The Deminski and Doyle Show

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2010-04-22T18:52:00.001-04:00

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2010-03-26T19:41:00.002-04:00

PHILADELPHIA

Deminski & Doyle filling in again on back to back nights this Tuesday and Wednesday 3/30/10 and 3/31/10 from 10 pm till midnight on WPHT Philadelphia. Those who have absolutely nothing better to do than listen to us two losers may do so those nights and times at www.thebigtalker1210.com .

Now again, this is a traditional news/talk station that is pretty heavy on the 'issues'. Therefore don't expect we'll be having Beaver pretend to be a blind man in a men's room stall trying to get a stranger to read the sports page to him. Nor will we be placing Rudy in a precarious situation to play Guess What's In The Dumpster. Nor will we have Pat The Weirdo covered in cat food and attacked by dogs. Nor will we have a live taser demonstration. Nor will we EVER AGAIN have a live taser demonstration. Nor will we ask Pat The Weirdo to show his foot deformities to a live in-studio audience. Nor will we perform an on-air wedding. Nor an on-air bachelor party for that matter. Nor will we have Shane waxed by a tranny.

Nor will I ever understand why this crazy show worked as well as it did.

So if you want to listen in, it would be great to have you. www.thebigtalker1210.com

2010-03-19T11:36:00.002-04:00

IS THE SHOW COMING BACK?

I get asked this almost every day. A D&D guy named Tim who does landscaping came up to me at Target yesterday asking me. I was with my impatient little 3 yr. old girl or I would have talked longer. Gave the short answer of I hope so and yes Detroit would be nice, but I honestly have no idea. Had I had more time, this is the longer answer I would have given.

Shows like ours were rare to begin with. A show that was all talk to NOT talk exclusively about politics or to be a sleaze show are rare. We were fortunate to have worked for two stations in 15 years that trusted us to draw in our unique way. We could do a serious even controversial, sometimes political, issue one segment, and move on and do something stupid, light and funny the next. And it worked. A little something called ppm happened in the world of radio ratings in the biggest of markets about a year and a few months ago. PPM stands for personal people meter.

First, the old system. The old system was a 'recall' system and involved people taking part in the ratings survey filling out a diary for one week. For one week of their lives, they would have a diary supplied by Arbitron (the ratings survey company) and they would in theory fill out as they listened what they were listening to. Among the complaints about this were that if people really liked a show, they might write down that they listened to the entire thing, all 4 hours say, when in reality they maybe only listened an hour and a half. I think the upside of the old diary system was that under a recall system (recall here meaning simply you remember and write down what you're listening to) the more loyal a listener, the more involved a listener, the more you have an impact on that listeners life, the more passionate the listener, the more they'll remember you and write you down. Yes, the exact times of listening may have been somewhat flawed. But the level of involvement for the listener is, in my opinion, certainly represented when they're being asked basically what radio shows mean the most to you. Another upside of the diary system is that the sample size was much, much larger. Still based on only a fraction of the actual population, but far greater than the fraction of a fraction that is the sampling size with ppm.

Now then, the news system of the personal people meter. In the biggest markets they no longer have people fill out a diary and they don't have nearly as many people taking part in the survey and those they DO have are kept for very long periods of time. So much so that Arbitron has no longer even been forthright with much of this information. The personal people meter is a little electronic device about the size of those old fashioned pagers. You can clip it on a belt if you're a guy. One reason formats that favor women tend to not do as well in ratings now is that females have fewer options of actually wearing the people meter on their clothing. They don't wear things that are very 'clippable' like belts, and even when they might ladies tend to care what they look like throughout the day and are less likely to want to have this ugly little box on them. Seriously, it comes down to things like this. So male formats they say do somewhat better because the compliance rate for men is higher. This box you wear or at least keep with you at all times, it picks up a secret signal now embedded within the broadcast signal of each station, each station having its own unique signal. So this box will record whatever signal is being put out by whatever audible radio it is near. There's good and bad to this. Good is in theory it should be much more accurate. What's bad is if you even just walk into a store and are in there for 5 minutes, and the radio they're playing behind the counter is loud enough your box will record whatever that store is listening to as your choice. What stations do so many retailers play and do so many offices allow? The ones that are largely background filled with 'safe' music that no one's really listening much to, but the box doesn't record interest levels or impact levels. It only records what's in front of it. As a result, many more stations in reaction to this new ppm system (which by the way has even been called into question for inaccuracies by congress) are offering a lot more music. Many other stations are scared off by talk.

