Author Archives: Steve Mays

Masthead Images

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A list of masthead images used here at smays.com since we moved to Typepad. All photos by smays unless otherwide indicated:

Town Grill, Jefferson City, MO
Ecco Lounge, Jefferson City, MO
Sunrise Over Learfield, Jefferson City, MO (David Sprague)
Waffle House, Destin, FL
Missouri River, Rocheport, MO
KBOA, Kennett, MO (John Reeder)
Boogie Board Boy, Destin, FL
Sunset, Destin, FL
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO (David Sprague)
Joe Browning, Memphis, TN (unknown)
Delta Fair Midway, Kennett, MO (Charlies Jolliff)
Delta Fair Midway, Kennett, MO (Charles Jolliff)
Stonebrook Acres Pond, Jefferson City, MO
Whistler, BC (Barb Miltenberger)
KBOA Studio A, Kennett, MO (John Reeder)
Church Attic, somewhere in Mississippi (Charlie Peck)
Parking Lot, Jefferson City, MO
Chili’s, Jefferson City, MO
Day Cruise, Destin, FL (Barb Miltenberger)
Mt. McKinley, Alaska (Jeff Bassinson)
PR Technology Luncheon, January 10, 2006, Clayton, MO.
State Capitol, Madison, WI, Photo by Jackie Johnson, February, 2006.
Joe Browning, Church St., Kennett, MO (Photo by Trish Wareing)
Missouri River, South of Cooper’s Landing 5/28/06
Strip Club, Downtown Kansas City 10/21/06
Whiteout, Kim Lang’s back yard (in or near Omaha, NE – March 1, 2007)

Small town radio: 1976

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When my brother moved to Indonesia, he stored a bunch of boxes at our father’s house. After dad died and we sold the house, I lugged the boxes back to Jeff City. My brother and I went through them this week and discovered the treasure above. My hair is gray now and may someday be gone, but I will always have this.

“Captain Banana, who spends most of his days disguised as a mild-mannered local radio personality, will emerge Saturday to serve as master of ceremonies for the American Cancer Society dance-a-thon to raise money for cancer research. The contest will begin at 7:00 p.m.; tickets are $1 at the door.” — Daily Dunklin Democrat, May 12, 1976.

Nursing home to host drag-queen shows

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The first U.S. investor-backed retirement community for gays and lesbians is set to open this week, and will feature drag queen shows and gay pride parades. RainbowVision is a 146-unit complex on the outskirts of Santa De, N.M., and is scheduled to open after Thanksgiving. While there are other gay and lesbian retirement communities, mostly in Florida and California, they are mostly run on a communal basis.

If you don’t want to blog, have a parade. Good for them.

100 Greatest Rock Songs

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Radio Randy insists this list is not ‘his’ top 100 rock songs, just “the most familiar songs of our generations.” He promises to post his list later. Whatever the distinction, it’s a pretty good list. At least as good as Lucas Davneport’s list.

Randy’s daughter, Jessica, comments: I hate to say it, but you’ve got a list full of old white guys in recovery. Oh well…its only rock and roll.

Video iPods peg the cool meter

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video iPodA video is part of most of our presentations to universities when bidding on the athletic multimedia rights. I’ve never been at one of the presentations but I’ve seen the videos. Lots of snap, crackle and pop. In a recent presentation, our guys loaded up some video iPods (the sexy black ones) with the pitch video and threw in some highlights (TV and radio); a bunch of still images and anything else they could get their hands on. Very high cool factor. The university folks can’t keep such goodies but they can auction them off for a charitable cause or something. The point is, something magical happens when people get these things in their hands. The ear buds go in and they are in…the…zone.

Speaking of iPods… I was in a meeting with some department heads recently where blogging and podcasting came up as marketing tools. I opined that you really need to have and use an iPod to understand the podcasting phenomenon. The head of the division was running the meeting and told each of the department heads to purchase an iPod and learn how to use it. Smart move.

Dont’ write Jack off

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Russ Schell says don’t dismiss the JACK radio format just because I haven’t heard it:

“I launched the 3rd JACK station in the U.S. and found it, among the very few I’ve programmed, one I actually enjoyed listening to for extended periods. (It was also a ratings smash before I quit.) Most people don’t realize that every incarnation of JACK is different from another. There’s a very loose guideline, of course, in terms of presentation and production values but you won’t find all of the same songs on JACK stations in different parts of the country. There IS localization. There are collaborations with local values and local tastes when it’s done well. There are “air talents” on some JACK stations and none on others. It’s not satellite, it’s not syndication… it’s a concept, and one left open to wide interpretation. That’s the part that the naysayers don’t get.”

“Your Nano is good. Fine. Excellent for a road trip through Kansas… but Nano is a cocoon. Your own music, your way, without any outside intervention or appeal. It’s limiting in that sense and has nothing more “local” than your own brain and own “mix.” I can talk to myself all day… but that doesn’t make me interesting, challenging, compelling, or unique. Hopefully, somehow, that’s what radio can be.”

Russ tried to post this as a comment to an earlier post that linked to a post by Chris Anderson. (I can’t seem to get comments working properly here at Typepad) As far as I know, the Jack format is great radio. I just have not heard it. So I’m certainly not ready to dismiss it. There must be a place where I can stream it and take a listen.

As for the iPod nano: “nothing more local than your own brain and own mix” sounds pretty good to me, Russ. The good news (or bad, depending on your perspective) is, listeners will decide the fate of radio. If it’s good and entertaining and informative…we will listen. The new factor in the equation is all the choices we now have that didn’t exist a few years ago (Internet, iPods, satellite). Radio had a captive audience… and now it doesn’t.

I forgot about the Mothboard on this topic. The perfect place for Russ to have shared his comments. I’ll have to provide a more prominent link.

Time capsule: October 9, 1984

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Oversold again. Expressed my fears and concerns to Clyde. He feels it is a mistake to turn down business. I say there has to be a “good programming” limit. The newscasts just aren’t good quality programming with two minutes of spots.

Another charming little nugget from my 1984 (first year at Learfield) journal. I believe our newscasts were 5 minutes long in ’84. Four minutes of news content, one minute of network commecial inventory. When we sold out, we “double-spotted” (3 and 2) and got away with it. Not sure if we could today. Note the total absence of irony in my “mistake to turn down business” reference. Was I precious, or what?

Is Jack FM the long tail of radio?

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The main problem with radio is not the relatively small size of the playlists (although that doesn’t help); it’s that music is polarizing–people may like one song but hate the next, so they’re prone to switch stations or switch off entirely. As MTV found out a decade ago, there simply is no single playlist that can keep enough people listening long enough to please the advertisers. MTV switched to reality shows because they’re sticky. Radio is switching to talk for the same reason.

It is the curse of broadcast: with just a few dozen stations in each city, most must aggregate audiences in the tens of thousands. In an era of infinite choice and narrowcasting, such mass-market broadcast distribution–the ultimate one-size-fits-all model–just can’t compete.

— Chris Anderson on the future of music on radio

I have not heard the Jack format and think it unlikely I will. The little nano is getting more and more of my limited listening time (mostly podcasts, some music). I’m even listening to XM less since getting the little iPod.

Cancellation great for ‘Arrested Development’

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Lost Remote offers a fascinating alternative to today’s TV model: “Getting cancelled is the best possible thing that could have happened to Arrested Development. No longer shackled by the whim of a fickle network, “AD” can take advantage of all the technologies now available for video delivery and make more money. The model is just waiting to happen: AD, a pioneer in its style of comedy, should pioneer this, too.”

If you’re in the network business (TV or radio), this is worth a read. [via The Long Tail]