We have a country radio station in the building and it is already very successful.  I had a hand in getting the thing going, and no, I don't know squat about country radio.  I helped with the technical aspects of getting it going (putting files in computers, numbering and whatnot).  We also picked an amazing program director for the station who does know country music.  While putting all this together, I found out how just how ugly the people in country radio can be.  More after the jump.

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We've all been taught that 'country folk' are just a bit more polite, just a bit nicer and a bit more friendly than the rest.  I personally have found that at least when it comes to the country radio folk, it's just not the case.

Our sister station "BlakeFM" is a very innovate format for country radio. It actually play more NEW country music than traditional country formats (you see, I would think a lot of people would prefer older country stuff, but that's evidently not the case..shows you what I know).

So we launched this station as "Lubbock's New Choice For New Country".  Within a couple days, the other country station started saying the exact same thing  (meaning they didn't even bother to come up with a better slogan, they just stole ours). They didn't even bother to actually play more new music, they just started saying it.  BlakeFM also innovated by having the song title and artist at the end of EVERY song.  It took a couple more days, then they stole that.  BlakeFM instituted a call in number for listeners and plays the calls back, they they stole that.

It's really not that big of a deal; I know what they're doing. It's a lame idea from the book 'The Art Of War' about mirroring your opponent.  The problem with 'mirroring' is you spend your whole life as a replica, a carbon copy, an inferior reprint of the original.  You just wake up one day and you don't even know who you are because you've spent your entire life or career being the other guy.  The BIGGER problem is, innovators can always continue to innovate, while the copies just nervously try to read the minds of the smart people.

This weekend the  young girl who programs 995BlakeFM stood her own ground at a country concert, and WON.  The station was better represented and she ruled during her moment on stage.  It didn't come without a price though, she had to deal with the boorish and bullying behavior of the other radio station's afternoon douches.  All in all it wasn't that bad, but it was behavior that wouldn't have even been presented or tolerated had I (or probably any male)  been present to regulate.

So there you go, a little behind the scenes radio dirt for you guys.  At the end of the day it doesn't mean much, other than if or when our country station comes out on top, at least we can say we did it the right way-we innovated, we brought fresh talent and fresh ideas to the table. I am also very proud that this weekend our group was represented by a young lady that could be seen as the future of radio who just proved that she has more class, and yes, more BALLS than her competition.

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