This is the result. Dick Purtan said it best after announcing his retirement. You're left with either pure talk (and that's almost always the traditional serious minded news/talk programming where it's politics and issues) or all music. You're not getting as much variety. Where I'm going with this long explanation of how it's all happening is that there are fewer places for shows like ours to exist. It's been happening to true entertaining talk personalities all over the country. What's left is sports talk, which we're not, traditional news/talk which is part of what we can do, and music shows that MAY allow some fun personality to get through. It's looking more like our choices both involve change. Either stick to our lighter more fun side but accept it in smaller doses mixed with music. Or tap more full time into our serious side and go the more traditional news/talk route.

Now that's a LOT of explanation, but I kinda feel I owe it to people who've been following us for ten years here in Detroit, and other folks back in New Jersey for 15. None of this should be taken as griping or grousing. We were a top 5 show adults 25-54 several times in 2009 and once even number 2. I believe both ratings systems have flaws, and I believe both have good points too.

Now had I tried to say all this to poor Tim the landscaper at Target A) security would tell me to shut up and get out and B) poor Tim's eyes would've probably glazed over.

So back to the short answer, not sure yet what will happen with us, but thank you everyone for asking.

2010-03-16T10:45:00.003-04:00

ONE NIGHT STAND PART TWO

Bill and I are doing another fill-in show for two hours Wednesday night the 17th in Philadelphia on a CBS owned news/talk station, WPHT. Anyone who cares to listen may through http://www.thebigtalker1210.com/ 10 pm to midnight.
This is a solid, traditional news/talk station so don't expect us to be making Rudy eat dog food. Lots of call in opportunity and talk about issues such as how upset some are getting that the word 'negro' is being used on the census forms we all just got. Things like that.
For me an interesting thing is that this falls late on St. Patrick's Day, so I wonder what kind of calls we could get, lol. You know what I'm saying.

Oh, met a couple more D&D listeners this week, one at the CVS on 13 Mile & Woodward, another at D&D (no connection) Bicycle shop on 12 Mile at Greenfield. Just wanted to say thanks for not being shy! I like it when people speak up that they recognize us cuz I honestly DO want to keep in touch with you guys! We're asked all the time if we're staying here. Just don't know. If something comes up that we're right for, then yes, of course. We'll see. Not a very satisfying answer I know, but it's the only one I have right now. But believe me, we're working on it.

2010-03-12T07:28:00.002-05:00

ONE NIGHT STAND

Bill Doyle and I are doing a one night stand in Philadelphia this Saturday. Ah, I feel like such a whore.

We're doing a fill-in opportunity this Saturday (3-13) from 8pm to 11pm (if they keep us on that long hahaha) on WPHT "the big talker 1210". If anyone cares to you can listen live through their site at www.thebigtalker1210.com. But just so you know...this is a traditional news/talk station, so you're not going to hear me telling stories of Rudy sleeping with a tranny or anything. This is news and opinion and callers. As you know I'm never opinionated about anything. NOBODY BRINGS A DOG INTO A MALL!!!

2010-02-26T20:13:00.002-05:00

SEX OR RADIO

Somebody asked me which I'd give up for life if I could have as much of the other that I wanted. Is it pathetic that my first reaction is I'd give up sex for a great radio situation? I wouldn't expect to be paid much for doing either, but at least with radio I don't have to take my shirt off. Also I already own headphones. And if sex were permanently gone think of all the money I could save on toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, etcetera. Hmmm. Yes I think I'd choose a great radio situation. Still searching for that, and I've read all the emails about certain scenarios and whether I'd be interested in certain things. For obvious reasons I can't answer those questions. But I will say if there were a way to still be a part of Detroit that could really move this old D&D thing forward, I'd be interested. I feel badly that I'm not answering every email but so many of them are direct questions asking about certain job openings and even whether I'd like listeners to start 'petition drives' or 'email campaigns' to help get us back on air at certain places. I think folks don't realize how much this business has changed and how carefully some of these decisions are scrutinized. It's big hearted for you guys to offer to do things like that, and obviously you can do what you'd like but, I just don't see business matters being swayed that way. Hopefully someone here will see the worth in the show. Even if not what will always matter to me more is that for so many years you all did.

2010-02-11T11:14:00.002-05:00

FRIDAY NIGHT

For anyone who missed the last get-together I'll be hanging out at Snookers on Hall Rd. in Utica tomorrow night (Fri. Feb. 12th) from about 8pm till maybe midnight. I hope you can make it out because this will probably be the only other time I can do this due to A) money, B) might be traveling a lot soon, and C) crap going on at home.

Just a small gathering, not some big crazy station event (Snookers doesn't even know anything about this; just one of my favorite places that I picked), just probably a dozen or so of us knocking back a few. Okay knocking back a lot, lol.

Hope to see you there!

