Monday Monday

39° - scattered clouds at 11:45pm

A very productive day; hope yours was the same. More than a 50% chance of snow here tonight. There's something wonderful about the first snowfall of the year - and being on the air sharing the moment with listeners when it happens.

Branding the station in the mind of the listener. Tipped by Jaye Albright: a cool presentation from WHTZ/Z100 NYC Creative Services Director Dave Foxx.

Dave's piece was seen at the European NAB a year ago - and as Jaye says "....I promise you it's still worth the ten minutes' time." Watch here:


Great radio transcends format boundaries. Thank you Dave Foxx.

Congrats. To Chicago's Steve Dahl for making the transition to the world of Jack FM - and a return to morning drive after...how many years?.

Fresh 105.9 took to air late today on the former talk WCKG frequency. This morning, Radio-Info's Tom Taylor expressed the same thoughts I wrote here yesterday: that CBS bluffed crosstown AC WLIT into adopting their annual "all-christmas" presentation early to provide a great environment to launch "Fresh".

Steve Dahl ringtones?: Search engine deception or the real thing? Google Adsense caught Steve's name here; resulting in this:

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

48° - cloudy/overcast at 11:30am

Happy Sunday

Pain. MSU's 28-24 loss to Michigan yesterday here at home. Despite the loss, it was a great game to watch on TV.

Could even see the Outback Steakhouse Blimp ("The Bloomin' Onion I Airship") over the stadium from our home in nearby Okemos.

Post-Game TV. Was able to catch the new Tom Petty & Heartbreakers documentary "Runnin' Down A Dream" last night on The Sundance Channel.

A very cool look at the band - with some insights into the interpersonal relationships and conflicts within the band, including the tragic loss of Heartbreaker Howie Epstein.

Also on TV: NBC News Anchor Brian Williams guest hosting Saturday Night Live. AP Story. I didn't get this move at all - be it for Williams' career or the credibility of NBC News. Your opinion may vary.

Makes one forget quickly about all the negative reviews of anchor Katie Couric (who - IMHO - has established herself as a solid anchor with a great newscast on CBS).

Listening this morning to Bob Stroud on Chicago's WDRV - playing tracks from his latest Rock & Roll Roots CD (Volume 9); on sale at Border stores around Chicago; proceeds go to charity. Nice!

Trying to get one of my younger brothers in the Chicago area to grab me a copy.

Speaking of Chicago. Still no confirmation from CBS - but the buzz says "Fresh" for Chicago's talk WCKG.

A few days back, I was tempted to "wonder" on this blog about the "whereabouts of consultant Harv Blain" (but I'm not one to start rumors).

Was talk of "all-Christmas" on WCKG simply a bluff to force crosstown Clear Channel AC WLIT into its annual "all christmas" presentation early - while 105.9 debuts its new "Fresh" AC format? All speculation on my part. More here.

Its good to see some competitive wars again. Let's all watch the moves - no matter what format we're in.

And speaking of Harv Blain. This past Friday, All Access posted a contribution from Harv to Paragon's PPM Rulebook. This would be rule #18: "Keep an accurate event audit":

"PPM allows you to see cause-and-effect better than the diary ever could. In countless examples from Arbitron's John Snyder, we have seen how specific events either drive up cume and AQH or where the audience has exited."

"With the granularity of PPM data, programmers should keep a detailed, accurate "diary" (sorry, couldn’t resist) of events on their station and the competitive landscape (special guests, giveaways, marketing campaigns, news events, etc.) and then cross-reference once the data for that time period is released. You’ll get the opportunity to truly see the dynamics between content and consumption, if you know when these events occurred."

Harv writes more on his blog here.

We've seen examples of the impact of events and campaigns with Mark Ramsey's PPM presentation at the NAB Radio Show. Keeping a log (or "diary") is important; I'd keep one not only for my own station - but on the actions of my competitors too. I'm certain the big groups can benefit by sharing this information with one another; and most of this is data that can be used in diary markets also.

Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight today interviews WGN Creative Director Todd Manley. Todd shares some great moments - and I read that we share a hero: The legendary Ken Nordine. Rick's interview with Todd here.

Back in the 70s I'd already been a fan of Ken Nordine - primarily through his Word Jazz albums. I had the privilege of taking a phone call from Mr. Nordine once back in the 70s when I was Continuity Director of WBBM Newsradio 78. I didn't have to ask who was calling once I heard "the voice".

Final flag football game this afternoon with my 3rd grade son's team.

Have a great day!

Monday Monday

42° - clear at 10:53am

Busy day = late post.

