The WWE taught me a lot about show business, branding and creating a successful broadcast. Just about everything you need to know about broadcasting is contained in a WWE TV show. As an example, one of the greatest things I learned was that the entrance is key. Whether you have ever watched the WWE before or not, you know EXACTLY who the wrestling character is from the entrance. I'll use Shawn Michaels as an example: Through a recent leak that was published on Reddit, it is clear that Vince McMahon has spent a little time with Valerie Geller or her books. Vince himself was an announcer during the WWE's great ascension in the 1980's and is most qualified to write this guide for his company. Anyone who has worked with me knows I love WWE and have preached its many of the items found in this unofficial WWE announcers guide. My favourites are posted and I have highlighted in red the one that is the most important to having a successful broadcast career: Interaction between the broadcasters: "Play by play announcers need to set up Color Commentary" "Assist the audience in clearly understanding storylines." "Announcers cannot be emasculated by their broadcast partners. If the play by play person loses their credibility then why should the audience believe the play by play people? It is imperative that the audience do believe. Telling one's partner that they are "ill-informed" is much better than telling them that they are "an idiot." "Announcers should rarely lead ours fans. Let them decide for themselves if they like a Superstar or dislike him." "Announcers ARE NOT THE STARS. It's not about them, it's about the Superstars. The announcer's job is to enhance THE SUPERSTARS stories. To help our fans learn more about the characters and develop emotional attachments to them. If announcers focus too much on "US" it takes away from the valuable time in which we could be bringing our current stars or stars of the future. Fans do not buy tickets to see announcers." "All announcers must read WWE.com all week." "Do your homework. An announcer should never, ever do a show in which they have not done research on. "Announcers should critique themselves. They should watch a replay of their shows. They should be their own worst, most nit-picky critics." "Listen to other Announcers and styles. WE ARE ALWAYS LEARNING." "Whenever possible it is important to know exactly what you are throwing to and coming out of. What is the first thing that fans will hear when you are done talking? Knowing this makes for better segues and will make your work better."

Here are five reasons (in no particular order) why it is harder to program than other radio formats: Talent: If you don't have a morning show that stands out in your market – it's going to be tough sledding. Rock music alone does not drive numbers after 9am. You also need an up and coming or established afternoon drive personality. It's not enough to provide music, traffic and commercials on the drive home. Listeners can get those first two things on their own and they don't want the third. You can count the number of successful stations that do not have engaging personalities on no hands. The schools that used to churn out future talent desperately need upgrades to the digital world. One solution that needs some serious consideration was tabled by Marty Forbes of Radio Wise. The format's gold library skipped a generation: (Does not pertain to Classic Rock) Around 2005, listeners began connecting with the songs through other means. (Think TV Commercials, TV Shows and other product placement) Even if they did hear it first on your station, they can have it on demand once they buy it or they can stream it for free. Rock radio never provided an adequate home for heavier sounding rock and now Spotify is sending out press releases bragging about it. The rules are not the same for Top 40 stations because their music is shuffled along after a year. When Rock listeners love a song, it's for life. Inevitably listeners will hear it more on another device than on a traditional radio - so the media device gets the emotional credit. If you think it's no big deal, there's a reason the smallest era on radio's gold playlist is from 2005-2013. It also does not help that big acts like Metallica, and Tool go on a decade long hiatus. Marketing issues: Face it: You do not know who this person is. Just so you know - he makes wine. He also does not want his band associated with your station. Ever tried to get Foo Fighters, Zeppelin, the Stones, Tool, Metallica, or AC/DC onto your radio station's TV ad or bus board campaign? It's like pulling teeth. (Rockford, Illinois's WXRX managed to get Metallica on) Meanwhile Country radio's outdoor campaigns feature Carrie Underwood and Blake Shelton. Top 40 stations have no problem decorating the skyline with Rhianna, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. It would appear that country and CHR artists understand that being visible is in their best interests. Score one for the beautiful people. One Buffalo station let their listener's do their TV ad. (Probably because the 30 seconds could not be populated with its core artists. Perhaps the tide is turning with U2's recent takeover of Rock 101, who realized they need to be out there. As much as rock artists do not think they need radio, the medium still carries huge legitimacy. Program directors tell their air talent to make as many appearances as possible and show up to the swearing in of the local dog catcher. Inversely, radio needs to find better ways than a 90 second interview and sending listeners to the website for the rest of the conversation when they do interviews. (See the part above creating compelling content) If radio does not make it worth the artist's time, they won't bother to come. Rock's Failure to promote the format from within: Ever watch the Country Music Awards? There are appearances from country acts who promote and thank radio for their contributions over the course of the year. The artists have remained loyal to the radio medium and radio has reciprocated accordingly. Most of rock radio's listener defections have come at the expense of country. By the way, Steven Tyler and Don Henley are recording country records. Country has essentially raided rock's talent and sound. The industry has a history of this: At rock radio's peak in 1989 when Metallica were releasing their best material, they managed to lose the Grammy's Best hard rock award to Jethro Tull. Yes that happened. Metallica still wasn't over it in 1992 when they did win a Grammy. That moment told rock fans the industry was out of touch with the their product and busy counting George Michael's money. The Rock station is way too cool for the listener: This happens more often than you think. On air personalities pick on country and pop stars on a regular basis. People under 35 do not give a crap about formats or what your station plays or doesn't play. The songs co-exist on people's iPods. It's paramount to me scrolling through your iPod playlist and telling you all the songs that suck. Stop it. If you would like to talk more about rock radio and making it better, I can be reached at 204-414-5541. There's lots more great reading available if you are interested in this subject: * Greg Diamond of Byrnes Media wrote in-depth on the "State of Rock Radio" just over a year ago. * Fred Jacobs of Jacob's media had a wonderful 4 part series printed in 2012. Most of which is still relevant today.

