CMA's Board Goes To Washington, And Makes Me Proud To Be In This Biz

While in the nation's capitol for an annual meeting, Kix Brooks, Victoria Shaw, Randy Scruggs, Bob Dipiero and nearly 50 other members visited the Library of Congress for a tour and a presentation yesterday.

"Our strategic mission first and foremost -- it's been for 50 years -- is to promote the format, to promote country music," said Steve Moore, chairman of the CMA's board of directors. Visiting the Library of Congress "is a great opportunity to meet the staff and look into collaborations."

It was an amazing source of pride to be 'an insider' in the crowd at what has become so routine in Nashville, a candid, political, edgy, fun, ad libbed, unrehearsed guitar pull featuring those four as well as Lorrie Morgan and hard-lobbying man, the always political, brilliant and authentic John Rich, be so well-attended by Washington, D.C. glitterati and reviewed so favorably by the Washington Post.

Hopefully, the behind the scenes negotiations on royalties and performance rights between NAB and RIAA will be half as productive in the due course of time.

Country Radio Listeners: More Tech Savvy Than Ever

A & O recently released our annual study of country radio listeners and if you were at our Nashville client seminar, you know that the 2010 study surveyed over 8,800 country listeners--66% of them aged 25-54 and 89.1% P1's (heavy users of Country).

Thanks to Daniel Anstandig for not only speaking to our meetings, but for the coverage in his Radio-Info column this week. "Most noteworthy to country radio operators this year is the significant uptrend of listeners who consider themselves "savvy" when it comes to new media."

>> 25% of country radio listeners in this study reported that they consider themselves "savvy when it comes to things like using e-mail, texting, downloading podcasts, and posting videos online." That's up from 16.9% in 2009.

>> Only 26.8% of country radio listeners in this study consider themselves "below average" on the above-mentioned new media--which is down significantly from 47.4% of country radio listeners in 2008 and 33.8% in 2009.

This year may be a breakthrough year for country radio online. These numbers show opportunity for any savvy country radio station to move into the digital world--although it would appear that any station just getting serious now about new media would be following their listeners to the net rather than leading them there.

At the same time, country programmed internet-radio stations are gaining listeners.

>> More country music listeners are using internet-radio than ever before--with the Albright & O'Malley study showing that a staggering 56.8% of country radio listeners are using Internet-radio at least once per week. Remember that this study is mostly P1's, and it's clear that internet-radio could significantly steal TSL from a local country station if programmed and marketed competitively.

>> The good news for country radio stations in this study: listeners are spending a big chunk of their internet-radio time with LOCAL COUNTRY RADIO STATIONS. This year, 28.8% of country radio listeners are spending over three hours per week listening to a local country radio station online.

>> Furthermore, the study showed that 48% of country radio listeners believe it is SOMEWHAT or VERY IMPORTANT that their favorite country radio station is available to listen online.

>> Most (76.8%) of listeners of country internet-radio streams are listening through their computer/notebook. 5.6% of the respondents said that they regularly listen on their smartphone, and 9.5% on iPhones/iPod/MP3.

>> Internet-Radio causes country radio listeners to spend MORE time with their favorite radio station too. One out of four respondents said that they listen MORE to their local country station because of their internet-radio stream.

>> 92.4% of country radio listeners have visited a radio station's website in the past six months. Their top three wants: Access to concert tickets before they go on sale, country music news, and discount coupons. Is your country radio station offering those three?

Change Isn't Hard After All

If change is difficult for you, or you want your listeners to change their habits/perceptions, read this new book:

"If people hate change, they have a funny way of showing it. Every iPhone sold serves as counter-evidence. So does every text message sent, every corporate merger finalized, every aluminum can recycled. And we haven’t even mentioned the biggest changes: Getting married. Having kids. (If people hate change, then having a kid is an awfully dumb decision.)

"It puzzled us--why do some huge changes, like marriage, come joyously, while some trivial changes, like submitting an expense report on time, meet fierce resistance?

"We found the answer in the research of some brilliant psychologists who’d discovered that people have two separate “systems” in their brains—a rational system and an emotional system. The rational system is a thoughtful, logical planner. The emotional system is, well, emotional—and impulsive and instinctual.

