tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29701507670793740602024-03-07T19:18:54.384-05:00Classic Rock FMOne Programmer's thoughts on radio's most successful format and the medium todayUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger574125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-28046681891142336482010-09-04T15:42:00.017-04:002010-10-22T21:28:21.426-04:00J. Douglas Blackburn<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xGHHJj00M3AZ2CvWWaloLqBA4lDrruZ-FgFyZW_UqbmWidfeXR99tSX929unNn_9QAzWLH9HsN5Ajcf5XPO4yn3Y4Nzbp_FnUlF4y7RAjv1HE_65ssD_UikR2KwxYDceMx910u2et7C-/s1600/jdb.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513146541461618162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xGHHJj00M3AZ2CvWWaloLqBA4lDrruZ-FgFyZW_UqbmWidfeXR99tSX929unNn_9QAzWLH9HsN5Ajcf5XPO4yn3Y4Nzbp_FnUlF4y7RAjv1HE_65ssD_UikR2KwxYDceMx910u2et7C-/s400/jdb.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 201px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 132px;" /></a> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">March 12, 1945 - September 3, 2010</span><br />
Rest in Peace, my friend</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 130%;"></span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><em><span style="font-size: 85%;"><strong>Added....from RadioDailyNews.com:</strong></span></em> <span style="font-size: 85%;"><em>"Jay Blackburn, who'd served in Vietnam in combat, died in San Antonio where he and his wife Chancey lived. His major radio achievement was the creation of The Loop in Chicago with his partner Bruce Miller Earle. He and Earle consulted and/or programmed many radio stations in the United States and aboard, working for Art Holt, a radio station broker and station owner whose career goes back to years with Gordon McLendon.<br />
<br />
Jay authored "The Radio Gypsies" and was a mentor for Claude Hall's eNovel "I Love Radio." "Jay and Bruce Miller Earle were close friends dating back to the 1960s," said Claude Hall, once Radio-TV Editor of Billboard Magazine and later a college profession. "I considered them lovable radio rascals and will miss Jay Blackburn immensely."</em></span></span><span style="font-size: 85%;"><em><br />
</em><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><br />
Read J's obituary from Legacy.com <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sanantonio/obituary.aspx?n=j-douglas-blackburn&pid=145073669&fhid=7331">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Read Claude Hall's thoughts on J <a href="http://www.firststrategy.com/claudehall380.htm">here</a> (scroll down to "Blackburn Matters")<br />
<br />
Bruce Miller Earle corrects the record on WLUP <a href="http://www.claudehallonline.com/">here</a> (scroll down to "Loop Matters")</strong></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Read Chicagoland Radio & Media's post <a href="http://bit.ly/boczZn">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chicago Sun-Times article on J (9/8/10) <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/business/2684068,CST-NWS-XBlackburn08.article">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Listen to WLUP's March, 1977 sign-on <a href="http://www.tomotoole.com/audio/WLUP_The%20Loop_Sign_On.mp3">here</a> (via <a href="http://www.tomotoole.com/coolbeans.html">Tom O'Toole</a>; MP3 download)<br />
<br />
More on J. Blackburn from this blog <a href="http://classicrockfm.blogspot.com/2008/03/congrats-to-j-blackburn.html">here</a>.</strong></span></span></div><div align="left"><em><span style="font-size: 85%;"></span></em></div><div align="left"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-23975225984563008152009-06-12T06:33:00.007-04:002009-06-12T06:45:39.027-04:00Classic Rock Friday<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Good Morning from Mid-Michigan.</span> Sunny this morning and 52° at 6:42am.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">S</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ome great video popped up on the web in the last day.</span> First is from the glory years of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMET_%28FM%29">KMET/Los Angeles</a> via <a href="http://www.jeffgonzerradionetwork.com/">Jeff Gonzer</a> (currently a consultant and part-time on-air at <a href="http://www.thesoundla.com/">KSWD/LA</a>):</span><br /><br /><center><object style="font-family: arial;" width="350" height="213"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xeGDSh4j1mA&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xeGDSh4j1mA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="350" height="213"></embed></object></center><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second one via </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2009/06/wish-list.html">Fred Jacobs</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">...</span>who proudly exclaims that this is a <span style="font-style: italic;">"great celebration of classic rock"</span>:<br /></span><br /><center><object style="font-family: arial;" width="350" height="213"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KGBF6AHaaS0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KGBF6AHaaS0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="350" height="213"></embed></object></center><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Have a great Friday!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-18890642005312192342009-06-08T07:00:00.003-04:002009-06-08T07:06:55.198-04:00Dan O'Day On Radio<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRZb_JWKAfSxeTZU9ImqoIFFFttWq0PLhQKXxgsrXlP1fUOstvRDdCuckrCUolneenUfRfGKIhTXSZ5INK4KJ4NebguCh7lhJ9QozPPi_KdCmKuoOswynuJwQN7dg6vVnKhvLzQsQD4nE/s1600-h/OkemosStation.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRZb_JWKAfSxeTZU9ImqoIFFFttWq0PLhQKXxgsrXlP1fUOstvRDdCuckrCUolneenUfRfGKIhTXSZ5INK4KJ4NebguCh7lhJ9QozPPi_KdCmKuoOswynuJwQN7dg6vVnKhvLzQsQD4nE/s200/OkemosStation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344911568885618162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">54° - cloudy with light rain at 6:59am</span></span><br /><br />Good Morning from Okemos...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">This past weekend, the brilliant Dan O'Day</span> posted this on his own <a href="http://danoday.blogspot.com/">blog</a> (I found it via his post on Facebook). Dan prefaced the post with a note that this may offend radio executives.<br /><br />I believe there's some truths here that need to be heard and at the very least can give owners, executives, GMs and PDs something to think about:</span><br /><br /><center><object style="font-family: arial;" width="350" height="213"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FI91lmBNfwA&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FI91lmBNfwA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="350" height="213"></embed></object></center><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Dan's blog btw, an excellent read <a href="http://danoday.blogspot.com/">here</a>. Make it part of your daily diet.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-30456551175956322922009-05-11T08:26:00.008-04:002009-05-11T11:29:14.453-04:00Clear Channel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBDmb7_GjgF0XoG_5YNILOhZAZdh4G7I5G0zc46-JCM-rmYMihyphenhyphen6IIPZujXRdgFRyTB1BcwcOV7qLoL3kLGvix33o0D1S2DS5NrKd1QgvKWhDdL5_l06Lf98NL3BmZj8Nso-KvqBRRm6Z/s1600-h/CClogo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334547157718570770" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 93px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 75px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBDmb7_GjgF0XoG_5YNILOhZAZdh4G7I5G0zc46-JCM-rmYMihyphenhyphen6IIPZujXRdgFRyTB1BcwcOV7qLoL3kLGvix33o0D1S2DS5NrKd1QgvKWhDdL5_l06Lf98NL3BmZj8Nso-KvqBRRm6Z/s200/CClogo.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">63° - clear/sunny at 8:25am</span></span><br /><br /><div><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >Welcome to another work week.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />When I started writing this blog post this morning, I had six other topics I was going to include. My first topic however, was Clear Channel and I've run out of room. This is a piece I didn't want to write.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Still doing a lot of reading as details trickle out about Clear Channel's latest changes, including its "Premium Choice" programming, which essentially syndicates some of the company's better talent to stations around the country. I've found it difficult for me to critical of Clear Channel. My years with them were pretty good ones that I would be hard to trade for anything else.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4ErYXd_aza0NbC0l2uXuWhjrtzolFn4hHS8gwfTMpVc6M3LIzWAIxgqLpyZsO60nTHlFwo6BfE0JvUm-mnNhpjakx453YmdkdhJf8wDfnpTPykOnvlIhYtvQBhv2he-bPy0_24V5-kG7/s1600-h/adobe_100.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334548542571405778" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 100px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 100px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4ErYXd_aza0NbC0l2uXuWhjrtzolFn4hHS8gwfTMpVc6M3LIzWAIxgqLpyZsO60nTHlFwo6BfE0JvUm-mnNhpjakx453YmdkdhJf8wDfnpTPykOnvlIhYtvQBhv2he-bPy0_24V5-kG7/s200/adobe_100.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />If what I hear is true, its disappointing to hear that "Premium Choice" won't be localized, unlike the out-of-market voice-tracking the company had been doing - where the local PD would actually schedule the music and ship a log, liners and market information to the remote talent, resulting in a local sounding airshift with some good talent.<br /><br />How weird to be nostalgic for that period!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This must explain the company's rush to "localism", which is essentially an increased PSA load. Advance damage control but hard to do much otherwise with a skeleton staff.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">One PD who works crosstown to a Clear Channel cluster recently described Premium Choice to me as sounding like <em>"bad 70s satellite."</em> I hope not! On the other side of the coin, a large market PD with the company told me via <a href="http://twitter.com/classicrockfm">Twitter</a> <em>"Wait till you hear how it sounds. I think you'll be stunned."</em><br /><br />OK, fair enough. I haven't heard the product yet.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOZwDRIr5iZH0rZ-y1Kb0aoVzNAR2ffXKUjhn-o5ZEaXUFGHWJ2BqVRTdLyPVsxRlMJafXpKetpVA9bAFcuHFWm6895Ot65VnZzbyIh8hiL1JUkg_KLZVF9LOLL7zHhbE33gOyb-63FKI/s1600-h/selectorshottt.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334548932579250002" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 100px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 135px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOZwDRIr5iZH0rZ-y1Kb0aoVzNAR2ffXKUjhn-o5ZEaXUFGHWJ2BqVRTdLyPVsxRlMJafXpKetpVA9bAFcuHFWm6895Ot65VnZzbyIh8hiL1JUkg_KLZVF9LOLL7zHhbE33gOyb-63FKI/s200/selectorshottt.jpg" border="0" /></a>But apparently gone from any station "opting in" (your definition of "opting in" may vary) to Premium Choice is local scheduling of music. The national playlist rears its ugly head. Interesting that this comes from a company that spent a lot of time over the years denying that there was a corporate playlist (and when the did there really wasn't).<br /><br />While its true that the hits are the hits are the hits, I don't need to mention that there's always been differences from market to market (that's what local music research </span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >was</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> all about) and this research is what gave stations a competitive advantage.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"><u>Added</u>:</span> in the very simple sense, it was finding out what your local audience wanted and giving it to them.<br /></strong></em></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-unRle3o3iKurNZKyUOJpy2Z3ljVZJbvVwD1lTyJlhLpDhgg1iAQUW73PfixnzYxC1zLRtrxYo1Tow91KS9bMud3ey20y8j6MIGpAwaKX7JgW0Jph5uuMzn9_WPFxlxcF_qHrte1R8n4/s1600-h/HarveAlan70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334549198567770306" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 84px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-unRle3o3iKurNZKyUOJpy2Z3ljVZJbvVwD1lTyJlhLpDhgg1iAQUW73PfixnzYxC1zLRtrxYo1Tow91KS9bMud3ey20y8j6MIGpAwaKX7JgW0Jph5uuMzn9_WPFxlxcF_qHrte1R8n4/s200/HarveAlan70.jpg" border="0" /></a>Given the present economy, Consultant Harve Allen noted in <a href="http://harvealan.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-happens-when-cash-flow-is-gone.html">this piece</a> he posted over the weekend that </span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >"It's the perfect storm--negative cash flow and bland & sterile local radio stations."