The rhetorical question a lot of people ask, about Starbucks, is “who’d shell out six bucks for a cup of coffee you could get for 50 cents at the gas station?” Well, you can’t get much of a cup of coffee for half a buck, but there are gas stations where you can buy Starbucks coffee. And it's not six bucks.
There’s a whole bunch of them on the Illinois Tollway System. Pull into an Oasis to fill the tank, and stroll a few feet farther and find Starbucks, McDonalds, and other big national brands.
My friend Tim Moore, who’s a top-notch radio consultant, puts out an e-mail for his clients and friends every Wednesday called the “Mid-Week Motivator”. In his most recent one, Tim explains what broadcasters – and, for that matter, anybody in business – can learn from Starbucks.
First of all, Starbucks customers don’t pay six bucks for a cup of coffee. The average is $3.89. And the most telling thing about the way Starbucks trains its “partners” – not employees, not associates, not baristas, but partners – is the principal that “There is no customer request under our coffee umbrella we can’t or at the very least, attempt to fulfill”.
The customer, as Tim points out, really does come first.
My wife has dragged me with her into a Starbucks countless times; I’m off-put by the phony Italian lingo about “vente” or “grande” or whatever. Hey – this is America. Large, medium, small. And since I’m an obstinate old cuss, many times I say something like “what have you got that’s cold and good”….and the partner, no matter where in America we are, makes some suggestions.
One time, at a Starbucks in Tempe, AZ, a partner made a suggestion to me; and then said “tell you what – I’ll make it for you, and if you taste it and don’t like it, we’ll pour it out and try again”. Now THAT’s customer service. And, for the record, I loved it. Whatever it was.
Moore also reveals another lesson from the Starbucks playbook: “You are the company, you are important, and we will never promote someone from the outside, before we promote you”. Holy smokes…their people really are their company, and they acknowledge it. Employee turnover is minimal, and it’s no wonder.
Some people half-jokingly say Starbucks is out for world domination. According to Tim, part of the Starbucks creed for reaching customers is “We want to be your third place: standing behind your family and your place of work, we want to be part of your typical day”.
Radio used to be like that, and in some cases still is – but as Moore and his fellow top-notch consultants know, radio is losing its grip on its audience. Too much great local radio talent has been tossed under the bus in the past three years in the name of cost-cutting.
Radio station owners and owners of any business that has direct contact with people would do well to learn a lesson or two from Starbucks. It’s not just the coffee, silly.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Friday Media Rant: Mediocrity In News Coverage
One of the most frequently-heard words when my cronies and I discuss the state of news today is “mediocrity”. The recent coverage of the failed Times Square bomber illustrated the point to me.
After 9-11, law enforcement and public safety agencies said one of the biggest problems was timely sharing of information – everything from NYPD not being able to monitor NYFD radio transmissions, to the FBI, CIA, and NSA not talking to each other.
Nearly ten years later, here in Dane County, we’re STILL fighting about a radio system that would allow all the cops, firefighters, and EMT’s in the county to “hear” each other when there’s an emergency. Here, it’s a fight about who’s going to pay for, not about whether it’s needed.
It was apparent from my “monitoring” (there’s an old saying: broadcasters monitor; listeners listen and viewers view) of CNN and NBC’s coverage of the bomber that their reporters in the field didn’t know what information their colleagues had developed. It pains me to say it, but Fox News didn’t seem to have that problem. All their anchors and reporters in the field seemed to be on the same page.
Monday night, watching the NBC Nightly News, they had four reporters in the field doing live “stand-up” reports, mixing in video they’d gathered earlier in the day. Reporter number one said the bomber was caught after the plane had pushed back from the gate and was taxiing to the runway. The reporter even had the audio of ground control, telling the pilot to immediately bring the plane back to the gate. Agents then boarded the plane and arrested the would-be bomber and two other people.
