Photo:

Gull

by

Ron Fell

Very cool shot.

Bravo Ron. Thank you very much!



"The world is not perishing for the want of clever or talented or well-meaning men. It is perishing for the want of men of courage and resolution who, in devotion to the cause of right and truth, can rise above personal feeling and private ambition." Robert J. McCracken

"One nice thing about silence is that it can't be repeated." Gary Cooper

"Don't follow any advice, no matter how good, until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think in your mind that the counsel is wise." David Seabury

Back to the countdown: Jim Smith again answers the call checking in with the name of our missing KSFX GM. "It was Joe Parish who replaced Don Platt in July 1979. Joe left to manage WPLJ at the end of March 1981, and Ron Denman moved up from GSM to replace him." Thanks Jim!

Congrats & cheers: Brad Saul on moving his First Access Bank project forward, he's now looking for investors; the first fully accessible online bank for people with disabilities is another big step closer to being a reality thanks to Brad. Robert F.X. Sillerman and his CKX gang. This guy is so money; the brilliant serial entrepreneur is going private - and taking Idol, Elvis and the Champ with him, stay tuned. Mark Masters, Jim Watkins and the TRN team on signing the great talent Phil Hendrie. Smart, very smart.

Strategic opportunity: What Phil Hendrie does is uniquely entertaining - sui generis - one of one. Therefore, his act is the perfect fit for evenings or late nights especially on stations like WCKG. What talk stations need at night is not yet another network pundit reheating the issues of the day (e.g., Glenn Beck) but rather a fresh and very different pov. That's what makes Phil's act so engaging, the show is totally original. Talk programmers should recognize this as an opportunity to drop the me-too and wannabe shows. All you need do is listen for what's not there. The object of the exercise is to create contrast. How, exactly, is what you are now doing dramatically different, arresting at a visceral level and authentically unique when compared to the other options available to your listeners?

Consider another perspective.

The legendary programmer Bill Stewart talking with Claude Hall about the incredible overnight success of WTIX..."Storz put on what was really the first music station in town. It was singularly successful because no one else was doing anything even remotely like it." (My emphasis) The old school fundamentals still apply - carefully study the market, discover what everyone else is doing, then do the opposite, put on offer what is not there, ensure that nothing is even remotely like your programming. Signing Phil you pull away from the pack. My sense is adding Phil Hendrie represents a genuine game-changing strategic move. Stop being concerned about getting better and start obsessing on getting dramatically different. "Less Clausewitz, more Sun Tzu" to quote Thomas P.M. Barnett from an earlier post. In the case of this opportunity, being brilliant on the basics, as ever, yields the best ROI. (FD: I have previously served as an adviser to TRN)

James Carville speaking this morning on Russert's MTP about the possible run of Al Gore in 2008..."Running for president is like sex, you don't do it once and forget about it."

Bonus: Bruce Rave offers up his latest Go Deep - the 5/31 webcast is highly recommend - find and listen here. Bravos Bruce!