</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />And Harve adds: </span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >"Are you mad yet? I hope a little bit."</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBX20LQn1x7RA5tu2RA8zXF62md5q8ukqorWGivQQH1MF-RgYNMqGreanOwLqV9xJDiBsMx2blM7oyvIm3cQxjLsu0wbQkWkJd2vdutvhxqVOU2sX-uw0otTyKXyG93kXwu02KJZAs0FqA/s1600-h/randymichaels.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334549508567134802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 88px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBX20LQn1x7RA5tu2RA8zXF62md5q8ukqorWGivQQH1MF-RgYNMqGreanOwLqV9xJDiBsMx2blM7oyvIm3cQxjLsu0wbQkWkJd2vdutvhxqVOU2sX-uw0otTyKXyG93kXwu02KJZAs0FqA/s200/randymichaels.jpg" border="0" /></a>Harve hints at something that I've said many times one way or another: it's unique hard-to-duplicate content that makes for a winning radio station. And I'm simply repeating something that (love him or hate him) Randy Michaels said to group of programmers at a Dan O'Day conference years ago.<br /><br />Pulling back the local personalities and becoming music intensive (and with a national playlist at that) offers <em>nothing unique and difficult-to-duplicate.</em> <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Nothing.</span> <strong>Anyone can do that!</strong></span><strong> </strong><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />There was a day when a smart crosstown competitor would take advantage of a situation like that. I really hope those days aren't over yet, but my guess is that the MBAs making the programming decisions at Clear Channel are betting that there's nobody in most of their markets who will come in and kick their ass.<br /><br />Or maybe they simply don't care.</span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-25632451015115821342009-05-06T10:28:00.006-04:002009-05-06T10:50:02.614-04:00Radio Stories: 20 Years Ago in Tampa<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-bhfN-1Za0gSBpoYq-_uulehmSDdYbTa2_oPKp9lpHe_JBua4tF-gB-Y_m3MP6mpuFag_8PlFnE5BUttyef0nmkqXUigsCpeyyXdp5QMqZ41PihsElixA0W3xCDlq7PrGvLqn5HX2DvX/s1600-h/Tim_Moore150.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332716183687456834" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 81px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 120px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-bhfN-1Za0gSBpoYq-_uulehmSDdYbTa2_oPKp9lpHe_JBua4tF-gB-Y_m3MP6mpuFag_8PlFnE5BUttyef0nmkqXUigsCpeyyXdp5QMqZ41PihsElixA0W3xCDlq7PrGvLqn5HX2DvX/s200/Tim_Moore150.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:85%;" ><em>63° - hazy at 10:28am</em></span></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Consultant Tim Moore of Grand Rapids <em>(and Naples, Florida)</em> based Audience Development Group</span> writes and distributes a weekly email titled "The Midweek Motivator", which is available free via subscription on the ADG <a href="http://www.audiencedevelopmentgroup.com/index.html">website</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>This morning Tim wrote about a legendary radio battle</strong> that took place in Tampa 20 years ago and what can still be learned from it. With his permission, I've republished his piece below:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Not since Pearl Harbor had the world witnessed a classic attack like the one that sank Edens Broadcasting's battleship Q-105 twenty years ago. Though no lives were lost, a legendary CHR was torpedoed, rolled over, and sank. It was a story of hubris, élan, overconfidence, and unbridled aggression. In 74 days, one group's largest cash cow was trumped by a pig, and the Tampa Bay market was never to be the same.</span></span> <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" ></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >Beyond the fact that it's a 20 year anniversary, why showcase the story now? Perhaps because there exist multiple learnings from this epic showdown which should be revisited by any serious student of how battles are won and lost; leaders playing defense, attackers using guerrilla tactics, and the history that lingers (since history is always written by the winning side).</span><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />In 1989, Edens Broadcasting was nationally developing with Q-105 its flagship for ratings, revenue and cash flow. WRBQ was recognized as one of the elite large market CHR's regularly scoring in the mid teens 12-plus. The rules of marketing warfare proffered stations of iconic proportion like Q-105 if not unassailable, were certainly unbeatable and not worth the pain for a would-be attacker. Gabe Hobbs and Marc Chase were alpha-thinking in the Jacor situation room across town. Somehow the concept of a Pig as the personification of a CHR surfaced. Hobbs and Chase had always wanted to do a CHR in Tampa, but Jacor owned the Eastman Radio rep firm, and thus had assured Q-105 that Jacor would stay out of the CHR brand. Inconceivably, Edens and Q-105 dropped Eastman's representation, and a large farm animal was born.</span> <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" ></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >Believing Q-105 was "Fortress Singapore" immune to attack-and-conquer strategy, Michael Osterhout (Edens COO) upon hearing of Jacor's guerrilla assault quipped, "I sure hope you're renting and not buying." Game on. Hobbs and Chase knew Q-105 would throw large sums into the battle, so thus started their campaign with brilliant and unconventional tactics: they made a demand for money. They went on their News-Talk giant WFLA and reported they were "holding Q-105 up for a million dollars in ransom or they'd switch formats." A week later the sum bumped to five million. At five PM that same Friday, WFLZ became "Jamz 93" for an hour, then, abruptly switched back to Gold without further comment. The following Monday morning, Gary Edens was ensconced at the St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco. WFLZ's morning team woke Edens up at 4 AM Pacific Time and offered Edens one more chance to "pay-up" or be attacked. His response was something to the effect of, "Bring it on, boys." With that, Power Pig threw the switch, and Paula Abdul's Cold Hearted Snake fired the first torpedo.</span> <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" ></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >Surprisingly says Hobbs, "We kept waiting for them to react, and they did nothing." It took Q-105 sixty days to trim spot loads, calibrate music, and re-image against the Pig. It was too late. In 74 days, Q-105 decompressed from a 14.4 to an 8.6 and Bay Area economics were forever changed.</span> <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" ></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >Midst the trail of flotsam, Q-105's thousand-dollar-a-spot morning rate slipped to $250.00. Cash flow plummeted, and WRBQ's parent company would never recover. What started out as a game, became arguably radio's most vitriolic war. </span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" ></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >Lessons carried forward remind us no format is unassailable, yet too few companies have the ingenuity and commitment to carry out a Power Pig assault. The right people with a big idea and a lot of passion can remake an entire market (in 74 days). We asked Gabe, "If Edens had paid the million, would you have gone away?" He grinned, and replied "absolutely." War is hell.</div></span><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">Tim Moore can be reached at </span><a href="mailto:tim@audiencedevelopmentgroup.com"><span style="font-family:arial;">tim@audiencedevelopmentgroup.com</span></a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-63368890903759894242009-05-03T11:01:00.006-04:002009-05-04T12:23:17.215-04:00Sunday Morning Odds & Sods<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBGfrZYZgDpFWmeytqh2031mlllMF4twSQ99ZoDGthSvDJ1uoEBsIb8op5q0sUJLAHCYwhWNM3pNnI7vO7HH1jHApOfOrrYGwFDHbJt8kzc49lRNq62Al-api5aEvMbZlF58VI0tsI4uE/s1600-h/Ramsey050309.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331583420954310434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 199px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBGfrZYZgDpFWmeytqh2031mlllMF4twSQ99ZoDGthSvDJ1uoEBsIb8op5q0sUJLAHCYwhWNM3pNnI7vO7HH1jHApOfOrrYGwFDHbJt8kzc49lRNq62Al-api5aEvMbZlF58VI0tsI4uE/s320/Ramsey050309.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">60° - sunny at 10:49am</span></span><br /><br />Good Morning from Okemos</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Listening this morning to Bob Stroud</span> on Chicago's <a href="http://www.971thedrive.com/">WDRV</a>...who - at the moment is doing a time-warp this this week in 1970.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">Just played</span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"> "Spirit In The Sky", "Instant Karma" and now "Come & Get It". Nice start to morning. </span></span><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italicfont-size:85%;" >Later:</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"> Bob's switched gears to 1975...and is now playing Kraftwerk's "Autobahn"....and its off vinyl....complete with ticks and scratches...too cool!</span></span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">San Diego: Mark Ramsey points out </span>a (copy-protected) campaign from AAA <a href="http://www.kprifm.com/pages/main">KPRI</a> that tells the market "Don't Listen". A campaign designed to encourage trial. Perfect in the PPM world. Mark observes: </span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >"...our goal should not be recall - it should be trial. The best way to get folks to remember they listen is for them to actually listen. Don't put the case before the horse.</span> </div><div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: arial; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-family:arial;" >So KPRI's campaign is obviously designed to seduce trial. Not to sell product attributes and benefits or, God forbid, awareness and recall. You can't know whether you like something or not until you try it, so why not?</span></div><div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: arial; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: center">And even smarter in the world of PPM, by the way."<br /></div><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Mark's complete post - including reader comments - is </span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold" href="http://www.hear2.com/2009/04/dont-listen.html">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">.</span> Anyone else here old enough to remember "Try It, You'll Like It" (I thought so..)<br /><br /><center><object height="213" width="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PxrkTtnjy6s&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PxrkTtnjy6s&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="350" height="213"></embed></object></center><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Last weekend: </span>had the opportunity to check out night #2 of <a href="http://www.wcsx.com/">WCSX/Detroit's</a> Birthday Bash featuring the J. Geils Band. Awesome time and kudos to OM/PD Doug Podell for pulling it off. The band only getting together for shows in their hometown of Boston and their adopted hometown of Detroit. 2 nights that sold out in minutes. Great time!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGzQe2UCPYq30mH7lUsuWbuLbrHEj0sEsVSdXRApcKzlceAQQh24Pm7XW0N_2BAc8sxGulSh7oQBErI__A0E2U_w584lN_aHD1KD3N6DEaFoDRjZkbfB_SoMl4Gol8KxiuoM4BvB3wy6CC/s1600-h/WCSX9at9_180.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331589520336102002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 101px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGzQe2UCPYq30mH7lUsuWbuLbrHEj0sEsVSdXRApcKzlceAQQh24Pm7XW0N_2BAc8sxGulSh7oQBErI__A0E2U_w584lN_aHD1KD3N6DEaFoDRjZkbfB_SoMl4Gol8KxiuoM4BvB3wy6CC/s200/WCSX9at9_180.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Speaking of: </span>Noted that WCSX - after months with PPM data - has now shorted its morning drive show by an hour and gets back to music at 9am instead of 10. The station now kicking off its return to music with "9 at 9".<br /><br />Haven't heard the feature yet, but I'm assuming "9 at 9" is similar to the "10 at 10" feature heard on other stations around the country.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Think summer.