"When these two systems are in alignment, change can come quickly and easily (as when a dreamy-eyed couple gets married). When they’re not, change can be grueling (as anyone who has struggled with a diet can attest)."

In a nutshell: look for, or even better BE "the bright spot."

Practice Makes PERFECT (more steps to greatness)

Radio personalities have generally gotten pretty good at building memorable brands for themselves, and that's what it takes to perform well in diary ratings measurement, but in PPM there's that extra step which can mean a 25% increase in your recorded listening: perfect execution with no missteps. Metered audience measurement punishes the mediocre. That's why this old Fortune article hit me right between the eyes. Excellence is no longer a hoped-for goal, it's a necessity each time you open the mic, produce a commercial or piece of imagery.

2. As you do the task, focus on what's happening and why you're doing it the way you are.

3. After the task, get feedback on your performance from multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.

4. Continually build mental models of your situation - your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the models to encompass more factors.

5. Do those steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional practice does not work.

The Secret Of Greatness

#1: Approach each critical task with the explicit goal of getting much better at it. This is called deliberate practice.

Research shows you'll process information more deeply and retain it longer.

Why It Pays To Go To The Dentist

While sitting in the waiting room, I picked up a four year old copy of Fortune and discovered five secrets to true greatness, starting with a technique called deliberate practice.

It applies to self-improvement no matter what you want to excel in - from making presentations to negotiating deals to deciphering financial statements.

Thank you, (Dr. Vicky LeClair and..) Fortune, for giving me blog content for the next five days!

CRS 2010: Who Was There?

Jeff Walker and his AristoMedia/Marco Promotions crew have created a Flickr album of CRS photos, not just of this year but also for the last few years. If you were there, you'll want to browse and see who else was too!

“Do Cell Phone Only people listen differently?”

Radio-Info's Tom Taylor was in the room at CRS to cover the debate Friday morning:

1. "NO."

Arbitron research guru Dr. Ed Cohen says at a “Gloves are off” session with Nielsen’s Lorraine Hadfield that they’re not seeing any big differences in the overall scheme of things. And that the hallowed “regression to the mean” principle suggests that ass more and more Americans take to depending on their cell phones, “they look more like” landline-only households. (Though one CRS convention-goer points out that means that there might have more differences in the past, as those cellphone-hugging 18-34s remained hard for Arbitron to reach.)

OR..

2. "YES."

“Cell Phone Only shows significant difference by format.” Nielsen’s Lorraine Hadfield holds a very different viewpoint from Arbitron on the subject. She’s there to talk about Nielsen’s “large, reliable samples” and its emphasis on what researchers call “address-based sampling.” “ABS” is a major point of difference between how Nielsen and Arbitron create their samples. Hadfield says the Nielsen approach produces “98% market coverage.” Cohen says “Our coverage, at worst, is about 93%, and Nielsen’s probably about 95%.” Hadfield prefers eight-week surveys with very large samples, mostly once a year in current practice. While in its own diary markets, Arbitron does two 12-week surveys.


Hadfield notes that country radio did very well in the 51 markets they surveyed last spring:


Dr. Ed also showed how national diary intab looked in the Fall ARB survey.

If your local market didn't look that nifty, you may want to ask your ARB rep what the difference might mean for the accuracy of your book.

Cohen outlined the diary survey changes being made this spring:

Country Listeners: 80% Caucasian, But Increasingly Hispanic

Just as Arbitron reports on Black and Hispanic radio audiences, The Media Audit newly-updated national country qualitative study presented this week to the Albright & O'Malley Pre-CRS client seminar shows that country’s Hispanic audience has been growing.

Country Radio: The Backbone Of Rebuilding Domestic Car Sales

Radio-Info's Tom Taylor was in the room yesterday at the Albright & O’Malley Pre-CRS session.

He accurately reports today: The Media Audit country qualitative report presented "should a wakeup call (or jump start, to use another automotive cliché) for sellers at country stations."

With an index number of 125, they’re 25% more likely than the average U.S. consumer to cruise past that Toyota lot and “buy domestic.”



Country radio reaches the most domestic vehicle owners. Country has a cume rating of 14.1 with domestic owners, ahead of News/Talk (13.2), CHR (12.4), Classic Rock (8.8), Dance CHR (8.6) and Public Radio (8.1). Interestingly, those rabid fans of talk radio are near the bottom of domestic car-buying loyalty, at 7.7.

