Category Archives: Learfield

Thirty years of election coverage

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The first election covered by The Missourinet (a network owned by the company I work for) was in 1976. News Director Bob Priddy orchestrated that first election night and every one since. Prior to The Missourinet, radio stations throughout the state focused on local races and relied on the wire services for news and numbers from throughout the state.

The Missourinet brought the sounds of election night from the state capitol and campaign headquarters throughout Missouri to the hometown audiences of our affiliates.

The technology has changed… and is changing… but insight and understanding Missourinet reporters bring to their election night coverage remains the focus of their reporting. Bob reflects on the past 30 years in this 10 minute video.

Interview: Dan Arnall, Business Editor, ABC News

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Dan ArnallIn the mid-90’s (1996? 1995) I went searching for someone that could help our our company get online. Websites were a new thing and I didn’t have a clue where to start, so I called Mike McKean at the University of Missouri School of Journalism (not sure if he was a professor back then) and he said he had a student that was really sharp, had his own web page, and might be just what we were looking for.

I met with Dan who told me he and his best friend, Allen Hammock, had a company that could do just what we needed. I think the company was about 10 minutes old at that moment but we wound up hiring Dan and Allen (who became affectionately known as the Cyber Twins) to guide Learfield into the new digital age.

We got wet –like everybody else– when the Internet bubble burst and Dan and Allen moved on to pursue their careers. Dan, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, kicked around in Seattle and San Francisco for a bit and then went back to to get his masters degree at Columbia University.

We chatted for half and hour earlier this evening, talking about his duties at ABC; the changing world of journalism and media; living in Manhatten and Brushes with Near Greatness (John Lithgow and Tony Danza). (AUDIO: 30 min, 10 meg MP3)

Technical Note: After screwing the pooch on a couple of Skype interviews, I’m proud to report this sounds pretty good. I was a tad hot but I didn’t lose the interview.

Google Juice: Blogs

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Because of the way Google Page Rank works, blogs tend to rank higher than traditional websites (whatever that means in 2006). Most bloggers are well aware of this but it hit home for me this evening as I Googled “Learfield” …the company I work for. 105,000 search results. The corporate home page at the top, with the Learfield Sports “home” page (really a sub-page on the corporate site) at #2.

Coming in at #3 is the company blog, GrowLearfield.com. And it’s only been up for six months. Want more traffic for your business/association/organization? Make your home page a well-tended blog.

On a personal note, more and more of the people (from outside our company) with whom I come in contact, have found their way to smays.com. I confess that makes me a tad uncomfortable. If you drill down about three pages (nobody does) in that list of 105,000 “Learfield” results mentioned above, you’ll find smays.com.

Despite periodic disclaimers that this blog is in no way sanctioned by or officially connected to Learfield, I’m “out there” (just like George Costanza’s mother). Sort of like forgetting to remove your company windbreaker before getting the lap dance. You know nobody is looking at your jacket, but you’re aware you have it on.

PS: Yes, this post was prompted by the photograph of two (possibly) fornicating turtles.

Leveraging your customers (fans)

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One of the ideas Seth Godin talks about (on his blog, in his speeches and in his new book) is turning your best customers into marketers. Make it easy for them to tell your story. One of the examples: The Beastie Boys gave digital cameras to fifty of their fans and invited them to film one of their concerts. They edited the best of these into a film.

I’m only remotely aware of who the Beastie Boys are but I love the idea. I’d love to try this with one of our sports properties. Some big rivalry might be fun (Missouri vs. Kansas?). The idea isn’t to get great play-by-play shots, but tail-gate fun, etc. I don’t know what you’d get but you announce that the resulting video will be on the Mizzou website (brought to you by Sponsor To Be Named?).

A lot of work? Sure. Big money maker? Maybe not. Lot of fun? Maybe.

Ivy League Long Tail

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The company I work for owns (leases?) the multi-media marketing rights for some of the largest collegiate athletic programs in the country. So this story in USA TODAY about smaller colleges and conferences turning to the web to to deliver football and other sports, jumped out at me.

“Northern Arizona offered webcasts of home football games last year. Using the four cameras already set up to provide replays on the stadium scoreboard, the school added audio from their radio broadcasts along with continually updated statistics. Fans will be able to choose which team’s audio feed to which to listen. Games will be archived and can be downloaded to portable devices like Apple Computer’s iPod.

