Thanks for coming...now GET OUT!

So, yeah. This is my last post on this blog. My original purpose of this blog was to write about the radio business. While I still have opinions on this industry, I simply don't have the time to sit down and write posts about it anymore. Most of my spare time these days is taken up by my beautiful wife and kids.

The rest of my energy is devoted to my fledgling voice over business. In fact, I recently created my own website as a sort of store front. I invite you to check out http://scottselva.com and, you know, hire me for all of your voice over needs. And it's OK if you use cliche copy such as "for all of your ______ needs."

If I can do my best Jerry Springer for just a moment, I'd like to leave you with some final thoughts about radio. I believe that the future is bright. It's a time for change, and I'm excited about what radio will become in the next 5 years. Radio will face its most dramatic shift since the fall of shows like "Little Orphan Annie" and "Amos 'n' Andy," and the rise of all-music formats. Nobody with half a brain thinks that radio can keep doing the same thing we've been doing for decades and hope to survive. There are some great minds working from the outside such as Mark Ramsey and Fred Jacobs who really seem to have a grasp on what radio needs to do. Godspeed to those guys and good luck getting their ideas heard in the boardrooms. I'm looking forward to the new ideas that will be introduced by the next generation of radio executives.

I hope to be a part of it.

Jay Leno in primetime?! Who saw that coming?

I know the country's at a historical moment with the incoming Obama administration and all, but never mind that. Did you hear about this Jay Leno thing?!

Let me admit up front that I really dislike Leno. When I hear that someone prefers Leno over Letterman, that's like hearing that someone prefers getting punched in the balls to eating a delicious slice of pizza.

So, to hear that Leno is going to be on every weeknight at 10pm, and that NBC thinks this is a good idea--wait a second. How about The Ball-Punching Hour at 10 instead? Oh wait. We already have AFV for that.

I mean, am I missing something here? Leno's going to come on at 10, have guests, riff on the day's news. Then we get 35 minutes of local news. Then Conan comes on with guests and news riffs. Then Jimmy Fallon with, let's see, I don't know, guests and riffs? Then..is that Carson Daly show still on? NBC thinks that all of these shows will work?

Combine that with word that NBC is considering giving some prime time back to the local affiliates, and that's where the history-making comes in. I think we're witnessing the beginning of the end of NBC as we know it.

But, will the network transform into something better or worse? A year from now they may look like geniuses if they're making money. Hell, it may be sooner than a year if a SAG strike happens and lasts long enough to have some impact.

There's no doubt that now is the time for old media to make some bold moves and transform itself in order to survive. But, Jay Leno on every night at 10? I just refuse to believe that that's the answer.

New customers for old radio

Random thought...

Bloomberg is mostly known for reporting financial news. But they also sell their content to the struggling newspaper industry. In other words, Bloomberg is selling their reporting expertise to companies who need it in order to appeal to their customers.

Radio already has audio expertise and infrastructure already in place. So, besides listeners and advertisers, I wonder who would be in the market to buy what radio has to offer?

Satellite Radio's Real Competition

I just saw this video thanks to the CNET TiVoCast:

Did you watch it?  Good. 

So, it's basically a radio.  My first thought was that this was more competiton for broadcast radio.  But it's really not.  At least, it's not new competition.  Sirius XM should be the ones who worry about a product like this.

The Slacker G2 is more about niche programming on-the-go, which satellite radio delivers.  In fact, that ability has been one of Sirius XM's selling points.  But, services like Slacker, Pandora, Last.fm and the like go one step further and give the listener a great deal of control.  Satellite radio lacks that completely.

And, of course, listening to the Slacker G2 is free vs. the $12.99/month Sirius XM subscription fee.  That's the killer feature right there.

Now, back to broadcast radio.  OK, yes, the Slacker G2 is competition.  This is yet another reason that radio needs to evolve.  

More localism, unique programming and a strong sense of community are no longer ideas to consider for the future.

NY politicians investigating PPM

Both the Attorney General for the state of New York and the New York city council are attacking Arbitron's PPM system.

Hey, nobody's all that thrilled with Arbitron. But, government investigation?

New York must be a really nice place to live. Apparently they've solved all the more important problems like crime, hungry children, and Donald Trump's hair. That's great news.

I can only imagine a society where the law makers keep their priorities in check, instead of reacting to political groups and lobbyists.

That would make a fantastic science fiction novel.

Microsoft's Zune partnering with radio

It takes a big company like Microsoft to bring together some of the heaviest hitters in the radio biz. And it's all for a little device called a Zune. In case you've never heard of it, it's a media player like an iPod, with WiFi and an FM tuner. The really cool thing is that the FM tuner has RDS support. RDS is the technology that allows listeners to view text information about what they're hearing, usually song title and artist. One needs a specially equipped radio...like a Zune.

