No One Can Disagree With This Part Of The President's Speech

"...In this time of testing, our troops can know: The American people are behind you. Next week, our nation has an opportunity to make sure that support is felt by every soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman and Marine at every outpost across the world. This Fourth of July, I ask you to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom by flying the flag, sending letters to our troops in the field or helping the military family down the street. The Department of Defense has set up a Web site, AmericaSupportsYou.mil. You can go there to learn about private efforts in your own community. At this time when we celebrate our freedom, let us stand with the men and women who defend us all."
-- George W. Bush, June 28, 2005

Ace & TJ's New Phoner Idea Prep Service

If you need ideas to start your phones ringing, try a sample. I remember when these two great guys were country morning personalities and I'm still a big fan even though they're now doing CHR for Infinity in Charlotte (as long as they don't beat our pals Tanner and Company on sister station, WSOC, 25-54).

Ace & TJ's "agent" Adam Goodman (VoiceHunter.com - 203 341 0111) promises that any A&O clients who sign up will get it absolutely free through October: "We’re sort of ‘testing’ the idea right now and seeing how many stations who sign on actually use it regularly. We don’t think we’ll even charge for it until October. It started more as an ‘aid’ the guys wanted to share and I turned it into a possible prep service. "

So, if you decide the try the service, let 'em know that Jaye Albright sent you.

A "Noise Maker's" Favorite Sources Of Ideas

Doug Harris is a consistent convention speaker A+. And, at R&R, Cleveland, he knocked 'em dead once again with an updated version of his always-inspiring DARE, DREAM, AND DELIVER: CONFESSIONS OF A CREATIVE ANIMAL presentation.

A Creative Animal's Random Thoughts on “standing out in a crowd”...

FIRST…DO SOMETHING WORTH TALKING ABOUT

No more Disney Trips! We all know they do trade and are easy to work with, however, a trip to Disney to most has almost become a right of passage as an American. Whether you live in an expensive gated community or a trailer park, a trip to Disney is attainable & will likely happen sooner or later. This promotion has been done to death and does very little to make you stand out. Do things people will talk about or CHANGE THEIR LIVES…even if just for a short time.

FOR EXAMPLE: Log onto http://www.incredible-adventures.com/, and find out how next Father’s Day you can send Dad away to learn how to drive a Tank! Many other great ideas for promotions there too.

Here are some of the other websites he mentioned as possible destination ideas:

http://www.margritaville.com/
http://www.legoland.com/
http://www.crayola.com/
http://www.spymuseum.org/
http://www.freedomparadise.com/

STOP GIVING AWAY CASH
Instead of giving away cash that is spent and done, buy a Louis Vuitton hand bag and give that away. Chances are when the winner is asked about the bag, she’ll mention your station as how she won it!

Not “Tuesday” but “Shoes-Day”! It’s no secret that women and shoes share a very passionate and virtually insatiable love affair. Why not sell this promotion to a client and give away shoes throughout the day each Tuesday! Fun stuff.

Don’t forget the Babysitter. Give away a “fantasy prize” ie; instead of just cash…why not offer up a nice night out for two at the Outback (who’ll probably trade anyway) and throw in the extra hundred bucks for the sitter. Just a way to spice things up and speak more to your life group.

Other Great Sites to Steal your next idea:

http://www.lured.com/ FREE
http://www.allaccess.com/ FREE
http://www.danoday.com/ FREE
http://www.wizardofads.com/ FREE
http://www.fastcompany.com/ FREE
http://www.americanholeinone.com/ FREE
http://www.yourfavradiostaton.com/ FREE
http://www.tazmedia.com/ FREE
http://www.youthintelligence.com/ FREE
http://www.reveries.com/ FREE

THEN WHY NOT TOOT YOUR OWN HORN?

1) Create the World’s greatest Media Contact List
2) Create an In House “PR Agency”

Email Doug by clicking here.

The Poo Bomb - Might Be A Fun, Relatable Guest

The Poo Bomb - True Tales Of Parental Terror is a new book by Jeff Vogel

Danger Signs #2

Youths Spending More Time Away from Radio

Danger Signs

Read all the way down to the paragraph under the headline "Internet News ­ More Than Just the Young" for the sad tale of radio's decline over the last few decades as a source for news in the latest Pew Center research.

How I read it: if we hope to compete with new media radio can't continue to provide information in the same old ways! This doesn't mean I think we should stop doing news. But, it does mean that immediacy and relevancy are everything. Ask your listeners: how important is your news and information to them. Listen carefully to their response and act accordingly.

We're a bit like the old blacksmith at the turn of the last century who watched a car drive by and knew that in order to stay in business he really needed to understand who used his services, when and why.

Focus Groups - Pro's and Con's

FYI, A&O clients find them, conducted properly and for the right reasons, very helpful.

Rebecca Harris has a great article in the latest "Marketing Magazine" on the topic, putting it in a very helpful context.

And, in a slightly irreverent PS that I simply can't resist: with me behind the glass with you as a client station also have someone who is "more attuned than normal" to such unpredictable events.. ;-> -Jaye

Do You Know What "RSS" Stands For?

Tony Thomas is MD and afternoon guy at KMPS, Seattle. But, ask anyone who knows him and you'll hear that he's really "Dr. Future" masquerading as a radio personality. And, he is very excited about "RSS" right now. When Tony's excited, I get excited too.

He calls two recent developments to our attention:

1. Another sign that RSS feeds are becoming a powerful tool.
2. RSS Feeds on your desktop.

Note: if you'd like an RSS feed of updates to this blog click here.

Are you offering RSS feeds of the podcast of your 'best of' show bits and promos yet?

