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Matt Allen? Dave Barber?? Dan Yorke???

H

Holland Cooke

NONE-of-the-above!

Hey, I promised you NEWS.
Not rumors, speculation, or zingers.
Real NEWS about state-of-the-art-radio.

And don't say I didn't warn you.
This MAY be the nerdiest, dweebiest thing you've read in a year.

Last week, when I and a couple hundred other consultants, group programming execs, and trade press reporters were wolfing-down the SUPERB catering at Arbitron HQ in Columbia, Maryland, I promised, in a post elsewhere on this board, that I'd post my notes from the PPM Consultant Fly-In conference.

Here ya go: http://members.aol.com/cookeh/ppm.pdf

As they always do, Arbitron gave us no-holds-barred access, to President Steve Morris, lab-coat-type research techies, and everyone-in-between. Read whassup...and what's NEXT, from radio's ratings company.

AND, there's "a free prize inside."
My PPM Consultant Fly-In notes contain the download URL for my September newsletter.

Don't bother if you'll be attending the NAB Radio Show in Charlotte next month.
It'll be stuffed in registration bags there.
But if you won't be there, read what-the-suits-who-will-be will read, three weeks before they do.

"But WAIT! There's MORE!"
And this could be a new low...even for me...

At the Fly-In, Arbitron VP Gary Marince was careless enough to ask me, a former Pro Personality, to "do the announcements." MY PLEASURE, I told him.

Among the announcements: That night, Arbitron was bussing us all to dinner in downtown Baltimore, at the Sports Legends Museum, on-the-very-spot where Babe Ruth grew up...and next door to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, where we all adjourned to the O's/Rangers game after dinner.

Yep, THAT game, where the Rangers -- THE DANG RANGERS -- beat the Orioles 30-3.

But not before your announcer shot-off-his-big-mouth, by departing-from-the-script.

As I was telling fellow attendees about shuttle bus service, I couldn't help but embellish.
If you've been to Camden Yards, you know why.
When it opened 20 summers ago, it set the new standard for every Major League Baseball stadium built since.

But I couldn't leave it at that.
Oh no.

I just HAD to ad-lib my ASSURANCE to attendees -- most of whom flew-into the Fly-In -- that "because we're playing the lowly Rangers, at least you'll see an Orioles win!"

CAN YOU IMAGINE the razzing I got from fellow attendees before the next morning's sessions began?

When Gary offered me the microphone, to apologize to everyone's bookie, I made things even worse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNU3l4GapXw

But, as you hear every day...from folks-who-still-make-their-living-on-air...once that light goes on...it's all about ME.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com
 
Good stuff, Holland! Just a footnote that I've seen the stuff in the Washington Post about Post Radio dying..an interesting experiment that didn't quite make it.I'm rather surprised that the WTOP calls don't go back to 1500....and BTW, here's an invite to drop over to [http://radioracket.yuku.com]and join the Radio Racketeers. We've been having some good intense discussions on what makes and keeps radio-especially LOCALLY-OWNED radio-viable in this iPod age.

Dave Gardiner

WVCH 740/WNWR 1540

Philadelphia
 
Now it's "3WT"

When I was ringmaster-of-the-circus there, 1500AM was WTOP.
For the last 17 months, it's been WTWP ("Washington Post Radio").
Now, it'll be WWWT, "3WT."

As you'll see at www.wtop.com, that place can do one helluva web site.
So I like the "www" wrinkle.

Too bad about Washington Post Radio, which PR earlier this week called "an experiment."
I don't recall the word "experiment" in launch PR...
 
Some comments:

2 years is a long time to be a PPM panelist. When you're dealing with younger listeners, their music tastes change multiple times over a couple of years.

I'd like to see Arbitron do some further studies of PPM panelists since these people will be living with their devices over a long period. What are their buying habits? What have they bought & where have they bought it? Ratings are fine when it comes to bragging rights, but they really are a sales tool. If I'm thinking of advertising on a particular station or even if I'm a current sponsor, it looks like PPM will give me clearer indications of how many people are sitting through my spots. That's fine when it comes to exposure, but how many of these people are in the market for my product & how good a job did the station do for me? Just exposing the audience to what I'm offering is fine, but did I really get any good out of it? Don't tell me what the average person in any demo is prone to do. Tell me what the average person actually did.

