...what Dave said

34° - overcast at 8:54am. Right: view out my office window this morning.

I've received more than a few quick emails welcoming me back to the blog. While I've responded privately, let me thank you here too. It makes it all worthwhile.

On Wednesday, I promised something great from David Martin. Clearly almost every blog written by an industry pundit wanna-be focuses far too much energy on the negative (and sometimes the obvious, since much of what they write is old news if you read the headlines in the industry trades). I've done my best to avoid treading in those waters.

Dave observed last week:

"My sense is too many blogs appear to be the work of old white guys not happy with the way things are going, folks clearly upset about change in the industry. Moreover, too many of these bloggers seem to be either obsessed with bringing back some new version of the past or possessed by a compulsion to deliver little more than critical rants about the present. It's not healthy. To be brutally honest, it's a waste of bandwidth. But there's good news. Doing the math it's easy to project that these old guys have more days behind them than ahead. Let them live out their days shouting at the tide or barking at the moon. None of what they say really matters."

Indeed.

Next month, Mr. Martin makes an appearance here in Michigan at Great Lakes Broadcast Conference and Expo in Grand Rapids, an annual event by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. (Yes, that's a plug).

I'm looking forward to his two sessions. Let's get on with things. Dwelling on the past and the negative is counter to moving forward.

Monday Monday

32° - mostly cloudy at 7:35am

Last week turned into a busy one between the day job, the night job and everything else. And it didn't stop over the weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

From around my blogosphere:

Jerry Del Colliano has a great piece posted this morning: "Better Radio At No Additional Cost". In it, Jerry remembers Dick Carr of WIP/Philadelphia:

"When Dick prevailed at WIP he had one operating principle that always served him well. It cost no extra money -- it was a way to look for the additional benefits that make listeners appreciate you over and over again. He called it Another Reason to Listen."

"Everything that is done on the air should be designed to give the audience another reason to tune in and stay with the station. As Dick Carr puts it, "Work to create a listener expectation wherein once they heard "a shoe drop", they would instinctively turn to your station"."

Worth your time this morning. Read here.

Related piece from Dave Lange: Dave posts a great read on his blog "Opportunties Ahead #1" In the piece, Dave notes:

"Be Local: No doubt the biggest opportunity for radio is that it's LOCAL. While most of the new media, cable networks, broadcast networks and nearly all the web is national or even world wide most of the audience's world lies in their local area. We all know this, but in the end we do little to capitalize on it."

More here - including some thoughts on what you might do on a day-to-day basis.

Pass along to your GM/GSM: Alan Mason writes about those email "out of office" auto-responders - and something very clever your salespeople could be doing. In fact, I think even programmers or anyone on staff could be doing:

"Whoops. You've caught me at one of the rare times I'm not here waiting to help you. I'm gone for a short period but want you to receive royal treatment. This message has been automatically forwarded to our Sales Assistant, Carla ___. She'll be in touch with you forthwith. By the way, click on this link and you'll see a video of what happens when we do a remote at Van Chevrolet."

Alan does note that "If you're in business today, every e-mail should be forwarded to your PDA or cell phone." Read more here.

Welcome back David Martin. After a brief absence, Mr. Martin is back on his blog. Always worth your time. Read here.

And Dave: I did enjoy our conversation and intend to follow-up as promised. Last week turned impossible.

Belated congrats: To Fred Jacobs and Jacobs Media Web Guru Tim Davis, who created a custom station-branded iPhone application to listen to station streams. Read here. View below:

Reach Out and Make An Impact!

81° - overcast/severe thunderstorm watch at 2:38pm

Apologies for lack of posts this week; busy times.

While taking a quick fast food break at my desk this afternoon, surfin' around the blogosphere, I came across a great piece (one of two, actually - the second one I'll get to later) from Seth Godin:

When you least expect it

I sent in a t-shirt order to customink a few weeks ago.

Three days later, I got a note from someone named Lori that said,

"Hi Seth,

I noticed that you have designed shirts that appear to be for a charity event. If that’s the case, CustomInk would love to make a small donation to your team or to the charity itself on your behalf.

