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August 21, 2005 - August 27, 2005 Archives

August 21, 2005

TAKING RADIO'S TOLL

Jeff Jarvis is talking about the proposal to sell the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway to private companies and let them run the toll roads, and he's properly skeptical:

    They should be doing just the opposite: Tear down the toll booths and fire the bureaucracies fed by them. I’ve long marveled how the Interstates by me operate with much less visible infrastructure — staff, facilities, equipment, expense — than the toll roads. Tolls roads cause tremendous inconvenience. And they tempt government — and now private enterprise — to try — though often unsuccessfully — to turn the public infrastructure into a profit center.

Sure. And that's what we were talking about back in about 1992 at New Jersey 101.5 radio, when at Walter Sabo's suggestion- he dimly recalled such a thing- I pored through state documents and news accounts and discovered that, yes, the original charter for the toll roads specified that when the initial bonds to build the roads were to be paid off, the toll booths would come down and the roads would be free. After only a few years, however, when nobody was looking, the state allowed the roads to float more bonds and borrow more money, and the original rules were mysteriously forgotten. We went hammer-and-tongs after the politicians and bureaucracies, and here's what we got:

Death threats. Angry toll collectors' unions. Intimidation. And, ultimately, no change. The roads kept the tolls, and each kept its bureaucracy (we took some pleasure in pointing out that nowhere else in the world did a state maintain two separate wasteful toll road bureaucracies with separate media relations offices- press flacks for a road!). We tried, but while our listeners were motivated, we couldn't get enough of the populace and the politicians to go with us.

But it was a great time, because we were addressing what mattered to our listeners, and they responded. Our ratings were great, and people felt that we were taking their side and doing something about the quality of life in our state. And when we did that, I expected other radio stations nationwide to "borrow" the campaign for their own areas. After all, they're quick to grab onto the latest "Jack" or "Jammin' Oldies" or other fad music format. Why wouldn't they want to do something that actually worked AND had something to do with the lives of their listeners?

Here's the list of stations that did their own "Trash the Tolls" campaign in our wake:

WIOD Miami.

That's it.

I'm reminded of that when I turn on talk radio today. I hear a lot of Cindy Sheehan talk, a lot of frankly boring national political talk, but precious little of the stuff that actually matters to listeners. Gas prices are passing three bucks a gallon and we're talking about Cindy Sheehan? Traffic is impossible all over and we're obsessing about illegal immigration? Cable companies are charging an arm and a leg if you have the temerity to buy a new HDTV- mine is charging about thirty bucks a month on top of the regular $41. just to add HD service, plus another $15. or $20. per additional set- and we're hearing talk about Karl Rove?

Talk radio shares are slipping badly over the first half of 2005. You wanna know why? Maybe it's because the Cindy Sheehan story isn't that big with the average person. Maybe people have had pretty much enough of the illegal immigration dance. Maybe you can take a tip from over a decade ago, when we were talking about what mattered to our listeners and tried to do something about it, and got big ratings as a result. New Jersey 101.5, incidentally, is still doing that, and still getting big ratings. Perhaps there's something to be learned from that for the rest of the radio industry.

Or maybe they'll all just change to "Jack-FM," because then the General Manager won't get any complaint calls from politicians. GMs hate those calls.


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August 22, 2005

DETAINED BY THE KARMA POLICE, SUFFERING FROM THE BENDS

For the last few days, I've noticed a flood of hits from people referred here by a Radiohead message board.

I have no idea why.

But welcome anyway, Radioheadheads! I feel obligated to make a Radiohead reference, like a joke involving fake plastic trees or something about Thom Yorke in general, but I really don't have anything much to say. I own Radiohead CDs- does that count? Apparently not.

I still can't make heads nor tails o' this newfangled Internet thing....


