Here's to the winner Broken Heart for Combos by TBWA\Chiat\Day New York!
Click on the Radio Mercury Awards website to hear some wonderful uses of radio:
"Now in 17th year, we’re the only competition devoted solely to Radio and the only Radio competition that cash prizes, including the coveted 100,000 Grand Prize."
Arbitron's New York office is at 142 West 57th Street. I am as concerned about getting sample sizes up as anyone in our business, but somone needs to take someone to lunch and say these things face to face.
The latest figures posted at ARB's site estimate radio's total national 12+ audience in the continuous measurement markets at 21,074,800 in an average quarter hour.
The country format has an estimated 1,672,200 of those folks.
That's only 7.9% of the AQH persons but our above average TSL enables us to generate a national average quarter hour share of 9.7 from those people.
How big does the national sample have to be to make sure that our 7.9% is fairly represented book after book? Once we have that number, let's extrapolate it to every local market.
I'd bet that will end up being +/- 10-15% of the sample targets listed in the book, not 30-40%.
Hopefully, we can all agree that it makes sense to spend money on accomplishing that rather than buying multi-media advertising airing our (very) dirty laundry in pubic.
(ps - BIG thanks to Jones Radio Networks VP of Country Media Jim Murphy for doing the math correctly for me!)
A new Harrah's, including a TK restaurant, was one proposal presented to the Kansas Lottery Commission after four developers on Monday proposed their ideas for building resort casinos in Sumner County in south-central Kansas. The commission didn't say when they would vote on the proposals, but they face a deadline May 27.
Meanwhile, Toby is wrapping up his new CMT-produced movie (set for theatrical release on August 8), filming of which started after he returned from an Iraq and Afganistan USO tour and getting ready to tour this summer (starting in Birmingham), so it's as busy as ever in his world.
Scenes from "B4MH" are now posted on Toby's website.
Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Photo / Reuters
New Zealand-born Keith Urban has missed out on two major Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards amid a row over how the top prize was decided. Urban was laughing when he turned up to the awards in Las Vegas with pregnant wife Nicole Kidman on his arm, but left empty-handed after Kenny Chesney won the entertainer of the year category. Urban was also nominated for top male vocalist, but lost out there too. Still, Urban got to perform at the awards ceremony, and he and Kidman cuddled and looked happy as they posed for photographers before the event.
A beaming Kidman told reporters she is "very excited" about the impending birth of her first child with Urban. When asked if the baby had been kicking she replied: "Oh yeah. Not right now, but it has been."
Urban says the reality of becoming a father only fully hit him when he and Kidman found out the sex of their unborn child, which he would not reveal.
In case you missed his amazing ACM '08 performance, here's a link to the You Tube video.
Can you imagine being one of those folks lucky enough to be standing right next to him during this incredible event?
Keith Urban is undeniably country's historic talent of ANY year!
Thanks to talent coach and consultant Doug Erickson of Englewood, Colorado (303.290.8839) and talk radio's Brian Wilson for ths link to Wired Magazine's report on internet TV, along with these probes:
One less reason for your traffic reports, and the revenue they provide.
One less reason for news, if you carried any.
One more big reason for some kind of plan to upgrade your content ASAP.
And you thought your market was competitive already...!
In anticipated celebration of what was to be the 90th birthday of country music legend Eddy Arnold, his longtime recording home – RCA Nashville – had planned to approach radio stations with a request: to play the song, “To Life” – a track from his 2005 album, After All These Years – with the intention of earning one more chart hit, and a historic milestone, for the country gentleman who recorded such classics as “Make the World Go Away” and “Bouquet of Roses.” Eddy Arnold’s passing on May 8, just days before his 90th birthday on May 15, brought a special poignancy to the effort, and radio honored the man and his music by granting the Country Music Hall of Fame legend the 147th chart single of his career.
With the appearance of “To Life” on this week’s Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, Arnold becomes the only country artist in history to enjoy chart success in each of the past seven decades. He also acquires the career distinction of having the longest span of charted country singles, beginning with “Each Minute Seems a Million Years” on June 30, 1945, and now with “To Life,” nearly 63 years later.
In praise of Arnold, Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante hailed, “He is one of those rare singers whose voice is timeless … his success on the charts is now the same.”
