Toby Keith's Newest "ILTB&G" May Be In Kansas

A new Harrah's, including a TK restaurant, was one proposal presented to the Kansas Lottery Commission after four developers on Monday proposed their ideas for building resort casinos in Sumner County in south-central Kansas. The commission didn't say when they would vote on the proposals, but they face a deadline May 27.

Meanwhile, Toby is wrapping up his new CMT-produced movie (set for theatrical release on August 8), filming of which started after he returned from an Iraq and Afganistan USO tour and getting ready to tour this summer (starting in Birmingham), so it's as busy as ever in his world.

Scenes from "B4MH" are now posted on Toby's website.

AP: Urban Puts Awards In The Proper Perspective

Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Photo / Reuters

New Zealand-born Keith Urban has missed out on two major Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards amid a row over how the top prize was decided. Urban was laughing when he turned up to the awards in Las Vegas with pregnant wife Nicole Kidman on his arm, but left empty-handed after Kenny Chesney won the entertainer of the year category. Urban was also nominated for top male vocalist, but lost out there too. Still, Urban got to perform at the awards ceremony, and he and Kidman cuddled and looked happy as they posed for photographers before the event.

A beaming Kidman told reporters she is "very excited" about the impending birth of her first child with Urban. When asked if the baby had been kicking she replied: "Oh yeah. Not right now, but it has been."

Urban says the reality of becoming a father only fully hit him when he and Kidman found out the sex of their unborn child, which he would not reveal.

Keith Urban ACM '08 - "Tu Compania"

In case you missed his amazing ACM '08 performance, here's a link to the You Tube video.

Can you imagine being one of those folks lucky enough to be standing right next to him during this incredible event?

Keith Urban is undeniably country's historic talent of ANY year!

"Uh Oh!"

Thanks to talent coach and consultant Doug Erickson of Englewood, Colorado (303.290.8839) and talk radio's Brian Wilson for ths link to Wired Magazine's report on internet TV, along with these probes:

One less reason for your traffic reports, and the revenue they provide.

One less reason for news, if you carried any.

One more big reason for some kind of plan to upgrade your content ASAP.

And you thought your market was competitive already...!

Eddie Arnold Made Chart History Today

In anticipated celebration of what was to be the 90th birthday of country music legend Eddy Arnold, his longtime recording home – RCA Nashville – had planned to approach radio stations with a request: to play the song, “To Life” – a track from his 2005 album, After All These Years – with the intention of earning one more chart hit, and a historic milestone, for the country gentleman who recorded such classics as “Make the World Go Away” and “Bouquet of Roses.” Eddy Arnold’s passing on May 8, just days before his 90th birthday on May 15, brought a special poignancy to the effort, and radio honored the man and his music by granting the Country Music Hall of Fame legend the 147th chart single of his career.

With the appearance of “To Life” on this week’s Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, Arnold becomes the only country artist in history to enjoy chart success in each of the past seven decades. He also acquires the career distinction of having the longest span of charted country singles, beginning with “Each Minute Seems a Million Years” on June 30, 1945, and now with “To Life,” nearly 63 years later.

In praise of Arnold, Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante hailed, “He is one of those rare singers whose voice is timeless … his success on the charts is now the same.”

RCA Nashville Vice President, National Promotion, Keith Gale offered, “We are so thankful that Country Radio joined us in this tribute to Eddy Arnold. We honored the man and his music. And we did it together.”

Initiated by the RCA Nashville promotion department, “To Life” was made available to radio in its original version as well as a special edit that included comments Arnold had made in an interview done for the label at the time of the album. Everyone at RCA had a special fondness and tremendous regard for Arnold, having spent time with him at events through the years, and the RCA Nashville staff was present at the public services held for him at the Ryman Auditorium this past Wednesday, May 14.

Arnold, who years ago earned the nickname “The Tennessee Plowboy,” was 87 years old when his final RCA Nashville album was released in 2005. At the time, Galante recalls him saying that RCA was his home, and indeed, his passion for music-making never faded – even recently expressing interest to Galante in recording yet another album.

Truly a towering figure in the history of country music, Arnold was the Country Music Association’s first Entertainer of the Year in 1967, and in 2005, he was presented with a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. In a career with record sales in excess of 85 million albums, Eddy Arnold earned more Top 10 hits (92) and more consecutive Top 10 hits (67) than anyone in country history. Ranked as Billboard’s #1 country artist of all time, he also earned 28 chart-topping singles that collectively spent an astounding 145 weeks at #1 – an accomplishment unmatched to this day.

Hats off to the RCA/Nashville promo team, who put the above press release out this morning .. and to all of country radio, pulling together to do something truly historic.

Chesney Thanks Fans, But Wishes The "Entertainer" Hadn't Become A Popularity Contest

Over half a million fans voted resulting in Kenny Chesney winning his 4th Entertainer of the Year award tying Garth Brooks' record in that category.

Backstage Kenny thanked the fans for voting for him. But, then he expressed a strong opinion that he wished the ACM hadn't changed the criteria of that award.

"I think fans should be involved in voting for ACM awards, but not for the Entertainer of the Year." Kenny would have preferred tying Garth's record under the same criteria he had won the award. Kenny feels strongly that the award is something that should go to an artist who's worked hard all their career."

Note: Alabama holds the overall consecutive wins honors winning entertainer 5 times.

Reba McEntire rendered another brilliant and often funny hosting job as she led the TV and arena audience through the three hour show where fans were able to vote for Entertainer of the Year for the first time in history.

- A&O's buddy Neil Haislop Backstage At The ACM's (where it was a sizzling 104 degrees outside!)

Can't Watch The ACM Awards? The LA Times Has You Covered

If you don't mind your minute by minute critique of the event more than a little bit snarky, check out Todd Martens' written play by play, Live at the Academy of Country Music Awards!

It's ACM #10 For Reba

Click for Craig Ferguson's show, to vote for the ACM Entertainer of the Year.

A Very Can-ny Stunt By JRN's Danny Wright

JRN's Danny Wright All Night got Dierks Bentley to sign an empty Bud Lite can during a Thursday morning appearance on his show.