Please let me know if your order is for one of these events. If you would like us to pitch in and support your cause, please include information about your charity event, a link if you have one or the organization’s name if there is no link to a team web page."

That's it. No policy, no standard operating procedure, no promise in advance. Just plain generosity.

It turns out that customink does this as a matter of course, regardless of whether the customer has a blog or not. They don't do it as an inducement, they just do it.

Formula: The value of a perk is inversely related to the expectation of that perk.

How could this be applied at your radio station? I mentioned here months ago about having members of your airstaff calling a few different listeners in your database to thank them for listening.

Dave Martin took it further by suggesting the airstaff do the same with advertisers.

What if your station did this with community organizations too? "Hi, this is Bob Morning Jock at WXXX. I noticed that your organization is doing X. I'd love to know more so I can talk about it on the air."

Unexpected. And who do you think that organization might contact when they're planning something really big?

Just a thought.

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.

In The Motor City

75° - scattered clouds at 7:20am. Above: Detroit's skyline captured on webcam this morning. current image

Lack of posts: Found myself with another busy week between the day job, my free-lance work and kids. I need 30-hour days, not 24. But its all good.

In Detroit yesterday (suburban Sterling Heights, actually); had an opportunity to listen to Greater Media's WCSX over-the-air, instead of the 'net. Listening on a car radio in the market during afternoon drive a completely different experience than listening from afar via the internet.

Speaking of Detroit. Lee Arnold posted a bit of nostalgia on his blog earlier this week that I'll rip off and share here:

Dave Martin - who was Lee's boss at the time offers some more thoughts on Lee's event here.

More later today - and certainly over the weekend.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

67° - mix of clouds & sun at 10:47am

Good Morning from Okemos, Michigan. And welcome to June.

I love this logo. Too cool. From San Diego's new classic hits XHPRS 105.7 - my old bud Dave Mason apparently doing mornings there. Listening online this morning; Dave to celebrate the anniversary of Sgt. Peppers on his long-running Sunday Morning Beatles Show, formerly heard on KGB-FM.

Classic Randy Michaels. The above-mentioned Mr. Mason interviewed in a recent Chicago Business story on Randy:

"As a radio programmer in Cincinnati in the early 1980s, Mr. Michaels once used the airwaves to label a programmer at a rival radio station a "spineless, gutless wimp" for refusing to talk to him when he dialed in to the rival's live talk show, recalls Dave Mason, the target of the vitriol and now the morning man at San Diego radio station 105.7 FM, who counts himself an admirer of Mr. Michaels'."

More here. I might add that Dave (pictured left) did wind up as a PD/Morning man for Jacor/Clear Channel under Michaels in San Diego.

When yours truly did mornings on a classic rock station in New Mexico tormenting a AMD jock/PD at the crosstown alternative station. The reality is I admired his talent and wanted him to work for me. I finally succeeded - though it took several years.

This is a free concert? Wow! WDRV/Chicago will be celebrating its 7th birthday on date with a free listener concert featuring Crosby, Stills and Nash. Score another one for Greg Solk and company.

Speaking of numbers: WDRV scores big in latest Chicago trend released this past week #7 to #9 25-54. My source for the numbers also says Steve Dahl's AMD performance on WJMK is no fluke. Mr. Dahl is solid.

Other Arbitron trend successes: In LA, KLOS up a few clicks 12+; likewise in San Diego with KGB-FM. WKLH/Milwaukee flat but solid. Same story with WCSX/Detroit and KUFX/San Jose.

Website Review. Jaye Albright looks at a couple of country radio station websites and opines here.

"Radio is doomed" - headline from Look Magazine, April 26, 1949. Courtesy of Dave Martin. More quotes here.

Rick Kaempfer Update: Rick catches up with Greg Brown (WZZN), Phil Manicki (WDRV), Cara Carriveau (WTMX) on his weekly Chicago Radio Spotlight post here.

Working on "the station". My internet hobby station. Yesterday spent with more ripping; registered a few URLs; and put the automation "online" with my home wireless network. Can listen via my laptop anywhere in the house; love it!

There's something I'm forgetting. More later if/when it comes to mind. Enjoy your Sunday!

