Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

55° - clear at 1:15pm Left: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum - cell phone photo taken this past Thursday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Good Morning/Afternoon. I do start writing this in the morning, but by the time I finish, a new daypart begins.

Catching up from a long week in Grand Rapids at the Great Lakes Broadcast Conference. Highlight of the show was watching and chatting with fellow blogger/new media evangelist Dave Martin.

During Dave's session on social media - it became obvious to me that more than a few in the room didn't quite get it, though they were trying to understand. Its hard to get over the fact that radio and television has always been a one-way "us to them" proposition; even with websites and email clubs. And there's fear of losing control.

Perhaps there needs to be a "deprogramming" retreat for the old media types who still don't see it - showing them the new ways and how other old media is using the new tools available (in most cases "free" and "almost free"). A great example here....all done by an air talent in less time than it takes to answer the request line.

That said - there's many OMs, PDs, MDs, and air talent who do "get it". Sadly however, many are working for management and ownership who don't and won't get behind it. Without support from the top down, these efforts are not as effective as they could be, benefiting sales and programming together.

And....thanks for the career tip Dave!

Listening this morning: a bit of Bob Stroud on Chicago's WDRV; followed by Steve Palec on Milwaukee's WKLH. Mr. Palec in the middle of an excellent segment on the late Warren Zevon; with many more good things to follow.

Dave Lange. Dave posted a great read this past week on the demise of New York's WXRK. Dave shares his thoughts on why WXRK didn't work....and why some great stations are what they are. See here.

And for those of you running syndicated programming (Bob & Tom, Alice Cooper, etc.), Dave has a great piece on "Making a Syndicated Show Local" - here.

Programming Basics: Edison Media's Sean Ross writes about "Keeping your station moving". Here.

Another another read for PDs: "Are Your Personalities Heathers Or Karens?" In this week's FMQB - here.

Radio stories: Rick Kaempfer interviews WGN Radio's Mary Van De Viede on his Chicago Radio Spotlight. Here.

Spring is here...sort of...hope it is where you are. Have a great Sunday.

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

80° - light rain at 11:27am

Good Morning from downtown Lansing.

My 9-year old. For the past couple of weeks, he's been roaming around the house singing/humming "Carry On My Wayward Son"...courtesy of Guitar Hero.

Last weekend, I got him a CD of the Kansas album "Leftoverture"...perhaps he'll discover the rest of the album. My classic rock kid!

Even more PPM explained. Last week I passed along a link to Paragon Media Strategies - explaining the first ten of "20 More Things You Need to Know About PPM", as presented at the Morning Show Bootcamp.

Paragon's now posted narrative for another five of the twenty. Here.

Being an old album rock guy from the 70s - one caught my eye: "The art of the musical segue will be re-born in PPM. Keep ‘em listening, and don’t give ‘em reasons to tune out."

President of Radio. I've been following Fred Jacobs and his very clever and much needed session/discussion at upcoming Jacobs Media Summit. Fred has announced two more names for the panel; plus has published the entries for the 10th panelist (or "President"). Great stuff.

See the ideas here. Details on the session here.

Good Read: "Radio Law Is Meant To Be Broken (Strategically)". Edison Media's Sean Ross writes here.

Your station website. Earlier this week Broadcast Attorney David Oxenford posted a great piece on his Broadcast Law Blog regarding websites and localism. Copy and take to your next website strategy meeting. Here.

Bob & Tom TV. Randy Michaels and company brings some of radio's best to the tube via WGN America beginning in November. More here.

New AC/DC. Bob Leftsetz writes a great review here. Having read Bob's blog for several years now, I know his enthusiasm is genuine.

Have a great one.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

78 - sunny at 11am. Left: Michigan's Mackinac Bridge - as shot by my wife heading north this past Monday.

Hello from Okemos!

Feeling out of touch: the past week a fast one - between an elevated work schedule and my wife out of town most of the week (in Michigan's "U.P." on business) - which left me to take care of all the house and kid duties. The blog, unfortunately had to take a back seat. Getting back on schedule...

Spent much of yesterday working on my forthcoming internet station. Still ripping CDs, entering required MP3 meta data on the individual cuts to meet the RIAA requirements. While its possible to put something "on the air"; first impressions are everything - so a formal debut will have to wait. Meanwhile in testing, the nearly 10-year old Pentium III (XP Home/648k RAM) running the automation is performing nearly flawlessly 24/7.