Reporter number two said “the bomber was caught before boarding the plane”….an obviously erroneous assertion, as evidenced by the tape of the ground controller calling the plane BACK to the gate. CNN made a similar error in its reporting earlier in the day…obviously conflicting reporter stand-ups about how the terrorist was caught.
Mediocrity.
And how come Emirates Air isn’t checking its passengers against the notorious “no-fly” list? Another “communications” problem…or, just incompetence and mediocrity?
Many of the people I know who’ve survived all the purges in local newsrooms say they’re pressed more than ever before to do more things in the same amount of time, and with fewer people to help. Some even say the situation is a huge contributing factor to the mediocrity.
Whatever the cause, it’s apparent there are a lot of news managers and reporters who are NOT paying attention to detail – in a profession that demands attention to detail.
News organizations can make mistakes like this, and nobody really gets hurt. That’s not the case for a lot of other folks, like our law enforcement and public safety and intelligence operatives.
After 9-11, law enforcement and public safety agencies said one of the biggest problems was timely sharing of information – everything from NYPD not being able to monitor NYFD radio transmissions, to the FBI, CIA, and NSA not talking to each other.
Nearly ten years later, here in Dane County, we’re STILL fighting about a radio system that would allow all the cops, firefighters, and EMT’s in the county to “hear” each other when there’s an emergency. Here, it’s a fight about who’s going to pay for, not about whether it’s needed.
It was apparent from my “monitoring” (there’s an old saying: broadcasters monitor; listeners listen and viewers view) of CNN and NBC’s coverage of the bomber that their reporters in the field didn’t know what information their colleagues had developed. It pains me to say it, but Fox News didn’t seem to have that problem. All their anchors and reporters in the field seemed to be on the same page.
Monday night, watching the NBC Nightly News, they had four reporters in the field doing live “stand-up” reports, mixing in video they’d gathered earlier in the day. Reporter number one said the bomber was caught after the plane had pushed back from the gate and was taxiing to the runway. The reporter even had the audio of ground control, telling the pilot to immediately bring the plane back to the gate. Agents then boarded the plane and arrested the would-be bomber and two other people.
Reporter number two said “the bomber was caught before boarding the plane”….an obviously erroneous assertion, as evidenced by the tape of the ground controller calling the plane BACK to the gate. CNN made a similar error in its reporting earlier in the day…obviously conflicting reporter stand-ups about how the terrorist was caught.
Mediocrity.
And how come Emirates Air isn’t checking its passengers against the notorious “no-fly” list? Another “communications” problem…or, just incompetence and mediocrity?
Many of the people I know who’ve survived all the purges in local newsrooms say they’re pressed more than ever before to do more things in the same amount of time, and with fewer people to help. Some even say the situation is a huge contributing factor to the mediocrity.
Whatever the cause, it’s apparent there are a lot of news managers and reporters who are NOT paying attention to detail – in a profession that demands attention to detail.
News organizations can make mistakes like this, and nobody really gets hurt. That’s not the case for a lot of other folks, like our law enforcement and public safety and intelligence operatives.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
TWD - Texting While Driving
With a stroke of the governor’s pen yesterday, Wisconsin became the 25th state to ban texting while driving. The law will take effect in December. First question: why wait until December? Can’t we put it into effect NOW – or, say, on Memorial Day or the 4th of July? How many more lives will be lost, how many wrecks will there be, how much property damage will be done in the seven months we have to wait?
And how many more times will I be nearly run off the beltline by some idiot who’s concentrating on his or her cell phone, and not on driving?
Not that the new law will likely change any behavior. Every text message is apparently so important to some people that they will readily risk life and limb to read and respond to it.
The new law will carry with it the same fines connected with inattentive driving, ranging from 20 to 400 dollars. I say it should be 400 bucks for the first offense, and a year in prison for the second.
Why is it that people can’t just wait till the next off-ramp and stop their car before reading or responding to a text, or simply ignore it until they get where they’re going?
The law also will mean a mandatory unit on distracted driving for kids in driver ed classes.
