Found in my archives, a short memo I posted in the control room in the summer of ’80.: Folks, A recent RadioIndex survey7 show the DJ is ver important to a listener’s enjoyment of his/her station. Well over half – 66.5% – said so. The jock is particularly important to 12-17 year old boys, 18-24 … Read more
The Moyes Research company has produced the best promote-radio spot I’ve ever heard. This is brilliant copywriting and perfect presentation. Hear it here.:
At any time, each listener has seven favorite new songs. Everything else in the library is just part of the landscape. Seven that s/he can name if asked the question: Can you name all of your favorite new songs? Seven is the most of any product that can be named according to the original “positioning” … Read more
Going through my archives, I found this clipped from Rolling Stone in January of ’72. Written by the excellent reporter Timothy Crouse, this article was one of the seminal influences on my thinking about radio programming, music selection and also what a frustrating and capricious career I was involved in. I never met John Garabedian … Read more
Four in a single cluster is one too many. Now this is ancient research data on the subject, talking 1980’s, but I see no reason to believe the findings would have changed. The study has respondents listening to an hour of radio and later being questioned about the commercial content. One of the areas of … Read more
Disc jockeys have the mistaken impression that they are only in the entertainment business. They are also in the Information business. They move ideas from one place to another. Commercials are ideas. A song is essentially an idea. DJ success on the air has as much to do with how they are saying something as … Read more
Programming a music radio station is like farming. You have to plant new seeds, nurture and grow them. For us, those seeds are the new records and promotions we play. Proper management of the commercials is akin to proper land management. We must regularly work the garden, turning the soil, weeding and rotating the crops. … Read more
Here’s an interesting article from the local paper in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Arbitron was out of the market for about a dozen years, no subscribers there. Now ARB has been swallowed up by Nielsen and the ratings are back in the city. The writer details how radio advertising has been sold without ‘numbers’. One … Read more
This is the best thought-starter, the most useful think-piece about radio that I’ve seen in many years. If you are a radio pro, or want to be one, you should spend eight minutes watching this one :
As we moved into the 80s, we got some really smooth sounds on the radio. Grooves from Michael and the influence. Disco but not exactly. I’ve been listening to the new Jake Owen radio single “If He Ain’t Gonna Love You” and I’m thinking of Hall & Oates. And comes Thomas Rhett with “Star of … Read more