Dehype - from a former artist in the art of hype

Dave Newton has spent a lifetime in radio and marketing. He also calls himself a political moderate and here's how he defines that: Militant Moderate Manifesto

Now that you know where he stands politically and values-wise, here's a strong take on Infinity's podcast experiment on the former KNEW-AM:

Viacom's KYOURadio in San Francisco, has rolled out an all-podcasting format. KYOU's effort is only the goofiest attempt to shake something loose for traditional radio in the post-digital age. Despite the fact that San Francisco is probably the only market where such a stunt might make the minutest glimmer of sense because of its relatively dense population of geeky young males. Still, can you imagine the podcast-interested person, known to be tech-savvy, listening to an AM station? Or listening to a podcasting radio station's stream on his computer, when he can take his choice from thousands of podcasts, without cheesy promos between them? Is the radio guys' choice of casts better than yours? But even funnier, (Edison Research's Tom) Mr. Webster tries to relate KYOU to the now-traditional, irrational-though-thoroughly-researched conventions of commercial radio.

Want more from Dave Newton? Here's his (witty, wide-ranging and opinionated) blog.

The Newspaper of the Future

Great articles like this are why I love the New York Times.

Roll this thought around in your brain a few times: "We want readers to this of this as their paper, not our paper" - then click on that link above and get a peek at your future.

Need a little more to encourage you to register with the Times to read the whole thing? Here ya go...

Owned by the Simons family since 1891, The Journal-World is a small-town paper emphasizing small-town news, but it is hardly restrained by a small-town mentality. Indeed, at a time when newspapers big and small are facing financial and journalistic crossroads, media analysts say The Journal-World, with a circulation of just 20,000, offers guidelines for moving forward.

The Simons family, through the World Company, enjoys an unfettered and often-criticized media monopoly in Lawrence. But the family has used that advantage to cross-pollinate its properties, ranging from cable to telephone service to newspaper and online publishing, and to take technological and financial risks that other owners might have avoided.

Mr. Simons and his associates describe their overall goals as a shared belief in quality, a deep attachment to Lawrence as a community and a constant reinvention of their business's relationship with readers, viewers and advertisers.

"We believe that journalism has been a monologue for so long and now is the perfect time for it to become a dialogue with our readers," said Rob Curley, 34, the World Company's director of new media. "We want readers to think of this as their paper, not our paper."

Where Does Comedy Come From?

Jerry Seinfeld tackles that question in his 2002 flick: click here. At the same time, he also had a lesson for v/o performers too.

It's now three years later. Is your station's voice guy still trying to sell your station to listeners in the same old radio ways - that listeners have largely become immune to?

Someone To Remember In Your Prayers Today

I'm sure you've seen the stories about hydraulic fluid being used at Duke Medical Center to "clean" (ugh) surgical tools..

* Wrong delivery to hospital
* Third NC Hospital Got Hydraulic Fluid
* Some Patients Not Comfortable with Duke's Offer
* 2nd NC hospital received barrels of hydraulic fluid

.. but, if (like me) you often see national stories like this and think that they're about 'other people' and not 'us,' a big thank you to Jeff Roper at the New 92 in Columbia for this update that hits home. A 'friend' is involved and suffering:

"While the link I'm sending you is not about a "radio guy" it's about a guy and his family that are heard on more country stations than most people know. He is one of the best imaging "artists" in our business...I worked with him for years in Charlotte..he's buds with most voice talent, including John Willyrd and most people in our format are familiar with his work. This story was featured on Good Morning America (6/15/05 between 730-8 Eastern).

"Please read the link and if you can...please ask the members of our format for their thoughts and prayers for Krash( Kelley) Bassett and his wife, Shelley. This story is unbelievable."

Krash's website is www.krashproductions.com

Don't Forget: We're In Both Show Biz & The Truth/Honesty Biz

Jim Carnegie at RBR reports: Clear Channel's WKSS-FM Hartford has been hit with a 4K dollar Notice of Apparent Liability for failure to fully and accurately specify the details of a contest.

The station was running a game called "I Do Island" which pitted five brides-to-be against one another in a contest inspired by TV's "Survivor" reality series. The contestants spent a week at center court of a local shopping mall, with one voted out daily. The winner was to receive a "wedding package" which included dresses, rings, a honeymoon package and other items. The winner said that she was put off for over three months when trying to collect her prizes, and that when she finally did, they were worth only about 20K, not the 35K she said had been broadcast as the package value. WKSS said in a flawed response to the FCC that they only offered a 30K package, then in a corrected response, said that the value was never broadcast. Both the bride and WKSS agreed that the written rules of the contest said 30K.

WKSS eventually gave the bride a 5K cash settlement. Nonetheless, the FCC said that failure to accurately describe the value on the prize constituted a violation of the rules, with or without a settlement with the aggrieved bride.

Also today, in FMQB: A Kentucky woman is suing WLTO (Hot 102)/Lexington after a prize she won from the station turned out to be a Nestle's 100 Grand candy bar, and not $100,000 as she had believed. Court documents posted on TheSmokingGun.com show that in the lawsuit, Norreasha Gill claims she was listening to WLTO on the evening of May 25 when DJ Slick announced that he would award "100 Grand" to the tenth caller. Gill was that tenth caller, and she was told she could pick up her prize the following day. Imagine her surprise (and utter disappointment) when she went to the studio and found that the contest was a joke and she had simply won a chocolate bar... and not the cash.Gill is suing the station's parent company, Cumulus Media, for breach of contract. The suit states that "representations were made with intent to cheat, defraud, and play a malicious joke upon the plaintiff before the entire listening audience, due to her reasonable reliance upon the on air representations of DJ Slick." Her lawsuit seeks the $100,000 prize plus interest and punitive damages.

In case you missed the memo too: contests and promotions need to make folks more loyal to us and brand the station positively in terms of the values we stand for, not just 'find 'em, fool 'em and forget 'em'.

Always, always, always have written rules which disclose those 'material terms.' That way, everyone stays nice and friendly - before, during and after every promotion.