It's Not A Recession For The Average Country Radio Listener

Of course, unemployment levels are affecting country radio user households as much as they are the average American. However, at today's Albright & O'Malley Pre-CRS Seminar, I'll present data from The Media Audit qualitative national averages which shows that our average listener's household income was actually UP last year. (watch this space all week for more country audience factoids)

Neil Haislop: Brad, Miranda And Justin Rock LA

Friday night the second leg of Brad Paisley's American Saturday Night Tour filled up and sold out L.A.'s monster Staple's Center, Paisley received the Super Star treatment he's long since earned.

As he's been doing on this tour, Brad skips the big sound and light show, bang up, whip-em-into-a-frenzy opening that brings most big stars on stage. Instead, he appears in the darkened house, runs down the ramp to the center of the arena, picks up an acoustic guitar and starts the show alone. The crowd couldn't have been any more wildly enthusiastic if he'd kicked off the show any other way. That's because these true Paisley fans knew the singing, picking and solid, record-setting string of consecutive #1 hits this special, totally original performer was about to gift them. They were not disappointed.

One of the reasons Brad can jump into the action that way is because he's always been smart about who he invites to opening his shows, from Jack Ingram, Taylor Swift, Jimmy Wayne, Dierks Bently and Friday night's opener, fast rising star, Justin Moore, who passed on the growing energy to country's kick-butt diva-in-waiting Miranda Lambert.

Justin came on stage like he belonged there, and his well-received contemporary cowboy repertoire proved that he did. He's doing himself a lot of good on this sold out Paisley tour.

Miranda with her rockin', attitude-charged, Dolly-style, independence and irresistible country charm was...irresistible!.. as she was welcomed as the big star that she is...made so by her completely unique, self-penned repertoire, and high-energy, cool chick songs that appeal to chicks and Chucks alike.

If the American Saturday Night tour is coming your way and it's not already sold-out, run, don't walk, to your computer or ticket window and make sure you see it.

The pranks have begun on Brad’s tour as Moore was the first to be messed with this week. Apparently, Haislop reports, one of Brad’s crew guys came on stage during Justin’s set in Fresno wearing nothing but a big diaper, in recognition of Justin’s new baby girl, Ella Kole, who was born last week. In response, Justin decided to take that same diaper and wear it on stage during the encore song “Alcohol”.

Justin kept his clothes on under the diaper though. Clearly the major punches have yet to be thrown out on the road. We’re certain there’s more craziness from the tour to come!

Are You Better Than Safeway?

If you look at the TOP of the price tags of all Safeway deli bakery items in plastic packaging (i.e. muffins), you will see a statement that reads

"French Bread Hot at 5 p.m. or FREE".

Sounds great, yes?

I live on an island where some six thousand tired and hungry folks get off ferries from downtown Seattle between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. Obviously this offer is a great way to get lots of people to come into the store every single evening, right?

Well, that would be true, until you do it once or twice and find out that most Safeway bakery departments have chosen not to have staff on hand at 5:00 p.m. to ensure that the French bread is hot.

Result: free (cold) french bread for ALL at many Safeway stores!

Which, of course, doesn't actually make folks go to Safeway for hot bread, but instead has made them the subject of ridicule in the coupon blogosphere.

Moral of this story: when you come up with a listener-lifestyle driven "hot French bread" magnet of daily usage to your show/radio station at a specific time, that's an exciting thing.

Unless you stand up your fans one time when they show up for your "date."

Portland, OR Radio Gets Proactive, Puts Business First

My Business First (MBF) is a first of it’s kind marketing campaign created exclusively by The Portland Area Radio Council that includes an impact video, webinar, on-air commercials, and website. The primary goal is to show radio’s pivotal influence to consumers especially emphasizing using the internet PLUS Radio together. The on-air portion of the campaign drives the listener to the MBF website. This is the most compelling part of the campaign since it teaches the listener and the prospect by example how combining radio and Internet creates strong synergy for media planning and allocation.

MBF also uses state of the art statistics retrieval and captures real data from online prospects hoping to prime the market, open doors, and create new opportunities as the economy improves. This is the first campaign of its kind anywhere in the nation.

