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Here we are at Christmas time again. It’s a great time of
the year. The all Christmas music stations are doing a
terrific job of selection rotation. The decorations have
their wonderful, colorful flair. And families and friends
will soon gather to celebrate Christmas. Pat and I will be
in Atlanta with our family…we are certainly looking forward
to it. So, Merry Christmas to all!!!!!
Thanks to all of you for your kind comments about this
weekly column. The people or events that I write about
weekly are fun for me to describe. I’m glad you enjoy them.
While in Atlanta for Christmas I am going to try to visit
with some group operators who live there…some people I
know…..Lew Dickey of Cumulus, Mary Catherine Sneed of Radio
One, Clarke Brown of Jefferson Pilot and Bob Neil of Cox. I
have a historical gift for each which tells the story of how
contemporary programming rescued radio from television’s
invasion. This document contains some of the early winning
promotional and formatic ideas that are sill used today.
Very big ratings were easy to come by with this NEW music
and news contemporary format. However, convincing local
advertisers that more than teens listened to the radio….and
to convert these advertisers into revenue was another
problem. It took a decade or more of very hard sales work.
The advertisers simply did not want to believe that adults
listened to and liked Elvis. We have come a long way!!!
Here is something that you readers might help me with.
Mississippi has bred a lot of GREAT, and I mean GREAT,
programmers. Those that come to mind are Ken Dowe, Bob
Pittman, Bill Tanner and Rusty Walker. I believe that there
are a few more, but I do not remember who they were. If you
know please e-mail me and I will print the names. It is
pretty amazing that one state produced such good programming
(and more) talent. I know these guys are great because I WAS
THERE to watch them at work and listen to their on the air
artistry.
Again, Merry Christmas!!!
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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