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!

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.