A Pair Of Smart Radio Moves…

Wednesday, June, 4, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

Having witnessed first-hand that the only thing that changes at the ABC Radio Network  is the day of the week, I love the bold decision they’ve made to walk down the aisle with Fame Games.  This is a marriage between a successful online venue for discovering new music acts with a weekly audience of more than 2.5 million listeners and a network of 4,400 affiliate radio stations.  To be sure, only a portion of the affiliates will carry Fame Games - a select group that targets the low end of the demographic spectrum.  Fame Games, owned by Mere Music International  is expected to drive traffic to station websites from listeners casting their ballots and following the weekly competition.  This enterprising launch will take place on June 30th…

ESPN Radio has also announced a major move in its launch of the ESPN HD  Radio Network beginning June 7th.  The network will offer customized sports content to the 1,700-plus U.S. stations broadcasting in HD.  The first offering will be the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 soccer tournament.  Subscribing stations will use a special network appliance (hopefully not a toaster) that lets them customize their own ESPN HD stations by choosing content over the network, with a menu that will include local content.  The server will also let subscribers offer datacasts of clock, score and non-audio sports material…

It’s more than interesting to note that in both cases (ABC and ESPN) you have two radio networks that are combining their medium with the Internet - a sign of the future?  No, a sign of the present…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1674]  Banned in Boston:  Horse racing  is prohibited in Massachusetts.  It returns when the Bay State figures out how to collect the vig…
2. 1896]  Taking a spin:   Henry Ford  makes a successful pre-dawn test run of his horseless carriage through the streets of Detroit…
3. 1935]  Now you see it, now you don’t:   Invisible glass is patented by Gerald Brown and Edward Pollard who try to walk through the glass but suffer invisible gashes requiring several invisible stitches after being rushed to an invisible hospital in an invisible ambulance…
4. 1939]  Shopping on wheels:  The first shopping cart is introduced by Sylvan Goldman  of Oklahoma City.  By afternoon the cart had disappeared…
5. 1947]  The House acts:  The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approves the Taft-Hartley Act  which allows the president to intervene in labor disputes…
6. 1974]  Cleveland Rocks:  The Cleveland Indians hold “10 Cent Beer Night” but are forced to forfeit their game with Texas because of drunk, unruly fans carrying on.  Not Cleveland’s finest hour…
7. 1989]  Chinese storm:  Chinese Army troops storm  Tiananmen Square  in Beijing to crush the pro-democracy movement resulting in hundreds and possibly thousands killed…
8. 1998]  Guilty as charged:  Terry Nichols  is sentenced by a federal judge to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing…
9. 2000]  Missing his son:  Julius “Dr. J” Erving reports that his 19-year old son Cory is missing.  His body will be found on July 6, 2000…
10. 2003]  Not such a good thing:  Martha Stewart steps down as head of her media empire, hours after federal prosecutors charge her with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, securities fraud, lying to investigators and having a dirty cake pan…

Music Memories:

• 1942]  Those tiny holes:  Glenn Wallichs, one of the founders of  Capitol Records  comes up with the idea of sending out promotional copies of records to radio stations.  Glenn will spend countless hours drilling those tiny holes in the label…
• 1984]  Released on this date:  “Born In The U.S.A.” LP - Bruce Springsteen…1992]  The U.S. Postal Service announces that the younger Elvis is chosen by a nationwide vote to be used on a commemorative 29-cent stamp.  Somewhere, Elvis sings “Return To Sender“…

Commentary:

Former Sirius Programming Chief Jay Clark responds to our feature on the satellite’s new “Doctor Radio” series with a nice e-mail, insisting that he’s still retired but just had to comment on all the hard work that went into “Doctor Radio”.  You can be sure Jay played a major hand in it…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“:

Angelina Jolie (33), Horatio Saenz (39), Noah Wyle (37), John Hockenberry (52), Parker Stevenson (56), Gordon Waller (63), Michelle Phillips (64), Bruce Dern (72) and Dr. Ruth Westheimer (80)…

Timeline Countdown:  3 days until the Belmont Stakes, 11 days until Father’s Day, 18 days until summer and 31 days until July 4th…

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