Want the can? It's gonna cost you, but it's for a great cause: click here to bid, with all proceeds going to 13-year-old Taylor Strand, who was recently involved in a fire pit accident, leaving 80% of her body covered in third-degree burns.

Dierks played a benefit show for her at the Hard Rock Cafe in Minneapolis for K-102.

PS: Dierks wrote Mr Sad Country for the Anheuser-Busch campaign.

Get Ready To Play Musical Chairs

Citadel isn't keeping a secret of the fact that it's going to flip formats at Dallas' Twister very soon. Meanwhile, Tom Taylor writes a reminder in Radio-Info.com that Clear Channel still needs to find ways to unload stations in San Francisco, Houston and Cincinnati (and fast) to satisfy the Department of Justice, following the news of last night's deals (swaps) in Las Vegas - Spanish adult hits "La Preciosa" KWID (101.9) - and an FM in Bakersfield, in order to obtain classic rock KZEP (104.5) in San Antonio from Lotus.

Radio rule: when anyone in the market changes chairs, that opens opportunity for others to change seats too immediately when the music stops.

Tip: always have your alternate plans in your top desk drawer, ready for action. Opportunity doesn't knock just once of course, but it's always smart to be near the door when it does.

I'm With Dolly (and Jim Carnegie)

Howard, is your satellite audience so small these days that you've gotten desperate?

Free speech is a powerful element of what makes our society as productive and dynamic as it is, but stupid uses of it like this one by Howard Stern make all broadcasters vulnerable to calls for a return to the Fairness Doctrine. Character assassination of a wonderful person is a terrible abuse of free speech. If we want to preserve our rights, we need to use them responsibly, I'd say.

Country icon Dolly Parton is said to be weighing lawsuit to former radio icon and current Sirius yakmeister Howard Stern. Stern and his crew broadcast edited audio of Parton in such a way as to make her sound like a foul-mouthed racist. According to the Associated Press, a 1990 audio autobiography was used to come up with the doctored rant, which played while Stern and cast laughed and made comments as if it was a genuine audio clip.

Be Nice To My Dog

It has been fun to work with PD/Morning guy Jeff Stone and their terrific team (morning co-host Heather Haese, midday jock Yvonne Daniels and afternoon personality Coyote Cain). A&O's newest client station, just purchased and flipped to country by Al Johnson.

ACM 43 Moves To Sunday Night This Year, With Hopes Of Higher Ratings

On one hand, you could call it a surrender to American Idol's drawing power during the week (last's year's ACM TV ratings were pretty good unless you compared them to Fox's that same night), or on the other you could term it a great way to spend a weekend in Las Vegas:

The leadup:

Fremont Street Experience
Friday, May 16th, 6:30pm

Randy Owen will perform at Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is the title sponsor of the two-day party featuring free, open-to-the-public musical performances and boot-stompin’ fun.

5th Annual Motorcycle Ride
Saturday, May 17th, 9am

More than 25 all-star country artists will participate in the Academy of Country Music 5th Annual Charity Motorcycle Ride benefiting the Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund on Saturday, May 17, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the fifth time in the Motorcycle Ride’s history, country duo Montgomery Gentry will host the event.

Artists participating in this year’s event are Keith Anderson, Bluefield, Sarah Buxton, Carolina Rain, Stephen Cochran, Ira Dean, 2 Foot Fred, Randy Houser, Emma Mae Jacob, Jamey Johnson, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Cody McCarver, Jeremy McComb, Richie McDonald, Craig Morgan, Heidi Newfield, James Otto, The Road Hammers, The Roys, Rhonda Townes, Whiskey Falls Tommy Lee Wilson, and Wolf/Hollywood Yates.

The Academy of Country Music Charity Motorcycle Ride will kick-off from the Las Vegas Harley-Davidson, which is the largest Harley-Davidson dealership in the nation. Riders will cruise through the Nevada desert and along the mountains, circling back until they reach Fremont Street, where the ride culminates in a live concert—free and open to the public—featuring past and present Academy of Country Music Award nominees and some of country’s best new artists.

Academy of Country Music Celebrity Golf Classic
Saturday, May 17th, 11am

Rascal Flatts will host the Academy of Country Music Celebrity Golf Classic, a fund-raising effort benefitting the Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund to be held on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at TPC Las Vegas in Las Vegas. The golf tournament will exclusively cater to a sold out group of 100 golfers at TPC Las Vegas, which is considered the home of professional golf in Las Vegas.

Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund’s New Artists’ Party for a Cause
Saturday, May 17th, 6:30pm

Top New Male Vocalist nominees Luke Bryan, Jack Ingram and Jake Owen, Top New Female Vocalist nominees Sarah Buxton, Kellie Pickler and Taylor Swift and Top New Vocal Duo or Group nominees Carolina Rain and Lady Antebellum will perform live during the second annual Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund’s New Artists’ Party for a Cause™ Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 6:00 PM in the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas. (Nominees The Wreckers are unable to perform.)

All proceeds from the show will benefit the Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund. Tickets for the event are available to the public for $50.00 and may be purchased through the MGM Grand Box Office and Ticketmaster outlets.

Fremont Street Experience
Saturday, May 17th, 6:30pm

Sugarland will perform at Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is the title sponsor of the two-day party featuring free, open-to-the-public musical performances and boot-stompin’ fun.

What's Hot, Not?

Although government stimulus checks recently began arriving in mailboxes, climbing gas prices and a still unstable housing market continue to wreak havoc on consumers’ psyches as economic sentiment continues to decline…fewer than one in five (19.5%) contend they are confident/very confident in chances for a strong economy, down more than three points from April (23.0%), 25 points from May ’07 (44.7%) and a new low (for the rest of the above chart, click on Big Research's monthly consumer briefing)

With budgets stretched to their limits, it appears that consumers will be cooking up their own entertainment at home…backyard BBQ's are what’s hot this month…compact fluorescent light bulbs also glow with green consumers. And, while Iron Man raked in the buck$ opening weekend, it looks like it may get a run for its money when the fourth Indiana Jones installment releases…57.4% rated Indy hot, compared to 54.1% for the comic book superhero.

What's Not? 85% of consumers agree…this season’s gladiator sandals should have been left in Ancient Rome.

