Tim McGraw Caps A Great Day Of Golf For a Great Cause

It's the same week as CRS, but if you'll happen to be in Austin on Friday (3/7), here's another place to meet a lot of stars and do something really good!

Four Numbers To Worry About

9. The total number of current songs tested this week by Critical Mass Media for Clear Channel country stations, as reported by Mediabase callout.

23%. CD sales' Soundscan January slump continues on total sales on the "all-format" chart dated 1/16/08, which are down almost -23%. Country CD sales are down -19.8% in the same report.

11%. - the percentage Tuesday's American Idol premiere was down from last year's, in spite of the fact that it was again Number One for the night.

1000. A per person diary value, never seen in the past but now showing up more and more in many larger markets in both male and female 18-24 and 25-34 demo cells, ethnic and non ethnic. Even more frightening, we are now seeing this incredible weighting figure in medium and smaller markets where sample sizes are so small that the key to reliable estimates is consistent sample proportionality. One national rep's researcher says that PPDV's over 1,000 are now "very common. 18-24 is actually not too bad in a lot of markets -- the problem has grown up and now invades 25-34 and even 35-44 ... a big money demo. And, it's not just Men anymore either ... there are horrendous PPDV's with Women too -- specifically W18-24 and W25-34 (not too bad with W35-44 yet .. that age cell problem is mostly with Men). Needless to say, there are markets with huge Black and Hispanic PPDVs as well..." (watch Mike O'Malley's blog for more on this scary trend Monday)

Reba And Hallmark Are Ready For Valentine's Day

Click here to check out Reba McEntire's terrific website.

Sammy Simpson's Newest Idea-Sharing Blog

1. When you giveaway a vehicle, have the dealer change the chrome vehicle ID to match your brand.

2. Turn a grand opening or other function into an interactive event, office-golf.

3. A great way to generate traffic for a trade show or any traffic generating need, longest kiss.

4. Make it a Cinco de Mayo they will remember. Turn someone into a human pinata.

See photos of these and more (including the "undy 500").

Can WIVK Get Garth?

"It has been years since Garth Brooks has come to Knoxville, and now WIVK asks, CAN we get Garth back? We will try to persuade him to come by collecting 20,400 cans of food for Second Harvest, which matches the total number of seats in the newly renovated Thompson/Boling Arena. Once we collect the cans, we’ll do our best to persuade Garth to come to Knoxville for a concert. There’s no guarantee he will agree, but our neighbors served by Second Harvest will benefit nonetheless."

If anyone can pull this off, I'd bet PD Mike Hammond can do it, thanks to the kindness and community spirit of Garth Brooks.

Seattle's Chris Cashman Is The Planet's 'Best Joke-Teller'

Have you heard this one?

Two men are at the beach. One has, like, 25 women swarming around him. The other friend gets jealous and leans in and says, "Hey man, what gives? What's your secret, you know, with the ladies?" His friend leans in and says, "The secret is ... "

Seattle P-I reporter ATHIMA CHANSANCHAI doesn't give the punch line in her story because, a) it may not make the family-friendly cut, and b) it won't have the same effect as when it's properly told, and c) we won't deprive you of Chris Cashman's spot-on impersonation of Christopher Walken telling this joke.

By going to comicwonder.com and searching under "Captainhilariousness" you can find this and seven other jokes, including the "Puzzled Sister" bit Cashman told to clinch his win as the first-ever Comic Wonder of the Year, aka "the best joke-teller on the planet!"

OK, maybe that's stretching it a bit.

"Comic Wonder is in its infancy, so being Comic Wonder of the Year 10 years from now would be more of an honor," said Cashman, 30, the four-time Emmy-award winning son of local TV and radio personality Pat Cashman (of "Almost Live!" fame). "But I liked it as a new site because it brought back the art of joke telling. We all get these e-mails and it's easy reading a joke to misinterpret it."

The title, which came with $2,500 and a T-shirt, hasn't gone to his head. Cashman is the first to admit he's a corny guy who loves doing random impersonations. Comic Wonder gave him an excuse to flex some fun.

Hot: Nintendo Wii, Not: The Economy, "Tights"

The New Year generally signifies a chance for a fresh start, but consumers aren’t willing to put present economic conditions behind them…with holiday bills rolling in, gas prices hiking up, and a housing market without a foundation, only about a third (33.6%) indicate that they are very confident/confident in chances for a strong economy, the lowest reading since 33.4% recorded in September ’05 (post-Hurricane Katrina). This month’s reading is down more than three points from December’s already-weak 37.0%, and almost 17 points lower than one year ago (50.5%).

