FULL THROTTLE COUNTRY

FTC is back as a Facebook fan page

2011-09-28T17:18:00.001-07:00

were are at http://www.facebook.com/FullThrottleCountry?sk=wall&filter=12

Happy July 4th - The Final FTC posting

2011-07-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

I guess all the analogies are true, the fat lady has sung, the 9th inning is here and more. This is the last posting from FULL THROTTLE COUNTRY. Over the last two years it has been quite rewarding to share with you, the ideas and concepts I have learned in radio programming and especially Country Music Radio. As you know, I am working in marketing now and have no foreseeable plans to return to the day to day of radio programming. I felt with that in mind, It wouldn't make sense to continue to post on this blog.

Folks are doing great things in Country Music Radio: Mike Preston in Seattle, Kevin Callahan in San Diego, Scott Mahalick in Portland, Ed Hill in Salt Lake City and more. Learn from these masters and what they are doing to propel entertainment value over music radio. This is why they are winning and separating themselves from the music bunch in Country Music Radio.

I will be available on Facebook and also charlesegeiger@gmail.com if you need to chat. I'll be guest writing from time to time in Stark Country from Radio-Info. Thank you so much for the time spent reading. I appreciate it and continue to make great radio everyday. Don't get stuck in the it's just a job mold.

Have a safe and awesome July 4th weekend

2011-07-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Full Throttle ?

2011-06-30T14:00:00.001-07:00

Not Country....but communications....connections.....

Wow just four more posts!!!!

2011-06-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

This has been a blast over the past few years writing daily and posting on FTC. We've covered a lot of ground and made a lot of new friends. The one main point we have tried to communicate to folks involved with Country Music Radio: To program your prospective radio station with creativity, emotion, listener involvement, topicality and localism. If one person took home some of the ideas we portrayed, then we did our job.

Is this your last show (Doug Erickson)

2011-06-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

If you knew today's show would be your last, how would that affect your content?

If you knew you had these final 16 or 20 breaks to fill, how would you fill them?

What would you say?

Same old, same old? Liners, time and temp, Battle of the Sexes?

How would the ways you think about those who listen to you change?

What would you want them to know about you? What sorts of stories about you would you want them to tell?

What would you want to be sure they heard you saying to them?

How much variety your station has, or how yours is the best station at work?

Or...

would you want to thank them for sharing their days with you all these years?

Would you want them to know that everything about your job has been a gift, that the chance to make money talking and sharing with hundreds of thousands of people was so fun, so rewarding emotionally, you'd have done it free if you could've afforded it.

Would you want to be sure they heard the 2 or 3 most important stories of your life?

To understand why those couple of weeks after your father died, you weren't yourself on your show.

Or how it was impossible to concentrate and answer your phones those first days after your spouse filed for divorce.

Do you want your very final words to be some weak tease or live promo? Or will you share something personal, something fun or funny, that leaves them smiling or gasping because they're laughing so hard?

What do you want to express? This is your very last chance.

Don't you want to, finally, make sure they feel how much all of this has meant to you, how much all of them have meant to you?

What are you waiting for?

This is the content they've hoped for. This is the personal connection they've always wanted to make. This is the substance that makes your show unique among all other choices.

And even if you've never done any content that caused emotional ripples, can't you now understand how powerful it can be?

None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.

And that's precisely why each show you do should be your last.

Arbitron shuffles around 10 diary markets

2011-06-27T15:00:00.001-07:00

TEN ARBITRON METRO GEOGRAPHIES SCHEDULED TO REDEFINE IN FALL

In March 2011, Arbitron updated key business rules relating to its Metro Redefinition policy in Diary markets. The recent update to the Metro Redefinition policy gave our subscribers the opportunity to consider whether they wanted their Metro redefined. After evaluations from the subscribers and a majority in agreement, the Metros in 10 markets will be redefined effective with the Fall 2011 survey.

A list of redefined markets follows.

Market	Spring 2011 Metro Definition	Spring 2011 Metro Rank	Fall 2011 Additions	*Estimated Fall 2011 Metro Rank
Albany, GA	Dougherty and Lee, GA	262	Baker, Calhoun, Terrell and Worth, GA	239
Amarillo, TX	Potter and Randall, TX	193	Armstrong, Carson, Hutchinson, Moore and Oldham, TX	168
Bryan-College Station, TX	Brazos, TX	233	Burleson and Robertson, TX	206
Corpus Christi	Nueces and San Patricio, TX	137	Aransas, Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg, and Refugio, TX	108
Des Moines	Dallas, Polk, Story and Warren, IA	91	Boone, Clarke, Greene, Guthrie, Jasper, Lucas, Madison and Marion, IA	72
Fayetteville (NW Arkansas)	Benton and Washington, AR	128	Madison, AR	127
Ft. Smith, AR	Crawford and Sebastian, AR and LeFlore and Sequoyah, OK	175	Logan and Scott, AR and Haskell and Latimer, OK	159
Jonesboro, AR	Craighead, AR	284	Greene, Lawrence and Poinsett, AR	234
New Orleans	Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany, LA	52	Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. James and Washington, LA and Pearl River, MS	45
Portland, ME	Cumberland, ME	168	Androscoggin, Oxford, Sagadahoc, and York Remainder, ME	89

* Estimated Fall 2011 Metro ranks are based on Nielsen Claritas population estimates projected to January 1, 2011. The final Fall 2011 Metro ranks may change when Arbitron implements this year's population update, which is scheduled to include population estimates based on Census 2010 projected to January 1, 2012. Other Arbitron market changes may also affect final ranks. For more information regarding Arbitron and Census 2010, see the White Paper.

Arbitron recently announced the schedule for this year's population update. Watch for more information from Arbitron in the near future regarding population and Metro ranks.

Life after radio!

2011-06-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

Yes Virginia or Meet Virginia (Train reference), there is life after radio. I have talked with a number of professionals who have developed careers after hanging up the Koss Pro-4's. Rob Walker former programmer in Seattle, Little Rock, Ann Arbor. I just read Tim Dukes, former Clear Channel and Tribune star is headed to Dallas to help run a company that helps folks with the second leg of their careers. Where were you Tim when I stumbled for two years after radio? Getting stuck in dead end sales jobs.

I still read about folks that tell me they have had enough and they are taking some one's word on another radio job that will fizzle due to them not being a part of someone else's plan, making too much and the budget doesn't support that for the next year, or they plain get cheap and have the pimple face kid from promotions run Ryan Seacrest.

I loved radio and still have a fondness for it. There is nothing like rockin' the box, listening to a killer sweeper or nailing a great phoner. I just have a problem with the people running radio stations, stuck in a retarded business plan, trying to hit unobtainable budget numbers with a inane way of selling and marketing the product.

I have a friend who is a major market Country PD and we have a great developing friendship on Facebook. My wife says "Why don't you ask for a jock job". WHAT - I'm 56 years old. Most 56 year old air talents have been at the same station for years or still on the air. Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth: No!

Main Street Country in Small Market USA

2011-06-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

I ask a PD who just left programming a small town Country station to summarize what I have been telling people for two years about the disconnect between the staff and the new PD in a small market CMR station. If you are aggressive, you are looked at as not fitting in and rocking the boat. Due in part to the staff not understanding or wanting to understand a full-throttle posture for the station. They think because it's a small market they can sound small and play 100 songs as currents. Check out the following and you might agree:

Well, here I am in in “ Small Market USA. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with small market radio. I have actually have heard and done some of the best radio in the small markets and yes the budgets are smaller, but sometimes you can actually get more done with less and be more creative.

The problem is the people and the mentality. Just because you are in a small market, you do not have to think small. The problem with the people is that they are under paid and they have that IJDGAF attitude. There were a few people that had a great attitude, but she was the one that was sleeping with the boss and then the boss has to cater to her needs to make sure the nighttime was the right time, if you know what I mean. Sales were selling commercials for next to nothing and dropping their pants even more just to get the sale, so there was no rate credibility.

Consultants tried to help with this station from 3000 miles away, never coming to our small city and adding music that was researched from the same region 3000 miles away. There was theft, nepotism, dissension and a bunch of people that really didn’t care, mainly the people that were running the group. There was one situation where one in charge stated that if we make too much money, the price for the station will go up and I will have to pay more for it when it comes time for me to buy it. So not only was sales dropping their pants, management was allowing it.

I saw a ton of pocketing prizes for there own personal use and or a client and the listeners never really had a chance of winning. Promotions was handled by management and used as they saw fit. In this market there was no need for a PD or a promotions person. I guess the good thing in this small market was, the trade was a flowing and you could trade almost anything, but you had to keep it under the radar. Waaaaay under. So it really wasn’t good for the client. When I got there, commercial sets were 8 minutes long, remotes were not booked as commercials and promos belonged to sales.

Plus let’s not talk about local sports starting at 5pm on a 100k flame-thrower. This station was bartered to death and was sold out and not making budget. No inventory management and no rate credibility. Not a good place to be. The web site was dismal and they had no idea on how to monetize it. I brought a few ideas in, yet they gave it away for that five-dollar rate. Let me end by saying, you can run a small market on a small budget as long as the ideas are BIG. It’s not a money thing. It’s not a market size thing. It’s an attitude thing. They think small in small markets. It just doesn’t have to be that way~

Saturday Catch-Up with our man from McVay Media

2011-06-25T16:22:00.003-07:00

Anstandig’s Digital Summer Reading List – Part 2

In last week’s connected, you got part one of Anstandig’s Digital Summer Reading List. In case you missed it, you can find it here.