Within the last week I bought a DVD player & a pair of cross trainers. How did I decide? Not with the Bernie's or Bob's Stores spots. I went online, found what I wanted, then went to the stores. Probably the most annoying spots running in any market are the car dealers. They're probably the only ones I won't sit through. I can't even tell you what Ed Tarbox or Ernie Boch Jr sells. When I'm ready to buy a car next spring the only place I'll look is the Projo, then possibly online. There you have some reinforcement when it comes to Internet advertising overtaking radio.

Questions

Can I assume stations are still able to visit Arbitron HQ to view the actual diaries?

What do you think of Clear Channel adlets & adlings? The ones I've heard (for Cozy Closets & Gem Plumbing) are effective because most listeners are familiar with both businesses from past advertising & the quickies are good reinforcement. I don't think they would be ad effective with less familiar sponsors.

By the time the Providence rollout occurs in 2010 will we find Latina 100.3 & Poder are the market leaders?

How long before PPM devices turn up on Ebay? Never mind that one.
 
RE "Some comments"

You're raising several interesting points that have been asked at this event over the past several years PPM has been in development. I can play-back the-short-version-of what-we've-been-told...

Runrigger said:
2 years is a long time to be a PPM panelist.
Click to expand...

How-it-got-to 2 years is very involved.
Nielsen families are long-term too; and -- as you'll read in my notes -- radio is now getting electronic measurement to satisfy advertiser demand.
For-all-the-reasons TV ratings sample is in-place longer-than the week an Arbitron diarykeeper has been, radio will empanel the PPM sample longer.

You will also read the extrordinary things Arbitron is doing to get PPM to the sample.
Example: more and more Americans are "cutting the cord," and living without landline service, simply using wireless phones.
Especially younger listeners who are toughest to sample.
PPM requires a landline, to upload listening data while your gizmo is in the charger overnight.
If you're selected for PPM, and don't have a landline, ARBITRON WILL INSTALL ONE, ON THEIR DIME.
And that's just one initiative you'll read about in my notes.

Getting-someone-up-and-running on PPM is SO involved -- compared to simply placing/mailing/retrieving diaries -- that, as a practical matter, metered sample couldn't turn over faster.

And "longer is better," since anomalies flatten-out.
Example: Many people are on vacation this week, so listening will be atypical.
But ALL listening matters.
Why shouldn't radio-here-that-people-visiting-RI -- and radio-wherever-Rhode Islanders-are-visiting -- get credit?

Runrigger said:
When you're dealing with younger listeners, their music tastes change multiple times over a couple of years.
Click to expand...

Years?
Months!
But listening is listening.
Why not get the-clearest-picture-possible?

Status quo, it's a memory test.
PPM will demonstrate ACTUAL listening.
Thus the several surprises you'll read about.

And lots-that-we're-learning is very UN-surprising.
I've had a front-row seat for PPM, because I work with a station in Wilmington, Delaware, the very first USA PPM test market.
Lots of the things you've always suspected about diary-based ratings ARE TRUE.
Comparing side-by-side diary and PPM results we see that...
Yes-you-DO have "an invisible cume." Diarykeepers only remember roughly half the stations they use.
And they round-up, so a listener's favorite station gets over-reported.

Runrigger said:
I'd like to see Arbitron do some further studies of PPM panelists since these people will be living with their devices over a long period. What are their buying habits? What have they bought & where have they bought it? Ratings are fine when it comes to bragging rights, but they really are a sales tool. .
Click to expand...

Amen!

And I only alluded to this briefly in my notes, but you might poke-around the press releases at Arbitron.com and see if there's anything there about Project Apollo, currently sampling 11,000 listeners' buying habits to connect-the-dots in the fashion you describe. Remember, PPM doesn't just hear radio. If the cool tunes playing-in-the-background at The Gap are encoded, PPM hears 'em. "Attention K-Mart Shoppers?" That too! Those web sites you're shopping on? They can encode too.

Runrigger said:
Can I assume stations are still able to visit Arbitron HQ to view the actual diaries?
Click to expand...

You don't have to go to Maryland any more. It's all online now, including optical scans of actual diaries. You see the listener's HANDWRITING. Very nerdy-cool.

In a few years, there won't BE diaries in many markets. But if you're a subscriber, you'll be able to explore what the Arbitron techies call "the granularity of" PPM data online. In the notes, see information on Phillies games on WPHT.

Runrigger said:
What do you think of Clear Channel adlets & adlings? ?
Click to expand...

My personal fave:

Announcer Don LaFontaine: "THE SIMPSONS!"
Homer Simpson voice: "HOO-HOO!"
Announcer Don LaFontaine: "TONIGHT ON FOX!"