</span> The sunshine today has me thinking warm weather (and mowing the lawn). Consultant Dave Lange has put together some ideas for radio in the summertime, noting:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9miI_fvlkNKgnQMEDSmcayFNWLFarM1ad44Zxx-dFLFKT-gVeaLBNtY9PuQAVOe0zQ9U1NCnQNyT_QA0gnRc1Al0u84TqFdHlkiMmTqrDsjixPAA9hNNgGIjmci1BYTw2nFIAfKVpdn9/s1600-h/davelange70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331608915992687922" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 88px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9miI_fvlkNKgnQMEDSmcayFNWLFarM1ad44Zxx-dFLFKT-gVeaLBNtY9PuQAVOe0zQ9U1NCnQNyT_QA0gnRc1Al0u84TqFdHlkiMmTqrDsjixPAA9hNNgGIjmci1BYTw2nFIAfKVpdn9/s200/davelange70.jpg" border="0" /></a></span> <div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: center">"Radio has a real chance to shine as TV largely shuts down and our mobile medium has the advantage of being able to move with the audience. As they spend more time outside radio goes with them to the patio, the car, out in the community and even to the beach/pool. This is a time to hustle if you want to build your audience for the Fall."<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Dave's suggestions for radio - including appearances, music, imaging and more <a href="http://mcvaymediarocks.blogspot.com/2009/04/are-you-ready-for-summer.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigz9U-BlmUEME1ylti0AgOJX24HppkQ2fmhaO66FsSVmMzfB1I_OZwhvKtBdpfWiuLJBD_olITV6sprg6Ti3CTS01hYKVStwUjn5N_yAumOttbe5HKLtFn_jVdM5gGwOnI9dRc9xbtjBYL/s1600-h/RickKaempfer_70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331609189813680834" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 86px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigz9U-BlmUEME1ylti0AgOJX24HppkQ2fmhaO66FsSVmMzfB1I_OZwhvKtBdpfWiuLJBD_olITV6sprg6Ti3CTS01hYKVStwUjn5N_yAumOttbe5HKLtFn_jVdM5gGwOnI9dRc9xbtjBYL/s200/RickKaempfer_70.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Great read: </span>Rick Kaempfer's interview with Chicago radio legend John Gehron. Its been up for a week - but it was new to me this morning. <a href="http://chicagoradiospotlight.blogspot.com/2009/04/john-gehron.html">Here</a>. Also on Rick's <a href="http://chicagoradiospotlight.blogspot.com/">Chicago Radio Spotlight</a> is an interview with Chicago radio's Buzz Kilman. Worth the time <a href="http://chicagoradiospotlight.blogspot.com/2009/04/buzz-kilman.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">New Media Webinar: </span>A "power lunch" this Tuesday at noon eastern from McVay New Media. SIgn-up and check it out <a href="http://www.mcvaynewmedia.com/mcvay-new-media-power-lunch/">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It's been another tough week for radio</span> with cutbacks and furloughs at a few radio companies. I'm at a loss to offer anything positive. Bless the companies still investing in the product and people, both on air and off. <em>And investing in <u>real</u> localism,</em> radio's <em>single</em> biggest advantage over competitive media in this broadband/multi-media era. Think content that's difficult to duplicate.<br /><br />There's people and programming assets that too many companies are foolishly throwing away. All in all a loss for listeners who can typically get what content is left through other sources. Example: how many sources are there on the internet for Ryan Seacrest? Don't need the local station for that. I'm just sayin'....<br /><br />That said - the opportunity is may soon be ripe for a strong local competitor to take advantage of these MBA-programmed stations.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Related:</span> <a href="http://goodratings.typepad.com/alan_mason/2009/04/the-new-pareto-rule.html">this post</a> from consultant Alan Mason.<br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-47350139537500679472009-03-24T12:13:00.003-04:002009-03-24T12:21:54.465-04:00Seth Sums It Up<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirj9LvKrGnD0AbINrJA0PCcjesDV1zpqq3gy5xAUbF2ZrrT6-ZfwhAVcbtHrcby-atgS39xx7_P8aBAgv0E9SRmXms0U5kyvM0jnyq7Pq3Sfkdusw86ix6sbga8RwNJZWmKjVE8Igeeikc/s1600-h/SethGodinBlog_150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirj9LvKrGnD0AbINrJA0PCcjesDV1zpqq3gy5xAUbF2ZrrT6-ZfwhAVcbtHrcby-atgS39xx7_P8aBAgv0E9SRmXms0U5kyvM0jnyq7Pq3Sfkdusw86ix6sbga8RwNJZWmKjVE8Igeeikc/s400/SethGodinBlog_150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316790260957742450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Apologies to Seth Godin for the cut 'n paste...but his short summary sums it up:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>The pillars of social media site success:<br /></strong><br />Why people choose to visit online social sites:<br />Who likes me?<br />Is everything okay?<br />How can I become more popular?<br />What's new?<br />I'm bored, let's make some noise<br /><br />None of these are new, but in the digital world, they're still magnetic.<br />If you want to understand why Twitter is so hot, look at those five attributes. They deliver </span><a href="http://writingboots.typepad.com/writing_boots/2009/03/shel-holtz-vs-kurt-vonnegut.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">all five</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, instantly.</span><br /><br /></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Seth Godin's blog - a daily must read - is </strong><a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></span><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-43024582338114671542009-03-20T12:09:00.004-04:002009-03-20T12:16:05.229-04:00Brainstorm Session....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Uym-eqGj2aV2WBCHSJT4J8huty7yqQNJLt4CAtnNffsLFV2WwD0lUUaZOuEAz7tlCqMLAtQYLWiC300oXzt1_cKreXGFtmmYedx5It7Dj_yGMvtryrRee6i1NfsHG0InBACFdvBwa7ra/s1600-h/DetroitShirt_500.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315304127631070082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 140px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Uym-eqGj2aV2WBCHSJT4J8huty7yqQNJLt4CAtnNffsLFV2WwD0lUUaZOuEAz7tlCqMLAtQYLWiC300oXzt1_cKreXGFtmmYedx5It7Dj_yGMvtryrRee6i1NfsHG0InBACFdvBwa7ra/s400/DetroitShirt_500.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">Stumbled across this. What could you do with something like this in your market? Perhaps raise some money for charity, bond with your market and strengthen some local pride?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">J</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ust thinkin'... </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-74647753479429951742009-03-16T20:45:00.002-04:002009-03-16T20:50:45.666-04:00Engaging Listeners On The Web & On The Air<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2HycrgTOVuZWaRp5eCtp5awheY0TECbxv-mQYLFgcDYtoFs0UvIwci3RYgLG9r0zZQjtqo0tkTmqAdRg0SeoWtHPBEsgcbatM0Hr4EUjpLmjWXA4e2iRnp8Y00thfV8oGT_i2IeGVw4m/s1600-h/WGRFstpatsLOGO.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 73px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2HycrgTOVuZWaRp5eCtp5awheY0TECbxv-mQYLFgcDYtoFs0UvIwci3RYgLG9r0zZQjtqo0tkTmqAdRg0SeoWtHPBEsgcbatM0Hr4EUjpLmjWXA4e2iRnp8Y00thfV8oGT_i2IeGVw4m/s200/WGRFstpatsLOGO.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313945332616707330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >46° - clear at 8:44pm</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Its been some time</span> since this blog checked in with Buffalo's <a href="http://www.97rock.com/">WGRF</a> (97 Rock)...and what PD John Hager has been up to. John is a master at engaging listeners by combining the station's website and the station's on-air programming. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">This time around listeners are voting for the best live album of all time</span> - with results to be featured on a live album weekend:<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAC8zsXebU_hJerdo5wmV2IawMXzJ4fUgGVA7ZrLcp9gaxCNCsUTAxohM4AcRqRaYmrnMTU_si2mwfoS5SHmrGmS1oPWFko-pHlDdx42M67HCmh9tKgW5ZbCKH2ECfuerWfeT9a0_If5gZ/s1600-h/WGRFbestLiveAlbum.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAC8zsXebU_hJerdo5wmV2IawMXzJ4fUgGVA7ZrLcp9gaxCNCsUTAxohM4AcRqRaYmrnMTU_si2mwfoS5SHmrGmS1oPWFko-pHlDdx42M67HCmh9tKgW5ZbCKH2ECfuerWfeT9a0_If5gZ/s400/WGRFbestLiveAlbum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313943569038232786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not only is 97 Rock giving listeners a chance to vote</span> on what the station will feature for a live album weekend, but the station is inviting some lively debate on the voting:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvUjzwm2pXGNveJnHpOkTCslzJ-2-qPZfcdxagaRL9OrgkSIsUpWLZO5DWj4CrMaD2XAgPE_6JbiR0zpXQc0nahVHtDPpx0iBY-yWUvZe9CniDGKX4271GIDpdxo8Bk4ePaNmUILnijxr_/s1600-h/WGRFbestLiveAlbum2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvUjzwm2pXGNveJnHpOkTCslzJ-2-qPZfcdxagaRL9OrgkSIsUpWLZO5DWj4CrMaD2XAgPE_6JbiR0zpXQc0nahVHtDPpx0iBY-yWUvZe9CniDGKX4271GIDpdxo8Bk4ePaNmUILnijxr_/s400/WGRFbestLiveAlbum2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313947975513179122" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Very cool....and just one example of how 97 Rock has been using its website to invite listeners to help program the station.</span> Simply, it gives the listeners ownership in the product. And that translates into loyalty and TSL.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Its tactics like this that that really make me miss programming a radio station.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Want more examples? Click </span><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;" href="http://classicrockfm.blogspot.com/search/label/WGRF">here</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-78162461989790189102009-03-15T13:20:00.004-04:002009-03-24T11:02:37.636-04:00Sunday Morning Odds & Sods<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bUML4en-r8cc2i0-AoqnNBnfRyzJSTM2Cg86K7JyxTjacI1PNrAjdmN8HCEkn13ajB3Mj6059DjPDh6Di5EaFdazOjGuZawKSFQ0sXHD198Y7m0Mfb7EWYdfYPJB1MMpqe9MpXkLekFz/s1600-h/Fordmuseum_170.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313464869175821554" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 170px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 138px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bUML4en-r8cc2i0-AoqnNBnfRyzJSTM2Cg86K7JyxTjacI1PNrAjdmN8HCEkn13ajB3Mj6059DjPDh6Di5EaFdazOjGuZawKSFQ0sXHD198Y7m0Mfb7EWYdfYPJB1MMpqe9MpXkLekFz/s400/Fordmuseum_170.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>55° - clear at 1:15pm</strong></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Left: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum - cell phone photo taken this past Thursday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.<br /></span><br /></span></em><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Good Morning/Afternoon.</strong> I do start writing this in the morning, but by the time I finish, a new daypart begins.<br /><br /><strong>Catching up from a long week in Grand Rapids</strong> at the Great Lakes Broadcast Conference. Highlight of the show was watching and chatting with fellow blogger/new media evangelist <a href="http://davemartin.blogspot.com/">Dave Martin</a>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>During Dave's session on social media</strong> - it became obvious to me that more than a few in the room didn't quite get it, though they were trying to understand. Its hard to get over the fact that radio and television has always been a one-way "us to them" proposition; even with websites and email clubs. And there's fear of losing control.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkYU8ibFLXRQqVzx2sbi-j4ChyKRdQ5rVPoe1oZbs9SCoC4A-_YNY6CkbaP8S6hVq0tTEH3ueeDOb9tloKKuJlIA4Vk9qKVVi5eaQ4BSxtYrGjJa40HV7O-tmi08LMKCKqaOuxByUICLv/s1600-h/socialnetworks_125.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313462905266484546" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 125px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 98px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkYU8ibFLXRQqVzx2sbi-j4ChyKRdQ5rVPoe1oZbs9SCoC4A-_YNY6CkbaP8S6hVq0tTEH3ueeDOb9tloKKuJlIA4Vk9qKVVi5eaQ4BSxtYrGjJa40HV7O-tmi08LMKCKqaOuxByUICLv/s400/socialnetworks_125.jpg" border="0" /></a>Perhaps there needs to be a "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deprogramming">deprogramming</a>" retreat for the old media types who still don't see it - showing them the new ways and how other old media is using the new tools available (in most cases "free" and "almost free"). <em><strong>A great example </strong></em><a href="http://classicrockfm.blogspot.com/2009/03/cara-gets-it.html"><em><strong>here</strong></em></a><em><strong>....all done by an air talent in less time than it takes to answer the request line.</strong></em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>That said - there's many OMs, PDs, MDs, and air talent who do "get it".</strong> Sadly however, many are working for management and ownership who don't and won't get behind it. Without support from the top down, these efforts are not as effective as they could be, benefiting sales and programming together.<br /><br /><em><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">And....thanks for the career tip Dave!