Supervising pumpkin carving tonight. Kids and knives make for a nervous dad. Happy to report we made it through the night Band-Aid free.

Music Testing. I'm hearing a lot of classic rock tunes on television as of late. I don't know the answer - but I wonder if this "airplay" does anything for test scores and interest in featured titles?

What I've heard and seen lately:

• I Can See For Miles/The Who (Honda)
• Barracuda/Heart (Honda)
• All Right Now/Free (Monster.Com & Ford/Lincoln Dealers)
• Sweet Home Alabama/Skynyrd (KFC; still don't get it)
• Dreamer/Supertramp (Acura)
• Wild Horses/Rolling Stones (Movie "Bella")
• Gimme Some Lovin'/Spencer Davis Group (Ameriprise Financial)
• Whole Lotta Love (Concert Footage)/Led Zeppelin (Ziddio.Com)
• Let My Love Open The Door/Pete Townshend (Movie "Dan In Real Life")

Gotta be others I've missed. Why not include these tv spot "hits" on your next music test? Granted, there's some no brainers here - but I'm thinking the deeper tracks here by The Who, Supertramp, Stones, Spencer Davis and Townshend.

If I were doing AC right now, I might be testing this song - just to see what happens.

btw: good resource for finding song titles/artists used in commercials is here.

Idea For Radio: Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" morning show announced this morning the start of "The Show After The Show".

If I heard correctly - the morning crew will continue their morning show for another hour - past 9am eastern - on the internet. Have not seen an official announcement.

John Landecker. I love great radio stories. Rick Kaempfer talks again to the legendary Mr. "Records" Landecker - about WZZN, his new syndicated show - plus his story of getting started in the business.

John spent time here in Lansing radio while going to Michigan State University; and then a big leap straight to Philadelphia. And then there's Chicago. Read here.

More Chicago. Longtime talk/AOR personality Steve Dahl moves to WJMK (Jack-FM) and mornings starting next week his current home - WCKG - changes format to something only a few know for certain.

Rumors of spanish for WCKG are strong - as is active rock. If you're from outside Chicago and don't know the name Steve Dahl - chances are you have hear of this highlight from Steve's long career.

Summer Arbitron, Music & Stuff From The Web

59 - partly cloudy at 10pm. Frost warning!

Back to the book - format winners in summer ARBs released since Monday: KMOD/Tulsa gaining over three points and tied for #1 12-plus. Congrats to OM/PD Don Cristi.

Another big gainer: WCMF/Rochester with over a two point jump. A great win for this heritage rock station.

WKLR/Richmond up over a point; in Columbia, SC - WMFX also up over a point; likewise with both WSFR/Louisville and KKCD/Omaha.

WSKZ/Chattanooga up nearly a point; likewise WRFX/Charlotte. In Knoxville - WIMZ is up a bit over a half point as is WROQ/Greenville-Spartanburg.

In Tucson its a classic rock battle. KHYT is up almost a point; longtime market rocker KLPX maintains a half point lead. KHYT PD Darrin Arriens making some progress.

New music (or not). A tough call for stations that label themselves "classic rock". There's many classic rock artists still producing new music: Mellencamp, Clapton, The Who, Tom Petty, Bob Seger - and Bruce Springsteen (who's at #1 for a 3rd week).

McVay Media's Dave Lange makes the case for "new rock music for 25-54s" here.

As a classic rock programmer - I've played a limited number of currents by core artists that were hard to ignore.

Those tracks were played with the proper staging and setup - including "then and now" 2-fers; and at the very minimum a live jock intro.

But (I feel) it really comes down to audience expectations for a classic rock station. If you can celebrate and make a new release "an event" it can work real easy.

Here in Michigan a year ago I couldn't pass on the opportunity to play Bob Seger's "Face The Promise" CD - after snagging a leaked copy of the CD days before its official release to radio.

An "event" that my station's audience expected. And we delivered. Bob Seger is Michigan. And that celebration continued with Bob's tour.

Other odds and ends: Clear Channel's WAXQ/New York is advertising on the web via Google adwords.

Caught my eye when an ad appeared in the Google ad space on this blog last night.

Dave Martin blogs about troubled CBS-owned talker WCKG/Chicago - saying the problem with WCKG is not the format.

And writes about dealing with talent: "When I hear that a certain talent is "difficult" it's music to my ears". Another great one - read here.

And in the news: Opie & Anthony done at WYSP after trashing both the station and its PD on air.

All Access reports today that Opie wants to "take down 'YSP" as well as rival WMMR morning team Preston and Steve - and is willing to work for free to prove it. Whatever.