Speaking of streaming: This past week, Edison Media's Sean Ross wrote a great piece on streaming radio and the stopset situation - specifically looking at the Atlanta market. Here. Sean notes many of the thoughts that go through my head while listening to streaming radio stations. My conclusion is that streaming is just a mere afterthought - still - when putting a great online product together should be as high a priority as the terrestrial product. But I've said that here before. Why bother if you're not making it the best it can be?

Another great piece this past week was one on Friday from Jacobs Media's Keith Cunningham. The topic was talent. Using the NBA's Boston Celtics as an example, Keith wrote:

"....if a station is really looking to change the game, they may need to get honest with themselves and agree to invest in hiring great talent. The right mix of music can’t be overlooked – but take a cue from some of Radio’s iconic brands that many emulate – they have big talent."

"It’s also worth noting that The Bone in Tampa (Cox) went from a mid-pack player to virtually #1 across the board with men, almost immediately, by adding Bubba the Love Sponge to morning drive back in January. The Bone’s music mix was right all along, but there’s no substitute for big talent. Whether it's radio or the NBA, talent wins. Just ask anyone who lives in Boston."

Keith's entire piece here.

Speaking of talent. Lee Arnold writes on something I've touch on before. Another wonderful read here.

Mark Ramsey. Mark shares his view on positioning:

"As I have often said, "positioning" has never been about a "line," it has been about a "position." And a position is about standing for something. And if you stand for something that means you should be doing the right things to support that something. Because that means you're real. And a brand is as real as you and I are."

Mark's piece here.

Spending the morning getting caught up on my reading before an afternoon trek to the ballpark to see our local minor league Lansing Lugnuts (currently #1 in their division) take on the Ft. Wayne Wizards. It's a beautiful day for a ball game. Have a great Sunday....more tomorrow.

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.

Wednesday Blogs

67° - scattered clouds at 8:33am

Good Morning from downtown Lansing.

Striking A Chord. Fred Jacobs writes here about whats he's been hearing from station Listener Advisory Panels.

Much of it is right in front of your eyes; I'm very surprised that there's not more gas promotions taking place right now.

Workplace Online Listening. It's getting big. Even many of the smaller markets are beginning to stream, though its surprising how many still don't. Arbitron and Edison Media release a new report on workplace listening. Harve Alan writes here.

Pizza Wars. Jaye Albright on successful stunting from Pizza Hut and Papa John's. Here.

The last successful stunt I saw observed was Bubba "The Love Sponge". I'm not sure who started what between two competing morning air personalities, but it paid off big for Bubba.

20 minutes. Yesterday I spent 20 minutes on the telephone with someone who helped give me my start in this business - when he had just started shortly before me. Bob Heymann - who is with Media Services Group in Chicago these days.

As Bob calculated, it had only been 37 years since we last spoke. It was 20 wonderful minutes that I wish could have gone 3 or 4 hours. There's a road trip to the Windy City soon.

Added: Another case for Radio. Edison Media's Sean Ross writes about the renewed and continued success of WCBS-FM/New York:

"When WCBS-FM New York dropped Oldies in 2005, it had a 3.0 share 12-plus. When WCBS-FM came back last summer, it returned with a 3.7 share and has held there through the recently released winter 2008 book."

"In that time, WCBS-FM's many disenfranchised listeners had no shortage of choices that could have taken them away from terrestrial radio. They were directly targeted by Sirius Satellite Radio and its hiring of Cousin Brucie. They had their iPods. They could have found no shortage of customizable Internet-only Oldies channels."

"They had plenty of options - many of which would have been seen by some industry people as far superior to the old WCBS-FM during its problematic last year. But when WCBS-FM came back, the listeners came back, too."

Read "For Some, Radio Is Still The Best Way To Hear Music" here.

The Return of WNEW-FM

Received this a short time ago from Allison Mandara at CBS Radio:

LEGENDARY ROCK RADIO STATION “WNEW” FINDS NEW LIFE ON-AIR, ONLINE AND ON-DEMAND

The Past Meets The Present When The Formidable WNEW Returns Featuring Unparalleled 30-Year Archive Of Historic Interviews And Live Performances By Rock Immortals Presented In A Contemporary Musical Context

Listeners To “Staff” The Station And Its Website As Hosts And Contributors

Social Networking Component Available Through CBS Corporation’s Last.fm;

Site To Host Station’s Custom Group And Provide Audience Access To Its Free On-Demand Music Service

Today marks a milestone in rock ‘n roll history as celebrated rock station WNEW marks its triumphant return on-air (102.7 HD 2 in New York) and online (http://www.wnew.com/). The legendary station has been reborn for the passionate rock music fan in the spirit of WNEW-FM’s commitment to exposing the best new artists.