Wednesday Blogs

43° - clear at 8:37am; left: downtown Lansing this morning. Current Image

Hello from Sunny Michigan.

Good Read: Yesterday's piece by Dave Martin on how radio appears to devalue 41% of its inventory. He's referring to nights and overnights, suggesting that its "perhaps the most undervalued asset in radio". Dave writes:

"Being #1 at night too often viewed as a Pyrrhic victory - "So what, we can't sell it!" This is the same logic frequently used in walking away from renewal of sports rights - "We can no longer make the math work." While it may indeed be easier to save a dollar than to bring a dollar in, that's no way to build or grow a business."

"The dirty little secret here is nobody likes live sports programming at night or overnight but the listeners. They never got the memo giving them the heads up that all the good stuff happens between 5a and 7p."

Read Dave's complete post here. Good things can happen on music radio between 7pm and 5am too. One I miss dearly is the late Alan Stagg doing overnights (classic rock) in Chicago. Alan just fit the daypart so well.

Speaking of. I read Tuesday in Tom Taylor's newsletter that Premiere was offering Bob & Tom for overnights. From the affiliate website it appears so. Don't get me wrong - I'm a big Bob & Tom fan and have been for years. But does a morning drive show have the right "feel" for overnights? Just asking...

Follow-up file: Yesterday I mentioned WGRF/Buffalo and its Memorial Day Top 500.

Late yesterday, I received a listener email from the station mentioning the "debate" going on regarding the number one song and inviting me to join the discussion on the station's message board. Very clever and very cool.

Only in Santa Fe. And I say that as a former resident of the "City Different". Read here.

Pondering. How many "social networks" can one person manage? Rarely does a week go by where I haven't been invited to join yet another online social network - or asked if "I'm on social network X".

And these are from people I'm already connected with through another social network. "But I already know you from (fill in the blank)!

I'd like to think that its an age/generation thing. But those invitations are coming from my own peers. What are the burn and churn rates? Hmmm....

Am I just getting old and cranky????

Doing AC? Hire this guy: Chris Reynolds. Chris released yesterday after 7+ highly successful years programming WFMK/Lansing - which has consistently lead its target demos and often the entire market during Chris' tenure.

Prior to Lansing, Chris had stops in Flint, Saginaw, Detroit, and San Antonio. He's great and he gets it.

I'd be pleased to pass on contact information. And if you're looking for a classic rock PD, I can help with that too.....

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

48° - mostly sunny at 9:08am. Above: driving in downtown Lansing is a challenge these days with construction and orange barrels/barriers everywhere.

Welcome to Friday.

Evaluation: Looking back at my blog posts over the last couple of weeks, I've been leaving out much of the everyday programming nuts and bolts that were the original intent of this blog....who's doing what - sharing programming and promotion ideas.

The other issues our industry faces has also been important; and adding it to the discussion will continue also. All about balance. Here's a promise to get back on track soon. And thanks for continuing to drop by.

The Classic Rock Community. Fred Jacobs writes about being acknowledged by R&R this past week. And how great programmers are creating classic rock communities with their stations and websites. Here.

Radio stories. WMMO/Orlando. Inside Radio's Mike Kinosian interviews original WMMO programmer Cary Pall about the success of rock/ac. A great read here.

Invitation to steal: David Martin - inspired by Lee Arnold - writes about "blocking and tackling".

A great Friday Morning read here.

And: I became "uncomfortably numb" when I read what one radio group head told Wall Street yesterday. The broadcast exec stated that "cost cutting is ongoing" and "every air shift also must be justified".

I'm certain that tough talk sounded great to Wall Street, not so sure about the rank and file inside the stations. And its unclear was "justified" really means.

Added/Related: Consultant Alan Mason offers his two cents. Here.

Lurking on your streaming player. Or perhaps on your RDS display: Internal notes such as "voice track", perhaps? Sean Ross writes about this here.

More over the weekend.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

60° - clear at 11:52am

Good Morning from Mid-Michigan. Bike ride with my 9-year old this morning brought us down the road to Okemos High School (aka "The Taj Mahal" by locals; its very nice).

Listening. To my usual Sunday Morning lineup. Stroud on Chicago's WDRV featuring the music of Badfinger this morning. One of all-time fav bands; both the Apple and Warner years.

