Bob Costas, Level-Headed Broadcaster
A friend called me Thursday morning and told me to turn on the Charlie Brennan Show on KMOX, a station I haven't listened to since parting ways with it almost a decade ago. But my friend told me the guest was a broadcaster who I respect enormously, Bob Costas, so I...
How Is McCartney #1?
Paul McCartney's "Egypt Station" is the #1 album in the US -- without any substantial radio airplay. How? As Fred Jacobs explains, the album came with a brilliant content marketing campaign.
The Ticket Upgrade Promotion
I've been involved in many great radio promotions over the years. One of the best was The Ticket Upgrade. In the early 1980s, when I was the morning man at WHCN/Hartford, we had a deal with promoters Jim Koplik and Shelly Finkel for the concerts they brought to the...
Standing Meetings
Thirty years ago, when I did mornings at WCXR/Washington, my contract was up for renewal. The ratings were really good, and I was feeling cocky, so among my demands was that whenever I had to attend a meeting with the PD or GM, we all had to stand up. They thought I...
Tennis Radio
If you're a regular reader of this site, you know we're a little tennis-crazy in my house. My wife and I used to play several times a week, and our daughter played on the varsity team in high school. We've all put our rackets away over the last few years, but our love...
Fred’s Hall Of Fame Moment
The National Radio Hall Of Fame announced its 2018 inductees last week. The list of ten men and women includes nine radio hosts. The tenth inductee is the first-ever non-broadcaster, Fred Jacobs. Fred was Program Director of WRIF/Detroit in the early 1980s before...
Dan Ingram, My Radio Hero
I'm just back from a week in Las Vegas, and have lots of stories from the trip to share with you, but I awoke this morning to a bit of news that must come first. My radio hero, Dan Ingram, has died at age 83. Ingram was the greatest Top 40 radio personality I've ever...
Best Thing I’ve Read Today
Darryl Parks wonders if "Ohio" -- the devastating song Neil Young wrote (and recorded with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash) after seeing four college students killed by National Guardsmen during a Vietnam War protest at Kent State University...