The National Retail Federation also reports that practicality is in, when it comes to spending tax rebate checks.

Country Weekly ACM Week Headlines

RANDY TRAVIS: “IT WAS A CHALLENGE”
Randy Travis takes on a difficult acting role in the new feature-length DVD movie, The Wager. In this spiritually based film, Randy plays actor Michael Steele, who is nominated for an Oscar when his life begins to unravel after charges of adultery and other transgressions. The actor eventually regains his faith. “The fact that the well-written script covered topics you don’t usually find in a Christian film intrigued me,” Randy tells Country Weekly. “It was a challenge and I learned from doing it.” Randy also has an upcoming new CD, Around the Bend, set for a July release.

JEWEL GETS STRONGER
Jewel currently has a big country hit in “Stronger Woman,” and the singer feels that the video, which evokes historical images, captures the song’s message. “I kept getting treatments that were all about men being no good or unhappy women crying,” Jewel tells Country Weekly. “But to me, that’s not what the song is about at all. It’s about deciding what kind of life you want for yourself.” The story also features some behind-the-scenes photos from the video shoot.

More info from Kurt Webster & Associates PR: 615-777-6995

Guess The Year

I was going through my archives, cleaning out old material and came across this quote:

"Arbitron has named this "the year of the 25-34 male." After their many creative tactics last year "successfully" improved sample return from 18-24 males and Hispanic households, non-ethnic broadcasters in Los Angeles and Fresno, among other markets, are upset about strange results and outright mistakes that make them feel disenfranchised."

On December 29, 1995, Mike Bettelli, J.J. Cook and I wrote a "Share Points" memo for BP Consulting Group (now, Jones Radio Networks) clients that contained that paragraph, a reminder of just how long vexing sample proportionality issues have been nagging away at consistent radio ratings. We concluded that mid-1990's article with a prediction:

"The diary remains the cheapest, most efficient means of measuring radio usage. But, it comes with all the disadvantages of direct mail advertising - very poor response rates and the problems of accurately crediting unaided recall. As long as direct mail responsive people are the majority of the in-tab sample, up to nine diaries can be delivered to one household - for example, a dorm or barracks room with a telephone in it, one person in a family can fill out multiple diaries and give 400+ quarter hours of listening to one station in a week --- keep the name of your ARB sales rep and Arbitron Affiliates Advisory Council member handy. You'll probably need it. Especially if your station targets females or adults 35+."

It's hard to believe that was written 13 years ago, eh? It could have been written yesterday.

From The "Stunts I Love" File

WedFM announced today that it will be having its premiere broadcast for a period of 4 days starting on May 14th until May 18th 2008. The radio station, broadcasting on 100.9 FM in the Greater Moncton area, will go on the air at 2:00PM.

100.9 WedFM will feature radio shows focusing on the bride and groom including a pre-recorded top 40 countdown hosted by the bride and the groom, brief Chinese language lessons, live coverage and interviews during the wedding ceremony, Chinese horoscopes and traditions and a live to air broadcast of the wedding party.

Increasing in popularity around the world, WedFM will be the first specialized limited duration wedding radio station to air in Canada. "We're very proud to share our happiness over the air on this very important day of our lives," said Serge Cormier, founder of WedFM.

"Hopefully, WedFM listeners will be able to share our happiness with us as well". Based on feedback, WedFM plans on offering its limited duration radio station service for other weddings and special events.

With a power of 50 Watts, the maximum allowed for a limited duration special event radio station, WedFM will cover the communities of Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview and immediate surrounding areas.

It this isn't a stunt to help launch a new radio station targeted to young women, it sure could be. If I had a station that was contemplating a change of format, I'd be looking for a couple to do this with .. and maybe even make a few bucks at the same time!

A Post From BCAB: Tod Maffin's Dynamic Future

When I saw that CBC’s National Technology Columnist Tod Maffin was speaking at the annual British Columbia Association Of Broadcasters convention Thursday afternoon I made a point of hussling to Harrison Hot Springs.

Of course, he's a powerful speaker, but what he has to SAY is also mighty vibrant too:

"We’ve all felt it. Emails that pile into our inbox like a teletype machine that never stops. A voicemail line that keeps filling up. A cell phone we’re afraid to turn on. This on-demand world has gotten a bit out of hand. Luckily, tools are beginning to emerge that can help us regain some control over our day.... when you start thinking about how you can make your own day easier — from reducing the chaos of your day and endless phone calls to getting a quick answer from a real human being about your network — you realize the future of on-demand business is, ironically, simplification."

ARB's Patchen Hits A Foul Ball; Randy Kabrich Hits A Home Run

Thanks, Bob, for apologizing to R&R's reporter, but an even bigger "thanks, Randy" for keeping the heat on until ARB gets its stories straight.

As someone who does client station rating analysis day after day, I really would love to be an Arbitron cheerleader. We absolutely need credible, reliable, consistent ratings which demonstrate the power of radio in a trustworthy way if our business is to be viable. These snafus cost us all money.

So, it gives me no pleasure to snipe at the company which has provided the measuring stick I have used for four decades. However, I've never seen such wackiness in all those years of breaking out books, doing diary reviews, interacting with ARB executives.

The under-sampling problem continues…as does the PPDV issue in literally every market I have looked at in the last week. Indexes under 80 are not acceptable or reliable. Therefore the entire Men and Women 18-34 sample is an issue. Not to mention Men 35-44 too, teetering at an Index of 79. This sampling problem continues to grow from just young males a few years ago…to now include Women…and even 35-44 year-old’s.

Think about this for a moment. As a format that targets Persons 25-54, there are 6 cells in the Portland, Oregon, Winter 2008 sample, just as one random example, that are within our target (M25-34, M35-44, M45-54, W25-34, W35-44, W45-54).

50% of the cells that we care about most are under-sampled!!!!!

Want To Learn How To Stunt Successfully? Watch The Pizza Wars

For example:

Pizza chain apologizes for T-shirts making fun of LeBron

Papa John's Pizza issued an apology to Cleveland and the Cavaliers for making T-shirts with LeBron James' number and the word "crybaby" under it. To apologize, Papa John's will sell Cleveland residents a large, one-topping pizza for 23 cents on Thursday. The 23 is an homage to James' jersey number. The company also will donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.