One of the topics most frequently covered in connected is the shifting of our industry’s audience to digital media, and the associated shift of advertising revenue. The following is a series of articles that focus on both of these topics—perfect for browsing on your iPad next to the pool this summer (don’t get the iPad wet, though).

The AUDIENCE is Shifting

While Program Directors and Brand Managers may find this series of articles most germane to their daily responsibilities, there is information here that can be helpful to anyone whose career depends on accurately targeting and understanding the audience (and that’s all of us).

1. Three Programming Pointers to Drive TV and Radio Station Website Traffic: Unless there is a specific reason to go to your site, viewers and listeners will never make it a point to go there. In this connected article, three ways to naturally drive traffic to your website by getting smarter about integrating “traffic drivers” into your programming.

2. Visualizing Your Market: Getting to know your market is everything, whether you are in content/programming or sales. This week, I’d like to share some of today’s best digital resources for visualizing your market. You’ll read about sites that can help you get to know your market and “paint a picture” for your programming team and buyers alike.

3. Facebook Fast Facts: Still trying to figure out if your company should have a strategic presence on Facebook? If so, these fast facts on Facebook may compel you to move quickly into the social space.

4. How to Know What Your Audience is Talking About: Knowing what your audience cares about today is priceless information. In this week’s connected, I will give you three tips for quickly identifying what your audience cares about today. Whether you are an on-air personality preparing for a show or an account executive who wants to efficiently stay on top of what’s happening with your clients, these tips will save you time and energy.

5. Moms Get Connected: Moms are important decision makers when it comes to family purchases. About one in five people online in the USA is a woman aged 25-54 with one or more children. It’s no surprise that marketers are increasingly targeting online moms. This week in connected, some fast facts on today’s connected mom.

6. Radio Through the Eyes of America’s Youth: This year, Edison interviewed 1,533 people aged 12-34 across America in an effort to shed some light on media usage among this young media generation. The results showed what Edison’ Larry Rosin called, “the impact of an incredible decade of media transformation, the extraordinary resilience of radio, and the challenges radio faces.” Read the takeaways here.

7. Hispanics Are Valuable Digital Targets: More than eight in 10 Hispanic adults use a cell phone, and Hispanics are more likely than other population segments to use text messaging. These and other facts emerging in recent research about Hispanic digital media users are making them an increasingly valuable target for media outlets and advertisers alike.

8. Media Multi-taskers: You have an audience of multi-taskers—and they are only getting busier. For generations, listeners have incorporated radio into working, driving, cleaning, cooking, and socializing. How can you continue to cater to the busybodies in your audience?

9. Why Consumers Leave Brands on Social Networks: Losing a fan on Facebook, subscriber in your database, or follower on Twitter is one of the most costly breakups for your brand. This week in connected, we’ll take a look at the actions and motivations behind your audience’s “social divorces” from your brand online.

10. Five Keys to Growing Your Streaming Numbers: If you are compensated based on your streaming traffic, this is an article that could pay dividends for you! In this article, you’ll learn five keys to increasing your streaming tune-ins.

11. What Is Your Plan For Mobile? The average American teen now sends and receives an average of 3,339 texts per month. A new study from Nielsen points out that usage of SMS text messaging is up 8% from last year—averaging six messages for every hour that the average teen is awake.

12. Exposure vs. Immersion: Most radio chiefs are satisfied with a listener being casually exposed to the brand, but in 2011, exposure is just the beginning of developing a relationship with your customer.

13. Five Ways to Grow Your Website Traffic: If you ever find yourself asking, “How can we get more visitors to our site?” this article will give you give helpful tips to build your web traffic.

14. Audiences of Millions With NO Tower: The most interesting “midday personality” in your market may not be on the radio. In this article, we profile some of the world’s most popular entertainers—attracting millions of followers with absolutely no broadcast license behind them. They are the YouTube sensations of 2010.

15. The Media Revolution Continues: Learn about Wired magazine’s new “immersive environment” publishing using the iPad as well as the Bay Area News Project. These are both leaders in reaching the progressive and daily-growing digital audience.

16. Internet Radio Audience and Revenue Growing: Bridge Ratings predicts that the annual spend for Internet radio advertising will double between 2010 and 2015, going from $324 million in 2010 to $803 million in 2015. Read more on the development of Internet Radio here.

17. Time Spent Listening in the Car: Most radio stations earn upwards of 60% of their Average Quarter Hour audience from listeners in the car—a listening location that is increasingly challenged by new media. Learn about the oncoming competition in this article. Also, read more about the “connected car” here.

The Revenue is Shifting

1. Five Fast Track Digital Shortcuts: Read five ways that you can accelerate your sales team’s traction with digital sales.

2. An Introduction and Comparison of Mobile Ad Networks: Do you have a mobile site? If not, developing a mobile version of your website should be a priority, as mobile web traffic is growing fast. In this article, you’ll find an introduction to the biggest mobile ad networks, accompanied by a helpful mobile ad network comparison at-a-glance, produced by Mark Fidelman.

3. They Research You Before Buying: Often, our team hits the streets with account executives from local radio stations to visit their major clients and digital prospects. It’s an invaluable opportunity to work hands-on with account executives to get a real sense of the local market’s buying preferences and prejudices. This year, I’ve been impressed by how much buyers (especially digitally savvy buyers) know about us, despite our best efforts to limit their accessibility to information about our stations.

4. Now Connected; Your Wallet: Google, Mastercard, and Citigroup have come together to make your leather wallet look like an uncool antique with their announcement of a wireless payment system called Google Wallet. Read three key takeaways for your local media company in this article.

5. Lessons for Radio From Old Spice: When was the last time you had a room full of geeks, marketers, and writers brainstorming ways to market your station using social media? For Old Spice, that day was last July. On July 13, 2010, when a team of eccentric creative people gathered at a private location in Oregon and produced 87 short (minute-or-less) videos about Old Spice.

6. Sales Prospecting 2.0: At one time in our industry, account executives were expected to “make it” on the yellow pages. Now, technology has opened new doors for prospecting that can help any account executive to discover information on local companies and generate new business. This article will help you make money!

7. Insights for Radio on Google’s New Display Ad Network: Learn about Google’s new ad network that pulls together resources from all Google properties, including Google AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, gMail, Blogger, YouTube, Google Finance, and over one million web, video, gaming, and mobile display partner sites.

8. Viral Video: Missed Opportunity for Radio? Many major marketers have turned to viral video this year to promote their products. Learn about some of the leaders in “viral videos” in this article.

And, for some articles by other people…

1. Finally Someone is Listening, an editorial by veteran programmer Greg Dunkin.

2. Digital Budgeting for 2011: McVay New Media’s Jon Erdahl weighs in as a guest columnist to say, “How about a challenge this year? It's time to reexamine how you view digital, and the only way is to honestly assess where you and your team are tracking in the digital space. You are in the content business now, so you need to examine any viable content competitor (newspaper, TV station, local and state web portals, etc.) to keep competitive.”

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. He is President of McVay New Media, and editor of Radio-Info.com's new media newsletter, connected.

Free Thinking Friday (Or making stuff up)

2011-06-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Like a giant cartoon hammer hitting me over the head, I've realized you don't need a radio to make a radio station. As marketing minister at Unique Orthodontics, we have two radio stations playing 12-24 hit music in both our Fresno and Clovis, CA offices. This Fall we are expanding UNIQUE RADIO to on-line listening through our web site and making a smart phone application available for listening and appointments.

We figured why play local radio stations? Most medical and dental offices play the local AC or Hot/AC station. That makes sense if the patient demographic is older. We target 10-15 year olds and some younger adults at our practices. The early results are in and the patients love it. The dental assistants hate the repetition. We balance the music with sweepers talking about the practice on an image level and mini-promos for our promotions and marketing. We have had interest from other offices in doing this. The whole process takes about 2-3 hours a month to do a day of programming. Music is mixed into Audition, then processed and transferred to USB.

I was listening to some final mixes in the car's media center on a short drive the other night and told my wife, you don't need radio to do radio. I program a Top-40 radio station. We change the music once-twice a month and play 7 powers, 11 mediums, 7 lights, 3 new, 15 recurrents and 25 recent gold titles. Yes we have contacted BMI and ASCAP to remit royalties on the 68 songs we play.

This is something all offices, businesses and retail businesses should look into, instead of playing the radio or faceless Music Choice type audio programming.

The mayor of tweetdom

2011-06-23T13:49:00.001-07:00

blakeshelton Blake Shelton

“@MichelleRudzki: It would mean the world to me if blakeshelton wished my a congratulations for my Graduation tonight!” Congrats girl!!

29 minutes ago

Media pitches in new position

2011-06-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

I am now handling media relations as part of my marketing duties at Unique Orthodontics in Fresno and Clovis. I have heard the spectrum of media presentations from newspaper to television and yes radio. Most of the account executives are trying to get you to buy into an existing package and claim you have exclusivity in the category. The reason you have sole proprietorship is simple: No one else has bought the over priced package.

The doctor I work for is a smart cookie, with a great background in business marketing. He listens to the pitches when I set them up. He also flat out tells them what he expects and what he can pay. Only one local radio company did a needs analysis to determine where to go with a presentation to us. It was OK, it included a morning show endorsement on the local leading Country station. Two television stations and one local Spanish radio group urged us to look at the medical minute type programming that is suppose to make the doctor look like an expert.