</span></strong></em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Listening this morning:</strong> a bit of Bob Stroud on Chicago's <a href="http://www.971thedrive.com/">WDRV</a>; followed by Steve Palec on Milwaukee's <a href="http://www.wklh.com/">WKLH</a>. Mr. Palec in the middle of an excellent segment on the late Warren Zevon; with many more good things to follow.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzdAsDBZ74q4ys-dChONC6OfdnAya78pV67xFkOUGaYS_ixE-X_KISyT2hLdK0lcJ8ybNxu1O3etPz35zxvO8tzf6215D2tP9U7GL5eorpfAGMPtEuLVeYtbp0eA5_h7mHZfNPsTw5z5a/s1600-h/davelange70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313463472960898578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 88px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzdAsDBZ74q4ys-dChONC6OfdnAya78pV67xFkOUGaYS_ixE-X_KISyT2hLdK0lcJ8ybNxu1O3etPz35zxvO8tzf6215D2tP9U7GL5eorpfAGMPtEuLVeYtbp0eA5_h7mHZfNPsTw5z5a/s400/davelange70.jpg" border="0" /></a> <strong>Dave Lange.</strong> Dave posted a great read this past week on the demise of New York's WXRK. Dave shares his thoughts on why WXRK didn't work....and why some great stations are what they are. See </span><a href="http://mcvaymediarocks.blogspot.com/2009/03/rock-and-ppm.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.<br /><br /><em><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">And for those of you running syndicated programming (Bob & Tom, Alice Cooper, etc.), Dave has a great piece on "Making a Syndicated Show Local" - </span></strong></em></span><a href="http://mcvaymediarocks.blogspot.com/2009/01/making-syndicated-show-local.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><strong>here</strong></em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><strong>.</strong></em></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfV9ycp0NVD-L2l8rZVVS6LdEmrm1GMZGVL4XIk0P01inopPjSc5G9r7poeUrBJeYJY5FqEiwDsXX7riTFwAsQVGWwCJbPku2egikbVTqZ9Z_66HmHtud1-A4oB6iGx4ZDgKl573Ry-i7z/s1600-h/SeanRoss.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313463800334757554" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 75px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 95px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfV9ycp0NVD-L2l8rZVVS6LdEmrm1GMZGVL4XIk0P01inopPjSc5G9r7poeUrBJeYJY5FqEiwDsXX7riTFwAsQVGWwCJbPku2egikbVTqZ9Z_66HmHtud1-A4oB6iGx4ZDgKl573Ry-i7z/s400/SeanRoss.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Programming Basics:</strong> Edison Media's Sean Ross writes about "Keeping your station moving". </span><a href="http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2009/03/keeping_your_station_moving.php"><span style="font-family:arial;">Here</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.<br /><br /><strong>Another another read for PDs:</strong> "Are Your Personalities Heathers Or Karens?" In this week's FMQB - </span><a href="http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=1199508"><span style="font-family:arial;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Radio stories:</strong> Rick Kaempfer interviews WGN Radio's Mary Van De Viede on his Chicago Radio Spotlight. </span><a href="http://chicagoradiospotlight.blogspot.com/2009/03/mary-van-de-velde.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Here</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.<br /><br /><strong>Spring is here...sort of...hope it is where you are.</strong> Have a great Sunday.</span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-6159840527099084402009-03-09T05:13:00.004-04:002009-03-09T05:21:43.417-04:00Fred Jacobs: A Great Idea on Fighting The Fight<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Yb8Mjk8MgYHYKfOvKH9svkK21Hw2GQNFpxKEcVDznwBsaN4dPh6qybiNUAgPSzJ5DHEQHdlUqdYGLisl2JCtUsu6aDh8J9MvkrOj3pDvNizdi4ljfDxH5DwDnpAvMs9WPs9Bzhm1qpAm/s1600-h/FredJacobs_100.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Yb8Mjk8MgYHYKfOvKH9svkK21Hw2GQNFpxKEcVDznwBsaN4dPh6qybiNUAgPSzJ5DHEQHdlUqdYGLisl2JCtUsu6aDh8J9MvkrOj3pDvNizdi4ljfDxH5DwDnpAvMs9WPs9Bzhm1qpAm/s400/FredJacobs_100.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311112750872279138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >32° - overcast at 5:13am</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Much has been written about the record industry's efforts to impose a performance fee on radio stations for playing their music.</span> Its a fee that would go to the record companies - and in theory - to artists. Both have benefited from the promotional value of radio airplay for decades.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />This legislation is currently being debated and fought in Washington.</span> Of course while this is going on, the record companies still continue to employ promotion staff to encourage radio airplay, still send promotional copies of music to radio stations and still run trade ads in industry publications.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">And over the years record companies have awarded "gold record" plaques to radio stations thanking them for the station's promotional efforts. Got a few of these?</span><br /><br />This morning on his <a href="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2009/03/going-for-the-gold.html">blog</a>, Fred Jacobs passed along a great idea. <span style="font-weight: bold;">When you get to work today, get the digital camera out and do this. Mission critical. You don't need your station budget cut any more than it has been in order to pay this "tax". </span><br /><br />Read below - republished from the <a href="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/">Jacoblog</a>:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Going For The Gold<br /><br /></span> <p style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.jacobsmedia.com/goingforthegold" style="display: inline;"><img style="width: 368px; height: 161px;" alt="Creed_thank_you_450" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf71353ef0112793f08d028a4" src="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341bf71353ef0112793f08d028a4-800wi" title="Creed_thank_you_450" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.radioworld.com/article/74968">There's something happening here</a>. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Last week, we posted a blog, "<a href="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2009/03/all-i-wanna-do-is-stop-playing-your-records.html">All I Wanna Do... Is Stop Playing Your Records!</a>," about the absurdity of musicFIRST and various recording artists in their efforts to extract money from radio in the form of performance fees/taxes.</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The blog <a href="http://www.uky.edu/AS/PoliSci/Peffley/pdf/Brader%202005%20AJPS%20Striking%20a%20Responsive%20Chord%20How%20Political%20Ads%20Motivate%20and%20Persuade%20Voters%20by%20Appealing%20to%20Emotions.pdf">struck a responsive chord</a>. We heard from a variety of radio people, angry about the obvious contradiction of this ill-conceived campaign. <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2004/9/26/131622/855">Radio's contributions to the music industry</a> in general, and the careers of hundreds, if not thousands of recording artists, are obvious to anyone who knows anything about the entertainment business. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">But the most interesting response was from NRG's Chuck DuCoty. Led by CEO Mary Quass, <a href="http://www.nrgmedia.com/">NRG</a> initiated an all-company campaign (thought of by our friend, Emmis/St. Louis' John Beck). The idea is to have each of their music stations take digital photos of every <a href="http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php">gold and platinum "thank you" awards and plaques</a> that the record industry has bestowed over the past several decades. The message is simple: How can music executives and recording artists even suggest that radio has ripped them off when they have consistently thanked stations in such a tangible form? </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">NRG's plan was to deliver these photos to the <a href="http://www.nab.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home">NAB</a>, but after reading our blog, Chuck asked whether <a href="http://www.jacobsmedia.com/">Jacobs Media</a> could spearhead something larger - an all-industry initiative, designed to get hundreds and hundreds of stations involved.</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">So, this week, that's what we're going to do. And <a href="http://www.greater-media.com/corner/index.html">we need your help</a>.</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">We are asking every music station in the U.S. to set aside 30 minutes and take digital photos of all those <a href="http://www.abc-awards.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_list&c=8">gold and platinum records</a> hanging on walls, in offices, and in studios - and send them to us. Email them to:</p> <p style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a href="mailto:gold@jacobsmedia.com" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Goldmail" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf71353ef011168ca247b970c" src="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341bf71353ef011168ca247b970c-800wi" title="Goldmail" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="mailto:gold@jacobsmedia.com"><strong>gold@jacobsmedia.com</strong></a></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">We will post them at a dedicated page - <a href="http://www.jacobsmedia.com/goingforthegold">www.jacobsmedia.com/goingforthegold</a></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/$rol.exe/headline_id=b11410">David Rehr and the NAB</a> are on board. Once we collect these photos, they will be zipped and sent to Washington, D.C. for delivery to <a href="http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i03e9df1ef7d2112b3a262b3e98342e36?imw=Y">Congress and musicFIRST</a>. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">At this difficult time in radio, many people feel powerless to change the course of the economy, their station, or their personal lives and careers. This is a simple, yet effective way to send a message and <a href="http://www.audiographics.com/agd/030609-1.htm">make a difference</a>. </p> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Please forward this post to your friends and co-workers, and let's create a positive, impactful, and compelling </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=1182036">story for radio</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-25271529405816126902009-03-08T12:46:00.002-04:002009-03-08T12:55:49.684-04:00Sunday Morning Odds & Sods<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq90J0-xYSasepqy5jNmoSf4jSnQTfJx8cneOc07ot8TAj1FVq2xR9EI4kX1ChjKCMsYvoY8g-CIrc-K5f47DYbBUnr9c_v4iDJNw8tcCSMYCx052ALEW9D-F1IRFmmIjDx0uH_gGYpEyb/s1600-h/radiomag_150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq90J0-xYSasepqy5jNmoSf4jSnQTfJx8cneOc07ot8TAj1FVq2xR9EI4kX1ChjKCMsYvoY8g-CIrc-K5f47DYbBUnr9c_v4iDJNw8tcCSMYCx052ALEW9D-F1IRFmmIjDx0uH_gGYpEyb/s400/radiomag_150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310852355422861538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >44° - rain at 12:23pm</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Good Morning/afternoon from Okemos.</span> Listening this morning to my usual Sunday Morning routine: <a href="http://www.971thedrive.com/">WDRV/Chicago</a> and <a href="http://www.wklh.com/">WKLH/Milwaukee</a> via the 'net.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >I note some fresh imaging (voiced by Nick Michaels) on The Drive; very nice!</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >I also sense that the station is working on their streaming presentation, especially with ad-insertion.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTux3AqYwh1ix0iUAReQ3HCEhIN1ut2JJD6C3v-9wRgyLE3Lc2SpjUbBtinTwRvEOO0OIOh4e5zpEMnLXOOEVaj3ehpzCpAoUAsCynjYM9I4RzVLydze6EqdpiOa0CtFsiDfabRke6LtAt/s1600-h/WCSXlogo_135.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTux3AqYwh1ix0iUAReQ3HCEhIN1ut2JJD6C3v-9wRgyLE3Lc2SpjUbBtinTwRvEOO0OIOh4e5zpEMnLXOOEVaj3ehpzCpAoUAsCynjYM9I4RzVLydze6EqdpiOa0CtFsiDfabRke6LtAt/s200/WCSXlogo_135.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310856541023929122" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">This past week I spent a few hours in Detroit </span>listening to <a href="http://www.wcsx.com/">WCSX</a>. OM/PD Doug Podell has really put some life into that station in recent months; at least since my last listen. The tempo is up....the entire presentation, not just the music. <span style="font-style: italic;">The station sounds so alive.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhtRFpFjHEOQ3u4bstT5ySxix6OxuyBpHBOegau-EM66rZQImrY4c2zXR_3OCUV9ELmdLNAkJ-zgQtlJcbpBtLyAwLBGVcMYcOhV6rcIcl5Syqhr0ctdzNvnydpaUYiKNWgTmPGg_iz-9/s1600-h/hear20.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 58px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhtRFpFjHEOQ3u4bstT5ySxix6OxuyBpHBOegau-EM66rZQImrY4c2zXR_3OCUV9ELmdLNAkJ-zgQtlJcbpBtLyAwLBGVcMYcOhV6rcIcl5Syqhr0ctdzNvnydpaUYiKNWgTmPGg_iz-9/s200/hear20.