Broadcasting Fiend!

Broadcasting Fiend!

THIS WEEK:

It's so hard to reflect on everything that I do every week because there is so much that happens in matter of seven days....I try my best though.

*Last week was fall break and I really didn't have much of a break. But, that's okay. That's the biz and I love it! I scheduled music and had a music committee meeting just like every week. We are very good and quick! We all have different ideas, but I always have the last say in what happens. I am planning on bringing in some outsiders soon to listen to and rate the music we pick. A focus group. I like to have feedback from others in the target demographic. It's always good to find out more about what your audience wants.

*I had my newscast on Monday and I had one of those soundbites or people on the phone that never be quiet. She gave me way to much information. So, it took a long time to prepare that Actuality because the lady talked for 12 minutes. It was an excellent news cast as always because we work very hard to make it new and fresh and good every week.

*I had to meet with my adviser today about my last set of classes FOREVER! That was really weird because I knew this was the last time I will ever schedule for classes and have to take them. It was the last time for written tests and it just brings me back to the short and forthcoming graduation date (May 14th) ahead. This means the job search is getting a bit more hectic now. I shouldn't have to worry too much though. I've already applied to at least 30 places this year. I just hope I get a job somewhere. I am hoping to start out in a small market and dominate unless I have the chance to work with Infinity in Pittsburgh. It is coming though and I want to be ready.

*In my senior project proposal I wanted a production, announcing, television, and radio news resume tape. I am still all about all these tasks. I am shooting a television package on Friday at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle. A priest who is also a musician travels the world putting on concerts and donating all the ticket sales to local charities in the area.

*I called my boss from my internship over the summer who is also a DJ on K-Rock and he told me he's do anything to help me. I called to tell him that I sent my stuff into K-Rock in case he was asked about it so he wasn't caught off gaurd. They are like a family there at Infinity and I love them! I would love so much to have the opportunity to work there.

*My fun and sarcastic morning show co-host Sebastian Driver Salazar and I have our morning show tomorrow "Driver in the Fast Lane" after last week's hiatus. We always have a good time and I plan on saving a lot of our talk breaks for a morning show resume tape because that would be my dream to be on a morning show and we ARE actually GOOD! We play very well off of each other and I've gotten great feedback about our show.

DANCE:

*Me and my other wonderful choreographer Pat Sandora are gearing up for dance team! They look great and we spent a lot of time on top of our busy schedules making up thier dance! It looks awesome and I'm really excited! The first game is November 19th! Come see them!

I'm Hopp'n Through Another 12 in a Row!

*I'm off to Froggy again this Sunday from midnight to 6! Because of the time change, I have a seven hour shift instead of a 6 hour shift! Tune into Betty Croaker in Pittsburgh! 94.9, 104.3, 103.5, 98.3!


ARTICLE:

Will Howard Stern Make An Early Exit From Infinity?
While Sirius President/CEO Joe Clayton said this morning during his company's Q3 earnings conference call that he'd be open to negotiating a deal to bring Stern to Sirius before his scheduled January 2006 arrival, Clayton doesn't expect Infinity to let the WXRK/New York syndicated morning host leave just yet. "His ratings are now higher than they've been at any time, and I don't think Infinity is going to walk away from that advertising revenue," Clayton said. "Infinity could chase him off the air, which I find highly unlikely, or they could just let him go on as is throughout the 2005 time period." However, Clayton added, "If it's in the benefit of Howard Stern, Infinity, and Sirius, if something could be worked out earlier, that is a possibility as well. But there are a lot of different moving parts, and its difficult to comment."

*What will Infinity do if Howard leaves early? Do you see a new morning show in the works for Pittsburgh? Do you think they'll buy another syndicated morning show? What's left for a rock station in Pittsburgh? Bob and Tom is already taken from Steel City Media with 96.9 WRRK.


HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

You think it's an OFF week, but it's NOT!

This WEEK:

This week is fall break for my college, but it's never a break for me. At the beginning of the week, I had to make sure things were in check for the break to come with the sceduling with my DJ's. I did a lot of voice tracking this week to cover for shifts. I scheduled for the rest of the week and had a music committee meeting to make sure everything would be done before everyone left. I did get a little break, which I'll explain more about. I also had to board op the football game today, and I have to go to Froggy tonight!