It's hard to turn a blind eye (or ear) to how bad things allegedly are in radio. Each time an article or stat is published, radio's inclination is to add another line to its eulogy. The truth is that radio gets stuck because it perpetually has to learn how to share with every new medium that comes along. Radio has lasted so long because it eventually it adapts. People listen to the radio - just not like they used to. Next time you are presented with the latest bad news, read these five amazing things about radio: 1. According to the latest Audio Fact sheet from Pew Research Center, 91 percent of (American) people 12 years old and older tuned in to radio it last week: That's more people than Facebook. You have probably also seen that since 2010, online listening has grown immensely. Good news - your station is online. Know what else? It was "wireless" long before mobile phones were. So go get a piece of the pie. 2. Radio is still the GO-TO medium when the the power goes out. When hurricane Sandy landed in New York, people turned to radio for information. From the New York Daily News article in the days after the hurricane: “If everything else is gone, people still have a radio,” says Tim Scheld, news director at WCBS-AM. “It’s not just information. It’s a connection. Even music provides companionship and a sense of calm.” But do not take my word for it. 3. After the purchase of a radio and some electricity to power it - Radio is free for the listener: Yes this is a big deal. It's not easy being Spotify these days. They have to get people to pay for their product only to be told you cannot hear Taylor Swift. Apple raised the price of each song to a $1.29 a few years ago. The cost of hearing a song on terrestrial radio hasn't changed since... Ever. When the listener uses their phone to stream anything - including a terrestrial radio station - they have to pay for it. They do not do it as much because they know it. 4. Radio is a more powerful medium than whatever you're being told is taking your listeners: This goes back to it being free. It draws complaints about its content because it has personalities that have relationships with the audience. When these relationships are compromised, it causes an emotional reaction towards the personality or radio station. They complain about the product which is... free. Most people don't even complain about things they purchase. Ever notice that people stopped talking about Howard Stern once people had to pay for it? 5. It takes one click to turn on a radio: Ever see how long it takes you to boot up your computer, get online, logon, surf to your music source and then listen? Longer than a song. Recent studies show you do not have that sort of time. #WCBS #Spotify #Apple