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310857250367435986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reading.</span> Mark Ramsey's <a href="http://www.hear2.com/">Hear 2.0</a>. Mark posted some great content this past week. Working backwards, Mark features an interview with author Richard Goldman, conducted by radio consultant Doug Erickson. Goldman is co-founder of Men's Warehouse. <span style="font-style: italic;">From that interview: </span><br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Radio right now seems unable to manage risk. It's trying to cut its way to profit by slashing "expense," by cutting research, marketing, promotion, management and staff. How did you handle risk, in the face of recession, in your successful retail career? </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The easy fix is always to cut expenses. But at some point you run out of expenses to cut. At Men’s Wearhouse, we certainly tried to cut expenses, but more of the effort was spent in trying to increase sales.<br /></span></div><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You're a marketing expert. Any ideas on how you would market a radio station?</span><br /><br /></span> </div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic; font-family: arial;"> </div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: center; font-style: italic;">I would get out of the current mindset—if a listener could be transported to any city in the country and turn on any radio station (especially FM), they’d think that they were in their own home town. </div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic; font-family: arial;"> </div><div style="font-family:arial;"><div style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Alice, schmalice—I’m sick of the format and disgusted with the way that radio has become so homogenous. </span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Read the entire piece <a href="http://goodratings.typepad.com/alan_mason/2009/03/congratulations-youre-a-new-pd.html">here</a>.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">(btw: CBS head honcho Les Moonves said this past week that "more staff cuts to reduce expenses are probably not a good idea. "There comes a point where you’re cutting into the bone." Nice to read. More </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.ntsmediaonline.com/?p=2879">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. -dan</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4OTCDPOLioNgr1TTQIxUC9rv1OAChwiOi5eT5Tiug007usIIadteLH_3AMOa46vcPI5M_66BCZIc5IXdiYXhVAOj-HyLW7r0dXmaQaTkNkCpVNQWt0xAoncC1E1dgxDtcOBPvL1fCZxQ/s1600-h/sethgodin2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 70px; height: 72px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4OTCDPOLioNgr1TTQIxUC9rv1OAChwiOi5eT5Tiug007usIIadteLH_3AMOa46vcPI5M_66BCZIc5IXdiYXhVAOj-HyLW7r0dXmaQaTkNkCpVNQWt0xAoncC1E1dgxDtcOBPvL1fCZxQ/s200/sethgodin2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310857866259382706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Another great Ramsey post</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> featured Seth Godin speaking at the Country Radio Seminar. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" > Read </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" href="http://www.hear2.com/2009/03/seth-godin-highlights-from-the-country-radio-seminar.html">here</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Speaking of CRS:</span> Consultant Alan Mason blogged about a topic he'd be speaking on this past week in Nashville. In a </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://goodratings.typepad.com/alan_mason/2009/03/congratulations-youre-a-new-pd.html">list</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> he's made for a PD in today's environment he notes:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASFqxt9GCw4yR4epCc2B2fDC43x2JYB0Y76Vl-Wunapdd2mFJfhKZ8-L-fAjLjgl0fCDAvyHDWOfpmvI6x8Hgqbe2ZVYPu91oec9qw6TPmystv6vAJjfW84HaQRmi2gaRMMLenzypmTdJ/s1600-h/AlanMason2_70.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 70px; height: 123px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASFqxt9GCw4yR4epCc2B2fDC43x2JYB0Y76Vl-Wunapdd2mFJfhKZ8-L-fAjLjgl0fCDAvyHDWOfpmvI6x8Hgqbe2ZVYPu91oec9qw6TPmystv6vAJjfW84HaQRmi2gaRMMLenzypmTdJ/s200/AlanMason2_70.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310858320891833666" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">"Think in terms of the future , and new titles. Are you a PD or are you Brand Manager and Director of Listener Experience? Do you have a promotion director, or a director of listener engagement? You can see that one title operates in the past, while the other looks to the future. Of course you actually have to be and act like the new title - this is much more than a change of clothes."<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Alan writes </span><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;" href="http://goodratings.typepad.com/">here</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >.</span><br /><br /></div> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Learn from Paul.</span> A Great read from Dave Martin: "Six Lessons from Paul Harvey". <span style="font-weight: bold;">Read </span></span><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;" href="http://davemartin.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-cant-build-reputation-on-what-you.html">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><br /><br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chicago's Rick Kaempfer</span> brings us up-to-date on Chicago radio people he's interviewed in the past. Read </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://chicagoradiospotlight.blogspot.com/">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Check out Rick's piece on the late Paul Harvey too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Have a great Sunday.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-42742827785778345252009-03-06T12:22:00.005-05:002009-03-06T15:15:40.560-05:00Brian James: R.I.P.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNrq9n6LWPUOsUr27h1HHVfU-x-DQc1Y_MNEWt_yxidxhVhba9fIZbZw0zSrfTefyZ2wiaLxd9TEmX7rcPqmRpqN5eQseKBWqxUv3i9IKgFrYlzJPVYlgqTxZd773FQOHj020xgSo-01q/s1600-h/Brian_150.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310128438556320946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 127px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNrq9n6LWPUOsUr27h1HHVfU-x-DQc1Y_MNEWt_yxidxhVhba9fIZbZw0zSrfTefyZ2wiaLxd9TEmX7rcPqmRpqN5eQseKBWqxUv3i9IKgFrYlzJPVYlgqTxZd773FQOHj020xgSo-01q/s400/Brian_150.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Brian was the voice of three stations I programmed in my career and also many more that I listened to. From <a href="http://www.allaccess.com/">All Access</a>:<br /><br /></div></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><div align="center"><em>"ALL ACCESS is saddened to report that voiceover legend BRIAN JAMES has suddenly passed away from a heart attack at 4a this morning (3/6), at his home in SCOTTSDALE, AZ. He was 48. BRIAN is survived by his wife KIMBERLY, his son MAX, and a stepdaughter BROOKE. More details, as soon as they are available."</em></span><br /></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;">There was nothing like getting raw audio back from Brian and hearing him just nail the read of copy you've written. <strong>Another big loss for radio.<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><u>Added</u>:</span> There is now a Brian James discussion group </span></em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=148640175312"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> on Facebook. And KZHT/Salt Lake City pays tribute to Brian on their website </span></em><a href="http://www.971zht.com/pages/brianjames/"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">. Thanks again to All Access.</span></em></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-62333738954118680352009-03-06T06:34:00.007-05:002009-03-06T15:16:36.660-05:00Cara Gets It....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CB9Rm6E6gz66kLNo-77RCJWPCrQkM6e-vtmd7Owa4Bllw_1wWVQltAM9uvYu8mk0Af44XVa4TNBJc3PInON6p5XEaBkz72kKSljUmBd6bm72KCEv7rJsx3gNXiuUeH0EyuHpY3vXbQJS/s1600-h/cara_150.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309397509940602434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 163px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CB9Rm6E6gz66kLNo-77RCJWPCrQkM6e-vtmd7Owa4Bllw_1wWVQltAM9uvYu8mk0Af44XVa4TNBJc3PInON6p5XEaBkz72kKSljUmBd6bm72KCEv7rJsx3gNXiuUeH0EyuHpY3vXbQJS/s400/cara_150.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" ><em>56° - overcast at 6:33am</em></span></span><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>We've all read about the power of social networking</strong> - and as a radio programmer you've probably wondered what how sites like <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a> can help your cause and build and strengthen relationships with your listeners.<br /><br />A great example comes from <a href="http://www.wtmx.com/home.php">WTMX/Chicago</a> personality <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Cara-Carriveau/646052011">Cara Carriveau</a>. Cara is on my Facebook friends list - and now is someone I also follow via Twitter.<br /><br />Here's an example from earlier this week of what she's posting on Facebook:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWai1yeVnXqFK4Sfdk0pWuR56V0FTTBZUAwOW8oDGolauf9Xp_vs7Q021CbYx3gupkBvyxetkKvjaRYNr3oWGf2L4jumaCtNtRnxl2KS9Yssebi-0DQn1QQCLxFe2Pe_pP85lLlz3l-uN/s1600-h/caraFACE.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309395031217550402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 367px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWai1yeVnXqFK4Sfdk0pWuR56V0FTTBZUAwOW8oDGolauf9Xp_vs7Q021CbYx3gupkBvyxetkKvjaRYNr3oWGf2L4jumaCtNtRnxl2KS9Yssebi-0DQn1QQCLxFe2Pe_pP85lLlz3l-uN/s400/caraFACE.jpg" border="0" /></a>And on Twitter:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSUHUKzxWCOn9pqTyekrVEyWdC8VN8PAxW2zB4wO5pwjx5e6Xgq_UliCZBZyC0VMX6CcXGAZAiS35ClITIub6Y2-Pg1W_LdSVF4AcYepmZieGrbIVTmzzmRKn6k9Q8LItr5nnnp8hJJVB/s1600-h/caraTWITTER.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309396235718318818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 68px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSUHUKzxWCOn9pqTyekrVEyWdC8VN8PAxW2zB4wO5pwjx5e6Xgq_UliCZBZyC0VMX6CcXGAZAiS35ClITIub6Y2-Pg1W_LdSVF4AcYepmZieGrbIVTmzzmRKn6k9Q8LItr5nnnp8hJJVB/s400/caraTWITTER.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">Its all about building relationships with listeners; and using</span><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic"> free tools</span><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic"> like Twitter and Facebook to do it.</span><br /><br />This past Wednesday, 1162 folks were friends with Cara on Facebook - all seeing her posts on their Friends Feed page. On Twitter, there's another 217 followers at this point. These are listeners who elected to "opt in". <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Very cool.</span><br /><br /><strong>On my own Facebook and Twitter feeds</strong>, I have a few dozen radio air personalities. But I can count on just over one hand those who are using these social networks as effectively as Cara Carriveau.</span><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><em><strong>Full disclosure: I'm late to the party on this. I've been on Facebook only since the beginning of the year and just joined Twitter.</strong></em><br /></span><br />More to come on all this...<br /><br /></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-5000379494278698212009-03-01T22:05:00.002-05:002009-03-02T09:49:03.952-05:00Kudos to WGN America<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguuAVvlosuLsUG6zPBwT0QB9idBndLiMDD4L27ZbRhjgkB1ReyeBTjDKiNgo1_zzBlzTX6CpYyfkgSyIHw5-9pjl-wSN8YU3JbpLb0_G_AsNZ32vIIzD8YknNex0UGmp_9jo68pKmNCi1f/s1600-h/WGNamerica_175.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 74px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguuAVvlosuLsUG6zPBwT0QB9idBndLiMDD4L27ZbRhjgkB1ReyeBTjDKiNgo1_zzBlzTX6CpYyfkgSyIHw5-9pjl-wSN8YU3JbpLb0_G_AsNZ32vIIzD8YknNex0UGmp_9jo68pKmNCi1f/s200/WGNamerica_175.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308419540066187314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">11° - clear at 10:05pm</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Watching the cable channel tonight <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">("The Honeymooners")</span></span>, </span>I note that the Tribune Company outlet reacted quickly saying goodbye to broadcasting legend Paul Harvey with a produced piece with photos and audio in a thirty-second piece.