Bob Stroud also seeking votes for the next volume of his Rock 'N Roll Roots CD (it will be number 10). See here.

Post bike ride: Steve Palec on Milwaukee's WKLH. A good dose of Linda Ronstadt this morning as "The Root Salute". Ronstadt covering Tom Petty's "The Waiting" was wonderful! Thanks Steve.

The ROI. David Martin discusses the Radio 2020 initiative from the NAB, RAB and HD Radio Alliance...and calls for goals, scorecards and accountability.

This goes beyond simple "feel good" reaction (or otherwise) from inside the industry. Read here.

My take: Dave is right on. Unless there's measureable results, you'd never know if its time, effort and money well spent or otherwise wasted. And where to next. Promoting "radio" is best targeted at the ad community. For listeners, its all about brands and programming.

Think "users". Mark Ramsey points us to Inside Radio and the words of Bonneville New Media Director James Webb:

"radio needs to stop thinking of its cume as “listeners” and consider them to be “users.” He says “Listeners are engaged only when the radio is on. Radio users connect with you in other ways.”"

Mark adds additional comments here.

Records. Lee Arnold gives us the trailer of a forthcoming film on the death of the independent record store. Places where I spent much of my youth exploring. See here.

Amazingly, I was just told this past week that a "record store" just opened in nearby East Lansing.

Jaye Albright's open letter. To a Los Angeles broadcaster. Jay notes an air personality leaving this broadcaster's station to move to Huntsville, Alabama (apparently to make more money). Read here.

Jaye also points us to Detroit's WYCD...doing something radio does best. Here.

Would the RIAA do this? Author Seth Godin encourages readers to loan a copy of his book "The Dip" to others. "If I could double the number of people who read the book, it would be pretty cool."

Seth writes here.

Speaking of. Driving home Thursday afternoon I heard a song on MSU's student run and programmed radio station. And when I got home went online and bought the MP3 download. Isn't that the way its suppose to be? Radio remains the record industry's biggest promotional resource.

Howard Who? While the latest Arbitron satellite listening report shows him king of satellite radio, has the mainstream forgotten him?

Friday Night on Letterman - NPR's Ira Glass revealed that he was a major fan of Howard Stern. Said it twice. No studio audience reaction...no applause, nothing - although Ira (and Dave) appeared to be waiting for it. As if they didn't know the name anymore. Or cared. Just an observation.

Cindy Gatziolis. Don't know the name? Doesn't matter. Cindy share some great radio stories this week in Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight. Think Larry Lujack. Jonathan Brandmeier. Read here.

Have a great Sunday.

Staying Positive: Suggested Reading

56° - mostly cloudy/light drizzle at 7:33am

In the last 24 hours, I've read two posts directed at all the negativity that seems to exist in the broadcast industry today. And they're both like a breath of fresh air.

It seems with almost every blog I read, its constant bashing, both from inside and outside the industry.

Start your morning with these two posts.

Dave Martin wrote (yesterday):

"We are living in an age where the quality, quantity and diversity of audio and video is reaching new, unprecedented levels. There's a lot of really good stuff happening out there, folks playing at the top of their game producing truly remarkable work. Yes, we live in disruptive times. Yes, the rule sets are changing. No, the business as usual of today is not producing the results of yesterday."

"We can complain, scream at the rising tide, get involved in rants bashing how things are without suggesting alternatives or we can get involved. We can stay engaged in the futile efforts of getting better at playing defense or we can get different, get proactive and serious about game-changing innovation."

Dave's entire piece here.

And this morning brought Fred Jacobs to the discussion:

"It is too common these days for conversations among radio people to quickly deteriorate into industry bashing. I've been guilty of this, too, because it often seems like the pressure on radio is immense, the competition daunting, and the reactions just too slow to make any difference. We need to turn the conversation around."

"And there's no better place for a new initiative than at the top of radio's most prominent associations (NAB/RAB). We are seeing indicators as well as that some broadcasters are stepping up, facilitating more creative output, and welcoming new ideas."