A Word Is Worth 153 (Tornado!) Pictures

PD Reid Morgan and the entire crew of Lethbridge's Country 95.5 (CHLB) stayed up late last night, covering Southern Alberta's historic weather - floods, golf ball size hail and then several tornadoes touched down after a warm, sunny, lovely Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, Morgan posted his photos of the event on the station website, the morning crew mentioned them on the air of course and before you knew it, there were more from listeners.

So, maybe a picture is worth a thousand words. But, this "word" was worth exactly 153 pictures too! Click to see 'em.

Woof, Meow, Bow Wow, Moooo..

Jim Duce, longtime (and I mean LONGTIME) Medicine Hat wakeup guy at 1270 CHAT (which is moving to FM in December) does the usual battle of the listeners trivia contests but in a very unique and fun way.

He has listeners "buzz in" if they think they know the answer to his question with their choice of an animal sound.

The morning I heard it, Jim pitted a "dog" against a "cat" against a "cow." I love the way he reinvented morning show trivia with a fun angle that is unique to him in the market.

Preview New Music In Advance

Thanks to Gord Eno, PD at Vancouver's CJJR (93.7 JRfm) for this tip:

If you ever need to hear a song a few days ahead of anyone else in your market, go to Mediabase and look for a station playing it. Go to their hour by hour music log and click on the icon next to the song to hear a streamed version of (128 kb, so not suitable for air) from start to finish.

For example, lets say (like most of us who are not located at a monitored station in Texas!) you don't have a copy of George Strait's album cut "Texas" yet, which is being played by Texas stations KTYS, KPLX, KSCS, KILT, KVET, KHEY and KFTX already (it charts #50 in this week's Billboard).

Find it on their Mediabase music log and you'll be listening to it!

Gord says he stumbled on this due to his frustration that his listeners love "Win It Before You Can Buy it" weekends, yet Eno never wants to commit to playing anything he hasn't heard in advance. Often an entire LP is available on Mediabase for listening long before its release date.

It doesn't look like BDS offers anything like this at present. But, with their recent alliance with DMDS MusicCrypt, one wonders how long it will take them to catch up.

Have You Studied Your Local NPR Station Lately?

Perhaps you should. Take a look at the 25-44 graphs: Public Radio Today 2005

Thanks to the very savvy Arbitron team for doing these revealing research projects on changes in radio usage.

If your ownership and management isn't concerned about listening levels, our commercial clutter loads and changing demographic expectations, at least it won't be because they aren't being told what's happening and why.

“Insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results.” —Mark Twain.

ARB's latest studies

Spot Load Study 2005
Adult Hits Format Study
Hispanic Radio Today 2005
Internet Usage
Advertising Effectiveness

You KNOW You're Big When They Name An Airplane After You

I just heard from Inside Radio's Tom Taylor that Southwest Airlines is naming one of its planes in honor of the retiring Ron Chapman.

45 years around the Dallas market and countless thousands of morning drive shifts earn Chapman an extremely rare honor for a jock.

Americans and British Listen To More Radio Than Canadians

NOP World Research just announced results of its Culture Score(TM) "Media Habits" Index offering a global perspective on the time consumers report watching television, listening to the radio, searching the Internet and reading.

Radio Nations
Argentineans spend the most time (20.8 hours per week) listening to the radio, followed by Brazilians at 17.2 and South Africans at 15.0 hours. Consumers in China spend the least amount of time listening to the radio at only 2.1 hours a week. Koreans and Saudis also report low radio time (at 3 hours and 3.9 hours per week respectively.)

Consumers in the US and UK are below the global average (5.7 and 5.3 hours per week respectively) when it comes to reading, but significantly above the average on TV viewing (19 hours per week in the US and 18 in the UK), listening to the radio (10.2 hours per week in the US and 10.5 in the UK) and just slightly below the global average for computer/Internet usage (8.8 hours per week in both the US and UK). Canadians listen to radio on average, they report, one hour less (9.1 hours).

See the PR Newswire press release (click)

Kenny Chesney Rocks (Literally) LA's Staples Center

Variety's Steve Mirkin: "...little of Kenny Chesney's "Somewhere in the Sun" tour that stopped into Staples Center Friday night could be called country. There may be a pedal steel guitar and a fiddle player -- and he still wears his signature cowboy hat -- but what he really wants to do is rock.

"He's preceded onstage by an aural montage of songs by AC/DC, who promises there'll be "rocking at the show tonight," Queen's stadium favorite "We Will Rock You," Ram Jam's "Black Betty" and a video of Sammy Hagar welcoming the aud to the show. A curtain (emblazoned with a tattoo-styled drawing of a pneumatic woman in a bikini astride a leaping marlin) drops, revealing Chesney's seven-piece band playing the fraternity boogie of "Keg in the Closet" on a two-tiered stage, complete with a catwalk, giant video screens and twin Marshall stacks the size of Hummers flanking it. And Chesney makes his entrance from the rear of the arena, flying over the aud's heads on a chair.

"Like many current rock bands, Chesney pulls his influences from the mid-'70s to the early '80s, but instead of the jittery, angst-ridden sounds of New Order, Gang of Four or Echo and the Bunnymen, Chesney draws on the heartland rock of John Cougar Mellencamp (he covers "Hurts so Good" with opening act Gretchen Wilson), Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jimmy Buffett. The riff at the heart of "Big Star" echoes "Brown Sugar"; "That's Why I'm Here" built to a swaying power ballad climax; and his duet with special guest Uncle Kracker included bits of "Drift Away" and the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider." But the slick, tightly controlled production has the same connection to the rock shows of that earlier era as Universal CityWalk has to Coney Island: It's spiffed up, bigger than life and surprisingly impersonal. With his eyes shaded by his wide-brimmed hat -- only his finely chiseled jaw is visible -- Chesney tends to emote with his arms. He wears a dark sleeveless T-shirt so they're easily seen, and he keeps them in constant motion: waving and pointing at the aud, outstretched during the ballads and high-fiving everything in his reach.