The Nintendo Wii is what’s hot this month (according to 69.0% of consumers)…charitable giving follows closely (66.1%).

Among the under 35 set, gym memberships and making/keeping New Year’s resolutions are particularly favored (perhaps there’s a connection there).

Those over 35 are likely to line up for the Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman vehicle, The Bucket List.

What’s not?

Although popular among younger women, most feel that tights are a current fashion trend that should've been left behind in elementary school.

NAB Education Foundation Honors Country Cares

Led by Alabama's lead singer Randy Owen, Country Cares has worked with nearly 200 stations to raise $315 million for the kids of St. Jude.

The national radiothon program is aired in more than 100 radio markets, with dozens of country artists contributing to the organization.

NABEF will give its Samaritan Award to Country Cares during its annual awards show in June.

More info on the award: Kristopher Jones (202-429-5486)

Wired: David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars

Click to read:

"What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists."

And, So, We're Back To 7%

Do you remember the promise of radio consolidation back in 1996? The vision was to create cluster synergies that could get radio's share of total marketing dollars up to 10%.

The TNS projection, released yesterday, that radio's share of ad spending in 2008 would be up .7% to amount to 7.3% could be termed the official death knell for the false hopes raised a decade ago as radio went public and hocked stock with promises of new-found growth. Or, on the other hand, given the incredible growth of new media, perhaps it's a vote of confidence in our continued high cash flow biz that we are still holding our own.

I'll take a glass half full, anytime. (but, it would sure would have been very nice if I had been smart enough to unload those stocks in 1999...)

10 Things You Need to Know About Your Listeners

If I could have done a better job than Susan Kuchinskas in MediaPost did, I would have written it myself...

1. They're mouthy.The polite way to say it is "unmediated discourse." It means that online, anyone can and will call you a dog. They also may write you love letters. Those who are passionate about your company will make it their mission to spread the word. So, thrill them.

2. They'd rather listen to each other than to you. When it comes to buying, the opinions of their peers carry enormous weight. According to Deloitte's Consumer Products group, 62 percent read online reviews written by their peers, and of those who do, more than eight in 10 said they were directly influenced by these reviews.

3. They're moving targets - literally. There are now 243 million mobile phone users in the United States, sending nearly 1 billion text messages a day. They're increasingly watching video and listening to music via their phones. These little machines are their best friends - and they could be yours, too.

4. They're snackers, constantly scarfing down tiny chunks of media. They scan the headlines in their RSS reader, tap into video shorts at work, speed-read online news, watch TV shows in fragments on the phone as they navigate the day. Content wolfed down this fast needs to be easily digestible.

5. They need to be free. There's so much free media online, it's tough to get someone to register for your walled garden. Nor do they want to pay for content, with the exception of highly desirable movies and music. As The New York Times discovered, ads can support content better than subscription fees.

6. They love gadgets, even the digital kind. Widgets - those mini-apps that display content on a Web site, blog or desktop screen - are the fastest-growing online application, reaching 40.3 percent of U.S. Internet users, according to comScore. Google's Open Social initiative could quickly double that. Marketers will pile on.

7. They've gotten over the whole privacy thing. After you've posted photos of your water birth right alongside your water bong and videos of drunken shenanigans next to the story of your appendectomy on your blog, do you really care that Google is keeping track of your search queries?

8. They've got game.Over 40 percent of U.S. households have a video game console system, while over 120 million people play video or computer games, according to DFCIntelligence. Increasingly, those games contain product placements and ads.

9. They're video maniacs. Every age group is tuning in online, according toadvertising.com, with an equal breakdown between men and women. The most-watched content is not music or movie trailers, surprisingly, but news (though this is tricky because Perez Hilton counts as news). While online viewers would rather not have ads at all, they'd rather watch them than pay for content.

10. They still haven't found what they're looking for. An iProspect survey found that 57 percent of consumers agree with "search is becoming more important to me." At the same time, offline media is increasingly driving their searches, so cross-media integration is more key than ever.

A Lesson In Buzz: Would You Have The Courage To Buy A Billboard For A Non-Existent Airline?

Thanks to KMPS, Seattle, afternoon guy Tony Thomas for pointing me to this post on buzz marketing in Portland, OR, for the TV show "Lost."

As you can see, it's a billboard advertising Oceanic Air, which is the fictional airline in the series. The billboard includes the website FlyOceanicAir. Of course, I checked out the website and it is for Oceanic, but it appears to have been hijacked by a possible new character for the next season. There's a video message from a guy named 'Sam' who says he is looking for Sonya, a flight attendant who he also calls his "partner".

