Get to the real decision in CMR sales...

I've learned a few things in sales the past few weeks, it's important to get to the person that makes the final decision first. I'm real product sensitive and to pitch a go between person really puts you in a time bind. You make the appointment, talk to them about your product and find out they have to talk to another manager and in most cases, the owner. 

The goal is to eliminate to go between client and get right to the main person. They are never going to be as passionate as you in pitching the product. 9 times out 10 they will leave the material on the higher ups desk and not even mention the appointment or they might go over s small part of it: The price point without fundamental reasons why.

CMR AE's should make it a point to contact the main decision maker to talk about the station and the benefits of  an advertising package.

15 Year Old Social Media Sensation Mary Sarah WOWS Crowd During Oak Ridge Concert

Last night in Galveston 15 Year Old Mary Sarah mesmerized the crowd when she sang an A capella version of Where The Boys Are. Keep your eyes on Mary Sarah, only 15 years old, but as you’ll see from this video, her stage presence is already light years ahead of her age.

To learn more about Mary, visit her website at MarySarah.com, and you can follow her on Twitter @MarySarahMusic.

Real Country Music from Radio-Info

I cam across this posting from RADIO-INFO under COUNTRY MUSIC:

I wonder if a new Country network could be formed that would push nothing but real country music.  Something that would give the music industry a chance to revive country music and radio stations that wish to play country music an outlet to do so, I guess they would have to call real country music since today's so called country music is so messed up and blured, mixed, screwed up with other types of music that there is very little country music left in it at least on the radio and TV.  

Sunday Driving with KRIScountry.com's Kris Daniels

I have known Kris Daniels long enough to have laughed, cried, fought, made up, cried, laughed, and loved always. Sounds like a country song, right.

With over 16 years experience as an On-Air Radio Personality, Kris is originally from Scottsdale, Arizona. She has three children and is happily married to the love of her life! If you didn't know already, Kris Daniels is the daughter of Country Music Radio Legend Larry Daniels.

Describing Krissy, well she loves to shop and is an amazing cook. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the family, if you can figure out a way to add poker to that she is heaven! What you might not know about this drop dead knockout woman is that she is actually a tomboy.

Currently she lives in Louisville Kentucky where she is the morning show of New Country Q103.1 and Music Director for  WQNU (NEW COUNTRY Q-103.1)/LOUISVILLE and Country WHKO(K99.1FM)/DAYTON, OH. She is also co-creator of KRIScountry.com "your #1 resource for ALL things Country Music!"

More good stuff for your job search...

Achieve your goal of self-employment!

Staff Writer, The Career News

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN -- Do you have multiple talents? I'm sure you do! You can probably keep yourself as busy as you want to be. With the right foundation of planning and information gathering, you can easily plan and implement your new career and achieve your goal of self-employment this year.

It used to be possible that if you worked hard and hung in there, then eventually, you'd be recognized for your efforts and rewarded in your career. However for hundreds of thousands of Americans this hasn't been the case for quite some time. And no one is exempt. From entry-level workers on up to middle managers and executives, individuals find themselves missing rungs on their corporate ladder, or worse, downsized.

Make sure your sales staffs read this one!

Top Five Digital Excuses from Radio Sellers

Forty weeks out of the year, I am on the road visiting markets large and small to work with media companies that are making moves forward into the digital marketing space.

Now and then, I'll encounter a Sales Manager or Account Executive who is being dragged along for the ride with the company's digital ambitions. I enjoy these encounters because the conversations they spark are critical to turning a "legacy" operation into a digital-age operation. The only way for us to get past the objections of our clients is to get real about our own objections and barriers to understanding digital.

I am on Facebook and Twitter...Now What?

This past week I spoke at Texas Music Seminar's "I made a Record...Now What?" 
The topic of my presentation was using Social Media strategically to accomplish productivity goals and the focus was for a musician or music industry professional.
Applying some of what I spoke about to radio here are a couple take home ideas.

Sometimes, the hardest part about Social Media is determining what and more importantly when to post.