Pizza Hut taught Papa John's the technique more than a decade ago, it seems..

"Advertisers Prefer The Eye, The Consumer Prefers The Ear"

... a quote from Jack Trout, Al Ries and Steve Rivkin's 1996 book 'The New Positioning,' after pointing to University of Washington psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Loftus' observation:

"In many ways the ear is superior to the eye. There is evidence that shows people remember more if they hear lists of words than if they see them."

The NEW positioning: "Marketing people and people's minds are often in conflict. Marketing people love to sit down and create carefully crafted arguments on behalf of their products. They are beautiful rationales to behold. Ripe with reasons, benefits and facts. Unfortunately, today, these arguments are being presented to minds that really aren't up to dealing with all that glorious information. Our perceptions are selective, and our memory is highly selective. Seeing is not akin to photographing the world, merely registering an image. Memory is not a tape recorder that stores information when we turn it on. First, your message has to get by the mind's ‘volume control.’ Then, you must get from short term memory into long-term memory.”

The best way to really enter minds that hate complexity and confusion is to over-simplify your message. The most powerful position statements will be ONE WORD.

Like these: ATT - true. Crest - cavities. Volvo - safety. Prego - thick. Smart radio marketers won't try to tell their entire story, but SIMPLY focus on one powerful non-music attribute - fun, family, dependable, etc - and drive it into the mind.

If you want to make Jimmy Wayne’s day, take him to the Golden Corral!

During a recent radio tour in the Midwest, Jimmy asked the label rep to pull off the interstate so they could eat at the Golden Corral, and we asked the rising star what it is about a meal there that makes his day.

“The Golden Corral reminds me of home,” says Jimmy, whose song “Do You Believe Me Now” is climbing the charts. “Back in North Carolina, I grew up eating southern food, things like fried chicken, greens, beans and biscuits. I usually eat healthy and am very particular about what I put in my body, but I have to admit, I had three pieces of fried chicken that day on the road, but I couldn’t resist it!”

In other news, Jimmy is featured on the June cover of Christian Singles magazine, where we are betting, he doesn’t talk about his love of southern food! -- John Zarling, Sr. Director, New Media & National Promotion Strategy for Bill Machine/Valory Music

Stagecoach Euphoria

"It's something where you can forget about your fears, forget about your personal life and just let loose and have fun."

-- Matthew McKay, of San Diego, wearing an unbuttoned, cut-off flannel shirt, black cowboy hat and sunglasses.

Palm Springs "Desert Sun" Photo Galleries

• Stagecoach 2008: The Rest
• Stagecoach 2008: The Fans
• Stagecoach 2008: The Bands

It's An ACM First: Fans Choose The Entertainer Of The Year

As they say: if you don't (click to) vote, don't complain!

Country Lovemarks

Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising wrote the book "Lovemarks: the future beyond brands" several years ago and has just updated his theories in a new one, "The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution."

A very cool aspect of the book is its companion website, where consumers are encouraged to nominate brands they love and would call their personal lovemarks.

Country artists making the top 100: (43) Keith Urban, (79) Alison Krauss, (93) Reba McEntire, (94) Toby Keith and (99) Patsy Cline.

"At the core of every Lovemark is Respect. No Respect? It’s not a Lovemark. It’s as simple as that."

Put Your Brand To The Test by clicking here

Toby Keith, Hero

People's Eileen Finan broke the story: TK and his USO tour troupe encountered mortar fire while they were performing in Afganistan.

Keith, on an 18-show USO tour through the Persian Gulf, was right in the middle of his song "Weed With Willie" when mortar fire on the base interrupted him Thursday night.

"We all ran about 100 yards to a concrete bunker," says Keith's agent, Curt Motley, who is also on the USO tour. Keith, 46, and his band hunkered down with the soldiers in a bunker about an hour, signing autographs and posing for shots to pass the time.

Ask anyone who has spent quality time with him: Keith does this dangerous duty because of his tremendous respect and admiration for the job our troops are doing.

A Gentle Reminder From Your Calendar

The baby boomers have been starting to hit "retirement age" this year.

On January 1, 1946, an 18 year period known as the post-war baby boom began. In 1946, 3.4 million children were born in the U.S. 78 million babies were born from 1946 to 1964: so, 10,000 people will turn 62 each day for the next ten years. There are 68 million people who are 62+ today, 44 million are 31 to 42 and 72 million are under 31.

PREDICTION: Today's teens and tomorrow's senior citizens are the biggest demo targets of 2008. Common threads that reach both: fun, lifestyle and family.

The smaller in number, but acquisitive age, demos in between feel ignored and misunderstood. Musical preference and attitude differences greatly outnumber similarities. Fragmentation and niche marketing will continue to proliferate, but - thus far - country music radio continues to be at its most successful when targeted 'mainstream.'

Luckily, for country today at a time when our artist base is getting narrower not broader and real 'hit' songs are fewer and farther between, there is more polarity between men and women than there is between younger and older target listeners.

One big change: a song from before 1994 has to have received a lot of airplay in the last five years to still work for you as a cume and TSL magnet if you hope to attract 25-34.

Media Audit: Radio & Outdoor Are No Longer The Only Out-Of-Home Media

Over the past decade, the transformation of the traditional shopping mall has generated interest among major advertisers to utilize the modern day mall as an out-of-home medium, capable of reaching consumers where and when they are ready to buy. Enclosed shopping malls, which proliferated in the 70's, are now giving way to open-air lifestyle centers and outlet malls, all of which offer marketing opportunities such as digital screens and kiosks strategically placed throughout entrances, food courts, escalators and corridors for shoppers to view. Shopping malls also offer advertisers the ability to interact with customers through sampling, product demonstrations, and events.

Data from The Media Audit enables marketers to profile shoppers of local malls and compare qualitative characteristics against other media such as radio, television, cable, print and the Internet. For example, adults who shop Town & Country Village in Houston are nearly three times as likely to be buying a new car, van, truck or SUV in the next twelve months - a figure that is higher than any other media audience in the Houston market except for the Wall Street Journal. Nearly 24% of the mall's shoppers plan to buy a new vehicle in the next twelve months, compared to only 8.2% for the total market. Shoppers of this mall are also more likely than the market to own brands such as Mercedes, Acura, Volvo and BMW.

