Monday Monday

77° - mostly sunny at 11:44am

The Boys Are Back. Arrived back from our day trip to Midway Airport, Chicago to pick up our two boys (9 & 12) coming back from 3-weeks at my wife's parents in Denver. Pulled in the driveway at home about 1am Sunday Morning.

Home life has returned to normal; the last few weeks have been like the inside of a station control room with the monitor turned down.

During the road trip back and forth had a chance to listen to a lot of radio - both the small and medium markets between here and Chicago. Heard some great stations as well as some not-so-good.

In the latter category - spent some time with a variety hits/AC station where every segue was a train wreck; even my wife asking "what is this"? I replied "George Benson/On Broadway". "Not the song...the station". The station just needed a little attention to detail...(a sweeper or dry "voice guy" liner would have done the station wonders). Road trips are great for PDs; hearing the good and the bad.

In Chicago our radio was stuck on WDRV. A station both me and my wife can agree on. If you're a regular reader to this blog, I'm certain you're not surprised.

Wise words. Dave Martin blogged last week on recruitment and coaching. A great read here. Two highlights:

"Every talent benefits from having a coach but too few enjoy that advantage. Talent want to be led not managed. We need to catch them doing something right."

"Are you providing your stars with an environment to be successful?"

Life Lessons: Mike Mallace writes about a recent experience on "going the extra mile". Read here.

XM/Sirius - keeping it positive: Greater Media CEO Peter H. Smyth released a statement late Friday after the merger was announced:

“Obviously, I strongly disagree with the FCC’s decision and I am very disappointed by it. Although I fail to see the public interest benefits of a satellite monopoly, I am confident that free radio will continue to be the local connection for our listeners, the most reliable source of information, entertainment, and support in our communities, and the most innovative and powerful marketing vehicle for our advertisers. These are qualities that satellite radio - a national, subscription based service, can never achieve.”

I couldn't agree more. In talking to others over the weekend, most reflect Peter's thoughts as well as mine posted here late Friday.

Added: More Spring ARBs today. KSLX/Phoenix shows its best 12+ numbers in recent history. Classic Hits WGRR/Cincinnati up a half point.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

41° and mostly clear at 11:50am.

This weekend: WBLM/Portland is doing a Beatles A to Z. Adding to the cool is a Beatles "almost A to Z" video collection on WBLM's website. Another idea worth stealing. Check it out here.

Thanksgiving. Finding out what classic rock stations are doing for Thanksgiving programming coming up this week.

In San Jose: KUFX is doing their Beatles A to Z (with selected solo works) - it kicks off Wednesday at noon. Thursday at noon the station will interrupt the A to Z for Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant".

KSLX/Phoenix is putting Arlo's Alice into heavy rotation on Thanksgiving Day...playing it at 8am, noon, 5pm and again at 8pm. The station also kicks off Classic Rock Z to A on Monday, November 26th.

In Buffalo - WGRF is playing Arlo's Alice twice on Thursday; then starting Friday Morning at 6, its 24 hours of nothing but Beatles! 97 Rock also airing the Led Zep syndicated Mothership special.

WKLH/Milwaukee is serving Arlo's Alice once on Thanksgiving Eve - and again Thanksgiving Morning; plus all day Thursday its "classic album sides".

WKLH also running two Led Zeppelin specials - The Mothership and Song Remains The Same.

More Thanksgiving specials to come.

Arguing Arbitron. A follow-up to what we wrote here. WSRT/Traverse City GM Charlie Ferguson comments on Arbitron's response over his complaints on the sampling and recruitment efforts in his market.

"Mr. Mocarsky's statement that 'the sampling rate is so high in Traverse City' is truly laughable. When three diaries were thrown out and the book reissued in Traverse City, WSRT/WSRJ went from a .6 rating in Persons 12+ to a .4 rating -- a drop of 33%! In our Female target demos, the ratings dropped over 21%."

"When ratings-driven revenue accounts for 40 to 45% of a stations total sales, the value of three little diaries in our size market is overwhelming. The remarkable honesty of the majority of media people is outweighed by Arbitron's obligation to provide reliable ratings data that both buyers and sellers can use with confidence."

Charlie's comments were published on All Access this past Friday. He also has an additional issue with Arbitron with the way averages can be calculated with ARB software by agency buyers. We'll see how this all plays out.

Radio Stories. Today Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight shines on WLS/Chicago afternoon personality Roe Conn.

Read here.

And - from the "video comes back to haunt department":

WCSX & More Fall Promos

67° - heavy rain/thunderstorm at 8:10pm

Another busy one. Trip to Detroit and back to drop our house guests off at the airport. My in-laws from Denver. Had a great time during their visit.

Driving around Detroit - I had the pleasure of listening to Greater Media's WCSX for an extended period.

WCSX is simply a great classic rock station. Strong and well-produced imaging. Great features ("Linkletter" is something we've discussed here before); plenty of cross-promos for other shifts; and a great personality in middays: Karen Savelly.