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvqjMVSRuCij4wJkmB08KwOqrP2GZt3XDUjmOXetu76WKvPIi-92f57iPp6IUQ9JqpnCE7Avv9s2YCah57s8GpPHVhPcTv4MUlRI08vOIlZXKnoo4s_l-HdOzDV_uIZpMdEv8-OPbNSPn/s1600-h/paulharvey_70.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 70px; height: 95px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvqjMVSRuCij4wJkmB08KwOqrP2GZt3XDUjmOXetu76WKvPIi-92f57iPp6IUQ9JqpnCE7Avv9s2YCah57s8GpPHVhPcTv4MUlRI08vOIlZXKnoo4s_l-HdOzDV_uIZpMdEv8-OPbNSPn/s200/paulharvey_70.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308420797017840242" border="0" /></a>With Paul's passing barely more than a day ago, this was quick action on the part of WGN America's production and traffic folks, especially on the weekend. I can only imagine it began with a telephone call from Randy Michaels</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. He gets it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How fast could your radio station react on the weekend....be it the loss of a legend or a severe weather emergency?</span> Are your people ready to make it happen now - or will is it just auto-pilot until Monday?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><u>Added</u>:</span> WGN Radio/Chicago also pays tribute to Paul Harvey on its website. </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.wgnradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=27&Itemid=125">Here</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-80059834093928276262009-03-01T12:54:00.003-05:002009-03-02T07:12:11.455-05:00Sunday Morning Odds & Sods<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzhp8HoW9e_PE4LffxtrrzGx5UzMYMBSh3Ab6qYM-BESU1UdN1FLzTMm80hPm1TmVr0ImjqgzJ4kj3uLJFqLIIcdpfIZH7fsBVh7H8RTkXBHs2u0aSVRnygmzbBHXqsxExKhwuA7Sza6U/s1600-h/PaulHarvey_150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzhp8HoW9e_PE4LffxtrrzGx5UzMYMBSh3Ab6qYM-BESU1UdN1FLzTMm80hPm1TmVr0ImjqgzJ4kj3uLJFqLIIcdpfIZH7fsBVh7H8RTkXBHs2u0aSVRnygmzbBHXqsxExKhwuA7Sza6U/s200/PaulHarvey_150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308269832835821234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">21° - overcast, light snow at 12:38pm</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Good Morning/Afternoon from Okemos! </span>Snow coming down...winter ain't over yet.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Signing off:</span> Paul Harvey. I recieved the news last night from KFAB's <a href="http://www.kfab.com/pages/Tombecka.html">Tom Becka</a> via Facebook. The end of an era indeed.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Good day.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkYsluCR9OXPZeZFnfIH-Kgx8lb1_gdUd5td490rl2xBO1Hm3nFIqesDKeHzP1IlkYvXD93US6o_cg6eWn5CBN9_6j2h3wCNNiGMW61rKt2Z50jSzaWfp9YE69YnJSsAYbSahtcW6ObtU/s1600-h/WDRVnewlogo2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 45px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkYsluCR9OXPZeZFnfIH-Kgx8lb1_gdUd5td490rl2xBO1Hm3nFIqesDKeHzP1IlkYvXD93US6o_cg6eWn5CBN9_6j2h3wCNNiGMW61rKt2Z50jSzaWfp9YE69YnJSsAYbSahtcW6ObtU/s200/WDRVnewlogo2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308278055079162034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Listening earlier:</span> This morning to </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.971thedrive.com/">WDRV</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and Bob Stroud's Rock 'N Roll Roots program. Aside from some Who music celebrating Roger Daltry's birthday, Bob also featuring lots of music from the Brian Jones era of the Stones. <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> I think Bob mentioned that Brian would have been 67 today.</span></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnjzVuQ6rJIjjhoDYUstDJZnVwxefl_C_axMLpyEdBx8ohbvIq-KRSt8kTcbvhOqAyFLZmAqTdGsL3LOZ-iKbIBTu_TuFGQFOuez0iSwY3B2eUVdz5FjoX5tAy0J67Mdo_fJFbrN6DblA/s1600-h/WKLHlogo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 67px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnjzVuQ6rJIjjhoDYUstDJZnVwxefl_C_axMLpyEdBx8ohbvIq-KRSt8kTcbvhOqAyFLZmAqTdGsL3LOZ-iKbIBTu_TuFGQFOuez0iSwY3B2eUVdz5FjoX5tAy0J67Mdo_fJFbrN6DblA/s200/WKLHlogo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308278373457352722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Listening later:</span> Steve Palec on </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.wklh.com/">WKLH</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Steve playing some Jeff Beck as I write along with some sound clips of Les Paul talking about Beck. Very cool; and as usual, Steve's production, planning and use of sound is noted!</span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >WKLH: end the madness with your internet fill spots. Enough with the repetitive debt reduction and ad council PSAs!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUJLdUmTCJwnU4GR6MBibvZjU6U5cFzItFahZjMX4_srdF45cGcquz9tJTpmD-pxmjY8qt5jToTuyS9sj_AG07LQWEKmCflXbDsOR7FIwa9MUTR_XBvhFxoYDrtPGgeYz8_ShQxuwSn3W/s1600-h/LeeArnold_70.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 70px; height: 69px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUJLdUmTCJwnU4GR6MBibvZjU6U5cFzItFahZjMX4_srdF45cGcquz9tJTpmD-pxmjY8qt5jToTuyS9sj_AG07LQWEKmCflXbDsOR7FIwa9MUTR_XBvhFxoYDrtPGgeYz8_ShQxuwSn3W/s200/LeeArnold_70.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308278676478845378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Congrats:</span> To Milwaukee's <a href="http://leearnoldsblog.blogspot.com/">Lee Arnold</a> - celebrating the second anniversary of his internet station </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.worj.com/">WORJ-dot.com</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Lee the inspiration for my </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.okemosbrewing.com/">OkemosBrewing-dot-com</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> I missed the Heartsfield concert he was airing yesterday...damn!</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">More on "staffing the station."</span> The other day I quoted Jerry Del Colliano - who noted that there's lots of social networking tools (Twitter, Facebook, email, etc.) for talking with listeners, but that all require that "someone be home".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcDcN2v1jTNwK04AzcfdIde2S3ySFsGMvurV-ZG5f6aEDvBEKB2uJs7GTzsG_3BNcWmtCXNO0VvC2DIikgGx-JiPZOHcF4eSbkEtyqzmK70VUExN4MaeDaiyVlLtxWS5qzCkp59aibTfi/s1600-h/jayeAlbright.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 72px; height: 78px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcDcN2v1jTNwK04AzcfdIde2S3ySFsGMvurV-ZG5f6aEDvBEKB2uJs7GTzsG_3BNcWmtCXNO0VvC2DIikgGx-JiPZOHcF4eSbkEtyqzmK70VUExN4MaeDaiyVlLtxWS5qzCkp59aibTfi/s200/jayeAlbright.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308278924334955122" border="0" /></a>This morning I ran across a </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://aoprep.blogspot.com/2009/02/auto-pilot.html">post</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> by consultant Jaye Albright about stations on "auto-pilot"...and I'm going to take the liberty of printing Jaye's entire post:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"The flight from Seattle was within miles of Houston when the flight attendant came on the intercom to say “welcome on board Continental Airlines. ”</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Then, she paused in mid-sentence as the first few rows of frequent fliers came to the realization that what she had meant to say was the traditional “welcome to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport” announcement, which she no doubt delivers at least three or four times a week.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Instead, unthinkingly, she started to do the typical take-off announcement, which she routinely gives three or four times each day.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >“If she’s not going to think about what she’s saying, I sure won’t,” I thought. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />The same is true on radio. Computers now make it so easy to walk away from the control room and have the station run itself for quarter hours at a time.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Meanwhile, request lines ring unanswered, listeners text, email, social network, hoping to interact with you, the brand they hear on the radio.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Radio, of course, was the first interactive medium from the very first days of top 40 radio a half century ago, when Gordon McClendon famously put that juke box in front of KLIF, Dallas, and listeners drove by the station wanting to choose the music and become more engaged.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >So, previous generations of air personalities have created some expectations out there in radioland.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />If you’re on the air, it’s your choice. Take the easy way, do jingle, liner and sweeper auto pilot radio. Sound like you’re a machine.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Or, get busy.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Commit to answering every phone line as quickly as possible. Record every phone interaction, edit the best stories and integrate them into your content.<br /><br />Text listeners. Interact with the audience on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, your chat room, your blog and use the best of that on the air too.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Yes, it’s a lot to do. But, this I guarantee: you’ll never get bored doing it that way.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >And, </span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;" href="http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2009/02/local-radio-crisis.html">listeners can tell</a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Southwest Airlines revolutionized air travel by encouraging their flight attendants to get creative with the take off and landing announcements, even the federally-mandated safety announcements.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Their reward? Profitability and some of the most loyal users in the industry.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Perhaps those zany announcements had a role in that.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />One thing for sure, encouraging their flight attendants to have more fun and ad lib resulted in flight crews who don’t just mouth the same words repeatedly so that they sound like they’re doing them in their sleep.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Like a lot of radio stations do today. You?" </span> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />Jaye's </span><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;" href="http://aoprep.blogspot.com/">blog</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" > is a must-read, no matter your format.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Related.</span> Heard a story from a friend in Chicago attending a club appearance by a heritage band last night. She noted that the sponsoring station, despite sponsoring the concert, had no on-air staff at the show (there were two former staff members there...). Yipes!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFbwxuqQEWAF1c3QqpJtvhqOE5jeMRyTHE6y1O8A9MaIH53htlvdqaZSoEzOFDofoxm0HqtbvxyaU8g3Ozs5BKCNQpFgdS0fkukjtvaFtigPUGy-mwn_EX4xFndluvND8n-8TQ5lO9Am3/s1600-h/RickKaempfer_70.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 70px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFbwxuqQEWAF1c3QqpJtvhqOE5jeMRyTHE6y1O8A9MaIH53htlvdqaZSoEzOFDofoxm0HqtbvxyaU8g3Ozs5BKCNQpFgdS0fkukjtvaFtigPUGy-mwn_EX4xFndluvND8n-8TQ5lO9Am3/s200/RickKaempfer_70.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308279784010552322" border="0" /></a>Catching up on Rick.</span> If you haven't stopped by Rick Kaempfer's </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://chicagoradiospotlight.blogspot.com/">Chicago Radio Spotlight</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, check in and read some great radio stories.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Have a great Sunday.</span> </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-79193155936597095152009-02-27T08:31:00.008-05:002009-03-02T07:14:03.368-05:00...what Dave said<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef5Lnr7Jc8MtzEWYwgsZY71Cy8WnXj3sl-2mGPbLoGXQDMTlXrOHuptkgcNxE6XgHp1F0XgasCzqyJpVACA0pKxmv3CRc3yyubT7ZF9KucavLpI0E9_ZPXya74fIENxkWo0rb4bnh_nSo/s1600-h/View022709_150.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307474837992096674" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 150px; height: 128px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef5Lnr7Jc8MtzEWYwgsZY71Cy8WnXj3sl-2mGPbLoGXQDMTlXrOHuptkgcNxE6XgHp1F0XgasCzqyJpVACA0pKxmv3CRc3yyubT7ZF9KucavLpI0E9_ZPXya74fIENxkWo0rb4bnh_nSo/s200/View022709_150.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>34° - overcast at 8:54am.