Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

60° - sunny at 10:49am

Good Morning from Okemos.

Listening this morning to Bob Stroud on Chicago's WDRV...who - at the moment is doing a time-warp this this week in 1970.

Just played "Spirit In The Sky", "Instant Karma" and now "Come & Get It". Nice start to morning. Later: Bob's switched gears to 1975...and is now playing Kraftwerk's "Autobahn"....and its off vinyl....complete with ticks and scratches...too cool!

San Diego: Mark Ramsey points out a (copy-protected) campaign from AAA KPRI that tells the market "Don't Listen". A campaign designed to encourage trial. Perfect in the PPM world. Mark observes:

"...our goal should not be recall - it should be trial. The best way to get folks to remember they listen is for them to actually listen. Don't put the case before the horse.

So KPRI's campaign is obviously designed to seduce trial. Not to sell product attributes and benefits or, God forbid, awareness and recall. You can't know whether you like something or not until you try it, so why not?

And even smarter in the world of PPM, by the way."

Mark's complete post - including reader comments - is here. Anyone else here old enough to remember "Try It, You'll Like It" (I thought so..)


Last weekend: had the opportunity to check out night #2 of WCSX/Detroit's Birthday Bash featuring the J. Geils Band. Awesome time and kudos to OM/PD Doug Podell for pulling it off. The band only getting together for shows in their hometown of Boston and their adopted hometown of Detroit. 2 nights that sold out in minutes. Great time!

Speaking of: Noted that WCSX - after months with PPM data - has now shorted its morning drive show by an hour and gets back to music at 9am instead of 10. The station now kicking off its return to music with "9 at 9".

Haven't heard the feature yet, but I'm assuming "9 at 9" is similar to the "10 at 10" feature heard on other stations around the country.

Think summer. The sunshine today has me thinking warm weather (and mowing the lawn). Consultant Dave Lange has put together some ideas for radio in the summertime, noting:

"Radio has a real chance to shine as TV largely shuts down and our mobile medium has the advantage of being able to move with the audience. As they spend more time outside radio goes with them to the patio, the car, out in the community and even to the beach/pool. This is a time to hustle if you want to build your audience for the Fall."

Dave's suggestions for radio - including appearances, music, imaging and more here.

Great read: Rick Kaempfer's interview with Chicago radio legend John Gehron. Its been up for a week - but it was new to me this morning. Here. Also on Rick's Chicago Radio Spotlight is an interview with Chicago radio's Buzz Kilman. Worth the time here.

New Media Webinar: A "power lunch" this Tuesday at noon eastern from McVay New Media. SIgn-up and check it out here.

It's been another tough week for radio with cutbacks and furloughs at a few radio companies. I'm at a loss to offer anything positive. Bless the companies still investing in the product and people, both on air and off. And investing in real localism, radio's single biggest advantage over competitive media in this broadband/multi-media era. Think content that's difficult to duplicate.

There's people and programming assets that too many companies are foolishly throwing away. All in all a loss for listeners who can typically get what content is left through other sources. Example: how many sources are there on the internet for Ryan Seacrest? Don't need the local station for that. I'm just sayin'....

That said - the opportunity is may soon be ripe for a strong local competitor to take advantage of these MBA-programmed stations.

Related: this post from consultant Alan Mason.

Monday Monday

48° - clear/sunny at 7:29am

Good Morning from Okemos.

Weekend leftover. The Wall Street Journal on Saturday posted a piece about the drama, risk and reward behind resolving the Adam Corolla/Danny Bonaduce clash. A good read here.

Been a fan of Adam since Loveline many years ago. Props to US99.55/Chicago's Drew Walker who sent it to me late Saturday - and to Radio-Info's Tom Taylor for reminding me this morning in his newsletter.

Using Your Website To Drive Listenership. Most stations look for the on-air signal to drive website visits. This morning Fred Jacobs looks at using websites to drive listeners to the radio - using a TV superstar as an example. Here.

Isn't this all about the "package" that makes up the brand?

Storytelling. McVay Media's Daniel Anstandig writes on the McVay website:

"Radio is a business born out of passion, and many stations have histories that run miles deeper than “bought by this company, sold to this company.” But in the last few years, many of us have forgotten the stories that brought us (and our radio stations) to the dance."

"Most people don’t know the story or vision behind their own radio station—not just how the radio station was founded, but the contemporary vision for the radio station. Who does the station serve, and why? What does this radio station do that no one else does in the community? What problem do you solve?"

Daniel's article is a must-read. Here. And if you know the story and contemporary vision, does everyone on your staff?

Days gone: Michael Mallace writes about his youth - my youth - and radio. Here.