Station was running a great promotion with the Workforce Listener of the Day. Very cool. WCSX really taps into the at-work listener; the station sure to enjoy a big PPM payoff when that day comes.

More fall promos:

Speaking of WCSX - next week the station kicks off "Workforce Cash" - $100 an hour and a drawing for ten grand.

Interesting note on their Workforce Cash web page: Listeners are required to pick up their prizes on Mondays between 3 & 5pm.

Not sure if a set time is completely listener-friendly - but having one allows the station to have a camera ready to snap photos - and a prod room ready to catch some audio from station winners.

WKLH/Milwaukee - another great classic rock station - kicks off the "'KLH $100,000 Bank Heist" on Monday with a Workforce song of the day. More here.

Likewise: WGRF/Buffalo is "hiring" - giving listeners a chance at earning $100/hour beginning Monday. Read here.

KMJX/Little Rock recycles a promotion from radio's past. "...ask everyone you see: Are you the Magic 105 USA Drug Ten Thousand Dollar Mystery Person?" Clues on air and hidden on the station's website. Details here.

Gift Cards, Free Gas & Cash: Next week, KSLX/Phoenix kicks off Thousand Dollar Thursdays, Free Gas Fridays and Gift Card Mondays.

KHYT/Tucson is playing "Stash The Cash" - stretching a cash budget with appointment listening. More here.

Recycling Football Cume. Chiefs flagship KCFX/Kansas City has a "Thousand Dollar Monday Chiefs Song Of The Day".

KCFX announces a song title during Chiefs broadcast on Sunday with song played during morning drive on Monday. Details here.

Post #200

71° - overcast at 10:35am

Good Morning! A small milestone for the blog today.

Classic rock power boost: R&R reports that Clear Channel's WEKL/Augusta (The Eagle) swapped frequencies with another cluster-mate - yesterday moving from a class A stick to a full 100kw class C. This in advance of the market's spring numbers that get released tomorrow.

Added: Van Halen - tour dates posted here.

Classic Rock = strong catalog sales. From CNN: "Buying the albums of '60s and '70s acts like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley is akin to a rite of passage for any young music fan."

"Remember A.J. hearing Bob Dylan for the first time in the "Sopranos" finale?" More here.

Fun with The Cubs. WKLH/Milwaukee is sending a listener to a Cubs game in Chicago. Check out here. And if you're not sure who Steve Bartman is.. click here (his own page on Wikipedia!)

Roadie For A Day: Cool prize from KSLX/Phoenix. Deep Purple is coming to town and one listener will experience one day in the life of a roadie. A rock & roll fantasy!


The Surprise Upgrade. A great read/great thought from McVay Media's Holland Cooke. Here.

Have a great Tuesday.

Free Gas

83° - Sunny at 11:30am

Good Morning from Michigan.

Gimme Gas. I'm real surprised we haven't seen more free or even "98 cent" gas promotions in the past month or two.

Given the dollars it takes to fill up your gas tank (nearly $80 for my family mini-van), gas promos are sure to hit a hot button w/listeners.

But some are taking advantage of the buzz about gas prices:

KMJX/Little Rock is giving away gas every Friday. Here. Likewise, KSLX/Phoenix has Free Gas Fridays with $100 gas cards plus BOC/Steppenwolf tix. Here.

KDBN/Dallas is giving away free tanks of gas plus the grand prize of free gas for a year. Sweet. Here.

KFMF/Chico is generating some remote revenue with free gas for a year signups. Be a hero and pass along an idea to your sales manager.

Free Gas "Treasure Hunt". Here's a twist: KRXQ/Sacramento is sticking logo magnets all over town - 8000 so far.

There be prizes on them magnets - including $50 gas cards plus one that has "free gas for a year". Details here.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is less than a week away - and while its likely a national holiday on the sister AC station down the hall, it can be a fun day for Classic Rock too!

New York's Q104.3 has lists of The Top Ten Classic Rock Love Songs here and The Top Ten Breakup Songs here. We're certain you can go beyond these lists on your own. Add a little appropriate imaging and you're all set.

On the promotion front, down in Greenville, SC - WROQ put together a great web feature (and might have picked up a few NTR dollars) of gift ideas for both men and women here. KCFX/Kansas City also appears to have picked up NTR revenue with The Guy's Guide To Valentines Day here. On more than a few Clear Channel station websites appears this Valentine's Day feature.

KGGO in Des Moines is inviting couples to either get married or renew their vows en masse on Valentine's Day. What TV news crew could resist covering this?

The Jones Radio satellite-fed Classic Rock format is celebrating with "rock's greatest tracks about love and lust" - plus giving away copies of The Beatles "Love" and Rhino's "Love Sucks" collection. KSLX/Phoenix has packaged up goodies from the prize closet as "Valentine Day Emergency Packs".

Coming up Saturday, March 17th: St. Patrick's Day.