Yes Men! (new geo Blog for the week of Nov 20/17)

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A lot of people have the power to say no, but only a few can say yes. Unfortunately, finding a yes man is tough duty but necessary if you hope to become successful.
Case in point, I remember an evening years ago in Coronado when my fifteen-year-old daughter Candis shocked me by saying, ‘I want to finish up high school in France Dad.” Before I could gather my thoughts and respond, my wife Lana’s voice rang out from the kitchen, “Tell her she can’t go.” Having never said no to her I hoped to buy myself a little time; I told her, “Before I can even begin to discuss that honey, I have to be looking at straight A’s on your report caed. Sure enough, straight A’s it was, and before I knew it or ever wanted it, I was watching my petite daughter boarding an Air France jet bound for Paris. Man, that was a terrible day. The only thing good about it I guess was when she returned to Coronado to graduate with her class; she was completely fluent in French.
Later that summer, once again she came to me with another shocker, this time she excitedly told me that she had been accepted at NYU in New York and once again Lana’s voice rang out from the kitchen, “Tell her she can’t go.”
Recently Candis and I (pictured above with me shortly after she had completed the Ironman competition) were reliving some of our more memorable days in Coronado. One of the things we laughed about was how embarrassed she was when she returned home from school in France. I’d put a billboard up at the entrance to the Coronado bridge which welcomed her home but unfortunately, it stayed up for months so whenever she was ever introduced to somebody new, they’d say, “Oh you’re the chick on the billboard.” We also reminisced about how we had to take her to New York on the train because she had developed a fear of flying. However, when I asked if she remembered all the times her Mom had yelled from the kitchen, “Tell her she can’t go” she claimed that she didn’t know from that. She said that the only thing she remembered was that she was talking to the right guy.
 
JUST A FEW MORE THINGS THAT I’D LIKE TO RANT ABOUT
 
This moment is the only moment that counts; it’s about to launch your future.
 
I like a lot of other immigrants to the US had no involvement in slavery nor do I have any interest in paying for it.
 
Speaking of slaves, less than 5% of Americans owned them; maybe their descendants should be hunted down and be held accountable. I’m sure they’re still all rich.
 
I remember when Mr. Businessman used to bring money to the party, what the hell does he bring now?
 
Radio’s only future is bankruptcy, why not now?
 
I wonder if the rest of the world realizes that most Americans only think of them as Crises Du Jour?
 
Pig Harvey forgot the rule, “If you’re gonna sexually harass someone, you better be good looking.”
 
Also, seeing as Mr. Piggy has women talking out of school and even though we’re supposed to be gentlemen, I’m sure they won’t mind if we do too?
 
If you wanna blow your phone lines out, put a psychic on the air but don’t expect any ratings. Nobody wants to hear about a search for a missing diamond earring.
 
When I moved to America in the 70s, the big demo was 18-49. A little later it moved to 25-54 as they followed the money. Unfortunately, it hasn’t moved even though the money has.
 
So when the ladies are servicing the “Guitar Gods” who’s zooming whom?
 
I think that if I had a talent, it would be who should play what part in what play. Kinda like years ago when I heard that Monday Night Football had hired Dennis Miller as the third guy in the booth. I thought that would have had Dennis point out all the unusual things he saw in the stands, but instead, they had him talk about football. Huh?
 
Consultant Doug Erickson claimed that he remembers when he could go into any market, turn on the radio and tell if I was involved.
 
Have you ever noticed that the people who claim that you need to learn to listen are those who do most of the talking?
 
When recently hearing that I shouldn’t treat women like sex objects, I responded with, “I agree, most of them aren’t qualified.”
 
Why do the wives of prominent men think they are the authorities on everything. Hey, there is no such as Mrs. Doctor.
 
Brent Farris of KZST claims that the NFL ratings have never been higher for the start of the games.
 
A radio station’s deadliest enemy is not their competitor; it’s the off button.
 
A good attitude with little aptitude doesn’t produce very much.
 
It doesn’t take brains to buy a radio station, just money.
 
Anybody can sell great ratings.
 
Women make absolutely no sense until you love them so I would suggest falling in love with your listeners.
 
We tend to celebrate bad ratings and bad sales figures a hell of a lot longer than good ones.
 
Always remember this, nobody is for you.
 
The #1 biller is the real #1 station in every market.
 
There are three types of people in radio, gifted, creative, and all the others.
 
People only dream about their wants, but they have nightmares about their needs.
 
If a promotion doesn’t excite the on-air talent or cause talk in the marketplace, it’s called a sales promotion.
 

A song usually has to go make top 10 before it gets into your memory bank.

Did the Dolphins really lose at home to one of the few teams who have a worse record than them?

I wonder what favor Trump had to give up to get those 3 UCLA basketball players released from custody in China? How embarrassing.

Speaking of the sticky-fingered trio from UCLA, when you hear one of their dads speak out like he’s now doing, you sure can tell why one of them may have gone bad.

Much more @ GeorgeJohns.com and on Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Appreciate the share.
 
 
 
 

15 thoughts on “Yes Men! (new geo Blog for the week of Nov 20/17)

  1. George: Given what I hear on-the-air and the ratings numbers I see, I do not see or hear any station in this market (Indianapolis) able to be termed # 1. Rates apparently have been driven down back to indexed pre-1968 levels with spots airing so frequently they have to be “bonused”. (You know sales levels are at a low level when you hear the equivalent of P.S.A.s in morning drive !) I can go for months before I hear someone talking about what they’ve heard on the radio, and if they do, it usually is something on a sports-talk radio station. Sad state of affairs because once you could hear the swagger of a station that was Number ONE !

  2. I think I agree with Doug Erickson. As I changed jobs and cities for my old friend George John’s, I’d do this: Drive into my new city. Hit “scan” on my car radio. When it stopped on Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street,” that was probably the station I’d be working for……George’s station. 🙂

  3. I definitely said that, George, and it’s the best compliment I could give you. Like Picasso, you are an original, and your work is immediately identifiable. It also helped that you have a great ear for really talented air personalities, like Bill Gardner.

    • Thank you so much for the kind words Doug but I learned a long time ago that the secret is convincing great talent to come aboard and then get the hell out of the way. I’m pretty sure that’s how legendary coach John Wooden did it.

  4. Other than an inning or two of the World Series I haven’t listened to a commercial radio station for the better part of 5 years. The reason? All of the gifted and creative people have left the studio and only the “others” are left.

    On the other hand I sat in my car and listened for 10 minutes to a retired Navy pilot describe landing on a pitching and rolling aircraft carrier during a storm in the South China Sea…Real, compelling, stunning. It was on an NPR weekend show. Imagine bringing up something like that in a commercial radio station production meeting, all you’d hear would be, “Who cares about that?” “The guy is so old.” etc, etc, etc.

    Meanwhile Terry Gross has been on the air for over 30 years with great numbers and incredible demos…did any commercial station in Philly ever contemplate hiring her? I’d guess, no, never.

    • Bobby,I will never forget when Ben Laurie was sick and we put a kid up in the KVIL chopper. He had to describe an emergency landing at DFW and was a rookie so he lost it. It was the most compelling radio I’ve ever heard. Sometimes we are all too cool for the room.

    • Nothing politically correct about trying to land a jet fighter on a moving runway Bobby. No wonder those pilots had swagger, they escaped death daily.

  5. George, your music mix was special, but the secret sauces were the promotions and the air talent. Even if the payout wasn’t equal to a lottery jackpot, the promos made them sound larger than life and the production never seemed to be matched by the rest of the stations in town. In most of your markets, the competitors never understood or were as committed to win.

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