More From Dave Lange: The 90s Station

28° - overcast at 4:55pm

Spending the afternoon in the basement, doing cleanup and defrag on the kid's desktop PC. Surfing the 'net on my own notebook as I wait for Windows to do its thing.

I wrote here earlier today about McVay Media VP/Rock Dave Lange's thoughts on imaging - and a little while ago stumbed across some more writing from Mr. Lange: The 90s Station.

Dave says the time is ripe for a station devoted to the music of the 90s; laying out his blueprint for a new format approach for 25-40 year olds. A format that leans male but is female friendly. 90s rock, alternative, grunge and pop-alternative.

He details what would work and what won't - and why - in a great read here.

Dave notes: "The attitude and stationality of the 90s Station is not built on the 'all male - babe of the day' style we often see in Active Rock and even some Classic Rockers. The fun and entertainment comes from being topical, having strong community ties, and relating to a strong music mix."

Dave - I'd love to see some sample playlists!

Changing the topic a bit: Dave Lange's thoughts on the attitude and stationality of his 90s station is exactly where I feel Classic Rock needs to be these days too.

I hear and see stations still living in the past with locker room morning shows - and the "Babe of The Day" being the biggest attraction to their website.

The attributes Dave mentions (being topical, having strong community ties and relating to the music) contribute far more to the long-term health growth of almost any station "brand".

Just thinkin'...

Monday Monday

84° - sunny at 12:30pm

Good afternoon from Michigan

Halloween. I'm reminded by KMJX/Little Rock of a great way to drive traffic to your station website: a list of haunted houses in your area. Easy to do. See their list here.

Perhaps your sales staff pitches it to one of those seasonal halloween costume/supply stores to sponsor. Just thinkin'....

Managing Talent: McVay Media's Dave Lange writes this morning about coaching your talent. Dave notes that he's seen "PDs crawl behind the computer screens dealing with the 'machine' that seems to run the programming" while the talent is "just rolling along on the air" (without much help from the PD).

Dave offers up some great tips:

• Avoid the Critique - Looking back at all the mistakes or blown breaks and ranting while the talent squirms in the chair won't improve their game;
• Listen - Not just to their shows, but also to them. What are their struggles?
• Don't scare them - The more they dread the 'meeting' with you the less productive it will be.
• Lastly make sure you have a plan for each of the people you work with.

Read the complete post here. And thank you Dave. Its nice to read that I'd been doing something right in recent years...

The streaming factor. From Arbitron via Jaye Albright. Released last Friday. "..less than 1% of in-tab diaries continue to contain listening to Internet radio." Jaye advises:

"If you haven't done so yet, contact your ARB rep and get the latest internet listening report for your market. If more than 1% of your total station's total quarter hours come from your streaming, DO NOT STOP STREAMING. BUT, do reassess the verbiage you use to tell your listeners about it."

"Consider the phrase: 'turn your at work computer into an FM radio..' or something similar. The day will come when you'll be able to sell that streaming audience for enough money to make it worth showing it off on its own, but that day is not today with 45% now streaming our audio, but 8 out of 10 of us still unable to honestly call our streams a simulcast."

(The study update just released is based on the returned Spring 2007 SIPs: 45% of AM/FM stations indicated streaming. 20% of AM/FM stations reported 100% simulcast streaming.)

Arbitron calls streaming a simulcast when 100% of the on-air product is on the web. That includes all commercials; if you're covering/inserting spots on the internet, its not a simulcast to Arbitron. But you knew that already. I guess the trick is hoping those online listeners with diaries think they're listening to the radio and record it as such.

She don't read so good. Not that it matters. KGB/San Diego has the winner ("Stacy") from the "Hottest New Employee" contest on the web - doing a weekly entertainment news update.

Not that it matters what she's reading. See Stacy's videos here.


Led Zeppelin. We mentioned earlier today CIRK/Edmonton's Led Zep reunion flyaway.

Another station in the Zeppelin mood is Miami's WBGG - who doesn't have a trip - but has a great Led Zeppelin tribute ("Zepptober") on their website.

See here.

Calling All Drummers. Back in June, KYYS/Kansas City put together a promotion - scoring a Guinness World Record for the largest number of guitar players playing the same song at the same time. Refresh memory here.

Now KZOK/Seattle is part of promotion to put together to break the world record by assembling the largest number of drummers with drum sets playing one song simultaneously. And its a charity project too. Very cool.

Read about "Woodstick 2007" here.

While they've got a song picked already - I'd love to hear the drum solo from In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Just thinkin'.....

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

59° - heavy rain at 11:35am

Welcome to the weekend.

