Gregg Henson.com

Gregg and Michelle Cash Back rewards program!

Over the last couple of days the word has spread that Michelle and I are working to get back on the air together somewhere hosting a music morning show.  Times are tough so we decided to get creative and offer "cash and rewards" for anybody who refers us for a job or anyone who hires us to host a music Morning Show.

Michelle and I haven't worked together in a couple of years and are really anxious to get back on the air together.

The radio market is tough right now so we've tried to come up with a contest to show our creativity so we are offering "Gregg and Michelle's cash and rewards"for the radio station that hires us.  Check out the contest at the Gregg and Michelle web site.

To read the articles that have been written about the contest, click the links below.

Radio and Records

Detroit News

More cool stuff on Neil Rubin's Detroit News blog.  Here AND here.

Why is Clear Channel (radio) different than any other business cutting jobs?

My mother in-law actually asked me this question and it is a great one, in the day to day operation of this blog sometime I don't take the time to fully explain the background on a particular post.

To answer Anita's question, why is Clear Channel different than any other company laying off employees...the answer is involved but not complicated.

1. As an FCC license holder, Clear Channel and every other radio operator is obligated by law to "act in the public interest." 
2. Radio operators must adhere to local-ism, meaning a certain amount of programming must originate and serve the city of license.
3. Radio is a regulated industry with a finite amount of room on the band, they aren't creating new radio frequencies.  In short, radio is a scarce resource that is regulated by the government.

These three points make it necessary for the US government to re-evaluate the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which erased ownership limits and allowed HUGE radio companies to form while ignoring the three points above, which are all still the law. 

If you review Clear Channel's actions, they certainly aren't "acting in the public interest."  They are acting in the interest of the stockholders not the listeners who actually own the spectrum.  We as American citizens own the radio spectrum, NOT these greedy radio operators.  We entrust them to use the airwaves in our best interest and that isn't happening.  They are using the frequencies to pad their own pockets and those of their shareholders.

There is no such thing as local-ism.  Unlike the old days, these radio station are no longer manned by humans after 7 p.m., they are voice tracked and put on the satellite.

There was a high profile incident in North Dakota a few years back where a a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals, when officials tried to get the word out on the radio, they couldn't reach anybody at the station because Clear Channel owned every station in town and got rid of all the local Air Talent.  There was NOBODY live on the radio to warn the people of the immediate dangers they faced.  The government looked into it and slapped Clear Channel on the wrist.  Clear Channel devised some phony local-ism plan, which didn't include live human beings on the air and the government continued to let them make money as a monopoly.  Think about it, in most markets outside the top 10, you can't even get severe weather updates after 6 p.m. because there is NOBODY working at the radio station.  GOD forbid your power goes out and you can't watch TV for updates on when to take cover.  That has happened here in Austin on many occasions, but you are screwed, NOBODY is at these radio stations after 7 p.m. because Clear Channel has cut them to the bone.

I can go on and on about this issue, but clearly there are violations in the terms of the agreement between radio operators and us, the people who own the frequencies they program.

People need to e-mail their congressmen and tell them to re-evaluate the telecom act of 1996, it would force local owners back into the game and provide a usable product for the cities served by radio stations.  Right now you have poorly run radio companies squeezing every dime out of these radio stations and you, the listener is the big loser.

I believe congress will listen as they are looking for diversity in radio and love to have low rates come election time.  Here is a link to contact your representative.

If you are an unemployed broadcaster, you need to do this NOW!

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Clear Channel spills more blood today around the country?

While WDFN may have been torched in the first round of Clear Channel cuts, it looks like another round is hitting today.

Clear Channel Austin is preparing to off another half dozen people and I can only bet they will do the same thing aroud the country.

Rumored gone from Clear Channel Austin are KISS-FM Air Personalities Cruz and Tony Cortez.  Longtime KASE Personality Garry Harmon and KASE weekender Jon Zenor.  There are also rumors that the traffic department will be gutted. It could get really ugly.

Clear Channel-Austin also issued a memo to staff stating they have stopped matching 401k contributions.

Mandatory staff meeting today in Austin at 1 p.m.

