Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

32° -cloudy at 1:06pm

Been up since 5:30 or so. Working the day job from home.

Listening: Since 8am (ET) to Bob Stroud on WDRV with "Rock 'N Roll Roots". Seaver on The Drive right now. Good tunes.

Been listening: To Lee Arnold's WORJ.COM much more frequently as of late. Always hearing oh-wow songs that bring my head back to certain points of my career. Lots of stuff I played on the radio when it was originally released.

I can recall the album and label art when I hear some songs - can picture them playing on that big old Gates 16" turntable (or in some cases - a Technics SP-10).

Lee surprised me late Friday afternoon with a track from Renaissance - and did I hear some Splinter in the last day too?

He programs from home with automation and music scheduling software. Very impressive.

Still contemplating my own Live 365 station; discussed the possibility with a potential partner-in-crime this past week.

Speaking of Mr. Arnold: I did finish reading "WHOoPLA: The Greatest Rock Radio Stunt Ever" - written by V. Scott Beddome. You feel the drama, pain and triumph with the words written by Scott.

Read the entire book online here.

Could something like this still happen in today's corporate environment? Perhaps. But given that there's so few real rock wars happening anywhere these days there's little incentive.

Rick Kaempfer: Overlooked this last Sunday. Rick's Chicago Radio Spotlight was on WLUP/Chicago night talent "Byrd".

Byrd's story is pretty awesome: from International Falls, Minnesota to Chicago - with stops at KSHE/St. Louis; 98 Rock/Baltimore; KOMP/Las Vegas - plus airwork north of the border. Read Rick's interview here.

Amazed. Still by the number of classic rock stations that did nothing special for Christmas - and apparently nothing special for New Years Eve/New Years Day. All it takes is a little effort and imagination.

Mail, PPM, Zeppelin + Bruce & WPLJ

51° - overcast at 11am

E-Mail. A nice note yesterday from legendary programmer John Rook.

John shares notes from a conversation he had with another legend - Chicago radio talent Larry Lujack - after Mr. Lujack was named to the NAB Hall of Fame. Here.

Also a kind note early this morning from Dave Martin. Dave has a Lujack story on his blog too. Here. Earlier in the week email from Bob Stroud and Steve Seaver. Thank you.

Speaking of Chicago: Sad news. Rick Kaempfer passing along word that Citadel's oldies WZZN has made no offer to retain veteran air talent John "Records" Landecker. The Chicago Sun-Times story here. Its reported that John's 12+ ratings lead the station.

One of the coolest moments in my radio life was spending a few hours in the WLS studio back in the mid-70s watching Landecker do his shift (complete with "Boogie Check") and being able to chat with him off-mike. After moving here to Lansing a few years ago discovered than John also logged time here early in his career. An incredible talent.

PPM: Arbitron released latest PPM cume numbers in Philadelphia and Houston yesterday. Find them in the usual places.

Meanwhile - Arbitron and DMR Interactive have released a new study: "P1s in the PPM World: Insights into the listeners who matter most". Dave Martin breaks out the highlights and provides a link to the entire study here.

Fred Jacobs writes this morning about the "PPM Conundrum" - concluding with a question to ponder. Its a great read. Here. And I'm to believe that balance is the answer.

Led Zeppelin. Another radio station promotion taking advantage of the rock reunion of the decade:

Congrats to KYZX/Colorado Springs. I just really hope that if they (or anyone else) bought tickets off eBay, they've read this and have it covered.

Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere". On August 24th, I wrote here about a "certain New York City AC station" leaking the record before its official release to radio; learned through one of the playlist monitor services that morning. Just caught this from Bob Shannon writing on All Access:

"....according to Wikipedia, WPLJ's Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill played this song twice on August 24th. After the first airing, a voice representing himself as a disgruntled Sony representative called in ordering them not to play it again I'm not sure if this was real or a bit. Either way, Scott and Todd told the caller they wouldn't play the song again as long as he was on the phone with them. Then, they hung up and played "Radio Nowhere" for a second time."

Now you know....(Paul Harvey pause).....the rest of the story.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

74° - mostly sunny at 11am
Left: just off golf course down the street.

Good morning from Okemos.

Listening to WDRV/Chicago's Deep Tracks HD2 as I write. Steve Seaver on the air - playing Fleetwood Mac's Sentimental Lady; plus a great 1968 track from the Moody Blues "In Search Of The Lost Chord". I mentioned that album last Sunday.

Rock far from dead: Format PDs have to be psyched by the PPM numbers that have been rolling in - first from Philadelphia and now from Houston.

Lee Arnold reviews the latest Houston 6+ AQH numbers on his blog here. Lee sez: "Get ready for some interesting days ahead. Rock Radio - It’s like you never left!!!"

Added Monday 7/23: On All Access today, consultant Anthony Acampora reviews the new Houston June PPM numbers and notes the following:

Classic rock KKRW jumps from #7 in the last paper book to #1. Classic hits KHTC moves from #16 to #11t. Ranks are AQH - A25-54.

More PPM. Arbitron's Thom Mocarsky notes in Radio Daily News: "According to the June 2007 PPM radio ratings in Houston, Friday had the largest average quarter hour radio audience among persons, age 6 and older."

"It's also interesting to note that the bigger "lift" in Friday listening starts at 3:00pm and peaks in the 10pm to 11pm hour." This makes your weekend programming strategy all the more important.