This integrative campaign is the brainchild of Melissa Kunde, executive director of PARC. Melissa is also the host of the free MBF Webinar called “Getting to First,” where business owners and marketers can ask direct questions, learn how to utilize Radio, and get first hand info about integrative radio marketing technology.

“Contrary to media industry myth, radio listening has been positively affected by new technology,” said Ms. Kunde. “Studies show that Radio is an influential companion medium in the media mix. This means people listen to radio simultaneously while on the internet or tuning in with their iphone. MBF not only educates business owners about the value of Radio, it proves by example that when you combine internet with Radio you have one of the most powerful marketing combinations in history.”

Dawn Montefusco, Assistant to the Executive Director, told me that it is "A first of it’s kind radio marketing campaign that includes an impact video, webinar, on-air commercials, and website. If you go to the site, you can check out the impact movie which highlights the new power, and value, of Radio."

Kunde hopes to break-through misunderstandings about Radio in the market. The target audience for MBF is decision makers, CEO’s, marketing directors, business owners and advertising agencies. The tracking capability used for all three components is state-of-the- art using video, flash, embedded web coding, and survey questions to grab the prospects attention and lead them down the marketing funnel. All information that is captured is then sent directly to PARC’s computer system for retrieval.

The council's mission is to promote the power of Radio to create fiscal health for both local businesses and the communities that Radio serves. PARC is also the host of the Radio Summit 2010.

Why CRS Is Worth It

"The greatest strength of the Country Radio Broadcasters and CRS is our ability to bring together the most creative, intelligent, passionate, driven individuals in country music.

"It is cliché to say that 'we are greater than the sum of our parts,' but that is exactly what happens.

"Together, magic moments are shared and the enthusiasm is taken back to our respective companies and shared with those on the front line.

"Success happens when great minds get together." -- KMPS/Seattle, PD Becky Brenner to Billboard Country Update's Ken Tucker

Meet the Family

“The better we know our target, the more we can make them a part of our station family, building loyalty and hitting the target where it lives.” - Phillip Beswick, The Media Audit

So, thanks to TMA, A&O's Jaye Albright will be presenting the current qualitative profile of the country format's radio listener as a part of next Tuesday's Albright & O'Malley Pre-CRS client seminar at the downtown Nashville main library auditorium. The A&O presentation covers an extensive array of demographic, socioeconomic and consumer shopping information.

For example, TMA shows that country’s Hispanic audience has been growing, though the format continues to be 80% non-ethnic.

The Media Audit, established in 1971, is a syndicated, local market, multimedia, qualitative audience survey measuring radio, radio dayparts, TV channels viewed in total and by dayparts, TV newscast viewing, daily newspapers and other local and regional print publications, exposure to outdoor billboards, direct mail and local market internet websites.

This will be the third qualitative snapshot of country listeners The Media Audit has performed for the Pre-CRS A&O client meeting since 2006.

It has been two years since the last update, so we’ll focus especially on target changes which impact sales and programming.

Surprise! The Super Bowl Was Hot

With a record number tuning in for the Saints/Colts turf war early in the month, it should come as no surprise that Super Bowl XLIV ranked #1 in Big Research's list of What’s Hot this month.

Sandra Bullock and Valentine’s Day fared well, too. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and the Apple iPad are highly anticipated among those under 35, while men 35+ are gearing up for the Daytona 500.

What’s Not?

Although fairly popular with the under 35 crowd, 80.8% of consumers are waiting for the cast of Jersey Shore to take their trite talk and tacky spray tans off the airwaves.

Tripp Eldridge: Does "The Truth" Hurt?

At the December Arbitron Fly-In Eldridge introduced the concept of "Moments of Truth" and equated them to a radio listening occasion:

“For programmers and marketers, the "Moment of Truth" occurs at the point where a consumer turns on the radio and (virtually instantaneously) makes the decision as to which station they're going to listen to. We looked at several PPM markets across all stations and found that, on average, the typical heavy radio listener has thirty-one unique "moments of truth" each week. That's thirty-one times where they turn on the radio -- radio listening occasions. (We used heavy listeners -- those who listen an hour or more a day -- because, while they represent just half of all consumers, they drive nearly all (88%) of the radio listening. However in case you're wondering, we checked and the average light user has just 7 listening occasions during the course of a typical week. The job of a programmer and marketer is to win as many of those ‘moments of truth’ as possible and the best way to do that is to win them first as soon as the radio is turned on.”