ELMIRA, NEW YORK!
My friend, as I mentioned in prior blogs, landed a job as a reporter in Elmira New York at WENY. She has lived in Pennsylvania all her life and this is a HUGE step for her. She was overwhelmed, but excited. I wanted to be a good friend and ease her mind a little, so I offered to help her apartment hunt for a day. I went there this week and the town was very quaint, but very cute. It was really nice. We found a wonderful apartment for her within an hour! The best part was that the real estate agent showed us all these great local places to eat for dinner and when we went back to find them, it was impossible, so we decided to go to Pizza Hut because that was thew only thing we could find. When we were eating dinner I asked the waiter for a phone book, so I could see what radio stations were in Elmira. I didn't feel like writing all these numbers down, so I ripped out the page in the phone book when no one was looking. So, needless to say, I probably have some Pizza Hut employees after me. We drove past WENY and it was 2 buildings and they were small, but it seemed as though the environment was really nice. I'm very prpud of Melissa! She's actually doing what she's aspired to do with her career! She's really moving up! So, many miles and mixed tapes later, we went home and the next day, I finally got to send out my K-Rock demo to Infinity that I had been working on for 3 weeks! Since I was already going to go to the post office to send out resumes, I thought I'd check out the ripped phone book page of radio stations. I found this one radio station that didn't have a website, so I decided to call their phone number. A very polite and enthusiastc man answered the phone and I asked if they had a website. He said they did not have an active one. Since most people that answer the phones at stations are receptionists, I asked if he knew if they had any on-air openings. The guy said, "Yes, I do." I said "Oh, YOU do?" In disbelief, he told me that he was the General Manager and he had an opening for a female at an AC station. He was really nice and really pleasant. He gave me a good vibe about the station. He also somehow started talking to me about how he had a pet rabbit and I should get one. Anyway, it seemed nice and I though, why not and why wait? So, I applied for that job too. I'll keep everyone posted about what happens. It was a fun and worth while trip!

ARTICLE:


"Viacom Loses Cross-Ownership Appeal"
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the company's petition asking that the stay on implementation of the FCC's new radio-TV cross-ownership rules be lifted. Industry watchers expected the denial, given that the court has remanded the FCC's numerical station ownership limits for further justification. Earlier this year the court granted an FCC motion seeking authority to enact its new Arbitron-based radio-market-definition rules.

I actually have a question in reguard to this article...What do you think about the FCC's new radio-TV-cross ownership rules? Do you think it's a good idea? Do you think it will help the radio industry? Do you think it will hurt the radio industry?

I think it will help because owners will do all they can to make their ratings great and the radio station would have a lot of easy promotion with the same company owning programs or stations of Television.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT!

Just wanted to say Happy 22nd Birthday to Pat Sandora! We had a double celebration last night! It was Pat's Birthday and Melissa new job celebration last night! We went to the Cheescake Factory in Pittsburgh! I had the BEST sandwich I've ever had! We then went out for some dancing and some drinks on the South Side!

FROGGY!!!!
Once again, Betty Croaker is on tonight if you are up! Please listen! Midnight to 6AM! 94.9, 98.3, 104.3, 103.5! Tune in!

I LIVE IT!

This week:

I listened to almost all the airchecks and most of my on-air personalities know what their doing, but I typed out notes for them and critiqued. They all said the notes were helpful so that is good. Feedback as a Program Director helps because I want the station to sound the best it can without being mean. I think this really helped everyone! I was pleasently suprised by the morning shows! They were all wonderful and they can only improve!

I started to make a K-Rock demo because I went to visit the people at my internship last Friday and they told me that there was still a position open at K-Rock and that I should apply. That meant a lot because I felt like the people at Infinity wanted me to work with them! I called the Promotions Director to see if there was anything I could talk about in my demo that was going on currently and she told me a few things that I hope helps my demo. I also checked the rock charts to see what music was topping the charts that I could play the tail end or intro in my demo. It's going good, it's just a long process. I'll keep you posted when it is finished and ready to send out!

I sent out my materials to a program director/announcer job in Virginia. The job was posted on all access and I applied via e-mail and they contacted me to send them my materials, so I got that sent out promptly on Tuesday.

I was invited to present in front of a Faculty Luncheon about music and society and how music impacts us today. It was very interesting and the crowd participated heavily, which was great! It made me feel like thye were really interested in the subject!

I had 2 great newscasts this week! One on Monday and one on Thursday!

My friend Melissa Batulis snagged a job this week in Elmira New York at WENY as a reporter! Congratulations!

I'll be on Froggy this weekend as Betty Croaker on Saturday from 7 to midnight on 98.3, 103.5, 104.3, and 94.9. Listen and call in! 1-866-983-9898!