I have had harrowing experiences dealing with texting-distracted drivers of all ages and both sexes. Last Friday, my wife and two dogs and I were loaded into my gas-guzzling foreign-made SUV, headed west on the Beltline, bound for the Badger Prairie dog park in Verona. Near the Park Street exit from the belt, I saw in my side-view mirror a Chevy Impala start drifting into our lane, behind us.
I was in the far right lane; the young man “driving” the Impala was in the center lane; and he was paying ZERO attention to driving. I slowed a bit so he’d be ahead of me, so I could keep an eye on him. He passed us, and as he went by, I looked down into his car and saw him with his cell phone in his hand, texting.
He weaved into our lane about a hundred feet ahead of us; then quickly corrected as he looked up for a moment; then, about a half-mile farther down the road, near the Seminole Highway exit, he weaved way over into the far left lane, and a moment later, again “corrected” sharply.
We got off at the Verona Road exit, thankful that someone else would be killed by this idiot.
And this is about the tenth time this has happened to me in the past month. Soccer moms, young kids, grown men – I’ve had to change lanes or speed to accommodate their wandering while they text.
This new law is one of the few that I welcome. I hope the cops write ticket after ticket, and I wish the penalties were much, much stronger.
People are getting killed out there.
And how many more times will I be nearly run off the beltline by some idiot who’s concentrating on his or her cell phone, and not on driving?
Not that the new law will likely change any behavior. Every text message is apparently so important to some people that they will readily risk life and limb to read and respond to it.
The new law will carry with it the same fines connected with inattentive driving, ranging from 20 to 400 dollars. I say it should be 400 bucks for the first offense, and a year in prison for the second.
Why is it that people can’t just wait till the next off-ramp and stop their car before reading or responding to a text, or simply ignore it until they get where they’re going?
The law also will mean a mandatory unit on distracted driving for kids in driver ed classes.
I have had harrowing experiences dealing with texting-distracted drivers of all ages and both sexes. Last Friday, my wife and two dogs and I were loaded into my gas-guzzling foreign-made SUV, headed west on the Beltline, bound for the Badger Prairie dog park in Verona. Near the Park Street exit from the belt, I saw in my side-view mirror a Chevy Impala start drifting into our lane, behind us.
I was in the far right lane; the young man “driving” the Impala was in the center lane; and he was paying ZERO attention to driving. I slowed a bit so he’d be ahead of me, so I could keep an eye on him. He passed us, and as he went by, I looked down into his car and saw him with his cell phone in his hand, texting.
He weaved into our lane about a hundred feet ahead of us; then quickly corrected as he looked up for a moment; then, about a half-mile farther down the road, near the Seminole Highway exit, he weaved way over into the far left lane, and a moment later, again “corrected” sharply.
We got off at the Verona Road exit, thankful that someone else would be killed by this idiot.
And this is about the tenth time this has happened to me in the past month. Soccer moms, young kids, grown men – I’ve had to change lanes or speed to accommodate their wandering while they text.
This new law is one of the few that I welcome. I hope the cops write ticket after ticket, and I wish the penalties were much, much stronger.
People are getting killed out there.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Dogs Give UW Students A Break
We didn’t have pet therapy study breaks back when I was a college student. We studied all day and all night for finals and didn’t sleep for two weeks and the tests were much harder back then and you were lucky if you got a “C”.
Yah, right.
Today, it’s much different. My college experiences from the ‘60’s are a world apart from my kids’ experiences. But then they never had the unforgettable experience of walking to class through teargas and phalanxes of cops and protesters.
And, I can’t remember having to take a final exam on Mother’s Day, as my son has to do Sunday, splitting time between mom and hitting the books.
If the weather holds up this afternoon, staff from UW Counseling and Consultation Services will bring their dogs to Library Mall from 3:30 until 5, to let the hard-studying students get a chance to pet and play with them – something the experts say is a known stress-reducer. If Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, it’ll happen Friday afternoon.
And the dogs won’t mind it a bit.