If you are a casual, ‘just having fun’ Social Media user than disregard this post….however if you are using Social Media strategically to accomplish productivity goals then here are a few ideas:

Stop morning shows from phoning it in...

You would be surprised at the amount of CMR morning shows who are "phoning it in". Meaning, they come in, ride the crest of a few things to talk about, mainly personal interactions with team members that serve no purpose, stretching liners for promotions into content, anchoring in music information and styles and generally no real direction. The big problem here, managers and even some program directors don't see and hear this. Manager's love morning shows who might not be audience anchored, but clients love. Programmers don't want to rock the boat. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

Does anyone care to the point they use too? Or do they just don't care!

Use to be, in the 70's and 80's in radio, you didn't work in this business unless you paid your dues, wanted to be at the prospective station and cared enough to do the job 175%. We never worried about economics, managers and sales managers never mingled, they were always gone selling and making bank for the station. The total focus was on the product and how everyone worked together to accomplish the goal of ratings and revenue domination.

Mid-week what's up

Entercom has ended The Alan Kabel 2nd shift program aired at night on all of their Country Music Radio stations. All of the PD's have been given the green light to hire or shuffle replacements. Contact Entercom VP/Programming Mike Moore for all the details. mmoore@entercom.com 

More from the Entercom family of fine foods, Fitz so far has rocked Regis and Kelly. From Manscaping, building his own suit to drinking lavender oil and getting a facial. Oh did we mention he interviewed Sir Anthony Hopkins like a pro. This guy should be on TV. What a talent, Fitz in the morning on KKWF Seattle and KBWF San Francisco.

Just like we thought would happen - Country takes hits in the Holiday PPM's and AC has double digits both 6+ and 25-54, even in major markets the numbers again are still through the roof. Clear Channel Country KSD-FM St. Louis rocks 3.1-4.6 as all Christmas. 

The F-in Catalina Wine Mixer: Jay McCarthy joins an air charter business as director of marketing and relations.

Now we have a PD opening: Next Media WRNS Greenville needs a morning show and a PD.

Best and worst cities for jobs

By Anthony Balderrama on Jan 5, 2011 in Employment Trends, Featured, Job Search

inShare31

That some locations have better job markets than others is not news. Regardless of the overall economy, some metros boom while others falter. What does change, and what job seekers care about, is where the growth is happening. Metropolitan areas that thrive today weren’t necessarily hotspots 10 years ago. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released year-over-year employment figures for the country’s 372 metropolitan areas.

In November, the month for which the most recent data is available, 180 metropolitan areas saw increases in nonfarm payroll employment, compared to the year before. Slightly fewer metro areas (176) saw an employment decrease during the same period. This information’s good to know for anyone who wants to stay current on the economic health of their city. For job seekers, however, these figures are important because they can help you decide if relocating is something to consider.

I know a great job and more...

I talked to my friend last night, who is a programmer of a major market West coast CMR. he just happens to need a night talent with serious imaging chops. If you email me through FTC, I will make sure he gets your material. 

Also - The new EVP and SVP movement at Clear Channel is based on Bain's new thing: Revenue. The new regions and teams. I don't know how it all works yet, no one is really talking about it.

For our job searchers, here's a great tip: 

Barbara Seifert, Ph. D, CPC, Forbes.com

It's not big news that finding a job is difficult these days. Dependent upon which area of the country you're in, it can be almost impossible with some areas having employment higher than the national average of 11%.

But in my experience as a career coach, the main reason that people are not finding a job is not because there are no jobs. It is because of their attitude. The majority of job seekers have not put themselves in the right frame of mind to do the work needed that will lead them to becoming employed.

My two cents on the Citadel vs. Cumulus takeover battle

How far to New York from Atlanta boys?

Pretty simple and straight-forward at the sake of the shareholders, Citadel would rather stay put. If Cumulus aqquires Citadel, CEO Farid Suleman is in the unemployment line, most likely with several million dollars. Suleman told me when working for the group, you can't move up in companies like Cox, Cumulus and Clear Channel (then Mays owned), because you don't have the same last name as the owners.