ARTICLE!



Bill O'Reilly Sues Over Alleged Extortion Scheme
The Fox News personality and Westwood One-syndicated radio talker has filed a lawsuit against a New York City attorney, the attorney's law firm and a Fox News employee for reportedly attempting to extort $60 million dollars from O'Reilly. According to papers filed in a Nassau County, NY court today, O'Reilly claims that attorney Benedict P. Morelli and a female employee of Fox News threatened to sue him for alleged sexual harassment of the woman unless the talk host agreed to pay a reported $60 million in hush money. In addition to the extortion lawsuit, O'Reilly is also seeking damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful interference with contractual relations, saying that the employee and Morelli's accusations threatened to impair his reputation with his employer and the public. Although the damages sought by O'Reilly are unspecified, he told reporters that he would donate 100% of all monetary damages that he receives to charity.

*This should not happen. Watch out for extortion when you're in the business. I'm sure o'Reilly will be battling this for a long time to come! I'll keep you posted!

PRODUCTIVE WEEK

* This week has been very productive for me as a Program Director. I helped my on-air personalities technically on running the board.

Aircheck Week:
*I listened to all my disc jockey's tapes from Aircheck week and I think it helped a lot to see where they were with their skills. Some people I was amazed by and some people need to work on alot. Some people just need to tweek a couple of things. This is a valuable step as a program direcotr because you want you on-air staff to be at their best. I have to say, I was most impressed by the morning shows that I listened to. They all had great chemistry with their co-hosts. They had topical information, they had community bulletins. They were on top of it. These are times when a Program Director is very pleased and happy about the way things are going. I typed up notes for each of them and gave them back their notes. I felt good with the constructive criticism I gave. They can now work on these things for the next aircheck week I'll be having, but they should be airchecking themselves all the time!

NEWS:
*I produced the newscast this morning and there was some pressure to finish because some stories were falling through, but it all worked out great! I now do not feel pressured by dead lines unless something is really wrong! I know dead lines, I breath them everyday of my life, I live dead lines! So, bring them on!

Promotion:
*I want to to a "Family Day" Promotion. At least this is what I'll call it! I called up the local Pizza Joe's who listens to our station all the time, so they are always pleasant to work with. We are going to have people call in during the morning shows and they'll be the eighth caller and they win a slice of Pizza. Then all the winners from that week will get their names drawn in for the grand prize and we'll have some sort of trivia question and the winner that calls in first and answers correctly wins the BIG prize pack. It will be like 2 or 3 large pizzas and a bigger prize...hints...the family pack! I will make a promo that will run all that week for Pizza Joe's and I will have my DJ's read an on-air promo at least once an hour that week! It will be good. It's planned for the second week in November!

INFINITY:
*I'm going to visit the place of my internship tomorrow in Pittsburgh! I had a wonderful experience over the summer and I would love to work there when I'm finished with school! So, I am going to continuously keep in touch with them and send them my airchecks from Froggy! I worked with Star 100.7, K-Rock 93.7, and Y108.

MUSIC LUNCH PRESENTATION:
*I was invited to present at a lunch with important faculty on the Westminster campus about music and how music impacts people, etc. This happens next week, Oct. 14th! I'll keep everyone posted on how it turns out!

FROGGY!
I'm on the air tomorrow night! October 9th as Betty Croaker from midnight to 6AM on 98.3, 104.3, 103.5, and 94.9! Please listen if you can!

Not a Howard Fan!
* This week, there was an article on the AP wire about Howard Stern leaving Infinity Broadcasting in 15 or so months to move to Sirius Sattellite radio. This means fans will have to pay to hear Howard Stern. He wanted to be free to say what he wanted without FCC regulators. He said on the air Tuesday morning that he is "getting a divorce" from Infinity Broadcasting. He'll reach every Market in the Country. As everyone know, I interned with Infinity Broadcasting over the summer and I was there when they changed there long runing top 40 B94 radio station to K-Rock just because they wanted Howard Stern since Clear Channel wouldn't take him back! Even though this recent change stinks for Infinity in Pittsburgh, I feel very knowledgable because when it happened, I thought that the last think Pittsburgh needed was another Rock station. They needed to create an Oldies station and go up against Clear Channel's Oldies Station, 3WS on 94.5FM. I think this would have been more successful instead of going up against the 3 rock stations already in Pittsburgh. Now, with K-Rock, there are four. We'll see what happens with the ratings at K-Rock. I say NO to Howard Stern!