Shannon's Corner
Essays and Viewpoints from the RDN publisher, Larry Shannon
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Responsibility, Radio Station Owners and Rap Lyrics

 "A Road Map to an XM-Sirius Merger" "It's All About the Programming Content ... Really!"
"We Were Invincible" (For Michael Spears and those he left behind) "AM FM XM Sirius 2003"
"On This First November Day - A celebration of the lives of Rod Roddy, B. Bailey Brown and Al Brumley" "KLIF the Mighty 1190" Regional Radio KMA 960 in Shenandoah, Iowa
We Were So Young Then …For Art and Bobbi Roberts, and the kids "Randy and Ron"
(When giants clash and collide)		 AM - FM - XM
"Over there is now over here" "WLS - The Big 89" "K-104 just keeps on being #1"

"Over Budweiser and barbecue the other night"

 "Paxton Mills was one of us"
 "Charley Jones' Texas Overnight"

"Do we need all those radio frequencies?"

"Don't X out XM or fail to take Sirius seriously"

 "I've never been to a K-Mart"
"It's the e-mail, stupid" "Kings and Queens of Content"

"Thoughts on the Internet and streaming radio's future"
"That Voice" -- Dr. W.A. Criswell's death  "WBAP - We bring a program" "Stanley Marcus was the most curious, inquisitive, enchanting and wisest 94-year young man I ever met ..."
"KRLD - Standing tall in the big leagues"
 
You are invited to submit your comments to publish on RDN in the "Guest Viewpoints" section)
Presidents  and precedence ...  Events and moments make men and women do things that are out of the ordinary.  The brave policemen and firemen who rushed into the burning and collapsing World Trade Center Towers and Pentagon, the valiant efforts of the crew and passengers on the flight that crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside who saved the lives of others who had been targeted in Washington --- and the president -- are the visible, recent examples of people who by accident or ascension, are participants in extraordinary events. 
 
Today, and for who knows how many tomorrows, we're taking the next steps on the path that is before us.  We'll all be asked or volunteer to do extraordinary duties during the coming months -- maybe even years.  We seem to be up to the task.  With patience, prudence and persistence, we'll get by and we'll get our jobs done. 
 
Last night, (September 21, 2001) the president's face mirrored and his words echoed the emotions and strong will of the American people to do what's right.  We're all on our way on this unexpected journey.  Armed with an arsenal of grit and determination, how can we fail to achieve the goals that the president set forth?  There'll be a few plan changes and arguments among ourselves along the way.  But, that's America.
 
Who knows?  Years from now, a Tom Brokaw of 2050 may write a book and call the early 2000's a period that saw this generation show "The Greatest Generation" that we, too, were able to rise to the occasion and to the times -- to answer the call to arms and to preserve our precious freedoms. 
 
We're ready.  Let's roll.

Larry Shannon

"Over there" is now "Over HERE."  --- The President goes before the Congress and the world tonight (September 20, 2001) -- and the world will be watching and listening.   What he says will determine how the rest of the world will react.  What's the plan?  We'll know more tonight.

We've added the BBC and other radio and TV links to our special areas near the top of the page at www.radiodailynews.com ... Department of Defense links, Deployment links and a link to live TV have joined the RDN CENTRAL and others as we continue to update our news source links for you.

American radio's mega and kilocycles are crackling with talk already today.  "What we ought to do ..." seems to be the prefix to any conversation.  "Oh, I didn't think about that ... " is lately repeated often as well.

Let's be careful.  Let's not get sidetracked ... Already one of the big discussions on radio is whether or not some songs ought to be played on the radio.  Grow up, guys!  Quit pouting and biting your lower lip!  It was just a suggestion, not a ban, not a mandate or a command from Clear Channel.  You can play the "I'm On Fire" and "Big Old Jet Airliner" songs later on after emotions have quieted.  Across America, we're still burying our dead and nursing the wounded.  Right now, just try to keep focused and help steer the conversation away from side issues that you'll look back on and regret.  Given the emotional immaturity of some of the hosts and teams on some radio shows, a little reminder that we're in serious times is probably a helpful guide. 

