Notes from the log, the clock, and the studio
Practical writing on music programming, scheduling, imaging, and voice tracking — from 35 years of putting stations on the air in the US and Australia.
Same craft that goes into your clocks and logs — written for PDs who still care about the hour.
The first two weeks of October gave most stations a chance to retire the summer frame. The third week is when that work either sticks or quietly slips back. The sample is still running.
Read article →The first full week of October is gone. The fall book is not. Mid-month is when recycled summer imaging and unprotected 4 p.m. opens start costing quarters you can still save.
Read article →A voice track that only talks about the record that just ended is already late. The listener is waiting on the next hook. Write to that.
Read article →Fall arrives on a Monday this year. Daylight shortens, the school run is already settled, and any hour that still sounds like July is volunteering to lose the first quarter-hour of the book.
Read article →August listening is a driveway. September listening is a drop-off line. If the first two songs of the hour still sound like vacation, the fall book is already arguing with you.
Read article →A stopset is not a commercial dump. It is a test of whether the music still feels like the reason people are listening.
Read article →A celebrity death is not a content opportunity. It is a trust test. Listeners can tell in one break whether the station is holding the room or climbing onto the casket.
Read article →A programming agreement should feel like adding a PD to the building — not buying a vendor SKU. These eight questions separate a partner from a playlist mill.
Read article →Salary is the line item everyone sees. The expensive part is the hours your PD spends on logs instead of talent, imaging, and the street.
Read article →A clock is not a grid of categories. It is a promise about how the next 15 minutes will feel. Here is how we build logs that keep people in the car.
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