There was some interesting radio news coming out of the U.K. a week or so ago with the announcement  that Virgin Radio U.K. was bought by the Times of India Group for roughly $104M (USD). The station will be run by a group called Absolute Radio, an investment and consultancy business headed by two former U.K. radio executives.

I have always been a huge fan of Virgin Radio U.K. I think they’ve had a really interesting, and wide, playlist – a mix of rock and pop from various eras and they’ve always put an emphasis on on-air personalities. Plus, they always got involved with or created on their own some really cool events. Add that all together and it was a pretty compelling package.

But apparently not compelling enough. Virgin Radio U.K. has had some “audience challenges” in recent years. Their audience share has decreased steadily and their overall audience number is much lower than it was 9 years ago when the current ownership group purchased the station for $440M USD!

One of the problems, interestingly enough, was the Virgin name itself. It should be noted that Virgin Radio U.K. isn’t actually owned and operated by Virgin. Like many Virgin brands, the name has been simply licensed by the Virgin Group. This has been problematic with advertising revenue because some companies were reluctant to advertise on Virgin Radio because they considered them a competitor to one of their brands. James Cridland and Adam Bowe have written about this on their respective blogs.

Another thing is that unlike radio stations in the U.S. or many other countries around the world, a radio station in the U.K. is bound by certain format parameters. Once a radio station applies for and receives their license from OFCOM, the U.K. communication industry regulatory body, they are bound by the format that they put on their application. So if an existing radio station isn’t doing so well and identifies a hole in the market and wants to change the format to take advantage of the opportunity – it’s not as simple as just “flipping the format.”

And on top of this there is the ‘BBC thing.’ The BBC dominates the U.K. radio landscape and for good reason – they’re that damn’ good and they pay their top talent very well.

Regardless of all that, the bottom line is that there’s a new sheriff in town at Virgin Radio. As mentioned it’s backed by the Times of India Group and run by some U.K. radio pros. Their plan is to invest some money and relaunch the station with a brand new name sometime in the fall.
And what is most interesting to me and the actual point of this post is how the new owners have embraced the “new way of doing things.” They have purchased an “old media” property – a radio station – but are treating it like they are actually aware that EVERYTHING has changed over the last number of years regarding radio and its place in the new media world order.

For starters, they have created a blog called One Golden Square (the actually street address of the station’s studios in central London) in which they introduce themselves, explain what their motives are and solicit the audience for suggestions about the future of their new unnamed radio station.

To quote from the blog:

This blog is a place where we hope to have a really open dialogue about why we’re joining, what our ambition is for the future, and to discuss and shape our audio and online radio vision. It is intended for our team, but it’s open to all.

In this day and age of declining radio listenership and of questions regarding the relevance of radio to people’s lives, the new ownership group is taking charge and signaling that they are not going to bury their heads in the sand. They recognize the current media landscape; they recognize that consumer habits have changes in terms of the way they consume media (specifically music); they recognize that radio has become a less integral part of people’s lives (especially young people); AND most importantly in the U.K., they realize that they are up against the mighty BBC. Given all that, they are willing to put a stake in the ground and compete. Yes the BBC radio group has “unlimited” resources (since they’re government owned); yes they have an uphill climb for the reasons mentioned above and others; but by the early signals shown by the new ownership group, it looks as if they are willing to take this challenge head on by developing a plan to win, which starts by investing in the programming. And that’s a great thing for radio in the U.K., and perhaps for radio everywhere.

The phone rang and before I picked up I took a look at the caller ID and saw by the 800 number that it was yet another telemarketer. Instead of ignoring it or picking up and then immediately hanging up as I usually do, I decided to answer it up and see what they wanted.

This is where the surprise came in.

The person on the other end of the phone simply said, “Hi Mr. Sabatini this is (name) calling from Verizon Wireless. We just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for being a customer.”

