The "Multi Media" Inauguration By the Numbers

I read with interest the "TV By the Numbers website" today and they announced according to Nielsen ratings that The Obama inauguration was watched by 37.8 million, second only to Reagan’s 41.8 million in 1981. The story went on to say that News websites at their peak had 5.4 million visitors at per minute at it's peak.

Personally, I took advantage of all the different mediums on Inauguration Day. In the morning on the way to work, I listened to the radio, in the office, I listened on the radio and I watched with great interest via the internet on my computer, back in the car on the way to an appointment, I was listening on the radio again. As a side note there was absolutely NO traffic on the roads as I drove from downtown Scottsdale to downtown Phoenix during President Obama's speech.

Throughout the day while not near a radio, TV or internet computer, I was checking the Inauguration news on various news websites through my Blackberry. When I got home in the evening, I watched the entire inauguration and subsequent festivities (six hours) on my DVR which I had recorded earlier in the day.

Furthermore, I have been to youtube numerous times to watch President Obama's speech, the flub on his swearing in and the featured music from the Inauguration.

According to the Washington Post, while the Regan Inauguration of 1981 might of had more television viewers than Obama's, there were actually more viewers when you aggregate television and internet viewing? Their math comes out to more than 49 million viewers. I don't know if that even includes DVR/TiVo viewing too.

Either way, It's official, we live in a multi-media world. Even our new President carries a Blackberry!

Here are the links to the stats:

Updated: Will Obama break 1981 Reagan record for inauguration Nielsen ratings? No.

From Nixon to Bush 43: Presidential Inauguration Ratings

Obama Inauguration 5th Most Watched Net Event Ever

With Right Math, Inauguration Is Second to None

Finally, I thought that the music during the Inauguration was extraordinary. Here are the links to Aretha Franklin singing "America' My Country Tis Of Thee" and "Air and Simple Gifts" arranged by John Williams for the Inauguration and preformed by Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill & Gabriela Montero.

Click on the links below to watch and listen:

Aretha Franklin singing "America' My Country Tis Of Thee"




"Air and Simple Gifts" arranged by John Williams and preformed by Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill & Gabriela Montero.

Chinese Food on Christmas

With the holidays around the corner, I'm reminded of the first Christmas that I can remember. I must of been four or five and we lived in an apartment in Skokie, Illinois. What I remember most of all was that it was getting late (or at least it was late for me) and we were sitting in living room. My mother had left out milk and a sandwich for Santa Clause and my parents wanted me to go to bed. The next thing I know is that I hear bells jingling outside the window. My folks say you must get to bed so Santa Clause can come. I went to bed and remember waking up early the next morning, half the milk was gone and the sandwich had a bite taken out of it. I remember that Santa Clause brought me a big, red fire truck that year.

It wasn't until years later that I found out that their wasn't a Santa Clause and I discovered that the bells jingling were actually coming from my uncle Jay who was out side the window.

As the years went on and my brother and I got older, we did not celebrate Christmas, we celebrated Hanukkah. On Christmas day we would typically be with friends, go to the movies and either go to, or carry out Chinese food. That tradition has stuck and forty years later Fran and I do the same thing with the girls.

Imagine my delight the other day when Ellen Brown posted this video by Brandon Walker on facebook. Enjoy!




As long as we are in the Holiday spirit, Sydney and I were watching the movie This Christmas with Chris Brown. It was a cute movie. What I enjoyed the most was Chris Brown singing "This Christmas". This is my new favorite Christmas song.

Watch the music video here.




On a much more serious note, it is tough out there right now. Not only in the broadcasting industry but in just about every other industry as well. Radio consultant Jim Taszarek had a heart felt post in his "Daily News and Tips" email on November 25th.

The headline was "Layoffs and Thanksgiving". The message is just as powerful for the holidays as it was for Thanksgiving.

This is what Jim had to say.......

Want to feel good over Thanksgiving weekend? I know two anonymous heroes; a MM and a GM who didn't choose, but were required to lay off some people in the last couple months. One is having a Thanksgiving Dinner for them and their families. Another gave up frequent flyer miles for a former jock to see her mom. That is so cool.

If you're at a station that had recent layoffs, but you still have a gig, let's take a moment to discuss our departed brothers and sisters. Things they might be able to use . . .


A Call

Ideas for where to look for a gig.

Babysitting

Rides for kids

Copying

Borrowing a laptop

Car repair - but mostly . . .

Your Attention

Your Time

Your Concern

Your Friendship

Your Encouragement

This will help both of you to be grateful on Thanksgiving.

Sign up for Taz's news letter here. It is a must read for radio people.

Fresh Trends for Audio and Digtal Plaforms

I had an opportunity this morning to view and listen to the webinar presentation of the The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms. This is an annual research study conducted by Arbitron and Edison Research.

There were no great surprises in the study. Having two daugters ten and thirteen I could have told you that 73% of teens have an iPod/portable mp3 player.

The audio consumption habits of consumers is changing due to the lower cost of access to new technology and internet connectivity. With all the changes in the audio landscape, AM/FM terrestrial radio continues to have a BIG impact in people's lives.

The study also confirms what I had written in a previous post regarding the growth and future of social networking, finding that nearly one in four Americans have a personal profile on a social network like Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networks.

If you are a research and tech junkie like I am, you should take a look at the study. Arbitron and Edison did a great job of outlining everything with easy to understand graphs.