We haven't found anything yet that makes us jump up and down. Two television stations, local newspaper, local magazine, classified paper, three radio groups and still waiting for our ship to come in.

Wait a minute, video killed the internet star....

2011-06-22T14:28:00.001-07:00

Nielsen: Americans Watching More TV, Mobile/Web Video

The average American today has more ways to watch video - whenever, however and wherever they choose. That's the word from Nielsen's "Cross-Platform Report," which says that Americans are spending more time watching video content on traditional TVs, mobile devices, and the Internet than ever before. According to the report, overall TV viewership increased 22 minutes per month per person vs. last year, remaining the dominant source of video content for all demographics. Additionally, Nielsen data shows that consumers are willing to pay for high-quality TV content, with broadcast-only homes now accounting for fewer than 10% of U.S. TV households. Also, while mobile video accounts for just a handful of hours per month, it continues to see marked gains, increasing 41% over last year and more than 100% since 2009. Further, Internet video streaming saw increases in time spent, as this behavior is the highest among a younger and diverse subset of the population. [Full story: Nielsen]

First Alpha and now Merlin!

2011-06-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Good to have some new operators who put quality programming first and then a dominant sales position second. Randy Michael's new company Merlin comes from the loin of the great Emmis, which ran for years like a top. The early speculation with great team members, is for Q101 Chicago and WXRP New York to go FM news-talk under Walt Sabo, with John Gehron heading up Chicago. Doesn't look like Randy grabbed the Clear Channel team from Tribune, most of them have moved on.

Next move is the lease to a Spanish group on 93.9 in Los Angeles (former KZLA and Movin) with Emmis is coming up. Will Merlin grab this outlet up? You bet. You start a new company and your first three markets are 1-2-3. Randy always liked Country, so we are all hoping, like Larry Wilson there are some Country formats done right popping up soon in the Merlin family. Merlin's blood lines include Jacor and Emmis and Alpha's the former Citadel. These have to be good.

Will NY finally get a Country Music Station with Randy Michaels?

2011-06-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Word is one FM in Chicago and New York will go News-Talk!

The buyer? Merlin Media, a group led by former Tribune, Clear Channel and Jacor executive Randy Michaels, in partnership with Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR. Emmis will retain a "significant minority interest" in Merlin. GTCR's Philip Canfield says "we are extremely excited about the opportunity to partner with Emmis and Randy." Merlin will begin an LMA of Chicago's classic rock "Loop" WLUP (97.9) and modern rock "Q101" WKQX, plus New York's rock WRXP in the next 45 days, ahead of the closing. No price announced on the stations that Emmis has been shopping since last year. More now at Radio-Info.com.

Texas Roadhouse Please Share Your Strength for #NoKidHungry

2011-06-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Possibly one of the greatest use of Social Media I have seen to date. Using it to attract clients by creating content specific to them and then posting on your site. This would be an even better promotion than "jingle man"....just saying....Simple, marvelous, effective..GOT MY ATTENTION and wanted to share with you guys!!

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED with #NoKidHungry: click here

What in the hell do you want?

2011-06-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

CC Country station WDRM Hunstville, AL had this on an ALL ACCESS ad:

I've received many good packages but want to make sure I hear from everyone that is qualififed and looking for a new challenge. On your aircheck DO NOT include breaks about the weather or traffic, liners you are reading straight off a prepared liner sheet, one-liner jokes, or music news stories from a prep service or off your website. DO INCLUDE breaks that demonstrate your ability to truly entertain in a more music format that places heavy emphasis on community service and information. DO INCLUDE breaks that demonstrate your ability to connect to, and not just broadcast to, your station's target listener. DO INCLUDE breaks that show subtleties in a story or topic that you bring out to relate to listeners. I look forward to hearing your best stuff! Thanks.

I don't know if they've heard most CMR, but what he doesn't want, is what it sounds like. BTW - Five bucks says the fill the position from within or not at all.

Really Shania Twain's new song sounds like Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly"

2011-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

The latest stop on Shania Twain's multi-media comeback blitz: Billboard's Country Songs chart.

The star singer/songwriter ends a six-year hiatus from the survey, as "Today Is Your Day" blasts in as the list's highest debut at No. 40. The bow marks the fourth-highest start of Twain's 33 entries dating to her arrival in 1993. (All charts will be refreshed Thursday, June 23, on Billboard.com).

"Today" launches with 2.3 million audience impressions and airplay detected on 84 of the Country Songs chart's 127 reporters, according to Nielsen BDS.

Magna Global Revises Its U.S. Ad Forecast Downward To 2.9% Growth

2011-06-20T09:20:00.001-07:00

Magna Global has revised downard its projection of growth in the U.S. advertising economy. In a revised forecast, identifying what it called "first signs of weakness," the company last Friday [June 17] downgraded its outlook for U.S. ad spending in 2011, now projecting a growth rate of 2.9% for the year vs. a previous prediction of 3.1%, vs. 2010. "In light of recent economic reports, we are revising our forecast slightly downward," Magna Global stated. "While we see the disruption from the earthquake in Japan and high gas prices as temporary, the economy still suffers from a depressed housing market, sluggish employment conditions, and fiscal retrenchment at all levels of government. Our previous forecasts had already conservatively assumed a slowdown in the second half of 2011." For specific media, Magna says it expects "national TV to grow 7.9% in 2011, up from our previous estimate of 6.5%. Despite upward revisions to national mass media, signs of a slowdown are concentrated in local mass media, driven by weakness in newspapers, radio, and outdoor advertising. Direct media has been particularly impacted by sharper declines in directories and a slowdown in direct mail." [Full story: All Access]

FTC to end two year run!

2011-06-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

I am saddened to say, we are ending FULL THROTTLE COUNTRY on July 4th. This has been a ton of fun and has kept me in contact with Country radio, even though I haven't participated in day-day radio since May 2009. I have moved onto a new chapter in my professional life that needs my full and undivided attention. FTC began as a idea from Jaye Albright and Shelly Palmer. They told me media professionals need a digital link to the broadcast world and thus I began Full Throttle Country.

Thanks to a few people who helped us over the past few years, Jessica Northey who was instrumental in making this a real site. Austin Keyes who was with us from the start, Bobby Knight and Loyd Ford who contributed and helped make the daily FTC postings cutting-edge.

There is a plethora of information contained in this blog, if you use the search window or comb the site, you will find a ton of programming information and concepts. We will continue to post daily through July 4th weekend. I thank each and everyone of you who took the time to let us know what you thought of our subjects and the site in general.

Saturday Catch-Up with our man from McVay Media

2011-06-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

Anstandig’s Digital Summer Reading List – Part 1

Every week in connected, we talk about the evolution of the media business. Together, we realize our industry’s future. My goal is to give you takeaways that help you to improve and evolve your approach to content and revenue development.

This week, an outline of some of the best connected articles that can help you to accelerate as a manager and leader in the digital space.

Building a Digital Strategy for your Station

1. Digital A-Z Checklist for 2011: NOW is the time to prepare for digital audience and revenue success in 2011. The best place to start your journey to a new media breakthrough is a review of the basics. So this week, a review of the A-B-Cs, with valuable input from some of the industry’s greatest thought leaders.

2. Nine Ways to Get More Traffic from Search Engines: For some websites, up to 50% of their web traffic can come from search engines like Google, Bing, MSN, and Yahoo. Optimizing your site for search engines is key to growing the number of visitors to any site. These are the basics of search engine optimization--nine steps you can take to increase the traffic you receive from search engines.

3. Streaming Ads Increase Ad Recall and Ad Response: When used together with broadcast radio, streaming audio can improve the response rate and recall of advertising. That’s one of the key findings behind TargetSpot’s outstanding Ad Impact Study. Read more here.

4. New Ideas: Every week in Radio3D, my hope is that you find something “sharable.” This should be something so good that you’ll be a hero for sharing it with a friend. In this article, you’ll find a few new ideas from Interactive PDs around the country, including online Christmas cards, a football web content idea, and a Facebook promotional idea.

5. Seven Lessons for Interactive Local Media: The local ad market is on a growth curve. The local interactive ad market is on fire. In this article, you’ll read seven lessons related to the SMB market, local buyers, effective digital business plans, and technology.

6. Seven Digital Media Trends of 2011: The new year will be noted as the year that print goes to the tablet, the digital talent pool gets utilized by major broadcasters, deal hunters get digital service, mobile hits a tipping point, the audience drives the show, and marketers exercise targeting muscle. Read more in this article on the emerging digital trends of 2011.

7. 2011: The Year of Mobile Breakthroughs for Media: Mobile is instant, portable, and personalized, and in the new year, we will see some big breakthroughs for traditional media in the mobile world.

8. Should We Drop Our Website and Just ‘Do Facebook?: I have been hearing this question often in my travels, especially from managers who are frustrated by their company’s unwillingness to invest in digital initiatives. The question is, “If we can’t produce a good Web site with good content and profitable advertising opportunities for local clients, should we just forward our dot com to our Facebook page? We seem to have more momentum there!” My answer is in this article.