Hmmmm…Okay. The classic setup. Good telemarketing technique – thanking me for my patronage and then coming in for the hard sell. I was ready. Ready to hear the pitch so that I could quickly cut her off by issuing my terse, “no thank you” followed by the sound of me hanging up.

I waited for her to continue with her pitch. But there was nothing. I waited some more but then the silence became deafening. “Uh, thanks” I mumbled semi-coherently. She thanked me again and then hung up. I stood there a bit dumbfounded. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.

Sure it is just another telemarketing technique but damn it is a good one. They didn’t actually want anything. Well, that is not entirely true, as they obviously want my business. But at that moment they didn’t want me to do anything, sign up for anything or think about spending more money with them for services I probably didn’t need.

It got me thinking about customer service and the value of GREAT customer service. There are companies that are renowned for their customer service but many, many more who are not.

In the radio business customer service can mean many things, but no matter the definition, I think you could safely say that many radio stations do NOT give great customer service.

In the radio world, great customer service means delivering MORE to the listeners than they expect. It’s being bigger, better, stronger, faster. It’s surprising them (in a good way!).  It’s giving them a reason to listen to your station rather than a direct competitor or a non-radio competitor like their iPod. It’s providing them with a difference – a difference that matters to them. A difference that tells them you care about them. That you understand what they want and that your goal is to meet their needs, and then some. That they can rely on you.

In the satellite radio world, customer service has more of a traditional meaning as people actually have to pay a monthly subscription fee to listen, therefore they are the classic “customer.” But the bottom line is still the same – customers have to be not only completely satisfied with the product and service that they are receiving, they should be overwhelmed. They should be constantly reminded why they subscribe. They should be reminded by hearing great programming, creative programming, compelling programming. Unique channels. Remind them why you’re better than one of their local FM stations. Remind them why you’re better than their iPod. When the monthly bill comes in they shouldn’t even have to think about whether they should keep subscribing or not. It should be like the utility bill. They can’t live without it. GREAT customer service can do that. GREAT customer service equates to GREAT programming.

And while that’s all still true, I want to take a brief break from discussing radio “strategery” or any  other serious, well thought out concepts or points about what makes radio (especially satellite radio) tick. I just want to talk about the experience of listening to radio as a listener.

Here in the States, we are just coming off the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend. It’s the weekend that officially celebrates the men and women who have given their life in service of our country while also serving as the unofficial kick-off of the summer season. Over this weekend, radio stations traditionally do something “special” and this weekend was no exception as stations trotted out their countdowns and what not. But what made me stand up and take notice was something that one of the Sirius channels did – it reinforced to me why I was a Sirius subscriber and why I thought satellite radio is a powerful medium.

For the record, I’m a Bruce Springsteen fan – a big one. I spend a lot of time listening to Sirius’ “E Street Radio” channel – a channel which, as you may have guessed, plays nothing but Springsteen music. The fact is that even though I have all of his music loaded up on my iPod and can play any Bruce song that I want at any time, I still really like listening to the E Street Radio channel. One of the reasons for this is that I enjoy the serendipity of it all. I like hearing ‘random’ songs – songs that I wouldn’t dial up on my iPod, but for some reason I enjoy hearing when the channel plays it. But another reason I like the channel as much as I do is that they play stuff that I don’t have! Since they’re officially sanctioned by the Springsteen camp, they have access to lots of things that I only wish I had.

So over the Memorial Day weekend, E Street Radio featured nothing but live Springsteen shows. Shows from all different time periods and from all different tours. Shows with the E Street Band, without the E Street Band and solo shows without any band; basically everything a Springsteen fanatic would love. And as great as all the live shows played were there was one that stood out in particular. It was a benefit show recorded just over two weeks ago at a small 1,500 seat theatre in New Jersey. In addition to the intimate nature of the show, what set this show apart was that Bruce and the band did something they have never done before – ever. They played two of their classic albums, Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town in their entirety. The songs were played in the exact same order as they appeared on the original albums. People literally paid thousands of dollars to be at this show and a mere two weeks later we were hearing it on the radio. If you’re a Springsteen nut, hearing this was nothing short of incredible.

