A few years ago, a talk host at a very “Big” (hint ONE) radio station told me, “I just want another 20 years.” My reply, “20 years? You’ve got 5.” I’m an optimistic guy by nature. I always think positive, maybe to a fault. I’m also a realist and a competitive son-of-a-bitch who has no…
As I write this on July 7, 2014, I am exactly 2 months from becoming irrelevant. In just 8 weeks I turn 55. I will be leaving the coveted “Persons 25-54” demographic, the age group considered key by most advertisers. Oh well, this aging Baby Boomer did have some fun in the previous 3 plus…
I was thinking about summer the other day. I love summer. Growing up in the Northeast and living most of my life there or in the Midwest, summers are very special. The short summer is special because it ends. Lasting memories can only be created when something stops, allowing one to remember with fondness. I…
I can’t say this any clearer. Ratings are your report card. Nothing else matters. Associated Press awards don’t matter. A plaque from a local charity for community service work, while nice, doesn’t matter either. Nielsen numbers are what matters. With higher ratings, come higher revenues. It’s what I call “Rule #1 – Ratings and Revenue.”…
20 years ago, on the night of June 17, 1994, my wife Kathie was flying to meet me in Buffalo. After watching O.J. Simpson attempt his run for the border only to be met with cheering crowds on interstate overpasses and TV cameras bolted to helicopters, I sped to the airport, ran down to the…
God bless them. Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse and Lou Boudreau just rolled over in their graves. WGN Radio will no longer broadcast the Chicago Cubs. This is big. I speak from experience few people in the radio industry have. I am one of the few who has managed and programmed a station that is a…
I am one of the last believers in AM radio. I love the medium. It kills me to see the shape it’s in today. It didn’t have to be this way. A number of months ago I wrote a blog that received a lot of positive and negative reaction within the radio industry. The FCC…
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