Liberty is not a trivial thing.  The whole world is watching.  We won't be judged on whether or not a certain song was played on the radio.  We're bigger than that, aren't we?  Although the flag of liberty is woven from the smallest threads of rights  and words that we use to express ourselves, there's a time and a place for everything.

We are trying to get a handle on our lives and futures.  Radio and TV images are zapping us from New York, Washington, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth for the latest updates.  

The whole world is watching and listening.  This week, they are hearing our soaring rhetoric -- but they are also seeing our open sores.  Already, words spoken in haste are being taken back.  Everybody's an expert on the telephone, television or the pulpit.  Don't speak without thinking first.

Let's be careful that we don't bully our global friends with ultimatums and threats.  To us, being terrorized and attacked by enemies is something new.  To many of our allies around the world, it is an everyday occurrence.  If our worldwide friends and enemies appear to be more patient that us, it's because they have been closer to the enemy than we have -- until now.   We'll need our friends and allies on the long road ahead.  "Over there" is now "Over HERE."

Larry Shannon

 "I've never been to a K-Mart ... "  Wall Street was wavering in its ups and downs yesterday (9-17-01).  Nervous snickers and small talk were background noises heard in everyplace I went.  Slowly, but surely, things are getting back to normal -- whatever we define as being "normal" now, after this past week of unrealities.  Like everyone I talked with, I do sense the change that's come over us.  We've become more serious now about our lives.  Trivial things don't really matter anymore.  We're thinking for ourselves.  We don't need someone to tell us what to think.

We still watch the necks of the orange cranes move slowly over "Ground Zero."  The dust and debris continue to be  carried away.  Each bucketful is being carefully sorted for body parts and blast evidence.  Thousands of the living, one moment full of laughter and love -- the next moment reduced to nothing more than ashes and dust.  

Limbaugh and Dr. Laura had been suspended from airplay by most stations during this past week.  Limbaugh had been stuck in Omaha after a golf tournament during the aftermath of the terrorist's strikes on Washington and New York.  Dr. Laura was probably just stuck in the many frustrations of having to deal with her own life's shortcomings.

Yesterday, driving down the road, I decided to tune in both of these most widely heard broadcast heroes to see what they had to say.  Limbaugh was wearing his patriotism and Old Glory on both sleeves, as usual.  In between his unsolicited advice to the military, he fielded calls from the 5% who usually listen to and the 1% who call talk shows.  He mixed military strategy with marketing tricks he'd learned when selling baseball tickets for the Kansas City Royals.  Sometimes I think that he boasts and talks bravely to make up for the medical disability that kept him from fighting for America on distant shores in his youthful days of eligibility.  I had high blood pressure myself during Vietnam, so I can't speak with too much authority about how to fight wars in other lands either.  Limbaugh read an "e-mail" from someone he called a friend.  His friend suggested that we point our nuclear weapons at Mecca and let them know we won't stand for anymore of what we've seen this past week.  My first counter-thought was that they'd just point their nuclear weapons at Washington and New York and we'd be right back where we were ten or twelve years ago -- in the standoff of the Cold War.  Five minutes later, I listened to Ed Wallace on KLIF 570.  Ed took a call from a listener who suggested the same Mecca solution proposed by the Limbaugh listener.  No doubt he'd heard it on Limbaugh's show and repeated it -- claiming it as his own idea.  Sometimes I think there are 34 listeners around America who call the same shows and just disguise their voices and fib about their locations.

On down the dial, Dr. Laura was still talking down to people who called.  One of my friends calls her "snippy" --  another lady I know never does anything unless she consults with Dr. Laura through her books, radio show or Web site.  

Dr. Laura seems to have a newfound love of her country, too.  She's flying the flag on her Web site -- and yesterday she bragged on the Wall Street Journal for publishing Old Glory on a back page.  Maybe she should read regular newspapers and she'd find that almost every newspaper had been doing the same for days.  Dr. Laura urged everyone to fly the flag.  As my friend in Coeur d' Alene says, "Hell, we fly the flag all the time up here!"  So, I am inclined to believe that this patriotism thing may be a newly acquired passion for Dr. Laura. 