From a fan’s perspective the whole weekend was awesome. I didn’t change channels once throughout the whole weekend – and I’m a constant channel-changer. And even though gas prices are through the roof, I did some driving around I didn’t really have to do because I didn’t want to miss anything. That’s powerful. And that’s the power of the platform. The fact that Sirius could do this is due to the fact that they have a Springsteen channel to showcase it on. And the only way you can have a whole channel dedicated to one artist is when you have a platform enabling you to provide this kind of variety.

So that’s it. No serious strategy discussion, insight into programming mechanics or anything else like that. Just observations from a listener who spent the weekend listening to something he really liked and was damn glad about it.

I’m just sayin’.

It’s been two months since the U.S. Department of Justice approved the merger of the two U.S. satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius. That was supposed to be the hard part. It was thought that the FCC approval was soon to follow. It was a mere formality. As I’ve written about here and here – the merger of the two satellite radio companies was the right thing to do and in the best interest of the consumers. So I have to ask, what’s the deal?

Actually, that was a rhetorical question. I know the deal. And now that I think about it, deal is exactly the right word, because at this point it’s all about making deals. Deals to get this and get that. Deals to protect special interests. Deals to take advantage of the fact that various groups know the FCC wants to approve this deal and will go out of their way to appease them so there won’t be as much outcry when they do issue approval. So these groups have to strike while the iron is hot. They can overreach in their ask, and know that they will get something. A number of different U.S. Senators and Congressmen have written to the head of the FCC presumably because they’re looking out for what’s best for consumers. Yeah, sure. It wouldn’t have anything to do with looking out for the best interests of the NAB, would it? Nah. The most recent letter came from a couple of Senators two days ago. In the letter they laid out certain conditions for the merger that would ‘protect the consumer by ensuring competition and fairness in the marketplace.’ Really? The conditions they laid out include giving up half of the spectrum the combined entity will have. Please.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to talk about that silliness. The point is that it’s been two months since the DOJ approved the merger and 15 months since it was first proposed by the two companies. That’s a long time. Too long.

What you’re seeing because of this delay is actually what you’re not seeing. You’re not seeing very much advertising for either company. They have disappeared from television completely. Actually I can’t recall the last time I saw an advertisement of any kind from either company.

The reason the two companies proposed to join forces in the first place was so that together they could better combat increased competition. But due to the uncertainty surrounding their partnership, they both have withdrawn somewhat from doing advertising. And that has led to a decrease in awareness of satellite radio in the general marketplace. All the services or technologies that XM and Sirius have articulated as providing this competition are all gaining ground. They haven’t stopped advertising or generating awareness in the marketplace.

Every day that goes by in which the merger isn’t approved is another day that a consumer isn’t hearing about satellite radio. It’s another day they hear about or use another service or technology without thinking about satellite radio.

And yes, of course, it still comes down to content. So theoretically if satellite radio has the ‘best’ and most compelling content they will be able to make up for this lost time and lack of market awareness and will be very successful. The broad range and compelling nature of the content will be able to win the day. However, if satellite radio drops off people’s radar and they develop or further strengthen other habits and don’t even give satellite radio the time of day to sample it, they will never know how good the content is and what they’re missing. Not saying it’s likely, but it’s possible.

As he pointed out, now that social engagement is moving from being a destination to a feature, it’s a big opportunity for radio.

Indeed.

Terrestrial radio has done a lot of things wrong in recent years but a way for them to get back in the game and re-establish their relevance is to make sure this is not an opportunity lost. Radio ain’t dead, but it’s broken. It’s critical for radio to re-engage listeners in new (and old!) ways.

And the whole ‘social thing’ is a big opportunity to re-engage.