9. A Slideshow for your Future: Here you’ll find four outstanding slide shows to share with your team that will challenge you to think about your company’s digital ambitions. Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start presentation is featured here as well as Ten Questions Internet Execs Should Ask and Answer—a thought-provoking presentation by Mary Meeker from Morgan Stanley.

10. Another Perspective on Social Media: Cid Carver is not your average up-and-coming marketing professional. A senior at Suffolk University, Cid has a vision for how social media is changing the worlds of education, marketing, and technology.

11. The A-Z of Database Marketing: In response to the A-Z on Digital for 2011, Ruth Presslaff, Michelle Novak, and Steve Zielonka from Presslaff Interactive wrote an “A-Z for Database Marketing.”

12. The Blue Ocean for Radio: Why reinvent anyway? This article will give you helpful insights on how other industries and business have made pivotal (and highly profitable) changes to their strategies. If you haven’t yet read Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, it is excellent holiday reading!

13. Digital Media Strategy Checklist: These are fundamental questions you should ask yourself and your team regarding content, community, communication, commerce, monetization, movement / traffic, and management.

14. Your Reinvention Plan: A huge part of reinventing your station and business plan for the future is revising the jobs and expectations of key management. In this article, you’ll read our ideas on new job descriptions for every key management role in an average radio station.

Becoming a Better Manager

Everyone is a manager—whether you are managing yourself or a big group of people. This series of articles is for your self-development as must as your team-development.

1. Rethinking the Role of General Manager in a Digital World: Now, managing a broadcasting P&L is more complex and demanding than ever. The brands driving a company ledger are no longer just AM, FM, or TV—and they require an entrepreneurial approach. Managers are forced to be creative about managing the growth of businesses day-to-day. Our industry is faced with increased competition and (in many cases) fewer people resources.

2. Five Tips on Hitting Your Goals in 2011: Do you have big goals set for yourself or your company in 2011? Good! Enjoy the growth opportunity of stretching beyond your current situation into a greater future. This article will give you five tips for accomplishing your goals this year.

3. 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.

4. 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. In this article, you’ll learn about key metrics that we track on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis.

5. The Right People Make All the Difference: When you are trying to accomplish something BIG, like developing your radio business, whom you choose to surround yourself with can make or break you. That’s a simple truth. When managers bring in the right people, even the biggest most audacious goals can be easily achieved.

6. Reevaluating the Role of Program Director: The job of a Program Director has changed. Now, to be successful as a programmer, there is much more to do than manage a music/talent schedule, write imaging, and schedule promotions. For many, the role of Program Director has evolved into a multi-media brand manager—a position responsible for overseeing all manifestations of a brand, far beyond that of an AM or FM audio channel. It has also evolved into a more entrepreneurial position, where programmers are forced to be creative about “running the station’s content business” with few people and little resources.

7. Developing New Talent: The personalities you want to hire are now using much more than a microphone to communicate. Personalities are now empowered with new ways to reach the audience—including blogs, Twitter accounts, text messaging, and streaming audio/video. But, how will you find them? Read more in this article.

8. Encourage Everyone to be a Leader: Ask yourself these 15 questions for ultimate self-reflection that will help you to become a better team player.

9. Understanding the Next Generation: If you are finding that it is difficult to attract new (young) talent into your company, you might be interested to read these results from the 2010 Junior Achievement Careers Survey.

10. The Top 10 Excuses for NOT INNOVATING: Excuses are the biggest block to innovation. Can you see your name attached to any of the quotes in this article? If you do, this is a great opportunity to reevaluate your thinking!

11. Can You Unplug for 24 Hours?: You may (or may not) be surprised to find out that the answer to this question among nearly 200 students at the University of Maryland, College Park, was NO. Read their accounts of the experiment and learn about the entanglement of social media among radio’s next generation of listeners.

12. Digital: Radio’s Third Silo: Is “digital” becoming the new third silo in your building? This is a trap!

Next Week in connected: Anstandig’s Digital Summer Reading List – Part 2, including information on the shifting of our audience and revenue.

About the Writer

Renegade Radio Nashville is coming...

2011-06-16T20:42:00.001-07:00

So I saw the picture of the air staff and the information on COUNTRY AIR CHECK and checked it out. Played Alan Jackson "Who's Cheatin' Who" into "Hank Jr. "Country Boy Can Survive". Dry voice imaging piece about building a new Country community on-line, which was pretty cool. Kind of a pukey voice guy. I would watch lines like on their web site and on air like "Country's Hottest Hits". Lines like that don't mesh with The Renegade attitude. Every time someone tries to mesh Country and Southern Rock, the wheels come off on the curve. Best of luck to these guys, web site looks pretty cool and so does their Facebook.

Renegade Country Nashville We hope you like what you hear on RenegadeRadioNashville.com. We are still making adjustments so we can be the BEST when we hit the air LIVE on Monday August 1st, there will be some glitches here and there, which we are causing to make these adjustments. Please hang in there with us and we promise to deliver THE BEST COUNTRY MUSIC STATION EVER, just for YOU. Thanks for your support, help spread the word. God Bless.

The RENEGADE.. hot country and southern music

www.RenegadeRadioNashville.com

RENEGADE COUNTRY A New Music intensive combination of Hot Contemporary and Southern Country. The latest artists and the hottest country anywhere

Is Radio a Digital Laggard? (Mark Ramsey)

2011-06-15T09:33:00.001-07:00

That’s what Inside Radio reports, based on a new Borrell Associates study:

In what may best be described as a digital wake up call, Borrell Associates says the radio industry is “barely treading water” in the local digital space and is poised to see its share shrink — not grow — unless there’s a rethink in the coming years. “Radio stations continued to deliver lackluster performance in internet sales,” Borrell Associates president Gordon Borrell. “Outside of local cable companies and magazines, radio performed the worst among all legacy media companies,” Borrell says.

But here’s what’s lost in this new study….

When it comes to digital, there is no such thing as the “radio industry.”

Digital levels the playing field across all media by providing the same powerful cross-channel capabilities. And when the resources are equalized – when your prowess is no longer due solely to the scarcity of your Federally licensed broadcast frequency – when you have to compete toe-to-toe with everything else that is now called “media,” then what differentiates one player from another is not what industry they’re in, it’s what ideasthey project to consumers and clients alike, and how well they project those ideas.

“Ideas” could be content, they could be platform offerings, they could be sales strategies, they could be your most talented managers, etc. “Ideas” are the raw materials of supply and demand, of action and consequence.

So my point is this: There is no reason to expect that “radio” as an industry will “get it.” But there is every reason to expect that certain players within that industry will “get it.” Certain groups will evolve from “radio” to “media” as their digital transformation takes hold. And in the long run they will hardly be recognizable as “radio.”

As I have long said, in the future there will be no “radio industry” but there will be many radio industries.

And what differentiates those players from the rest will be these five factors:

1. A culture that invites new ideas and embraces the kind of people in tune with fast-changing times

2. Superior distinctive content

3. A strategy that recognizes the new definition of media in a digital age

4. A leader who communicates and invests in the digital future

5. Champions on staff who see the future as it is, not as it used to be, and look beyond the easy agency dollars and towards new revenue streams and new business models, powered in many cases by digital

So we should not be surprised that “radio” is a digital laggard.

We should only be surprised if every “broadcaster” in every market is one, too.

Unhinge your future from “radio’s” and the world is your oyster.

Powerful stuff (Am Artist's Eye) from Doug Erickson

2011-06-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Two stories, separated by 1,400 years.

One, perhaps the most famous story in human history. You know it well.

A baby boy, born to a young couple, on the road, so poor they couldn't afford a hotel room. This, their first son, born in a barn, surrounded by livestock and filth.

His father was a carpenter, and as was the custom at that time, he learned the craft as well. But that was not his life's calling.

Eventually, he left his home, left his mother and father, and began to preach. He was charismatic, enigmatic, at once both patient and kind yet also a bit distant and preoccupied.

His following grew. He began to be seen as a threat to the status quo. There was talk of a revolution, a new kingdom which he would govern.

So, he was falsely accused, tried and convicted, brutally beaten and executed. His mother watched him die. He was only 33 years old.

Some 1,400 years later the second story begins.

A baby boy, born to a mother so frail she could not nurse him, was sent to live with a wet nurse in a family of stone cutters. His mother died when he was only 6 and still living with this foster family, so he never really knew her.

His childhood was grim, and when he said he wanted to be an artist, his father flew into a rage. He never knew warmth, acceptance, or love. He spent the rest of his adult life alone.

The two stories intersect when the young, motherless artist is less than 25.

He was commissioned to depict the death of Jesus Christ.

So, explain to me how a man who never knew the comfort of being held in his mother's embrace, never knew his own mother's love, could create this.

His eye was sensitized to loss. His understanding of death was personal.

And when Michelangelo thought about the crucifixion of Christ, he didn't see the cross, as most who knew of the story before him did.

He saw Mary, in her grief. He saw a mother tenderly holding her son, one final time.

The best artists see what we do not; they help us feel emotion that we have locked up and shunned.

Do you have this gift?

Do you have the power to heal hurting hearts?

Isn't this really your calling, the reason you wanted to be on this big radio stage?

Don't you know deep down that you can do more, say more, be more than a pleasant voice muttering platitudes no one hears?

Can you help us notice what we don't see even when we're looking at the same thing?

Can you help us focus on the comfort and love underneath the cross?

Do you have the artist's eye?