Happy LDW,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com
www.BlockIsland.TV
www.GetOnTheNet.com
 
I had a feeling pretty much anything you'd need would be downloadable if you're a subscriber, including the actual diaries themselves. Hopefully none of the disgruntled hens on here will get a diary & start writing messages on it like "Fire Buddy". Also, hopefully getting more instant feedback with the PPMs doesn't result in more knee jerk reactions on the parts of paranoid stations & the result becomes even less looking at the long term.

If I were in charge of a station that needed direction in 2010 I would almost consider going with an adult hits format as an experiment. The music would be promoted as random like MIKE FM in Boston, but there would be a method to it so I could analyze the feedback from the PPMs & get a clearer idea of which way to go musically. If the format itself ends up working, then fine. If not, I have more tools to tweak things or flip completely.
 
The downside of data "granularity"

Runrigger said:
hopefully getting more instant feedback with the PPMs doesn't result in more knee jerk reactions on the parts of paranoid stations & the result becomes even less looking at the long term.
Click to expand...

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE.

It's a "good news/bad news" situation.

With quicker results, stations will know what's working/not-working.
Status quo, it's months before, for instance, we can ascertain how-a-change-is-being-received.

Because radio listening is HABIT, and since ANY change is a-well-kept-secret unless promoted off-air, pushing-the-panic-button will abuse this new level-of-detail...
 
Alright Holland your expert analysis please.

Starting Monday we've got three talk morning shows from 6-10am

WPRO Morning News with John DePetro

Quinn and Rose/Helen Glover combo on WHJJ

and now:

Don Imus on WSKO-AM with Ron St Pierre doing local breakouts

Your thoughts? What happens? Who wins? Besides us listeners - who now have three choices in morning talk from the Providence stations...
 
RE "Alright Holland your expert analysis please."

Consultant's opinion...WELCOME???
Now THERE'S a-world-turned-upside-down!
;D

First-things-first: GREAT screen name: BigBluBug
Why it's great?
LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL...

...which that WHJJ morning show SURE isn't.

RE Imus: He did OK here in his previous incarnation. But that wouldn't have been a factor in his-ending-up-where-he-ended-up. Citadel will cram-down lots of markets where they own. The New York Daily News called WABC's displaced Curtis & Kuby "maybe the most successful morning team in recent history that still lost their jobs."

Third acts are rare; and Iman is tainted by what he did. As many industry-watchers, and more-than-a-couple affiliates, admitted when he fell from grace, the act was pretty-much-played-out anyway. He didn't really have great ratings anywhere.

Someone-not-speaking-for-attribution (so I won't name him, but it's a NYNY radio name you'd recognize) told me something SO obvious I hadn't noticed it myself. He said, a couple months ago, before I-man's return was announced, "I haven't heard ONE person say 'I miss [hearing] him.'"

More:
http://members.aol.com/cookeh/Imus-Forbes081507.pdf
http://members.aol.com/cookeh/Imus-return-WSJ.pdf
http://members.aol.com/cookeh/Imus-return-Reuters-WPost.pdf
http://members.aol.com/cookeh/Imus-return-BostonHerald.pdf
http://members.aol.com/cookeh/BaltoSun082607.pdf

WPRO's got THE local franchise, eh?
 
RE: "LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL"

So it'll be interesting to see if Imus brings any noteriety to the Score...

WPRO's running the local francise: How long before clearchannel "gets" that and realises, as another poster said in another post: its time to work more local talk into the lineup? Or is the #2 station stuck with syndication for the near future? And where the hell is that FM talk station Holland's been preaching about?


BBB
 
SINCE you asked...

BigBluBug said:
where the hell is that FM talk station Holland's been preaching about?
Click to expand...

Prediction: You'll get it in 2008.
Likely candidate: WSNE, which will become WHJJ-FM, a simulcast.

This is a trend already-in-motion nationally, and it could kick-into high gear if music radio's nightmare comes true.

NEW THREAT TO MUSIC RADIO: “PERFORMANCE RIGHT” FEES
The National Association of Broadcasters is in full battle regalia, taking-on record labels who seek to eliminate radio's traditional freebie.
Although music stations pay COMPOSERS, non-composer artists and labels don't get paid for airplay.
For decades, it's been the-other-way-around...BELIEVE ME.

Then came Napster...and the toothpaste was out of the tube.