"His recent marriage to Renee Zellweger is alluded to only once (when a picture of her star on the Walk of Fame appears shows up during "Back Where I Come From"). And the baby boomers who make up a large part of the audience like it that way.

"Chesney allows them to relive the concert experiences of their youth, only without the messiness and discomfort. "

For Mirkin's entire review of Chesney's 2005 show click here.

Of Gretchen Wilson, he writes: "...(she) also straddles country and rock, the latter most pronounced on her covers of Heart and Led Zeppelin. The self-proclaimed "Redneck Woman" can deliver the Patsy Cline styled weepie "When I Think About Cheatin' " and hit the honky tonks on the swaggering "Homewrecker." She previews a few songs from her sophomore Epic album, "All Jacked Up," including "Skoal Ring" and "Politically Uncorrect." She hasn't lost any of her feistiness; the latter manages to make supporting the troops and reading the Bible sound like acts of rebellion."

Kenny Chesney (Staples Center, Los Angeles; 17,000 seats; $59.95 top)
Presented by Nederlander, AEG and Cruzan Rum.
Reviewed June 17, 2005.
Band: Chesney, Sean Paddock (band leader), Wyatt Beard, Steve Marshall, Tim Hensley, Jim Bob Gairrett, Clayton Mitchell, Nick Hoffman.
Special guest: Uncle Kracker.
Also appearing: Gretchen Wilson, Pat Green.

Another Mirkin review in Variety: Kelly Clarkson

Ideas for July from JRN

JRN clients receive weekly "Share Points" articles (I am proud to say that I coined that name back when I worked there a decade ago which means that they have a huge archive of them!).

Thanks to Walter Powers, some great ideas to make your July more creative and rewarding ($).

Send Your Listeners to CMA 2005 in New York

There are many reasons why your radio station should be an organizational mamber of the Country Music Association...

But, the ability to send your listeners to New York City for an amazing four day, three night "Big Apple" experience in addition to tickets to see the CMA Awards in person for less than a thousand dollars a person ($1,850 for two!) is a very big one.

Call Grace Reinbold or Darlene Williams at 615 269 0039 for all the info.

Morning Mouth: Things Every Jock Should Avoid

Since 1992 "The Mouth" has offered a plethora of things that every jock should do. Ironically, as some of radio’s most respected talent specialists will tell you, what you avoid doing is often just as important, from Randy Lane (805 497-7177), Walter Sabo (212 681-8181) and Steve Reynolds (919 233-1600).

Things Every Jock Should Avoid

The REAL Mark Ramsey Revealed

If you think Mark Ramsey of Mercury Research in San Diego is a boring, dry numbers geek, you don't know about his "other life" as a wry movie critic:

Here's MovieJuice's Mark Ramsey on some of 2004's best - and worst - movies.

These "quips" were taped for January's Critics' Choice Awards on the WB but, like so many things worth seeing, were left on the cutting room floor.

Ramsey's blog reveals all.

The Hype Machine

Have you ever stumbled on something and said to yourself, "I don't fully understand the implications/ramifications of this, but it sure looks like something - whether it makes it or not - that is a clue to where things are going"?

I just did.

If you want to take a look, click here, and then if you have any theories or thoughts I'd love to hear 'em. (unless you're with the RIAA..)

Tickets Now

They call them "the secondary sellers" of tickets. As a must-read article in USA Today indicates, this group (I am trying studiously to avoid the word 'scalper') is a fast-growing factor in ticket sales to highly desirable events. Ordinary folks are having a more and more difficult time getting the seats they want through the normal routes.

Yet, sometimes, we in radio simply HAVE to have those very special ducats. In those cases when you must have great seats for a client or a prize, check out Tickets Now. You'll want to build a relationship with Kenneth Dotson.

Nice Ink for KSON, San Diego

Tami Rapozo writes about KSON on Voice of San Diego

Country Music Promotion By Blog

Hats off to Ray Randall, west coast promoter for Neal McCoy's 903 Music who is embracing technology and foregoing the usual independent promoter methods of hype. He's the first I know of to podcast his promotional efforts, making them both informative and entertaining, while selling McCoy's music with facts and testimonials.

* Leave him a voice mail and he has RSS to automatically send it to his computer as a wav file for listening and editing, for example.

* Check out his podcast #7 which contains a sample of KMLE, Phoenix, featuring a scoped air checked of Dave Pratt's morning show.

Randall left a job at Microsoft to join the 903 Music team, and he brought a lot of high-tech ideas with him. Being an indie, competing with the resources of the major music monoliths is never easy, but of course Neal McCoy is an extremely likable, smart, charismatic act who is seemingly being represented very well by this Seattle area-based new music evangelist and clever promoter!

Shouldn't YOU be doing something like this for your show? Ray says the site costs him $15 per month. Caution: Randall is able to use Neal's music because McCoy gives permission for streaming his tune on the web and owns the publishing rights, but be sure you have licensing rights before using any commercial music on a podcast!

REDNECKS CHALLENGE

Sent to midday lady Crystal Darche at New Country, 93.7 JRFM, Vancouver:

I am sick and tired of hearing about how dumb Country Music listeners are. I challenge any "Kenny G" fan to take this exam:

1. Calculate the smallest limb diameter on a persimmon tree that will support a 10 pound possum.

2. Which of these cars will rust out the quickest when placed on blocks in your front yard? (A) '65 Ford Fairlane (B) '69 Chevrolet Chevelle, or(C) '64 Pontiac GTO.

3. If your uncle builds a still which operates at a capacity of 20 gallons of shine produced per hour, how many car radiators are required to condense the product?

4. A woodcutter has a chainsaw which operates at 2700 RPM. The density of the pine trees in the plot to be harvested is 470 per acre. The plot is 2.3 acres in size. The average tree diameter is 14 inches. How many Budweisers will be drank before the trees are cut down?

5. If every old refrigerator in the state/province vented a charge of R-12 simultaneously, what would be the percentage decrease in the ozone layer?