FTC wants you! - Great daily metrics and thousands of page views each month

2011-06-13T19:59:00.001-07:00

Sponsorship opportunities available on FULL THROTTLE COUNTRY. Voice talent, imaging producers, syndicators, some labels, consultants, research companies and social media factors for radio. Email me for more information: provencountrypd@gmail.com

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June 14th is FLAG DAY

2011-06-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

Morning shows should break out a few gems and salute our flag if not already doing so. Ragged Old Flag, God Bless The USA and more. Smart stations will hand out American flags at pre-sold remote locations throughout the day. Not many retailers or organizations participate in promoting FLAG DAY. Country radio should always make it a point. Check this out from KUPL Portland last FLAG DAY: http://youtu.be/dqCgD1KWmOo

Who are Country Music Radio's Top Artists?

2011-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

We have a three stage artist change taking place. For the first time in quite a while, there are three phases of artists reigning as CMR's most played and biggest artists. Usually, the changes take place with older artists being replaced by newer artists. There are still 90's artists with grand airplay, 2000 artists and newer artists. When I started in CMR in 97, the big un's were:

Shania Twain

Diamond Rio

Brooks and Dunn

Alabama

Vince Gill

Garth Brooks

George Strait

Reba

Faith Hill

Reba and George are still part of today's list. The late 90's and 2000's saw Flatts, Toby, Keith Urban, Dixie Chicks, Tim Mc Graw, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney and the mid-2000's: Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood,

Taylor Swift and more. Funny how some big artists were never A artists: Martina McBride, Travis Tritt, Randy Travis and Clint Black. We have some bubbling under superstars these days: Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Band Perry, Easton Corbin, Jason Aldean, Justin Moore, Billy Currington and still more. This Country keeps changing all the time!

Finding Consumers With Mobile Marketing

2011-06-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

John Arnold wrote last week on Entrepreneur.com about 10 ways small businesses can find customers using mobile marketing. John is the author of Mobile Marketing for Dummies, and Email Marketing for Dummiesand he owns a marketing consultancy in Boulder, Colorado called Aveta Marketing that specializes in marketing strategies for small businesses and non-profit organizations.

Smart business owners find customers by placing their marketing messages where the most eyeballs are focused. And nowhere are there more eyeballs than on the screens of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

More than two thirds of the world’s population has a mobile subscription, and mobile users are highly active. Facebook recently reportedstatistics indicating that over half of its 500 million subscribers access Facebook from a mobile device and exhibit twice the activity level of non-mobile users. The time for mobile marketing is now.

Finding customers with mobile marketing involves either pulling people toward your messages or pushing your messages out. Here are 10 mobile-marketing channels that’ll help your efforts:

1.) Text-messaging (SMS)Pull customers to your SMS messages by asking people to opt-in to your text-messaging list. Use a text-messaging provider such asmotomessage.com to access a short phone number known as a common short code and an opt-in keyword. Then, use the text-messaging service to push periodic text messages out to the people who opt in.

2.) Multi-media messaging (MMS)MMS messages are like SMS messages, but they can contain pictures, sound and a lot more text. Pull customers in with the same opt-in process as SMS, and then push out multi-media content via your MMS service provider.

3.) Mobile emailPull customers to your email list with signup links on your website or ask people to text in their email addresses to join. When you push your emails out to mobile users, ask for mobile-friendly actions such as clicking phone numbers instead of links or using the mobile device to show an email coupon at the point of sale.

4.) Mobile searchPeople searching online with mobile devices are often looking for a nearby product or service. Pull customers to your business by including mobile-friendly maps and directions on your site. Push your location out to new potential customers by asking your customers to check in on their favorite social media service when they visit your physical location so their friends see where they are.

5.) Mobile InternetPull mobile visitors to your site by advertising your site’s address or by including a mobile barcode — also known as a Quick Response or QR code — in your advertising that points to your site. Push messages through your site by formatting content and navigation to be mobile friendly.

6.) Mobile appsPull customers to your mobile apps by listing your apps in the app stores and by offering app downloads from your own mobile site. Then, push your marketing messages through the downloaded apps.

7.) Mobile contentPull customers to content such as videos, images and downloads by providing links and mobile barcodes that activate the content. Push that content by posting to mobile-friendly sites such as YouTube or your own mobile site.

8.) Mobile advertisingPull customers to your advertising by placing ads on external mobile sites such as mobile versions of newspapers, blogs and other content sites. Push your advertising out by including ads in your e-mails, text messages, mobile content and branded apps.

9.) VoicePull customers in by advertising your phone number. Push your messages out by answering the phone or by using Interactive Voice Response systems to answer calls and deliver voice messages automatically.

10.) Capabilities and enablersMobile devices come with built-in capabilities and enablers such as cameras, WiFi, and GPS. Pull customers in by asking customers to use their capabilities. For example, taking a picture of a product and e-mailing it to you for a discount. Push your messages out in reply to people who use their capabilities by using one of the aforementioned nine channels.

Have you attempted a mobile marketing campaign? Let us know how it worked for you in the comments section.

Source: BROUGHT TO YOU BY MOTO MESSAGE!

To get in touch with Moto Message you can call them at 866-264-8159 or email: hello at motomessage dot com

Please stop telling me what Jennifer Nettles wore last night!!!!!

2011-06-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

I read Phyllis Starks column today about The CMT Music Awards, which is probably a step above The BET Music Awards. I send her this email:

There is still too much promotion for these multiple award shows every year. The average Country radio listener is not mired in this like the industry is. I listened to a big Country station on line and they were talking about the dress and screw ups. There is a small cross section of the P-1's and life group who care. Why can't this be balanced? It's like the format runs out of things to talk about until the next award show. One time I heard a major market station air talent talking about what artist wore one week after a secondary awards

show. Why are we so affected constantly about all these music issues?

Look I understand there is a large facet of the Country Radio community that insists on being connected to the music industry. I remember giving Mike Preston an earful (Like Elmer Gantry) over this. When he became the PD of KKWF Seattle and entered this format. Will someone for the love of God, please explain what this has to do with quality programming, fun and memorable radio mixed with show biz and entertainment. Ha you say Mr. Geiger, this is entertainment, recapping the awards show. Not when announcer type talent throw it away in a break over an intro.

Using social media, web, digital, streaming, your on air and more, you can create a real buzz for these shows, but it takes elbow grease. Not throw away breaks you remember a minute before you play Lady Antebellum. First that shows no preparation and secondly, you can prepare audio, video and make sure it makes sense and the audience actually cares about it. I have asked listeners in LISTENER ADVISORY BOARDS about these shows and guess what, they don't pay much attention to them.

I ask a major CMR programmer and consultant about all the trade hustle on award shows and music issues. He said "The trades follow the cash and in this format, the money comes from promoting music and industry music issues." Really?

Forget About Mafia Wars! Dino & Dan Want YOU to Join Their Triberr (video interview w/Jessica Northey)

2011-06-09T10:05:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday started out like any day that ends in -y. Wake up, coffee, meditation, blog, write, correspondence, tweet, walk Sissy, Skype with and then...an email from Dino Dogan, who is visiting Tucson, agreeing to let me eView him. Dig a little deeper...his business partner Dan Cristo is in town...deeper they both live in New Jersey but seldom are in the same physical location. Digging half way to China now...these guys recently started the hottest tool for bloggers on the market: Triberr. So forget the traditional eView I said "Lets video this!" I joined Triberr about a month ago, invited by Chicago Power Blogger Sean McGinnis (who will be featured here on Finger Candy Media this Wednesday.) My story is a good one. Blog traffic has increased 200%, Retweets quadrupled from Triberr content and I am learning and connecting with amazing people every day!

What Is Triberr? Founded by Dino Dogan and Dan Cristo, Triberr is a blog amplification platform dedicated to helping bloggers extend their Social Media reach. When used to its fullest potential, it can extend your range in a significant, and major, way.

...so what's it do? Every time you publish a new post, everyone in your tribe will tweet it to their followers. And you do the same for everyone in your tribe. This happens 'automagicly' of course. Hands off kind of deal.

How does it work? What’s really cool is that YOU are in control of what Tribes you belong to. So just think. Every time you publish a new post on your authority blog, EVERYONE in your Tribe tweets it to all of their followers.

This has the implication to get your blog off the ground and buzzing with traffic in no time.

No need to wait 6-12 months for your SEO efforts to take full effect.
No need for you to pester your followers with constant retweets of your blog post.

Your Tribe does it for you and it creates a real win-win-win situation.

You Win – Your blog posts get distributed by your Tribe far and wide.
Tribes Win- People in your Tribe get to feed quality content to their followers and inject variety into their own tweeting efforts
Followers Win- Followers get exposed to quality content created by your Tribesmen.

Best of all, Triberr automates the procedure which leaves more time for true engagement with your followers.

Five CC stations head to XM/Sirius

2011-06-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

All Access is reporting and I can confirm that as of yesterday Clear Channel is simulcasting 5 big phat stations on XM/Sirius. I heard KIIS Los Angeles on Channel 11 last night and it rocked as usual.

* Top 40 KIIS/LOS ANGELES, now simulcasting on XM Channel 11
* Top 40 WHTZ (Z100)/NEW YORK, now simulcasting on XM Channel 12
* AC WLTW (106.7 LITE FM)/NEW YORK, now simulcasting on XM Channel 13;
* Country WSIX/NASHVILLE, now simulcasting on XM Channel 57
* Urban WGCI/CHICAGO, now simulcasting on XM Channel 163.