Sam's video has flashes of another website, Find815, which is Sam's personal effort to keep searching for flight 815, the Oceanic flight which crash landed on the island and started this whole fiasco. That website has a little challenge for fans-- to find the differences in two pictures of Sonya. It's pretty obvious, but I'll let you check it out without spoiling things.While I thoroughly enjoy wacky marketing like this, I imagine that a lot of drivers in Portland fully believe there's a new airline that wants them to fly to Seoul, South Korea.

Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban Add Dates, "Chase The Police"

They did stadiums once before, when Kenny Chesney took Keith Urban out on his Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lotta Love Tour, where they bonded as friends and loved to hang out together.

“Which is why I’m glad I have the ability to play stadiums. It’s the only way that it would make sense for Keith where he is, to be able to come out and do some shows with us. We couldn’t do this anywhere else and it’s something I’ve wanted to do since he played the first stadiums shows with us three years ago. If you’re committed to bringing the fans the best show possible, who else would you call? Keith does it all – and for me, he’s someone I’ve spent time in the islands with, toured the country with, laughed with, hung with, made music with. It’s gonna be as much fun backstage when we’re not rocking as it is onstage – and that’s saying something.”

Urban, equally excited about hitting the big stage again with Kenny...

“What Kenny’s stadium concerts are, is the biggest party you’ve ever been to with the loudest ghetto blaster you’ve ever heard and the audience still singing louder than us. Me I’m just a kid like 65,000 others that are going to run away with the circus this summer. Bring it on Kenny.”

It looks like the number of stadium shows will swell to 10 this year. According to Kenny's label, possibly 9 more beyond the July 26 Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium date on the 2008 Poets & Pirates Tour, which sold out in less than 15 minutes.

LeAnn Rimes will open on all dates, bringing fans three of the biggest stars who began their careers in the 1990s.

Lessons From The Master

Very impressive of R&R Publisher Erica Farber to end 2007 with a profile of one of the best programmers I ever worked for, Bill Drake:

State of radio: Competition is such that today people are excited about a 3 share. There are so many wasted signals. Our policy was, we didn’t go into a market without the intent of being No. 1, period, boom! No niche this or that. And we made it 90% of the time.

What we can learn from yesterday’s successes: Whoever puts the best on the radio wins. Obviously today you’ve got iPods, satellite and all kinds of goodies. There are some good programmers, but some lousy-sounding stations—and some of them have incredible signals. There doesn’t seem to be that fever anymore. I know when we were doing it we were like a brotherhood. We went in to win and did whatever it took. We were totally, absolutely dedicated. It doesn’t come across on many radio stations now. A lot of people just don’t know what they’re doing. Of course, that’s always been true, thank you, Jesus.

CRB's Salamon: Country Faces A Challenging Marketplace

Hopefully, you already subscribe to the Country Radio Seminar update emails, but if not.. here's a link to a must read.

* Radio revenues fell 5% in the third quarter of 2007 to $5.5 billion, the worst quarterly decline in years. The loss is due entirely to decreases in local revenue--which fell 5% to $3.7 billion in the third quarter--and national, down 8% to $1.1 billion.

* 2007 album sales are predicted to be 20% less than last year. Joe Galante, Sony BMG Nashville Chairman says “This year will be the worst year for Country since Soundscan started tracking the format in 1992."

* The song business fared better in 2007. In March the performance rights organization ASCAP announced that it has record revenues of $785 million for the fiscal year 2006, representing a 5% growth, with royalty payments to its members in the amount of $680 million. In September BMI reported that it would distribute more than $732 million in royalties for its 2006-2007 fiscal year, with revenues of more the $839 million, which is an eight percent increase over the prior fiscal year.

* Touring likewise had a successful year, especially Country’s major artists.

-- CRB Executive Director Ed Salamon

Tomorrow's Country Music Gossip Today

(.. quite literally, since Neil Haislop will post this stuff he shares with A&O clients a day early on his public website tomorrow!)

CARRIE AND TAYLOR APPEAR ON NEW YEAR’S ROCKIN’ EVE
For the 36th year, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was the big party in New York City’s Times Square to welcome the New Year and country’s, CARRIE UNDERWOOD and TAYLOR SWIFT were part of the talent collected this year that included co-hosts Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest and Fergie (in Hollywood) who will also sing. Carrie performed her new single, “All-American Girl.” The Hollywood party also featured Miley Cyrus.