Back in the day, the great state of New Jersey had an advertising campaign designed to promote tourism (and if there was any U.S. State that needed a campaign to promote tourism, it was New Jersey – Bruce Springsteen and the Jersey Shore not withstanding). The tagline of the campaign was New Jersey and You – Perfect Together! Taking creative license from the Garden State, I propose a slogan which applies to the topic at hand: Radio and Social Networks – Perfect Together!

So let’s get right to it – why are they perfect together? The fact is, at their core radio stations are and have always been social networks. In fact, they are the oldest mass-media social networks. (I’m sure the cavemen had their own version of a social network, but it probably involved cave drawings or something and sure wasn’t powered by technology!).  Bound by music, lifestyle or point of view, a good radio station identifies, captures, becomes a source of entertainment and information for, and provides a voice and identity for specific communities of people. They do this by providing these communities of people with content that is important to them. Content that is relevant, interesting and exciting. Listeners to a great radio station feel like they are part of something – something bigger than themselves. They feel like they are part of a larger community of people who like what they like, who feel what they feel and who have similar experiences as they do. They feel connected.

It is about the power of the collective experience.

You know how a song always sounds better when you hear it on the radio as opposed to hearing it off a CD? There are a number of reasons for this, one being due to the serendipitous nature of it; but another is because of that sense of having a common or collective experience. It’s because as you sit there in your car listening to the song, you know that thousands of others – other members of this community – are hearing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

The sense of community is a powerful thing.

Great radio stations are community builders and community leaders. The essence of a station’s community (assuming the station is a music-oriented one) is the music, but it’s more than that. It’s the lifestyle the station portrays, it’s the language, it’s the imaging, and it’s the jocks – their attitude, the things they talk about, the way they talk about them and the points of reference they provide. It’s the whole deal.

Radio stations ain’t supposed to be jukeboxes. In fact there is probably an inverse relationship between the “jukebox-iness” of a station and its relevance and importance to people and how much “connection” they feel towards it. Call it the “sucky” equation.

Great radio stations – those with a low “sucky quotient” – get members of their target communities to place their trust in them by holding up their end of the bargain. Among other things, their end of the bargain consists of the following: providing creative and compelling programming; hiring jocks who know how to relate to and connect with people; creating ways for the listeners to directly interact with the radio station and by becoming vibrant members of the community. The members of the community look towards the great radio stations to be a guide for the community – a guide on musical tastes, on lifestyle on opinions, on trends.

When I think of great radio stations, I think of KROQ in Los Angeles. KROQ plays what would generally be termed as ‘alternative rock’ music, but defining them as purely an ‘alternative rock’ radio station doesn’t do them justice. They’re bigger than that. They’re the self-proclaimed “World Famous KROQ.” KROQ sets trends. KROQ oozes a lifestyle. They reflect the interests of the KROQ community while at the same time leading it. They have street cred. If KROQ says it’s so, it’s so. I remember a day back in the late 90’s when the Kevin and Bean morning show had Snoop on as an in-studio guest. Snoop? On an ‘alternative’ station? Yeah. The thing is, KROQ defines itself by a lifestyle rather than by a ‘format’. There’s a difference. A big one. KROQ understands who their core listeners are and then creates programming that group would appreciate, regardless of any traditional format boundary. That pertains to the music; it pertains to the jocks; it pertains to the imaging and it pertains to the guests they have on the air. Simple. Would the skateboarder kids in Huntington Beach think having Snoop on was cool? Yeah.