Did you see 60 Minutes on Sunday?
GREAT piece about The Eagles, whose new double CD:
1.) Is, instantly, one of my all-time personal top ten albums.
2.) Has NO record label! The Eagles released it THEMSELVES.
3.) Is ONLY available:
a. On the Eagles' web site (either CD-in-the-mail or instant download),
b. At Wal-Mart, which bought 3 million copies up-front for exclusive distribution, or
c. On Amazon...but not FROM Amazon...from third-party resellers only.

Like bookstores, travel agents, and stock brokers, record labels have been disintermediated by the Internet. Who needs the middleman any more? So labels are desperate, and have radio in their crosshairs.

If the so-called Performance Right Fees fly, it will utterly disrupt music radio's business model.
At the R&R convention, publisher Erica Farber asked CBS Radio’s Dan Mason about the impact of such fees: “Devastating. It's hard enough as it is now,” he said, predicting that “stations would go to all-talk formats right away.” FMs sticking with music become two-way infomercials, with labels and stations charging each other for airplay, and playlists less about listener faves.

Even if music radio dodges this Performance Right Fee bullet, listen for more non-music programming on FM in 2008. But it won’t be the edgy “Hot Talk” that's been predicted for a decade. Look for more pre-existing News/Talk/Sports AMs to simply simulcast, by exiting the diminishing-returns proposition that music FM has become.

Why: Lots of people just don't use AM radio. And lots of THEM are consumers that News/Talk/Sports format advertisers and advertiser prospects would love to reach. Why shouldn’t News/Talk/Sports content be available on either band?

This WON’T be a first-in-wins proposition. They’re can’t be “too much” non-music programming on FM. It’s about access.

But that logic will drive this trend less than necessity. In 2008, more owners will walk-away-from expensive music battles, take the FM's programming and HR expense to the bottom line, and suddenly find new users and new advertisers. For WIBC/Indianapolis’ 69th birthday, it gave listeners a present, by moving to FM. Just like the station I used to manage, all-news WTOP/Washington; whose Bonneville sister KSL/Salt Lake City is now simulcasting on what-used-to-be a music FM.

My WSNE prediction if offered with-all-due-respect for the hard-workin' folks there, and as a former WSNE program director myself. It is the-most-expendable music station here, its underdog AM sister now has the three biggest stars in Talk Radio (if not a morning show), and its parent company's stockholders just voted to sell to guys who look JUST like Gordon Gekko and think they can trim expenses MORE.

Stay tuned...

HC
www.HollandCooke.com
 
I agree with you on WSNE being expendable but even though they just never pull good numbers they are the only station in the CC cluster aiming for females.Will they give up that audience?

If this does happen I predict one PD for HJY and B101 and probably Rick Everett will be the one.Further I predict Tad Lemire moves over to the B101 morning show if that happens as if Rick stays he will too.
 
Where's P.T. Barnum when you need him?

If you never saw "Annie Hall," here's the scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpIYz8tfGjY

I had that moment last weekend at Warwick Mall...wishing I could quickly summon-up P.T. Barnum.

I was confronted by a snarling store manager and snarling security guard, because I was shooting home video inside the mall...a very big no-no according to very small print posted at the mall entrance.

The manager's store had LIVE MANNEQUINS (comely models) in the window, an irresistible shot, eh?
And live SANTA was at the mall too, which sure seems to invite video/photos by doting parents/grandparents who pony-up.

But the store manager snarled "We don't want people to put us on the Internet."
Being a notorious YouTube paparazzo, I had to admire how well she read the room.

But what's wrong with THAT picture?
Aren't retailers doing things as-extreme-as live mannequins TO ATTRACT ATTENTION?

In the October Playboy Interview, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann figured, paraphrasing, "A couple hundred thousand people see me live each night on 'Countdown.' But millions see me later on You Tube."

Oh, and the security guard snarled something about September 11, as he threatened to confiscate my "film."

Why are these people snarling?
Shouldn't this-time-of-year be an enchanting "Christmas at the mawl?"

Memo to Warwick Mall: Headline News: There are now more wireless phones THAN PEOPLE in the USA.
Many are camera phones.
The genie is out of the bottle.
As-a-practical matter, enforcement is impractical.

And note that -- at busier Providence Place Mall -- all sorts of consumer electronics are seen in use -- and being sold.
'Seems less Grinchy there.

And one irony I wouldn't bother mentioning anywhere-else-but-here?
I THINK...I'm not sure, but I THINK...it was that-very-store.
I'm not certain, because lots have Warwick Mall stores have changed since the 1970s, when I was a lanky young WPRO DJ.

But I believe it was that-very-store where, one weekend, all the Pro Personalities were broadcasting live IN THE STORE WINDOW, undoubtedly on-behalf-of some local charity.

