Category Archives: Radio

Imus was right

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Thirty years ago (during my KBOA days) I was attending the annual meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters. Lots of big name talent on hand, including Don Imus and Robert W. Morgan. I spotted them sitting at the bar (the Mint Julip according to the bar napkin) and couldn’t resist going over, introducing myself, and asking for their autographs (I know, I know). They saw my name tag and asked me what station I was with. I assured them they’d never heard of it. Then Imus asked how long I had worked there.

“About ten years,” I said. To which Imus replied, “If you’ve stayed at one little radio station for ten years without getting fired or quitting, you’ll never go anywhere in this business. You should pack it in.”

Robert W. Morgan thought that was a little harsh and told Imus so. I made my escape. I thought about it many times over the years and Imus was right. There are a million small town radio guys who lack the talent or the ambition or both to make it to the Bigs. I’m proud to have been one of them.

Music Radio

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The following thoughts on radio are by Bob Lefsetz. I searched –unsuccessfully– for the article or a website to which I could link.

“The only people who still believe in music radio are the conglomerates with monopolies and the major record labels. All the LISTENERS, the POTENTIAL listeners, think it’s a JOKE! If you’re listening to music radio, you’re the lowest common denominator. You don’t have a CD player in your car. Like everybody with any MONEY! And, unlike the sixties, almost NO ONE listens to music on the radio at home. Really. Pay attention. When do people listen to the radio at home. In the morning. It’s PERFECT. While you’re walking around the house, getting your shit together. And, is there any MUSIC in the morning? Almost none. Because the music being purveyed SUCKS! Music radio is a giant sinkhole. I can understand the majors wanting to reduce indie promo costs, but what I CAN’T understand is their reluctance to explore new avenues of exploitation. Look at the statistics. Music radio listenership keeps going DOWN! Kids especially don’t listen.”

Mary Quass on radio and the Internet

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Mary Quass is a really smart, really nice lady that’s been very successful in the radio business. I haven’t seen the full interview yet but today’s issue of RAIN pulled some excerpts from the May 26, 2003 issue of Radio Ink Magazine:

“This (Internet) is the first technology to mean that anybody can have a radio station as good as, if not better, than what’s out there today — and it has nothing to do with a license. I want to be in and out of the business by then… “

“When I go to the gym to work out, you know what I do? I listen to MP3s on my Rio. If I grew up with radio and I’m listening to MP3s, why should we expect young people to listen to radio when their lives are so packed with other things? That’s why, when the Internet becomes wireless, I want to be there.’.. “

“Radio has taken for granted that we will always have 96 percent of the adult population listening to this medium in a week. But we know that response rates and that kind of stuff are declining — not so much because Arbitron’s methodology necessarily is flawed or archaic, as much as it is that people want what they want when they want it.”

“It’s all about the product. If you have a great product and it’s in demand, people will use that product. If we don’t differentiate our product when the Internet becomes wireless, it will be a whole new ball game for all of us. We had better be ready, or the frustration we feel will only grow.”

You think?

Radio TiVo

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“…the Radio YourWay might be the first one that actually functions like a TiVo. It’s an MP3 player with a built-in AM/FM radio recorder that can be set to record at specific times, and can save up to four hours of programming as MP3 files which can then be transferred to a PC when you run out of space.” I don’t listen to all that much (non-XM) radio these days but this is pretty damned cool. By way of evhead.