NICOLE KIDMAN NOT HAVING BABY OR BABY ELEPHANT
For the last two years, rumors have continued to surface that Keith Urban’s wife, Nicole Kidman, is pregnant...which, if she had been pregnant for the last 24 months, that’s the gestation period for a baby elephant, not a human. Nevertheless, rumors re-surfaced again this weekend that Nicole and Keith are expecting a baby...NOT TRUE, says her Australian publicist. She added, “It is incorrect...she must have had about 30 babies by now.” The rumor originated with the UK’s Daily Mail who alleged that Nicole and Keith broke the news to their parents in Australia where the couple is for the holidays.

The following items are from the Jan. 14, 2008, issue of COUNTRY WEEKLY, on sale Dec. 31, 2007...

COUNTRY WEEKLY’S TOP 25 STORIES OF THE YEAR ON STANDS
In this special year-end issue, Country Weekly counts down the top 25 stories of the year 2007. The top stories include Kenny Chesney’s blockbuster summer tour, Sara Evans’ divorce saga, the return of Garth Brooks to the concert stage and the year’s biggest hit songs. Plus, we’ll recall who tied the knot in 2007, which stars welcomed new arrivals to the family and the passings of legends like Porter Wagoner and Hank Thompson.

TRISHA MAKES COUNTRY HALL OF FAME..AS TOUR GUIDE
Trisha Yearwood made it to the Country Music Hall of Fame...as a tour guide! Trisha is certainly a candidate for a future spot in the Hall of Fame, but the current issue of Country Weekly has the story of her early days in Nashville where she worked minimum wage as tour guide, as she was trying guide herself to a career in the music business. “I probably wasn’t a great tour guide, because I was so fascinated by the stuff in the museum,” she tells Country Weekly. “I spent most of my time hiding out in the movie theater. They had a really great Patsy Cline movie and a really great Elvis movie, and I was a big fan of both of those artists.”

PHIL VASSAR AT HOME
Phil Vassar gives Country Weekly readers a glimpse of his beautiful Nashville-area home, where he loves to kick back and write songs. Phil admits that he’s a regular homebody, despite his normally outgoing nature. “I’m not one who goes out a lot,” he tells Country Weekly. “I don’t like to go to bars and places like that. So I really like to stay here when I’m off the road.” One of Phil’s favorite areas is an upstairs game room, which features arcade-size video games. “Me and my songwriter buddies all get into it,” says Phil. “They like to come over and hang out.” The feature includes stunning interior photos.

The Music City Bowl Looks Like A Cakewalk For UK Over FSU

.. at least, that's how the LA Times' Helene Elliott saw it in yesterday's pre-game write-up:

"In the cradle of country music, where songs lamenting loss and hardship spill out the door of every honky tonk along Broadway, no one is singing a more mournful tune these days than the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles -- or what's left of them from an ongoing investigation into an academic scandal -- are scrambling to fill holes just about everywhere as they prepare to face Kentucky (today) in the Music City Bowl."

Meanwhile, the Gaylord-sponsored bowl's website is counting down to game time.

There Must Not Be Much To Editorialize About In Vancouver

"Listening to country music could be pushing you over the edge?" -- The Vancouver Sun used their ink and paper to air that silly assertion Saturday.

The conclusion of their "learned" editorial?

"...we're not sure if country music is hazardous to your health, criticizing country music definitely is."

Lose Weight, Quit Smoking, New Job

Nielsen says that it's not just you with those 2008 resolutions: In January, consumers will spend more than $61 million on anti-smoking aids, and more than $47 million on diet aids. The Schaumberg, Ill.-based company says anti-smoking products generated 8.7% of annual dollar sales in January last year, while nutritional diet aids generated 9.9%.

And just in case you thought you were the only one ignoring the bathroom scale in December, last January's sales of diet products registered a 91% increase from the previous four-week period. But typically, resolutions are quickly forgotten. After a high of nearly $47 million in January, sales of nutritional diet aids dropped more than 14% to $40 million in February.

Typically, health and fitness resolutions are the most common: myGoals.com, a goal-setting Web site, predicts that 28% of all resolutions will fall in this "lose weight, quit smoking, get to the gym more" category, compared with 27% last year.

But thanks to economic worries, "we expect people to focus a lot of time and energy improving their careers and getting out of debt," the company says. It expects resolutions related to debt reduction to increase sharply as a percentage of all finance-related resolutions (to 52%, up from 26% last year). And it says resolutions related to saving money will rise, from 11% to 24% of all finance-related resolutions.

-- Sarah Mahoney

Trace Adkins Talks Politics In New Book, On Hannity & Colmes, But Never On Stage

Trace on why country music leans conservative (click to read the transcript of the entire Thursday night 12/27 interview):

"...it's just .. that blue-collar connection.... It's Americana. It's the working class, working man kind of perspective on things. But I don't represent — I'm not trying to represent country music or anybody other than myself."