Riff 2: Made In Detroit

75° - overcast at 11:52am

While doing some work this morning for the day job, I stumbled across this video via Google.

I feel its a great image piece that sends a strong connection to its target audience on at least a couple of levels:


Riff2 is a digital brand extension of WRIF...and I've mentioned some of their past efforts here.

Brilliant!

Legends and Heros

55° - drizzle and clouds at 7:25am

Legends and Heros. In the past few days, Lee Arnold has blogged about a topic close to my heart.

Lee asks - with relation to the various radio industry honors - "Where The Hell is Bill Drake and Tom Donahue" as well as some other known and not-so-well known names in our industry's past. Read here.

I agree with Lee that there's a lot of be learned from our past - we all need to be students "of our shared radio history". And regardless of format. Dave Martin (here) comments on Lee's piece and added some names of his own, all deserving of honor. Jim Schulke? You bet!

I'd still love to hear the stories, strategies and thinking from those legends who may have dropped out of the biz. A few of the legends do blog. Others just need to be tracked down and interviewed.

The name Buzz Bennett came up again in conversation this week. There's another name. Buzz apparently MIA.

Bonus: yesterday Lee printed a letter from the legendary Joe Kelly (another name!). Joe writes about the late Thom O'Hare. Read here.

Much thanks to Lee - plus the contributions of Dave and Joe for bringing up this topic in the blogosphere again.

More here on the blog tonight.

Wednesday Blogs

43° - clear at 8:37am; left: downtown Lansing this morning. Current Image

Hello from Sunny Michigan.

Good Read: Yesterday's piece by Dave Martin on how radio appears to devalue 41% of its inventory. He's referring to nights and overnights, suggesting that its "perhaps the most undervalued asset in radio". Dave writes:

"Being #1 at night too often viewed as a Pyrrhic victory - "So what, we can't sell it!" This is the same logic frequently used in walking away from renewal of sports rights - "We can no longer make the math work." While it may indeed be easier to save a dollar than to bring a dollar in, that's no way to build or grow a business."

"The dirty little secret here is nobody likes live sports programming at night or overnight but the listeners. They never got the memo giving them the heads up that all the good stuff happens between 5a and 7p."

Read Dave's complete post here. Good things can happen on music radio between 7pm and 5am too. One I miss dearly is the late Alan Stagg doing overnights (classic rock) in Chicago. Alan just fit the daypart so well.

Speaking of. I read Tuesday in Tom Taylor's newsletter that Premiere was offering Bob & Tom for overnights. From the affiliate website it appears so. Don't get me wrong - I'm a big Bob & Tom fan and have been for years. But does a morning drive show have the right "feel" for overnights? Just asking...

Follow-up file: Yesterday I mentioned WGRF/Buffalo and its Memorial Day Top 500.

Late yesterday, I received a listener email from the station mentioning the "debate" going on regarding the number one song and inviting me to join the discussion on the station's message board. Very clever and very cool.

Only in Santa Fe. And I say that as a former resident of the "City Different". Read here.

Pondering. How many "social networks" can one person manage? Rarely does a week go by where I haven't been invited to join yet another online social network - or asked if "I'm on social network X".

And these are from people I'm already connected with through another social network. "But I already know you from (fill in the blank)!

I'd like to think that its an age/generation thing. But those invitations are coming from my own peers. What are the burn and churn rates? Hmmm....

Am I just getting old and cranky????

Doing AC? Hire this guy: Chris Reynolds. Chris released yesterday after 7+ highly successful years programming WFMK/Lansing - which has consistently lead its target demos and often the entire market during Chris' tenure.

Prior to Lansing, Chris had stops in Flint, Saginaw, Detroit, and San Antonio. He's great and he gets it.

I'd be pleased to pass on contact information. And if you're looking for a classic rock PD, I can help with that too.....

As The Countdown Rolls On...

48° - overcast at 7:21am

As this blog pointed out a week or so ago, Top 500 countdowns continue to be a popular feature of classic rock stations around the country. And once again this year, this programming staple continues to draw interest from listeners who might normally be spending their time away from the radio. Listening habits tend to change on the weekend - even more significant with 3-day weekends. Your typical high-level "at work" audience on Monday isn't there.

As I've written here about the countdowns, this blog has become an easy "hit" for the search engines when someone types station X Top 500 countdown into Google or Yahoo.

This blog had a record number of page views from new visitors over the weekend - nearly all from the search engines with countdown-related search terms. The countdown concept continues to work. Casey Kasem figured it all out many years ago.

Chances are if your station did a countdown, your call letters are in my web stats. Added: the countdown "hits" continue this morning.

Heads up: In the majority of the searches, listeners were looking for their favorite classic rock station's Top 500 list. If you haven't done so already - be sure to get it posted on your website and promote this on the air. Today. Its going to pay off in website visits and listener satisfaction.

If you want to see a great example of listener passion behind this feature, check out WGRF/Buffalo's Top 500 Listener Comments page here.

And if your station didn't do anything special this past weekend, you missed a great opportunity to gain some additional quarter hours during the spring book.