Classic Rock Salutes George

54° - sunny at 8:03am

Good Morning from Michigan.

Remembering George. Noticed just a few classic rockers remembering and paying tribute to George Carlin with their websites. WZLX/Boston has this section on its website for listener memories. Very cool. Likewise, WGRF/Buffalo's Rob Lederman posts his memories of George. See here.

Just a thought: there's a ton of George Carlin videos available via You Tube that could be embedded on a station website. A list here.

An online tribute would not be a bad thing to do. It's not too late; with a proper disclaimer (NSFW), you could even post the 7 words piece.

Around the web:

Cox Radio Steps Up. Cox - which in this author's opinion has been using the blandest of bland web templates for years - steps up with some site redesigns. Noted WHTQ/Orlando and WHPT/Tampa this morning. Very nice guys!

Late day update (9:55pm Eastern): Dave Martin with a common-sense thought today on his blog:

"Broadcast site after broadcast site feature Contact Us pages filled with email addresses, however, very few provide the primary telephone number. Getting in touch with station based colleagues and not having their direct dials often means visiting their website. More often than not one finds numbers for the studio, the newsroom, the sales department but no mention of the main number. Thinking my best bet is the sales dept I often call that number, usually get voicemail and typically become captive to the automated attendant. Provide the main number, answer your phone. My sense is there's competitive advantage here as no one is doing this."

More tomorrow...thanks for the pings; it makes it all worthwhile.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

32° - light snow at 11:50am

Greetings from snow-packed Mid-Michigan. A little bit of snow just about everyday this past week...

Listening as I type: To Lee Arnold's WORJ.COM. The Doors' "When The Music's Over" segued into "Rosalie" by Bob Seger. Very cool Lee! Later: "Room To Move" from John Mayall. And Lee must be a heavy Fairport Convention fan...me too!

WCSX/Detroit Radiothon revisited. Total funds raised for the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan were $78,419. Very nice! See my original post here.

Tom Petty Tour: Earl and The Heartbreakers will follow his appearance at this year's Super Bowl (are we allowed to use that name?) with a nationwide tour to begin May 30th in Grand Rapids. Check out the dates here.

Some stations can use Tom Petty to cap the spring book; others as a kickoff to summer.

Two 'Fer Tuesday Weekend: KKRW/Houston doing one with Van Halen coming to town Monday Night. It sounds odd so it works! See here.

BTW: KKRW sporting a great new web layout; based on the template Clear Channel installed a few months back at WAXQ/New York. More filling with less fat.

Speaking of web templates: Citadel strikes a deal with MediaSpan - and upgrades the web efforts of quite a few of its rockers - including my ala-mater WMMQ/Lansing, WZRR/Birmingham, KHKK/Modesto and WSHK/Dover. Very nice layout and easy to navigate.

And Cox? I'm betting even those at Cox Radio have to admit that their websites aren't very exciting. But WHPT/Tampa Bay is showing a little bit of attitude with both Bubba and Cowhead content teases on their site. The website almost showing signs of a personality.

Added: Radio Stories. Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight shines on 30-year radio vet Karen Hand. Read here.

Have a great Sunday.

More Thanksgiving Programming

49 - overcast at 10:50pm

Welcome to Tuesday; My youngest celebrating his 9th birthday today - family festivities earlier this evening.

Longtime readers of this blog see a new post everyday; it just didn't happen yesterday with the day job in the way. Saturdays continue to be optional.

Cox Radio CEO Bob Neil: "Meeting - we don't need no stinking meeting".

OK - Bob didn't actually say that. But after Arbitron CEO Steve Morris suggested a meeting with its radio customers over PPM issues, Neil did tell All Access:

"Arbitron doesn't get it. We don't need a meeting. We need a clear plan on how and when they plan on hitting their sample targets. The time for meetings, delay tactics and spin is over. It's about giving radio and agencies what they've paid for: Good data."

Also on All Access: Cumulus head Lew Dickey said that no meetings were needed and that the ratings giant simply needs to "deliver the goods" and that "we are rooting for them to get this right". There's so much to be gained from the data PPM can give the industry. We all should be rooting for them to get it right. Its our future.

Meanwhile - I've written here before that with most people carrying a cell phone or a Blackberry-like device - and perhaps an MP3 player too - I can't imagine anyone wanting to wear an additional tool like the PPM on their person. But thats just me.

This morning McVay Media's Dave Lange wrote about using cell phones instead of the PPM device to collect listening data. A great read here. Hey, people carry cell phones already; give 'em a free cell phone is a great incentive to carry a device to record listening!

More Thanksgiving Programming: KPUS/Corpus Christi kicks off a "Second Helping" Weekend starting Wednesday Night at 6pm - with 2'fers all weekend long.

