Any good radio program director looks for technical advice from his chief engineer but never asks his tech expert for programming advice. There's a reason for that. Chief engineers are hired to produce the best possible sound a station can offer and maintain the equipment that gives them that. Technical people do tech work and programming people program. It is interesting though to seek advice from tech people as to what has the best chance of making money for a radio station. That's music to a general manager's ears. Equipment manufacturer Wheatstone has done just that. With help from Alethea Research, Wheatstone just conducted a survey called "Revenue-Generating Radio Technologies: A Progress Report." The survey asked radio professionals involved in technology management, including engineers and operations and other technical management to rate in order 10 different ways of generating money for their station. While the results were somewhat predictable, they are still worth noting...
'Streaming Our Signal Over The Internet' was number one and generated 30.9% of respondents choices. 'Website That Interacts With Listeners' was second with 19.2%, followed by 'Streaming Multiple Channels' (12.7%), 'Using Social Media To Win Listeners' (10.0%) and 'Promoting Station With A Mobile Phone App' (5.5%). The rest of the top 10 included 'Broadcasting More Than One HD Channel' (4.0%), Creating Podcasts (3.8%), 'Broadcasting in HD Radio' (3.1%), 'Website That Creates Musical Discovery' (1.0%) and 'Website That Delivers Video' (1.0%). The study found that almost all radio tech people believe the internet will play a bigger part in the future of radio, and that among new revenue-generating technologies, streaming a station's signal has the biggest earning potential (see above figures). Another interesting finding, according to RadioWorld is that "The day will come slowly, but in 15 years a majority of radio stations expect they will have more online listeners than RF (radio frequency) listeners." Despite that expected long-term decline in over-the-air listeners, however, the study found that few radio stations expect to ever turn off their transmitters...
Other findings include radio technology that will be more IT-centric (Information Technology) and IP-centric (Internet Protocol). There will be more automation, as well as more networking between stations, IT networks, and office and audio networks. Three years from now, the stability of each radio stations network will be more important, as will networks with no single point of failure." More audio consoles will be networked and the bandwidth of those networks will be required to increase. Welcome to the world of technology. I'm glad I chose programming...
10 Timeline Memories:
1.1918] Armistice Day: World War I ends when the Allies and Germany sign an armistice aka "Armistice Day". Many countries refer to Veterans Day as Remembrance Day...
2.1921] Dedication Day: The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated at Arlington Cemetery by U.S. President Warren Harding...
3.1938] The Philadelphia Flyers take note: Kate Smith sings Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" for the 1st time on network radio...
4.1940] Debuted on this date: The Jeep, manufactured for the war effort...
5.1972] 'Happy Trails': Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers) is killed in a motorcycle accident one year and 13 days after Duane Allman met the same fate - and just 3 blocks away. Oakley was 24...2004] Palestinian leader, controversial Yasser Arafat dies in Paris at 75. Israel does not sing 'Happy Trails'...
6.1984] The gift that keeps on giving: President Ronald Reagan accepts the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a gift to the nation from the Vietnam Memorial Fund...
7.1986] Wedding Bells: Sperry Rand and Burroughs walk down the aisle with their baby "Unisys" becoming the second largest computer company...
8.1993] Dedication Day II: A bronze statue is dedicated in Washington (D.C.) to honor more than 11,000 American women who served in the Vietnam War...
9.1996] The Wall that heals: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund unveils "The Wall that Heals", a half-scale replica of the memorial that will tour communities throughout the U.S...
10.2002] MVP x 5: Barry Bonds wins the MVP award for an unprecedented fifth time...
Music Memories:
- 1958] Recorded on this date: "The Twist" - Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (the original version)...
- 1963] Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Brian Epstein and Ed Sullivan sign a 3-show contract for Beatles appearances...
- 1967] Released on this date: "In and Out of Love" - Supremes...
Commentary:
The book is called KHJ: Inside Boss Radio and it makes the perfect Christmas gift for audiophiles who always wanted to know what it feels like to program a radio station. Ron Jacobs takes you from his first day at KHJ, to the glory days of one of America's most famous radio stations - KHJ Los Angeles. You'll read actual memos sent from Ron to the air staff and discover lots of other little known facts about the running of one of the most successful top 40 stations of all time. The book also comes with 2 accompanying CD's. To find out how you can order KHJ: Inside Boss Radio, click here...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Mark Sanchez (24), Leonardo Di Caprio (36), Calista Flockhart (46), Demi Moore (48), Stanley Tucci (50), Marshall Crenshaw (57), Jesse Colin Young (69), Warner Wolf (73) and Jonathan Winters (85)...
Timeline Countdown: 14 days until Thanksgiving, 20 days until Hanukah, 40 days until winter and 43 days until Christmas...