Over the past few years, radio has taken its fair share of shots from other platforms. Terms like "yesterday's news", "old and outdated", and "anachronistic" generally come to conversation amongst those who brandish all the latest phone apps. The death of radio seems to have a lot in common with that of Grigory Yefrimovich Rasputin. Radio has survived for so long for many reasons, but the biggest one is because it never tries to compete with the new media that arrives. No one reading this might be old enough to remember how television was going to replace the radio. It did, but only in the living room. The radio moved to the kitchen and formed an incredible bond with females who predominantly inhabited that room. (Stop yelling at me, it was the 50's and that's the way things rolled) The legacy left behind: The majority of radio stations from that point on targeted females. Meanwhile in the living room, the most watched TV shows of all time in Portugal, Germany, the United States, and Canada are respectively, a collection of soccer matches, Super Bowls and hockey games. The first challenge to radio's pedestal came when television ended radio's golden era. In the years after television took over the living room, radio added the FM band to its repertoire, and the golden age of radio gave way to the golden age of disc jockeys. Throughout the 70's, the radio still had the monopoly on portability and television only offered a handful of channels. In 1982, the Sony Walkman again threatened radio. The invention was significant because for the first time, the personalized music experience was truly portable. Inevitably, this invention essentially did in music on AM radio while FM radio was left untouched. In the coming years, the MTV and CD era was ushered in with the release of Michael Jackson's Thriller. This is where the relationship between radio and records becomes truly codependent and amazingly profitable. The only expense is AM radio. The sounds between CD's and FM were congruent and radio along with MTV/MuchMusic made gobs of money on the only codependent relationship to never become abusive. If it you do not remember what it was like, nothing sums it up better than a 1991 CBS news special on radio. (Note how the record rep said radio was in trouble) And when you've picked yourself up on the floor, watch the video: Things remained static in North America throughout the 90's save for the self-inflicted repatriation of ownership rules which allowed for US companies to own up to 8 stations and Canadian stations up to 4. What followed was a quest for efficiencies, flanking, and acquisitions. While there were those that complained about it, the profitable ends justified the means. In 2005 when the iPod came out, and YouTube became the real deal; the end user could customize their musical experience. Radio suffered a blow. Not because people were not going to listen to the radio anymore, but because radio was no longer apart of the initial engagement for the user. Put into alternate terms, radio was no longer apart of the birthing process, but at best a mid-wife. The iPod is now the iPhone, Streamers arrived at the party, and there are additional distractions (Facebook and Twitter) that have hampered radio's original enemy more than radio itself. The fact that so many people are talking about radio and its future shows it will be around for years to come. If there is one thing constant about radio - it's change. For those pondering radio's demise - it's going to be okay. In 50 years there are still going to be over the air transmitters and the airwaves will still crackle with the sounds that emotionally spur listeners; as long as programmers and performers provide it. #radio #CBS #MTV #walkman

Nothing quite beats the pomp of a celebrity arriving in a small town. From the early days of any broadcaster's career, you are taught to go and tell the story that people are talking about and want to know more about. Yesterday Snopp Dogg landed in Truro and the CBC stuck a microphone in front of him. Now if you are not familiar with Snoop Dog, he is an incredibly talented rap artist who was discovered by Dr. Dre in 1992 and released a #1 album called Doggy Style in 1993. If rap isn't your thing, you can be forgiven not knowing the regrettable lyrics found in his music. Simple research would show you that he has made a career out of degrading women and rapping about it. He showed up at the MTV Video Music Awards with two women on a leash and has a line of Girl's Gone Wild Videos. Perhaps we believe that Snoop is now a changed man since this article in Urban Belle magazine. Add to that, his Canadian entourage are the Trailer Park Boys, who are known on their TV show for smoking weed, selling weed, and trying to find weed, all in the confines of a Nova Scotia trailer park. Over the years, they have conducted their promotional interviews in character. So why the surprise when he comments about how "thick" he finds the reporter and says about the camera operator, "I like your camera girl, too. She's thick. Damn. "? In the end, the broadcaster is getting the clicks, Snoop Dog and the Trailer Park Boys remain on brand, and the upcoming tenth season of the Trailer Park boys gets great promotion. The CBC story does not mention that the camera operator is married to Mike Clattenburg, who is the creator and director of the Trailer Park Boys. That may be irrelevant to the incident, but it makes for an interesting bedtime conversation at the Clattenburg residence. The bottom line is: Know who you are interviewing before you interview them. Take for example Mike Tyson. If you are going to interview him - expect this to happen. #CBC #Media #Interviews #Halifax #Snoop #TrailerParkBoys