UW Health psychologist Bob McGrath says pet therapy has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, and lift moods. So there are benefits to the dogs…who will no doubt soak in all the pets they can…and the students, who get a nice break from studying.
Counseling staff will also be hanging out, available to chat informally about end-of-semester stress, and to offer advice on how to lighten the load.
Back in my day, all the motivation we needed was to know that if the old GPA wasn’t high enough, we’d get a letter from our draft board back at home, informing us that the coveted “2-S” deferment was going bye-bye. At least, for the guys. Girls, I believe, were more serious back then about studying, and still are. My daughter got her UW degree in three and a half years; my son is on the now-familiar five-and-a-half year plan.
That ill-conceived, foolish, and deadly Indo-China war back in the day was a real “motivator”.
A college education today is also far, far more costly than it was back in the ‘60’s, and from what I’ve heard of my kids’ experiences…and stuff like this pet therapy break today…the UW is far more serious about helping kids get through school successfully.
So if they’re offered a free therapy session on the Library Mall to play with some nice dogs for a while, I’m all for it. You gotta take your breaks where you can find them!
Yah, right.
Today, it’s much different. My college experiences from the ‘60’s are a world apart from my kids’ experiences. But then they never had the unforgettable experience of walking to class through teargas and phalanxes of cops and protesters.
And, I can’t remember having to take a final exam on Mother’s Day, as my son has to do Sunday, splitting time between mom and hitting the books.
If the weather holds up this afternoon, staff from UW Counseling and Consultation Services will bring their dogs to Library Mall from 3:30 until 5, to let the hard-studying students get a chance to pet and play with them – something the experts say is a known stress-reducer. If Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, it’ll happen Friday afternoon.
And the dogs won’t mind it a bit.
UW Health psychologist Bob McGrath says pet therapy has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, and lift moods. So there are benefits to the dogs…who will no doubt soak in all the pets they can…and the students, who get a nice break from studying.
Counseling staff will also be hanging out, available to chat informally about end-of-semester stress, and to offer advice on how to lighten the load.
Back in my day, all the motivation we needed was to know that if the old GPA wasn’t high enough, we’d get a letter from our draft board back at home, informing us that the coveted “2-S” deferment was going bye-bye. At least, for the guys. Girls, I believe, were more serious back then about studying, and still are. My daughter got her UW degree in three and a half years; my son is on the now-familiar five-and-a-half year plan.
That ill-conceived, foolish, and deadly Indo-China war back in the day was a real “motivator”.
A college education today is also far, far more costly than it was back in the ‘60’s, and from what I’ve heard of my kids’ experiences…and stuff like this pet therapy break today…the UW is far more serious about helping kids get through school successfully.
So if they’re offered a free therapy session on the Library Mall to play with some nice dogs for a while, I’m all for it. You gotta take your breaks where you can find them!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Scamsters All Around Us
The phone call came in the early evening one night last week. My wife grabbed the cell phone and listened for a moment, shaking her head, and then handed the phone to me, saying “It’s Park Bank”.
The robo-voice said “to activate your new check-card, please press 1”. Hmmm. I’d just gotten a letter in the postal mail from Park Bank, saying a number of their Visa Check-cards had been compromised in some scam, and we were going to get a new card in the mail. So, I pressed 1.
The next thing the robo-voice said was “please enter the 16-digit number of your debit card”. Wait a minute…the scam-alert red flag went up immediately. If this really is Park Bank, they know my debit card number, and would never ask me to enter it – especially to a robo-call device.
So I hung up and called Park Bank the next morning. They’d been inundated with calls like mine, and were assuring all of us that Park Bank will never make such a call, and that we were wise not to give our card number to a machine over the phone. The nice lady said when our new card comes, the letter will ask you to call us, and you’ll be talking with an actual Park Bank employee who will first verify who they’re talking to, and then activate the card.
The scamsters are everywhere.