Just days later, several kind listeners mailed me and some of the other DJs PHOTOS-they-had-taken-of-us-in-the-dang-window!
'Still have 'em, and cherish the memory.

Where's P.T. Barnum when you need him?

Have a cool Yule,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com
www.BlockIsland.TV
 
Holland Cooke said:
If you never saw "Annie Hall," here's the scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpIYz8tfGjY

I had that moment last weekend at Warwick Mall...wishing I could quickly summon-up P.T. Barnum.

I was confronted by a snarling store manager and snarling security guard, because I was shooting home video inside the mall...a very big no-no according to very small print posted at the mall entrance.

The manager's store had LIVE MANNEQUINS (comely models) in the window, an irresistible shot, eh?
And live SANTA was at the mall too, which sure seems to invite video/photos by doting parents/grandparents who pony-up.

But the store manager snarled "We don't want people to put us on the Internet."
Being a notorious YouTube paparazzo, I had to admire how well she read the room.

But what's wrong with THAT picture?
Aren't retailers doing things as-extreme-as live mannequins TO ATTRACT ATTENTION?

In the October Playboy Interview, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann figured, paraphrasing, "A couple hundred thousand people see me live each night on 'Countdown.' But millions see me later on You Tube."

Oh, and the security guard snarled something about September 11, as he threatened to confiscate my "film."

Why are these people snarling?
Shouldn't this-time-of-year be an enchanting "Christmas at the mawl?"

Memo to Warwick Mall: Headline News: There are now more wireless phones THAN PEOPLE in the USA.
Many are camera phones.
The genie is out of the bottle.
As-a-practical matter, enforcement is impractical.

And note that -- at busier Providence Place Mall -- all sorts of consumer electronics are seen in use -- and being sold.
'Seems less Grinchy there.

And one irony I wouldn't bother mentioning anywhere-else-but-here?
I THINK...I'm not sure, but I THINK...it was that-very-store.
I'm not certain, because lots have Warwick Mall stores have changed since the 1970s, when I was a lanky young WPRO DJ.

But I believe it was that-very-store where, one weekend, all the Pro Personalities were broadcasting live IN THE STORE WINDOW, undoubtedly on-behalf-of some local charity.

Just days later, several kind listeners mailed me and some of the other DJs PHOTOS-they-had-taken-of-us-in-the-dang-window!
'Still have 'em, and cherish the memory.

Where's P.T. Barnum when you need him?

Have a cool Yule,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com
www.BlockIsland.TV
Click to expand...

They claim to not want cameras in the mall because they don't want to be put on the internet? hahaha. Yeah... that sure would be detrimental to life itself if people had to be subjected to the super secretive shots of a MALL! GOD forbid that happens. Someone please notify "Bob's Big Adventure" at once that the mean mall manager doesn't want video shot inside the mall. I guess there will be no more Toys for Tots shows at Christmas time. No more Radio shows on location at the mall either. We certainly arn't allowed to hear Mall audio!

Someone call Sony television up too. Big mean mall manager doesn't like Video shot inside the mall. So keep the Wheelmobile in Culver City. It's not welcome at the Warwick mall if they are going to shoot video of future Wheel of Fortune contestants. Tell that putz Trebek to stay home too because Warwick mall won't make exceptions for Jeopardy either. Those people are super smart and probably know how to put Mall Video on the internet.

While we are at it, if there is a Radio shack inside that mall, tell them nobody is allowed to test out Camcorders anymore either. Also..... when entering the mall everyone is now required to deposit their camera phones into a giant bin. You can have it back as long as a member of security doesn't steal it first. But if they do steal it there will be no proof since they don't allow video cameras inside The Warwick Mall. ;)
 
Re: Where's P.T. Barnum when you need him?

Holland Cooke said:
The manager's store had LIVE MANNEQUINS (comely models) in the window, an irresistible shot, eh?
And live SANTA was at the mall too, which sure seems to invite video/photos by doting parents/grandparents who pony-up.

But the store manager snarled "We don't want people to put us on the Internet."
Being a notorious YouTube paparazzo, I had to admire how well she read the room.

But what's wrong with THAT picture?
Aren't retailers doing things as-extreme-as live mannequins TO ATTRACT ATTENTION?

In the October Playboy Interview, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann figured, paraphrasing, "A couple hundred thousand people see me live each night on 'Countdown.' But millions see me later on You Tube."
Click to expand...

Holy C$%#, Holland....you are getting old, you are READING the articles in Playboy ::)
 
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