Completely updated to reflect its historical influence on today’s contemporary rock scene, the revolutionary new WNEW.com features recordings from the dawn of the album era in the late 60s and early 70s through today, as well as music from the most promising emerging artists yet to be discovered by the masses. Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Spoon, and Vampire Weekend will be among those featured along with the likes of REM, Foo Fighters, The White Stripes, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.

In addition, thousands of hours of archival interviews by former WNEW hosts Scott Muni, Dave Herman, and Richard Neer, among others, with such artists as John Lennon, The Who, Stevie Wonder and David Bowie will be integrated hourly throughout the station’s on-air and online programming.

Also finding a home on WNEW.com’s lineup will be exclusive live performances from artists who contributed to the station’s storied history.

The modernized WNEW.com will also offer the listening audience a complete interactive and social networking experience through the station’s website (www.wnew.com) and CBS Corporation’s Last.fm (www.last.fm). Using these two online portals, fans can listen on demand, share feedback about the former and current station, join dedicated groups, meet fellow WNEW listeners and become a part of the station’s “staff.”

Staff members will have the opportunity to program and participate in the presentation of the station and its website through a series of on-air and online initiatives including blogs, concert reviews, music forums, and artist profiles.

At the helm of this ambitious project is Norm Winer, CBS RADIO Vice President of Adult Rock Programming, and, for more than 25 years, the award-winning Program Director of the landmark WXRT in Chicago.

He said, “As a music fan and radio geek who grew up in Brooklyn listening to the original WNEW, I’m excited to help recapture the spirit and philosophy of progressive radio, using tools we never dreamed of back in the early days. With the foundation of a timeless and totally one-of-a-kind archive, we will provide rock devotees of all generations the chance to hear incredible moments from our collective past and enable them to connect the dots to rock’s most compelling artists of the present and future.”

Special programming on the influential station will include:

• Interview With an Icon: showcases classic extended on-air interviews with rock legends from WNEW-FM;
• Live From the Archives: vintage performances from rock’s most prominent artists. In addition to the vaults of WNEW-FM, the station will have access to the recorded treasures of many of CBS RADIO’s prominent radio stations such as WBCN in Boston, and WXRT in Chicago;
• Emerging and Amazing: the station will regularly debut music from rising artists and those whose names are not yet known to the listening audience;
  

Originally launched on Oct. 31, 1967, WNEW-FM is considered the first free-form progressive rock station in the nation. It quickly went on to become both an institution and a piece of radio history for which it is remembered today. The station rocked New York City for three decades breaking some of the biggest artists of all time, including David Bowie, Elton John, and The Talking Heads.

To many who grew up in the 60s and 70s, WNEW-FM remains to this day the embodiment of the times, turmoil and tunes of those eras in New York City.

Very cool. Kudos to Norm Winer and all involved at CBS Radio.

Added: Edison Media's Sean Ross takes a in-depth first listen to WNEW.COM here.

Wednesday Blogs

41° - overcast at 8:25am

Good Morning from Okemos.

AC/DC on Classic Hits. Sean Ross writes about a classic rock/classic hits station that decided to test a few AC/DC titles with surprising results. Read here.

Perhaps surprising to them; but as a one-time PD of a "classic rock that rocks" station, its not surprising at all. A quick look at Mediabase should give you an idea of the variety of titles being played on classic rock stations around the country as well as the gold on the mainstream AORs.

Free Webinar Today: 2pm eastern. Edison Media's Tom Webster and Arbitron's Pierre Bouvard will present a session titled "2008 edition of The Infinite Dial: Radio's Digital Platforms". I'm trying to arrange my schedule to catch as much as possible. Get info and sign up here.

Jay Marvin. Jay writes about this week in 1967 when Tom Donahue put KMPX in San Francisco on the air and started the underground format - which evolved to progressive rock, then AOR...and later classic rock and AAA. Quoting Jay:

"Today when radio publications have conferences they invite big name guests who don't know shit about radio. Sorry but it's true. Why not find what old heads are left and have them talk about what they did, and how they did it."

I couldn't agree more. Read Jay's piece here. And I'll extend that to include later programmers like Jay Blackburn, Frank Felix and Mike Joseph. Just to name a few. Added: OMG - there's soooo many more I could add - with just some casual thought.