It took almost a half year to happen, but Power 97 got the send off it deserved. Saturday night, an amazing collection of Canadian radio talent from Power 97's past, piled into a Winnipeg bar to share old stories and in some cases, meet for the first time. Leave it to great radio people to find a way to have a radio station promotion for a station that has not existed for a year. What ensued were good times, a few drinks, a lot of laughs. Also the ability to celebrate hard work, success and acknowledge one another's contribution. Power 97 came of age in the late 90's and well into the 2000's. Over the course of its existence, the Winnipeg rock station made headlines with outlandish promotions and irreverent on air personalities. You remember the time a woman volunteered to ride naked down Portage Avenue? Or the time the morning man became the 34th greatest Canadian? Not surprisingly, Hal Anderson and Jim Jones were apart in both those promotions and outlasted 4 program directors throughout their tenures at Power 97. The passion of those who built the radio station into one of Canada's finest, inspired the Saturday night send off. Chris Lynch who served as music director for several years, and former PD Christian Hall, (2002-2004) came up with the idea for the Power 97 Wake. It did not take more than a Facebook invite to have a contingent from Alberta, (Lochlin Cross, Chris Lynch, Graham Mosimann and Christian Hall) and Toronto, (Steve Parsons and Fearless Fred) arrive in Winnipeg for the weekend. Over the years, the station churned out immaculate on air talent, programmers, imaging producers, engineers, promotions people, sales and support staff, and eventually a website and interactive director. Any great Power 97 event always needs Dan Harper photography - his pictures tell the tale: It was the people who were apart of Power 97 that made it great. #Power97 #radio #winnipeg

On the internet it goes by #FHRITP. The Wikipedia definition is: "The act of shouting the eponymous phrase in public, most notably interrupting outside broadcast television reports. It became popular in early 2014 after a television reporter allegedly made a statement about a missing woman on live TV ending off with "F**k her right in the pussy", which purportedly got him fired. The quote got further attention after a man allegedly screamed the phrase during two live broadcasts on Cincinnati TV stations WLWT and WKRC-TV. However, all of the clips were actually hoaxes made by a video producer." On Sunday, May 10th, the bit officially become beyond old. Shauna Hunt who is a reporter for CITY-TV in Toronto, called out the knuckleheads who ambushed her broadcast. The local idiots made the cardinal sin by stopping to talk to her and exposing their low IQ to a television audience. The station knows video gold when they see it and have it posted on their website. Normally, a reporter's reaction is to cut the live broadcast, apologize to the viewer and hope the video does not become a video immortalization online. The tide turned long ago, but only now are people fighting back. A Calgary bar owner interviewed about that other sports and alcohol form of harassment, shot back in the name of common decency. CITY-TV has long been the target of this in Toronto because they go live more than any other station, especial during the FIFA World Cup. On two occasions last year, multi-ethnic Toronto provided two instances of over-refreshed misbehaviour. It is only fitting that a soccer game was again the setting for the alcohol fueled indiscretion over the weekend. Media have had difficulty reigning in the behaviour because they have misidentified the motif: It is not an attack on women; it is not about the reporter. It is an attack on the mainstream media and common decency. As many male reporters as female have had their broadcasts interrupted; the vulgarity borrowed from the initial video which catered to the lowbrow. But without question, it is harassment and it leaves an indelible mark on women. The perpetrators are male 98% of time; numbers akin to drunken sports fans who run on the field. Two important protocols go into place when that happens: (1) The person is charged with a crime. (2) The crime is not broadcast. While it is difficult for broadcasters to keep to video off the internet, it is not beyond reach to charge these people with public indecency or harassment. Broadcast airwaves are public domain and deliberately yelling a profane expression like this is enough to get one charged. It only takes ONE person to be charged and this becomes a thing of the past. Now, who will be the first to report this crime to their local authorities? Kingston Police are clearly ahead of the game. UPDATE: The person in the video was named as Shawn Simoes and he has since been fired from his job. #CITYTV #FHRITP #YouTube #police