RCA Nashville Vice President, National Promotion, Keith Gale offered, “We are so thankful that Country Radio joined us in this tribute to Eddy Arnold. We honored the man and his music. And we did it together.”
Initiated by the RCA Nashville promotion department, “To Life” was made available to radio in its original version as well as a special edit that included comments Arnold had made in an interview done for the label at the time of the album. Everyone at RCA had a special fondness and tremendous regard for Arnold, having spent time with him at events through the years, and the RCA Nashville staff was present at the public services held for him at the Ryman Auditorium this past Wednesday, May 14.
Arnold, who years ago earned the nickname “The Tennessee Plowboy,” was 87 years old when his final RCA Nashville album was released in 2005. At the time, Galante recalls him saying that RCA was his home, and indeed, his passion for music-making never faded – even recently expressing interest to Galante in recording yet another album.
Truly a towering figure in the history of country music, Arnold was the Country Music Association’s first Entertainer of the Year in 1967, and in 2005, he was presented with a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. In a career with record sales in excess of 85 million albums, Eddy Arnold earned more Top 10 hits (92) and more consecutive Top 10 hits (67) than anyone in country history. Ranked as Billboard’s #1 country artist of all time, he also earned 28 chart-topping singles that collectively spent an astounding 145 weeks at #1 – an accomplishment unmatched to this day.
Hats off to the RCA/Nashville promo team, who put the above press release out this morning .. and to all of country radio, pulling together to do something truly historic.
Over half a million fans voted resulting in Kenny Chesney winning his 4th Entertainer of the Year award tying Garth Brooks' record in that category.
Backstage Kenny thanked the fans for voting for him. But, then he expressed a strong opinion that he wished the ACM hadn't changed the criteria of that award.
"I think fans should be involved in voting for ACM awards, but not for the Entertainer of the Year." Kenny would have preferred tying Garth's record under the same criteria he had won the award. Kenny feels strongly that the award is something that should go to an artist who's worked hard all their career."
If you don't mind your minute by minute critique of the event more than a little bit snarky, check out Todd Martens' written play by play, Live at the Academy of Country Music Awards!
JRN's Danny Wright All Night got Dierks Bentley to sign an empty Bud Lite can during a Thursday morning appearance on his show.
Want the can? It's gonna cost you, but it's for a great cause: click here to bid, with all proceeds going to 13-year-old Taylor Strand, who was recently involved in a fire pit accident, leaving 80% of her body covered in third-degree burns.
Dierks played a benefit show for her at the Hard Rock Cafe in Minneapolis for K-102.
PS: Dierks wrote Mr Sad Country for the Anheuser-Busch campaign.
Citadel isn't keeping a secret of the fact that it's going to flip formats at Dallas' Twister very soon. Meanwhile, Tom Taylor writes a reminder in Radio-Info.com that Clear Channel still needs to find ways to unload stations in San Francisco, Houston and Cincinnati (and fast) to satisfy the Department of Justice, following the news of last night's deals (swaps) in Las Vegas - Spanish adult hits "La Preciosa" KWID (101.9) - and an FM in Bakersfield, in order to obtain classic rock KZEP (104.5) in San Antonio from Lotus.
Radio rule: when anyone in the market changes chairs, that opens opportunity for others to change seats too immediately when the music stops.
Tip: always have your alternate plans in your top desk drawer, ready for action. Opportunity doesn't knock just once of course, but it's always smart to be near the door when it does.
Howard, is your satellite audience so small these days that you've gotten desperate?
Free speech is a powerful element of what makes our society as productive and dynamic as it is, but stupid uses of it like this one by Howard Stern make all broadcasters vulnerable to calls for a return to the Fairness Doctrine. Character assassination of a wonderful person is a terrible abuse of free speech. If we want to preserve our rights, we need to use them responsibly, I'd say.
Country icon Dolly Parton is said to be weighing lawsuit to former radio icon and current Sirius yakmeister Howard Stern. Stern and his crew broadcast edited audio of Parton in such a way as to make her sound like a foul-mouthed racist. According to the Associated Press, a 1990 audio autobiography was used to come up with the doctored rant, which played while Stern and cast laughed and made comments as if it was a genuine audio clip.