This is what R2 Investments said about Citadel: "First they try to overpay themselves and management to the tune of $100 million. Then they put up roadblocks to a merger, which can only be a desperate attempt to keep their jobs, in our opinion".

This guy will be pulled out of his new posh offices, kicking and screaming if this deal goes down. He hates Cumulus. I mean it's like looking in a mirror. My big question is when do the shareholders get their turn and take the offer and why is a CEO (non owner of the company, Suleman owns no stock in the company, it's all in options) hold back a sale for personal purposes. The New York Times is reporting this deal could go down with Suleman at the end of a rope. No one in radio would like to see that!

Has PPM imaging calmed down?

As Mike Sheppard use to say, less Vietnam sounds. I have heard a bunch of PPM market CMR imaging and it seems to be lighter, not just shorter. The action-packed, over the top dimension seems to be fading. More HOT AC and ROCK styling and less CHR (which meant sampling, phasing, beat-mix). I just heard some TOH's for KUPL Portland and they are more imagery than hammer over the head. I worked on some material for a major market client audition and ironically I did the same thing, kept it sonically pure, but less heaviness and no laser sounds. All of the material came from drones, cool sounding punches and hits. Are we ending the day of over the top, too loud hard-core Country Music Radio imaging?

Setting Audience Goals

Setting Audience Goals

Setting goals is arguably the most important part of your role as a manager. You have to know where you’re going before you figure out how to get there. I encourage clients to look at several key metrics when setting audience goals. The following are key metrics that we track on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis:

On-Air Cume (per week)
On-Air Time Spent Listening (per week)
Website Unique Visitors (per month)
Website Page Views (per month)
Ad Impressions Served (per month)
App Downloads (per month)
App Opens (per month)
Streaming Cume (per week)
Streaming Tune-Ins (per week)
Total Streaming Hours (per week)
E-mail Database Subscribers (per month)
E-mail Average Open Rate (per month)
Facebook Fans (per month)
Twitter Followers (per month)

These are all gages you can use to measure your progress in the digital space.

In addition, you may consider tracking your position in search engines relative to specific keywords or phrases. Most websites get 75-80% of their traffic from search engines, so better management of your appearance on search engines can help you to increase your traffic.

The big question behind all of these metrics is, “what number should I use as a goal? Where do I start?” There are a number of ways to set the right numbers as goals. Often, I choose to start by identifying the numbers I know—usually the station’s weekly cume and TSL as defined by Arbitron, unique visitors and page views as defined by Google Analytics, and streaming cume, etc. Then, it’s easy to get a better feel for the other numbers.

I encourage stations to aim for 10-15% of their weekly cume in monthly unique visitors as a starting point. Some of our clients are reaching 50%+ of their weekly cume in monthly unique visitors. The sites that achieve the highest traffic are the ones that are driving new unique content to their sites on a regular basis.

If you are interested in more ways to grow your website traffic, click here to read a Radio3D special on ways to improve your traffic.

This week in Radio3D, we are talking about ways to measure your audience. Next week in Radio3D, we will feature more information on measuring your success from a sales perspective.

About the Writer

Future-minded and passionate, Daniel Anstandig’s experience includes developing digital business strategies for media companies, designing content strategies for broadcast and interactive, and coaching executives.

As the President of McVay New Media Consulting, Anstandig has advised The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Clear Channel R&D, The White House Commission on Remembrance, Glencoe-McGraw Hill, and various broadcasting companies in the USA, Canada, and Europe.

In 2009, Anstandig founded Listener Driven Radio, a software company that develops interactive programming tools for broadcasters. The company’s premiere “crowdcasting” product, which integrates real-time audience voting into a radio station’s live playlist, has already been utilized by Citadel Broadcasting, CBS, Virgin Radio in Europe, Harvard Broadcasting, and several other major broadcasters around the world.

