Labor Day Weekend On The Radio

83° - sunny at 11:38am

Good Morning from Okemos.

Listening to Bob Stroud's Sunday Morning WDRV program. This morning Bob featuring the music of Labor Day Weekend 1968. As I type this - he's playing a bubblegum classic "1,2,3 Red Light" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company.

Its been 40 years and I'm sad to say that I still know the words - there's brain cells that apparently can't be overwritten. (It was a great pop song - I heard that Talking Heads used to perform it!)

Driving around town a few times this weekend, its apparent that I'm one of the few left in town with most of the normal folk sneaking in one last getaway before summer unofficially ends.

That said - normal weekend listening habits also change - and as usual many classic rock stations around the country are using the 3-day holiday to do something special on the air and working extra hard to build some quarter hours.

In New York, WAXQ (Q104.3) is using the extended weekend to air the Top 104 albums of all time. See the list here.

WZLX/Boston is celebrating the weekend airing blocks of music from the "50 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". See the list of the 50 here. Very cool 'ZLX!

In Kansas City, KCFX (The Fox) is counting down the 500 Greatest Classic Rock Songs Of All Time.

KSAN/San Francisco's Labor Day programming is one created by the listeners with a "Listener Playlist Weekend". See the web setup/playlist recruitment here.

In Tucson, KLPX is putting listeners on the air with the "Cheap Labor Day Weekend". They've got a script posted on their website along with a phone number for listeners to call in and read back for air. I like this. The setup here.

WHLK/Madison (The Lake) is airing the ""Top 93 Album Sides of All Time." Every hour starts with a classic rock album side: "Music the way it was meant to be heard...on vinyl, one side at a time." Very nice!

In Philadelphia, WMGK is doing a "Labor Day Double Play" weekend with 2-fers all weekend long.

And on Monday, WGRF/Buffalo (97 Rock) is devoting the day to something we mentioned here a few weeks back - a countdown of the Top 20 Concerts at (local venue) Rich Stadium. Very cool. Combining listener input to create content that's truly local to Buffalo. More here.

Did I miss something you're doing? Let me know!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

63° - partly sunny at 8:10am

Good Morning from Okemos.

Getting ready to make a quick day trip to Chicago tomorrow to pick up our two boys at the airport - who've been spending the last three weeks with their Grandparents in Denver. The house has just been too quiet with just the two of us.

More Spring book: Congrats out to KSAN/San Francisco (107.7/The Bone)...up a half point. In Sacramento, KSEG (Eagle 96.9) up nearly a full point.

My former station in Lansing, WMMQ, rebounds from a weak winter book. In Toledo, WXKR is up over a half point.

Added: More Chicago PPM. Anthony Acampora writes today in All Access that Bonneville's WDRV leads the market 25-54 in pre-currency PPM. Very cool Mr. Solk!

This weekend in Buffalo - WGRF's John Hager again engages the listener with the "The Top 100 Guitar Heroes of Classic Rock". As John has done a lot lately, he's cleverly set up a listener discussion board on the station's website (here).

No doubt there will be some debate among fans about who showed up where and who should have been on the list but wasn't. Another great example of involving the listeners in the product and giving them ownership.

Disappointed. But not surprised about the imminent XM/Sirius merger. One company controlling one delivery system. Where else does this happen?

Can anyone count on the combined company to live up to promises made to get the merger through, given each company's past record - that's now resulting in a combined $19 million dollar fine? (just a cost of doing business, right?).

Disappointed (again) but not surprised by our FCC leadership.

Fans of certain XM and Sirius channels might not be too thrilled losing their favorite brand for a "almost just like" substitute. It'll be interesting to watch from the sidelines. I'm not a subscriber.

Late update: It's a done deal. 3-2 in favor as reported by Inside Radio at 9:20pm.

HD Radio Report. Ibiquity's Bob Struble now writing a monthly column. Read here.

Added: Little did I realize while writing this morning that this is post #500 since starting this blog 18 or so months ago. Thanks again for stopping by. Its your pings that make it all worthwhile.

Memorial Day Programming

58° - sunny/clear at 9:45am

Hello from Michigan. Home today with a sore sinus/throat thing. My 9-year old had something similar for the past few days - so I be thinkin' that I got it from him.

Memorial Day. See lots of stations getting ready to hit Memorial Day Weekend with Top 500 Countdowns. KUFX/San Jose is soliciting listener votes for their countdown with a chance to win Police tix. Here.