My sister, who lives up in the Fox Valley, told me she came in from outdoors one night a week or so ago, to hear her husband on the phone, apparently responding to a series of questions. She said “who is that?” and he said “the government…it’s the census people, and they’re asking some questions”. She convinced him to hang up immediately, which he did. But they called right back and said “we were interrupted, can we continue?” This time my sister took the call, and gave them some choice expletives.
The caller ID screen said “U S Government”. These scamsters are good at what they do.
Of course it was not the government calling, and it was not the census. The scamsters started out by asking the street address of the residence where the phone was, how many people lived there, and was it likely that someone would be home during the day to speak with a census employee.
My sister’s guess…and mine…is that the scamsters were trying to figure when would be a good time of day to come over and rob them blind.
You can’t be too careful these days. I worry about my mom, who is 82, and still lives in her own home. Will she be careful enough when someone calls and tries to run a scam on her? I hope so. My brothers and sisters and I warn her about these things, but her generation tends to be more trusting. We always tell mom “ask the caller to send information to you about whatever they’re proposing, in the postal mail” and don’t feel pressured to give answers to anything on the phone.
It can be a very cruel world out there.
The robo-voice said “to activate your new check-card, please press 1”. Hmmm. I’d just gotten a letter in the postal mail from Park Bank, saying a number of their Visa Check-cards had been compromised in some scam, and we were going to get a new card in the mail. So, I pressed 1.
The next thing the robo-voice said was “please enter the 16-digit number of your debit card”. Wait a minute…the scam-alert red flag went up immediately. If this really is Park Bank, they know my debit card number, and would never ask me to enter it – especially to a robo-call device.
So I hung up and called Park Bank the next morning. They’d been inundated with calls like mine, and were assuring all of us that Park Bank will never make such a call, and that we were wise not to give our card number to a machine over the phone. The nice lady said when our new card comes, the letter will ask you to call us, and you’ll be talking with an actual Park Bank employee who will first verify who they’re talking to, and then activate the card.
The scamsters are everywhere.
My sister, who lives up in the Fox Valley, told me she came in from outdoors one night a week or so ago, to hear her husband on the phone, apparently responding to a series of questions. She said “who is that?” and he said “the government…it’s the census people, and they’re asking some questions”. She convinced him to hang up immediately, which he did. But they called right back and said “we were interrupted, can we continue?” This time my sister took the call, and gave them some choice expletives.
The caller ID screen said “U S Government”. These scamsters are good at what they do.
Of course it was not the government calling, and it was not the census. The scamsters started out by asking the street address of the residence where the phone was, how many people lived there, and was it likely that someone would be home during the day to speak with a census employee.
My sister’s guess…and mine…is that the scamsters were trying to figure when would be a good time of day to come over and rob them blind.
You can’t be too careful these days. I worry about my mom, who is 82, and still lives in her own home. Will she be careful enough when someone calls and tries to run a scam on her? I hope so. My brothers and sisters and I warn her about these things, but her generation tends to be more trusting. We always tell mom “ask the caller to send information to you about whatever they’re proposing, in the postal mail” and don’t feel pressured to give answers to anything on the phone.
It can be a very cruel world out there.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Nice "Work", If You Can Get It
I’ve been around long enough to remember when the state legislature was a part-time job, and members of the Senate and Assembly had “regular” jobs in addition to their gig under the big-top. I remember the arguments advanced to make the job of Senator or State Representative a full-time job with benefits and greatly increased pay.
Gotta have a full-time professional legislature, the politicians said. Gotta pay enough to attract good people, gotta give ‘em big staffs, gotta give ‘em dandy per-diems so they can afford to lodge and dine in our fair city; gonna get a lot better laws and a lot more work done.
Horse-puckey.
Only nine other states have a “full-time” legislature. Ours is among the best-paid, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which sent ‘round a newsletter about this, last week. The WDC folks say the full state Senate convened in session on 17 days in 2009 and 14 days in 2010 before adjourning a few days ago.
The full Assembly was in session only 23 days in 2009 and 13 days so far in 2010, including two notorious all-nighters at the end of the just-completed session.