Prior to joining McVay Media in 2001, Daniel’s experience includes stints as General Manager, Network/Syndicated Program Director, and On-Air Personality. In 2001, he was named the #1 Young Entrepreneur by Young Entrepreneur Magazine, in recognition of an internet-radio company he founded. Daniel is also a proud two-time recipient of Edison Media Research’s 30 Under 30 Award.

EMAIL DANIEL FOLLOW DANIEL

Clear Channel is shuffling

I ran into an AE from CC Fresno on my sales calls yesterday and I was told, there are changes. They have switched around The EVP's, SVP's and SVP's of programming. Fresno now has a new EVP and SVP including SVP of programming and they've hired a program director and staffing The Wolf (formerly KHGE). None of this in the trades yet...

It's Not About Content; It's All About Communication (from Social Media Today)

Google is all about content; Facebook is all about communication.
- Kailash Ambwani CEO of FaceTime Communications

Today I want to share a few articles that I found over last month or so. All these articles talk about non-intuitive observation. They all point to importance of communication, and how enabling communication is really the key to harness the explosive network effect of social network. Contrary to popular belief, they all talk about content, as we know them, is not the king.

From 60 Minutes Interview With Mark Zukerberg: 

LESLEY STAHL: Are you trying to turn everything we do on the web into social function?

MARK ZUKERBERG: I think what we found is that when you can use products with friends and family, people that you care about, they tend to be more engaging.

I think we are going to see this huge shift that a lot of industries and products just going to get remade to be social.

When you think about it, it's rather obvious. Most of things that we do are in context of friends, family and coworkers. We chitchat about how bad the traffic was on the way to work with coworkers, talk about joys of raising a child (and occasional headaches) with your friends and share great cooking tip that you found on the internet with your family.

It's important to find something to talk about (content), but sharing any story (communication), even as banal as talking about how the weather was, is equally or more important as the content itself because it reveals who you are as a person when you communicate.

Brighter horizons please

We had a great response, which sucks about yesterday's prose on out of work radio folks. Big John told me he just got laid off from his job: "I just wanted to say thank you for message on FTC email today. I recently got layed off from 99.9 KTCS in Fort Smith, AR. I've got 9 years in radio and I hate to think this is the end. I am keeping positive and hoping that someone will offer me a new full time gig. Again, thank you for your message."

Remember some other folks that are still pounding the pavement, Steve Kiser from KTTS Springfield, Nikki Landry from KBWF SF and Fresh in Washington DC, one helluva air talent. Glen Boychuk and Tony Magoo ended up working out of the business. Recently consultant and one smart boy, Bob Glasco departed radio for a business consulting position. 

We have some new jobs, see out CAREER ADVANCEMENT section as well. KPLX Dallas needs a morning side kick to work with Lisa Taylor. KEBK Grand Junction, CO needs a PD, KICKS in Lincoln, NE needs a PD morning show. KYGO Denver middays, hit up JT, Imaging at a Top 15 station in the West and nights at WGGY Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. What ya mean there ain't no jobs.....

The deal of the decade!

Minneapolis based Hubbard Broadcasting has purchased 17 Bonneville International (Deseret Management Company of Salt Lake City) stations in Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Washington DC. The total value of the deal Vanna is 505 million dollars. Bonneville execs Bruce Reese, Drew Horowitz and Greg Solk will join the Hubbard team. Bonneville retains ownership of Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Seattle. CMR stations WIL St. Louis and WUBE/WYGY Cincinnati join the new Hubbard family. Newly minted Hubbard Radio's President Ginny Morris told COUNTRY AIR CHECK ""We have long admired the good work, reputation and leadership of Bonneville and its management team, and feel honored to welcome these great stations into the Hubbard family of companies." Until this purchase, Hubbard only owned KSTP AM/FM, KTMY-FM and WIXK-AM. 

Please consider out of work brothers and sisters

When hiring returns and for open positions, we still have an inordinate amount of talented folks on the sidelines. Mike Pesto is going on one year on the beach from The Wolf in Peoria, where he did mornings. Mike also has KTOM and KWNR under his belt. Bob McNeil has been pounding the programming pavement and said on Facebook he has been passed on for 20 or 30 positions. Bob is quite an experienced Country Music Radio programmer.