But, within the next week or so, a lot of stations are going to use RDS to send a code that will be recognized by a Zune. In addition to title and artist info, the listener will be able to download the song they're listening to via WiFi. Microsoft will charge for individual tracks or charge a monthly flat fee for unlimited downloads. The feature is called "Buy from FM."

You may be thinking that you heard about this months ago. With Apple right? Well, yes and no. The Apple thing is tied into HD Radio. The Microsoft thing will work with good old fashioned analog radio.

Microsoft commissioned a study which found that 61% of people find out about new music from the radio. With this new tech, radio will act as a sales showcase for music. In return, people will be driven to radio as Microsoft touts its cool new Zune feature. And, man, wouldn't it be great if they could stick a PPM in that thing, too?

I've had an iPod Touch for about 3 months now, and really love it. Before I got it, I really wanted a Zune from Microsoft. The idea of having built-in WiFi was pretty appealing to me, as was the built-in FM tuner with RDS support. To me, including a tuner with a media player creates so much more value. OK, yeah, this is coming from a radio guy. But, before I ever had my first radio job, I remember in the late '80s insisting that my Walkman be a model that had and AM/FM radio built in. Not only do you get the music that you've selected to bring with you, but you get the additional music and entertainment provided by radio.

But, I managed to earn a Touch from one of those "Free iPod!" sites. And even though I've never used a Zune, I imagine that that my Touch is a better device for me.

Still, though, I've continued to wonder if the grass were greener on the Zune side of the fence. This new partnership between one of the most influential companies in the world and the radio industry makes me wonder all the more.

There are a few things that ought to happen next. Radio needs to help Microsoft get Zunes into the hands of its listeners. Zunes only account for 3 or 4% of the MP3 market. The iPod has about 72%! Microsoft needs to start sending out some freebies for listeners to win and jocks to own (...ahem...).

Then how about radio doing some features or specialty programming that would tie in with this? A new music showcase, or deep-cuts from the archives. A periodic "New Song of the Week" or "Deep Cut of the Day" could be tied into a contest where listeners keep track of the songs, qualifying them to win a Zune and some download credits.

All in all, this is a very cool bit of tech that I hope will move beyond the fairly small Zune user base.

HD Radio Deal: $2.49 AR!

Wow. I've been seeing some amazing deals on HD Radios lately. The key is to apply a $50 rebate. Fry's brick & mortar locations supposedly have the VRHDUA100 HD for $2.49 after rebate. There's a discussion about the deal here: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=916516

In other news, apparently there's an HDRadioReview.com?! Yeah. They review the radio here: http://www.hdradioreview.com/html/vr3_vrhdua100_hd_radio_adapter.html (CORRECTION: That review is not for the Fry's radio.)

HDRadioReview.com is registered to Domain Privacy Group. I can't help but wonder if the HD Alliance is the author of those reviews...

Nah.

Still Twittering...

Something that just occurred to me is that the challenge of composing a thought in 140 characters or less might be good practice for on-air types. Thanks to PPM data showing that listeners are tuning out of long breaks, the drive to be succinct is more pervasive than ever. It's amazing how much I can edit out of a Tweet, and still get the same point across.

Twitter update

Yay: I picked up two followers today!

Boo: They were both the same spammer.

I like the Twitter block button...

So, I decided to sign up for Twitter.

I decided to dive right in and open a Twitter account under my air name. I figured it might be a good way to connect with some listeners considering the almost total lack of interaction on my station's website.

So far? Meh.

I have one follower, and it's a former co-worker. I'm thinking about putting my Twitter address in my station's email signature, since I do exchange email with listeners from time to time. I suppose I could also ask our webmaster to put a link on my profile page.

This is all in the experimental stage, but so far, it's been interesting.

Using Twitter when there's more than one you.

Interesting post over here about using Twitter in the radio biz. I first heard about Twitter a little over a year ago, but I've never opened an account.

The problem as an on-air guy is that I've got two versions of "me." The radio personality and the real-world me. The two aren't mutually exclusive, but nevertheless, I have two identities.

So, which do I use to Twitter or even blog?

I guess I could have one account setup that my station's website could link to, and a separate account that I'd give out to everybody I know (and would like to know). But, do I really have enough content for all that? I would think that for Twitter there would be strange gaps when I switch personalities.

And don't even get me started on Facebook and MySpace. Geez.

Earthquake songs that rock!

A rare earthquake hit my neck of the woods this morning at around 5:30. It was a 5.2 magnitude, followed by a 4.5 aftershock at around 11:15am. Exciting stuff for us midwesterners.