On Thursday, WDRV/Chicago is doing a "Turkey Day Triple Play" with 3-fers all day long.

WCSX/Detroit offers up Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" 4x Thursday; plus a 4-hour Bob Dylan documentary. See the schedule here.

WMGK/Philadelphia is serving up Alice's Restaurant ("all 18 minutes and 20 seconds of it") three times on Thanksgiving Day.

WROQ/Greenville, NC (Rock 101) is doing a whole lotta Led Zeppelin - featuring the bands "101 biggest songs A to Z" on Saturday and Sunday.

More here Wednesday; thanks for the ping!

Bad Week in Columbia

37° - overcast at 10am

Arbitron. Nobody seems to be happy with the ratings giant these days.

Yesterday the trades reported on a letter sent to the company's Columbia headquarters by Clear Channel, Cox, Radio One and Cumulus - over PPM sample sizes.

The letter - sent to key Arbitron executives - opened with:

"All of us have been vocal supporters of the concept of electronic measurement in radio for several years, and we remain committed to the need for accurate, high quality electronic ratings as a way to program and sell our stations. As of this writing, the PPM system has been implemented in two markets for several months, with one month of information available in New York. To date, PPM has not provided accurate or reliable data for all demographic groups."

"We are calling on you to take immediate action to resolve this."

"The most immediate issue is sample size, especially with regard to 18-34 year olds and ethnic groups. The situation is clear: To secure a legitimate representation of listener activity, the number of people participating in the PPM survey must be increased."

Radio-Info.Com reports that the customers are demanding a larger sample - and to pay for it - they suggest eliminating the age 6-11 demographic and focus on the traditional 12+.

They would also like to see the company "key in on a better sample for ages 18-54, where most advertising business is done."

Added: Dave Lange on "Sample Sizes and PPM" - read here.

Earlier in the week - Arbitron was taken to task by WSRT/WKLT/WFCX Traverse City, MI GM Charlie Ferguson for sending survey participation invitations to two more staff members - plus one invite to "resident" at the station's address.

As you may recall - the Traverse City spring book was reissued after it was discovered that two WSRT employees may have filled out diaries.

Ferguson asked that Arbitron consider a database of station employee addresses and names to avoid future problems but reports that idea received a cold reception. Charlie was quoted in All Access:

"If my staff has gotten three separate invitations to fill out diaries, how many of my competitors have received them as well? What if they didn't turn down the opportunity? We can't be the only stations whose staff is being contacted, can we? Arbitron has a real responsibility to insure the integrity of the ratings and that radio station/company employees don't participate in the survey, but the opposite would appear to be happening."

Arbitron's Tom Mocarsky reportedly responded in Radio Business Report with:

"The sampling rate is so high in Traverse City that its inevitable that households with radio station employees get selected. With each survey, approximately on out of every 45 households gets selected to be in our starting sample. And, once the survey is done, one out of every 129 people in the market ends up in our survey. Despite the odds of getting selected, people in the radio industry are remarkably honest. It is an uncommon event for us to re-issue a report because of media affiliation."

(On keeping a list of radio station personnel) "This would be a logistical nightmare and it raises significant privacy issues."

Let's hope the folks at Arbitron can pull it together; the industry needs a source of credible data.

And nobody likes it when the customers are screaming - no matter what business you're in.

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

38° - overcast at 8:51am

I really tried to post yesterday - but my bread and butter job kept me busy well past midnight. Just one of them days. Its all good.

Happy Friday.

Arbitron PPM trends continue to hold for rock library formats. In New York City - classic hits WCBS-FM and classic rock WAXQ are #3 & #4 6+ in the market's first "precurrency" release.

Meanwhile lots of chatter about PPM from urban format and spanish-language broadcasters. In NYC - Urban WBLS drops from #1 in diaries 25-54 to #12 in PPM. Ouch.

Cox Radio head Bob Neil - who hasn't been shy at all with his feelings about PPM - expressed his concerns to All Access on Wednesday about Arbitron's shifting recruitment efforts.

Neil says that Cox and possible radio in general will be forced to look to other ratings alternatives, including doing it themselves.

Late Day update: Arbitron issued a release press call this afternoon - and reported that it will agree to "another independent review" of the methodology; basically saying that the industry will have to deal with the realities of PPM if its as valid (or better) than the diary system.

At a press conference call earlier today - Arbitron said it was still dealing with in-tab issue; will stick with telephone recruitment - and is considering cell phone ("smart phones") to collect PPM data. One less thing for a consumer to carry as this blog pointed out some time ago.

Read more on All Access.

Crank up the static and win. Below an email sent yesterday to listeners of WVBZ/Greensboro:

Thanks to Randy for the tip.

Wednesday Blogs - Afternoon Edition

91° - sunny and 52% humidity at 6pm

Good afternoon...