Some folks like myself, have found another way to stay active in the pursuit and love of radio. I write this blog daily and also write and produce imaging and it keeps me connected. I love selling for Today's Senior Magazine and that keeps me busy and ads to the incoming money. Thank God my wife has a great job. I am pretty far removed from wanting to work day to day in radio. 

Slowly but surely, our unemployed crop of great radio folks will find gainful employment. 

The Bay Area Swamp Meet is open!

Entercom has hired veteran Bay Area rock programmer Larry Sharp to program at least it's new 98.5 KUFX (San Jose) which was purchased from Clear Channel's Aloha Trust. What remains is a San Francisco signal to go with KUFX. Will it be KDFC moving to 95.7 and KUFX simulcasted on 102.1 and the demise of  KBWF (The Wolf)? Larry programmed KFOG and The Bone for Susquehanna and then Cumulus before leaving the post last year and heading North to Washington state. Radio-Info (San Francisco board) says the flips will happen today at 3p-4p. 

Here's some more skinny from Bay Area Music and Radio wizard Ben Fong Torres who told me: "around 4, KFOX introduces Big Rick for afternoons (I think), and there will be news about simulcasting on 102.1, and about KDFC moving to 90.3, pushing KUSF off the air and online only." This means KBWF is safe and classical moves to 90.3 replacing KUSF.

The Superbowl of Superstars

Here's a fun SUPER BOWL music promotion you can start working on for the BIG GAME. All Super bowl weekend for the "live stations" and Friday for VT stations, you can have Country's best do battle on the musical gridiron. THE SUPER BOWL OF SUPER STARS. 

Start each hour with a challenger against the previous hours champion. The imaging should be very impactual and football sounding, with whistles, crowd, themes and more. After the challenger is played, take votes until the first stop-set or around :20. At :30, play the champion. During the first half-hour, you give the score, big plays and even penalties. The recorded penalties are comedic and funny. Rascal Flatts 15 yard penalty for being too pop-Country. You can use your imagination on these and make them real creative. 

No Tweeters on your Country Music radio station?

I have listened to a lot of CMR stations recently and unless I'm deaf, I haven't heard any imaging topicals for social media elements. No sweepers or promos for Facebook or Twitter. Still lots of sanctimonious self-promotion for the station websites. Because they have metrics they have to hit and still believe that whipping this white elephant, it might do something. 

Sunday Driving with Radio Host Author Marsha Collier

by Jessica Northey

Normally I like to write an intro for "Sunday Driving," but for Author/Broadcaster Marsha Collier I am actually going to insert her Wikipedia description because, well she has one, and it says more about her than I could creatively make up! 

MARSHA COLLIER (Born in New York, New York) is a well-known author, radio personality (on the Internet and KTRB 860 AM San Francisco) and educator specializing in technology and training individuals how to use and make money on eBay and online.

She is one of the foremost eBay experts and educators in the world. With over 1 million copies of her books in print (special editions for the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Chinese - and an edition in Spanish), she is the top selling eBay author.Among her books, eBay For Dummies is the best selling book for eBay worldwide while eBay Business All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies is the best selling title on operating an eBay business. "Starting an eBay Business For Dummies" appeared on the Business Week Magazine Best Seller list for many weeks.Marsha shares her eBay business expertise in streaming video at Entrepreneur.com’s “Entrepreneur’s Coaches Corner” and is Entrepreneur.com’s online eBay columnist. She's also a featured lecturer at eBay’s “eBay University” training events and their yearly eBay Live conference.

After writing over 30 successful books on ecommerce, Marsha learned” there is nothing 'common" about the customer. Customers are the soul of business and Social media gives an unparalleled vehicle for connecting and engaging with an unlimited number of prospective buyers.” Her newest book The Ultimate Online Customer Service Guide gives you the keys to authentic and engaged service to customers through social media. Using a blend of traditional and social media customer service case studies, and instructions on how to execute quality customer service, this book enables you to access the opportunities that social media presents as a means of serving customers. 

