Watching The Radio

Think about this:

The motor home that has been MY house for the past seven months as I explore North America from coast to coast and border to border has cable TV and can also be fitted with DISH and/or DirectTV.

Those were the options I considered last summer when I left my residence and started the journey and at the time I was aware of, but had never actually used digital television.  Now, I find myself using nothing else (and it's free!).

For example, for the last five days I've been camping near New Orleans for the Mardi Gras celebrations.

By simply cranking up my antenna, I receive more than local 40 channels and since they're all digital, the picture is as clear as any as I get to know each area I visit.

Last week, I watched WZZK/Birmingham's never-boring Rick and Bubba for several days on my digital TV on a Southern Alabama TV station's "side channel."

If you live anywhere in "The South" and want to really hear the values connecting people, Rick and Bubba do that in engaging and entertaining ways. 

Their show website makes it look like they think the majority of their "watchers" stream video on computers or mobile devices and, for now, perhaps that's right.

However, last week, this digital TV watcher "experienced" their show on the very same playing field as GMA, Today and CBS This Morning.

I just looked at the future for radio morning shows - alliances with local TV, thanks to the visionaries headquartered at Summit Media, Birmingham!

Best In Class

I love this job.  One reason:  I listen to a lot of radio which exposes me to lots of mediocrity, of course, but now and than something really stands out.

Like:

• This Killam Properties ad (click Killam Properties.mp3 to listen to it) on XL-96/Moncton.
• I'd bet that hundreds of us saw this item on Taste Of Country.com.  But only the creative folks at WZZK/Birmingham ran right into production and got this promo (WZZK-Luke Bryan.mp3) on the air.

Brilliance is taking the things everyone has access to and doing something extraordinary with it.

WZZK and 102.5 The Bull: Two Facebook Friends Worth Following

Tom Taylor's head: "Cox wins praise for its storm coverage in Birmingham" and a note last week from Townsquare Media/Billings OM Ray Massie "...with the southern storms, it's a great time to watch social media at work. 102.5 The Bull in Birmingham is doing an excellent job on Facebook," it's a timely reminder of the new channels we have to keep listeners updated.

Cox market manager David DuBose: "We were giving street-by-street projections on the storm’s path, and we continued warning as the storm approached Cullman and then into the western communities of Birmingham. By 9pm (last) Wednesday night, with many people hurting, without power, cell service, Internet and TV, only my radio stations stayed on the air all night providing emergency information, opening the phone lines, directing rescue teams to the injured, and helping to locate missing people.”

What's your website, social and on air plan for when the worst happens? Check out what Alabama broadcasters did last week as a stellar example.