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BIZ BITS: I was in Dallas recently.
Thanks to Hymen Childs and Ken Dowe of KKDA for the lunch
and coffee. They have a great partnership. They are both
very gracious, polite, and very helpful to fellow
broadcasters. On top of that, they are on top of the world
with number one 12 plus ratings, and strong
revenue…….……While in Dallas I noticed that the magic in
radio still exists there in addition to Seattle, Boston, and
Philadelphia.
Here is some trivia from the days of
the radio revolution. The original TOP 40 station was KOWH
in Omaha. How many advertising spots an hour did they
program? The answer is eight the first half hour, and seven
the second; HOWEVER, they were scheduled to present maximum
music and personality flow. Specifically, the first half
hour had 6 spots (regardless of length and zero double
spotting) from :00 to :29. Then, two twenty second spots
separated by a ten second jingle from :29 to :30. The second
half hour was about the same. Five spots from :30 to :55.
Followed by 4 minutes of non commercial news from :55 to
:59. Then two twenty second spots separated by a jingle from
:59 to complete the hour.
The announcers were required to talk
before and after the commercial with some brief tidbits and
a lot of call letter mentions. Never more than the
aforementioned TWO ten second jingles per hour……………….It will
be interesting to see the what ideas Dick Clark and Simon
(American Idol) have for their new TV or cable program. Both
are winners, of course.
It’s a pleasure to call a station or
group manager to find they answer their own phone. It’s
certainly better than the screening assistant who wants to
know the callers lifetime history, and what the caller wants
with their boss…hey, it is none of their business what I
want with their boss!! And on the phone subject, over the
decades I’ve only had two broadcasters who did not return
calls, and they both know who they are. They own stations in
medium to small markets in the south and southwest.
I have heard some well programmed
stations recently from the following groups: Cox, Jefferson
Pilot, Emmis, Saga, and Susquehanna.
And congratulations to one of our
former Burkhart/Abrams consultants. His name is Gary Burns.
I always knew he was a smart guy because I WAS THERE
watching him as he consulted stations from our Atlanta
office. Three or four years ago Gary bought a class A in
Lynchburg, and programmed it news/talk. About two years ago
he bought two stations in North Carolina that he re-sold
very quickly. He took the profits from the North Carolina
sale and paid off his Lynchburg senior loan. Smart move!!!!
Gary may go forward to buy the Bahamas next; I mean the
entire country!!! Who knows?
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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