</strong> Right: view out my office window this morning.</span></em><br /><br />I've received more than a few quick emails welcoming me back to the blog. While I've responded privately, let me thank you here too. It makes it all worthwhile.<br /><br />On Wednesday, I promised something great from David Martin. Clearly almost every blog written by an industry pundit wanna-be focuses far too much energy on the negative (and sometimes the obvious, since much of what they write is old news if you read the headlines in the industry trades). I've done my best to avoid treading in those waters.<br /><br />Dave observed </span><a href="http://davemartin.blogspot.com/2009/02/dissenting-minority-feels-free-only.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">last week</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">:<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLJ7lVVq0FEzg_hHTx0w9U3slfVRFL3IW7W0lqrYQph0v8KIPlvtm6-D85Z1-UIdasqBoXo3oZMacMek9wweY6U3Pnha4zt4A5THXa-te_IyqCyvcwPm4QaGFExXHtmhz834atNMX3mkZ/s1600-h/DavidMartin_70new.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307474333796047762" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 70px; height: 117px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLJ7lVVq0FEzg_hHTx0w9U3slfVRFL3IW7W0lqrYQph0v8KIPlvtm6-D85Z1-UIdasqBoXo3oZMacMek9wweY6U3Pnha4zt4A5THXa-te_IyqCyvcwPm4QaGFExXHtmhz834atNMX3mkZ/s200/DavidMartin_70new.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><em><span style="font-family:arial;">"My sense is too many blogs appear to be the work of old white guys not happy with the way things are going, folks clearly upset about change in the industry. Moreover, too many of these bloggers seem to be either obsessed with bringing back some new version of the past or possessed by a compulsion to deliver little more than critical rants about the present. It's not healthy. To be brutally honest, it's a waste of bandwidth. But there's good news. Doing the math it's easy to project that these old guys have more days behind them than ahead. Let them live out their days shouting at the tide or barking at the moon. None of what they say really matters."</span></em><br /></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><br />Indeed.</strong><br /><br />Next month, Mr. Martin makes an appearance here in Michigan at </span><a href="http://www.michmab.com/conferences/glbc_main.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Great Lakes Broadcast Conference and Expo</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> in Grand Rapids, an annual event by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. (Yes, that's a plug).<br /><br />I'm looking forward to his two sessions. Let's get on with things. Dwelling on the past and the negative is counter to moving forward.<br /><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-37556357863594262332009-02-25T07:24:00.011-05:002009-03-02T23:29:18.070-05:00End Of My Writer's Block<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp685WmyeDjo4hkQSxniIMqoSZ2M8K2bEPPJQzx7d7mjXnAbgzUjHjv_d8g4KlO0gOdLMBm0iBV6bEUVzhMlvGGahsWPkWbeiYGj-ZGHQEi2bP0SUgrxyV1mKGPYpmbnkOr2i-bMLO6qo/s1600-h/JerryDelColliano3_150.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306712033249953314" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; width: 150px; cursor: pointer; height: 189px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp685WmyeDjo4hkQSxniIMqoSZ2M8K2bEPPJQzx7d7mjXnAbgzUjHjv_d8g4KlO0gOdLMBm0iBV6bEUVzhMlvGGahsWPkWbeiYGj-ZGHQEi2bP0SUgrxyV1mKGPYpmbnkOr2i-bMLO6qo/s200/JerryDelColliano3_150.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span>38° - overcast at 10:27am</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">My first post of the year.</span> And it's almost March.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Haven't had much inspiration to write. Much has happened in our industry over the last several months, most of it leaves an uneasy feeling. That said, my vision now much clearer; as I hope yours is.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One ritual I have</span> early almost every morning is first reading Tom Taylor's daily column. And R&R's Kevin Carter with his Street Talk Daily. Plus Jerry Del Colliano <strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">(pictured above left)</span></em></strong>.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />I've had this love/hate thing with Jerry since the days of Inside Radio...going way to the pre-net days when it was a black-on-yellow newsletter that would come in the mail. I feel Jerry focuses far too much on the negative.<br /><br />But Jerry often makes some great observations - and <a href="http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2009/02/local-radio-crisis.html">this morning</a> he wrote:<br /><br /></span><div style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">"We've got lots of ways to direct our listeners to someone other than the person playing the music. And don't get me started on texting. Radio stations by and large don't understand how to use texting in a way consistent with how their audience uses it. It is not a blatant promotional tool even if you think it is. To them, it is social connection.<br /><br />Someone needs to be home."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />More soon - including something brilliant I recently read from David Martin.<br /><br /></span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-59156182505811012022008-12-30T11:09:00.005-05:002008-12-30T11:27:51.890-05:00Whats Up?<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Good Morning from Okemos.</span> If you're a regular reader to this blog, you've likely noticed the lack of new posts in recent weeks. I finally went full force with my spare time to finally launch, (albeit in beta form), my hobby internet radio station:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgel0P1wnDBKrKjuxUpsF6iNadiG0pe9y90bJglZNrKhk5QqtIBtGMJo4TUSdqBsiIVCYosc14vglMx7w9txOGshiU9P95WqsYMDhmDbY4-5GRGgloXxrVSXlL8g10YBJksr4pmd1WCAdIb/s1600-h/OKBscreenshot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgel0P1wnDBKrKjuxUpsF6iNadiG0pe9y90bJglZNrKhk5QqtIBtGMJo4TUSdqBsiIVCYosc14vglMx7w9txOGshiU9P95WqsYMDhmDbY4-5GRGgloXxrVSXlL8g10YBJksr4pmd1WCAdIb/s400/OKBscreenshot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285618074195029618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The station just thinks its a brewpub. LOL.</span><br /><br />No liners or imaging yet; just working on music rotations and streaming issues. Put together a temporary web page in the last day or two...eventually there will be either an embedded player or a player launched from the site itself. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />And I rediscovered the joy of scheduling music! The station is somewhere between classic rock, classic hits and AAA, not certain what the ultimate destination will be.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Still have lots of holes in the library - ripping and loading tunes as I can.</span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Reception reports welcome. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Listen </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.okemosbrewing.com/">here</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span><br /><br />Back to the blog soon. Have a great 2009!<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-40028492658750855702008-12-08T11:17:00.003-05:002008-12-08T11:27:08.218-05:00Quote Of The Week<span style="font-family:arial;">All Regulars:<br /><br /></span><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">I've been very busy for the past week and more (details forthcoming) and hope to get back to regular posting asap. <strong>Meanwhile - let me offer you words </strong>from Tim Cuprisin, writer for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - in </span><a href="http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/35640989.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">this story</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> about the departure of Chicago's Steve Dahl:</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>"Ironically, as local radio competes with the Internet, iPods and satellite, <strong>it should be going more local. After all, that's the product it uses to sell listeners to advertisers."</strong></em><br /><br /><em>"But in an effort to cut costs - a move sped up by the worsening economy - radio's dropping the personalities who connect it to the audience. <strong>The short-term benefit can't help the longtime health of the radio biz."</strong></em></span></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Amen!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-89889452124684888382008-12-02T07:21:00.003-05:002008-12-02T07:31:25.075-05:00Bill Drake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQF5uJKzyE4g0YHLSD_JnMFDJ03SQ1Qbno5_7THCp0DLb0WkvEH1dPtpssMP3VJfPDPSkgDj0FZJOw5UIFXuKTn5DAsTBIndioBYdRJrlkaHK4IY_eXgoy9spOn0dNgFxFycQoVVUtlVmu/s1600-h/BillDrake_150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQF5uJKzyE4g0YHLSD_JnMFDJ03SQ1Qbno5_7THCp0DLb0WkvEH1dPtpssMP3VJfPDPSkgDj0FZJOw5UIFXuKTn5DAsTBIndioBYdRJrlkaHK4IY_eXgoy9spOn0dNgFxFycQoVVUtlVmu/s200/BillDrake_150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275166154929718706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">25° - light snow at 7:20am</span></span><br /><br />No one can overlook Bill Drake's influence.</span> The man who brought the industry the idea of a focused playlist, talent and execution. A formula that has been a part of every modern-day radio format. Without Bill Drake....what?</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Aside from airchecks, my only direct listening to a "Bill Drake" format (growing up in Chicago) was when one of Bill's syndicated RKO formats found its way to WFYR/Chicago when it debuted in 1973. WFYR used the famous KHJ top of hour ramp-up/ID. Wonderful.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />That said - in reality, I heard Bill Drake everywhere. There's been lots of tributes and memories to Bill written in the last day. Scroll down and find them </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.radiodailynews.com/">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />And </span></span><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;" href="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2008/12/the-death-of-drake.html">this morning</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >, Fred Jacobs offered his thoughts on the late Mr. Drake:<br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">"Drake was the guy who brought discipline and tight music lists to radio. In many ways, radio programming has devolved in recent years to a point where Drake couldn't have liked what he heard. I never met the guy, but I did some work for Paul Drake and Rick Sklar in the '70s - both of whom were Drake disciples and/or heavily influenced by his doctrines. They were both tough programmers, strict disciplinarians, and insistent that a station's sound and packaging be executed to the letter."<br /><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">"Drake's style of radio was big, bold, and exciting - very different from how much of radio is perceived and programmed today. Drake stations didn't apologize - they were leaders, they set the tone, and they made hits. They were also disciplined - during the day, at night, and on the weekends. When so many stations today are mailing it in, and hoping no one notices, those Drake Top 40 stations sounded tight and bright whenever you tuned them in. It was all about the presentation."<br /><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">All about the presentation. </span>Thank you Bill Drake.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Added:</span> </span>John Gorman offers a great piece on the late Mr. Drake <a href="http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/2008/12/radio-number-one-thennumber-one-now.html">here</a>.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-78347076521670372902008-11-25T09:10:00.005-05:002008-11-25T10:12:07.032-05:00A Wonderful Opportunity<div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Tom Taylor's Radio-Info.Com </span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold" href="http://www.radio-info.com/newsletter/archive.php">column</a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"> </span>reported this morning:<br /><br /></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" >“Centralizing” looks to be one of the big words of 2009.</span><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">If “consolidation” was a buzz word starting with the 1996 Telecommunications Act, then “centralization” may succeed it in 2009 – because owners now have to pay for all the “consolidation.” </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">It does appear increasingly likely that several companies.....are looking extra-hard at locally -produced airshifts outside of drivetimes. (Ironic, given how strong middays look in the PPM.)