6. A front porch is constructed of 2x8 pine on 24-inch centers with a field rock foundation. The span is 8 feet and the porch length is 16 feet. The porch floor is 1-inch rough sawn pine. When the porch collapses, how many dogs will be killed?

7. A man owns a large farmhouse and 3.7 acres of land in a hollow with an average slope of 15%. The man has five children. Can each of his grown children place a mobile home on the man's land and still have enough property for their electric appliances to sit out front?

8. A 2-ton truck is overloaded and proceeding 900 yards down a steepslope on a secondary road at 45 MPH. The brakes fail. Given average traffic conditions on secondary roads, what is the probability that it will strike a vehicle with a muffler?

9. A coal mine operates a NFPA Class 1, Division 2 Hazardous Area. The mine employs 120 miners per shift. A gas warning is issued at the beginning of the 3rd shift. How many cartons of unfiltered Camels will be smoked during the shift?

10. At a reduction in the gene pool variability rate of 7.5% per generation, how long will it take a town which has been bypassed by the Interstate to breed a country-western singer?

I betcha thought that there test was gonna be an easy one, didn't ya? It's okay if'n ya didn't do all that well. Just goes to show ya...There's a hole heap of things that big city book-learning don't prepare ya for in this life.

Video On Your Website In 3:30

Click on Instant Video Generator and watch the video. Email Rick Raddatz for more info.

It looks pretty cool .. especially if you happen to be the first radio station your listeners see doing this. Have your morning team PERSONALLY great visitors to your site, for example.

Poor Canada .. All They Have Left Is Air Hockey

At least, that is what Wendy Haennel at Hamilton's 820 CHAM would have us believe in this PR for their Cystic Fibrosis benefit marathon.

I Caught The Buzz. Will You Too?

...You will if you look at this link, which was at the very bottom of Roy Williams' Monday Memo this week: "Peter Nevland and Paul Finley have a new flash animated video. Check it out."

If this is your first encounter with 'The Wizard of Ads,' and you want more, click on the Monday Memo archive.

Hurricane 2005 - mapping

AccuWeather has set up its hurricane center on the web, as has the Weather Channel. Weather Underground also has terrific online tools to track 'em too. More in depth reports are on Hurricane Track.

And, of course, here's the official National Weather Service (NOAA) forecast.

Click on 'em and bookmark 'em now if you are in hurricane areas, so you are ready for the next one.

Real Time Earthquake Maps

Bookmark these USGS pages if your listeners are interested in earthquake news:

Real Time Earthquake Maps
California-Nevada (with fault names)
USA
World

Real-time Shaking Maps for California earthquakes of Magnitude 3.5 and larger.

Frequently Asked Questions

Additional Resources including links to other earthquake websites

Silent Night 9/11

I have been a huge "Big D and Bubba" fan since I first heard them a decade ago in Biloxi. Now that they are in Nashville at WSIX doing afternoons, I still marvel at how 'local' and topical their many voice tracked morning shows sound for Clear Channel stations from New Orleans to Spokane. On days when you need inspiration, I'd recommend a click on their site.

An example of their compelling material: "Silent Night 911" click here to hear it.

Mannequinism - Will The Ones With It Respond?

Have you seen or heard the Ad Council's new PSA campaign designed to get young people to vote?

Yeah, I know I am not anywhere near close to the target group's age, so my opinion is irrelevant. But, do you think that the Mad Ave creative types who designed this (and might even win an award for this creative) are actually going to get anyone to register to vote with these messages?

Learning From Joe McCoy

Edison Research's Sean Ross just penned a remarkable post-mortem on WCBS-FM but the real lessons come in a comment written to the postings after the article written by Joe McCoy, 21-year PD of CBS-FM:

The real reason why we were successful: we always “seized the moment” & were not afraid to take chances. The great Personalities talked to our listeners, not at them…we made them feel passion for the radio station. Yes, we were full service because we were talking to adults and they needed info. We played music that theTri-State area loves and did things that would touch them like “Christmas Wish” & “The Rock n’ Roll Radio Greats Reunions”

We all had research but, programming a great radio station takes more than that. It’s the confidence to take chances and do what you think is the right thing. I guess you could say CBS-FM was “Joe” before Jack ever came into being. We were variety personified. It was every New York.

I’m looking forward to new opportunities in radio on July 12th. Thanks again to all of the great listeners who loved our station!

-- Joe McCoy

CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO ROSS' ARTICLE AND READ, IF NOTHING ELSE, JUST THE NAMES OF THE MANY RADIO PROS AND PROGRAMMING LEGENDS PAYING TRIBUTE TO JOE. He deserves every single one of them and .. more.

KKRV's "Last Chance For Chesney" Party

John Windus, PD at Country 104.7 KKRV, Wenatchee can tell already that "the party will be big! "Be As UR" DVD will run on the big screen as the party rolls the day before Kenny's show.

Posters and Standups will offer plenty of chances for listeners to have their photo taken "with Kenny Chesney," etc: "Our folks are diggin' it."

It's the lead item at http://www.kkrv.com/.

Click to listen to the KKRV promo (voiced by Dave Morris). The only thing, to my way of thinking, that could have made it better would have been to say all that just as creatively in under :30 seconds instead of :55. (picky, picky..)

They Live In It, YOU Win It

WNOU, Indianapolis' "Morning Mess" is giving away a six month lease on a fully-furnished downtown loft and after the six months of downtown living, the winner gets to keep all the fancy furniture. Click to see what folks have to do to win.

Country Music News

Where do you go when you need facts and gossip on country artists? I'd love to hear from you, especially if you know about an even better source than the following. Meanwhile, here are a few links we use:

* All About Country (Bill Hennes)
* All Access (Jim Asker)
* CMT
* Country Stars OnLine
* Country Music Alive
* GAC
* Neil Haislop

Most of these sites have email newsletters (free) with you can opt into as well. Of course, nothing beats Steve Holstein's Interprep/Country for fresh stuff first, which is why we subscribe to it for all our clients. If you are a client air personality and you're not seeing it, please contact Jaye or Mike and we'll set you up.