The point is, KROQ has made themselves the center of a vibrant community. They have served, led and engaged this community of people remarkably well. Sadly, most terrestrial radio stations aren’t doing this. But they can start. And for their own sake, they better start. The online social media revolution can serve as their wake-up call. The power of the online social networks is undeniable – and as pointed out by Dubber, it’s still evolving. So for radio stations to regain their relevance and importance to people’s lives, they have to figure out their strategy for riding this new media wave. First and foremost they can start by realizing that by having an existing broadcast signal and presumably a great deal of listeners, they already are social networks. Maybe they’re not strong, effective ones at this point, but that’s because their on-air product isn’t engaging their listener base. To improve the strength of the network they have to fix their on-air product. Invest in it, be creative in the programming, and all the rest. Once that is done and the station has an engaged listener base, they can further engage them by utilizing the web. This will require a lot of thinking. And a lot of work. But it has to be done. It’s show time.

Anatomy of a Winning Season: Giants 2007-2008

2006 ends badly. Tiki was a distraction. Shockey said they were outcoached. Coughlin is grumpy and it looks like he could be fired.

Management summons Coughlin to meet. Coughlin promises to be nicer (although he won’t change his policy of keeping all clocks set 5 minutes ahead). Coughlin keeps his job.

Giants hold mini-camp with the new and improved Coughlin.

Coughlin shocks the players by having a casino night at the end of mini-camp. Players see Coughlin as almost human. This apparently is a big deal.

Training camp starts without Strahan who says he hasn’t decided if he wants to continue to play. Nobody believes him. Strahan never man-ups and admits he’s holding out for more money. Strahan is also involved in a splashy tabloid divorce which proves to be highly entertaining (although probably not to Strahan).

Giants begin training camp. All anybody talks about is the Strahan soap opera. And Tiki.

Tiki talks smack on NBC – says Eli’s leadership is laughable.

Eli publicly smacks back. Everybody is happy.

Tiki is now officially enemy #1 in Giant land. From this point on he is booed at Giants Stadium whenever his highlights are flashed up on the big screen. Tiki pretends all this doesn’t bother him – as he’s focused on handling all the cooking segments on the Today Show. Tiki appears on The View. Tiki, you’re out.

In a shocking move, Strahan decides that he wants to play football again. But shoot, training camp is almost over. Darn.

Season starts: Doesn’t start well. Defense gives up 80 points in first two games. It doesn’t look good. I thought this Spagnuolo guy was supposed to be a genius?

On the verge of the team imploding into a “Knicks-like” season-ending debacle (which I must admit I was hoping for at this point) the Giants come back from a halftime deficit against the Redskins and have an improbable goal-line stand. This is where the defense “comes together” – and it all begins…

Giants rip off 6 straight wins including beating the fierce Dolphins in London.

Tiki is still an idiot.

Giants reach a new low point in week 12 as Eli has throws 4 picks with 3 returned for TD’S in a crushing loss to the Vikings. Daily News headline reads “Eli the Terrible”

Everyone on WFAN continues to talk about how Eli Manning will never pan out and how we should have gotten Phillip Rivers because “he’s better.” And Coughlin should be fired. And everyone agrees that Tiki is a jackass.

Comeback from Vikings loss with consecutive wins over Bears and Eagles. Then in week 15, Toomer drops two key throws in loss to hated Redskins.

Shockey gets hurt. Kevin Boss steps in – Giant fans say “Who?” But not for long. During the last 5 games of the regular season Boss catches 9 passes. His catches his first TD in December against the Redskins. Nice. Sorry Jeremy.

Week 17 – Giants lose to Patriots – but it’s all good. We weren’t supposed to win.

Giants beat Bucs in first round – Goodbye Ronde.

Romo goes to Mexico with Jessica Simpson’s Dad. He comes back and throws an interception to R.W. McQuarters. He can now go back to Mexico.

On to Green Bay – It’s a little chilly in Green Bay. Plaxico is a stud.

Kicker misses field goal. Coughlin can clearly be seen “encouraging” him to ‘hang in there.’ Kicker misses another field goal with: 04 on clock in regulation that would have sent the Giants to the Super Bowl.

Green Bay wins overtime coin toss. Oh shit.