"The Age of Consolidation is ending. Radio needs to get back to its creative foundation. Rock on, David and Jeff. If there was ever a time for a positive outlook and some creative proactivity, it is right now."

Fred's entire post here. Also suggested: Jacobs Media's new W.T.D.A. Campaign. See here.

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

70° - scattered clouds at 12 noon

Welcome to Saturday.

On the home agenda today is buying new bikes for my 12 and 9 year old, both who have seemed to quickly outgrow their old ones. Still think we're in the "big box store" bike purchase era instead of the $$ specialized bike retailer; the guys are still growing and they'll be outsizing whatever we buy today in short order...

Around the dial this weekend:

WAXQ/New York with a Bon Jovi weekend; tying in to an upcoming concert. Q104.3 also has a great interview with Ray Davies on their website (as do many Clear Channel classic rock stations). I think Ray's music in the past 3 years has never been better and is right up there with the best of the Kinks stuff from years ago.

WZLX/Boston and an Eagles weekend with ticket giveaways with as the band comes to town.

WGRF/Buffalo going into time-warp mode all weekend (great graphic!):

Another matter:

Dave Martin expresses it best. On what I refer to as the hysterical anti-HD radio bunch.

"A small and largely anonymous anti-HD Radio claque are engaged in a hobby of online ranting. The majority of these rants are no more than the noise of sockpuppetry (some possible astroturfing) being tyronic, invidious and inimical in nature. If you've not been exposed to these rants you're in luck."

This blog has certainly been the recipient of such rants with each and every mention of the letters "HD". I see the trolling - for anything HD-related - by the ranters in my site statistics.

I've stopped publishing the comments of the anonymous HD ranters. They contribute nothing new to the discussion at hand and drift off topic. I sense a "if you're not with us, you're against us" attitude. I could be wrong.

The bottom line is that the technology is here. The investments have been made. Its time to find ways to monetize and make it work.

Dave further observes: "It's still way early in the game". Read Dave Martin here.

Just thinking: It only took FM 30 years to come of age in a less-cluttered technological environment.

If today's ability to blog had been available in the early 40s, I can only imagine the rants that would have been posted after W2XMN went on the air. And ranting turning to gloating when many of the early FM efforts went dark in the 50s.

More Sunday.

Wednesday Blogs

30° - scattered clouds at 7:20am

It is what it is. XM/Sirius merger approved by DOJ. FCC can't be far behind. As Dave Martin points out here:

"Mel and pay radio will end up needing more than a good deal with the commission, they're going to need a radically different business model. Firing the majority of staff, outsourcing to the lowest bidders and restructuring deals won't even begin to get it done. The last published account of their combined ad billings was less than the annualized billings of one successful FM station. As written here previously, in the very best possible case, pay radio will be to audio what HBO is to video. A modest niche business, nothing more."

In his blog this morning, Fred Jacobs observes:

"...while satellite radio is an irritant, it has been losing momentum for a couple years now. We've seen evidence of this in our Tech Polls, conducted among 25,000+ rockers each year - just the kind of consumers that XM and Sirius have been targeting. In our newest poll, we're already seeing that when XM or Sirius ends up in the new car or truck you buy or lease, one's propensity to renew the service is much lower than average. And overall, we're only seeing about a 56% absolute commitment to retain XM or Sirius among current subscribers - not exactly the numbers they want to see, merger or no."

Lastly, Fred adds:

"There's a future out there for AM/FM radio, and while satellite radio just got a second wind, the true forces that will most clearly impact traditional broadcasters are far more ominous. But radio has the opportunity to play in the new media sandbox, if it focuses - once again - on creating great content, while providing multiple distribution outlets for that content."

And speaking of content - consultant Alan Mason writes here:

"...what does your radio station do so well that it will cause listeners to come back again, and bring some friends? Every station has to decide on it’s own what it does best, but I can tell you one thing. It’s not creating share holder value."

My take: long-term shareholder value is created when great products are created that attract consumers. The need for quick short-term results for the next quarter is whats killing us.

Added: Saw this from Seth Godin over my second cup of coffee:

"A career putting out fires never leads to the goal you had in mind all along. I guess the trick is to make the long term items even more urgent than today's emergencies."

Seth's entire piece here.