Two AR&D clients swept the National Edward R. Murrow Awards for "Overall Excellence."   Congratulations to KOMO in Seattle, the winner of the large market award, and WJAR in Providence, winner of the small market Murrow.

Both of these stations have excellent news operations and it is great to see them recognized with the national award for overall excellence.  It is truly an award the entire station can take pride in achieving.

Also a tip of the hat to AR&D client WKRG in Mobile which won a national Murrow for Continuing Coverage.  KOMO captured a second national Murrow for writing.

Great work.  We are proud of

The 25-54 demo is out-dated!   Every 7 seconds another Baby Boomer turns 50.  By 2009, the majority of all American households will be led by someone 50 or older.

Many TV general managers I have talked to agree with my call to change the so-called "key demo" for advertsiers to 30-to-60 year olds.  The buying power continues to get grayer in this country and needs to be recognized by the those 20-something media buyers.

Think back to your 20's - did you have any "buying power?"  I didn't.  But today I do.  My two sons complain that I am imposible to... more »

If you needed proof that traditional news outlets are in competition with thousands of Internet sources, consider the first report of the untimely death of Tim Russert.   No, it wasn't his own network - NBC - or any other traditional broadcast or cable news outlet.

Beating the pack by a full 36 minutes was Wikipedia!   That's right - the controversial site written and edited by anonymous sources - beat the venerable Associated Press by over half an hour.  Wikipedia had the news 38 minutes before NBC told the world.

In fact, there were eight edits on the Wikipedia site before NBC... more »

Someone once told me, "you can't cut enough expenses to get back to profitability, you have to have a revenue plan too."  I believe this thinking is lost on most broadcast groups in these difficult times. 

I hear from frustrated general managers every day that their company is only focused on cutting expenses, with no planning on how to protect their core business while at the same time pursuing new revenue streams.  In fact, the GM's complain it is just the opposite - any new revenue ideas are routinely rejected immediately because all the corporate folks want to hear is where... more »

Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi are all the offspring of Aliens who crashed in New Mexico in 1947?  It is really a delicious urban myth that is debunked on the web site snopes.com.

I was on the web site checking out a different untrue urban myth.  Some of my clients visit this web site quite frequently evaluating claims from viewer emails.

The myth about the politicians stems from a famous UFO incident near Roswell, New Mexico in July of 1947.  Many witnesses claimed that a UFO with five aliens crash landed on a sheep ranch just... more »

In these tight budgetary times, many stations are talking about reverting to "one-man bands" to save money.  Call them VJ's or EJ's - I call them a mistake.

I encourage you to follow the lead of WNCN-TV in Raleigh instead.  They have hired nearly two dozen "Beat Reporters."  They are required to live in the targeted community that they cover.

It is a throwback to "the day" - when reporters on TV actually worked to cultivate contacts, and generate exclusive stories through those relationships.  It was a far cry from the typical TV reporter of this generation who is content to be... more »

It was the most important weather forecast in history.  Hundreds of thousands of Allied Troops waited for the word to invade Europe.  And President Eisenhower made the call.

My teachers had never brought up the weather-related issues involving D-Day, so I was surprised to learn of the situation as I was researching a weather paper that I am writing.  This forecast - in 1944 - was much more important than what passes for major weather concerns today - like will it rain on my outdoor wedding or class reunion?  This forecast impacted the course of world history.

D-Day was actually set... more »

Here's an update on the special DTV test conducted this week by KGMB9 in Honolulu.  I wrote about this test a few days ago.  The station ended all its newscasts on Monday with a 10 second test for viewers to see if their TV sets are ready for the conversion to digital TV next February.

KGMB9 marketing director Candace Hirleman reports that the test went well and generated viewer feedback, as well as articles in a Honolulu daily newspaper, and the local business journal.  The Hawaii blogosphere was also buzzing about the test.

Candace says the most surprising reaction came from... more »

First, to offer full disclosure, I am not a fan of the monopolistic company called Nielsen.  In fact, I think they are one of the most arrogant, inaccurate, over-priced companies in America.  Back in my days as general manger of a TV station in Columbus I took great delight in battling my Nielsen rep at every turn.

So I had to chuckle when I read their news release on the need to move the February sweeps to March in 2009 "to ensure the most accurate measurement with no glitches."  My first thought - why should the 2009 sweeps be any different... more »

Your viewers are being bombarded with announcements about the fast-approaching switch to digital televison.  Which of their TV sets will work?  How will they know?

Well, KGMB in Honolulu is offering a quick, easy, and very viewer-friendly test next Monday so their viewers can quickly know if their sets will work once the analog signal is switched off.   You might consider a similar test for your viewers.

Here's what KGMB is saying in their news release:

KGMB9 will flip the switch early and simulate an analog shutdown on Monday, May 19, 2008, during all evening newscasts.  This unique 10 second test... more »