KCFX/Kansas City now collecting votes for their Memorial 500 here.

KSAN/San Francisco also compiling listener votes; though its limited to their "Bonehead" club members.

In Fort Myers, WARO is doing a "Top 400" for Memorial Day weekend - with a list to vote from online here.

In Philadelphia, WMGK has started the voting process for its "Philly 500" with a complete (?) list of titles, plus an opportunity to "write in" a vote. See how they're doing it here.

WAQY/Springfield also with the Top 500 this Memorial Day. Here. Kudos to them on a great graphic:

KLOS/LA is spending the long weekend with listener-suggested sets of music as a "My Tunes" weekend. Very cool. See the entry process here. In the Windy City, Mainstream rocker WLUP is doing a "Loyal Looper 500". See here.

One of my favorite stations - WGRF/Buffalo is letting the listeners vote - and discuss their Memorial Day 500 list.

Incentive for voting is a chance at a trip to the Hard Rock Park. Schweet! See the layout and listener comments here.

More Memorial Day Programming as I come across it.

Follow-up file: This morning I did spot one station doing "The Harley Days of May". Here.

From KSAN/San Francisco: Cool Award of Week

From the website of KSAN/San Francisco (107.7 The Bone) - probably one of the more creative Flash banners I've ever seen:
(hit "replay" if still)

Wednesday Blogs

81° - overcast at 10:45am

Good morning from Michigan. Busy day.

From my blogosphere....

Around the dial. Edison Media's Sean Ross writes here about his listening - and a drop heard at the end of the stopset on the new KFRC/San Francisco:

"Thanks for being patient. Your reward is more Classic Hits on 106.9 KFRC."

Sean adds "You might read that as positioning commercials as something to be endured. But knowing that most listeners still regard commercials as a fair trade-off for music, saying "thank you" is a nice (and surprisingly novel) idea."

There's always been lots of power with the word "thanks" - both on air and off - and to your listeners and staff.

Sharing Stories. I wrote Monday about WGRF/Buffalo soliticing listener stories for their Labor Day Weekend event.

Mark Ramsey writes here about a project underway at Philadelphia's non-comm WXPN - which is asking listeners "to contribute to a massive archive of personally important musical moments."

For use with an on-air special as well as the station's website.

Mark notes: "if your audience is driven by a passion for music doesn't it make sense to invite their stories and that passion to be expressed on your station's site?" Yup!

I've mentioned here before about a related web concept that some stations doing. These examples below are from WGRF/Buffalo, WKLH/Milwaukee and KSAN/San Francisco. More of an endorsement - not quite as formal - but I believe very effective:

2007 Summerfests

Partly Cloudy 72° at 1pm

The start of a great week.

Announcements for station-staged summer concerts and festivals have started to roll in with a lot of great lineups this year. Three seen so far:

KUFX/San Jose (The Fox) is presenting a one-day event Sunday, July 1st. The "Kihncert On The Green" is highlighted by KUFX morning host Greg Kihn (yes, that Greg Kihn) - plus Foghat and some additional tribute bands. More here.

In Denver, KRFX/The Fox is back again this year with their annual Hawgfest Sat/Sun July 7-8 at nearby Copper Mountain Ski Resort.

Lineup includes Grand Funk, Night Ranger, Great White and others - including morning show hosts Lewis & Floorwax with their band "The Groove Hawgs". Details here.

KSAN/San Francisco presents "Bone Bash VIII" on July 20th with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pat Travers, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Here.

Car Drop Video: We mentioned last week WLUP/Chicago's helicopter car drop to award a new Hummer to a lucky listener.

Video is now posted on their website. Here.


Later this week:

Tuesday (6/5) Patti Smith on CBS-TV's Craig Ferguson
Thursday (6/8) Bret Michaels & Poison on CBS-TV's Craig Ferguson
Saturday (6/9) Paul McCartney on NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live
Sunday (6/10) Alice Cooper on NBC-TV's Michael Douglas Special

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

Overcast. Rain. 68° at 10am.

Good Morning.

Coffee with Bob Stroud this AM. Tuned in to WDRV/Chicago and his "Rock and Roll Roots" program. Bob is doing a timewarp today back to the week of June 3, 1967 - including the release of Sgt. Peppers.

