In January 2011, I published my first Radio Geo’s Media Blog.
Since then, I’ve written about a thousand of them, which has produced over five thousand comments.
However, after reviewing the LIfe-Liners, what I found most interesting was how many of them I’ve changed my mind about over the years.
Now, as we head towards the twelve days of Christmas, I thought it might be a good time to repost some of my most-read blogs.
So, with that in mind, may I present Radio Geo’s Media Blog, “All Time Top 12.”
#9 THE LAST CONTEST
I’ve been involved in many radio promotions over the years, and some of them were so formable they even made the evening TV News.
Great ones such as The Millionaire, Break The Bank, The Impossible Contest, The Great Race, The Great Rip Off, The Magic Ticket, The People’s Choice, What Would You Do For A New Car, I Love KVIL, and KVIL Loves You, bumper sticker campaigns.
Then there was the one where Ron Chapman of KVIL asked the Dallas folks to send him a spare twenty-dollar bill, and within three days, a quarter of a million dollars showed up.
Some other good ones were The Checks In The Mail, Fantasy Park, The Cave Of The 7 Treasures, KZBS Devours KLNK, The WNAP Raft Race, The Prize Catalog, and, of course, my brother Reg’s Rewards Program, the first promotion to get the computer involved.
However, one of the biggest had to have been Jack McCoy’s “Last Contest.” (Jack is shown above with me)
(Click on the link below and enjoy.)
Radio Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, Music, Movies, Books, Social Media, Politics, and Religion, but mostly about Life, primarily written with men in mind.
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Jed Duval: George: I have heard variations of the “Last Contest” compilations over the years, and never fail to hear details that still amaze me. After Kent Burkhart fired me as P.D. at WHBQ-AM, Memphis, in the great R.K.O. Radio purge of September-October, 1980, Larry Knight (Stein) called me out to interview at KCBQ-AM, in early October, 1980 to be morning show producer and Assistant P.D. for the upcoming format switch to country and “Charlie and Harrigan (Whoever was to be Jack Woods’ Irv Harrigan at that time.)” mornings. During my trip to KCBQ’s studios, I was amazed at how unsophisticated the “Q”‘s studios were, including the windowless closet news booth and the production studio where Jack McCoy created magic: Four Ampex 352s, a pair of microphones (not Neumanns), an Invosonics variable capstan control and a Gates mixer. (Bartell’s capital budgets must have resembled Fairbanks’ before 1968.) The production library were old 1950s-1960s M.O.R., easy-listening and movie soundtrack records. Only Charlie Tuna in this composite is of Chuck Riley-calibre (Good Top-40 jocks, but not great production voices, in my opinion, which does not count as the best my voice was then and now is for telegraphy.) Jack McCoy was and is a genius. He did so much more with less. I am still blown away with the prize package that offered a W.A.T.S.-line in 1972. WIBC and WNAP had many great production minds, hands and voices, but in my years there between 1973 and 1990, (and afterwards, as well), the stations never quite achieved the production greatness of Jack McCoy at KCBQ. Poor Willet Brown: KGB never had a chance with first Buzz Bennett and then Jack McCoy. (The Last Contest)
Geo: Jed, I was also amazed that The Last Contest Came out of that studio. When I was there to do promos for CFTR in Toronto, Jack had to put and old station Blazer over the cart machines so you couldn’t hear them clunk as he was recording.