Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

78 - sunny at 11am. Left: Michigan's Mackinac Bridge - as shot by my wife heading north this past Monday.

Hello from Okemos!

Feeling out of touch: the past week a fast one - between an elevated work schedule and my wife out of town most of the week (in Michigan's "U.P." on business) - which left me to take care of all the house and kid duties. The blog, unfortunately had to take a back seat. Getting back on schedule...

Spent much of yesterday working on my forthcoming internet station. Still ripping CDs, entering required MP3 meta data on the individual cuts to meet the RIAA requirements. While its possible to put something "on the air"; first impressions are everything - so a formal debut will have to wait. Meanwhile in testing, the nearly 10-year old Pentium III (XP Home/648k RAM) running the automation is performing nearly flawlessly 24/7.

Speaking of streaming: This past week, Edison Media's Sean Ross wrote a great piece on streaming radio and the stopset situation - specifically looking at the Atlanta market. Here. Sean notes many of the thoughts that go through my head while listening to streaming radio stations. My conclusion is that streaming is just a mere afterthought - still - when putting a great online product together should be as high a priority as the terrestrial product. But I've said that here before. Why bother if you're not making it the best it can be?

Another great piece this past week was one on Friday from Jacobs Media's Keith Cunningham. The topic was talent. Using the NBA's Boston Celtics as an example, Keith wrote:

"....if a station is really looking to change the game, they may need to get honest with themselves and agree to invest in hiring great talent. The right mix of music can’t be overlooked – but take a cue from some of Radio’s iconic brands that many emulate – they have big talent."

"It’s also worth noting that The Bone in Tampa (Cox) went from a mid-pack player to virtually #1 across the board with men, almost immediately, by adding Bubba the Love Sponge to morning drive back in January. The Bone’s music mix was right all along, but there’s no substitute for big talent. Whether it's radio or the NBA, talent wins. Just ask anyone who lives in Boston."

Keith's entire piece here.

Speaking of talent. Lee Arnold writes on something I've touch on before. Another wonderful read here.

Mark Ramsey. Mark shares his view on positioning:

"As I have often said, "positioning" has never been about a "line," it has been about a "position." And a position is about standing for something. And if you stand for something that means you should be doing the right things to support that something. Because that means you're real. And a brand is as real as you and I are."

Mark's piece here.

Spending the morning getting caught up on my reading before an afternoon trek to the ballpark to see our local minor league Lansing Lugnuts (currently #1 in their division) take on the Ft. Wayne Wizards. It's a beautiful day for a ball game. Have a great Sunday....more tomorrow.