PPM + Fall Promos and Programming

73° - sunny at 10:45am

Good Morning from Michigan.

Left: from WQBW/Milwaukee. A small but great example of tying promotional efforts to current events! Fun too.


PPM and Stopsets: Inside Radio reporting of a "strategic shift" at Clear Channel's Houston cluster FMs - going from three stopsets per hour to two. Based on PPM research.

A letter to advertisers from Clear Channel notes "research with PPM shows us that people are listening through the commercial breaks."

IR adds that "Less Is More" inventory minute limits remain firmly in place, but stopsets will grow from a maximum of four minutes to five. They're also reducing station promos to one minute per hour, adding the inventory back to programming.

Added: Mark Ramsey offers commentary on the Clear Channel move here.

Programming note: KHYT/Tucson moves Opie & Anthony to overnights 3-6am. Just guessing its a "contractual obligation." Where is this show working in morning drive outside (perhaps) NYC?

Promotions: Seeing lots of on-air listen-to-win with Springsteen, Van Halen, Ozzy and Mellencamp tickets.

All "ready made" for classic rock radio; promotions you can't go wrong with.

Speaking of Concerts: KSHE/St. Louis is giving three listeners a chance to become KSHE's "official station photographer". One winner each at three upcoming concerts receiving concert tix and a photo pass. Details here. Easy to set up ($0) and very cool for listeners.

WPYX/Albany is giving listeners a chance to win $1000 by designing a billboard promoting the station's morning show. Here.

KRXO/Oklahoma City will be kicking off their "At Work Workforce Payroll" with $100/hour - plus a chance for an additional $100 bonus if a payroll winner knows "the three things".

Special fall programming: The long-term payoff with strong programming features is far greater than contesting. Its all about strengthening the brand.

KRFX/Denver kicks off "The History of Classic Albums" - presenting the essential classic albums of the last four decades in chronological order. More here.

WBLM/Portland is putting together classic rock's "Top 500" albums of all time. The station has listeners, staff and local celebrities submitting top ten fav lists. See here.

And tonight: WDRV/Chicago is celebrating the life of Jimi Hendrix - on the 37th anniversary of his death - with a one-hour special.

Presented at the end of the day (11pm) for the diehard Hendrix fans; format/music credibility made all day long simply by promoting it.

In The Game (without the play-by-play)

81° - cloudy/overcast at 1pm

Good afternoon from Okemos....

Football season has arrived - and there's a number of Classic Rockers that are flagships or affiliates of NFL and College teams.

The demos and lifestyle are a perfect fit.

And there's some Classic Rock stations using this great match to tie themselves to a local team each week - right up to kickoff - without any play-by-play rights!

In Philadelphia: "Bird" fans can get their dose of classic rock plus "the PERFECT AMOUNT of Birds FOOTBALL ANALYSIS + INSIGHT!" with WMGK's "Classic Kickoff" - live from a sports bar blocks from the stadium.

'MGK is telling listeners and fans to: "Stop by and see us before the game + by all means BLAST MGK IN THE STADIUM LOTS while you're tailgating!" Very cool.

WFBQ/Indianapolis was the flagship station for The Colts until this year. But the station isn't letting the lack of play-by-play rights get in the way this year.

WFBQ promises "the best Colts coverage" - with a pre-game show live from The Marriott in downtown Indy.

Up north - South Bend is home of The Fighting Irish - and WAOR has the "Blue Gold Hour" every Saturday Morning.

A "Notre Dame Pre Game Show with interviews, analysis and special guests!" - and hosted by WAOR's AM drive team.

KSHE/St. Louis is presenting "The Miller Lite Ultimate Tailgate Party" before each Rams home game - broadcasting live 3 hours prior to kickoff.

"Drink the coldest beer around and enjoy our "Taste of Tailgating" featuring the best wings, brats, pulled pork, and Philly cheese steak sandwiches!". Sounds like a real party!

And WZBA/Baltimore is hosting 3-hour pre-game tailgate parties for Ravens fans - raising money for a local charity too!

I'm reminded of a story that Randy Michaels told during a session of Dan O'Day's Radio Grad School more than a decade ago - about his early Taft and Jacor days - and AM radio wars in Cincinnati.

His station didn't have the play-by-play of a local team - but according to Randy you couldn't tell it on the air. They were all over the team the other guys had the rights to - with pre-game and post-game coverage - plus reporting and imaging through the week.

Randy said his station got a lot of diary credit from the competitor's PBP simply because they did a better job of imaging the station with the team!

Go that far with a classic rock station? Maybe yes. Maybe not. But its great inspiration of what could be - especially if the PBP is with an AM station in your market. Idea: "own" the team on FM.

A DVD and audio cassette of that Randy Michaels session "Positioning Your Radio Station" still available through Dan O'Day's website.

Have a great football season - and go Broncos!