this may be the craziest video I’ve seen all year

 

I want this guy’s guardian angel.  Hard to believe he gets up and walks away with no significant injury.

2. September 2010 19:12 by dave - Comments (1)  E-mail Permalink Trackback Post RSSRSS comment feed  

 

branding with social media

A good series that just got underway on YouTube on using social media to build your brand.  Catch all the episodes.

2. September 2010 02:45 by dave - Comments (0)  E-mail Permalink Trackback Post RSSRSS comment feed  

 

fm tuner on apple’s new multi-touch nano – does it matter?

new-nano-150x150

So it’s finally here.  Apple has decided to leave FM radio capabilities in it’s new iPod nano multi-touch device.   Hallelujah!  Radio is saved!  Okay, so I’m a little indifferent to the news, but it’s still great news right?  Maybe, maybe not.

I’m all for anything that puts the option of radio at the fingertips of every living human being, after-all they can’t use it if it’s not there.  On the other hand, the fact it is there is no guarantee it will be used.

Remember, at the end of the day, that little iPod nano clipped to my belt is just one more option in the ever growing sea of options I have to entertain myself.  If you’re not giving me a compelling reason to listen to your station, I have thousands of songs at my literal fingertip and all of them ON DEMAND.

To paraphrase the campaign of a former US President; it’s not the device that matters, “It’s the CONTENT stupid”

Look, I'm happy to see the radio industry getting some love from Cupertino.  Apple has begun to do their part in making radio an option in the hands of consumers.  The question is, what will your station do to take advantage of it?  Hint, the answer is not “give away an iPod a day”. 

2. September 2010 02:04 by dave - Comments (0)  E-mail Permalink Trackback Post RSSRSS comment feed  

 

if you came here looking for voice-over

Allow me to redirect you to Same Day Voice-Over. It’s been a project several months in the making and offers several advantages over the previous audio portal hosted on this page. Faster delivery, ability to upload files you want me to review or use in your production, and self administered supplemental users for your company are just the beginning.

Check out the new site and let me know what I can voice for you today.

1. September 2010 18:28 by dave - Comments (0)  E-mail Permalink Trackback Post RSSRSS comment feed  

 

amazing finger work

I stumbled upon this video while I was testing plugins for the site.  Liked it so much I decided to leave it since you might enjoy it too and God knows you'll never hear this on the radio!

30. August 2010 06:49 by dave - Comments (1)  E-mail Permalink Trackback Post RSSRSS comment feed  

 

a dogs prayer

For those of you who have dogs that are as big a part of your life as my Bruno, Gina, Guido and Rocky are to me, you will appreciate “A Dog’s Prayer”.  If you hate dogs, move along… nothing to see here.

A Dog's Prayer

Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between the blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside... for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to bitter elements... and I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth... though had you no home, I would rather follow you through ice and snow than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land... for you are my god... and I am your devoted worshiper.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I should not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me clean food, that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.

And, beloved master, should the Great Master see fit to deprive me of my health or sight, do not turn me away from you. Rather hold me gently in your arms as skilled hands grant me the merciful boon of eternal rest...and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I drew, my fate was ever safest in your hands.

--Beth Norman Harris

29. August 2010 07:58 by dave - Comments (0)  E-mail Permalink Trackback Post RSSRSS comment feed  

 

taking responsibility

On a recent trip to Dallas, TX a longtime friend and colleague asked “What happened to Radio, and who’s to blame for the mess?”  As a society, we seem to have a “need” to blame someone or something for failures that impact us whether directly or indirectly.   One only need look as far as your nightly news to see this.

Paul and I exchanged emails and conversation that touched on everything from Programming failures, greed, absentee owners, consolidation, on-air automation systems, scientific music scheduling, too much research, not enough research, Wall Street, and more.  We put forth many theory’s that by and large centered on philosophy intermingled with observations of isolated cause and effect.

Ask 100 radio “insiders” what happened and you’re likely to get 100 different answers all colored by the individual’s personal experience in the business. 

In the end, I’ve come to the conclusion that playing the blame game really accomplishes nothing.  The simple unvarnished truth is this; the radio industry finds itself lost in a perfect storm that, as a collective entity it largely created for itself.  There is no “ONE THING” that got the industry where it is but rather an accumulation of mistakes, errors in judgment, failure to re-invest in people and product and failure to be responsive to audience and business community alike.

That said, someone is responsible for this mess, but who?  At the end of the day, I would suggest to you that it is OWNERS themselves.  It is the licensee who must bear responsibility for success or failure in radio broadcasting.   Ultimately large owners made (and continue to make) the decisions that got us here.

For years small Mom and Pop owners struggled to make it (even in good times), yet small owners still found a way to give something meaningful back to their community.  Most of them were in it for love of the business, God knows it wasn’t to get filthy rich.  Today, many major broadcast companies, the so-called “Industry Leaders” find themselves in Bankruptcy while others frantically try to find a way to avoid it.  These “industry leaders” lined their own as well as investors pockets but failed to invest in the product or the community.  These “industry leaders” paid enormous bonuses to a select few while “un-budgeting” the rank and file “boots on the ground” necessary to provide a compelling and entertaining product advertisers could not buy around.  These “industry leaders” borrowed insane amounts of money to acquire more properties in spite of their utter incompetence to operate the stations they already had.  Unfortunately, too many smaller owners gleefully followed the pied piper to their ultimate undoing and are now wondering “what the hell happened?”

In the last email I received from Paul, he said: “…I’ve spent most of my life in this industry, and while I see that she’s in serious trouble, I can’t give up on her quite yet.” 

Paul my friend, I understand your desire to not give up on radio, and yet the only chance I see she has for survival and a miraculous recovery is for real broadcasters, real men and women of integrity and character to take back control of the industry and stand and channel the spirit of President Harry S. Truman… to declare “The Buck Stops Here”. 

Real broadcasters didn’t screw this up, and real broadcasters alone won’t be able to fix it without adopting a new set of core values.  It’s going to take a new breed of owner, one with the stomach to invest in the product and a willingness to take smaller margins.  It’s going to take owners who actually want to participate in the business, understand it and invest long term.  The new breed of owner will embrace technology as a tool driven by people to gain market share, not as a means to replace people and eliminate payroll.  The new breed of owner will be laser focused on creating 2 or 3 GREAT radio stations in a market rather than owning 7 or 8 mediocre but cheap to run signals. 

Many years ago over a discussion involving sales vs. programming, a friend said to me, “you don’t need a delicious can of beans to make money; you just need a can of beans”.  And such is the current state of radio broadcasting.  Everybody has a can of beans to sell, especially the “conglomerated” radio stations in your market.  Rare are the stations offering a truly DELICIOUS and unique can of beans.  Until that changes, don’t expect anything different than the current mess.

Time will reveal when and where this new breed of owner will emerge, but I suspect it will come from the most unlikely of places.  Stay tuned!

29. August 2010 05:39 by dave - Comments (1)  E-mail Permalink Trackback Post RSSRSS comment feed  

 

about dave

20+ years managing, programming, building and destroying radio stations and all I have to show for it is this lousy blog!  You know what they say about opinions…  Come by every twice in a while and I’ll share mine with you 

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