DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

Fred Willard is an improvisational genius. But you already knew that.

His announcing of the dog show in BEST OF SHOW included one of my all-time favorite lines. When the “miniatures” came out, Willard turned to his dog expert partner and asked, “How do they get them so small? Do they…miniaturize them?” As though there’s some sort of miniaturizing machine you put dogs into….

Fred was a guest at one of our Radio Creative/Production Summits several years ago, as part of a panel. We were seated on stools onstage. I told Fred I’d never seen him portray an authority figure and wondered how he would handle such a role. “Like the boss,” I said.

“Well, let’s say I’m the boss and you’re applying for a job,” Fred said. How cool is this? Improvising on stage with Fred Willard.

Okay, well….My part of the improvisation was trying not to fall off the stool, helpless with laughter from Fred’s first words as that authority figure.

I believe he deliberately was extra funny, just to humiliate me.

This isn’t the scene I mentioned from BEST OF SHOW, but it does feature the delightfully deadpan Bob Balaban.

The latest issue of my Radio Programming Letter discusses whether mainstream radio stations that program Christmas music around the clock leading up to and immediately after December 25 are helping or hurting themselves.

This issue also includes a detailed radio talent aircheck critique.

This posting is for subscribers to add their own comments….

Legendary radio programmer Chuck Blore explains that with the astonishing success of “Color Radio” at KFWB/Los Angeles, he brought the format to other markets in the United States.

First came KEWB/San Francisco. And then KDWB/Minneapolis.

And therein lies the tale….

November, 1996 (continued):

The highlight of my last day in Rome was the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) luncheon, featuring exceptionally well-prepared, melt-in-mouth moist salmon.

That evening I took a taxi from my hotel to the airport. I found myself growing increasingly nauseous during the 45-minute ride.

Despite what you might have heard about Italian taxi drivers, it wasn’t due to my driver’s driving style. I am prone to motion-sickness.

Mom's Choice: Ginger Plant

My Choice (Sorry, Mom)

My mother, who enthusiastically embraces non-traditional treatments of health problems (i.e., she’s suspicious of anyone who currently is a member of the American Medical Association), long ago had suggested I try taking ginger root as a preventive for motion sickness.

For a couple of years I successfully used it instead of Dramamine (the most common over-the-counter motion sickness medicine), but after a while it seemed to lose its effectiveness for me.

Knowing it would be a long taxi ride (through Rome, which means narrow streets, fast turns, and many sudden starts and stops), however, I had tried to prevent such discomfort by once again taking some ginger root.

Sorry, Mom, but it didn’t work.

At the airport — after staggering out of the taxi and taking some Dramamine — I boarded an Austrian Airlines flight to to Vienna.

Just before take-off, the crew gave the standard pre-flight safety instructions. Those instructions were immediately preceded by an Austrian Airlines jingle (clearly from one of their commercials) played over the in-cabin speakers:

“You are flying/You are flying/You are welcome/You are welcome/Austrian Airlines welcomes you.”

I had not previously encountered an in-flight jingle.