Tripp joined dmr as President and Chief Operating Officer in 1998. Prior to that, he spent 15 years in product management, consumer marketing, and media research.

A&O is excited that he'll be sharing "The Truth" and what to do about it at our Pre-CRS Client Seminar on Tuesday, February 23 in Nashville. RSVP now!

The Interactive Media Action Plan

A&O is delighted to have Daniel Anstandig, recently recognized by Billboard Magazine as one of the top five innovators in media and the President of McVay New Media addressing our Pre-CRS client seminar on Tuesday, February 23.

“In 2010, the difference between hitting your budget and not hitting your budget will be interactive advertising. Many of our clients have rewritten job descriptions of key managers in the organization, revised bonus structures to include interactive audience and revenue benchmarks, and adjusted programming and promotions to include on-air and online elements together. Program Directors have been transformed into brand managers. Sellers have been transformed into Client Solutions Specialists, developing marketing plans for their clients that include on-air, online, and on-the-go (mobile) components. The bottom line is that we are still in the business of selling access to audience, whether the audience is on the other side of a radio, computer screen, or mobile phone/PDA.”

...one more reason to RSVP now!

A&O Country Roadmap 2010: 21.3% Of Country Listener Homes Have Only Cell Phones

A&O's annual "Country Roadmap 2010" tech and perceptual survey, tracking usage and content preference trends among listeners to Albright & O'Malley client stations, went into the field on January 26 and will continue through February 14. Already, more than 7,000 respondents from almost 100 radio stations all over the U.S. and Canada have completed the survey.

“Based on this partial sample, it appears that the format has positive momentum with 42% of our respondents saying they are listening more to their local country stations and only 7.9% thus far, saying they are listening less,” according to Michael O’Malley, who will report on the research at A&O's Pre-CRS client seminar in Nashville on Tuesday, February 23.

Last year more than 14,000 listeners in the US and Canada took part in our online poll with each participating station receiving breakouts from their listeners as well as listeners nationwide.

It appears that this year’s final sample will be even larger.

Albright & O'Malley Pre-CRS Client Seminar
Tuesday, February 23, 1-5pm
Nashville Downtown Library Auditorium, 615 Church Street, Downtown Nashville (a walkway to the library goes through the Bridge Bar and parking garage)
Open to non-clients in non-competitive situations by invitation only.
Sponsored by Lyric Street Records

"Like The Amazing Kreskin And Seth Godin Morphed Into One Guy!"

Yes, I did say that and I mean it.

If you come to A&O's Pre-CRS Seminar on Tuesday, February 23, you'll want to be in your seat right from the start.

Mentalist/former radio programmer Eric Samuels has been a high-profile player in Canadian radio for more than twenty-five years, recognized as one of the country's top broadcasters. He helped fashion the sound and focus of contemporary Canadian radio through his position as Senior Vice President of Programming for one of Canada’s largest national broadcast chains.

His presentation on how we and our listeners acquire our perceptions and make decisions will be the talk of CRS. Don’t miss it. He will also be opening the ‘Hot Topic’ panel on Friday at the CRS as well, so while everyone at CRS is gasping in amazement, you can say you saw him first!

Albright & O'Malley Pre-CRS Client Seminar
Tuesday, February 23, 1-5pm
Nashville Downtown Library Auditorium, 615 Church Street, Downtown Nashville (a walkway to the library goes through the Bridge Bar and parking garage)
Sponsored by Lyric Street Records

Agenda:

1-1:20 - Tyler Dickerson Lyric Street Records artist
1:25 - 2:40 - Mentalist/former radio programmer Eric Samuels - Keynote on decision-making and perceptions
2:40-3;10 - Mike O'Malley - AO Country Roadmap national perceptual
3:15-3:55 - Daniel Anstandig - Interactive Media Action Plan
4:00-4:25 - Tripp Eldridge - Moments of Truth which grow or lose your listeners
4:30-5 pm - Jaye Albright/Phillip Beswick: Meet the Family 2010 Media Audit Country Qualitative

It's going to be well worth your time and attention! RSVP to Michael O'Malley or me, now.

