one day he would be the No. 1 morning show in the West Palm Beach Market. Affectionately known as "the diet pansy" Kevin is seen as the more mature, health conscious, responsible one of the trio. Originally from Ohio, Kevin has found a home in South Florida where he lives with his wife Kim and their three children. Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, with its 237 million monthly U.S. listeners, is the leading media company in America with a greater reach than any radio, digital or television outlet.
About Dr. Alan J. Bauman (http//:www.BaumanMedical.com)
Dr. Alan J. Bauman is a surgically trained M.D. and one of only approximately 100 board-certified hair restoration physicians in the world. He is a Diplomate of the esteemed American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and is one of only 50 doctors worldwide who is recommended by the American Hair Loss Association. He has built an international practice, treated nearly 15,000 hair loss patients since 1997, and has been extensively featured in the world’s leading media in print, radio and television as a medical expert and successful early-adopter of the most advanced technologies in the treatment of hair loss. Appearances, interviews and profiles include the Today Show, The Early Show, Good Morning America, Extra, Access Hollywood and Dateline NBC among other TV appearances. Newspaper and Magazine articles and feature stories include The New York Times, Newsweek, Cosmo, Vogue, Allure, and Men’s Health among others.
No stranger to live hair transplant surgery webcasts, in 2009 Dr. Alan J. Bauman performed the first Live Hair Transplant using the NeoGraft/FUE device and also the first Live Hair Transplant on YouTube/Live, the online on-demand video giant’s live web-streaming platform which drew over 70,000 viewers.
