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It's All About The Hype
by Phathead, posted Feb 19 2010 7:33AM
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Somebody is always trying to sell you something. It could be the perfume ladies when you walk into Macy's that won't leave you alone, the waiter trying to get you to order coffee and dessert when you are stuffed and can't eat another bite, or the service guy doing your oil change that tries to get you to spend 100 dollars more than you really have to by replacing parts that really don't need changing. Whatever the case, there is a sales pitch going on everywhere you look.
The same is true on TV and radio. Let me give you two examples. One that I've bought into, and the other I'm hoping you will buy into.
First it's the Winter Olympics. NBC has done a great job packaging something that ordinarily you wouldn't give even the slightest glance to on a normal day. However, when you call it the Olympics, have Bob Costas, Matt Lauer, and Al Michaels talk about it, and put dramatic stories behind it all, it works! By a show of hands....how many of you watch skiing, speed skating, luge, or the ever popular biathalon on a weekly basis? Anyone? How about curling? Maybe the Nordic Combined? Oh you don't know what that is? That would be ski jumping followed by a cross country race in which the length of your ski jump determines the starting time for the race or something like that. I'm not exactly sure to tell you the truth, but that's it in a nutshell. Yes these are athletes for sure. Yes they have worked their whole lives to make it where they are. Yes they give it their all. Yes that is somebody's child and they are proud of them. I get it! That doesn't mean that I would ever care about how they do in a formal competition. You know what though? When it's the Olympics I do. Whether it's the patriotism, or the fact that it's only once every four years, there is something about it that works. Maybe it comes back to the fact that these are sports I would never watch. That biathalon thing I was talking about. I'ts a cross country race with guns strapped to your back where you stop every so often to shoot and then continue racing. What??? Huh??? Exactly. I think it's 50% the craziness, speed, and danger of the sports, and 50% patriotism, back story, and drama. The once every four years doesn't hurt either. The thing that brings it all together is the hype. No matter how interesting it is, you still need someone to package it and sell it. I mean there is still a reason that McDonald's and Burger King advertise. You would think they don't have to anymore, but the truth is when you can get a burger anywhere or even make your own from the supermarket, they have to sell the sizzle and make it seem like more than a burger. That has to be drilled into your head. It's not the burger. It's the experience of getting that burger at the cool place with red and yellow colors and cartoon characters for the kids. Really though.....it's only a burger. This is what NBC has done with the Olympics. You feel like you have to watch and you want to watch and you must watch, when really it's stuff you don't really care about watching. You could watch anything....heck you could read a book....(or go down the road and get a taco, salad, hero, $5 coffee, or sushi)....but you want that burger from the 16 year old kid with zits and a headset on. Hype works and for the Olympics it works really well! Billions and Billions served!
Next is the hype I want to sell you. It's American Idol. If you listen to the morning show you know that Cande and I are huge fans of American Idol. (See our Idol for Dummies updates the day after each episode) There have been 8 full seasons prior to this one. I am not one of those people that will love each and every year just because it's American Idol. As a matter of fact there have been a few seasons recently that I was not a big fan of. It's always great when you get down to the top 5 or 6 singers, but for me the last amazingly good season was season 4 with Carrie, Bo, and Vonzell as the final 3. That is all about to change though. Remember these words when you are deciding whether to get into this year's top 24(which starts with voting next week):
THE TALENT OF THIS YEAR'S TOP 24 IS THE BEST I'VE SEEN!
That's right. You read it correctly. There is more talent this year than I have ever heard on American Idol. That doesn't mean I think someone will outsell Carrie Underwood, or have a better debut album than Daughtry, but pound for pound these 24 singers are the best we've seen as a group. Let me throw some names out there to remember. Andrew Garcia, Didi Benami, Katie Stevens, Casey James, Jermaine Sellers, Crystal Bowersox just to name a few. These are really talented people. These are all singers that could easily win this competition. Katie is 17 and sounds like she is 37. Crystal is a dreadlocked, folk singing, guitar playing genius. She could be on the 2010 Lilith Fair tour right now. Didi has the whole package, face, voice, background story. Andrew is a true singer songwriter type. Casey could be a country superstar tomorrow. Jermaine just might be the next R&B sensation. That's just 6 of the 24. I'm excited...to say the least!
This doesn't even take into account that Ellen is surprising me and I think all of America in a great way. At first I thought she would try to be too funny and not take it seriously enough. I figured she would back down to Simon and be a waste of space. Well she has been nothing short of superb. She is a perfect fit and has just the right mix of comedy and seriousness. Not to mention that she knows how to perform and teach these kids something about working a crowd. The best part of it all is that she takes screen time away from Kara who I do not like. Ellen is great!
American Idol is huge and once again is doing well in the ratings. However, year after year since the Carrie season the ratings have slipped. Just today I read that the Olympics Wednesday night outdrew Idol by 12 million viewers. People tuned in to see a tape delay of a skier winning gold instead of watching Idol select their top 24. Just like McDonald's and BK, Idol needs to advertise and sell the sizzle. This is why Ellen is on. This is why you see promos for the show endlessly during other Fox shows. This is why Fox buys commercials that run on our very radio station. No matter how good something is or how long it's been around, you still need to remind people about it.(That will be even more important when Simon leaves next year. Terrible for the show!) So I'm here to sell Idol for you and let you know that if you want to see the best undiscovered talent in a long time, WATCH IDOL! Would you like fries with that? |
A Lesson In Hard Work
by Phathead, posted Feb 12 2010 2:01PM
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I know I said that you would be seeing 3 blogs per week. Sorry about that. It's been a busy week as most of you know. Of course this week we spelled busy S-N-O-W. Isn't it amazing how a winter storm just stops everything. School, transportation, work, business. It's amazing that we actually choose to live here. I mean we all have a choice right?