Here's a list of earthquake rock songs that I intend to play today:

"You Shook Me All Night Long" - AC/DC
"You Shook Me" - Led Zeppelin
"Shake Me" - Cinderella
"Shake it Up" - The Cars
"Shake My Tree" - Coverdale/Page
"Shakedown" - Bob Seger
"Shakedown Street" - Grateful Dead
"Shakin'" - Eddie Money
"Shakin' the Blues" Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
"Crumblin' Down" John Mellencamp
"Boom Boom Out Go the Lights" Pat Travers

I'm nixing anything with "rock" in the title. That's too easy!

I hope I get some more good suggestions.

Radio Heard Here

The radio biz has a new marketing campaign called "Radio Heard Here." Here's a print ad from the campaign.


I'm not sure what that's supposed to be telling people about radio. I think that's actually a picture of every night jock's fantasy.

I found that pic on the campaign's website. There are a few other pics and a couple of "viral" videos. I don't think you can simply create a video and call it viral. To be viral it actually has to be spread around by some people.

So, here, let me do some spreading! Honestly, the video is pretty good. But, why the hell is it in Quicktime format?! Flash, people. Do these in flash. Make them embeddable. That's how a video becomes viral.

I hope the campaign does some good, but I'm not so sure.

This blogging thing is hard!

I gotta hand it to the bloggers who do this day in and day out, several times a day. I haven't posted in three months. Three months! I just approved a comment on my People's Choice Awards post from three months ago. Thanks whoever you are. Or is it whomever?

I actually thought I'd be blogging every day about something. So...here...I blogged about not blogging.

2008 People's Choice Awards: Is this what the people wanted?!

Did you sit through all 2 hours of the 2008 People's Choice Awards show on CBS? I did. If I hadn't been getting paid to do so, I would have thrown my TV into the street after the first 5 minutes.

I thought I had seen some bad award shows before. I was wrong. This year's PCAs elevated bad to a whole new plane of existence.

Granted, I've never understood the appeal of Queen Latifah. But, man, was she ever a bad choice to host that thing!

The only appealing thing about the whole debacle was the irony of it all. CBS insisted on going through with the telecast in it's new form so that they could stick it to the striking writers. But, nearly every pre-taped acceptance speech voiced support for the strikers!

Somewhere there must be some NBC execs up late tonight rethinking their decision to go ahead with their Golden Globes telecast this weekend. At least, I hope they're rethinking it.

Letterman fans can get a fix online during the strike

I have to say that I'm not now, nor have I ever been, a member of a union. So, I'm not sure why I've been so interested in the WGA strike. Maybe it's because I'm tired of seeing Letterman reruns already. On the bright side, I'm able to get a little Late Show freshness on a new blog. The striking Late Show with David Letterman writers are blogging the strike at LateShowWritersOnStrike.com. The posts consisting of jokes, photos and video are laugh-out-loud funny. A word of warning, though. Obviously, these guys aren't web designers, and they've packed so much crap on the site, that it freezes up my browser. It's still well worth the effort. Here's one of the videos:

Well played, CBS News

Looks like CBS is trying to put the kibosh on any extra strike publicity. The Democratic Presidential debate scheduled for December 10 has been canceled. CBS News was to host the debate, but with a strike by CBS News employees a real possibility, the candidates had vowed not to cross the picket line. Now, that's not really an issue, is it?

Whoopi Goldberg's radio show is on the ropes

I'm not right very often, so it feels good when I actually am right about something. WKTU-FM in New York canceled the Whoopi Goldberg Show. Losing New York is going to be the death blow for this show.

If only someone had predicted this way back when the show was first announced.

CBS News strike follow-up

As I previewed here, and evidently didn't catch the typo in the title, the CBS News employees who are represented by the Writers Guild of America have voted to authorize a strike. Authorizing a strike doesn't mean that a strike has been called, and there's no indication that the workers will walk out.

CBS News is hosting a Democratic Presidential debate scheduled for December 10. Most, if not all, of the candidates have promised not to cross the picket line if a strike happens. You have to figure that if there's no contract in place by December 10, there will indeed be a strike.

New "Family Guy" to air Sunday without OK from showrunner

The Writers Guild strike might get a wee nastier if Fox goes through with its plans to air a new episode of Family Guy this Sunday. The show's creator/producer/writer/voice artist Seth MacFarlane is on strike with the rest of the WGA. Ordinarily, an episode doesn't air unless he has given it his final approval. But, Fox is ready to skip that step for Sunday. The network has the right to do that, but MacFarlane feels that it would sully his relationship with Fox.

Lots of these showrunners who write and produce are running into conflicts. Their writer side is supposed to be on strike, while the producer in them is supposed to be showing up for work. The fact that MacFarlane also voices some of the characters only makes things messier.

Wanna know what else is weird? Family Guy was brought back thanks to strong DVD sales. Now, MacFarlane is on strike to get a bigger cut of those same DVD sales.

So, will Fox go ahead and air a new Family Guy this Sunday? You'll have to tune in and see.