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2011

  • 2011: A Very Good Year for Country Music

    • 12/22/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, ratings
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    This was a good year for current country music. Actually, it was one of the best – at least when talking about year-end test scores.  Across our metrics, nearly all scores were better than 2010’s and some were the best since Albright and O’Malley began year-end analyses in 1998. Songs in the top third of course score better

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  • #accjms11: Smart, Passionate People Talking Radio

    • 12/09/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: radio
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    Fill a hotel ballroom with smart people and have them talk about a shared passion for radio for 2 ½ days and you can be guaranteed there will be good take-aways. Here are some of mine (paraphrased) from the just-concluded Arbitron Client Conference and Jacobs Media Summit for 2011 in Baltimore.   Tripp Eldridge, President/CEO dmr

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  • Quick Checklist for A-B-ing Your Competitors

    • 11/30/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: branding
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    This week we got a preview of a new study of PPM data from Arbitron in conjunction with Mediabase and Inside Radio which showed country stations, whether ranked first or tenth, had similar patterns of spinning currents. Regarding the percent of top-10-charted songs played IR notes, “The percentages hardly vary whether the station is No. 1 in

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  • The Row-Five Test

    • 11/23/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: radio programming
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    Gordon M. Bethune’s name was painted on the Triple-Seven at the gate next to mine. Well-deserved! If you’re not familiar with the name, Gordon Bethune was Continental Airline’s CEO during their turn-around and for a number of years after. During this time their customer-focused initiatives turned customers into real fans of the airline and the man running it

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  • ON SUBMITTING MP3s FOR THAT JOB OPENING YOU’RE PURSUING

    • 11/17/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country radio, radio
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    The company’s mission is to hire the best person for the job. Your mission is to BE that person.  Don’t let application missteps become part of the equation. Yesterday my partner Jaye Albright posted a ‘how to hire’ blog. This blog is about ‘how to improve your chances of being hired.’ With the help of

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  • And the Winner Is…You! 5 Reasons Why Your Station Should Enter a “Station of the Year” Competition

    • 11/12/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: radio programming
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    So maybe you watched Wednesday’s CMA Awards Show and wondered if it’s worth your time to submit a Station of the Year presentation. The answer is “Absolutely!” Here are five reasons why your station should enter: 1.       Assembling a Station of the Year presentation is a bonding opportunity. Whether you win or not, your station

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  • The Secret Sauce of Successful PDs and Stations

    • 11/07/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: radio programming
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    How would you describe a successful programmer? What advice would give aspiring PDs? What’s THE secret to a successful station?  Radio Ink Editor-In-Chief Ed Ryan asked me these questions in last month’s magazine. Here’s how I answered plus a little post-interview elaboration. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences as well.  #1 – How

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  • Conversing With Listeners: Three Things to Talk Over Now

    • 07/30/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio
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    Tastes, opinions and alternatives are anything but static. So if you haven’t had a conversation with your listeners recently, you should.  Here are three fertile and actionable talking points for your next listener panel or focus group: Music Satisfaction.  “Playing the best music” is always a top reason for picking one country station over another. How

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  • Effective Morning Show Billboards: Two Examples

    • 07/22/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: Uncategorized
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    Planning on using billboards to promote your morning show? Here’s a quick checklist for your campaign. Effective billboards are short, clean, targeted, attention-getting, and clever. They create desire, ask for action directly or indirectly, and leave an impression. Here are two morning show boards that deliver on all these counts. The Power 105 board is up now, the

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  • Alpha Boomers: What Their Country Station Might Sound Like

    • 07/16/2011
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio
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    With “Alpha Boomer” now one of Arbitron’s standard Tapscan demos, I revisited Albright & O’Malley’s Roadmap 2011 (our annual online perceptual of 10,000+ country listeners) to see how the appeal of the various Music Clusters broke out across 25-54 and the 55-64 leading edge Alpha Boomer demo. The bars below represent the percent of ‘Like

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