If you are wondering how to get more engaged with your radio audience, I highly recommend you check out this book. I just got it yesterday and it IS teaching this OLD dog some NEW tricks too!

St. Jude Superbowl Give Back Parties - How to?

I saw this on NFL Today on FOX and went to the web site. This is a great kick-off to the 2011 St. Jude effort. Your morning show should be on social media and on the air tomorrow morning about this. I would do it even if I didn't host a radiothon. This is just good PR. Grab more here: St. Jude Giveback 

More to Memphis than dry rub right?

Some of the points you should be taking away with you from The St. Jude meeting in Memphis this weekend is how to make this happen in a dented economy. Using social media, you can really stir the pot with your radiothon this year. I watched Wal-Mart's Food for Hunger campaign explode on Facebook here in Fresno, everyone got involved and began posting everything as simple as "Go Fresno" to thoughts about why we could use a million dollars to fend off hunger in the community. 

Making St. Jude and other radiothon's happen in a tough economy for non-profits

With special event's coming in the New Year, like The St. Jude Radiothon, Children's Miracle Network and any cause event for your community, the only way to make it work is to image it. Build special imaging and create a format specifically for the event. One of the stupidest things to hear is, a Country station playing the usual 10-in-a-row, regular sweepers and normal programming and trying to squeeze in the special event cause programming. We applaud you if you already did this for your toy drive or Christmas
specials and New Years programming.

Freelance and PT is not a bad groove while you continue to reconnect with a position of desire

Staff Writer, The Career News

SAN DIEGO, CA -- There's only so much time in the day, as the saying goes. If you are one of the millions of people burning the candle at both ends by trying to earn a living and to raise a family, you know it can be hard to find a work-life balance. It's a common challenge because historically it has been very difficult to find jobs that are both legitimate and offer some flexibility.

Welcome aboard Mister Roberts!

Any excuse to put a picture of a goat on a US warship is cool

Check out Phylis Stark's column, Stark Country today on RADIO-INFO for a great read. The new KSON San Diego PD Kevin Callahan talks about his new venture in San Diego, getting settled in my hometown, putting the fun back on KSON and how it all comes together for the former Pamal VP/Programming. I don't think he talks about one Country song, only branding, talent and PPM. Hats off to the boy and check out Stark Country. 

Mr. Callahan does note there is no snow in San Diego cept' Laguna.

Citadel taking the sheath to CMR stations

Elder and Young cut at Kicks in Memphis, than Johnson and Johnson after 13 years and great performance at KUBL Salt Lake City and now Wes McShay PD/Afternoons KQFC Boise. 

Laws of Public Policy Process

Jessica Northey

When I was younger I had the opportunity to attend, intern and work for the Leadership Institute. "Mortons  Laws of the Public Policy Process" coined by Leadership Institute founder and President Morton Blackwell have stuck with me all these years. From time to time I get in a situation and I can almost hear him saying one of these. I got to thinking about them...so I ventured into the storage shed in my backyard and found the old scroll with the "Laws" on them.  Hope you will get something from these, I find them quite educational and entertaining!

MORE

Unemployed? Any job is better than no job

Abridged: Cash Money Life Blog

LAS VEGAS, NV -- There are a multitude of reasons to not turn down a potential job opportunity, even if it's a part-time or contract job. Eventually your unemployment benefits will run out. Taking a job avoids a huge gap on your resume too. For those in the professional workforce having a big gap on your resume doesn't look that good to prospective employers. However, employers are a little more understanding these days with the recession we are all living through. Nonetheless, the smaller the gap on your resume the better. Get back into the workforce as soon as possible and avoid huge gaps.

Turn the tables on your next interview

One of my good friends were talking about interviews yesterday and the process. What will they ask and how should I handle the questions he asked? I said to hell with that, ask these people questions, control the conversation based on information you want to know. In all of my radio interviews they don't give a rat's ass about what you've done. They are looking to find out what kind of fit you are for their dysfunctional workplace. It boils down to them asking questions about how you will fit, what you will accomplish and how you will handle yourself in the position you are applying for. They also want to know if you can perform the job. Especially in radio, when someone that is not qualified gets a programming position and then gets shot in the head in six months.