Full disclosure: I'm reminded of Frank Felix (and Mike Joseph) by Sean Ross here. And Jay Blackburn - I spoke to him on the phone just yesterday.

Back On The Job

33° - clear at 10:10pm

It's been a long week. Not yet caught up on rest. And the blog!

A couple of highlights from the Great Lakes Broadcast Conference and Expo held in Grand Rapids on Monday and Tuesday: One was a session on station websites "60 in 60: 60 Web Ideas In 60 Minutes", hosted by Fred Jacobs and Tim Davis of Jacobs Media along with Chris Brunt of Greater Media's Detroit cluster.

My only regret was not being able to see the entire presentation with my conference responsibilities. But there were plenty in the almost-packed room feverishly taking notes. Thanks to Fred, Tim and Chris for making the trip from the Motor City - and congrats on a great hour of website ideas.

The other highlight was the Tuesday Night Broadcast Excellence Awards. It served as a reminder of the many great stations still doing all things local and doing them well. In both large, medium and small markets in the State of Michigan.

Lee Abrams teamed up with Randy Michaels. During the Michigan conference I had a rare chance to check my email and there it was in a R&R news bulletin.

All I could think is "wow". Lee - on his blog (here) writes about Randy:

"He’s possibly the smartest guy I’ve ever met He MIGHT be crazier than me…at least I won’t have to fear being too out there. We ARE going to re-write the future of media. He’s the kinda guy you want to do it with."

First Randy and now Lee. Tribune is one to watch in the coming year.

Congrats: To WKLH's Steve Palec. The longtime host of the station's Sunday Morning "Rock 'N Roll Roots" program adds weeknights 7-9pm to his schedule with the "Legends of Rock". A very cool move.

And speaking of WKLH. I can't help but love this graphic around Bruce Springsteen's appearance Monday Night in Milwaukee. Monday is St. Patrick's Day!

More congrats: To the legendary Tom Kent - who's just launched The Tom Kent Radio Network. Listen for his programming to come to an oldies/classic hits station near you.

Somewhere in my collection I have a quick aircheck of Tom on WHBQ/Memphis in the early 70s. Very few could match the combination of talent and extreme high energy that Tom displayed night after night back then.

And oldies. Edison Media's Sean Ross takes a look at "The New Oldies". A good read here.

I'm still catching up on my reading.

Tuesday Tuesday

22°- overcast at 8:09am

Good Morning From Michigan.

The Show After The Show. Turning on the radio after leaving a concert and hearing a set of music by the artist you just saw has always been great. One of the best things about album rock radio back in the 70s and 80s.

Its capturing the moment - and might include a phoner and show wrap from the venue by another station jock. Capturing and sharing the moment with the audience.

Sean Ross reviews what some NYC stations did following a recent Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood tour stop.

Read here.

Mark Ramsey. Mark posts a great piece about listener engagement citing Oprah as an example. At the very least, it might make you rethink the name of your online "listener club". But Mark's piece goes beyond that. Read here.

Related: Building Relationships. They do take time. And my feeling is that the long term health of any radio station is time spent building and harvesting relationships with its listeners.

Hard to do in a world that desires quick fixes and fast results.

Seth Godin shares a note from a member of the Bruce Springsteen "Tribe"....its a great read here.

Speaking of Seth. The "Agent of Change" has posted a piece on the music business. Its an excellent piece here.

Posted later: Bad day for both Led Zeppelin and Green Bay Packer fans. Lee Arnold blogs here.

Added: Bob Lefsetz on "Plant says no". Here.

Monday Monday

35° - light rain at 9:20pm

Short post; long day.

Cool promo: "Friends of" Triple-A formatted WMVY/Martha's Vineyard is offering listeners a chance to give their loved one their very own music channel for Valentine's Day, complete with its own URL and online for 30 days.

See here. Tipped by Sean Ross.

Super Bowl. Great game...plenty of drama in the 4th quarter. Commercials pretty ho-hum; there were a few good ones that stood out - sort of. Can't remember 'em now. Tom Petty excellent.

I missed it. Lee Arnold didn't. Yesterday the anniversary of the day the music died in 1959. Some great videos posted in tribute on Lee's blog here.

More tomorrow.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

33° - overcast at 1:40pm

Happy Sunday.