In between candy coated bites of "I'm my kid's mom," Dr. Laura sniped and snipped away.  She giggled and said "I've never been in a K-Mart," but reported that they'd sold out of American flags, too.  

After patting the Wall Street Journal on the back, she shredded the American Civil Liberties Union.  In her own words, she called the ACLU one of the most un-American organizations.  While I am no authority or great defender of the ACLU,  I stiffened a little and wondered if she were now declaring herself to be the ultimate authority on patriotism and pride in America. 

Then, I remembered those Dr. Laura nude pictures, her youthful indiscretions, her denials and attempted cover-up at the time the nude photographs of her were revealed.  That memory put things in perspective for me.  Dr. Laura's no real Doctor with any cures for what ails us.  She's licensed to dispense voo-doo vitamins and home remedies -- not real Penicillin  She's just another "expert" in the check out line who happens to have a radio show and a platform with which we can agree or disagree.  

Dr. Laura practices free speech -- and thank God she does!  Millions of people have died during our nation's lifetime to guarantee that Dr. Laura can continue to call other Americans "unpatriotic."

Perhaps Limbaugh and Dr. Laura have learned a few things during this past week.  Limbaugh's golf game scores and cigar preferences seem trivial to me now.  But, he'll probably continue to talk about them and still offer strategic military advice to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Bless Dr. Laura.  I hope that she takes the time to visit a K-Mart and maybe stops in at Sears and Wal-Mart, too.  That's where America is.  She might learn a few things about America and patriotism from listening to folks in the check out lines at these places that are a part of the America she's never been to and with which she seems to have lost touch.  And, "DR." Laura, you DON'T have to call me "MR." Shannon for that unsolicited suggestion.  Just plain old "Larry" will be fine.

Life isn't trivial now.  If we've learned anything from the past week, it's that we're not as smart as we thought.  All of us have grown in the past week.  I wonder if the icons of talk radio have matured with the rest of us. 

Larry Shannon
Publisher, RDN

"WLS - The Big 89" ... A radio essay by  Larry Shannon

 Waterloo, Illinois ... It's 1955 ... A five year-old, skinny, crew cut kid is riding with his father down rainy, two-laned Highway 3 toward St. Louis and the Mississippi River's Jefferson Barracks Bridge. The radio is playing a Hank Williams song, "Jambalaya," and his dad is singing along with it --- "Oh me-oh-my-oh -- Son of a gun we'll have some fun on the bayou!" That is my first memory of listening to radio.

Fast forward to 1965. I was on a 75 mph night flight path, low to the road, headin' north and hugging US Highway 75 on  the way to Northwest Missouri. Halfway across Oklahoma, north of McAlester, the Buick's Sonomatic radio seemed to come alive, shoot sparks, shake and shimmy with the sound of music, DJ's, jingles and personality radio from 3 states and 700 miles away. It was the first of many one-on-one moments that I'd be spending with WLS 890 in Chicago. From that moment on, the "Windy City Wonder" was locked in behind the red dot on my dashboard radio dial.

What "Beatles Generation Jock" doesn't remember fearing that his car speakers would quiver and split when rocked, rolled and rattled at full volume with that familiar, top of the hour, revved-up reminder that boasted, "The Big 89 presents the sound of music and ____!"  In the 40 plus states that the WLS 50,000 watt signal saturated, WLS brought big time radio and bright dreams to thousands of small town and large city radio hopefuls. Even KLIF 1190 and KFJZ in Dallas-Fort Worth, KOMA in Oklahoma City, WHB in Kansas City, WQXI in Atlanta, KIMN in Denver and KXOK in St. Louis were no competition and couldn't match the inspiration that came from listening to the clearest channel of the night from WLS in Chicago. In those days, kids would look up at the moon and stars and wanted to go there. We Beatles Generations Jocks had bigger ambitions.  We tuned in 890 and wanted to work there ... (continued) 

Charley Jones' Texas Overnight by Larry Shannon ... It's nighttime ... and a million stars have yawned and stretched themselves across the black velvet skies of Texas ... They're a flickering, candlelight-like compass for midnight travelers whose headlight beams and brake lights crawl along the lonely, long highways that connect Van Horn to Atlanta and Brownsville to Pampa.