What's in the Secret Sauce at All American Burger?

2011-06-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

From Fast Times at Sebastian High School, WWQM Madison PD John Sebastian steps down and moves back to Scottsdale, AZ to begin his consultancy SEBASTIAN'S SECRET SAUCE. He is taken quite a slam on ALL ACCESS (CLICK HERE) Many feel that John gets a ratings win and never stays, he departs for something else before he can maintain any real consistent ratings scorecard.

Great Ink and Numbers for Jessica Northey's Country Music Chat!

2011-06-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Last night weekly Country Music Chat #CMchat on Twitter hosted by our very own Jessica Northey reached an audience of over 1.17 million followers on Twitter with 22 million impressions. Impressive enough to get some ink, or bits, from ALLACCESS.com and NashvilleMusicGuide.com today!!

If you are not familiar with how a chat works, it is a conversation where participants on Twitter are asked to use a specific hashtag (#) and discuss a topic in an open forum. This offers a place and time where Country Music meets YOU every Monday at 6pPT/9pET.

15 year old Country Music singing sensation Mary Sarah (@MarySarahMusic) and NBC The Voice's Curtis Grimes (@CurtisGrimes) were guests and shared their experience, strengths and hopes including how they got started in the business, to what they have planned for the future. Grimes even talked about the Kiss on The Voice he shared with fellow contestant last week.
Click here for recap from last night.

Started by our very own Jessica Northey less than a month ago Country Music Chat has become one of the most populat chats on Twitter with phenomenal reach and impressions.

Next week will not disappoint as AllAccess' President/Founder Joel Denver and Country Music Singer/Songwriter Anchorman in Detroit Stephen Clark guest to discuss 'Media and Mediocrity'. How do you get press and use all the PR tools including Social and Traditional Media to make impact in Country Music.

For More Information about #CMchat or how to participate in a chat contact Jessica Northey or visithttp://bit.ly/CountryMusicChat

Thank you very much

2011-06-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

For the hundreds of birthday wishes, this old codger turned 56 and still has a fire burnin' for family, friends, dedicated work and sizzlin' radio. I truly appreciate the friendships we have created over the past 37 years.

HOFFy Birthday to FTC's Chuck Geiger!

2011-06-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hope it is HASSEL free!

LOVE YA CHUCK!!!!!!

This is why radio is so vanilla - Don't blame PPM

2011-06-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted an article on employment during the rescission and nmber 6 really jumped out at me.

6. You avoid risk. After rounds of layoffs, workers often suffer from low-grade anxiety, Ashforth said. Since they aren't sure whether or not they will lose their jobs, workers "hunker down," do what the boss says and they avoid risk, he said.

"They basically do things to protect themselves in a way that doesn't call attention to themselves. So you tend to lose innovation. There's less bold decision-making. Things that really do matter to the long-term future of the organization," the professor said.

We are avoiding risk in programming and producing sizzling radio elements. I started to notice this in 2007 when working for Clear Channel in Fresno. Most of the senior managers just came to work each day with no motivation to make the product better. Everyone figures it's bosses job to make the product better and instruct the subordinates on how to do so. No manager ever told me how to program and maintain a buzz with the listeners.

How to skillfully program and market a radio station should be an inherent gene. You are not going to learn this from a manager. You will get ideas on the execution from protege-mentor relationships, if they even exist today. Everyone is worried about losing their jobs, they don't share what little information they have with anyone.

Employees gain skills but raises, job mobility scarce in new climate

2011-06-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Great Recession spread its misery around. Yes, life changed dramatically for the jobless, but workers who managed to keep their jobs also saw changes in the workplace.

As recession survivors, the remaining worker bees reaped a few advantages: Many enjoy better job security and some may have added new skills to their resumes. But with nagging, high unemployment in Arizona, workers feel tremendous pressure to keep their jobs at all costs. That mentality has influenced everything from paychecks to performing good deeds around the office, career experts say. Some things that have changed for workers since the recession:

1. Layoffs are rare. Now that many employers are operating with skeleton crews, they can't afford to lose any more workers. The national data reflects that, said labor-market economist Heidi Shierholz, with Economic Policy Institute. "Right now layoffs are down - they are around pre-recession levels," she said. "If you have a job, we are no longer in this situation where people have reason to be extremely insecure about job loss."

2. Raises are scarce. Employers are reluctant to dole out raises or to offer generous pay because one job posting attracts a swarm of applicants. "Employers do not have to pay big wage premiums to get the workers that they need, nor do they have to pay substantially to keep the workers that they need," Shierholz said.

3. You can't quit. Many workers are itching to jump to a new job, some surveys show. Thirty six percent of employees hope to work for a different employer in the next 12 months, reports MetLife's 9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends. Few workers have taken that leap, an expert observed. "Quits are way down from where they were when the recession started," Shierholz said.

In January, 345,000 people quit their jobs in the West, which includes Arizona. That produced a quit rate of 1.2 percent. In January 2008, the rate in the West was 1.8 percent, and 561,000 workers had quit their jobs in the region.

4. You commute less.

For years, regional leaders nudged major employers to improve air quality by allowing employees to use alternative work schedules and public transit. During the recession, more workers took advantage of these programs, said Holly Ward, spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Air Quality Department.

But there are other factors. Some of the increase may be linked to rising gas prices. Also, some cities, including Mesa and Peoria, have adopted compressed work weeks. Some work four 10-hour days with Fridays off.

Of the 579,579 workers who participated in Maricopa County's trip reduction survey, 2.8 percent of workers participated in shorter work weeks in 2007, but that number rose to 3.6 percent in 2009 and was 3.5 percent in 2010. Telecommuting increased from .7 percent in 2009 to 1.7 percent in 2010.

5. You have new skills. With fewer workers around to carry the load, some employees are doing the work of laid-off co-workers. That means that the remaining workers have opportunities to pick up additional skills.

"It's almost like a foxhole mentality," said Blake Ashforth, a professor at Arizona State University who studies organization behavior at large companies. "So if that means working especially hard or doing extra training programs, then people do it." Still, those aren't the best learning conditions, he said.

"If you feel coerced into doing it, you are less likely to really embrace the sprit of learning and act in a defense way," Ashforth said.

6. You avoid risk. After rounds of layoffs, workers often suffer from low-grade anxiety, Ashforth said. Since they aren't sure whether or not they will lose their jobs, workers "hunker down," do what the boss says and they avoid risk, he said.

7.You're less selfless. Employees routinely go beyond the call of duty at work, but they are less motivated to do so when the office atmosphere is bleak, Ashforth said. Good deeds that matter to a company such as "helping a co-worker to do their job, even though that isn't in your job description, or picking up some trash in the hallway," are actions that workers may avoid, he said.

Saturday Catch-Up with our man from McVay Media

2011-06-04T14:15:00.001-07:00

Now Connected: Your Wallet

Google, Mastercard, and Citigroup have come together to make your leather wallet look like an uncool antique this week with their announcement of a Wireless Payment System called Google Wallet.

It’s a mobile app that consumers can wave in front of a retailer’s electronic terminal to make a payment. Using technology known as near-field communications (NFC), which is incorporated into a chip in mobile phones, mobile wallets can be used to make payments at nearly 125,000 PayPass terminals. Those are terminals that take contactless payments.

Google’s hope is that it will replace credit cards—and even better, replace the wallet altogether. At a news conference last week, Google’s VP/Commerce Stephanie Tilenius said, “Eventually, you will be able to put everything in your wallet.”

It’s not just a dream of Google though. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have also come together to offer a service called Isis. Their website says that “the Isis mobile wallet will eliminate the need to carry cash, credit and debit cards, reward cards, coupons, tickets, and transit passes, fundamentally changing how you shop, pay, and save. All with your phone.”

Companies like Square and Paypal have also made advances towards accepting mobile payments, and they will likely accelerate now after Google’s announcement. This month, a startup called Tabbedout also raised $4 million to create a mobile payment app specifically for restaurant-goers to use on their dining bills.

Will consumers actually care about mobile payments? Time will tell, but my bet would be that the convenience will be appreciated by young mobile consumers.

Three Takeaways for Local Media Companies:

1. With services like Square (see it at https://squareup.com), your local sales reps could accept payments right on the spot from local buyers. Square makes it possible for you to take credit card payments from your iPad, iPhone, or Android anywhere. This could be helpful for medium or small market clubs, bars, or local retail outlets that prefer to pay with a credit card.

2. Are you sharing the mobile payment trend with your local clients? This will certainly become a hot topic in the second half of this year among local retailers and restaurants who are interested in creating low-friction simple ways for consumers to pay. This could be especially helpful for businesses that deliver food or other goods and services where a “mobile cash register” could come in handy. This could also be helpful to a non-profit which is accepting donations at events or running an auction where they’d like to provide payment on-site.

3. Very few local media outlets offer carry-around loyalty cards anymore. However, could mobile wallets create a new opportunity for TV and radio station loyalty programs and points programs? Now the technology exists for stations to incentivize people with their app to shop at a local business and checkout using their coupon or loyalty code. We will most assuredly see more developments in this space over the next 12-18 months.

Most importantly, this is another significant push toward integration of mobile devices in our daily lives. It’s one more way that consumers will use their phones, and it’s one more invitation for competitive local media outlets to design a mobile strategy for building audience and revenue.