Posting delayed today with Blogger being unavailable this morning - and then other priorities took over the day.

PPM in Houston: Lots of talk about Arbitron's PPM troubles in Houston. Both consultant Randy Kabrich and Cox Radio President Bob Neil were quoted on All Access yesterday expressing concerns about quality control.

Yesterday consultant Harv Blain wrote on his blog: "I will be at Arbitron for a two day conference on PPM starting tomorrow. You think that may be a topic of discussion in the hallway and in the conference room?" More Harv here.

Meanwhile: McVay Media's Dave Lange writes: "Before you work with any research or ratings data the most important analysis tip we can pass on is LOOK AT THE SAMPLE. How far off of the population estimates is the return?"

More: "Are you feeling real good about gains that were more the result of a few diaries weighted way up that will disappear in the next report? Or are you looking at a downturn that's really an illusion?" Read Dave's complete piece here.

Having spent much time in small markets, I've had great books and bad books - some I never believed one way or another simply because the in-tabs were so small. Of course, we still celebrated the wins with the staff regardless!

Paragon Media Strategies is now blogging on PPM and more. They've got ten PPM "rules" (so far) for programming. Rules that make good sense PPM market or not. Read here.

Music: This weekend Little Steven's Underground Garage will debut the new single ("Radio Nowhere") from Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. Sweet!

Steven is asking affiliates to resist the temptation to lift and air the song from the show ahead of time.

Mr. Van Zandt says "HIS Boss will really be pissed at him if the song gets played before it premieres on The Underground Garage." And we know who his boss is, right?

Added: At least one outside monitoring service already has the song in its database ready to detect airplay.

Monday Monday

70° - cloudy - 97% humidity at 9:33am
Drippin' in Mid-Michigan

Free name tag generator here.

Good Morning.

Radio Station Names. What makes a strong one? Mark Ramsey takes notes here from a book by author Marty Neumeier.

Added: More ARBs: Just read Anthony Acampora's latest demo breakouts on All Access. In Denver: Persons 25-54 is ruled by Clear Channel's AAA KBCO followed a half point behind by sister Classic Rocker KRFX. Not a bad place to be - congrats to KRFX/Fox PD Garner Goin.

In Seattle: KZOK is #1 P25-54. And in Portland: KGON is a solid #2 P25-54.

XM's Lee Abrams: "Heard a Deep Tracks promo. Great example of NOT using “lazy words”. They used the line “handcrafted sets” (as has the Loft for a long time) to describe the music programming on the channel. They COULD have used “All your Deep Classic Rock Favorites” or something silly like that."

Lee's blog is here.

Lee Arnold. Last Thursday his internet station WORJ.COM streamed a 1975 radio concert from Gary Wright. From the "Dream Weaver" era - and wonderful.

Thanks again Lee.

Kudos. To Cox Radio head Bob Neil for telling it like it is: "The reality is that if radio doesn’t play their music they’re not gonna sell their recordings."

This in reaction to proposed artist airplay royalties - and last week's testimony in Washington.

Nearly every successful recording artist can thank radio for their careers - including Sam Moore and Judy Collins.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

Left: Webcam shot this AM from Copper Harbor in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Latest image

In Okemos: 56° and overcast at 10am.

Listening this morning to Lee Arnold's internet station WORJ.COM; hearing some tracks I haven't heard since my free-form days in the 70s - some with the occassional pops and ticks of vinyl; and that's a nice sound. Thanks to Dave Martin for the tip.

While cleaning house yesterday, I had the laptop tuned into WDRV/Chicago's stream. The Drive was celebrating Pete Townshend's birthday - with some great produced pieces to intro Townshend/Who music. One that stood out what Pete Townshend talking about Keith Moon; with an example of Moon's drumming style.

Great production like this keeps the music and the station sounding fresh. And strengthens your station's image as the classic rock authority.

Also spent some time with WDRV's stream of its "Deep Tracks" HD2 Channel....hosted by Steve Seaver. Noted that WDRV is streaming this channel at 2x the bitrate of their main channel stream (64 kbps vs 32 kbps). A welcome and very noticeable difference in streaming audio quality - even on tiny notebook speakers.

Programming to win. In this week's FMQB, John Silliman Dodge writes about time management, procrastination and establishing priorities. A great read for any programmer or manager; even those "on the beach". Read here.

Summer's almost here. See lots of stations getting ready to do the traditional Memorial Day 500; many with listener voting on their websites. And summer brings outdoor cookouts. WZLX/Boston's morning show is soliciting entries for a live morning show broadcast from a listener's backyard.

Show us your fish. WRLO/Antigo, WI has listeners submitting pics of their catch. Here. And Cox Radio's WHPT/Tampa Bay has a complete fishing page on their website here. A great NTR idea you can pass onto your GM.

Have a great Sunday.