Farve begins his patented march down the field. He completes pass to his newest receiver Corey Madison. Oh wait, he’s a Giant.

Kicker, whose brother is in prison for one million years for pot, lines up for a 47 yard field goal. Nails it. Coughlin now likes him again.

Mike and the Mad Dog (left) on WFAN are forced to backpedal on everything they’ve ever said. But without seeming like they are. This is what we call “great radio.”

Giants babble like a team that hasn’t been to a Super Bowl ever.

The NY Post plasters a picture on the back page of Brady walking in NY with a protective cast on his foot. They call him a girlie man because he’s wearing this “bootie.” This is just one of a million examples of why the NY Post rocks.

Giants wear black on plane to Arizona. They mean business.

Game starts – In the first sign of trouble for the Patriots, before the game Tom Brady spots “Access Hollywood” host and notorious drunk-dialer Pat O’Brien and goes over to shake his hand. Not a good sign. Ever. Under any circumstances.

The second sign of trouble is when Fox shows Giselle Bundchen (or whatever) drinking wine in from her fancy-schmancy wine glass in one of the elite “I’m better than you” skyboxes. Working class hero Peyton Manning on the other hand, is shown cheering on his little brother in one of the “working-class, all-inclusive” skyboxes. And he’s not drinking wine.

And more than Pat O’Brien or Giselle-cam, the most problematic sign of trouble for the Pats, and the most recurring, was when Brady isn’t able to see his receivers because the Giants Defensive line is all up in his face. This is good.

Halftime. Tom Petty kicks ass. No wardrobe malfunctions. Petty sings the Patriots new theme song “Free Fallin’” – the 80% Giants fans in the crowd (including Rich Rudel) sing the words like they mean it.

In the 4^th Quarter Brady finally becomes Brady and marches the Pats down the field. He hits Randy Moss for TD with under 3 min to play. Moss does some sort of dance to celebrate. Not quite sure what it all meant.

Damn.

Eli becomes the Eli everybody hoped he’s become (but thought he wouldn’t) and begins to march Big Blue down the field.

In a crucial third-down play, Eli escapes the grasp of seemingly every Patriot on the field and heaves it in the general direction of downfield. Guy by the name of David Tyree catches it with his helmet. Rodney Harrison is the defender. That is what we call fantastic.

With that one play, David Tyree becomes David “Fucking” Tyree; joining notorious Boston-killers Aaron “Fucking” Boone, Bucky “Fucking” Dent and Bill “Fucking” Buckner in New York sports lore.

Bill Belichick proves himself once again to be a complete ass. His post-game interview with Chris Myers is a classic. Myers asked about 6 questions and Belichick totaled about 20 words in answers.

To wrap it up I quote Bill Simmons from his Page 2 column:

“Finally, can you guess the last thing we heard as we were walking (OK, hustling) out of the stadium right after the final play? That’s right, it was the sound of euphoric Giants fans chanting, “Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one!” Yes, it’s safe to say the Boston-New York rivalry has been taken to new heights. As a tennis umpire would say, “Advantage, New York.” Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one! I can still hear them. I will always hear them.”

Here are six words I never thought I’d say: I feel sorry for Bill Buckner

There, I said it

Here’s something else that I knew i’d never have a problem saying: Red Sox fans are a bunch of frauds

Gee, what big sports…22 years after the guy makes an error that contributed to the Red Sox losing yet another World Series, they welcome him back to Fenway and give him a standing ovation. How magnanimous of them. They ruined this guy’s life – he not only had to move out of town but he moved to Idaho! I don’t even know where that country is.

How come the other idiots never shouldered any of the blame – how about that fat toad Calvin Schraldi (a great nickname has to be recycled!) giving up three consecutive two out singles…he had bases empty, two out in the bottom of the ninth and two strikes on Gary Carter – and then threw him a f**king hanging curveball…idiot…and then let’s not forget him blowing Game 7.