Look for this to be repeated around the country.  In Detroit look for 106.7 to be gutted and any live show outside of Morning Drive.

Poor management at corporate and poor management locally has killed Clear Channel.

When is Clear Channel going to start firing the people responsible for the bad performance?

Detroit Update: So far Piston Engineer Albert Dale is out, more to follow.

Live Show on Wednesday!

Click the link below to listen to Gregg and Victor LIVE on Wednesday, April 29 @ Noon (est).

We'll talk about the NFL draft, Detroit issues and politics.  We may even toss in a little Detroit radio news.

$78 Million for a QB who better not be the next Joey Harrington!

Today is the day when everybody is happy talking the Lion's latest first round draft bust, the savior has arrived, this year the savior is Georgia QB Matt Stafford.  Sorry if Stafford's selection at number one leaves me more than a little empty.  Is this why we suffered through a 0-16 season, to get Matt Stafford?  Look, Stafford may be a fine QB one day, but I don't think we have the next coming of Dan Marino on our hands, maybe the next Greg Landry if we are lucky.

Sorry to throw a wet rag on your draft party today but we've already been through Jeff Komlo, Eric Hipple, Chuck Long, Andre Ware and Joey Harrington in the Ford era, I simply don't believe for a second that the drafting of Stafford will end any differently than the previous "saviors."

I'm also concerned that the current economic climate will make it even more difficult for Stafford to connect with Lions fans.  How can anybody is the State with the highest unemployment rate in the country relate or even root for a guy who is gonna make $78 million with $41 million guaranteed?  Hell, most can't even afford to plunk down money for tickets anymore, yet the golden boy is cashing his first check and he has yet to even take a snap in the league.  I predict the first sign of "bust" out of this guy will be met with outright hostility, worse than Joey Harrington EVER experienced.

Oh well, another draft, another zero, but who thought it would be any different?

I got one for Michigan Football

I have this little troll that I know who has one Michigan football season ticket to sell.

The seat is pretty good and is right next to my buddy who is a total Michigan football queer.  He might even hold your hand if Michigan is losing to Ohio State in the second half.  Seriously, I like the guy but can't afford to buy the ticket.

The season ticket is $450 for the season and my buddy would likely let you hold it for a few years, until his newborn is old enough to kick your ass to the curb.

If you want the seat, let me know and I will hook you up.

The new Lion logo and who named him "Bubbles"

This is the new Lion logo.  What do you think?

I like it a lot. I've long wanted the Lions to alter the team logo and colors, I thought they should have done it when they moved into Ford Field.  I liked the idea of launching a new era at Ford Field with a new logo, a new mascot and a lot more edge.  It is also the perfect time to roll out cheerleaders. 
I'm happy that the Lions have retained the integrity of the old, classic Lion logo, but added some definition and edge to it.  The next step it to ditch the Honolulu blue and wear the throwback jersey's FULL TIME.

With the transition to the new logo I have seen a lot of articles referring to the Lion mascot as "Bubbles."  That is not his his real name, the "Bubbles" moniker was started by longtime radio Personality Arthur J. Regner the third.  In the late 90's Art and I were hosting "The Sunday Afternoon Sit-In" and Art was on one of his classic tirades and he started in on how stupid the Lion logo was and he screamed "he looks like he is batting at bubbles."  From that point on Art, myself and most of the WDFN air staff began referring to the Lion mascot as "Bubbles."  Among Art's many entertaining contributions to the Detroit sports scene is naming the Lion logo "Bubbles."  Someday, when accounts of how the Lion mascot was named Art will get his due.

What is Jeff Deminski trying to say in this blog post?

This blog post appeared on April 2 on The Deminski and Doyle web site.  It appears to point out some disharmony between him and his new bosses.