The relatively small outdoor shopping mall located on Houston's growing West side features upscale shops such as Williams Sonoma, Restoration Hardware and Ann Taylor, appealing to upscale suburban consumers. In many cases, malls like these represent an alternative to traditional in-home media and are growing in numbers. Simon Property Group, the largest shopping mall owner in the U.S. offers more than 2,000 screens in 50 malls for advertisers to air commercials.

Super regional malls such as Mall of America in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the mall complex at King of Prussia in Philadelphia could offer significant reach opportunities for major advertisers. According to The Media Audit, more than a quarter of adults in Minneapolis shop Mall of America most often and more adults shop at King of Prussia in Philadelphia than any other local shopping mall. For more information on local shopping mall data, contact Phillip Beswick.

Courageous Chesney

Not that he has ANYTHING to prove in the "Entertainer Of The Year" category, but Kenny is the front page story in Sunday's edition of the Columbia State newspaper and for very good reason. It was supposed to be a spectacular entrance — Kenny Chesney rising from underneath the stage.

Lots of links to click on via the newspaper's site:

UPDATE: Chesney treated for injury

Chasin' Chesney - Sunday: Wrapping it up

PHOTOS:
Chesney concert
Inside: Fans abuzz
Pirate Island, KennyGate
Spotted: Fan photos

VIDEO: Pre-show fun, festivities

An Open Letter To Saul Levine

Hey, Saul...

I'll bet a lot of us felt the same way when we saw R.J. Curtis' R&R item today:

At Long Last, Our National Nightmare Is Over: You know, the one that's been eating away at all of us since Wednesday, when we found out Todd Baker, former afternoon personality at Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters' KKGO/Los Angeles, announced he'd landed a morning gig that would involve howling but he couldn't say just where? Today, the other paw dropped, and it turns out Baker is headed to Huntsville, Ala., for wakeups at Cumulus' WWFF (93.3 the Wolf). In giving us the rest of the story, Baker enthused, "I can't wait to bring personality morning radio to the Huntsville country audience," and he vowed "not to play the same 30 songs over and over!" Baker will launch his show as a solo act, but will search for a sidekick while on-air, auditioning "everyone interested, from housewives to rocket scientists." Baker says even trained professionals will be considered by contacting morningshow@933wolf.com.

When's the last time that a Los Angeles air personality quit to move to Hunstville so that he could make more money? I know that you have built your stations to what they are today by being extremely frugal, but aren't you billing enough now to get the best air personalities in the country format nationally on your air staff and then keep them longterm?

The more you put into country as a format, the more you'll get out of it, I promise.

Your friend,

-Jaye

Surprise! Who’s Watching What Video Online, And Where

Sonny Melendrez hosts San Antonio's first all-Internet radio station and I have blogged about the fact that his compelling site and email blasts give him a larger audience than he ever had when he was on the FM dial in either Texas or California, but now it's time to pay attention to his success in online video too.

Check out what he's been doing. Try it on for size. Will you really need a transmitter and antenna some day?

60 Shows A Year Is Toby Keith's "Magic Number"

Toby tells Neil Haislop that he used to do over twice as many dates each year than he does these days. He says over the last few years he's kept his tour dates to around a magic number of 60 big shows a year.

"We used to do a hundred or so, in '95 I did 150 shows. But, through the years we got it down to doing the 60 biggest cities and call it good. We try to protect our markets and stay out of there a year," he says so as not to burn out their welcome. "There are some like Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh, D.C. and other places where we had to do two shows at those amphitheaters and we'll have four or five of those that will add it up a little bit."

TOBY'S BIGGEST AND BADDEST TOUR 2008 kicks of June 19th in Birmingham, Alabama. Montgomery Gentry will open for him along with Show Dog Nashville's fresh new trio Carter's Chord, comprised of the three Robertson sisters, and new signing Mica Roberts

Surveys And Soup

Our high speed tech-driven culture teaches us to expect instant solutions and fast answers. From my current perspective, traveling in Eastern Europe it's a bit easier to take a more measured pace and a longterm view on the Cumulus RFP, PPM panel problems and diary samples which are too small, creating weighting factors which are going beyond the pale. (click to read my article on the topic, "Is It Soup Yet? Will It Ever Be?")

Kudos To WYCD, Doing What Radio Does Best

99.5 WYCD/Detroit is throwing a birthday party for injured Capac Police Chief Raymond Hawks. The Capac Chief was involved in a widely publicized gun shooting incident and was in critical condition in a Detroit Hospital.

Last Friday morning on WYCD’s Dr Don Morning Show, Dr Don, Rachael Hunter and Steve Grunwald played the 911 call from Chief Hawks and discussed the events that led to his shooting. They sadly noted that Chief Hawks spent his 61st birthday in a drug-induced coma in Port Huron Hospital and started getting a strong reaction from the audience. Dr. Don said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could throw him the birthday party he missed once he gets out of the hospital?” And, with that, an idea was born.

Over the course of the rest of the program, Michigan businesses and citizens tied up the phone lines volunteering goods and services to make the coming home/birthday party for Chief Hawks a reality. After donating his establishment as a venue for the event, Coyote Joe’s owner Joe Hellebuyck said, “I’m a member of the Fraternal Order of Police and it bothered me greatly to hear what had happened to Chief Hawks. My family and I are praying for his speedy recovery.” Coyote Joe’s is located in Shelby Township.

“The outpouring of support for this brave and beloved man is absolutely outstanding,” said WYCD’s Dr Don Carpenter. “Motor City residents are anxious to show this man their gratitude for putting his life on the line.”

WYCD has already contacted numerous country music stars in an attempt to find one who will perform at Chief Hawks’ birthday party. At the moment, there’s no date for the event. That will be decided once Hawks’ condition improves.

What The US Will Be Doing With SMS Text, The Rest Of The World Does Now

(Photo: me in Sophia doing what I do best) If you have a Bulgarian car tag and you park in any area marked with a blue curb you can text your license number for two hours' parking to be billed to your cell phone.