What about the wild pitch Bob Stanley threw? What about the pre-Grady Little, John McNamara letting the crippled Buckner take the field in the 9th. Idiot.

So it takes the Sox winning 2 World Series (or so i hear – i don’t actually recall this personally, but i think i saw something on the Internet about it) to forgive him? Gee thanks. Did you see him yesterday? I hope Red Sox fans are proud of themselves…

At least when we run people out of town they’re idiots and deserve it – Ed Whitson, Randy Johnson, etc…

And i’m guessing half of those band-wagon idiots in the stands yesterday didn’t even know who Bill Buckner was. As far as they know the Red Sox came into existance in 2004. At least when Ranger fans chant “Potvin Sucks” 30 years later after a questionable hit on Ulf Nilsson, they know why and it is still well deserved (actually it was a clean hit, but never let the facts get in the way of a good story) (oh, and sorry Terry, that was a hockey reference)

Top-10 Yankee Nicknames

“Mr. October” – Reggie Jackson
“Mr. May” – George Steinbrenner’s not so favorable label of Dave Winfield for his failure to produce in the post-season
“Fat Pussy Toad” – Steinbrenner referring to Hideki Irabu who was indeed a Fat Pussy Toad
“Manager George” – then Yankee skipper Dallas Green’s description of owner George Steinbrenner
“The Boss” – George Steinbrenner
“King George” – George Steinbrenner
“Louisiana Lightning” – Ron Guidry
“Warrior” – Steinbrenner’s description of Paul O’Neill (this one is for Terry)
Then of course there’s the usual “Babe”, “Yogi” “The Mick” “The Yankee Clipper” “Donnie Baseball” but top the list, the most recent one – an instant classic!!:
“Tommy Boy” – Bill Simmons’ nickname for Hank Steinbrenner

Top-10 (or more) Yankee Quotes

“There will be no change this year. I wouldn’t care how the team is doing. I’m not going to make a change in 1982 unless it’s dictated by something other than how the team is doing.I swear on my heart, he’ll be my manager all season.” – Steinbrenner talking about new manager Bob Lemon (after he fired Gene Michael). Lemon lasted 14 games in the 1983 season and was replaced by Gene Michael. The Bronx Zoo in full swing.

“Instead of identifying somebody as their manager, the Yankees should appoint him ‘vice president, dugout decisions” – New York Times writer Dave Anderson after Steinbrenner fired Lemon.

“Where is Reggie Jackson? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September…. Dave Winfield is Mr. May.” – Steinbrenner after Winfield failed…again…

“One’s a born liar, the other’s convicted” – Billy Martin talking about Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner, respectively. Billy was fired.

“Yogi will be the manager this year. A bad start will not affect Yogi’s status” – Steinbrenner during 1985′s spring training talking about manager Yogi Berra; Yogi was fired after 16 games.

“Yankees Win…Thhhheeeeeeeee Yankees Win!” – Everybody’s favorite John Sterling after yet another Yankees victory

“Roger Clemens is in George’s box and Roger Clemens is comin’ back. Oh my good – goodness gracious! Of all the dramatic things – of all the dramatic things I’ve ever seen, Roger Clemens standing righ in George Steinbrenner’s box announcing he is back! Roger Clemens is a New York Yankee!!!” – Yankee radio announcer Suzyn Waldman acting a bit hysterical during a Yankees game on May 6, 2007 when it was announced that Roger Clemens was coming back to the Yankees.

“I’m the straw that stirs the drink” – Reggie Jackson during an interview with Sport Magazine writer Robert Ward during his first spring training with the team in 1977. Jackson was referring to Munson. The full quote is “This team, it all flows from me. I’m the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad.”

“Steinbrenner Sucks! Steinbrenner Sucks! Steinbrenner Sucks” – The Yankee stadium sold-out crowd chanting after Reggie Jackson hit a double in his first game back at Yankee Stadium in April 1982 as a California Angel after the Yankees didn’t sign him as a free agent.