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August 23, 2005

IS THERE A METRIC CLOCK OR SOMETHING? BECAUSE THE ONE WE'RE USING ISN'T ENOUGH

Not enough time. I tried so hard to fit everything I needed to do in the day today, but I missed. I was supposed to be up at Dodger Stadium right now. I'm not. No time. I wanted to write something longer for this page, but between the weekly newsletter and lots of late news and other stuff... no time. And I'm still not fully packed for a trip tomorrow.

I'd take a time management course, but I know what they'd tell me- you just have to cut back, try to do less. Easy to say, not easy to do. And tomorrow's a full day followed by a red-eye flight- no course in the world can tell me how to make this work.

But I will, somehow, because I have to. Step one is to stop blathering here and go take care of business, so I will, but not before this quote from an interview on All Access with a morning radio host in Detroit:

    They can hear The Pussycat Dolls on 4 stations in our market and at least 4-5 satellite stations, but they can only hear a guy who looks like Eminem getting people crazy on the streets ("Partial Mathers") on 1 station...ours. Personality wins.

Yes, they can "only hear a guy who looks like Eminem getting people crazy on the streets" on one station. But why would they?

And people in radio wonder why we don't get any respect.


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August 24, 2005

KATRINA AND THE WAVES

I have to fly to Florida tonight.

Naturally, the first thing I saw when I got online this morning was this. I'm flying right into what might by late Thursday be a hurricane.

Yes, I'm staying right on the waterfront. Why do you ask?

It's Tropical Storm Katrina right now, and it's bearing down on South Florida. I'm looking at the possibility of flying cross country to get stuck in a hotel room or, worse, being evacuated.

Oh, well, at least it's a change of scenery. I just didn't think the scenery would be from "The Perfect Storm."


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August 25, 2005

RED EYE RANT

Just a few thoughts while waiting to take a hurricane right between the eyes:

All red-eye flights should be kid-free. Anyone under 18? Out. Our overnight flight across the country was punctuated by the cries and screams of toddlers whose parents were unable or unwilling to control them. Ban 'em, I say. They can only be trouble. Let them fly in daylight.

Older dude with much, much younger girl- not even woman, just still girl- sitting next to me: I don't care if you feel the need to rub your daught... er, girlfriend's feet all night, but don't do it in a way that encroaches on my seat. I can't sleep if I can't move, or if you keep nudging me off the armrest so you have more room to rub her toesies.

Dude sitting next to Fran with sleeveless T: back off the Drakkar Noir. I'm serious. And try sleeves- the armpit hair look isn't working for you.

Hertz: If I reserve a certain kind of car a month or more in advance, have one ready when I show up. This Kia isn't working for me.

Okay, back to our feature attraction, "Waiting For Katrina."


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August 26, 2005

THIS IS HOW DAN RATHER GOT HIS START, RIGHT?

Yeah, we're OK.

The hurricane hit for real last evening. In late afternoon, the wind was blowing hard and rain was falling intermittently, and the trees were bending, the surf was churning, and everybody in the hotel was entertained by the sight. Some people even went out to get pictures, returning with laughter and wildly rearranged hairstyles.

By about 7:00, the laughter stopped. The wind was gusting at about 66 mph. We lost power a few times. Windows were shaking, doors were slamming, the TV lost all channels. There was nothing to do but lie in bed and listen to the apocalypse. At about 2 am, I looked out the window and there was a brownish haze while the trees were bent close to a 90 degree angle and the wind created an unholy howl.

This was only category 1. I can't even imagine a category 4.

But, as I noted, we're fine. Four people died in this one, all presumably in the "couldn't resist going outside to check things out" category. We're in the trailing stages of the storm now, and I STILL don't want to go outside. Maybe later.


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WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST

We ventured out from our hotel to get some stuff at the Publix, which we heard was open. So we get into the car and find that, other than at our hotel (which has generators), most of Fort Lauderdale is without power. The traffic lights are all out, A1A is being restricted because large trees have fallen across the lanes and sand was blown onto the roadway, virtually everything is closed (the Publix was open, but without refrigeration; signs said that no cold items could be sold, the freezer aisles were blocked, and the power went off twice while we were in the store). And we pop the AM radio on and head straight for the main talk station in South Florida, which had been pumping out good coverage through the previous day and this morning, and I heard the regular regionally-syndicated afternoon guy on and, since he's in Tampa, he quite naturally was discussing whether the storm would hit Tampa.