Country Radio's First HD Radio (IBOC) Station

Mike Kinosian's job is to create compelling editorial content that drives you to do more than just read Inside Radio every day via fax or pdf on paper.

And, right now, he has something worth a click for country radio, a great interview with Infinity Chicago Market Manager, the visionary Dave Robbins:

Content for the “Future Country” play-list heard on US 99’s second audio channel falls under the purview of WUSN PD Mike Peterson and MD Marci Braun. “By tuning to this HD Two channel, you hear all the new music before it hits WUSN,” Robbins explains. “We did that because that’s the idea we kicked around, but it could go in any direction you want.”

Writing News For Radio

Michael Meckler began working in radio news with an internship at WCBE in Columbus, Ohio, back in 1982. During the past two decades Meckler has worked at radio stations in small, medium and large markets in the Midwest and Northeast, including three years in the 1990s as a writer, producer and reporter at the pre-Westinghouse, pre-Infinity, pre-Viacom CBS owned-and-operated all-news WWJ in Detroit.

Meckler is creator of the Newswriting for Radio website If you are looking for a quick refresher course, it's worth a click.

PS: he also taught at several universities, including Michigan, Ohio State and Yale, has a master's degree in history and a Ph.D. in classical studies, and is a regular contributor to the opinion page of The Columbus Dispatch. For more information about his newspaper columns, click here. His weblog, RED-STATE.COM, features his views on current events.

Here Comes The One Second Commercial

Ad Rants: Catering to the ever dwindling attention span and capitalizing on its name, One Second breath freshener has placed a once second commercial during every commercial break on every TV station in Belgium yesterday.

The ad shows a woman placing the gel on her tongue followed, quickly, of course, by a shot of the product. Other versions of the ad are set to launch in France, the U.K. and the Netherlands. The ad was created by Antwerp-based Duval Guillaume.

Advertising Age reviewed the ad and many bloggers have been gabbing since.

No, it is NOT the shortest ad of all time, or at least not the first.

Don't Push The Panic Button For Radio

Antonia Zerbisias is the media columnist for the Toronto Star and she had a great "stand up for terrestial radio" column this week: Don't push panic button for radio

COUNTRY ARTISTS ‘SALUTE’ ARMY ON 230th BIRTHDAY

Grab these, localize them with soldiers from your local area in place of the unknowns on them (check with your Army recruiter) and customize the audio, turning 'em into your salute to the troops on their "birthday:"

More than two dozen country music artists gathered in the nation’s “music capital” recently to voice their support for America’s Soldiers on the Army’s upcoming 230th Birthday - June 14. Their emotional words of encouragement have been turned into a series of public service announcements available to TV station managers and program producers nationwide - at no cost.

WHO? Country music artists come together at the historic Ryman Auditorium - former home of the Grand Ol’ Opry - in Nashville to record messages honoring Soldiers worldwide. Country artists included Aaron Tippin, Andy Griggs, Mark Wills, John Michael Montgomery, Bryan White, Craig Morgan, TG Sheppard, Joe Diffie, Ray Stevens, Linda Davis, Stella Parton, Keni Thomas, Jett Williams, Brad Cotter, Moe Bandy, John Conlee, Little Texas, the Kentucky Headhunters and more.

WHAT? Five 30-second 230th Army Birthday PSAs (with multiple artists in each announcement) are now available on the web to preview and for satellite download via the Army’s Digital Video & Imagery Distribution System in Atlanta at http://www.dvidshub.net/.

HOW? The DVIDS Hub delivers real time broadcast-quality video products via a domestic satellite that covers the continental U.S., or through fiber wire connections. Media organizations can download video clips, imagery and print stories through the online archive. Simply register online for full access to the service at http://www.dvidshub.net/active/index.php?act=Reg&CODE=00

WHY? Country music artists heard the “Call to duty” theme of this year’s celebration and recorded their “salutes” to the Army on its birthday! For more information about the Army’s 230 years of service to the nation, visit the Army’s special website at www.army.mil/birthday.

Released by Army Public Affairs-New York Branch
805 Third Ave., 9th Floor New York City, NY 10022-7513

Address questions about this release to Bruce Zielsdorf at (212) 784-0111.
Fax (212) 784-0149
E-mail bruce.zielsdorf@us.army.mil

Too bad that whoever put these together wasn't more successful in getting the superstar names of the format involved. You know that Toby, Tim, Kenny, Garth and, yes, even the Dixie Chicks, I'll bet, et al would have said "yes" to participating if they had heard about this project. Most likely these were done in a few hours and the big stars were on the road and unavailable to go to the Ryman at the chosen time.

Hats off to the artists who did make the effort: Little Texas, Jeff Bates, Craig Morgan, Michael Peterson, Andy Griggs, Joe Diffie, Bryan White, Lila McCann and Mark Wills, the best-known "names" on the PSA's.

On Creativity - You Can Never Have Enough

Check out this blurb on creativity in the current issue of MEN'S HEALTH (June, 2005 -- page 78)...

Wieden & Kennedy, the ad agency that brought you Air Jordan, the Miller High Life man, and those wacky SportsCenter commercials, has been elevating clients to pop-culture-icon status for 23 years. Behind much of this are creative director Jelly Helm and W12, the in-house ad school at Wieden & Kennedy's home office in Portland, Oregon. Here's their rules to foster creativity within your station:

ACT STUPID:"Our philosophy is to come in ignorant every day. The idea of retaining ignorance is sort of counterintuitive, but it subverts a lot of problems that come from absolute mastery. If you think you know the answer better than somebody else does, you become closed to being fresh," Helms says.

