#5 Geo’s Media Blog (Young Turks) New 9/14/20

Download PDF

Back in the day when Mike McVay and I were “Young Turks,” we got into the consulting business around the same time. (Mike pictured above wearing the Heritage medal he was recently awarded)

After launching KVIL in the early ’70s, WRMF in the late ’70s, I was well aware as we hit the’80s and I was getting ready to launch “Class” in San Antonio that there were two types of AC.

Mike’s version was very smooth, whereas mine was more in your face which meant that there was room for both in any given market so of course Mike and I did battle quite often and radio was the better for it.

Sometimes Mike would win and sometimes I would, but I now realize that my winning depended on whether or not our morning man had a shot at ending up in the Hall of Fame. Mike’s winning depended on whether or not the folks remembered not only the call letters but that they even heard his radio station.

One of the ways Mike got that done was with his brilliant TV commercials.
The spot featured the music you usually heard in drugstores with the killer close, “Whenever you hear this kind of music, your listening to Magic 1- oh – whatever.” Wow, well played Mike.
Another thing of Mike’s that I borrowed for a few years, ok, a decade or so was the research mailer he did in Louisville which the legendary Jack McCoy got me hip to.(pictured with me above)
However, as I said, Mike did a research mailer, but as I told Jack, “There’s no way I can get this by Hilliard (Jim Hilliard) without a contest being tied to it.”
When we did our mailer we included a sweepstakes contest similar to one I had come up in the early ’70s  at WIBC in Indy called the “Magic Ticket.”
The sweepstakes mailer was extremely successful and before long it morphed into “The Checks In The Mail.” Then when we put the Magic Ticket together with Jack’s Last Contest, it became the Incredible Prize Catalog which I launched at KOGO in San Diego
The Prize Catalog became so successful that it bought Jack McCoy three 65 ft ocean-going yachts which he kept docked in St. Thomas, Boston,  and the one he lived on in San Diego.

Oh, and how did I do? Well, I did get to buy a nice villa on Coronado Island, a few cool cars, and a radio station, K103 in Portland Or. Thanks, Mike, and Happy Birthday.

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

Beethoven may have invented the first riff but Chuck Berry made them popular.

The best are seldom affected by the economy.

Sometimes even good news sounds bad when said by certain people. I remember when my folks would drive to Grandforks on the weekend which was a hundred and forty-five miles from Winnipeg, just for the spectacular service provided by the Americans. What happened?

So far I’ve experienced three musical phenomenons, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles. They all rose from humble blue-collar beginnings but only Frank did it with class.

Success grants access.

Who came up with, Drug Dealers, Gangsters, Rapists, Thieves, and Murderers, should have an easier time in court than the prosecutors? The defense only has to convince one juror that the accused is innocent, whereas the prosecutor has to convince twelve that they’re not.

The only folks crazy enough to attack America were the Japanese and the Arabs. But then again, maybe they were just stupid? 

The reward for surviving is suddenly you’re just old.

Amazon has spoiled it for all the other online companies. If they don’t get it to me in a couple of days, I become very annoyed.

What’s up with the fake crowd noise on the NFL games?

Speaking of noise, I guess Drew Brees and Bill Belichick showed Brady that a little more attention to details on his part may be in order huh?

 

COMMENTS

Joe Tobin: My classic moment with a customer “service” guy from India: I asked him his name, he replied: “Roy.” When I asked him to spell it, he very hesitantly said “R….O……..I ??” (The Citi Saga)

Tim Byrd: Ahh, the wit and wisdom of George Johns, pretty much factual and always entertaining. I’ll have a Corona with two limes, please…too soon? Lol, always nice to read your stuff. Stay well, George! (Geo’s Father’s Day Adventure)
Geo: Thanks for checking in, Tim, I still remember the excellent work we did together at WRMF.

Paul Cavenaugh: Wow, George. You had the best customer service experience a Bank could possibly offer! Only a month? You big shots always get special treatment! After my parents passed away about 10 years ago, I fought with DirecTV for 6 solid months before those creeps finally backed off on their $200 “Early Termination Fee”.
By the way, those aren’t New Yorker honking horns. Those are Miami drivers trying to get the heck out of there! (The City Saga)

Syd Hepworth: Hey George, reading your stuff here at the lake after a long day of trim work on the new, bigger cabin for the kids four years back and read your thought on what will happen to the Democrats if, after all the bullshit, Trump is reelected. I think if that were to happen, it would be the end of traditional American politics – at least as we see it from afar. Belated father’s day greetings from your old teammate #46 (Geo’s Father’s Day Adventure)
Geo: Hey, Syd, old #52 here. Thanks for the read, and also, thanks for the reminder about how much I used to enjoy my many summers at the lake back home in the motherland.
As to your point, the world has changed many times, and it’s about to do so again because of the virus. However, what hasn’t changed is the politics nor the school system, they’re still back in the dark ages.
 