This is not Tampa. Nobody here cares whether Tampa is going to be hit. South Miami-Dade County's under water, half of Broward County's without power, trees and power lines are down everywhere, and they let their Tampa-based afternoon guy on the air to talk about Tampa? He started to say something about next talking to a Miami TV weatherman (not Bryan Norcross? Then it doesn't matter), but by then my hand was headed to the button, and I switched to WFTL from West Palm, which, to their credit, was talking about storm damage and power outages and taking calls from people in the area. And that's where I stayed. Radio should be taking a tip from local TV news, which sounds backward, but in this case makes sense: the Big 4 network affiliates here went wall-to-wall, as did the Univision station (and the UPN channel took its sister CBS station's feed).

It used to be that there was at least one, sometimes two or three stations you could absolutely count on to deliver the goods when a major local news story broke. In some cases, like New York, you'd go to an all news station, like WINS, which made its bones with coverage of the Great Blackout and remains the go-to station for any emergency. In some cases, a talk station like KFI in Los Angeles grabbed that honor by combining solid news coverage with local talk hosts with the instinct to grab the story by the throat and not let go. Those stations still exist- WINS, KFI, CFRB in Toronto, WTOP in Washington. There are others. But when I went to the station in Miami from which I expected to get that kind of coverage this afternoon, I immediately heard "Tampa." It doesn't matter whether it was a momentary thing, one portion of one segment, a passing reference. I needed the information NOW, and when I heard "Tampa," I was gone.

(Incidentally, I have to hand it to CBS 4 in Miami, which seems to OWN hurricanes. It may be a Bryan Norcross thing; since Andrew, people here just seem to trust Norcross 100%. But that's what every TV in the house was showing. Although they, like every other channel, seemed enamored of showing the storm hitting their own parking lots. Guys, an empty parking lot in Doral or Miramar isn't all that interesting to watch in any weather)


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August 27, 2005

POST-'CANE REPORT- SATURDAY

I went for a run along the beach in Fort Lauderdale this morning- sun occasionally peeking through, wind still brisk- and surveyed some of the damage from Katrina. The storm basically blew part of the beach right across A1A, the sand leading right up to the doors of the cafes and hotels across the street. They'd plowed most of the sand off the roadway, but the sidewalk was still covered with piles of sand and some power lines still drooped off their poles. Crews were slowly making headway against the downed trees that blocked some lanes of the road further south, but the traffic lights were still out and power was a hit-or-(mostly) miss proposition. They're supposed to restore power for much of the area by late this afternoon. I'd hope so; this was a rough storm, but some folks have been without power since mid-afternoon Thursday.

Things are closer to normal today. Some malls are open- we braved Sawgrass Mills to get an ice cream cone, and it was packed with air-conditioning seekers. Some restaurants are back in operation, many (not all) traffic lights are working, and the TV stations are back to the usual weekend fare instead of wall-to-wall disaster coverage. Still, the restaurant we'd planned to visit tonight is out of action- take out only, they don't have generator power for the dining room- and going out requires planning, calls ahead, and great flexibility. Our dinner engagement was supposed to be in South Miami, but it could now happen anywhere from Aventura to Kendall, wherever there's a decent place with electricity.

It's been quite an experience, but I think I've had enough of this natural disaster thing, actually. Could be worse, however. I could be in South Beach for the MTV VMAs. That would be hard.


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About August 2005

This page contains all entries posted to PMSimon.com in August 2005. They are listed from oldest to newest.

August 14, 2005 - August 20, 2005 is the previous archive.

August 28, 2005 - September 3, 2005 is the next archive.

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