SHUT UP:"The first thing we do when we meet with a client is listen. We try to figure out what their problems are. Then we come back with questions, not solutions. We write these out and put them on the wall. And then we circle the ones that we think are interesting. More often than not, the questions hold the answer."

CHASE TALENT:"What I've learned from improvisation is to let go of the outcome and just say yes to whatever the situation is. If you say an idea is bad, you're creating conflict -- you're breaking an improv rule. You want an energy flow that moves you forward, as opposed to creative stasis."

BE FEARLESS:"Find people who make you better. It's best to be the least talented person in the room. It's reciprocal. It challenges you to keep up.""Do anything, say anything. In the words of our president, Dan Wieden, 'You're not useful to me until you've made three momentous mistakes.' He knows that if you try not to make mistakes, you miss out on the value of learning from them."

Brad Pitt audio

Thanks to Steve Holstein at www.interprep.com:

BRAD PITT ON PRIMETIME LIVE
Brad Pitt sat down with ABC's Diane Sawyer Tuesday night: primetime-pitt1.zip, primetime-pitt2.zip

WHY BRAD AND JENN SPLIT
What? You don't remember why Brad and Jennifer split? It was because they fought all the time: brad-and-jen-fight.mp3

I really like that Interprep is featuring more and more audio clips. Smart!

Survivor 12

CBS is currently accepting applications for Survivor 12 to be broadcast in the Spring, 2006. Or you could go to an open casting call.

(Real) Cult Branding

If you really want to know how it's done, don't say no the next time the Jehovah's Witnesses knock on your door.

Or, read this WHITE PAPER by "Brand Hijack's" Alex Wipperfurth.

Search For Audio and Video

You know, of course, about Apple's ITunes.

NEW: Check out Singing Fish next time you're looking for something hard to find.

From the look of their site, you'd never know AOL had anything to do with it (which they do).

Wonder what that says about their view of their own brand?

Radio's Return On Investment - Better Than TV

Just out: Radio's ROI Advantage

The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab's third major new study in twelve months is now out, "Radio's ROI Advantage."

In a nutshell, this four-advertiser six-month test in "the real world" found that Radio delivered 49% better ROI than television.

The full report from that study can be downloaded by clicking below.
RAEL Research Report: Radio's ROI Advantage (published June 2005)
Executive Summary: Radio's ROI Advantage (two-page summary of the results)

The full paper is a 2 MB Acrobat file which may take a few moments to view or download on a slower connection. When viewing the report online, remember to use the Acrobat icons for saving or printing a copy (not the usual browser icons).

Paragon: Local Contests Work (But Less)

Mike Henry at Paragon Media Strategies: "The appeal of contests to radio's audience continues a slow decline, but for a small minority of listeners, contests will affect the stations they listen to and how much they listen to them."

For more on the study: click.

Better, go to http://www.paragonmediastrategies.com and sign up for it yourself so that you receive notice of future Paragon studies of national radio use.

The study compares national contests to local ones, associations with personalities.

Headlines:

- 14% of all listeners report they listen more when a station that is already a favorite is running a contest.

- 8% of these 404 listeners nationally reported that they have listened to a station they would not normally listen to because it was running a contest that caught their attention.

The sample was 42% male/58% female.

Phone Editing Tips

A MUST READ from Talentmasters' Don Anthony.

Jim Kerr: Empower YOUR Listeners Too

I saw your blog entry about the BBC allowing users to do whatever they want with their content, and it immediately reminded me of a somewhat similar concept that our extremely creative client station in Salt Lake City (KENZ) is doing -- Letting the listeners piece together an artist interview with those predone answers radio stations get on CD from record labels.

Whichever listener does the best (or most creative or funniest!) interview wins the prize.

Heres the link: http://www.1075.com/doityourself.php

- Jim Kerr
Director of Talent & Creative Services
Pollack Media Group/Dallas
Phone: (214) 324-9060

Who Would Have Thought They'd Allow This?

The venerable BBC is allowing its listeners worldwide to take its content .. and then do with it whever they want (within reason).

Check out BBC Backstage!

Imagine allowing your audience to do that with YOUR station or show? Actually, I am not sure that US copyright law would permit it. Ask your legal advisor before trying this at home. But, it sure feels to me like the wave of things to come..

Write A Song Wednesdays

Cliff & Company at KSON, San Diego do something simply amazing: "Every Wednesday - another big HIT!"

Wednesday mornings, we take your lyrics or song ideas - and actually produce a song we can play on the radio by the end of the show! Listen to recent samples!

Go here for more information and our entry form for lyrics and song ideas..
(6/1) Pat Green sings the first line, plus our listeners add more..
(6/1) The finished product..."Morning Person"..
(5/25) Trisha Yearwood gave us the first line..here's "Never Hit On 20"..
(5/18) Joe Nichols gives us the first line, and our listeners the rest...
(5/18) Here's the complete song, "Instead Of Me" (with bleep!)
(5/11) "Kenny & Renee" (Jim Belushi provided a line for this song)
(5/4) "Walking Backwards To My Baby" (first line courtesy of Neal McCoy)
(4/27) Nashville Star winner Erica Jo with the first line, plus listener additions
(4/27) "Sugar Daddy" completed song

A Letter From A Trusted Friend? Or, SPAM?

AOL's list of most frequently-seen junk e-mail subject lines for the month of May 2005:

Who makes the Best Burger? Take our Survey!
3 Steps To Great Legs!
I get cable tv for free!
Great Stock Choice, High Gains This Week!
Join the Neilson Family and Win Some Cool Prizes!
yeee haaa cowboy
better nutrition starts now
Let us Buy you an Xbox 360 or PS3
AOL Investment Pick!
2006 Models Have Arrived

If you or your station is sending emails to your listeners and want to have them opened and read, there are several things you can learn from the above:

- avoid exclamation points,
- make sure your subject line never sells anything or reads like a hype,
- let your loyal listener know why you're writing to them and why they should care about your message (make it as personal as possible).