Crickets chatter in creek beds and night critters call out to each other among the green, leafy bushes on the rolling Texas plains. There's a warm breeze blowing near Tyler that's carrying the fresh scent of the Piney Woods past Galilee toward Gresham. Two ... (continued)

 Over Budweiser and barbecue the other night ... longtime friend and veteran radio newsman, Bob Richmond, and I got together. In the shadow of the famous, stuffed, standing bear at "Angelo's," we rattled on about the "good old broadcast days" of our teens, twenties and thirties. We talked about the wild, young misadventures we and our media colleagues experienced (and survived!) as jocks, newsfolks, talkmeisters, TV and newspaper people. Now, older and wiser, we watch and listen to the many present-day cable, radio talk show hosts and columnists who have become one-person, holier than thou judges and juries on such matters as the Condit-Levy story and others. And we wondered --- Could THESE present day air and print people - who are so quick to judge and pass judgment - stand up to the same close scrutiny of their own private lives to which they subject others? Most couldn't, I'll wager. But, if they can stand up to the same scrutiny, let's quickly declare them all saints -- and I'll personally vow to never again let another Bud draft beer mug caress my lips. Only our media ex-wives, ex-husbands, ex-boy and girl friends, and neighbors know for sure about Robert's and my colleagues -- and could tell the stories -- if the hosts would let them on their shows. Hmmm! It's just a passing thought, no doubt, brought on by the Rolaids relief I feel the morning after the spicy barbecue and brew we had while in the shadow of the famous, stuffed, standing bear at "Angelo's." (Oh, if that bear could talk!)  Larry Shannon

Paxton Mills was one of us ... by Larry Shannon 6-26-01

We are the Beatles generation jocks. We breathed in the inspiration and came of age the night the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan show. 1964-1968 were the high school graduation years that we shared. Paxton Mills was one of us. Long before Denver was the Big D in Paxton Mills' life, there was the Big D that was Dallas.

Paxton played Beatles generation songs on Gordon McLendon's KLIF in the late 60's and early 70's. I worked the all night shift at KVIL-FM in 1968 while he worked as my competition on the all night show at KLIF 1190. I only met Paxton Mills two or three times. But, we respected each other. He knew that I listened to him and he let me know that he listened to me.

Our generation, each one of us, could walk and talk our way across the black tracks of 45 rpm records and never step on the vocals. 7 and 10 second wonders, we surely were. Digital clocks were for amateurs and sissies, if you were a Beatles generation jock.

In the long gone, golden era of the Beatles generation jocks, we kept the time and counted our heartbeats in rhythm with yellow-faced Western Union clocks. They clicked away our 3 hour shifts in a singular cadence -- one second hand movement at a time. This current generation of jocks doesn't understand our Beatles generation jocks just as we couldn't quite figure out ... (continued) Larry Shannon

IT'S THE  E-MAIL, STUPID!   Until radio station promotions and programming folks learn to use e-mail effectively for radio station marketing, the Internet will be that thing they haven't quite figured out.  Their promotion and marketing minds have been on music selection, CD and money giveaways and jock appearances. If they've thought about using the Internet, they've focused on music and voice streaming.  The quality of the Internet is based on the speed of the stream.  If you've got a 56K modem, you won't enjoy the same music and voice quality, and consistency, that cable, DSL and T1's provide.  So, programmers and promoters need to use what's best and most popular about the Internet right now -- e-mail!  E-mail sells.  A survey reports that E-mail is second only to phone calls as the preference for communicating.  If you're into programming or marketing, start thinking about using the vast quantity of e-mail addresses you have stored in your e-mail servers.  They are potential rating percentage points that need to be stroked and cultivated.   Larry Shannon

