Got to listen to Ian on the X. Ive listed to the X before when in Boise, so I already dug the programming. I though Ian did a cool job of holding it down, actually I think he read a liner card too (SIN!!!)…somebody was on location giving away passes, he made funny jokes about getting passes and partying in a hot tub, didnt get all wanna-be sternish about it either by saying titties or talking about doing chics in a hot tub, just kinda goofed on it a bit. Yeah, he took a liner situation and made it his own by rockin some style. noyce!

I would have listend more, but I visited with the in-laws in Cambridge, then hit up Brundage. My car stereos antenna is locked in the down position because I generally listen to Fox Sports and Fox News on my XM when traveling. But it was definatley worth checking out those two rockers on my way thru Boise.

Oh yea, Im not a fan of Mancow, but the promo on the X with radical muslim or turkey was hysterical.

But, I’m tired of the “it’s all Clear Channels” fault that radio does this or that or that the playlist sucks or the jocks suck or the PD is an idiot (sometimes that’s the case, though). Yeah, sometimes you have to run a promotion for a bag of horse crap, but that’s where a radio station makes their money. Oh, doing too much of that will make the station sound lame and you’ll lose listeners, but I’ve only seen that in small markets (where the GM comes in and takes any ad revenue he can get his hands on no matter what) and I would hope that a PD in a decent market would have the brains to say “we’re not doing this promo”. When it comes to promotions, not necessarily advertising of spots, the PD makes the final decision. If their’s an add on the station for a bag of horse crap, OK. But, it’s going to be up to the PD to decide on whether it’s a good fit for the station to do a listener scavenger hunt for a bag of horse crap. Mr. Mays is not going to call the PD up and say “Ya know, we’re doing this promo…”. Clear Channel, for the most part, leaves their stations alone. Most decisions are made locally, not by a guy sitting behind a desk in a land far, far away.

Like CL said about the DJ playing what he wants to play… that would suck. For everyone; jocks, listeners, etc. It’s not an easy job choosing music that everyone wants to hear. In fact, I think it’s a pain in the ass. Has the system ever crashed in the studio and you’re left with nothing but a wall of CD’s that you have to play? Maybe it’s me, but it sucks. Yeah, you can play requests, but you still have to set it up to make it flow, you don’t wanna be playing the same artist over and over, and you should be concentrating on what you’re doing as a jock (or personality in some cases). And music scheduling should be done locally, by the PD or MD or APD or anyone else who actually KNOWS how to schedule music, not by a guy sitting behind a desk in a land far, far away. But again, that’s up to the local heads… not something that CC requires.

And when it comes to local music on the station… I dont think that there is much of a place for a local band on the radio, unless it’s on the local show Sunday night. Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s rare. The majority of people listening to a radio station at any given time does not wanna hear a local band. I do think that a rock station should play local music, but do it as a feature or an hour or two on the weekends. Support local bands by having them play at a station events, mention local band’s shows in the concert liners, but if you have a DJ having total control of what’s played on his show, you’ll get his buddy’s band or his band on the station. Or, he’ll even be the cool guy at the bar and say “Yeah, I’ll get your band on the air… you wanna buy me a beer?”

I dunno… I could be all wrong about this. It wouldn’t be the first time, ya know.

Yea, corporate has managed to suck a lot out of radio, but perhaps now is the time for all good men to come to aid of their radio station. Maybe it’s also time for all of us still in the industry to start stepping up & start pushing the envelope again. In the old days, we also forget the GMs at the small market stations were also only about the money. I don’t know how many times I heard “I know this promotion stinks, but Company Y is paying us $5, so we are going to run this.” I was told by a PD once “if a company wants us to promote a bad of horse crap, we’re going to do it.” We still managed to overcome it then & put on good radio. So why can’t we now?

Im not into the anti-clear channel thing. Worked in a big corporate office of theirs and I never saw satan or darth vader, they didnt have an office anyplace in the building either. And I looked, it would have been good to see my dad again. (or at least thats what Ive been told) Besides, the people in the offices are just people doing their job.

Im into the anti ‘crappy airtalent’ thing. Some DJs beg to be replaced with voice tracks. I beat myself up over this constantly.

Its cool you play a variety of rock…Have any ‘Loudness’ on your station? Nothing beats a good Japanese Hair Metal band. Nah…Im kidding. Loudness sucks.