(Weekend edition)
Benjamin Franklin may have had it wrong about only two things certain in life. Apparently there are 3 things certain in life - death, taxes and Pandora ruling the internet. Consider this - in the May Ando Media webcast ranker, number one Pandora had an average active session (AAS) number of 402,978 with session starts at 43.2 million and average time spent listening (TSL) of 1.62 hours. CBS Radio was second with an AAS of 166,644 and average TSL of .79 hours. In all streams, domestic and international, CBS Radio leads with an AAS of 171,491, session starts at 52.7 million and a TSL of .95 hours. There's a reason CBS is number one in the all-streams ranker, Pandora isn't included in that ranker...
While Pandora's music service dominates the internet, Arbitron's new "Public Radio Today" report shows that News/Talk draws nearly half of public radio listening, making it the most listened-to format. Twelve more public stations adopted the N/T format in 2009. Other popular public radio formats include News/Classical although they lost 13 stations, variety music and News-Triple A...
What's become clear is that music continues to dominate the internet while terrestrial radio lags far behind. News, talk and sports are the only formats that make terrestrial radio different. Give credit to NPR for being inventive. As Arbitron's Chris Meinhardt notes: "The medium plays an important role in today's media landscape by providing important programming not available anywhere else. Public radio is also meeting the challenges of a crowded media landscape by taking full advantage of technological innovations, including podcasting, internet streaming and HD Radio multicasting...
10 Timeline Memories:
1.1900] Nipper arrives: RCA Victor registers “His Master’s Voice” aka “Nipper“. The dog looking into the horn of the gramophone machine becomes the symbol of the label (7/10)…Cyndi Lauper hugs Nipper while lip synching...
2.1915] Debuted on this date: 19-year old Babe Ruth makes his major league debut as a pitcher for the Red Sox and picks up his first win…(7/11). In 1918 Ruth moves to the outfield (7/11)…
3.1951] From Big-Band to R&B: Alan Freed starts playing R&B music on WJW Cleveland. After 3 years in Cleveland, Freed moves to WINS New York and becomes the "King of Rock 'n Roll" (7/11)...
4.1971] Curtains: Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro, the victim of a horrible beaning in August, 1967 announces his retirement at 25 (7/10). Tony C will try to come back in 1975 but he was never the same. Tony’s starstruck life will end way too soon when he suffers a fatal heart attack in 1990 at 45…
5.1979] Final note: Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, who led the orchestra for half a century, passes away from natural causes at 84 (7/10)…
6.1989] 'That's All Folks': Mel Blanc who provided the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and countless other WB characters, dies from heart disease at 81 (7/10)…
7.1999] World Cup runneth over: The U.S. women’s soccer team wins the World Cup at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (CA) (7/10)…
8.2000] Lucky #7: Pete Sampras wins his 7th Wimbledon singles title, tying the record for men (7/9)...
9.2002] Kiss your sister: Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig stops play during a rain delay at the All-Star game in Milwaukee ending the 11-inning game in a 2-2 tie, a 1st in All-Star game history. Selig gets booed by the crowd (7/9)…
10.2006] The Dig kills: A section of ceiling in Boston’s Big Dig tunnel collapses, killing a car passenger (7/10)…
Commentary:
Veteran Boston TV newscaster John Henning, who brought a combination of street smarts and stoicism to the anchor desk for more than 25 years at channels 4, 5 and 7, passed away Wednesday night at Massachusetts General Hospital, a few months after being diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a precursor to leukemia. John who lived in Boston was predeceased by his wife of 39 years, Betsy Cohen in 2008. Tributes to John have been streaming in from friends and politicians alike. Former mayor Raymond L. Flynn called John "An institution to the city of Boston". Former governor and presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis called Henning "A presence who you had to be ready for." The Boston Globe called John "a no-nonsense Walter Cronkite figure for Boston viewers during a period when TV news became increasingly glitzy, a trend he abhorred." John was a member of "The Media Gang", a group of mostly ex-radio and TV people that gather twice a year. Henning attended most of the group's luncheons. He will be missed by all his friends and from those viewers that liked their news delivered straight, without fanfare. John was 73...
Music Memories:
•1956] Local debut: Dick Clark makes his 1st appearance as host of "Bandstand" in Philadelphia. One year later the show goes network (7/9)...
•1959] #1 on this date: "Lonely Boy" - Paul Anka (7/11)...1965] "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (7/10)...1969] "In the year 2525" - Zager & Evans (7/11)...1970] "Mama Told Me Not To Come" - Three Dog Night (7/11)...1979] "Bad Girls" - Donna Summer (7/11)...1989] "If You Don't Know Me By Now" - Simply Red (7/11)...
•1995] Gratefully done (for a while, anyway): The Grateful Dead play their last concert with Jerry Garcia at Soldier Field (Chicago) (7/9). Garcia will pass away in August...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday": (7/9) Fred Savage (34), Courtney Love (46), Kelly McGillis (53), Tom Hanks (54), Jimmy Smits (55), John Tesh (58), Brian Dennehy (72), Donald Rumsfeld (78) and Ed Ames (83)...(7/10) Jessica Simpson (30), Arlo Guthrie (63), Mavis Staples (71), David Dinkins (83), Jake LaMotta (89)...
(7/11) Lisa Rinna (47), Suzanne Vega (51), Richie Sambora (51), Sela Ward (54), Leon Spinks (57), Bonnie Pointer (60), Joe McCoy (67), Giorgio Armani (76) and Tab Hunter (80+)...
Timeline Countdown: 4 days until the MLB All-Star Game & 16 days until NFL camps begin opening...
