Monday Monday

-3° - scattered clouds at 11:22pm

Late Edition. Long day following a long weekend. Lots of chatter in the blogosphere in the last day over Jim Cramer's declaration last week about "the end of radio."

The best perspective on Cramer's comments come from the mind of David Martin - who wrote this morning:

"With all due respect, I disagree with the comments of those blogging Cramer as having delivered news of radio's death. Those bloggers are missing JC's bigger point, they're plainly wrong, it's radio equities that suck not radio. Owning broadcast and cable assets, bought right, remains a very good business."

"So, no matter what some have said, Cramer is not down on the radio business, he's down on you putting your money into any of the traded radio securities. He's right."

Dave's complete remarks here.

Just this past Saturday Night I was sitting in a brew pub in with a couple of small market radio owners.

One of them remarked that the problems of the big companies are simply Wall Street problems and have little direct impact on their operations. They continue to see growth in cash flow and remain highly optimistic about the medium's future.

After last week's layoff news, hanging out with these guys was extremely uplifting. Brewpub: Jamesport Brewing Company. Highlights: the Amber Steam (exceptional) and Scottish Ale. I'll try others next trip to Michigan's "West Coast".

Letting the listeners program. WAQY/Springfield introduces their "Record & Tape Club" (very clever); clicking on the "virtual penny" allows a listener to submit their favorite album to be part of a special weekend of programming.

Last month - WGRF/Buffalo celebrated "JanYOUary". This month WCSX/Detroit is celebrating "FebYOUary" in the same style with listener-created sets of music.

Very cool. Making listeners part of the process gives them ownership; turning them into advocates.

Have a good night.