It's been interesting.  The other day we did sort of a "state of the show" address but let listeners do it, not us.  What was liked, what wasn't.  This was open to all our old 97.1 listeners and the new WCSX diehards who'd never listened to us before.  I was expecting more criticism but it was all fairly positive.  The tough position we're in is that the old JJ and Lynne show was so completely different.  A paradigm shift for WCSX listeners, many of whom are older than our 97.1 group.  The J & L show was almost all music, and when there was talk, it was very...safe.  And it was not at all interactive with calls.  We are about as different as you can get, so for a lot of those WCSX diehards it has been off-putting, but we've been hearing from a lot of them that they are warming up to what we do.  Another tough thing is the outside marketing we thought we'd be getting from WCSX to let our old 97.1 crowd know we were back.  Thought there'd be at least some billboards or tv or something.  None of that's happened.  Now I know YOU know we're back on in the market, because you've religiously followed either this blog or the dd fan group on Yahoo or both.  But not a day goes by I don't hear from someone that they "just this week" learned we were back by stumbling across us.  So not only is it tough making a marriage of what we did for our old group without being too much of a 'shock to the system' for the newer group, it's also been difficult to gauge which camp it is we're really speaking to every morning.  It's certainly coming along and we appreciate your patience (we hope, lol) while it does.  Another situation that doesn't help is even though the podcasts are through the roof in listen-to's and downloads, they're not counting towards any ratings a day after the show is done.  So the fact most of our old crowd was used to us in the afternoons doesn't lend itself well to a lot of people's schedule to listen live.  Either their work schedule is prohibitive or they might have already had a favorite morning show they're loyal to.  Another thing we hear all the time is people don't have 'as much time in the mornings' to listen as they did in the afternoons.  Interesting behind the scenes stuff.  I know the station worries about the impact on the old diehard WCSX listeners of us not playing music in the music in the mornings and doing talk.  Of course we worry that if we do even a little of that music, our old diehards will be turned off the other way.  Good times, good times, lol.  Really hope things shake out over the next year because after all we went through last year to stay it would sure be tough to leave.

Now I don't know any specifics about what is happening, but you can read between the lines and easily figure out that things aren't rosy at WCSX for the new Morning Show.  Here is what I take away from the post.

1. The ratings are down, way down.  The Morning show on WCSX was in 5th place when JJ and Lynne were not renewed, they are currently 14th.
2. Management at WCSX is worried that they made a mistake by changing direction and are pressuring D & D to make changes, quickly.
3. They are clearly getting pressure to play more music in the morning and Deminski doesn't like it one bit.  I don't think they understand the nature of the format.  The only show to ever NOT play music on WCSX was "Ferrell on The Bench" in the late 90's and it didn't work.
4. The show being cut from 6a-10a to 6a-9a is not sitting well with the guys.
5. Deminski is already complaining about not being promoted, which is a usual Air Personality excuse when the show isn't working.
6. I don't think publicly complaining about your employers lack of marketing will sit well with Greater Media brass as I am sure they spent handsomely on the "talent."
7. From my experience with the show, they are already fighting with management at WCSX and threatening to "leave." This is evident in the last line of the blog post.
8. When you are in 14th place "management" won't likely care if you threaten to leave.
9. D &D are in no position to bargain and will be forced to implement any changes the suits what to make because of the steep ratings loses.
10. D & D semi-bashing J.J. and Lynne in this post will turn what audience they have left from the old show completely off once and for all.
11. If I were D & D I would tread lightly until the ratings or the economy improved.
12. This isn't going to end good!

Just observations from a guy who's been around.  Radio is tough, get a helmet.

Deminski even followed up the first post with a similiar post in which he is clearly pissed off at management for cutting the show back and hour. He also takes similar pot shots at management in regard to marketing the show.  This is heating up quickly, how long before WCSX tries to shut down his blog?  See latest post below.

9 am is now the time the show will be ending in the mornings. I've received an awful lot of inquiries about this after a brief announcement was made Friday morning.  Obviously I'd like to say more; those who know me could guess I'd have a lot to say.  For now, suffice it to say WCSX decided the audience would be better served by having music start at 9 am, therefore the show now runs live 6 to 9 am, Monday through Friday.  From 5:30 to 6 am those mornings there will be some playback segments from previous shows.  That's the new schedule and for those who are not happy about the change please know I'm sorry we won't be there for you in the 9 o'clock hour and I hope you'll continue to listen between 5:30 and 9 am and spread the word as much as possible that the D & D show is back on in mornings on 94.7.  With the lack of marketing to get that word out we're hoping for the kindness of our most loyal listeners.