"It may sound like a positioning statement, but Classic Rock is in fact music that has stood the test of time." -Fred Jacobs.

Fred notes this morning that some of the best selling digital downloads are classic rock songs. Read more here.

Realities that apply to both PPM and Diary markets: McVay Media consultant Dave Lange wraps up his five-part series today with "It's Time To Charge Up The Audience". Read here.

Dave wraps up his post with these thoughts:

"In the end it comes back to THE PRODUCT. Be compelling, exciting and entertaining - charge it up and it doesn't matter if it's meters or diaries you are a lot more likely to WIN. Get out from behind the computer and tweaking selector and focus on what really charges up the audience."

If you missed any of Dave's 5-part series - scroll back on his blog here.

Meanwhile: Paragon Media posts two more "rules" to its PPM Handbook here.

One of the rules includes "Don't Sweat The Rankers". As long as talent and PDs are compensated/bonused based on rank in demo, talent and PDs will "sweat the rankers".

Bonus from Dave Martin. His 9-step plan blogged over the past two days about shaping up your on-air talent now has a "bonus" 10th step. Dave labels it as the most important step in getting the most out of talent:

"When managers expect the best from performers they get the best. When managers expect the worst they get it."

"Expect great things and treat them like stars and you will get success beyond your dreams."

Dave's entire "Step 10" post is here. A must read. And...If you missed steps 1-9 - scroll back to Wednesday and Thursday here.

Sean Ross - today in FMQB - on cutting clutter without sacrificing content. Does radio really need to be more iPod-like?

Sean writes:

"..in case anybody thinks that streamlining a station will tear me away from the iPod, the function the iPod serves for me is as, again, an extra FM station -- playing the songs I like but can’t get from the radio. When I choose the radio instead, I am neither looking for uninterrupted music -- already available to me -- nor to hear 30 minutes of incorrect answers to “What is it that 63% of all women say they do every day?” I’m looking to hear some music that I wouldn’t necessarily program for myself in an entertaining package."

Read here. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday Blogs

86° - sunny at 12:45pm

Good afternoon from Michigan.

Listening: Today to classic rock WHLK/Madison - 93.1 The Lake. A great sounding radio station with a fairly broad music presentation ("everything classic").

One of my favorite bloggers (Jim Bartlett) does weekends on WHLK - and writes about his Labor Day Weekend - and his "Day With The Masters" here.

From my blogosphere:

Fred Jacobs today on General Motors and its use of radio personalities to drive and endorse its cars. Fred writes:

"...what does this campaign say about the power of radio and the influence of the medium's personalities? They are the essence of what makes radio special. They are the reason why consumers will stay with FM and AM stations, despite the competition provided by iPods and video games. And they sell product."

"Radio needs to continue to focus on its "special sauce" - the DJs and personalities that matter - especially during these tough times. Jettisoning members of the morning show or that afternoon drive jock who has asked for a 3% raise in favor of saving a few bucks this quarter is short-sighted and will contribute to the medium's mediocrity."

Read more from Fred here.

About investing in the product: Dave Lange of McVay Media writes about the investment Hollywood has made in content and how its embraced new distribution systems.

Dave: "The key is great product." Read more here.

Fun: "Phil Collins' immortal arena beat receives animalistic homage." See for a limited time only here.

Added: Via All Access - Ted Nugent #1 both Active & Mainstream Rock with "Love Grenade". That has to feel good. On it, he re-records "Journey To The Center Of The Mind"; heard while listening to KRFX/Denver last week.

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.

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.

Monday Monday

63° - sunny & clear at 9am

The start of another great week.

Morning Drive starts at 5. In many markets. Run hour-by-hour in Maximizer. Get up, hop in the car and drive your market starting at 5. (when was the last time you did that?)

Dave Beasing of Jacobs Media notes: "5 AM listening levels aren’t much less than in afternoon drive". Read more here.

Added: McVay Media's Dave Lange posted a great piece this morning about what "getting local" in your community really is. Its not just fund-raisers and marathons. Read here.

Added: Dave Martin continues his excellent management series. "We focus not on the goal but on the gap." "What must we do to reach the goal?" More here - including some words from Dave about Merv.

Talent hiring tip - from consultant Mike Donovan (via Harv Blain): "Out of the blue in an interview or while sitting around chatting ask the potential talent to tell you a story. It’s been a great indicator as to one of the main abilities for a great morning host."

"And almost every time I or the clients have tried it, it’s been an eye opening experience."

Radio needs great storytellers; anybody can play the tunes. And thanks to Harv for the kind mention over the weekend!