“Look, don’t take my picture. Don’t follow me. Don’t follow me.” – Brand new Yankee Randy Johnson to a Daily News photographer and a TV camerman on the day before he was to appear at Yankee Stadium in his official introduction as a Yankee. It all went downhill from there.

“I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now. There is no question about it, you don’t have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don’t do that. You have to be an idiot to do that.” – Hank Steinbrenner on Sunday April 20, 2008 talking about the Joba Chamberlain “controversy”
“It’s all of our intention to try to get (Chamberlain) back into the rotation by the end of the year. I’ve addressed it many times, as did Joe (Girardi) and (GM Brian) Cashman. I’m just saying it would be nice to have him there right now. He’s going to be great anywhere we have him but, my preference is as a starter and that’s everybody else’s preference, too.” – “Tommy Boy” a day later, on Monday April 21, 2008
“Well that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankee win.” – Yankee announcer Phil Rizzuto after reading a bulletin that Pope Paul VI had died.

A very basic concept, strategy, no? And obviously a very important one. So naturally you’d think that every business would have one. Well, you’d be wrong. Over the years I’ve found that in many cases a strategy simply doesn’t exist. The people managing the business may think they have one, but in actuality they don’t – they have more of a strategery.

For those that don’t know the term, it was first used in 2000 by Will Ferrell in a “Saturday Night Live” skit as he was portraying presidential candidate George W. Bush debating fellow candidate Al Gore. It was used to make light of W’s less than spectacular oral skills and his, uh, let’s say, limited knowledge. The term stuck. It stuck for a few reasons – because it was funny, because to many people it kind of summed up the “George Bush Experience,” and perhaps above all because of the way it was delivered. When Ferrell blurted out the word “strategery” he did it through squinted eyes and with a facial expression that spoke volumes – one that said, “Damn, I’m proud of myself for knowing this important word. I don’t know what it means, but I know I’m supposed to know it and I want to show the American people that I know it.”

Very funny, but not really – because that’s exactly how I think some people view an actual strategy. They know they’re supposed to have one, but either don’t know how to create one or don’t take the time to create one. Instead they have a strategery.

Let’s be clear on the difference: A strategy is a specific, articulated plan that is designed to reach your goals. A strategery is a make-believe strategy. It’s vague and usually accompanied by the phrase, “I have it mapped out in my head.”

Uh, not good enough.

If there’s no strategy, how can you design your tactics? If there’s no overriding strategy, ANYTHING theoretically makes sense to do. Whereas, if you have a strategy, you can focus your tactical plan to make sure you’re doing the right things and are focusing your resources (people, money, time, creative energy) on the right things – the things that will have the biggest and most important impact.

So it begs the question – which one does your radio station have – a strategy or a strategery?

Who is the specific target of your radio station?

What is the goal of your radio station? It may not be to get ratings. In a satellite radio environment where there are many music channels, not all channels are designed to be “top-ten” channels. Some of them are there to fill a very specific niche or role. For instance if your channel is designed to be the one that plays the deep album-oriented rock tracks rather than the hits, that channel is never going to be at the top of the list as far as ratings go, but nonetheless may be very important to have in the lineup for the variety aspect. So the goal of that channel will be very different from the top hits station.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that if you are running a radio station, you need to have a well thought out, clearly defined and articulated strategic plan. You need to identify what the 3 most important elements of your radio station are and then analyze whether EVERYTHING you do on your station supports one of those elements. Every tactic you employ on your station should be done to support one of the key elements – whether it is the writing of or the sonic quality of the imaging, the specialty programming you create or buy, the events you create or associate your station with or the things the jocks talk about on the air. If not, then you’re spinning your wheels in the wrong direction – but the good news is if you have a strategic plan you can seen when you’re off track and fix it. If you don’t, then you have a strategery – which really is a strategy to fail.