Do we really need all those radio frequencies?
Can you recite from memory all of the radio frequencies in your market?  If you can't, why would you think that your listeners can remember most of the frequencies, what the programming format is for a majority of  the stations and which personality is on at any given moment? Your response is, "I don't care! Just as long as they remember my station's frequency!"  I get a little confused trying to remember if the country station is at 92.1 or 93.5.  Is talk at 105.3 or is it 103.5?  I've got 24 button choices, but I've run out of buttons on my car radio!  Trying to program all the stations into the car radio is like trying to switch from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95!  I can't imagine shouting out the call letters of the station and having the radio magically tune to that station like the car commercials promise.  I can't name more than 10 or 12 call letters anymore.  Stations nowadays are "The Hyena," "The Buzzard," or "The Platoon!" What's next?  "The #1 Station?"  Nahhh ... There are 4 stations in each market already calling themselves just that.  Who can remember all those names and frequencies in a major market?  We're being given too many choices nowadays.  It was a wise man who decided that there would only be channels 2-13 on the first television, even though there were only 2 or 3 TV stations, at most,  in any market in those days.  In the future, will some frequencies just go away?  What's the value of a frequency if no one is listening to it, if it is strangled by nudging frequencies -- preventing it from boosting its operating power --  and by 3 other radio stations which have the same format?  Will there be a sell-off of frequencies one day? Can a wise programmer turn around a frequency and make it valuable?  Is it better for a broadcast company like Clear Channel to shut down 4 frequencies, get rid of the clutter of multi-frequencies and concentrate on making more revenue on fewer frequencies in one market?  Questions to ponder ... What do you think?  We'll post your comments anonymously or with your name.  Larry Shannon

Don't X out XM or fail to take Sirius seriously!
There are a lot of nay sayers nowadays who are writing off satellite radio (XM and Sirius) before the starsats even start beaming those 100 digital channels down to earth. Will folks pay $9.95 or $12.95 to hear crystal clear news, information and music? Sure! It may not happen in the big cities first though. Why? Well, the big cities are over served by too many FM stations today anyway. Soon, I predict, a few AM and FM stations will begin carrying some of the programming that XM and Sirius will carry, like CNN audio or CNBC audio. Already there is ESPN radio in many markets. We need only to revisit the 70's to find a roadmap to where we're headed in the 2000's. Back then, when I'd travel through the suburbs and far out into the country, I'd notice those big conspicuous satellite dishes sitting behind the water tower or fire station. They seemed out of place in the small towns. Remember? Individual housetop TV antennas couldn't bring in the far away metropolitan TV station's signals. Even the tall community antennas didn't help. So rural communities formed associations and introduced cable TV to their small towns long before cable TV was introduced in the larger cities. If you have time, drive out into the countryside this weekend. Take a close look and you'll see a considerable number of DirecTV and Dish Network satellite dishes on the roofs of new and old houses. They're popping up out in the country like roses in April. Farmers are using satellite technology in other ways as well. For a few dollars a month, farmers pay for satellite dishes that show moisture levels in their corn and soybean fields and tell them when to plow the fields. These advanced radar images and grain market reports  that are displayed on the farmer's computer screens are no longer luxuries, they are affordable necessities.  For folks way out in the country who can't pick up the signals of the big city radio stations, there is a need for satellite radio.  So, the next time I read that someone doesn't believe consumers will pay $9.95 or $12.95 to listen to radio that comes from satellite dishes, I'll not think of city consumers.  I'll see the image of all those farmers and small town folks out "there" who are way ahead of us city folks when it comes to discovering and using advanced technologies -- out of necessity, not luxury. If we want to find an early future for satellite radio, we shouldn't disregard the millions of potential customers out there in the farm country, driving around in pickup trucks or sitting in the parlor tuning in that new "Third Band." They're way ahead of us city slickers and have been for years. Larry Shannon

This is the 4th in a series of radio essays ... 

"KLIF - The Mighty 1190" ... I grew up, tanned to toughness by the swollen Texas sun, in waist-high, wide-open fields of wind swept green and golden Johnson grass, between Dallas and Fort Worth. We played cowboys and combat in the wet wilderness of the Trinity River's flood plains, waging wars underneath the four giant shadows cast by the KLIF radio transmitter towers in South Irving. My young resume listed only Central ... (more)

"WBAP ... We Bring A Program" Long before the electricity of REA, West Texans hooked up Montgomery Ward mail order radios to Model A Ford batteries brought ... (more) 