Livin' Large, Livin' COLD To Help Haiti

Broadcaster lives in hut to raise money for Haiti

It is sacrifices like this (click to watch the video) being made by Larry Wilson (Livin Large Larry), Ops. Mgr./Air Talent for Gapwest/Billings which make you proud to be in the radio business.

Yeah, it's snowy and cold, and that's bad enough.. but he also missed the Super Bowl too! (or is that a generator next to his frosty hut?)

Everybody Likes (Carrie) Surprises

In case you missed it Thursday night in Nashville, click to watch a replay of this clever stunt produced by WKRN Channel 2 on a young CMA Music Festival fan.

She loves the event and convinced 13 friends and family to join her this year. Her only wish in an email she sent to CMA, was that Carrie Underwood perform.

Carrie (around her full Super Bowl schedule) called to share the news with Riley, first. Her reaction is precious. Producers at the studio had tears in their eyes. It has a really sweet emotional quality to it – and they put it together in 12 minutes after getting stuck in horrendous traffic yesterday afternoon going back to the news room. A great buzz builder by the always-engaging Brad Schmitt!

So, yes, I like surprises.. unless it's true that Howard Stern is really headed to next year's American Idol...

It's Time To RSVP

AGENDA COMPLETE FOR ALBRIGHT & O’MALLEY’S 2010 PRE-CRS CLIENT SEMINAR
The event is cosponsored with Lyric Street Records, debuting Tyler Dickerson Tuesday, February 23, 1-5pm Nashville Downtown Library Auditorium, 615 Church Street, Downtown Nashville (a walkway to the library goes through the Bridge Bar and parking garage)

Agenda:
1-1:20 - Tyler Dickerson Lyric Street Records artist
1:25 - 2:40 - Mentalist/former radio programmer Eric Samuels - Keynote on decision-making and perceptions
2:40-3;10 - Mike O'Malley - AO Country Roadmap national perceptual
3:15-3:55 - Daniel Anstandig - Interactive Media Action Plan
4:00-4:25 - Tripp Eldridge - Moments of Truth which grow or lose your listeners
4:30-5 pm - Jaye Albright/Phillip Beswick: Meet the Family 2010 Media Audit Country Qualitat

Country radio specialists Jaye Albright and Michael O’Malley (click on either name to RSVP) are presenting yet another reason to attend this year’s Country Radio Seminar and arrive a day early. The consultants have lined up a four-hour slate of presentations, speakers and special events for their clients who are attending CRS, and now they are opening their Tuesday, February 23 meeting to the public by invitation only at the downtown Nashville Library Auditorium.

Anyone who works for an A&O client station has received their invitations now, and if you don't compete with an Albright & O'Malley client, you're also invited (free). But, you do need an invitation.

Meet Marty Forbes

If you love radio, I know you'll like his blog:

It’s too easy to say what’s WRONG with radio. It’s fun to think about what is RIGHT about the business and there are a ‘great number’ of people working on the next generation of “media.’

A Cautionary Tale

(click here to read the entire story) A former KVI-AM, Seattle promotions coordinator was charged Tuesday with first-degree theft for allegedly rigging a radio contest to pocket some of the winnings, and 14 others allegedly involved in the scam were charged with second-degree theft.

Yes, it's illegal. Of course, it's illegal. But, worse, do you want to see your name (and probably your face too) on TV, on competing radio stations, in the papers?

There's a word for this: S-T-U-P-I-D. Enough stupid to go around, from the top down.

Driving, Looking Only In The Rear View Mirror

There have been many great articles written in the last several years since Arbitron and BBM started rolling out the Portable People Meter in the U.S. and Canada designed to help programmers and personalities know what to do when their station is monitored by PPM.

This is not going to be one of them.

An extensive high tech cottage industry has emerged providing sophisticated tools for broadcasters to study the behaviors of radio listeners as they listen to radio. BBM has InfoSys, ARB has PDA web, RCS has Media Monitors, Audience Reaction and MScore, ROI has PPM expertise, Cornerstone Research has XTrends, Research Director has Instant Answer, to name just a few.