[Note: Greg Simpson is the owner of Mindbenders Music and is busy at Canadian Music Week. He asked me to pen his trademark writing piece, "The Almost Forgotten Track". I was happy to make this contribution. Greg is a champion of all things music and radio. If you are an artist ready to take your work to masses - Greg can help.] Today is May 8. On this day in 1982, Vangelis (Born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou) scored a #1 with the theme to the movie Chariots of Fire, and Six weeks earlier an Oscar for Best Original Score. Six months earlier, Vangelis' collaboration with Jon Anderson of Yes spawned today's Almost Forgotten Track, "The Friends of Mr. Cairo". The roots of the collaboration started in 1974 when Yes was looking to replace departed keyboardist Rick Wakeman. After a few rehearsals, Vangelis decided not join, and the Yes keyboardist job went to Patrick Moraz. Anderson and Vangelis remained friends and collaborated on three albums between 1980 and 1983. The second album was entitled "Friends of Mr. Cairo" and was #1 throughout Quebec with the title track becoming a cult hit in Canada. The title track was huge hit especially in Montreal where it received more than just the forgone CHOM airplay. Top 40 stations like CKGM and CKOI played the 4:10 second edit while FM stations prided themselves in playing all 12:10 seconds. Outside Quebec, album sales decisively outpaced radio airplay. Many Canadians have pondered the reasons for Quebecers attachment to long progressive keyboard pieces from Genesis, Yes and Supertramp. The short answer can be traced back to Sundays spent in church where 10 minute organ pieces or regular occurrences. #CHOM #CKOI #CKGM #Music

Periscope had its coming out party over the weekend with thousands pulling in live streams of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Watching a live stream through a cell phone camera of a TV in a stranger's home is hardly quality stuff. However, the app soared to a whole new level in the world of "must have" apps. Here are some effective methods some radio personalities are using to enhance their shows with Periscope: Terry Evans & Bill Cowen with Bryn Smyth and producer Scotty Ballantyne: Every morning, the show activates Periscope on multiple occasions including the entertainment report and sports with Bryn Griffiths. Periscope's automatic tweet reminds K-97's Twitter followers to join the show and get the sports content Terry's audience is on Twitter looking for. The show also conducts an after show broadcast entitled "12 More Minutes with Terry and Steve". On the morning of May 6th, they conducted a therapy session with Albertans, after a monumental provincial election. Terry has long been a voice of reason to his listeners and he used the time to remind them to calm down. Mike McIntyre: Author and broadcaster Mike McIntyre is best known for reporting crime in the Winnipeg Free Press. He also has a national radio show. Mike spends a lot of time in court and live tweets while it is in session. Two great things Mike does with Periscope: (1) He provides a live stream from the media scrum after court lets out. (2) He does a Q&A session with followers on court proceedings for certain high profile cases. Mike's followers are already following him and the case on Twitter, and makes full use of Periscope's chat feature to respond to his followers. Periscope is a great tool to further your brand after the show. No one does live media better than radio performers because their work is predominantly live. In the coming year, it will be those people discovering successful branding methods. No longer can you rely on the excuse that your station "didn't have budget" for video equipment. If you are not ready to broadcast, download the app and view how some people are using it to enhance their profile. It's free. #radio #K97 #periscope #iPhone #Winnipeg

Two weeks ago, HBO's Inside Sports ran an 8 minute feature starring Chris Rock, about all that ails baseball these days. The origins of my column was to focus on how an industry as revered and timeless as baseball, can become arcane by not changing with the times. When my favourite sports radio show was talking about Chris Rock's video and baseball's reality, I immediately went searching for the internet gold. Instead, on the morning of April 23rd when I searched for the "viral" video, I was met with a Geo-Block. Curious because HBO Canada does not carry HBO's Inside Sports. So why would it be blocked? No matter, the Canadian rights holder that houses the HBO channel will certainly have it. Nope. The video found its way onto YouTube 6 days later, but rather than writing about baseball's antiquated ways, I am writing about how media companies cannot get content distribution down. This run around is nothing new for Canadians. Many Jon Stewart clips that get featured on mainstream U.S. TV shows and websites like TMZ, do not see the light of day on the internet in Canada. The Canadian rights holder for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart show keeps full shows. (up to 30 days) Good luck trying to find the hilarious clip that has gone viral around the world - except Canada. Unless something changes, Canadians will have something else to complain about aside from the annual simultaneous substitution Super Bowl rant. Once Canadians have said their piece, media companies will feel browbeaten by the CRTC, and the cycle of consumer abuse will continue. Here's the video that took until April 28th before I was "allowed" to see it. It was posted by lyfeblood.com on YouTube.