Then, in two hours, you get a text message that allows you to buy another two hours instantly if you want!

Are you planning ways to use text messaging to make life easier for your listeners (and to make money at the same time? The rest of the world is!

Are Your Listeners So Loyal They Tell Their Friends About You?

I love this poll from Phil Rist of Big Research in Columbus on the political candidates. It seems like a very good gauge of strong loyalty.

The Net Promoter® Score* (NPS) has been called the “ultimate question” that can determine a company’s future. So what happens when you apply the NPS to the 3 major presidential candidates? BIGresearch did just that by asking more than 8,000 respondents to their April Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey to rank the candidates using the NPS and the results were compelling.

Here is how the NPS works: respondents are asked to rate, on a scale from 0 (Not at all likely) to 10 (Extremely likely), the probability they would recommend a candidate to a friend or coworker. 10 and 9 responses indicate Promoters, 8 and 7 responses are Passives and 0 through 6 are Detractors. NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.

Here is how each of the major presidential candidates ranks according to their NPS among all consumers and by political party.

Obama Clinton McCain
All -48.8% -52.3% -56.0%
Democrats -13.4% -10.8% -82.2%
Republicans -84.0% -89.3% -9.1%
Independents -51.9% -63.0% -65.5%

Source: BIGresearch, April 08 CIA
*Net Promoter, NPS and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld

Clinton scores better than Obama among Democrats.

Interestingly, McCain has a better score within his own party than either Obama or Clinton do within their party which may be due to the competitive nature of the Democratic primary. McCain also scores better with Democrats than either Obama or Clinton do with Republicans which indicates more Democrats are likely to promote him than Republicans promote Obama or Clinton.

23% of respondents align themselves with the Independent Party, and candidates are aware that these are the votes crucial to their success. Obama is the candidate most likely to be recommended by an Independent. His NPS is considerably higher (-51.9%) when compared to Clinton’s (-63%) or McCain’s (-65.5%).

To view data tables for presidential candidates’ NPS, please click here: http://info.bigresearch.com/

What would your listeners say if they were asked if there's a radio station or personality that they enjoy so much that they tell their friends?

Will Cumulus Cross The "Bridge"? Or, Just Hammer ARB For A Better Price?

Jim Carnegie's coverage on Cumulus' RFP has been very thought-provoking. They certainly are not the only small and medium market radio owner wondering who's in charge of hitting diary sample targets within +/- 10% (the only margin of error that meets normal reliability standards) and so it would be wonderful if someone new emerged with an economical and accurate measurement of radio beyond the PPM markets (reliability and consistency in those markets is yet another story, of course, but at least they seem to have ARB fully-engaged right now since it's clearly the future of the company).

Question: Where's Dave Van Dyke? how quickly And, could he relaunch Bridge Ratings?

IMHO: Paid Search Is Too Expensive For Radio

... at least that's MY experience. (from the don't believe everything you read department: "Paid Search To Acquire, and Email To Retain, Online Retail Customers")

A&O country radio clients have been experimenting with paid search to build cume and recruit competitive station listeners to try our radio stations and have found the results to be very inefficient. Dollar for dollar, good old fashioned highly-targeted telemarketing and direct mail gets a lot more for the money, especially for a format with specific geographic hot and cold pockets for ultra-core listeners.

Have you been trying new media? (i.e. we love social networking to find and grow relationships based on music affinity, for example) What is your experience?

How To Win A Crystal Award

Take a lesson from the great folks at WUBE and KUZZ. A&O is proud to be in the same industry with folks like THESE! Bonneville/Cincinnati's GM Jim Bryant and Owens/Bakersfield's GM Mel Owens have put together two amazing teams who know how it's done.

CONGRATS to both of them, making A&O and all country broadcasters proud.

Taylor Swift: Big CMT Video Awards Winner

My Space brought her to the attention of hundreds of thousands and then country radio. Kudos to CMT for a great show last night and for giving Taylor her due following impressive success in multiple media.

Hats off to Westwood One’s George Achaves, Lon Helton and Chuck Aly for being there with pens in hand (I loved their 'bizarre juxtapositions" line which could not have been more true), gettng the best quotes of the night out to radio:

• Snoop Dogg: “I love country music. I’m honored to be here. It’s underrated.”
• Joe Don Rooney: “I’m taking parenting tips from Gary [LeVox]. I’m preparing like any first time father -- sweating bullets, eating a lot. I’m eating for three now!”
• LeAnn Rimes: “Yeah, the prison outfit, thigh highs and garters. We’re kind of every man’s fantasy tonight.”
• Tom Arnold: “[Jewel’s boyfriend] Ty [Murray] shook my hand and I think he broke some bones.”
• Barack Obama: “Four words: Treasury Secretary Hannah Montana.”
• Taylor Swift: “I had these hot pink heels, but they hurt so bad. I walked past Faith and told her how my feet hurt, and she said ‘Take ‘em off.’ I actually accepted my award bare foot, and Faith Hill told me I could.”
• Gary LeVox: “The only reason we’re here tonight is because of the people in that crowd. It’s unfortunate that all award shows aren’t fan voted.”
• Trace Adkins: [Accepting Male Video] “I’d like to thank Country radio for giving me my first three-week No. 1. I’ve never had that before.”
• Donald Trump: [To Adkins] “Lose my number.”

April In Nashville: CMT Awards, Gospel Gathering, Marathon + More

AP's Roger Petterson opened up the "Events Calendar" at Nashville's Visit Music City website and (type "music" into the "Event Type" box plus the dates of your visit!) got enough fun events to find his list printed today in a bunch of Sunday paper travel sections.

* On Monday, it's the CMT Music Awards - www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards - at Nashville's Curb Event Center. Even if you can't get in to see the show, it will be broadcast live and will be simulcast on the CMT Web site. And some of the performers could turn up at other venues after the show.

* Nashville music isn't all country. The Gospel Music Association - www.gospel music.org - is holding its Gospel Music Week April 19 through 24, highlighted by the GMA Dove Awards on April 23 at the Grand Ole Opry House. Look for the GMA Week star logo and click on it for events.