More and more folks each day are bailing!

2011-06-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

Steve Brill leaves Citadel Des Moines as OM to begin a concert business for Country radio. Cary Rolfe is a surprise move, exits after 3 1/2 years at the helm of KWNR Las Vegas to perform for the masses outside of CMR. Don Brake heads to Jess Wright land as an MD. Dan Persigehl becomes the latest member of the CC ATL revolving door. This has nothing to do with the above but was cool to talk about.

Meet NBC The Voice's @CurtisGrimes

2011-06-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

Close Up & Personal with Curtis Grimes

Lone Star Jam

by Jessica Northey

As fate would have it this eView is not the first time my path has crossed with NBC The Voice’s HOT, Young Country Singer Curtis Grimes! This Texas Country Music Artist, Singer/Songwriter was at the Texas Music Seminar I spoke at earlier this year. About a week ago I got a tweet from him saying “Saw you speak at the Best in Texas seminar, that night I got a call to audition for @NBCTheVoice and here we are.” It was a thrilling message to receive as I am a BIG fan of ”The Voice” and of Curtis’!

Hollywood!

Curtis Grimes is a 25 year old singer/songwriter from Upshur County, pursuing his dreams as a Country Music Singer; an academic scholar and athlete at Harmony High School where he was an All-State pitcher and member of the 2003 state qualifying baseball team. Following graduation he accepted academic and baseball scholarships to Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana.

After a break up with his then fiance, it was here that he started playing guitar and developed an interest in songwriting. One day he went to a pawn shop, purchased a used Dean Martin guitar, and taught himself to play. Grimes then headed down I35 with plans of finishing his degree at Texas State University in San Marcos. While there he fell under the influence of the Texas Country music scene. With legendary venues so close, he was able to follow the Texas Country artists he looked up to. After playing for friends and relatives at gatherings and parties, Grimes was hooked by the entertainment bug.
Here is my eView with Curtis , you will be able to chat LIVE with him next June 6 on #CMchat. Country Music’s #1 LIVE Chat on Monday nights at 6pPt/9pET.

Close to home

Favorite thing about your job?
Everything minus the late night drives

Where are you answering these questions from right now?
My living room

What are you wearing right now?
Nike shorts, that’s all

How did you get started in Social Media/Social Networking?
Did the bare minimum until I got some key pointers from Jessica Northey

What are 3 items you CAN NOT live without?
My guitar, my truck, my teléfono

With Kelsey Rey from The Voice

Favorite item of clothing/jewelry/accessory?
My boots, they complete me

Have you ever been in a fight?
Nothing too bad, I try to get along with everyone

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
How much I hate getting out of bed, I’m definitely a night person

Is there anything that you regret?
Quitting baseball initially, but I had no idea music would change my life

What are your fondest childhood memories?
Going to my grandparents house and hanging with all 18 of my cousins

What current event has your eyes and ears?
“The Voice” on NBC, trying to win it!

With Casey Weston from The Voice

How do you use Social Media in your industry for productivity?
To reach new fans and get as much information as possible to the public eye

What is your favorite website?
Espn.com

If you had a Super Power what would it be?
Have you ever seen “Boogie Nights”…I’m just saying

Which famous people do you admire?
The ones that used their God given ability to get where they are and appreciated everything and everyone along the way and didn’t let the fame get to their head, in any profession

What is your favorite movie?
8 Seconds, I have the upmost respect for Lane Frost and how he lived life

Favorite snack?
Nachos with jalapeños, spent half my life at a ballpark

With Frenchie from The Voice

How do you balance your work with other personal life & obligations?
Enjoy every second I have off, and spend as much time as possible with the people that mean the most to me

Do you get nervous about anything?
Worrying how people perceive me, I want to make EVERYONE happy but it is impossible

If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be, and what would say to them?
Hank Williams and Nolan Ryan, I would have a lot of questions

Fishing with nephew & grandpa

What is your hobby or do you collect anything?
I like to fish, go to concerts and throw a baseball around, it’s my life

What chore to you hate?
I really don’t’ like to wash dishes, too many weird smells and slimy feeling stuff

Do you have an animals?
I had the most bad ass dog ever, Tank, he’s no longer with us

Mac or PC?
Mac, more user friendly and fewer viruses

Ginger or Mary Ann?
I would have to go with Mary Ann, she’s more my type

With Casey Donahew

Craziest thing you have ever done?
There is not enough room on this page, I like to live life on the edge

MORE INFO ON CURTIS GRIMES
Website
Twitter
Facebook

Social Media is the new vehicle for cause promotions

2011-06-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

Use to be adventurous morning men would get an idea on the air with the listeners and it would spark with the community and over the next few hours money and supplies were raised for disasters and related. Now radio (except in come cases) sits back and doesn't react to local, regional or even national problems. Why? Too much work and not enough people. That's what they would say, in reality they don't have the desire or drive any more to do these events.

Check out this local Fresno woman through her job is asking for supplies through her business. Her business was just on the local news and her uncle has a shipping business and they are driving the supplies to Joplin on Monday. Blankets, kids toys, car seats and more.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Clovis woman with ties to Joplin, Missouri is organizing a relief drive for the people who have been left with nothing. Kayla Christiansen has an uncle living in Joplin. She said when she first heard of the devastation, she wanted to go there to help. Instead, she's doing her part here in the Valley by collecting items to send to the Midwest.

For the last two days, Kayla's uncle has been sending her photos of the damage he's seen. He has been working alongside rescuers, trying to find survivors. What she's heard -- and he's experienced -- is hard to imagine.

"When they were digging through the Home Depot store, there was a dad that was holding all of his kids. They had all three died and the dad still had the tightest embrace on his kids, even though they had already passed. And its just stuff like that... it just makes me cry," said Christiansen.

Tuesday night, Kayla's uncle spoke with Action News, describing the storm's aftermath and the couple's efforts to clear the damaged hospital where his girlfriend works as an R.N. "Going room to room, trying to see if there's anybody in there... patients or hospital staff. It's just pretty overwhelming. I can't believe it," said David Hills.

In a conversation Monday, Kayla's uncle asked for her to collect supplies for the people of Joplin. She started mobilizing help immediately and eventually turned to Facebook to help spread the word. So far, the support has been incredible. Kayla's uncle works in the shipping industry and is making the arrangements to get whatever she collects to the people who need it most.

The Joplin Call to Action (From Tim Moore)

2011-06-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

Several years ago Radio Ink featured a cover picture of the Zimmer Radio brothers, with one of the twins carried horizontally under the caption, "He's not heavy...he's my brother." The article praised the family radio history, culture, and desirability as a career destination. Years have passed and the brothers still pursue excellence having formed separate companies spread through the heartland.

On that fateful Sunday ten days ago Joplin operations manager Chad Elliot was spending a typical weekend with one eye on the weather. James Zimmer's impressive cluster holds four regional and highly rated FM brands and two AM facilities. Among the latter, the "Four States" crown jewel of News-Talk KZRG houses its own advanced radar capability. Around 3:00 PM Elliot's cell accepted the first text alert from Kansas; far to the west yet potentially menacing. Elliot immediately went to the stations and looked at KZRG's long range radar. Here he saw a massive cell developing out over the Cherokee County plains of Kansas, replete with a low-hanging funnel. Elliot plotted its speed at 20 miles per hour and guessed it possibly an F-3. Time was passing; the storm was moving. The ominous potential of the beast grew and strengthened. Elliot summoned his News team.

At 4:30 KZRG went wall-to-wall emergency weather. As the storm lurched toward the confluence of Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri where just inside the Missouri border Joplin sits astride the corners of the "Four States," Elliot and his staff accepted the inevitable. Once one becomes skilled at reading radar over land or sea, it's relatively easy to plot the course and speed of anything...ships, planes, tornados. The gigantic Kansas cell was now spawning life threatening downspouts, traveling slowly but steadily on a course for Joplin. KZRG warned city officials, police agencies, fire and rescue that Joplin would likely get the full force of the monster storm. Thanks to KZRG's radar tracking, sirens actually began to sound 45 minutes ahead of the vanguard.

One-inch hail was falling on parts of the city while the wind rose with rapier speed, screaming at all things in its path. As late afternoon approached the storm evolved from multi-vortex tornados to a single massive anvil striking the center of Joplin at 200 miles per hour. The world exploded into a cacophony of chaos and terror. Why some were spared when others weren't remains the unending mystery of crises. Zimmer Radio's facilities including its FM super-tower were spared. Equipped with diesel generators the transmitters and studio facilities roared into action and non-stop coverage was virtually uninterrupted. From 4:30 forward through the following days Zimmer stations did not play a song or a commercial, remaining on post as the only available radio coverage for the state's 4^th largest metro area. Midst tragedy and triumph radio fought through the maelstrom and did what radio was designed to do in its purest form: serve the people and the region within which it operates.

Seven Zimmer staff members lost their homes including operations manager Chad Elliot, two program directors, two news staffers, a morning co-host and a creative services staffer. Contrary to generic TV network news accounts, Joplin is not a "small town." It boasts two major regional medical centers including St. John's, which was rendered nearly unserviceable. Saga owns a TV facility there and the market has been enjoying steady growth in population and commerce. It will again.

