PPM Lessons for Smaller Markets + More Spring Books

61° - clear/sunny at 8:17am

Why PPM matters. Even in non-PPM markets. I've been commenting on this blog for some time now that lessons learned from PPM can make a difference in non-PPM markets.

Tom Taylor - in his Radio-Info.Com Newsletter this morning relays a call he received from consultant Bob Taylor:

He says “in small markets, they’re thinking ‘this doesn’t apply to us’, but it doesn’t make a difference: tuneout is tuneout.” He started applying the early PPM lessons from Houston and Philly when he was programming in Binghamton and says “I saw that when we took that stuff off the air, like the jock saying ‘be right back’, we saw the Time Spent Listening go up in the diary world.” He kept picking away at “the stuff in between the songs, like how long the breaks were, and we re the breaks focused on the listener, not what you did last weekend.” The music’s got to be right, of course. But Bob says “This makes a difference in any market, like what you say going into breaks. The competition didn’t get what we were doing in Binghamton, but it’s like going into Starbucks – it’s not just the coffee, it’s the experience, on a minute-by-minute basis.” Bob says that’s what the People Meter rules – like those 20 that T-R-I ran on Monday from the Boot Camp session that included Rick Cummings – can do for every market. He says it’s dangerous to keep using “1996 rules…and then we scratch our heads and ask why the TSL is dropping” on a diary-measured station.

Tom's daily newsletter - a must-read - is offered as a free subscription here.

Spring Arbitrons - more classic rock winners: A big time win for WLAV/Grand Rapids. The station up almost 2-1/2 points and #2 12+. In Oklahoma City, KRXO up over a point and a half - good for #3 12+. KKFM/Colorado Springs also up a point and a half, good for a tie at #2 12+.

In Portland, KGON up a half point. WSFL/Greenville-New Bern up almost a full point - good for #3 12+. WIMZ/Knoxville up just over a point. And in Nashville, WNRQ is up a half point. All stations to spend some time with on the web with pen and notepad.

Added Advisory: This could be sitting in your Outlook in-box. Watch for emails with the subject line "CNN.com Daily Top 10". Clicking on a link in the email will invite a victim to install a video codec which simply installs some nasty malware on the victim's PC.

Yesterday I spent a good few hours removing such from a co-worker's desktop. Nasty stuff. Your IT people and co-workers should be aware. Read more here.

Headed north to Michigan's beautiful Traverse City today. More tomorrow.

2008 Spring Book Promos - Part 1

45° - rain at 10:45pm

Spring book began today; while we haven't spotted a ton of spring promotions (makes one think of budget woes) - I did run across a few worth mention.

WAXQ/New York is repeating their "Music Director" promotion - where listeners enter a five-song set of music and when they hear it on the air they can call in to win $104. A variation on the "Workforce Payroll" promotion.

All cash winners go into a grand prize drawing for $40,000 to be used toward a summer beach house rental along the Jersey Shore or Long Island. A little inspiration for the beach house rental is seen to the right.

See the complete promotion on the Q104.3 website here.

WZLX/Boston is doing the Workforce Payroll - with "all new hires on Workforce Payday Thursdays earn the maximum wage of $500 per hour!!" Likewise with KRXO/Oklahoma City with Workforce Payroll $100/hour giveaways.

In Tulsa, KJSR (Star 103) also doing the promo as "The At Work Network Payroll" with $100 an hour.

A few weeks back, I wrote here about WCSX/Detroit and its "Stimulus Package" promo. The stimulus now showing up on WKLH/Milwaukee with $600 cash prizes.

WKLH also doing van runs giving out checks for 96 cents to remind people to listen. Checks have reminder to winners "not to spend it all at once". LOL. See here.

WAQY/Springfield will also featuring the stimulus package soon. Tease on the website here. Also on the stimulus promo bus is KLPX/Tucson.

And WWUZ/Fredericksburg is offering a "stimulus package" with the "Workforce Cash Artist of the Day." See here.

More promos to come.

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.

Whats for Lunch?

A quick look on how classic rock stations around the country handle the lunch hour...most do the all-request thing with one name or another...

KGB/San Diego's Cindy Pace has "The Liquid Lunch"; with listeners waiting for Cindy to "pop the top" to win a six-pack of prizes. "Another perk for listening at work".

WKLH/Milwaukee's Marilynn Mee serves up "The Workforce Lunch" with requests.

Scott Barnett at Tucson's KLPX does the "Hot Lunch" request hour.

Dutch on Wilmington, NC's WBNU (The Bone) does requests with "Bone Appetit".

As noted here - Frankie - middays at KCFX in Kansas City does a great job chatting with listeners while taking requests on "The Fox Free Lunch".

Chris Rhoads at WHTQ/Orlando features the "Workforce Lunchtime Classic" - with a prize to the designated caller.

Old acquaintance Lee Roberts - longtime air talent at KXRO/Oklahoma City does a listener-selected "Ultimate Album Side" every weekday at noon.

My favorite: In Detroit, Karen Savelly on WCSX invites listener participation with "Linkletter" On Demand. Its all-request - but the first letter of the first word in a requested song has to match the last letter of the last word in the previous song. An excellent example of engaging listeners and getting them involved.

Got a great idea? Share here!