Nashville Stars' Street Teams - Going Too Far?

You must read Sunday's (6/5) Tennessean feature by Peter Cooper on street marketing being employed, sometimes over the line, to promote (incentivized?) superfans' favorite acts.

Regent VP/Programming, Bob Moody who is based in Nashville and thus got the paper delivered this morning to his doorstep reports: "You should read this and pass it on to your air staff.

"If this isn't scary enough, sidebar pieces that don't appear on their web site are even more specific about how these people make it their life's work to manipulate the press -- and especially radio -- on behalf of their artist."

More from the Tennessean report: SUPER FANS AT A GLANCE

Moody adds: "One of the sidebar pieces quotes a fan as saying that she has ten sign-on names to the CMT site, so she can vote ten times for their awards -- as long as she cleans out the cookies between log-ons. These people may be crazy, but they ain't stupid."

That is certainly not illegal, but, it's a good reminder: be sure that you know how often your researcher is reusing callout panel members and internet research respondents! These folks would love to "game" your music research, for what they'd probably consider innocent reasons..

Race For The Cure

If you want a source of wonderful, inspiring stories of local people doing something important, please click on the Komen Foundation's website and search for your local organization, or just search local news sites for the results of Saturday's Race For The Cure. 2005 was the 20th anniversay year for this event.

Stop, Look & LISTEN

Randy Lane and his crew advise some of our favorite morning shows, and their website is full of great tips and ideas. It is also home to some great examples of radio that makes you want to turn the volume up and sit in the car until the bit is over: "Every so often, Randy and Stan hear something on the air that merits special attention. Here's this month's Audio of the Month..."

This month's audio is an hysterical feature from Kidd Kraddick. Their newest show character Rich heads out to audition for a trumpet player opening and finds out he is not only going to audition in front of the team, but the full TV press as well. The problem, Rich's lips have NEVER touched a trumpet before. This is guaranteed to give you a belly laugh.
Rich Plays Trumpet

Check back regularly, there can be more than one Audio of the month sample each month, like:
Two Guys Named Chris, Bill Pulls His Own Tooth/Crank Call to a Telemarketer
The Barry and Andy Show, Calling Vietnam
The Frank Show, Stagz Diary
The Dick Dale Show, Best Friends

The Fuel Factor

Classic Hits WKLH, Milwaukee is betting that gas prices WON'T go down this summer: "Riddle me this: How can you drive an SUV...and still SAVE GAS? Impossible? Not if you're driving the revolutionary new FORD ESCAPE HYBRID from SOERENS FORD and US CELLULAR! And you can WIN IT during 'KLH's FUEL FACTOR! Click here to see it and sign up to win it."

They Still Trust Us (BUT...)

Despite the recent Newsweek controversy, six in 10 Americans generally trust the media to report the news accurately, and more approve than disapprove of the use of anonymous sources by journalists.

Fifty-eight percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll trust the media to report the news fully, fairly and accurately. That's up from 44 percent in a similar question in a Gallup poll last September, in the midst of the CBS "60 Minutes" scandal, and just above where it was in the late 1990s through 2003

(read more - ABC News)

Troubling stats..

* There's more of a change in whom people trust more when government officials dispute the accuracy of a news report. Americans by a 20-point margin say they're more inclined to believe the media, 46 percent-26 percent, but a sizable 22 percent say it depends on the situation.

* Confidence is not as high as it once was — close to seven in 10 in the post-Watergate 1970's. And just 11 percent express a "great deal" of trust in the news media.

Is Clear Channel Starting To Say Goodbye To Paul Harvey?

.. in Columbia and in Cincinnati, it seems, at the very least. My guess: lots more to come.

Dead or Alive? - Paul Harvey

He's very much alive, at the age of 86. It won't take very long for someone else to pick ABC/Info up, I'll bet.

900 Ideas

Thanks to the folks at Country Radio Seminar for posting this great handout from one of the annual event's most popular sessions:

Click Here to download 900 Ideas In 90 Minutes

It's June in Ottawa

... and you KNOW what that means: ABOUT: THE AMAZING WEDDING. OR DO YOU? (gulp) .. maybe it's time for a quick reminder of COUNTRY LISTENER values cluster groups:

1.Blue Collar Hard Working Folks
2.Family Values, Safe For Young Kids
3.Faith-Based
4.Locally-Engaged
5.Patriotic – Proud of the area and country where they live
6.Do-It-Yourselfer – Home Depot, etc
7.Country Trendsetter
8.“NASCAR Dad” = Fast Cars & Freedom
9.Rebel

..somehow, I don't see "gay guys who want to get married" on that list! (but, I must say that I wholeheartedly congratulate the very couragous Lyn and Alex..)

Add this one to your list of 'things my rock or CHR sister station might be able to do that I can't because I am a country programmer.'

Froggy 99.9, Fargo, Podcasts

.. and they also have streaming video of station events on their website. PD Hoppy Gilmore is always delighted to share, if you have any questions about how it's done.

(More) stunts

From Tim Butler at KGNC, Amarillo: Ali & Tim's Road Trip To Vega

Stunts

Bill Hennes at www.allaboutcountry.com has a couple good ones, done by clients recently:

WUBE Cincinnati Announces Homemade Jingle Winner
B-105 Cincinnati has announced the winning homemade jingle for the Bill and Amanda Homemade Jingle Contest. Vernice Black from Walton, Kentucky won front row seats for the August Kenny Chesney concert.

KSON’s Cliff and Company Celebrates Memorial Day Behind the Wheel
KSON San Diego combined the two big things most people do on Memorial Day weekend, driving and barbecuing. The show’s producer strapped a halibut to his engine block rapped in aluminum foil and seasoned with Emeril's spices and covered with a couple of slices of lemon. Then he traveled north on the 5 from San Diego to see how far he would have to drive before the fish was cooked. The fish was flaky and perfectly cooked by the time he reached Oceanside, about one hour north of San Diego.