After 40 years, Bob Glasco leaves radio and Geiger to 55+

Glasco Media's Bob Glasco (formerly VP Rusty Walker Programming Consultants) departs radio for a new venture. Bob will join Global Resources doing consulting analysis. One of the smartest radio people I've ever known, the business world will be lucky to have him. Say congrats to Bob - Bob’s at BobGlasco@cox.net and 480-540-3707.

I also have a new position to announce - As well as managing Full Throttle Country and writing imaging for a few specific clients, have joined 2911 Consulting Group LLC - Today's Senior Magazine as an account executive. I will working from my home office and covering Fresno as well as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties. Today's Senior Magazine is a targeted publication for 55+ active, modern seniors. Email is: todaysseniormagazine@gmail.com and office is 559-224-2302. 

Two ducks?

Dateline: Portland, OR - Both Entercom's 99.5 The Wolf (KWJJ) and Alpha's KUPL have switched to calling themselves Duck Country. Although Oregon folded like a house of cards, maybe Tiger Country would've been a better choice. We hear both stations are back to calling themselves whatever they're names are.

What format will Entercom put on newly acquired KFOX San Jose?

They spent 9 million dollars for 98.5 frequency, The old KOME frequency and it's a dandy. Will they do a simulcast of KBWF (The Wolf) to pick up the San Jose country numbers from KRTY?

RJ Curtis joins Country Air Check as VP/Radio

What a good dude and well rounded CMR veteran. RJ leaves Arista/Nashville and slides into the desk next to Lon Helton at CMR mainstay trade, Country Aircheck. 

What are you famous for?

COUNTRY MUSIC RADIO station's who simply want to be famous for playing Country Music are missing several key components of the branding process. Ries and Trout in all of their great readings, always said in marketing you have to be famous for some key components to create brand recognition and awareness. 

Real-Time News & Accuracy in Reporting: Tragedy in Tucson

by Jessica Northey

Real Time News within the media is a method where events are portrayed at the same rate that the audience experiences them.

These past few days seem surreal to me. I live in Tucson, Arizona where my peer, acquaintance and District Congressman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, along with 19 others at a peaceful gathering, "Congress on your Corner", held specifically to give constituents access to her.

Within an hour I was reading tweets and posts from National News outlets saying that she had died. I was shocked and in disbelief. Turns out it wasn't true. From where I sat it looked odd, National News Outlets reporting that she had passed away at Northwest Hospital, but I was watching local news reporters standing in front of University Medical Center in Tucson. In addition, friends of the family were saying she was in surgery. Throughout the day we were hearing rumors, speculations and many unverified reports from different National news outlets, some even went as far as to blame Sarah Palin. It was all very disturbing, not just for our community but for the victims families. MORE

We get comments!

Thanks to Charles for this eye-opening comment yesterday: 

*pushing nose up in the air* "Small market radio is not for me" Get off your high horse, Chuck. 

Rally for the home team!

If you program a COUNTRY MUSIC RADIO station near one of the play off bound NFL teams, make sure you have some sizzled on the box for your home team. Here's a group of sweepers I did for KKWF Seattle:

Unemployment rate down - Jobs up - Where does radio stand?

Unemployment has dropped to 9.4%, the lowest in a decade and over 103,000 jobs were added in December. Economists say we have to continue for years at this rate to build our economy back. Can you believe this? The unemployment percentage dropped not due to job gains, but because out of work employees just stopped looking for gainful employment. Where does radio stand in all this? Will there be full air staffs once again and no reliance on syndicated or voice-tracked talent? 

Job offers rising as economy continues to warm up

bridged: Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the economy gradually recovers, some big U.S. companies are cranking up their recruiting and advertising thousands of job openings, ranging from retail clerks and nurses to bank tellers and experts in cloud computing. Many of the new jobs are in retailing, accounting, consulting, health care, telecommunications and defense-related industries, according to data collected for The Wall Street Journal by Indeed.com.