<br /><br /></span></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Think real hard about "local" and the opportunities these moves present to a well-focused competitor.</span><br /><br />Busy day. More later.<span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"></span></span></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-81009678875980280322008-11-24T07:37:00.006-05:002008-11-25T10:15:53.181-05:00Monday Monday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1KJ1z0T-kJv8-jAeujS9fXa54YlzUM2KEB4HvfcWCcArDZxRI7XxP-kIQzhmCcePts6949HtsQmmZ_jJ2nOmj3seUOyWcehPwUnqeDHfwakh0FIucWIy9X8CQ-GGHoXmEF5doak2jVf0/s1600-h/mondaymonday.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272198951651414962" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 170px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 162px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1KJ1z0T-kJv8-jAeujS9fXa54YlzUM2KEB4HvfcWCcArDZxRI7XxP-kIQzhmCcePts6949HtsQmmZ_jJ2nOmj3seUOyWcehPwUnqeDHfwakh0FIucWIy9X8CQ-GGHoXmEF5doak2jVf0/s400/mondaymonday.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">32° - mostly cloudy at 7:35am</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Last week</span> turned into a busy one between the day job, the night job and everything else. And it didn't stop over the weekend. Thanks for stopping by.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />From around my blogosphere:</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><br /><br />Jerry Del Colliano has a great piece</span> posted this morning: <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">"Better Radio At No Additional Cost"</span>. In it, Jerry remembers Dick Carr of WIP/Philadelphia:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxDvWT6vTRe6a-vPdd9CQv5vNpmOdZlKhLluqzIjxe9uc7NwCozkl0xVkZ6AkEYoaOcF0QCSi5_ysd71LNfll0hDT5Cr7YeqgZp43LpKzlTGXhLH_kfoho3rcy_eJIqNvK-KvmIwnX6s9/s1600-h/JerryDelColliano3_70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272199593945155714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 88px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxDvWT6vTRe6a-vPdd9CQv5vNpmOdZlKhLluqzIjxe9uc7NwCozkl0xVkZ6AkEYoaOcF0QCSi5_ysd71LNfll0hDT5Cr7YeqgZp43LpKzlTGXhLH_kfoho3rcy_eJIqNvK-KvmIwnX6s9/s200/JerryDelColliano3_70.jpg" border="0" /></a></span> <div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="font-family:arial;">"When Dick prevailed at WIP he had one operating principle that always served him well. It cost no extra money -- it was a way to look for the additional benefits that make listeners appreciate you over and over again. He called it </span><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >Another Reason to Listen</span><span style="font-family:arial;">."<br /><br /></span></div><div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="font-family:arial;">"Everything that is done on the air should be designed to give the audience another reason to tune in and stay with the station. As Dick Carr puts it, "Work to create a listener expectation wherein once they heard "a shoe drop", they would instinctively turn to your station"."<br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;">Worth your time this morning. <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Read </span></span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-FAMILY: arial" href="http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2008/11/better-radio-at-no-additional-cost.html">here</a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >.</span> <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Related piece from Dave Lange: </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Dave posts a great read on his blog "Opportunties Ahead #1" In the piece, Dave notes:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGnMO25pA3vDZtsVek21DV34EFQiiX0X_ecMA6t0Zm5vwD_9a2mqplB4abaO8EFWWP-vTP8x3HHlAWkMThk4TSTsFhezBw_s6Uf6u15_OZx-FhfLd_6ETimA6-isve4FATtEVDHIFWDldd/s1600-h/davelange70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272199985297574210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 88px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGnMO25pA3vDZtsVek21DV34EFQiiX0X_ecMA6t0Zm5vwD_9a2mqplB4abaO8EFWWP-vTP8x3HHlAWkMThk4TSTsFhezBw_s6Uf6u15_OZx-FhfLd_6ETimA6-isve4FATtEVDHIFWDldd/s200/davelange70.jpg" border="0" /></a></span> <div style="FONT-STYLE: italic"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >"Be Local:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> No doubt the biggest opportunity for radio is that it's LOCAL. While most of the new media, cable networks, broadcast networks and nearly all the web is national or even world wide most of the audience's world lies in their local area. We all know this, but in the end we do little to capitalize on it." </span><br /><br /></div><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >More </span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-FAMILY: arial" href="http://mcvaymediarocks.blogspot.com/2008/11/opportunities-ahead-1.html">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> - including some thoughts on what you might do on a day-to-day basis.</span> <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Pass along to your GM/GSM:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Alan Mason writes about those email "out of office" auto-responders - and something very clever your salespeople could be doing. In fact, I think even programmers or anyone on staff could be doing:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSqMneavWPPlW3ZJlOCaZUa0TJNgeyW9OTLTrvAap0dRz0Rzh8YbPpZMjp6O9FxKgkrFqvOdVo_3KjE5WH1vO0ub-UiXwL72hpX-BisJrhngCuCb6YuQ06Wo6o8KPR6K1UPjv-pIDcq1a/s1600-h/AlanMason2_70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272200174545190130" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 123px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSqMneavWPPlW3ZJlOCaZUa0TJNgeyW9OTLTrvAap0dRz0Rzh8YbPpZMjp6O9FxKgkrFqvOdVo_3KjE5WH1vO0ub-UiXwL72hpX-BisJrhngCuCb6YuQ06Wo6o8KPR6K1UPjv-pIDcq1a/s200/AlanMason2_70.jpg" border="0" /></a></span> <div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: arial; TEXT-ALIGN: center">"Whoops. You've caught me at one of the rare times I'm not here waiting to help you. I'm gone for a short period but want you to receive royal treatment. This message has been automatically forwarded to our Sales Assistant, Carla ___. She'll be in touch with you forthwith. By the way, click on this link and you'll see a video of what happens when we do a remote at Van Chevrolet."<br /><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">Alan does note that "If you're in business today, every e-mail should be forwarded to your PDA or cell phone." <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Read more </span></span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-FAMILY: arial" href="http://goodratings.typepad.com/alan_mason/2008/11/are-you-in-or-out.html">here</a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeDyDuGE26MGAqSXPW_wScafPdlBzRtVwnHhdYZ-QPZ4extrQDhtLqUty6WfH3Wta3H7RYsAoM703FwuxRXTjpHOJ3pggpWUiE64dY7uI_2QKUWJwirEar_WJdDo1gj6OntWSdAh-1kLMn/s1600-h/DavidMartin70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272200385021433650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 70px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 90px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeDyDuGE26MGAqSXPW_wScafPdlBzRtVwnHhdYZ-QPZ4extrQDhtLqUty6WfH3Wta3H7RYsAoM703FwuxRXTjpHOJ3pggpWUiE64dY7uI_2QKUWJwirEar_WJdDo1gj6OntWSdAh-1kLMn/s200/DavidMartin70.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >Welcome back David Martin.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> After a brief absence, Mr. Martin is back on his blog. Always worth your time. <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Read </span></span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-FAMILY: arial" href="http://davemartin.blogspot.com/">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">.</span> </span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic"><br /><br />And Dave: I did enjoy our conversation and intend to follow-up as promised. Last week turned impossible.</span></span> <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Belated congrats:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> To Fred Jacobs and <a href="http://www.jacobsmedia.com/">Jacobs Media</a> Web Guru Tim Davis, who created a custom station-branded iPhone application to listen to station streams. <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Read </span></span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-FAMILY: arial" href="http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2008/11/killer-app.html">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">.</span> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">View below:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P8a547fd48af4275b101d94b600f9f831YlB4QlREYmZx&buffer=5&shape=4&fc=FFFFFF&pc=0000FF&kc=FF0033&bc=FFFFFF&frame=1&brand=1&player=vp24" frameborder="0" width="328" scrolling="no" height="267"> </iframe><br /><br /><br /></center></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-6834326510982420942008-11-17T19:26:00.005-05:002008-11-18T06:16:43.252-05:00Podell Announces His Pick!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4Y6jr4fJRJygGSibWfnXecZjaSOKONVXMW_xjIHOz_rthXuqBsjGYyldycntgeE_5MBmje9G2FFazku0enWkzmtHiXq-o15p1SypLGs8iBUGq5l5YCS4qXu2YuU6epN7DaKe4-d6IQDF/s1600-h/Podellpick1a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4Y6jr4fJRJygGSibWfnXecZjaSOKONVXMW_xjIHOz_rthXuqBsjGYyldycntgeE_5MBmje9G2FFazku0enWkzmtHiXq-o15p1SypLGs8iBUGq5l5YCS4qXu2YuU6epN7DaKe4-d6IQDF/s400/Podellpick1a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269954877838716626" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To most reading this, the talent involved doesn't matter.</span> It's a Detroit thing. But what's important is the playbook; and Doug Podell's well-thought process of releasing a long-time morning show and replacing it with another. <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">See my first post </span><a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://classicrockfm.blogspot.com/2008/11/podell-goes-obama.html">here</a><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05GoQNphQL-r1EDBRMecnsGC_WYLWY7CouOXr9jI3iAtgdZaAqV0Li3CEd2R8wR4pdrNiw9NR5P4N-Dn-W1zS1GUXOMM-zB5vJUw1L7_itAu-6NbAaOZTV7Hymiaokt-UCAdXrLLzIatG/s1600-h/WCSXdd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 93px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05GoQNphQL-r1EDBRMecnsGC_WYLWY7CouOXr9jI3iAtgdZaAqV0Li3CEd2R8wR4pdrNiw9NR5P4N-Dn-W1zS1GUXOMM-zB5vJUw1L7_itAu-6NbAaOZTV7Hymiaokt-UCAdXrLLzIatG/s400/WCSXdd.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269786590725330066" border="0" /></a>Greater Media/Detroit Director of Rock Programming Doug Podell announced to <a href="http://www.wcsx.com/">WCSX</a> listeners </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >on the air, on the web, via email and via text - </span><span style="font-family:arial;"> a new morning team - one well known to Detroit listeners. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Podell using a lesson learned from one candidate for President - using new media to create a buzz with the P1s. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">And just like the President-elect -</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">his new morning team won't even go into office (on the air) until January</span> (due to a non-compete).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">More details on the WCSX website </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.wcsx.com/content/2008_11DandD.asp">here</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> And no, I don't think this would have worked replacing the longtime talent with an unknown from outside the market.</span><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970150767079374060.post-11169702511957345992008-11-17T11:08:00.004-05:002008-11-17T15:37:35.975-05:00Brilliant!<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DIdAg6UCslE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DIdAg6UCslE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The story </span><a href="http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ozzy-osbourne-samsung-propel"><span style="font-family:arial;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. <strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Thanks to </span></em></strong></span><a href="http://harvealan.blogspot.com/"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong><em>Harve Alan</em></strong></span></a><strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> for the tip.<br /><br /></span></span></em></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0