Still Passing Out Plastic To The 9Th Caller?

Asking your listeners to drive across town to pick up a prize?

Jim Pattison Broadcast Group's JRfm/Vancouver is doing it differently.

And, as usual with digital, there are lots of helpful metrics that come along with this approach, like:

• 230 people came to the JRfm music store on just one December day during the promotion, which drove impressive page views for many weeks.
• The strong # 1 showing of Chad Brownlee's single, for example, is evidence that Vancouver country listeners appreciate and want to own Canadian country music.

#1's And Recurrents

As Kenny Chesney's monster single remains camped at the top of the charts for another week. Keith Urban and the Capitol Records/Nashville promo team will have to settle for a #2 peak.

One label exec last week pointed out that the Urban will probably end the week with somewhere around 35,000,000 audience and that would be enough for #1 on about 95% of the charts during the year, but not when you're parked behind 'a Sherman Tank of a song like "Somewhere With You".'

Luke Bryan appears to be lined up next for a two-week run at #1 and should he get it, it would be Luke's third consecutive chart topper.

Meanwhile, I just happened to be a part of a conversation between WAXX/Eau Claire MD/morning cohost Alex Edwards and CJJR/Vancouver Assistant PD and A&O associate Mark Patric on how meaningless that all is to radio, since all of those songs are already certain to live for many, many weeks more in recurrent categories.

Edwards pointed out that as his station celebrates another #1 in ARB as the Fall 2010 ratings came out - the #1 we all care about - he is considering moving Lady Antebellum, Eric Church and perhaps also Luke Bryan, in spite of the impending label run for number one, to recurrent given his local research on them.

All are extremely strong songs for the station, but he wonders aloud but what he needs be looking at in order to decide which to move at least temporarily from Power & Regular Recurrent?

• Final Call out?
• Total Pos?
• Spins?
• Weeks?

Patric and I agreed that simply looking at "weeks on" in a competitive situation can be a simplistic solution, since you might move out a stronger tune and leave a weaker one in.

Here's what we all agreed were three things that usually serve to be the best compromise in what has to be quite often a very subjective judgment call.

1. Highest spins in the category...or total library spins.
2. Lowest testing score in category (Patric says he gives each song moving to recurrent a seven week total favorite average score from it's last seven tests before it moves to recurrent)
3. Duplicate artists. If power recurrent or regular recurrent has more than two songs from one artist I'll USUALLY always move out that duplicate artist. When you have one artist with more than one song in recurrent it affects scheduling.

That's how I do it. And, even better, Alex and Mark agree.

What do you do? Would you ever move a recurrent back up to power current?

Hit "comment" below and join the discussion!

Ordinary Event = Extraordinary Results

Team JRfm/Vancouver's Weekend To End Breast Cancer Bake Sale was a fun on-air event that put morning cohosts Clay and Karen out in the community, but more importantly raised an incredible $3500.00.

"Country listeners are community conscious and will help out any way they can, whether its Basics For Babies, Union Gospel Mission or the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. Perhaps they respond to our appeals because we are their connection to the community. That position didn't happen by accident." -- Gord Eno, PD, CJJR

Doc Walker Wins Juno "Country Recording Of The Year"

Vancounver's JRfm helped celebrate the "Beautiful Life" (Open Road/Universal) win after the show with the band performing on the "Love Your Country" Stage, a very happy event.

Morning after reviews of the show are universally good.