* People even run to a musical theme in Nashville. The Country Music Marathon on April 26 - www.cmmarathon.com - features something called Bands on the Course. According to the entry under "Entertainment," 50 local bands will play on 28 stages along the marathon route. And there's a concert after the running. Imagine if they did this for the New York and Boston marathons.

Hot: The Practical Consumer; NOT: The Economy

BIG Research does a monthly consumer attitudes and lifestyles survey and it appears that looking for ways to save pennies is what folks are doing in April…perhaps because cooking at home and “Energy Star” appliances are hot this month!

Bike riding and gardening also rated particularly high among consumers.

The younger (under 35) set still enjoys dining out…women 35+ make Harrison Ford their action hero, while older men are on par with The Masters Tournament.

What’s Not? 80%+ say they wouldn’t be spotted in polka dots.

Dear BIA Financial: "Ouch!"

BIA economist Dr. Mark Fratrik predicts a tough two years ahead:

“Radio has considerable challenges for audience and advertisers, but it’s still viable in lots of places. It’s just more challenging than it was five or ten years ago.”

Good news: many small and medium markets are growing even as the CPP-driven majors are stagnant in '08 and projected to be in '09.

A&O Q&A: Using Your Stream Stats To Learn What Listeners Love/Hate

Q: We have metrics on the flow of our streaming audio audience showing the levels of online listening to the station. Can I use this data to learn about my rated listening as well?

A: You bet you can. Streaming metrics of numerous stations in all three PPM markets have been overlayed with the actual audience behavior as measured by the PPM and the matchup is uncannily similar. So, if you want to know if a specific repetitive and irritating commercial, a new song, or a special event (play-by-play on a music FM) is costing you real audience, just look at your streaming statistics. If you want to know if a contest or prize is working to improve your cume or moving your excisting cume to new listening appointments, check your stream data. Portable People Meter audience flow numbers tend to look very much like it.

Hard Work, Personal Contact - The Secret To Jewel's Country Radio Success

A&O's weekly AccuTest national average client research ranks "Stronger Woman" #19 with 21% of our client stations' listeners still unfamiliar with her song. Meanwhile, it appears that it will rank much higher in monitored radio airplay again this week, according to the trade charts.

Why the difference at a time when it seems radio can be slower than molasses on even tunes which test quite well with our client station listeners (for example, Brad Paisley's "I'm Still A Guy" ranks #6 and Jake Owen "Something About A Woman" is #14 in our national track of client listener research, which is running ahead of their monitored spin ranks, the more normal growth trajectory A&O seems to see and expect these days)?

Nashville Answer Man Neil Haislop found the possible reason: Jewel's personal outreach direct to radio programmers and listeners.

Have to admit, didn't know what to expect when I first sat down to talk to Jewel. After spending some time with this straight-talking, unpretentious star, who could've been every thing opposite, you get a better understanding of who she is, where she's coming from and where the music comes from.

So, it's not so surprising to hear from the label how she's handled her recent, intense radio tour. It's territory she's covered before...and it was tough enough the first time around in the 1990s she says.

“You know, all of my songs were so hard to get played on the radio. ‘Who Will Save Your Soul?’ just didn’t fit any format, and after a year of promoting it, alternative radio finally began playing it. It was just an uphill battle. ‘You Were Meant For Me’ was a simple shuffle at the time of the Spice Girls. And then ‘Hands’ talked about God on pop radio, which just was not done at that time,” recalls Jewel. “As a result of the struggles to be heard, I did more radio visits than most other pop artists. For me, it really took radio getting to know me and hearing me sing in person. I’ve often joked I went from living in a car homeless to living in a rental car and a bus traveling the country.”

Q: Why Am I So Smart? A: (smile!!)

I just started a new occasional blog feature which I called "A&O Q&A." You'd think perhaps I had seen this research or something...

SO. Do you have Q&A on your brand's site? If I was as smart as it seems, I'd recommend you do so.

When Your Local Baseball Team Needs Someone To Sing The National Anthem, They Often Turn To Country Music

Blogger Tom Roland actually did the math on it in the past week: Country music doesn't confine itself to the major leagues, either. Taylor Swift's version of the anthem inaugurated the 2007 season for the Reading Phillies.

Little Big Town, who practically toured ballparks doing the "Banner" for several years, led off the Nashville Sounds' season five years ago. And 15 years past, Vince Gill did the same thing, though he skipped a line of the song in the process, probably blinded by the rockets' red glare.

In Texas last week, Jack Ingram delivered the national anthem for the Houston Astros' home opener. This Monday (4/7), Neal McCoy will do the same when the Texas Rangers open their home schedule. Charley Pride -- who trained, as is his tradition, with the Rangers this year -- sang the opening-day anthem for the team two years ago. During this week a year ago, Clay Walker was voicing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Houston's Minute Maid Park.

Singing is not the only connection country stars have to baseball games, though. When the Arizona Diamondbacks won their first game 10 years ago this month, it was a moment of pride for Glen Campbell, a minority owner in the franchise. And 60 years ago, a pitcher with the Henderson Oilers in Texas got injured in his final game: That guy went on to be a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Jim Reeves.

PS: last year's World Series was over in four games, but in two of them, it was country stars -- Carrie Underwood and Trisha Yearwood -- who sang about "the home of the brave."

A&O Q&A: Q: Do charity radiothons grow my audience?

A: No. In fact they cost you audience big-time in the short term. This is a lesson from PPM markets which can be applied to every market where ratings matter.

A Philadelphia station did a three day radiothon during the Fall ARB and saw its AQH audience literally cut in half the first day of the call for pledges and go down even lower in the second and third days!

For me, this doesn’t mean that you need to stop doing radiothons, since they obviously have a positive impact on your brand, given that in spite of these real losses in listening levels during the event, the diary ratings show no loss in listening at all. In other words, the PPM shows that as many as 50% of your audience changes stations while you beg for bucks, but the diary shows that the sample understands that this is a nice thing for you to do so they don’t punish you for doing it by writing less listening in their books.