Getting Focused in 2011...Social Media and more!

I often talk about how setting goals for Social Media efforts is a key factor for optimizing participation. I think the same can be said about anything in life. By setting goals you are managing expectations for yourself.

United States Marine Corps says:
"Discipline is the instant willingness and obedience to all orders, respect for authority, self reliance and teamwork. The ability to do the right thing even when no one is watching or suffer the consequences of guilt which produces pain in our bodies, through pain comes discipline."

Twitter Crushes Facebook for Marketing

Facebook makes up 78 percent of traffic among all social network sites and micro-blogging site Twitter accounts for 5 percent, but on average "tweets" with embedded links get 19 clicks while Facebook's shared links only get three clicks, according to a study by SocialTwist.

The marketing firm, which offers viral social media marketing campaigns, analyzed more than a million shared links through its Tell-a-Friend widget that lets people share information on Websites. SocialTwist measured success by a clickthrough rate, a term for the number of clicks on a link that takes a user to a specific destination.

MORE

CMR Stars 0f 2011

Who will they be? John Thomas KYGO, Kevin Callahan KSON, Beverlee Branigan Journal Country Head of Programming, Mike Preston KKWF, Joel Burke KASE/KVET, Mac Daniels KSKS, Dan Persighal WUBL, Becky Brenner KMPS, Mark Anderson WDSY and Bob Barnett Entercom Rochester.  The talent pool is wet and deep. We have some great programmers in place to lead the charge of COUNTRY MUSIC RADIO programming and product development. All of the changes from 2010 will translate into more meter wins, building the brands, coordinating and developing the talent and shaping up the ship.

Let us know who you think is one of the brightest stars in CMR for 2011. Air talent, programmer, manager, it doesn't matter. Share your love for your favorites. Add to the comment section below. 

Joel Raab needs small market OM

If you can program and perform on multiple formats, this may your new gig. Strong organizational skills are essential. No beginners. Rush package in confidence to consultant Joel Raab at jobs@joelraab.com EOE

KSCS Dallas re-brands as Dave Kelly steps it up

Citadel's KSCS Dallas is currently running jock less, with a new line-up to be un-veiled. Dave Kelly told All Access the station is now positioned as 96.3 KSKS, Texas Most Country Guaranteed. The new air staff takes to the air Jan 10th. 

Have you built your website for employment yet?

Follow the lead of Ken Anderson from WXTU Philadelphia. While he searches for his next home, he is knocking it out of the park at XTU part-time. Check out his website and get to know Ken. 

Thursday FTC - Who are CMR's Stars of 2011? (programmers and air talent not recording artists)

Rex McNeil to KRTY

One of our biggest readers, Rex McNeil is inbound to KRTY San Jose for part time work. Rex is all fired up and says we can catch him Sat 6P-12M. Congrats brother. 

You've got be kidding me...

78% of INSIDE RADIO readers, in their poll said that digital and interactive is value added, that customers can't see any real value in the products. Just 22% would be willing to pay for advertising. How is this happening? Have we let clients dictate the level of which they would pay for advertising? Of course we have. This is been going on since the early 90's, when we began giving away the fort.

Joplin janitor goes South!

Folks he's a big dumb animal

Kris Stevens will be know to me forever as THE BIG CAT DADDY! - When he joined WCTO Allentown for evenings CAT dramatics and imaging - He became an imaging and branding genius. He joined us in 2002 from The Zimmer Group who turned out some great sod-busters. Chris was awesome at imaging WCTO. With his imaging juices flowing he returned Cat Country 96 from an imaging and branding void, in which the process was built on, to #1 in Fall 2002 and Winter 2003. He then began his journey with CMR inventive Bob McKay at WXTU Philadelphia, moving from nights to afternoons to mornings. He was a breath of fresh air and provided the best entertainment value since Cadillac Jack.