Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

72° - sunny at 11am

Good Morning from Michigan.

Listening: My typical Sunday routine - WDRV/Chicago followed at 11a eastern by WKLH/Milwaukee. Pretty predictable!


Commercial Free? Mike-FM/Boston (WMKK) goes spot-free weekdays 9am to noon. Here. One station official quoted as saying: “This is permanent. It is not a stunt” .

Permanent? How long is that exactly? Just asking...

Comment: if "less commercials" is your strategy - why not just spread the reduced load throughout the day? Whats to be gained by telling the audience that commercials are bad - when you're going to be playing them anyway?

I'd put my money on strong programming and sell those attributes.
Maybe I just think weird.

Commercial-free since 2002: KCDX - Florence, Arizona - with a very deep/very broad classic rock playlist.

Its a commercially-licensed station that plays no commercials. Zero. Zilch. For five years now. Not even underwriting announcements. A labor of love that's achieved cult status.

Read the story of KCDX and its reclusive owner here. Another great story about searching for KCDX here. And hear the station streaming 24/7 - at 64kbs no less!

I've been a fan of the station for about the last three years. When was the last time you heard Mason Proffit's "Two Hangmen" followed by Chicago's "Colour My World" - segued into Flash & The Pan?

Also heard: Blind Faith - The Strawbs - Shawn Phillips - Roxy Music - Camper Van Beethoven. Satisfying my eclectic side! btw: I do know where KCDX originates from - but won't ruin the mystique.

Added: Randy Raley on KCMO-FM/KC Program Director Don Daniels here. And Randy: Bozeman is actually a great place to live. Read here.

Organized fun: The clever folks at Improv Everywhere pull off another mission - going shirtless at Abercrombie and Fitch! LOL.

My favorite "Improv Everywhere" missions include Best Buy; Best Gig Ever; and Ted's Birthday. And you can buy a t-shirt here.

And - Scranton, PA - setting for NBC-TV's "The Office" - is hosting a convention for fans of the TV show next weekend: (very cool)

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

58° - cloudy/windy at 10:11am

Summoned this week for my civic duty - but escaped the call to serve.

Last night: Storms and tornadoes hit much of Mid-Michigan with at least three different warnings affecting our town between 8pm and 1am. Tornadoes reported to have touched down doing damage just east of here.

More winners from the summer book: WGRF/Buffalo - programmed by the brilliant John Hager posts its best 12+ numbers in five books. 97 Rock - another station that is totally locked into both its market and listeners. Another one to admire.

And in Minneapolis/St. Paul - longtime 12+ leader KQRS does it again . I wrote about KQRS the morning of the bridge disaster in that market - during the summer book here.

Added: More 12 + numbers released Friday. In Milwaukee - WKLH up a half point. KCFX/Kansas City up just shy of a full point.

Added even later: Randy Raley emails to point out the performance of classic hits KCMO-FM/Kansas City. KCMO-FM is #2 12-plus in the summer book; its best performance in at least four books. My bad for overlooking!

Randy also with some kind words for KCMO-FM PD Don Daniels: "He is truly one of the last great guys left in the business and I couldn't be happier for him."

Verizon rocks. First AC/DC. Now Zeppelin. Fred Jacobs writes here and calls it "The marriage of classic rock and digital technology".

Admitting your mistakes. I give a lot of credit to Clear Channel/Chicago RVPP Darren Davis for saying this yesterday: "I obviously made a mistake in replacing MELISSA a year ago, and the ratings have suffered."

Darren referring to replacing morning drive talent Melissa Forman with syndicated Whoopie Goldberg on Chicago's WLIT. Davis now dumping Whoopie and returning Forman to the morning drive shift. There's much credibility and respect to be gained by admitting "you blew it" to your listeners. Kudos to Darren!

Great interview. KINK/KLTH Portland PD Dennis Constantine. Deep roots in progressive rock radio and one of the original KBCO/Boulder staff.

See FMQB here.