Recommendation: rethink the way you do Radiothons. Look at how your local public broadcasters do their fund-raising, promising to stop the drive the instant they hit their goal.

Cut the length of your radiothon in half and double the sense of urgency during the drive for dollars, letting the audience know how limited the time is to reach the goal.

One station in the City Of Brotherly Love tried this and raised more money than they did in the last three day radiothon in just over a day and a half.

Consider placing your radiothons at a time of year when they won’t do ratings damage and will give your normal audience a week to return/recover.

Your Audience Is Highest During Commercials? That's A Good Thing?

El Rushbo is famous for spin, of course, but I am scratching my head over this press release, out this morning:

"In a new study released today, Coleman Insights has found that Rush Limbaugh‘s nationally syndicated radio show generates higher listener shares during commercials than during the actual show. This finding shows that the Rush Limbaugh audience has extremely high anticipation for the show and tunes in through commercials—a testament to his extremely strong brand and the loyalty of his audience."

Hey, Rush: when your commercials beat your show, advertisers have got to feel reinforced by this fact, but I'd say you need to work on your content or watch your brand strength deteriorate! (I'd bet Sean Hannity's show does better than his commercials do..)

Dick Shuey Is Right. Let's Reinstate Hank Williams.

I can't even believe this is a "flap!" Here's Shuey's Opinion on the current Opry flap on Hank Williams...

"It's short n' sweet. We have the Hall Of Fame for the greats....now don't we...??? The Opry Makes the History...the Country Music Hall of Fame is the History. Hank Williams made his fare share of Country Music History and was at one time a integeral part of the Opry making History just like so many other great country music stars.... and his music plays on n' on. Who ever came up with idea to protest on such a cause as reinstatement to the opry for Hank Williams doesn't know much about Country Music & it's History."

Is there REALLY anyone who can possibly disagree with that?

Do You Make It Difficult And Unpleasant To Enter Your Contests (With Lots Of Busy Signals And Rude Phone Answerers) For Players?

Sammy Simpson at Lured.com demonstrates how it's done: make listening and winning fun and easy! Create a social network of your most loyal listeners, folks who enter your contests, sign up for your emails, and your insider rewards program. Show lots of LOVE to your prize pigs!

"It's your own reality show with its own social-network. I launched this site locally for those consumers who are addicted to winning contests. Easy to execute in your city too."

Kagan's 25th: Media Revenues Fragment And Soften

The SNL Kagan Radio/TV Values and Finance Summit today at New York Athletic Club spotlights the outlook for deals, values, revenues, competition and finance across the broadcast landscape.

Our summary table for publicly traded cable, direct broadcast satellite, telco video and overbuild triple-play providers for 2006 to 2007 shows total growth ebbed in fourth quarter 2007 for video, home satellite dish and voice, likely due to overall economic trends. However, revenue/sub quarterly growth was positive for all players, showing pricing resilience.

Social Networking: Can It Save The News Biz?

Erick Schonfeld is uniquely qualified as a former employee of Time Inc. and current writer for TechCrunch (one of the most influential blogs on the Web), to outline the ways in which traditional journalism is becoming more like blogging every day. From Eric’s post: “Just as more and more blogs are building up professional writing staffs, more and more newspapers and magazines are requiring that their writers start blogging….

“Our philosophy is that it is better to get 70 percent of a story up fast and get the basic facts right than to wait another hour (or a day) to get the remaining 30 percent. We can always update the post or do another one as new information comes in. More often than not, putting up partial information is what leads us to the truth — a source contacts us with more details or adds them directly into comments.”

How fast can your news department jump on a developing story, still get the facts right, and involve listeners in the news-gathering process at the same time?

Are You Making Money From Your Reward Insider Points Program?

Take a lesson from the airlines and incent sales to grow non-spot dollars with your loyalty program.

Here are links to a few designed for radio which I like and many, many A&O clients use.

You can also design and create your own as well, of course, which means you OWN the database, which is a more time and resources-consuming way to go, but is naturally the ideal.

These folks do it that way. I have asked them if they'd syndicate it and they prefer to keep it proprietary.

Smart, eh?

"Troubadour": Neil Haislop Reviews The LP Launch From Los Angeles

George Strait played L.A. this past weekend and KKGO morning drive star, Shawn Parr tells Haislop:

"I was blown away by how young the audience was that surrounded the stage cheering for George."

We figured there are two reasons for that. First, after 27 years on the charts, George Strait is singing better than ever, masterfully to be precise, and it shows on every cut of his new album. Also, he's a legend that young folks may come to a show to experience, then realize that he's lost none of his vocal power, charm and natural appeal. Amazing to see.

George also has to be super proud of his new, 12 song album, and says the title song is kind of about him.

"It's the title of a great song on the album and it just kind of f it. It's just a kind of romantic way of saying a singer-songwriter...I don't write many songs anymore, but at the time when I did go to Nashville I did write a few songs back then. And it wasn't really about me but it did kind of go along with what I'd done and so it just worked out that way."

The first single from Troubadour is “I Saw God Today” which was George’s highest debuting single ever – it is currently Top 5 and climbing on both charts.

George says, "I Saw God Today' is such a well-written song, it means a lot. Sometimes we take a lot of things for granted, especially anybody that's had a child. When they first see 'em if they're in the delivery room or not when hey first see that child it is truly a miracle and you just realize that all these things that God has given us and how many blessings that we have around us all the time that sometimes just take for granted if you just step back and take a look around you'll see what beauty we have around us and the things he's created for us."

Strait's "Troubador" is deep in strong material that he'll be able to release for a couple of years. One the SUPER STANDOUTS is a duet with a singer who gets credit for helping take Vince Gill to breakout star status in 1990 when she lent her vocals to his tune, "When I Call Your Name."

Patty has emerged strongly again joining George on a future Vocal Event of the Year winner titled, "House of Cash." We're reminded once again of Patty's status as one of the great country vocalists the format has ever had on this excellent ode to Johnny and June.

George says, "Well I've been a fan of Patty's for a long time and think that she's a great singer. It had kind of been in the back of my mind to sing something with her someday. When we got this song it seemed like the right one and I could just hear her singing it so we called her up and she agreed to do it and I think it turned out great."