Click Here to see the complete study.

Here are the Key findings from The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms:

The weekly online radio audience increased in the past year to an estimated 33 million. Thirteen percent of the U.S. population age 12 and older have listened to online radio in the past week; up from eleven percent (approximately 29 million) in 2007. On a weekly basis, online radio reaches more than one in seven 25- to 54-year olds (15%).

AM/FM radio continues to have a big impact on people’s lives. The study asked consumers to rate the impact different digital audio platforms has on their lives. More than one in five (21 percent) consumers said radio has a big impact on their lives; ranking second only to mobile phones (33 percent) as the audio platform/device that has the biggest impact on people’s lives.

iPod/Portable MP3 player ownership continues dramatic growth. Nearly four in ten (37 percent) own an iPod or other brand of portable MP3 player; up from 30 percent in 2007 and more than two and a half times the number in 2005 (14 percent). Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of those ages 12-17 own a digital audio player.

Audio podcasting usage continues to increase along side the proliferation of iPod/MP3 player ownership. Eighteen percent have ever listened to an audio podcast; up from 13 percent in 2007. Nine percent have listened to an audio podcast in the past month (an estimated 23 million).

More than four in ten weekly online radio listeners have a profile on a social networking Web site. Those who regularly listen to online radio are much more likely to participate in social networks; 41 percent of weekly online radio listeners report having an online social networking profile (compared to 24 percent of the total 12+ population); more than one-third (37%) visit social networking sites nearly once per day or more.

The Internet is gaining on radio as the medium to learn about new music. In 2008, radio is mentioned as the medium “you turn to first to learn about new music” by about half of consumers (49 percent), with Internet at 25 percent. In 2002, radio was mentioned by nearly two-thirds of consumers (63 percent) for this perception, while only nine percent mentioned Internet.

Radio, Music and My Blackberry!

Radio, Music and my Blackberry are three of my favorite things.

Today, I discovered a new software application that combines all three called Radio Companion. It works on the Blackberry Smartphone platform and allows you to monitor airplay from more than 2,700 terrestrial radio stations across the U.S. Users can see what is playing right now on any of their favorite radio stations with just a few quick clicks on their phone. They can then select the music track to have its details sent instantly to their email account, with a direct link to click-through and purchase the song online.

Not only is this free service great for consumers, but it is also very practical for radio pros too. You can set up a panel of up to ten stations by format, city, cluster etc. and instantly see what is being plyed (music and ads).

Radio Companion is easy to download and setup. I did it in less than five minutes. Every audiophile, Music Director, Program Director, Sales Manager and even DJ's and sellers should download this program to their Blackberry. It will give you a competitive edge because you instantly know what your competitors are doing wherever you are.

This is just another application that will keep me addicted to my Blackberry.

The application is a joint venture between Mediaguide and Nobex Technologies.

To learn more about Radio Companion and download the software, click here.

This Is Not Your Father’s Video Game

In the early 1970’s my aunt and uncle gave me the video game Pong for the holidays. Pong was developed by Atari and by today’s standards is primitive at best. But back in the day, Pong was all the rage. It was an electronic version of ping pong and started the home video game revolution. I would come home from school and instead of watching Gilligan’s Island or Andy Griffith I would play Pong for hours on the old, Admiral, black and white TV in our basement.

Watch Pong Video



Fast forward to today. My youngest daughter who is 10 just got the game Rock Band. Rock Band is a new interactive video game that was developed by Harmonix Music Systems and released in late 2007. This game is unbelievable! You can play the guitar, bass, drums and even sing along with great rock songs. Sydney was playing the guitar like a seasoned pro. She looked like Jimmy Hendirx banging out a solo. I, on the other hand could not make it through a song with out losing the game.

Watch Rock Band Video




I read and hear all the time how popular video games are and I know first hand from our own household how popular they are. We have a Wii, Xbox, and Ps2. But I did not realize the impact of these games until tonight when I was playing with my daughter.

These video games are so interactive and engaging that they have become as important, if not more important to today’s youth as Ipod’s, cell phones, radio, the internet, TV, video’s, computers, cd’s, etc.

After we played, I logged onto Rockband.com and they have their own store and social networking community along with everything else you would expect. They are doing everything they can to provide the complete on-line Rock band experience.

In contrast, when I was ten, I thought I was fortunate. I had my own black and white TV with both a VHF and UHF antenna, a cassette recorder, record player and I shared the land line phone with my parents. I also had a lot of board games and puzzles too. Things have changed.

What does all this mean?

A few years ago I attended the Jacobs Media Summit. This is a great conference and they always have speakers on cutting edge technology and trends for reaching youth and interestingly enough, reaching the rock radio audience. On one of their panels was a gentleman from the video game developer EA (I can’t remember his name). He was telling us how they incorporate popular music into their games and the total reach these games have. He went on to say that the record companies recognized this and were pursuing the game makers the same way they do radio to get their songs added and included in games. Smart, since kids are spending so much time with these games.

As a broadcaster and marketer, intellectually, I have always gotten it and understood the impact and the power of video games. From a practical standpoint, I did not crystallize with me until tonight, when my daughter was kicking my ass at Rock band and we were rockin’ out to Mississippi Queen.

This week Variety Magazine reported that in February of 2008, video game sales were up 34% over the same period last year with revenues of 1.3 billion dollars. It is know wonder that Viacom’s, MTV purchased Harmonix in 2006.