Chad Elliot and the Zimmer team are heroes in every sense. Elliot added that for those who don't believe radio needs to be embedded in cell phones, "Cell phones were useless for 48 hours. Had they contained radio thousands more could have benefitted from emergency coverage." Time will pass, days will eventually brighten for Joplin. But Zimmer Radio's coverage in the face of tragedy will remain a shining chapter in broadcast history.

Sincerely,

Tim Moore

Managing Partner

Audience Development Group

Giant concert for Joplin - Why this is a great idea!

2011-06-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Every major Country Music act needs to play a weekend concert with even priced tickets and every cent needs to go to housing, accommodations and general living needs in Joplin. The concerts needs to take place in the best Country markets in the nation over the course of June and July. Dallas one weekend, St. Louis the next, Nashville, then Kansas City and so forth. The line-up needs to include every A act the format has. This needs to be a another Farm Aid or Band Aid concert. Millions of dollars need to be raised and they need to have folks help them cut through the red tape. God Lord FEMA is bringing in those non-existing trailers. Did you know someone charged a whole years rent as a security deposit for an apartment to a tornado victim that just lost their home and belongings? And we thought price gouging on plywood during a hurricane was bad. Nuff' Said!

Are the scales of weirdness are balanced?

2011-05-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

Have we reached the boiling point in regards to the "weirdness" happening now in radio and specifically Country Music Radio? What I mean by weirdness, is the it's getting better, it's getting worse sliding scale. Sometimes we see leverage and focus and other times still dismay. Only a few are fired up, yet no one is clapping out loud about the conditions. Everyone is waiting to see how Cumulus will fold Citadel into it's lair, waiting to see how Clear Channel handles the giant note that is due this year and the general operating feeling, will it get better or worse?

Radio still has a broken business plan. It's throwing crap at the wall and seeing what sticks. Out of touch account executives still selling commercials. Why isn't their a digital wrap plan installed, where the station digital vehicles and the clients merge together and radio spots become venues to market this. Earlier in the year Charlotte media buyer Nancy Haynes was asked: How are radio stations working new media into their ad opportunities, and has it been effective?

Far too many stations are still “giving it away” and this practice hurts the industry. When something has value, it’s okay to charge for it! Only a few stations have gotten their act together with regard to setting a price for new and/or alternative opportunities and sticking to that price. One of the best new offerings I’ve seen is web site video written and entirely produced for a local advertiser by the radio station.

One recommendation for next year (or even sooner) is the hiring of a digital production director that works with the current station production director to produce videos and podcasts for clients. Show the clients that your digital plan isn't a few web site postings from a college kid in promotions. Radio doesn't seem to be able to let go of direct spot sales and embrace social media and digital programming/advertising. As long as this prevails, the scale of weirdness will still be tipping into the weird zone.

Online Video Ads Best TV Ads In Viewer Attention And Recall

2011-05-30T15:25:00.001-07:00

Viewers pay more attention to online video ads than they do to traditional TV commercials - and they also recall them better. That's the primary take-away from a recent study of 48 viewers who watched one hour of programming in Interpublic Group's West Coast IPG Media Lab. Using Affectiva's facial tracking technology and second-by-second biometric modeling of cognition, excitement, and stress levels, researchers determined that, on average, online viewers pay more attention to the screen they are watching than traditional TV viewers do - and the greater attention levels carry over to advertising. Specifically, online video ads received 18.3% more viewer attention in the study than TV commercials did, a much higher disparity than the 8.5% greater viewer attention garnered by online video content over TV content. The study, which was conducted in conjunction with the video ad network YuMe, suggested this largely was attributed to the fact that, when transitioning from program content to ads, the attention of TV viewers dropped off three times faster than that of online viewers. [Full story: MediaPost]

We are in our terrible two's!

2011-05-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

Full Throttle Country began on May 29, 2009 and we turned two today. Thank you to everyone who reads the site and follows us on Twitter and Facebook. We will continue to offer insight, facts and opinions on Country Music Radio and give you continuous free programming tips and love. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend and remember the reason for the holiday, to honor our fighting men and women who gave their life so we could have our blessed freedom.

Unlearned Lesson

Memorial Day
Of every year
The little valiant
Flags appear
On every fallen
Soldier's grave--
Symbol of what
Each died to save.
And we who see
And still have breath--
Are we no wiser
For their death?

~Dorothy Brown Thompson~

Tomorrow we turn 2 - FTC is two years old!

2011-05-28T10:48:00.001-07:00

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend from FTC

2011-05-28T10:46:00.001-07:00

Don't Drive In The Rearview Mirror...

2011-05-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

Bill Cheesbourg, My Grampa

My Grampa used to always say, “don’t drive by the rearview mirror”. Coming from an Indy Car/NASCAR/Open Wheel/Stock Car Champion, I interpreted this as a racing and/or everyday driving tip. He also said things like, “drive three cars ahead of you”, and “second guessing instinct causes accidents”. Looking back, I can see how he literallyapplied these sayings to life, and why he drilled them down my throat. He died before I had enough self awareness to realize the value of what these clever anecdotes would bring to my reality, and now hopefully yours.

Focus On What YOUR Track Looks Like

In racing you look for your own groove in the pavement or dirt. And, as for worrying about who or what’s behind you, it causes you to start runningtheir race. At this point, it is easy to become consumed with your perceived competition. Inevitably you start reacting in defense, instead of taking action with a strong offense. As for hesitation and doubt, I strongly encourage having a plan or goals, but keep in mind when you are consumed by metrics/analytics, you start to make knee jerk decisions. I have seen radio stations yank on-air personalities after one bad ratings book.

We put too much pressure on ourselves to stay ahead of who we think is chasing us and, even worse, non teammates drafting on us. I have learned that when you are looking in the rearview mirror, it’s not surprising when you have an accident.

The Truth Is…

The folks behind you probably aren’t chasing you at all. Matter of fact, they might not even notice you. Quit worrying about what everyone else is doing. This is the New Media, populated by swaggering experts who think that there is one way *typically theirs* to get ‘er done. So there you are, trying to stay on this Superspeedway while getting cut off and pushed toward the inside field. Palms sweat and insecurity mounts; you start to second guess whether you can even make it around a second lap and if it’s ok to drive this track your way.

I get this…been there, done that! I watch many self proclaimed Social Media experts in the broadcasting, entertainment, and music industry spewing rhetoric, believing that they know all the “right” moves. The contention is that, more often than not, they have never even run a basic Social Media campaign for a client, or practicing it for themselves.
The bottom line? How can you TALK it till you’ve ROCKED it? *or COUNTRY’d it*

The Pits

I’m in the garage, fixing blunders executed by dilettantes every day, mistakes made by the suit who had a cool PowerPoint which regurgitated what Social Media CAN do, and simply highlighted things the client wanted to hear or the neighbor’s kid, straight out of high school who was revered because he had 10,000 followers on Myspace.

Too many So(called)Media experts lead clients in the wrong direction by insisting they focus on metrics that don’t matter. The optics might make you look like a Champion but if you can’t move eyeballs…what good is that? In addition, where will you be if you rent your ‘house’ on Facebook, and then get evicted when Facebook disappears? *that’ll totally never happen, right? MySpace? AOL?*

Be Yourself Everyone Else Is Taken

If I had listened to everyone who told me that my website is too pink, the name of my company is silly, I’m too loud, I tweet too much, I shoulddress more conservatively, my hair is too blonde, and going niche withcountry music and social media is just plain stupid, I would have never even gotten on the track. Instead, I found my groove and keptmoving forward.

That’s my advice to you. Define your checkered flag; what does winning look like to you? Get dialed in, find the best pit crew to help you achieve your goals, and run your own race.

Whose race are you running? How is working out for you? Any advice or thoughts to share?

We used to play this song whenever we traveled to go racing. We actually played anything from Marty Robbins!

Edited, proofread, re-examined, adjectified and bounced off of my friend and muse, Tobey Deys!

“American Idol” Twitter Curse Is Right Again

2011-05-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

Sweet-faced Southern belle Lauren Alaina gracefully bowed out as 17-year-old baritone and Southern gentleman Scotty McCreery walked away with the honors for this season’sAmerican Idol singing competition. Strangely enough, Twitter predicted the winner in an unexpected way.
It’s called the “Twitter curse,” where the number of tweets about a contestant has an odd way of predicting that contestant’s likelihood of being voted off the show. Sure enough, as you can see in the graphic below, Lauren Alaina received significantly more tweets than Scotty McCreery leading up to tonight’s finale.
In fact, using data generated by social TV iPhone app Yap.TV Pulse for Idol, in each of the last four weeks of the competition, whichever singer received the highest number of tweets was sent home. Surprisingly, there was only one week this season where the Twitter front runner was not voted off the show.
Could it be that Twitter users tweet more about contestants they don’t like? Not necessarily. For instance, in the case of Pia Toscano, a popular contestant voted off the show in early April, tweets about her were mostly positive, according to Yap.TV reps.
But take another look at the graphic from Yap.TV, and you’ll see that while Alaina received more tweets, at the same time she garnered more negative and neutral tweets than Scotty McCreery.
Things were different at Facebook, where popularity among its users more accurately predicted tonight’s winner. McCreery’s Facebook page has garnered more “Likes” than Alaina’s, and the Los Angeles Timesreports that according to Mediabase, his song “I Love You This Big” has gotten more radio airplay.
Graphic courtesy Los Angeles Times and Yap.TV