This fall, ESPN’s new online channel, ESPN 360, will show 30 football games, 10 of them, involving teams such as Virginia Tech, Purdue, Miami and Minnesota exclusively on that website. The site, available to about 6 million homes, will also have such features as chat rooms, statistics and online polls.

The schools don’t see the Web replacing television. Major conferences make millions of dollars from their football and basketball television contracts, but many also plan to webcast other sports, such as volleyball or swimming.

 

The Big Ten Conference announced plans this summer create its own cable channel for minor sports. The Big Ten Channel also will be available through the Internet, iPods, cellphones and other technologies.”


Note to Learfield Senior Management: Read The Long Tail to understand why and how this is happening and what it might mean for those of us at the “head.”

State radio networks

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I spotted this in the monthly newsletter of StateNets (formerly the National Association of State Radio Networks): The Tennessee Radio Network has 66 full time (?) affiliates and only 11 have websites.

Of all the surveys and data and research I’ve read, this simple fact, unscientific as it is, speaks volumes to me about the radio business in 2006. If every one of your advertisers (okay, most of them) has some kind of online presence…why wouldn’t you?

In the same issue, Tom Dobrez –the head sales guy for the association– writes about “The New Media Blitz”:

“…we are all starting to feel its impact. A trip to 3 major markets in the last few weeks confirms the low level of respect radio is garnering from the nation’s major marketers. It’s just not hip. Its not now its so yesterday. The onslaughts have come from everywhere. First it was satellite radio, then Ipod and internet now its product placements etc. … It will be near impossible to get any media decision makers attention with spots only. The old way we sell it are GONE!”

Here’s my advice to my old StateNets buddies: Go down to the basement…set the Time Machine for 2000…and call me when you get there.

Web Content Strategist

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For the past 6 or 7 years, I have been working with our company’s websites. Sometimes that means designing from scratch. Sometimes we outsource the design and/or development and I manage the project. I support usesrs –internal and clients– on various content managment tools. And a bunch of other stuff. And from the beginning, I’ve struggled with a title for this position.

Some of our folks introduce me as “web guru.” Hate that. Implies a level of mystical knowledge I will never posses. Same for “webmaster.” I’m not even the master of my domain.

I’ve used Online Editor and that’s not bad. Funky Web Monkey and Pile-Drivin’ Digital Daddy are fun but I’m really not funky nor a driver of pile. I fall back on “Web Guy” (Web Boy wasn’t working) from time to time.

Today, I spotted this title: Web Content Strategist. “Strategist” seems a bit grand but I do think a lot about what we’re doing and where we’re going with our growing number of websites. So, maybe.

He left radio to become a clown

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Radio Iowa News Queen O. Kay Henderson emailed this affiliate update:

“As you know, KICD news director Brent Palm left to take a job at Minnesota News Network. His replacement is Tim Torkildson. Mr. T worked in radio 12 to 15 years ago. He left radio to become a clown and ringmaster for a traveling circus. He’s now left that career, settled in Spencer and is starting his third week on the job.”

Welcome back, Tim. I’d surely love to interview you for smays.com.

Former Learfielders meet up at CW event

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Two former Learfielders met up in Nashville yesterday where they were working the big country music event called Fan Fair. Chuck Zimmerman is blogging the event for New Holland Tractor. Ben Krech is a (the?) production director for XM Satellite Radio which, obviously, has a bunch of CW channels. Chuck shares a brief (6 min) interview with Ben. I mention this because they’re friends and because each has moved into interesting new media directions.

Tipping point for blogging at Learfield

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The head of our company made a pretty big announcement this morning, about some high-level promotions. But the exciting thing for me is how the announcement was made. Our CEO posted it to the corporate blog. And I think he did it from Ireland or Paris or somewhere. Now, I’m sure someone sent around the requisite Word document but the blog was the medium of choice for getting the word out to our employees (and the world). The Big Guy could have called a big company-wide meeting or circulated some kind of “eyes only” memo but he didn’t. Someone probably did a news release but even that was something of an afterthought. Clyde’s post is better. It’s a real, live person…speaking in a human voice…telling one and all what’s going on at our company. How hard is that? Damned hard.