How do I find a job like that – where I only have to “work” a few days a month, make 50 grand a year plus the tasty “per diem” pay of several thousand bucks for most legislators – and get essentially automatic pay increases?
I’m not naïve. I know the politicians “work” just about every weekday, for weeks at a time, but they’re doing their business behind closed doors in their caucuses.
Another “benefit” of our full-time, professional state legislature: the people’s business done mainly behind closed doors.
Did I mention the lawmakers don’t even really have to write the laws they pass? Most of the time, the lobbyists do that for them. Unless one of the politicians gets a bee in his or her bonnet about some pet project, and they actually attempt to write a new law which will affect about ten people.
And once you get hired for this job, it’s pretty much yours as long as you want it. The deck is so stacked in favor of incumbents it just about takes a series of convictions on gruesome felony charges to get a politician out of office.
Yah, I’m cynical. I think we should return to a part-time legislature – about 3 months a year oughtta do it - and reduce the pay to 15 grand a year, so nobody can really “live” on the pay; and I think we should have term limits, so nobody gets a job forever.
I can dream, can’t I?
Gotta have a full-time professional legislature, the politicians said. Gotta pay enough to attract good people, gotta give ‘em big staffs, gotta give ‘em dandy per-diems so they can afford to lodge and dine in our fair city; gonna get a lot better laws and a lot more work done.
Horse-puckey.
Only nine other states have a “full-time” legislature. Ours is among the best-paid, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which sent ‘round a newsletter about this, last week. The WDC folks say the full state Senate convened in session on 17 days in 2009 and 14 days in 2010 before adjourning a few days ago.
The full Assembly was in session only 23 days in 2009 and 13 days so far in 2010, including two notorious all-nighters at the end of the just-completed session.
How do I find a job like that – where I only have to “work” a few days a month, make 50 grand a year plus the tasty “per diem” pay of several thousand bucks for most legislators – and get essentially automatic pay increases?
I’m not naïve. I know the politicians “work” just about every weekday, for weeks at a time, but they’re doing their business behind closed doors in their caucuses.
Another “benefit” of our full-time, professional state legislature: the people’s business done mainly behind closed doors.
Did I mention the lawmakers don’t even really have to write the laws they pass? Most of the time, the lobbyists do that for them. Unless one of the politicians gets a bee in his or her bonnet about some pet project, and they actually attempt to write a new law which will affect about ten people.
And once you get hired for this job, it’s pretty much yours as long as you want it. The deck is so stacked in favor of incumbents it just about takes a series of convictions on gruesome felony charges to get a politician out of office.
Yah, I’m cynical. I think we should return to a part-time legislature – about 3 months a year oughtta do it - and reduce the pay to 15 grand a year, so nobody can really “live” on the pay; and I think we should have term limits, so nobody gets a job forever.
I can dream, can’t I?
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday Media Rant: “Loudmouth” Sly Nearly Derails The Elver Park Fireworks
After sputtering for a couple days, the Elver Park fireworks show on the 4th of July is apparently back on, with the city saying it’s forging a deal with the Woodman’s grocery stores to put on the show.
On Wednesday, it looked like it was off…with stories surfacing that Woodman’s didn’t want to work with Mid-West Family Broadcasting, and Mid-West saying it couldn’t go it alone.
It didn’t take long for “the rest of the story” to surface. The morning after the story ran on the local TV stations and my friend Pat Simms’ article hit page 5 of the State Journal, Sly was on the air saying he’s the reason Woodman’s won’t work with Mid-West to put on the annual fireworks show.
Thursday morning’s front-page story from Simms explained why Clint Woodman said his family’s chain of grocery stores won’t work with Madison-based Mid-West Family Broadcasting to put on the fireworks show this year. Neither Clint Woodman nor Tom Walker, CEO of Mid-West, aired the dirty laundry in the first article about the demise of the fireworks show, which is understandable, but Simms got the rest of the story the next day.
