Radio Free JoJo

Anybody whose known me for a while knows that I’m a big supporter of the Community Blood Bank. In my previous job I conducted dozens of on-air blood drives over the course of a dozen years, with WCTL winning “the Battle of the Broadcasters” at least twice when I was there. I’ve had the privilege to take part in their banquet a couple times, and I’m getting close to my second gallon donated.

That’s why it goes without saying that I’m asking all of my readers, whether they live in the Erie area or not, to give blood this week. If you are here, you need to go to the Community Blood Bank at 26th and Peach Sts. for the Erie Blogs Week II blood drive. It only takes about 45 minutes from entrance to exit and you’ll be so glad you did.

Please make sure you mention Radio Free JoJo when you donate, ok? That would be greatly appreciated! And wear the Band-Aid proudly…you did something great!

The Erie paper has a front page article this morning analyzing the possible running mates for the two presumptive nominees. This comes after the hug-fest between former PA Governor Tom Ridge and Republican Senator John McCain early this week. The ETN suggests that current Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell could make a good number two to Senator Barack Obama run, admitting though that Mr. Rendell has articulated his lack of interest multiple times.

All of this talk has the premise behind it that Pennsylvania is in play for the General Election. My take is that since you have to roll back twenty years to find the most recent Republican Presidential candidate to win the Commonwealth when Bush 41 took the state over a flawed Dukakis, this state is Obama’s to lose.

On the other side of the Commonwealth continuum, you have Virginia, which used to be a safe take for the GOP. But with the population growth in Northern Virginia turning the Old Dominion to the left, we could be enduring a Beltway-sized wait on election night to color the state red or blue.

However, the inclusion of governors from each state as the vice-president pick could be enough of a catalytic event to flip these battleground states. For PA, the popular Tom Ridge brings a national presence from being the original Homeland Security secretary. His biggest and perhaps insurmountable negative is his pro-choice abortion stance. Ridge’s inclusion on the ticket could turn the state red, yet have little impact on McCain’s likeability in the Midwest and South.

Likewise, if Obama were to pick Tim Kaine, the current Governor of Virginia, it would probably generate enough momentum to bring the state to the blue tipping point.

It really depends on the math: as the campaigns run their models if they find that the electoral votes of Pennsylvania and Virginia are so critical to the success of either campaign, you just might see this scenario play out. That’s if you believe that VP choices even matter to voters anyway.

The Spring Arbitrons have been released and the competition for the ears of Erie is more heated than ever. Long gone are the days of the near 20 share of audience celebrated by Star 104. In this latest book Star is tied for 1st place with Classy 100 in Total Persons 12+ for the entire broadcasting week. The big story is the blasting of Bob, with WXBB losing almost half of its audience in the year since its debut in early 2007. Last spring Bob was tops 12+; this spring he tied for 4th with Country 98, who beat The Wolf handily. And will somebody put a fork in the 1330 signal?!?! The once glorious home of WRIE has not been a factor on Erie radio in decades.

In fact, the story of this book if the trends hold up is that there really aren’t enough Classic Rock, Country, and Sports listeners to support two stations each in those formats. Hopefully our operators will get that someday and we might see a Smooth Jazz, Real Oldies, or FM Talk station eventually.

Finally, it was actually somewhat of a weird book, with stations in Ashtabula, Warren, Meadville, and Southern Ontario showing up. That usually means that folks south of I-90 got a bunch of diaries. Still the sample is such that it is a good estimate of where listeners lie. Now if we could just get the advertisers excited again about terrestrial radio!

UPDATED: The ratings are available on RadioandRecords.com (no registration required).

The Scorched Earth has come to a newspaper near you.

The internet is filled with news about the news. It turns out that last week was a tragic one for newspaper employment, as 1000 newspaper-related layoffs were announced, probably to help prop up flagging stock prices. Timothy Egan in his NY Times blog makes the point that even though the reach of newspapers through their online divisions has their content consumed by more people than ever, the financial reality of steeply-declining ad sales in their “ink on paper” editions is ruining these once-great editorial machines.

The other big story in media this week is the gigantic $400 million contract that Rush Limbaugh received. It extends his deal through the 2016 presidential election year and perhaps is a good indicator of where that other old medium, radio is going.

So let’s do a little hand-wringing. Read the rest of this entry »

5:30 AM: My new I-Home clock radio wakes me to praise music from my I-Pod. I’m embarking on a new adventure today. I’m going to take the bus to work.

Aside: waking up to my I-Pod instead of my favorite radio station, WCTL has me a little concerned that I’ve crossed over to some very bad parallel universe that diminishes the importance of terrestrial broadcasting. More about that in a future post.

6:15 AM: Time to go. I’ve packed my I-Pod, Bible, a book I’m reading, two Fiber One bars. I haven’t had any coffee yet

6:22 AM: My wife drops me at the bus stop, about 10 blocks from my house. I sit down on the bench. I think that I must have looked like a goober sitting there with my Targus computer case upright on my lap. But the morning is beautiful.

