Re: Birthday Games

[Mike Thomas <nostatic@earthlink.net>]

Mark Shneyder wrote:

> The Herald's story on Tuesday smelled like an absolute
> "plant" by Kiss people. I question the validity of so-called "splinter
> group" within Film House, Nashville-based marketing firm which
> came up with the Birthday Game 13 years ago. Film House owns the
> copyrights and the licenses for the game. If WBMX was going to go
> around Film House to run the Birthday Game, it would face some legal
> hassles, I am sure.

The Birthday game has been extremely popular over the last year or so
around the country. Million dollar prizes have recently been awarded in
Cincinnati and Los Angeles. It's very possible that both stations were
planning the same promotion and BMX came out of the chute first, so it
looked like Kiss was playing copycat.  I would not be suprised if FilmHouse
knew both stations were going to do the contest beforehand.

> I agree with J.J. WBMX feels Kiss can be had and they're going for it.
> Good radio war in the works....

I've noticed that Kiss is beginning to play more pop tracks
recently--things like Will Smith, N'Synch, Backstreet Boys etc.--artists
they were previously burying at night or avoiding altogether.  With the
Kiss Concert just a few months away, the station is forced to play this
stuff so the acts will appear at the event. It's possible that Kiss is
gambling that the national popularity of some of these acts will eventually
mean better ratings down the road, once the modern AC audience is lessened
somewhat.  My guess is that Kiss is hoping for the usual concert ratings
bounce they usually get during the spring book to get them out of the rut
they are currently in.

> The rivalry between KISS and Mix is definitely heating up.  I wouldn't
> be shocked to see Mix people rent a plane and fly a Mix ad overhead
> during the  "Big One"(KISS Concert 20) at Great Woods, and
> in distribute Mix T-shirts at upcoming Kiss events(that's what 'ZOU
> did 9-10 years ago). In return, Kiss(Chancellor) will probably
> try to put pressure on record labels and artists not to support
> MixFest and other Mix events. Same old story but stakes are much higher
> today than they were 10 years ago....

This stuff has been going on for some time between Kiss and Mix.  Kiss
tried to flex it's muscle at Great Woods last year by claiming it's venue
event exclusivity when the Lilith Fair rolled into town.  Instead, Lilith
organizers banned ALL stations from the event rather than letting one
station (Kiss) get exclusive rights.  When the Barenaked Ladies played a
free outdoor show last fall in Boston--several stations tried to claim the
event as theirs--including Kiss and Mix, along with the River and BOS.
With BMX surging and Kiss in a down cycle--look for thing to get
interesting in the next few months.

Mike Thomas
WXLO & Mediabase 24/7

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