Anyway, Wednesday night was tough for me. I really wanted to get home to my pregnant wife and child(also the 3 dogs, but I can't mention them in the same breath as the wife and baby...it's illegal I think). Unfortunately I had no choice but to stay near the radio station in Farmingdale. As I describe the stay to you I want you to understand that I really did want to go home. I'm not kidding. I felt lost without my family there. Keep that in mind as you read on.
So the radio station put me up at the Huntington Hilton. I love that hotel. I guess if I have to be away from home this is the place I want to be. I checked in at about 1:30pm and quickly found out that a quiet room with a king size bed in the middle of a blizzard with nowhere to go really isn't that bad. Let's just say I put my head on the pillow and next thing I knew it was 3pm. Ahhhhh, refreshing! Then I got a text from one of our other morning show hosts that works within the company(we have 6 stations). I won't mention names but it rhymes with Cleve Barper. He said we should meet for dinner at 5pm in the lobby. Awesome. I'll freshen up and be ready to roll. I was pretty hungry at this point.
I made it to the lobby early...about 4:30pm(I get that from my Dad. I'm always early. It's a curse sometimes. The pacing and fidgeting) Suddenly I saw something. It was as if the heavens opened up and for a second I said "Self....maybe a night away from home isn't that bad".
It was a buffet. A full fledged buffet. A few hot appetizers, trays of cheeses finely cut, wonderful crackers, tons of veggies and dip, free beer and soda, you get the picture. I found someone that looked official and asked what was going on. He told me that every day from 5p-7p they have this for their guests.(They do a ton of corporate events and are always full so I guess it makes sense) The old phrase "When In Rome" popped into my head. Who am I to turn down this fine hospitality. They would be insulted if I didn't enjoy myself while overlooking their fine indoor pool and well designed atrium lobby. 3 plates later Cleve Barper(my made up name for the other morning host I was meeting for dinner)finally arrived in the lobby. We then enjoyed a find dinner in the hotel restaurant over some nice conversation. Trust me, I still felt bad about not being with my pregnant wife and child, but sometimes when it comes to work you have to rough it and pay your dues. If you want to be the best you need to make sacrifices.
After dinner I returned to my room and chatted with my wife while watching American Idol together over the phone. I let her know how badly I felt about not being there for her in the major snowstorm. It was all true and heartfelt. I really wanted to be home. Then I hung up and put my head down on one of the 4 fluffy pillows in my way too big king size bed in an extremely quiet room with no aggravation and crying child while looking forward to uninterrupted sleep. Remember, if you want to make it in radio you have to be willing to make some sacrifices. I believe Wednesday night I paid my dues! |
It's Been A Long Time
by Phathead, posted Feb 5 2010 8:01AM
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First of all, welcome to the new WMJCFM.com. We've revamped and made some changes so that your online experience with us will be much smoother. Of course Cande and I only really care about the Morning Show stuff so make sure you spend all of your time on our page!!!! Seriously though, you will be able to access our on demand videos and content much easier and have more fun doing it. WELCOME...HAVE FUN!
I think I need to catch everyone up on my life over the last few months. Mentally I am going nuts over the fact that within 5 weeks or so there will be another baby in my home. I was just getting used to my 2 year olds schedule. Lia Rose(the 2 year old) is fantastic(thanks for asking). That will be disrupted very soon with our second baby girl due on March 14. I lay awake at night thinking about the crying and the feeding and the waking up of Lia and more crying and more doctor visits and the crying. Did I mention the crying and the fact that the baby will be in MY bedroom for at least the first few months. OUCH! Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Any medications you can recommend are also greatly appreciated!
In addition to this anxiety I also have to say to the couples planning on having children and haven't done so yet, here's my biggest piece of advice. As much as I love all 3 of my dogs and wouldn't trade them for anything, either only have 1 dog, or wait until the baby is walking to get a dog. My goodness it has gotten annoying with the barking and the jealousy when we have Lia up on our bed or we are spending all of our time with her. Don't get me wrong, we still find time to baby our puppies, but they are getting on our nerves a little bit. I've even come up with a little rhyme for my family when they get out of hand. It goes like this:
When in doubt
Don't debate
Let 'em pee
And put 'em in the crate
If you live by this motto you will be fine. First of all, dogs LOVE their crate. Ask any vet. It's their safe place. All of our dogs sleep in their crates at night. We say "Get in the crate" and they run. They can't get in their quick enough. Lia loves the dogs and they all get along great, but sometimes you just need some quiet. So remember, no dogs til they can walk....or just 1 dog. 3 is a tough task.
With that said, my mother and father in law have sort of taken on Roxy(our puggle)as their own. She lives with them in their part of the house while the yorkies spend most of their time with us. That helps.
So I hope to be blogging at least 3 times per week. Don't hold me to that, but I will certainly try. It will be fun to update you on the pregnancy as we get closer. As of today my wife Dana is 34 weeks and 5 days. The baby measures at almost 5 pounds. Enjoy the Superbowl and we will talk to you next week. |
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