Video evidence of thevery deep and sad problems of the City of Detroit

I cannot come up with a better visualization of the problems that face the City of Detroit.  Look at these complete and utter idiots talk about the issues that plague Detroit.  They always scream race, even when race isn't the issue.  It is maddening that Detroit hasn't solved its race issues since they started in the late 60's.  These people on the right side of this panel are ignorant, uneducated and to powerful.  Oh and they are extreme racists too.  You just don't find this kind of racial hatred in other cities, it is uniquely a Detroit issue.

The Bird's the Word

I've waited to write this post because I didn't really know where to start in my admiration for Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.  In a nutshell, the bird and the Tigers were the focal point of my childhood.  When I was 8, I was the biggest Tiger fan on the planet, I loved baseball and I loved the Tigers more.  When I was a kid, I loved the Tigers so much that I would get upset and cry when they lost a game in April.

I had a paper route as a kid and I would always listen to the Tigers on my HUGE radio headphones (way before the Ipod) as I rode my route, to me the Tigers were so much more than just a baseball team.  They were Spring and Summer, Ernie and Paul, George and Al...and once Joe Pelligrino.  Every significant moment in my life as a young kid centered around the Tigers.  I use to write papers about them in 7th grade English class.  My parents thought I was obsessed and would get an ulcer before I even got to middle school.  My dad use to always say "Why are you watching the Tigers, you know they are going to lose in the 9th."  He also thought it was funny to ask me what inning "they were in" when I watched the Lions.

As a kid, I was a self-made sports fan, my dad worked to hard to bother, but mom liked sports.  Mom always thought I was such a nut job for always taking my transistor radio with me to listen to the Tigers.  Many nights I fell asleep listening to the Tigers on the west coast, only to be awakened by the creepy intro of WJR's "Night Flight 76" when the game ended.

I remember the time my mom and dad MADE us go backpacking in the UP.  Dad carried some extra weight in his pack because mine was full.  He was SO pissed when he found out I had packed my radio to listen to the Tigers. "Why am I carrying your food if you have room for your radio" dad asked?  The best I could come up with was "dad, I need a smaller radio."  I think I am lucky he laughed or he might have killed me.

Dad was not a sports fan, he thought players were overpaid, he was old school.  I learned sports on my own, nobody else in my family other than mom even cared.  I taught myself to play baseball and wasn't too bad. I don't think dad ever got to see me play as he worked nights at Ford in Dearborn.  He did recognize my passion and he made arrangements for me to see a couple games a year, even though I am sure he was bored out of his mind.

Well, mom and dad saw how completely I was caught up in "Bird-mania" and made arrangements for me to see Fidrych pitch during the summer of '76.  I saw one of "The Bird's" losses, his 5th on August 21, 1976.   Fidrych was pitching against the Minnesota Twins and facing Pete Redfern.   Dad made all the arrangements and even brought my grandpa along.  We sat in right field and I was in heaven.  During the game I witnessed my dad give a standing ovation to an athlete...it was the only time he ever cheered for a player, ever.  The original A-Rod, Aurelio Rodriguez mad a spectacular play and dad jumped to his feet in appreciation, I NEVER forgot it.

As I recall it was the only game I ever attended with my dad, one that I reminded him of on many occasion when we were older.  He knew Fidrych meant the world to me.

Mom even took me to a Chatham to meet Fidrych, Jason Thompson and Mickey Stanley...I got an autograph on a Tiger pennant and I still have it to this day.

In 2005 when the All-Star game was in Detroit, I interviewed Mark at "The Major League Baseball Experience" at Cobo.  I told him all my stories and he actually thanked me for being a fan.  Mark had no idea how much it meant to me to actually sit and talk to my childhood hero on the radio.  He signed a couple shirts for my babies and I will cherish that shirt until they are old enough to understand what "The Bird" and the Tigers meant to their old man.

It is times like this that make me miss Detroit more than ever, please celebrate what he meant to our city and enjoy the memories of that wonderful summer.  1984 was better, but the Bird really saved Detroit in '76.  Remember the pride we all felt when Fidrych, Ron Leflore and Rusty Staub represented our city in the bi-centennial All-Star game in Philly?  Great times!