Writer Lornet Turnbull really got me to thinking of THE question to talk about at this week's Arbitron Fly-In, arguably even more fundamental than sample sizes, diary measurement or PPM:"We are studying a population that is harder to count than the 2000
population," -census director Robert Groves
Both ARB and Nielsen need reliable census data if we are to hope that their audience estimates in the next ten years will be accurate and representative.
What are we all going to do if any group in the general population feels that the 2010 Census is suspect?
Future budgets .. from advertising to even federal revenue sharing, depend on getting it right!
em to listeners gets a superstar of tomorrow started on their way, or you could play spin the wheel and just expose the whole process for what a joke it is (pictured: KUPL/Portland, making the point - it would be nice to hope - with tongue firmly in cheek from today's Country Aircheck)
Before you get tempted to play the game in any other way than one which is good for your audience and your station, take a look at Tim Quirk's blog and think about all the money which labels will be billing for those other "Too Much Joy"-level artists for their rest of their lives, as they go on with their "career," most of them working outside the music business at normal jobs, looking back at the whole process while sardonically rolling words like “$10,000 Is Nothing” around in their mind for many fruitless years to come (pictured: TMJ's absurd royalty statement from their former label). "How you gonna convince people not to steal when you’re stealing yourself?" -- Bob Lefsetz
Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins, yesterday on Capitol Hill: “you’re better off having more stop sets with fewer commercials in each pod."
"Talk, no matter how big a personality you are, if you’re not absolutely entertaining, is a death knell.”
Many of those are either new listeners or people tuning in at times when they never listened to regular broadcast radio.
But radio has been slowest among the media industry to turn its Internet audience into cash. Gordon Borrell calls radio the "C" student of the Internet. Radio gets only an estimated 2.4% of its revenue from online, while TV gets 3.4% and newspapers 7%.
For the clients that do pay for Web commercials, radio companies haven't been able to command much in the way of rates. Advertisers who buy on streamed radio typically pay about half the rate per thousand listeners that they do for regular broadcast ads, media buyers and radio executives say.
Charitably, I guess you could term that "growth potential."
A clue from one of streaming media's A students: tight control on inventory is one of the reasons Pandora is on track to eke out its first quarter of profit in these last three months of this year, says chief operating officer Tim Westergren. He expects full-year revenue of about $40 million.
Many listeners to online audio are tuning in to Internet-only services such as Pandora Inc., which typically play far fewer ads. Pandora offers only a fraction of the ad time on digital streams of regular radio stations. "They're trying to keep it clean," says Kathy McLaughlin of planning and buying firm Media Spot Inc., which means Pandora can command high prices.
In recent research she did for a client who wanted to target Los Angeles listeners, Ms. McLaughlin found that buying spots on Pandora cost 20% more than buying regular over-the-airwaves radio spots in the city, one of the most expensive ad markets in the U.S.
ARB diary and RAB research for many years has posited that amount of daily time was spent listening to "radio." 
... passed away peacefully at about 1:40 AM on November 28. (1939-2009). He was surrounded by children and his 3 wives, sobbing and laughing while telling stories about Dad. He was incredibly loved, and his memory and spirit will live on in all of us. -- Will Trachman
If celebrities are brands, and brands aspire to be celebrated by consumers, having the wrong celebrity endorse the wrong brand can be pretty detrimental.
each person's five nominations of the five to seven major country artists which they think will be driving cume growth and target demo appeal in the coming year, tab all the votes and announce the 'faces' and 'voices' from a marketing standpoint.
Of course, they also give the listener a big vote too, by ranking the number of artists with songs in recurrent and power gold, according to their local research. (pictured - outdoor for Three Eagles' KXKX/Lincoln)"Toby Keith is a massive-seller in the USA but relatively unknown around the rest of the world."
Can you think of anyone who ever had a single charting in the top five who then released a Christmas version of the song? I can't, and not only is this inventive idea to keep the spins going for a song which may otherwise have peaked in the next week or two, but if you know the history of bonfires along the levee in Louisiana, it even fits with southern tradition.
Charlie Brown's now-ubiquitous "Vox Pro" Apple Mac-based digital editor, that started out as merely a control room telephone editing station has evolved over the last two decades to something less expensive, downloadable from a website to Windows machines and in many, many other ways quite impressive.
its paces as a part of their 1993 simulcast KUBE (CHR)/KJR (70's) morning show (yes, that's how big they were at that time!).
"Our story starts with the CMAs. If you saw the show or read the news reports about last week's mega Country show, the big headline was 19-year old Taylor Swift, who took four major awards, including the coveted Entertainer of the Year honor.
But perhaps the more significant news below the fold was the award for "Best New Artist of the Year" - Darius Rucker. Yup, the same guy who fronted Hootie & the Blowfish back in the '90s, whose fortunes sank quickly and deeply - just like Men At Work, INXS, and so many others.
The difference is that after a decade of obscurity, Rucker turned his career around, addresessed his negatives and his opportunities, and created a Second Life in country music. In thanking the CMA, he commented, "To the fans, thank y'all for accepting me. And I think most importantly, to country radio, you took a chance on a pop singer from Charleston, South Carolina. Thank you so much for that!"
Rucker has learned how to adjust his act for a new market, making him one of the few African-American artists to make it big in Country. And all of this, after everyone was convinced he was a total washout back in the late '90s."
-- Fred Jacobs gets it right and if you don't normally check out JacoBLOG, this is a post I commend to your attention
“We’ve seen an increase in the demand side from advertisers to :15s,” says Pallad. “The thing that makes them most of interest to agencies is that they’re adjacent to content rather than just a free-floating shorter length commercials.”
“'Does Ft Worth Ever Cross Your Mind'? 'Whoever's In New England'? 'The Fireman'? 'Little Rock'? 'Wrapped'? 'The Last To Know'? We're talking classic country from the source,” praises Womack. “I can't imagine a better tour to be on than George Strait and Reba McEntire --- and now I'm not imagining!” Womack added jokingly, “I'm trying to figure out what to wear...cause you can't out-starch George and you sure can't out-spangle Reba!”
Four decades ago, if parents loved a form of music, kids hated it. 
Today, Pew postulates that youth catches some of their music preferences from parents!
And now I'm glad I didn't knowThe way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance; I could have missed the painBut I'd have had to miss the danceGarth Brooks "The Dance"
The New Country 95.3 wants to thank you, our faithful listeners for being our dance partners these past seven years. We couldn't have become Canada's most listened to country station without your loyal support. And while it was a great ride, it's time to introduce the next chapter in the ongoing history of the New 95.3.
And please hang onto all your Country Club points. We'll be introducing a new VIP Listener club where you can put your points to use in the very near future!
I d have to say, after first noting that they were still trying to be "new" even after they were gone, which strikes me as a little bizarre: it was a classy way to go, Corus. Just as Windsor is about to get a new country station, very soon, just .6 mhz away and Steve Kassay and his KX96 crew have already started their happy dance.
What is on the horizon in 2010 for Country programming?
Remember when radio used to simulcast the CMA Awards because there was no stereo TV? Remember when radio listeners asked us not to spoil the awards broadcast by announcing the winners before they were shown on TV?