Listening: This morning to WGRF/Buffalo (97 Rock). Now playing: "Something To Believe In" by Poison segued into "LA Woman" from The Doors. Great imaging. Great radio. Guest DJ was Buffalo Bills punter Brian Moorman - for Super Bowl Sunday.

On the 97 Rock website: "Tom Tube" - a collection of Tom Petty videos from You Tube. Very cool tie-in to today's half-time appearance and upcoming tour.

Talkin' Spots. Commercials. Consultant Harve Alan writes:

"Have you listened to the commercials that are running on most stations today? How many are poorly written, carelessly slapped together, and for advertisers that don’t mesh with a particular stations audience? It’s not just the locally produced spots, either many of the agency spots are the worst offenders!"

"This has always been a contentious issue at most every radio station. Programming wants to protect the product, sales needs to make the sale, and the client needs to get that spot on this afternoon. Sounds all too familiar and given today’s economic realities ill suited commercials frequently make it on the air."

"Effecting change in this area is not going to be easy."

Yep. This is one area I haven't been shy about in my career - but its very hard to fight the money. Even offering suggestions on changing the creative to keep the dollars is never well received for fear of losing the revenue all together. The "let's not rock the boat" thing.

99% of the time its been an issue with production that comes from the outside; and the occasional client who insists on voicing his own stuff. Some should, others should not.

This really isn't a solution - but after losing a battle, I've massaged the log after traffic load to place the offenders at the end of a stopset. Or talked my traffic director into doing it. A valuable relationship.

Harve points out: "Stating the obvious—better quality spots helps everyone." Harve's piece is here.

Worse than poor production or spots that don't fit are the (usually national) spots accepted by stations that are "consumer risks". Audio spam.

Friends (us) shouldn't do this to friends (listeners).

Speaking of spam: Sean Ross writes about something of value that might be in your email spam folder. Read here.

Enjoy the game - have a great Sunday.

Monday Monday

12° - clear at 11:50pm

Tonight was the annual Michigan Association of Broadcasters Christmas Party. A good time spent with a great bunch. Jodi and I leaving earlier than usual to pick up kids at sitter. And there was work for yours truly still to do tonight - and (of course) the blog!

Does Imaging Still Matter? There's been some movement to shy away from a lot of imaging elements - perhaps an attempt to be more "iPOD-like".

My own take: there's valid arguments on either side - depending on the station, format, market and so forth. Programming is art - all very subjective.

Sean Ross writes about this topic in depth. Read Sean's words and some great follow-up comments here.

I recall Bob Pittman launching AOR WKQX/Chicago back in 1977 with a "no-hype" approach. Of course the liners Bob recorded touting "no-hype" was in fact "hype" - and was the station's imaging. It was just a different twist.

Led Zeppelin (again): Caught up with Bob Lefsetz' blog last night - and his thoughts on the Led Zep reunion shows last week:

"I don’t buy this hogwash that it’s a one-off. All my sources tell me there’s going to be a tour. No one will CONFIRM a tour, but it’s a well-known fact that they’re going to go on the road."

Read Bob's complete piece here.

More R&R Hall of Fame: Fred Jacobs and I had to be thinking the same thing. I commented on one new inductee into the Cleveland institution. Fred has his take here.

And thanks - to Dave Martin. Appreciate the kind note tonight.

Bedtime for Bonzo. More soon.

I'm still here...

22° - overcast at 9:34pm

Long days. Started a new industry-related job this week.

I haven't had to "show up at the office" since January 24th; working out of the house and keeping my own hours now for months. It was nice - but didn't pay the bills. Not all of 'em.

It will take a new routine to balance all I do; trying to figure it out with varying schedules and workloads. I'll get there.

Boneheads. No, we're not talking about some classic rock station. But about a company based on disturbing news that I hope is nothing more than a nasty rumor.

Read Jaye Albright's blog post here.

Classic Rock gone. Oldies in. Indianapolis has a new oldies station. Edison Media's Sean Ross offers his thoughts in a first listen here.

Lee Arnold. Lee sends us to Rolling Stone with a list of the songs that DJs forever have played to make a trip to the men's room. Read here.

Speaking of: Lee's very cool internet radio station "WORJ.COM" can now be heard on smart phones and PDAs everywhere.

Still radio; just a different distribution system.

RAIN reporting Live365 (Lee's streaming provider) "announced new mobile service that lets on-the-go listeners use the streaming audio service via their Radio365-Mobile software for all smartphones, pocket PCs, and PDAs running Windows Mobile 5 or 6." Read here.

Have a good night.