Refresh your packaging. When was the last time you put on a new coat of paint? Mark Ramsey offers some comments here based on a recent New York Times article.

Fall book starts September 20th.

More Beasing. Lots of ideas and thoughts from Dave in his latest "Beasing Buzz" from Jacobs Media here.

Van Halen. Press conference to officially announce dates scheduled for 2pm eastern today from the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.


And via Mr. Beasing: a quote from one of my fav actors: "People still come up to me and call me 'Pig Vomit', which is delightful" - Paul Giamatti.

Paul has been awesome in so many great flicks since his role in "Private Parts". His performances in "Man On The Moon", "American Splendor" and "Sideways" immediately come to mind.

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

68° - sunny at 12noon

Explain those things to the new intern in promotions......

Welcome to the weekend.

WCBS-FM. One week into the revival of New York's "oldies" station, McVay Media's Mike McVay offers his take:

"WCBS-FM is using the positioning statement The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s & 80s. This is an excellent statement in that it clearly explains to the audience WHAT it is that they play, and it expresses a quality statement."

"The word “Greatest” indicates quality. “Hits” indicates popularity."

"Using three decades of music to explain what you play signifies "Quantity" as well as "Variety."

And: Is it "classic hits" or "oldies"? Read Mike's piece here.

Plus - via the McVay website: Consultant Jaye Albright here on 70s oldies with analysis of the music on WCBS-FM - and comparisons with past efforts. Worth your time.

Mark Ramsey: "All stations need to understand that a "position" is not a set of words, it's a destination in the minds of the audience." Read more.

Beer lessons for radio. Fred Jacobs relays the story of Narragansett Beer - how it lost its way - and is now on the road to recovery.

Read Fred's piece here; and be sure to check out the original WSJ article too.

More here Sunday Morning. Have a terrific weekend.

The Sticker Patrol Returns!

77° sunny - 83% humidity at 10am

Welcome to Tuesday.

New York's WAXQ is bringing back a vintage promotion from radio's playbook for the summer: The Sticker Patrol. Cheap. Easy. Something that tells one listener to another "I'm part of that club too!"

Having stickers on hand at a remote is part of the unwritten contract between most stations and its listeners. And while I've never calculated the ratio, you'll always hand out far more stickers than you'll ever spot on vehicles. But they're going somewhere - and your listeners want them.

More WCBS-FM. Jerry Del Colliano writes "You'd be hard pressed to come up with another time something radio did got so much love and devotion from listeners." More here.

Great Thinking. McVay Media's Dave Lange has a excellent piece on "taking every opportunity you can".

Dave writes: "So many times I see stations that are not reaching out on the air and in the community enough. They just seem content to play the music, run some commercials, take care of the client remotes, and generally phone it in." Read Dave's notes and suggestions here.

Lee Abrams. Over the weekend Lee wrote on old media vs. new. Offsite staff meetings. And shares some great moments from his early career. Here.

Have a great day.

Wednesday Blogs

82° rain - a downpour at 11am - nice!

Last day of the spring book...

From my blogosphere:

Day of Silence. From what I've been able to read this morning, it appears yesterday's effort generated plenty of consumer action.

Bridge Ratings offers the first of a two-part release on the day's impact here (scroll down on page). Jerry Del Colliano offers his thoughts on the day of silence here. Update: Latest RAIN coverage, including links to press articles here.

Performance rights: Clear Channel is asking independent musicians to waive their rights to performance royalties for consideration of airplay- and its something the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) isn't happy with.

Attorney David Oxenford recently discussed the Clear Channel offer on NPR's Morning Edition - and offers more on his blog here.

My take: Clear Channel is doing the right thing - its a win-win for both broadcaster and artist. You cannot enjoy the benefits of promotional exposure and fairly collect performance royalties for that exposure.

Perhaps the real issue with any coalition or licensing organization might be one of control.

HD Radio. McVay Media's Dave Lange writes "We all know the saying Hindsight is 20/20 all too well. As I keep looking at HD Radio there are so many things that we, as an industry and Ibiquity as a producer, could have improved on."

Read Dave's complete piece - plus comments from some guy in Michigan - here.

Harland Williams. We wrote here a few months back about actor/comedian Harland Williams and his daily afternoon drive show on Denver's KRFX.

Last week the Rocky Mountain News ran an interview with Harland - discussing how the radio gig came about and how its put together. Read here.

Mark Ramsey with Seth Godin. Mark has his full interview with the Agent of Change - discussing radio's future - both audio and transcript - on his blog here.

Buzz Marketing. Fred Jacobs offers up some examples of some great buzz marketing campaigns on his blog here. Good read!