Geo’s Media Blog (Ideas Are A Dime A Dozen.) New 8/24/20

Download PDF

(Above CKY-FM Winnipeg 1963)

(Above CFRA Ottawa 1970)

(Above CFTR Toronto 1972)

(Above CLASS-FM Coronado 1982)(Above with KVIL’s Ron Chapman 2010)(Above with Tom Skinner KZST Sonoma County Today)

When I became a Program Director for the first time it was at CKOM in Saskatoon, where also for the first time, a bunch of my ideas finally got on the air.
Then as I moved on to CKSO in Sudbury, CFRA in Ottawa, and CFTR in Toronto, even more of my stuff made the cut.

However, when I became the National Program Director of Fairbanks Broadcasting in Indianapolis, all of a sudden my ideas made the air.
After almost ten years in Indy and having had a fair amount of success in Dallas, Boston, Philly, Palm Beach, and Indianapolis, I decided to move to California and start my own consulting company.

Unfortunately, somewhere on the drive between Indianapolis and San Diego, I must have lost it because now less than half my ideas get on the air. (And I’m being very kind.)
Not only were my creative skills diminishing but somehow I was also losing my hearing too. More often than not, whenever I’d make a client visit, the local PDs claimed that they were already doing all my suggestions. I guess either I was just listening at the wrong times and missed them, or I was deaf?
Either way, F**K!
GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

Unfortunately, society wants more, not better.

I can’t believe that the politicians turned the funeral of a great man, John Lewis, into a political rally.

Turning 40 for an actress is like being 60 for most women and 80 for guys.

Without a script, there’s no movie, no play, no TV series, no actors, no agents, no assistants, no money, no nothing.

I wonder how police recruitment is going these days.

Claiming that you’re not racist doesn’t make it so, especially if you’re a politician.

Nowadays, nothing is true anymore, absolutely nothing.

Because Biden has no charisma, campaign funding is going to be slow, and in fact, most of it is going to come from big business.

Unfortunately, those cats don’t do it for free; they expect favors.

What a weird world. We grew up thinking Cops, Boy Scout Leaders, Priests, and Presidents were God-like; what a shock, huh?

What the hell does the CIA and the FBI do that we can’t live without?

One of the ways to improve yourself is to emulate all the people you admire.

Folks who listen more than they talk are usually very successful.

Your best memories will come from your accomplishing something you previously thought couldn’t be done.

I guess WGN in Chicago is going to continue the tradition created by KGO in San Francisco, going from first to worst in the shortest possible time.

Where you are, today came about by what you were thinking about yesterday. So with that in mind, what do you think about tomorrow?

The quest of Mankind from the very beginning was the need to distance itself from the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, it seems to me we’re moving closer.

As bad off as women claim they are, not many of them are part of the homeless society. How do they manage that?

The even better part about living an extraordinary life comes when you get to share it with those you love.

93% of Americans still consume radio, but radio still can’t make a buck. It’s time to bring in the guys from Amazon and Google; I bet they could figure it out.

So as Michelle Obama once said to Hillary in a speech on the campaign trail, “If you can’t control your own house, how are you going to control the White House?” I say to the Democrats, “If you can’t control Portland, Seattle, and Minneapolis, how are you going to control America?”

COMMENTS

Jed Duvall: So would you classify Beethoven, Bach, Handel, and Mozart as Level Seven? (Hey Who Dat?)
Geo: Perhaps the Penthouse, Jed.

Doug Chappell: Geo, you are too kind to Snopes they are a way to the left, once I realized that I stopped using it. (Geo’s Father’s Day Adventure)

Bill Gardner: I may be partial, George, but “Running Back To Saskatoon” might be your best yet! Terrific read.
Maybe it’s because it reminds me of when you and Jim Hilliard hired me for “a M.O.R. radio station in Dallas,” and I’m just months out of mornings at flame-throwing KCBQ San Diego with Jack McCoy, and I’m figuring they want ME for “M.O.R.???
This guy George Johns MUST know what he’s doing.” Especially since my old WFIL Philly PD Jim Hilliard hired him. But I IMAGINED I was heading to a radio station that was EXACTLY like what you describe in Saskatoon ….but BEFORE you got there! Look out, American Radio! Little did we know you were about to create the multi-million dollar Adult Contemporary Radio! (Running Back To Saskatoon)
Geo: What a ride, huh Bill? Also, congratulations on being inducted into the Texas Radio Hall Of Fame, I couldn’t be prouder.

North: “Do I have this right; there are no Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Arabs, Latinos, Blacks, Native Americans, or Women who are racist, just white males?” George, you should tweet this and see if Drew Brees re-tweets it. (Just Another Day In Paradise)
Geo: North, I think Drew should concentrate on football, he’s got a gunfight coming up this fall with Brady.

Gordon Zlot: George,You were mentioning nostalgia.
We take for granted all the good times in the past. Like when we were in Palm Springs talking radio and all kinds of BS and drinking martinis and mojitos and that huge pepper grinder. In my opinion, the world will never return in modern times to what we had before.
I thank you for putting KZST on the map and was just thinking about all those Class Seminars that you used to have.
I love you, George. (keep in mind I’ve only had two martinis)
Geo: Thank you for your kind words, Gordon, you’re one of the very few reasons that I even continue to be involved in radio.
Congratulations on being inducted into the Bay Area’s Hall of Fame along with Brent Farris, and also the 11.3 share KZST scored in the recent ratings. You’re the envy of many broadcasters.