I must confess: I love and am addicted to them all.

However, having spent hours pouring over reports which tabulate and even can play actual air checks as you graph panelist usage, I also have to say that it all comes down to this:

Bill Drake was right; Rick Sklar was correct; Chuck Blore got it; Mike Joseph understood, to name just s few of radio's very best and most successful programmers.

More than that, they created stations that executed 24/7 like the legends they have become. I bet they’d all do just fine in PPM measurement.

A great programmer intuitively recognizes entertaining, compelling, interesting, engaging, don’t-miss-a-minute radio when she/he hears it.

The trick is not analyzing it, but teaching, training, motivating talent to do it so consistently that listeners notice and a station becomes famous for it, which drives regular usage – several times a day, more days per week than its competition.

If you doubt it, then you absolutely need to get the analytical tools and spend the many hours it will take you to compare what average listeners are doing while we do what we do.

After all, there are only four possible actions as you listen to the radio:

1) turn a station on,
2) turn a station off,
3) change from a station to another one or
4) change from a different station to yours.

All the technology which PPM has enabled, at this point, still makes you wait from eight days to as much as five weeks to compare what radio did to what listeners did.

Perhaps the reason for that lag time is because the suppliers and ratings companies are fearful that we can’t handle to watch it in real time as yet, but you know that day is coming.

There’s no need to wait for that event. I can tell you what you’ll find out:

• Radio listeners love interesting personalities who never bore them, relate to their lives, make them feel connected and never waste their time, who talk to one person about common concerns, not about themselves.
• They want to feel up to date.
• Almost half of them change stations or turn the radio off when irritating commercials which insult their intelligence come on.
• They listen longer and more often to radio stations which they can count on to play fewer commercials than more cluttered ones.
• They like their favorite songs. The change stations when ones they dislike come on.
• They hit their presets when it sounds like a station is taking a break of any kind from what they enjoy for something (anything) else.
• The more entertainment value they receive for time spent the more regularly they come back to a personality or station.

Luckily for all of us, we already have two very useful pieces of equipment which can help improve a station’s performance in PPM, diaries, phone surveys or whatever methods media buyers use to evaluate as they spend their dollars.

Ears.

Use them.

Listen objectively to your station with the same critical thinking skills that radio’s most skillful programming executives have always employed.

You don’t need a device to measure whether your brand is so strong that lots of people have high expectations when they turn to your place on the dial and your implementation is so consistent that you never fail to exceed them.

You do need a person with judgment, communication, the ability to prioritize and motivational skills as well as the strength to fight for the needs of the listener.

Someone who is able to see what’s ahead, on both sides of you as well as what happened last week or last month.

Someone who doesn’t just call him/her self a Program Director, but is one.

Everything A Personality Or Programmer Needs To Know About PPM Has Already Been Written

Naw, of course NOT. But, here are a few very good reads on the topic (click the name to view their contribution to the dialogue):

• Richard Harker and Glenda Shrader
• Sean Ross
• Steve Dahl
• Randall Bloomquist
• Neal Bocian

Yes, as you'd imagine, I do have something to add. I'll post it Tuesday morning at 6:00 am.

Predictions That You Can Be Sure Are 100% Currect = Demographics

.. because the births which drive them have already happened.

The baby boom turns 64 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 64 each day for the next ten years.

There are 68 million people who are 65+ today, 44 million are 33 to 44 and 72 million are under 32 (some would draw the cohort line a year or two younger than that today, calling them Millenials and positing that their defining years were the turn of the new century and 9/11).

Today's Gen Y and senior citizens are the biggest demo targets of 2010.

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.

Finding common passions for Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts fans versus those who prefer Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn and George Strait is going to get to the point that it may become impossible soon.

Kaiser: MP3 Players (41 minutes a day) #1 With Teens, Radio And Their Comupter #2 (32 Minutes Per Day)

The transformation of the cell phone into a media content delivery platform, and the widespread adoption of the iPod and other MP3 devices, have facilitated an explosion in media consumption among American youth. players.

A national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that with technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth.

Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds is the third in a series of large-scale, nationally representative surveys by the Foundation about young people's media use. It includes data from all three waves of the study (1999, 2004, and 2009), and is among the largest and most comprehensive publicly available sources of information about media use among American youth.