With the computer audio turned up - heard Bob spin Herb Alpert's "Casino Royale" this morning with my wife remarking that "it sounds like we're coming up to top of the hour newstime". LOL. Jodi did radio before becoming mother to our children.

I noted here a few weeks ago that WDRV was streaming its secondary HD2/Deep Tracks channel at an improved bitrate. The station is now doing the same with its primary on-air programming. The difference is awesome - and quality does not go unnoticed.

Bob Stroud is also the subject of Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight this week. Bob talks about his career, the launch of Rock and Roll Roots, getting fired, getting fired again - and the launch of WDRV/The Drive. Read here.

Spent some time listening Saturday to WGRF/Buffalo on the web as the station did its "History of Classic Albums". PD John Hager making it a real event with some great imaging and staging. Loved the vinyl scratch SFX as albums were kicked off!

Also noted: WCSX/Detroit doing a "40 Years Ago Today" Weekend - including giveaways of the new Paul McCartney CD.

Attitude. Dave Martin blogs Saturday here on Tom Donahue's legendary KSAN - and observes another ingredient of a great radio station.

Dave writes: "One of the dramatic differences in great radio stations is their attitude. There is a measure of delight and surprise in listening to a station that does not take itself too seriously. Great stations have a perpetual sense of good humor about themselves. " So true.

Great Read. Discovered through a link through a link - Bob Lefsetz - who writes an excellent blog about the music industry. I was up well past midnight Friday night reading his archives. Perhaps you can exercise a little more self-discipline. Read Bob's blog here.

Have a great Sunday.

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

67° - heavy rainfall at 11am

Happy Friday.

Bliss. I feel like I've been in a time-warp all week! Over the last several days, I've been enjoying reading David Martin's discussion about the ABC FM rock stations of the 70s as well as the AOR programmers from that era. Scroll back on his blog here.

There has to be hundreds of untold stories from this time that need to be written and preserved - and shared with today's programmers - especially those doing classic rock.

Right: KSAN does Beatles A to Z back in the day. That feature now a staple on many of today's classic rock stations.

I'm looking forward to Tom Teuber's contributions to the conversation on Dave's blog.

PPM and P1s. Lee Arnold writes here this morning about new PPM research - and P1 listeners. Another great read on how PPM will affect our future. Added: Morning Mouth Publisher Don Anthony offers PPM tips in this week's FMQB here.

Steve Loomstein. Who? Its Steve Loomstein day in St. Louis and the second annual launch of "Steve 96" radio. Ralph Cipolla of Jacobs Media explains what this is all about here. Its just great radio.

Have a great weekend. More here Sunday Morning.

Here and There

Sun and 63° here at 10:30am

Listening this morning to KKZX/Spokane on the 'net. The "Radiomen" are on the air. Flashback host/VO pro Bill St. James is their imaging voice. sweet!

Mothers Day. Sunday. WMGK/Philadelphia is doing a Mother's Day Request Weekend. If your request is played, you'll also pick up a pair of Def Leppard/Styx tix. KSAN/San Francisco doing 3-song sets for mom on her day.

Practical. WAQY/Springfield giving listeners a chance to get all the junk out of their home. A prize a wife would love. Ends the nagging! Details here.

Another one: "Show Us Your Crack". KTWS/Bend, OR is looking for the biggest crack. Here.

Morning Show TV. KRFX/Denver AM drivers Lewis & Floorwax (aka "The Masters") take highlights of their radio show to Comcast Cable Wednesday through Friday Nights. Here. How many cable systems are looking for programming....??

It's My Station

As one who spends a lot of time surfing the websites of radio stations throughout the country, looking for great ideas to steal before my competition does - I came across this web concept 3-4 years ago after clicking on the site of KSAN/San Francisco (107.7/The Bone).

And I thought it was brilliant. Putting faces on the listeners. Building a "club". A "community".

This strategy came to mind the other day. I surfed around the web and could only find two stations doing this beyond KSAN (which has since apparently dropped the concept; the image to the left was found on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine).

It doesn't take much effort. Solicit photos or bring a camera to remotes. Combine this with other elements that build a community of listeners on and off air and it adds up.

In the end, you make your station just a little more bullet-proof. Real words from real people. Check out Milwaukee's WKLH (who is doing an online promotion "Hey Mom, I'm on WKLH.COM") as well as Buffalo's 97 Rock. Duct tape rocks.