A Bootnote: Bill Mack left WBAP a month ago. 30 years, give or take, is long enough to stay at any one place anyhow. He's gone country on us on satellite with the XM brand that starts beaming down this fall. He'll be starcasting from coast to coast -- (more)

"KRLD ... Standing Tall in The Big Leagues" I bet that you'd see Babe Ruth walking among the fans at the Ballpark in Arlington if he were alive today.  The red bricks, stadium green and longhorns would surely lure him to the field.  He could trade in his New York Yankees pinstripes for the navy and gray three-button business suits and boots of Texas.  The Babe would fit right in with the major leaguers in this shiny, belt buckle burg between Dallas and Fort Worth.  From time to time, the Babe could ... (more)

* K104-FM just "keeps on" being #1 ... While other Dallas-Fort Worth area radio stations and their personalities seem to always get the weekly headlines and praise of area newspaper media scribes, DFW's most consistently top-rated radio station, K104-FM, and its air personalities continue to rule the airwaves. They truly are a team of champions. And they feel like they've earned the bragging rights to say, "K104. We're #1 for real. We're not just saying it, we're livin' it!" Not only is K104-FM appreciated by ... (more)

Kings and Queens of Content ... A meeting of cable and DSL experts at the Broadband Connections conference on Friday, April 27, in Dallas brought forth this statement from Mark Bruneau, president of Adventis; "You have laid out all this pipe, now give us reasons to use it."   (more)  Radio programmers should consider this to be a signal to put on their creative caps and get to work.  It doesn't have to be all music, all the time or all talk all the time.  But, it has to be programming for the masses.  I have said many times that radio programmers make the best Internet programmers.  They are the kings and queens of content.  If you own or program a radio station, think of ways you and your folks can create Web sites (not just one, but many) that contain all sorts of imaginative, creative programming that will attract those who have cable and DSL high-speed Internet service.  You'll have to do better than just putting your on air programming on a Web site.  FM was easy to program.  In the 70's. All one had to do then was to move AM programming over to FM.  The Internet is going to be tougher to program.  Think of each of your Web sites as a cable channel or radio station that you have to fill with information or entertainment, or a combination of both.  The only restrictions are your imaginations.  Remember all of those programming ideas you wanted to use on your radio station, but couldn't.  Now, you've got all the "frequencies" in the world to use.  Web sites!  Eventually, some of the programming from the cream of the crops of Web sites are going to be picked up by cable and satellite channel owners.  MSNBC already has adopted Imus in the Morning and the Mitch Albom shows for 6 out of the 24 hours of their daily programming.  So, unleash that creative genius and see what you can come up.  We'll be listening -- and clicking.  Larry Shannon

"Thoughts on the Internet and Streaming Radio's Future" by Larry Shannon
Without a reliable measuring tool which provides us with details (not just numbers) about who is listening to the streaming audio from radio stations it may be just speculation about how geographically widespread streaming is now and where it is headed in the future. Is it just us radio "groupies" who are ... (Continued)  

Stanley Marcus was the most curious, inquisitive, enchanting and wisest 94-year young man I ever met. He was born five years before the tenth year of this twentieth century.  When I visited with him in 1999, he fascinated me with his vigor and enthusiasm -- like those of a teenager -- and wisdom far greater than that of my grandfathers.  Mr. Marcus’ passing today took me by surprise and sent me into a deep, silent sadness  (continued)
"That voice - Dr. W.A. Criswell"
It was – that VOICE.  I first heard it when I was in my middle teens and walked past the television set in the living room.  It captured me and stopped me in my tracks. That voice. It was a low, deep quiet voice that reached out to me beyond the television screen as it rose to a crashing crescendo and fell again to a whisper. That VOICE belonged to Dr. W.A. Criswell, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Mesmerized, I sat through the whole sermon that Sunday morning, listening to him preach. I’d lean forward to listen to the whisper in his voice until the intensity, strength and power pushed me back into the seat cushion. I was working at Dallas-Fort Worth’s only religious station at the time, KSKY 660.  It was my first job in radio. Maybe that was why I was attracted to Dr. Criswell’s voice and delivery, because they were so different from the pay-per-program preachers who were on KSKY.  Perhaps it was my young search for a delivery style to use on the radio.  (continued)