Free Nashville Concert For McGraw-Paltrow Flick (But, No Tim Performance)

A concert that is being filmed for the new country music movie Love Don’t Let Me Down, starring Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow and the public is invited (free).

The show and filming take place Tuesday, Feb. 2, at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. Extras should plan to stay from 4-11 PM.

McGraw will welcome the crowd but will not perform, since the scene being filmed is the big comeback concert of Paltrow’s character, superstar “Kelly Canter.”

Playing Kelly’s opening acts are Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy). The music being used is by Nashville tunesmiths. The Lost Trailers will also entertain fans with an acoustic set.

Admission is free and participants must be at least 18 years old. E-mail to request tickets. Concertgoers are encouraged to donate new or slightly worn shoes for Soles4Soul’s Haitian relief efforts.

Taking Attendance In Baltimore

George Strait and Reba kicked off their co-headlining arena tour with Lee Ann Womack Friday night in Baltimore.

A Washington Post photographer and of course radio was there, but didn't any of the local papers or TV stations send a music reviewer? I guess that means they knew it would be a great show.

Many people may think this is the first time the superstars have toured together, but they actually shared the stage in the early 1980s, opening for Conway Twitty. We asked Reba what she remembers about that early tour together. “The first time George and I toured together was in the early 80s, opening the show for Conway Twitty,” notes Reba. “One weekend of the tour, I had flown into the city we were playing instead of riding the bus with the band and crew. I got a call from my tour manager and he said the bus had broken down and they were renting a school bus to get to the show. I asked them to be sure and get me an outfit out of my stateroom so I’d have something to wear at the concert that night. When we all met up at the show, they had gotten all the equipment, band gear, everything they needed to put on a show…except an outfit for me! I had to wear the same clothes I had flown in all day! George invited me to ride on his bus the next day. I sure enjoyed visiting with George and his group.” Needless to say, thankfully, Reba’s not having to worry about a bus breakdown this time around! -John Zarling, Valory Music Co.

What To Do When A Label Promotes Radio On NOT Playing A Song?

Music discovery still drives a lot of radio usage, so smart programmers aggressively play defense anytime another station or medium grabs a hot, new buzz track. Of course, you want your listeners to feel that they hear everything they might possibly love from your station, so they never need to worry that they might be missing anything during the time they spend with you.

Playing everything, obviously, isn't the way to do that. Judgment is part of a smart programmer's daily toolkit and choices must be made.

As record labels lose the highly-profitable CD album as their revenue source, they are trying alternative marketing techniques, many flying below the radar so as to avoid fan confusion on which of multiple current releases is "the hit."

Joe Nichols' label has been asking radio to play one song, an upbeat novelty, while Joe has been on TV talk shows, the video channels, online and in his concerts performing a very moving personal narrative which his fans have been calling radio, requesting.

Kenny Chesney cut a hot, fun tune for ESPN last fall that was released as a single to iTunes and other music download sites in December, just as his label is imploring radio to wait until Monday, February 8, for the release to radio of "Ain't Back Yet", which is from his 3D movie retrospective of last summer's arena tour. What listener wouldn't expect to hear both of them on their favorite country station?

Not to be outdone, with her benefit telethon performance last night, Taylor Swift added a critically-acclaimed possible third new song for radio to be playing today "Breathless," originally recorded by Better Than Ezra (and of course every song on the Haiti fund raiser is also available on iTunes too).

Add that to her new album's title cut, which is being promoted to radio and also her song from a new movie which she's doing on TV trailers and appearances, and just debuted at #1 on iTunes only last week.

Whew!

When does "music discovery defense" end and total confusion begin?

With radio playing 20 to 30 currents these days (except for the first hour of the four hour countdown shows), certainly we can't expose half of them by just three or four superstars (or can we? You'd probably lose your reporting status if you did try that, a fate - some seem to feel - that is the same thing as becoming completely invisible).

Programming has always been about figuring out what listeners care most about right now and prioritizing/reflecting those values in the most entertaining ways. There's too much going on every day to expose and talk about, let alone play, everything.

Great radio makes life simpler for listeners by filtering what they want and need to know about.

Winning radio makes the right choices.

Seemingly, never more so than right now.