PPM market or not - take advantage of that heavy Friday cume and carry it through weekend. Think something special - could be as simply as a "block party weekend". Kick it off early - Friday at noon or 1pm.

Classic rock is perfect for something special - every weekend. We've posted examples of other efforts here before.

Coincidently - caught this radio story in the Detroit Free Press yesterday: "Stations divide along strategic lines when it comes to grabbing your ear on Saturday and Sundays."

"Some stay with the same approach that brings in listeners all week long. Some change to reflect that people's habits aren't the same on weekends."

"As classic rock WCSX-FM programmer Bill Stedman put it: "Do you do on the weekends what you do Monday through Friday?"

Read the entire Detroit Free Press article on weekend radio here.

Radio Stories. Every radio geek loves inside stories. This one from Chicago's Rick Kaempfer - concerning the Dixie Chicks and a directive from a major market program director. Read here.

Have a great Sunday.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

Left: Webcam shot this AM from Copper Harbor in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Latest image

In Okemos: 56° and overcast at 10am.

Listening this morning to Lee Arnold's internet station WORJ.COM; hearing some tracks I haven't heard since my free-form days in the 70s - some with the occassional pops and ticks of vinyl; and that's a nice sound. Thanks to Dave Martin for the tip.

While cleaning house yesterday, I had the laptop tuned into WDRV/Chicago's stream. The Drive was celebrating Pete Townshend's birthday - with some great produced pieces to intro Townshend/Who music. One that stood out what Pete Townshend talking about Keith Moon; with an example of Moon's drumming style.

Great production like this keeps the music and the station sounding fresh. And strengthens your station's image as the classic rock authority.

Also spent some time with WDRV's stream of its "Deep Tracks" HD2 Channel....hosted by Steve Seaver. Noted that WDRV is streaming this channel at 2x the bitrate of their main channel stream (64 kbps vs 32 kbps). A welcome and very noticeable difference in streaming audio quality - even on tiny notebook speakers.

Programming to win. In this week's FMQB, John Silliman Dodge writes about time management, procrastination and establishing priorities. A great read for any programmer or manager; even those "on the beach". Read here.

Summer's almost here. See lots of stations getting ready to do the traditional Memorial Day 500; many with listener voting on their websites. And summer brings outdoor cookouts. WZLX/Boston's morning show is soliciting entries for a live morning show broadcast from a listener's backyard.

Show us your fish. WRLO/Antigo, WI has listeners submitting pics of their catch. Here. And Cox Radio's WHPT/Tampa Bay has a complete fishing page on their website here. A great NTR idea you can pass onto your GM.

Have a great Sunday.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

left: still from live webcam - San Francisco Peaks/Flagstaff, AZ - this morning 8:20am Mountain Daylight Time.

Flagstaff: one of my favorite towns.

Listening to Seaver this morning on the Deep Tracks stream from WDRV. Playing right now: "Simple Man" - Skynyrd. Later: "Route 66" - Stones (which mentions "Flagstaff, Arizona" - heard just after I posted the above picture..weird!)

Imus (one more time): If you've watched any of the cable news channels in the last week - plus ESPN - the Don Imus situation continues to be the hot topic. It's Time Magazine's cover story this week with a story written between CBS Radio's suspension and cancellation.

Edison Media Research's Sean Ross here about life after Imus.

Heritage Station Salutes: About a month ago, we wrote about "The Station Music Expert" - and specifically "Downstairs" Dan Hansen at WKLH/Milwaukee - who features the 'ZMF Flashback during his shift - paying homage to the legendary AOR station in the Milwaukee market back in the 70s. Very cool.

Found WNCD/Youngstown doing the "Wizard Sunday Morning" from 8 to 10am. WSRD - aka "Wizard" - was Youngstown's original Prog Rock station back in the 70s and early 80s. The show on WNCD is hosted by "original Wizard Minion Thomas John". Another great example of getting real local.

Playlist notes: WDRV/Chicago surprised me yesterday (delightfully) with REM's "Its The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" from 1987's "Document". Not for every station and your mileage will vary greatly.

But the conversation about aging demos and newer music is a good chat to have. I remembering adding Def Leppard for the first time to a classic rock station playlist years ago with some trepidation; now the band is a core artist for many stations.

PPM For TV. I see that starting in September, Nielsen's version of the PPM will start tracking television viewership wherever it occurs - such as bars, restaurants, gyms, etc. Read it here. This should provide some interesting data!

Great Stories. Rick Kaempfer on Marilu Henner. Actress. Radio guest. Read Rick's stories about Marilu appearing on John Landecker's Chicago radio show here.

Hoping for a high of 50 here; have a great Sunday!

Thanks Seaver!

On Sunday's "Odds and Sods" post, I made reference to WDRV/Chicago's HD2 stream - and noted that there was an actual voice/host on the format and thought that it might be WDRV morning man Steve Downes.

I was wrong.

The voice is actually that of Seaver (photo above); who's been the daily 8a-5p voice of the WDRV HD2 channel since March 3rd. Prior to WDRV, he'd been longtime PM drive personality at WLUP/Chicago.

In an email yesterday, Seaver notes that I'm the first media-type to note that there's an actual jock on the HD2 programming; and its a compliment that I thought his voice was Downes.

Appreciate the kind words about the blog and hope this sets the record straight. Its awesome that The Drive is investing talent dollars into their HD2 channel. It does make a difference!

More here later today.