Let’s be honest, a lot of us in the industry were watching the Super Bowl for the Rihanna Half Time Show just as much, if not more than, for the hope that either the Chiefs or the Eagles would win. Why? Because we love Ri-Ri, her brand, her music, and we had certain expectations, based on previous experience, that her show would be “Off the Charts!” Maybe even one of the Top 5 up there with Prince, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Janet and JT? There is a level of expectation we have as fans, and as an audience based on the Star power of Rihanna that something big was going to happen during the show. Even my 84-year-old mom was looking forward to watching it.

The mere mention of her name had set the tone and the anticipation. We expected the hits, with flashy dancers, and dance moves. We expected flips and twists and glam and glitter from Rihanna herself. In our minds we envisioned Cirque Du Soleil, blasts of fire, controversy, organized chaos, special guests, and everything that comes with a glorified Rihanna performance big enough to cover an entire football field. But in the end, what we got was a focused, carefully curated 13 minute rendition of the Hits by a Woman confident enough to know that she no longer needed to prove herself.

I recently had a conversation with one of my colleagues about the current consultant he is working with. Very much “the usual suspect.” Overpaid, 60+, white male who hasn’t been on the front line in over 2 decades. The kind of consultant who just lays ...

California-based fast-food chain In-N-Out announced last week that it would be expanding into Tennessee. How does this impact me? Well, first of all, I just moved back to Nashville, and secondly, everybody I know sent me a link to the story when it came out, as if ...

They say the biggest form of flattery is when someone copies your ideas. An old colleague of mine use to always say, “The best ideas are stolen,” and he knew from experience that it was true, and good for success. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am completely ...

Last week I drove down from Nashville to my hometown of Eunice, Louisiana to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with my family down in the bayou. The drive is exactly 671 miles from my parking space at my complex to my mom’s back door. It took me exactly 9 hours to ...

Why are we making our listeners jump through hoops to listen to us? Why are we making our listeners jump through hoops to win from us? It’s bad enough that our ratings system and methodology (PPM) is difficult enough to actually achieve “real” ratings ...

It’s so appropriate that my first outing for All Access after moving to Nashville was the revealing of a new Dolly Parton Mural in the downtown area. Let me start by telling you that for as long as I can remember, I have always been the biggest Dolly Parton fan I ...

There are so many dynamics when it comes to the “work marriage” topic. But for the sake of this column, I am going to focus on the three most common and most challenging examples in the industry. Just because lately, while the industry is in an uproar, and ...

“The only way to fix the problem is to go back and re-do everything that was done, returning the brand to its original strategy that is consistent with its listeners’ expectations” It’s a quote from a column I wrote in July of 2021 called ...

Let me first start by saying that this year’s Morning Show Boot Camp in Chicago was a “Home Run.” The turn out was great, the panels were informative, the level of talent on the panels and the prep they came with was above and beyond. I think it’s ...