6:30 AM: Still on the bench. I’m afraid to put on my earbuds for the I-pod in fear of getting mugged. Stupid I know, but I’m not yet comfortable about sitting on a downtown street corner with several hundred dollars worth of technology on me. I don’t know when my bus will come. One just passed by but it was the M2 and I’m watching for the 14.

6:34 AM: Well at least that’s the time on my 20-ride ticket. I’m thinking that the ticket swiper is running about seven minute slow. No worries, however, because I’ve got plenty of time before my first meeting. The bus driver is friendly, asks where I’m heading and explains that it’s two swipes to Edinboro. Of course I knew that, since I’ve been researching what the logistics would be like to take the bus for the past month now.

For eight years of my life, taking an Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority bus was a daily occurrence. I rode Route 7 to Mercyhurst Prep for four years, getting on at 18th and State often after traversing some gigantic snow mounds at the Erie Central Mall and enduring sub-zero wind chills in my W.T. Grant parka. When college came I rode with my dad the Route 5 bus downtown to 7th and State. But it has been 24 years since those days, in which I’ve probably ridden a city bus 2 or 3 times, max.; until today.

The bus to Edinboro doesn’t really fit my schedule most of the time. During the school year I’ve got to transport kids, and need the flexibility of having my own wheels. But with that round trip to Edinboro in my car now costing $8.00, taking the bus starts looking really good, especially with the summer here. If I can do the bus even once a week, I can pocket $4, and feel good about doing something about these gas prices.

6:50 AM: We are picking people up at the mall. There’s about six or seven other folks on the bus heading toward the Boro. I’ve put my earbuds in and am reading my One Year Bible readings. It’s pretty noisy and squeaky, but for the most part I’m comfortable.

7:12 AM: I put my stuff away and ask the bus driver if could let me out at my work, which is right on the highway he is taking to Edinboro. He obliges, turns on his blinkers and pulls off to the right of the road, exactly in front of the church where I work. To the door service. As he heads on I see the line of nine cars who waited for me to disembark. I feel a little sheepish to be holding up traffic, but glad for the ride.

7:15 AM: I’m at my desk ready to start the day.

As folks come into the office a bit later they are surprised to see that I’m already there. When I tell them that I took the bus, they are kind of shocked and nearly universally exclaim, “Joel, you’re going green!” I look at the environmental-deal as being a cool, yet secondary benefit to spending less than half the cash on my commute.

3:24 PM: Time for the ride home. I’m the first one on, but by the time I get off, the bus is about 60% full. I shared my seat for a couple miles.

4:15 PM:  After getting dropped off and a brisk walk, I’m back home. I can definitely do this next week!

I got the news about Tim Russert dying of a heart attack while at work at NBC in Washington later than most. It wasn’t until I picked up the newspaper on my porch Saturday morning that I found out that this favorite of journalists had passed away at 58.

Ever since I’ve been captured by the coverage and moved by the memories and sheer sense of loss that the media community and the NBC family is expressing. I must say that I too have been mourning his loss.

It’s hard to explain my feelings toward a fellow I didn’t know, or didn’t know me. Perhaps it is the sheer proximity of those of us who live in Erie, a mere 90 miles from Tim’s beloved South Buffalo (there’s a Tim Russert park in West Seneca, NY, where they have been holding a nightly vigil since Friday). Or perhaps it is his faith in God as a strong Catholic; being able to hold onto his faith in the context of a very cynical capitol city environment.

What definitely comes in play is Tim’s profound love and respect for his dad, Big Russ, which he articulated in a best selling book four years ago. His description of Big Russ resonates deeply with me, with Tim’s father from the same generation as my father. When Tim says that “I stand on my dad’s shoulders,” I totally get that. It is only through the grace of God, and the sheer sacrifice and foundation I received from my parents that I am who I am today.

Tim’s sudden death has also brought to the surface some of the fears I have stuffed away about my health, my weight, and the fleeting nature of life. Still have to sort through all that.

It is really ironic that Tim’s passing comes just a week or so after the final primaries of this historical election year. For millions of Americans, he was the speaker whose words we hung on in understanding election results. My imagination still can’t conjure what the remainder of this election will look like without the even-keeled, enthusiastic analysis by Tim Russert. He will be sorely missed by both his colleagues and viewers, including this news junkie from Erie, PA.

Let me express my shock and sadness on the news of Jack Tirak’s passing.

In just one of what will be many tributes, let me say that Jack was Erie Media’s best friend. He believed in the power of communication to increase people’s quality of life. He strived to do best practice with high creativity in his work, and in his role as media critic, expected the same of our local media. He knew we all have greatness in us, if we choose to achieve it.

Finally, Jack did a wonderful thing with his creation and steadfast editing of his blog, Erie Media-Go-Round. He brought the reporters, editors, producers, sales people, managers and consumers, both current and former, together in one forum. He tore down the walls that separated competitors and their public, so they could freely exchange encouragement and “barbs”, ideas and complaints in a free-wheeling discussion that made a tremendous impact.

I join his hundreds of friends in saying that Jack will be sorely missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family in this very difficult time.