Back in December, Sly did one of his patented on-air rants about Woodman’s dropping mental health insurance coverage for their workers. I didn’t hear the rant, but according to Simms’ article, Sly then made another one of his patented moves, and got personal, ridiculing the way Phil Woodman wears his pants. (Phil’s the big boss at the grocery chain.)
Clint Woodman told Simms Mid-West should have reined in Sly, and not allowed him to talk badly about someone they do business with.
A scenario not exactly unique, where Sly’s show is involved. He is a polarizing figure.
Sly, of course, will stand on his First-Amendment freedom to rant as he pleases. And Woodman’s will stand on their privilege of doing business with whom they choose.
A couple items of disclosure: for those who don’t know, I worked with Sly for the better part of a decade. We’re still friends. And Pat Simms has been a friend for years, and was a regular guest on WTDY back when Glen Gardner and I were on in the morning.
And, for those not aware, broadcasting is not exactly what you’d call a “growth industry”. It’s slowly dying, just like the newspaper business. I’ll bet, if past is prologue, that the folks on the east wing of the first floor of the Mid-West offices and studios on Rayovac Drive (the sales department offices) are wailing and gnashing their teeth. Again.
There are no winners here, except the people who want to see the 4th of July fireworks show. Sly has a right to rant as he pleases, but criticizing the way the big boss chooses to wear his pants doesn’t win him many points. Woodman’s does not have a right to dictate programming policy to Mid-West because they are a sponsor. They’re buying exposure to the audience, not control of the station. But Woodman’s has a right to spend their money where they choose.
As I’ve told my children many times, choices have consequences.
On Wednesday, it looked like it was off…with stories surfacing that Woodman’s didn’t want to work with Mid-West Family Broadcasting, and Mid-West saying it couldn’t go it alone.
It didn’t take long for “the rest of the story” to surface. The morning after the story ran on the local TV stations and my friend Pat Simms’ article hit page 5 of the State Journal, Sly was on the air saying he’s the reason Woodman’s won’t work with Mid-West to put on the annual fireworks show.
Thursday morning’s front-page story from Simms explained why Clint Woodman said his family’s chain of grocery stores won’t work with Madison-based Mid-West Family Broadcasting to put on the fireworks show this year. Neither Clint Woodman nor Tom Walker, CEO of Mid-West, aired the dirty laundry in the first article about the demise of the fireworks show, which is understandable, but Simms got the rest of the story the next day.
Back in December, Sly did one of his patented on-air rants about Woodman’s dropping mental health insurance coverage for their workers. I didn’t hear the rant, but according to Simms’ article, Sly then made another one of his patented moves, and got personal, ridiculing the way Phil Woodman wears his pants. (Phil’s the big boss at the grocery chain.)
Clint Woodman told Simms Mid-West should have reined in Sly, and not allowed him to talk badly about someone they do business with.
A scenario not exactly unique, where Sly’s show is involved. He is a polarizing figure.
Sly, of course, will stand on his First-Amendment freedom to rant as he pleases. And Woodman’s will stand on their privilege of doing business with whom they choose.
A couple items of disclosure: for those who don’t know, I worked with Sly for the better part of a decade. We’re still friends. And Pat Simms has been a friend for years, and was a regular guest on WTDY back when Glen Gardner and I were on in the morning.
And, for those not aware, broadcasting is not exactly what you’d call a “growth industry”. It’s slowly dying, just like the newspaper business. I’ll bet, if past is prologue, that the folks on the east wing of the first floor of the Mid-West offices and studios on Rayovac Drive (the sales department offices) are wailing and gnashing their teeth. Again.
There are no winners here, except the people who want to see the 4th of July fireworks show. Sly has a right to rant as he pleases, but criticizing the way the big boss chooses to wear his pants doesn’t win him many points. Woodman’s does not have a right to dictate programming policy to Mid-West because they are a sponsor. They’re buying exposure to the audience, not control of the station. But Woodman’s has a right to spend their money where they choose.
As I’ve told my children many times, choices have consequences.
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