XM Gets Sirius: A merger of "equals"... two companies that, equally, have lost a lot of money. I know a lot of good people who work at both companies and you know that if this goes through, layoffs of equals will ensue. Bottom line: Satellite has a long way to go to get close to FM/AM radio in terms of reach, influence and most importantly, profits.

Too Many Hoops To Listen Online: With more and more stations streaming everyday, we do our listeners (and potential listeners) a great disservice by making them jump through hoops to access our stream. When you turn on an FM radio, do you have to fill out a form to listen? It is a mistake to use the web stream as a carrot to sign listeners to our databases. What we should do is make the audio stream one easy click from our website, and then entice those listeners to sign up for all the goodies our stations have to offer. Let's encourage, not discourage more listening of our brands on the web. What do you think?

Not Everyone Hates Commercials: In today's NY Times, there's an article about how TiVo users actually WATCH the commercials! This research confirms what I've always believed: GOOD commercials are informational, and properly programmed and positioned, don't have to harm your programming. Here's a link the article:

Viewers Fast-Forwarding Past Ads? Not Always

Just For Fun: Can't be serious all the time...What songs are cousins of other songs? In other words, which songs have "borrowed" the melody of others. Some that come to mind: "Tim McGraw" by Taylor Swift bares a melodic resemblance to "Paint Me A Birmingham" (lyrics of course are very different); or how about the beginning of Keith Urban's "Better Life"? Play it next to the Bee Gee's "Jive Talkin" (though that's where the similarities end). Here's a stretch. The "hook" of Faith Hill's "This Kiss" ("it's the way you love me, it's a feeling like this...") sounds remarkably like the hook from the 1963 Top 40 hit "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto. Country radio veterans remember Ronnie Milsap's hit "I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World" bares a strong resemblance to "I Never Knew Love Like This Before."

They are all "so fine" aren't they, my sweet Lord?

Which ones can you think of?