2010-02-07T23:27:00.002-05:00

THE STOLEN UNDERWEAR STORY

I stole boy's underwear from Target this week. I didn't mean to. I had both my kids, 3 and 4, and I need to point out they were getting increasingly tired and cranky. Threw everything in the top part of the cart because I needed the whole large part to accommodate a large box with a microwave in it. What I forgot was the very first thing I threw in that big part of the cart was boys' underwear for my kid. Then that big box went on top. You see where this is going. The cashier didn't make me take the huge box out; just scanned it in the cart. I never thought about the underwear. She never asked if there was anything beneath the box. Didn't notice it till outside, both kids were strapped into car seats, and I unloaded the cart. At this point it's late, it's freezing, the kids are both screaming about some nonsense, and I'm thinking screw it. Score one for Deminski. Didn't MEAN to do it anyway. But by the time I got home it was already bothering me. It was 25 dollars worth. Batman glow in the dark briefs. Now seriously, when you're 4, that's a total chick magnet. (What?) Plus other underwear. Told a friend that next day I was going back to Target to pay for them. He told me I was stupid. Thanks friend. So anyway, I did. I brought them back inside to custom service and explained what happened. And that I wanted to pay for them. The girl looks at me like I've grown a second face or a third eye or like I'm actually WEARING glow in the dark Batman briefs or something, and says, "And you came back?" She thanked me, took my money, I took my briefs, and I'm pretty sure as I walked away I could hear her thinking, "stupid!" Thanks friend.

This Friday Feb. 12th Snookers on Hall Rd. in Utica, 8pm. Come hang out. It's the last of my beer money before I'm broke so come have a few with me! Don't think I'll be getting out any time again soon. Would be great to see ya. Oh and again this is nothing official so don't call Snookers asking about this. They know nothing about it. Just a place I picked that I like to meet up with a couple of you and have a few drinks, that's all. So just look for me.

2010-02-01T22:20:00.002-05:00

THANKS

for coming out to Mr. B's, Jen and Kim, Jennifer, Supersize Scott (funniest moment for me was when a guy took one look at Scott, didn't hear his name or anything, and goes, "That's the guy who fell through the toilet in the trailer park isn't it."), said guy from New England and his buddy, don't think I caught your names guys, Pat The Weirdo who was sporting his hey-look-at-me-crazy-black-and-red-safari-hat-straight-out-of-The-Game-pickup-artist-book, Photographic Memory Dennis, Steve from Waterford and his buddy Dan, the couple who's names I'm still too hung over to remember and I apologize very much for that but she took lots of pictures and he got "lit", cool guy named Eric, the couple that caught me just as I was heading out and they had driven an hour just to get there so like a Bruce Springsteen tune I went back inside had a few drinks and all we kept talkin' about was glory days, and everyone else. Thanks for a fun time!

If you didn't come out but would like to grab a couple cold ones I'll be knocking back a few at Snooker's on Hall Rd. in Utica on Friday night February 12th from 8pm till maybe midnight. That'll probably be the only other time I go out anytime soon as I'm out of work and my drink money should be gone by midnight, hahaha.

2010-01-29T17:22:00.002-05:00

SOFAS AND SPIDERS DON'T MIX

I have a situation that I'd love to get some advice on. I have this sectional sofa that's been in storage for over a year. Out of the elements, but not airtight and not heated in the winter nor cooled in the summer. So yes there's been a lot of bugs in that storage unit. In fact I've even seen those little balls stuck in webs that I believe to be spider eggs in different parts of the unit.

Well now I need the sofa. It was up off the floor, some sheets thrown over it, but it was not shrink wrapped or anything.

What would you do to it to make sure you didn't wake up with five thousand spiders crawling out of the thing? Is a simple bug bomb really going to be enough? Is there some company that will fumigate individual pieces of furniture? Do I just throw it out? I don't have arachnophobia, but I don't want thousands of miniature friends living rent free either. Your comments or emails would be appreciated.

And just another reminder, Mr. B's in Royal Oak tomorrow night (Saturday night) at 8 pm till maybe midnight, unofficial get-together. Scroll down for more info.

2010-01-27T09:45:00.008-05:00

CHECK THIS OUT

This guy has taken over a video dance game at Jeepers in Great Lakes Crossing and has become obsessed with it. Watch the video here...

http://tinyurl.com/gamerdance

This cracks me up on several levels. I've been to this place SO many times with my kids but haven't seen this guy. Can't you imagine all the little kids forming a line waiting their turn while this guy hogs the machine for three straight hours? This is his workout. Look, he even brings a gym bag, lol. Weird.

Don't forget if you want to hang out and have a couple drinks I'll be at Mr. B's on Main Street in Royal Oak this Saturday at 8pm. Rudy says he's coming out too sometime between 8 and midnight. Hope to see you there. Maybe they'll have a video dance game. Later.

2010-01-24T20:57:00.002-05:00

220 221 whatever it takes

The Mr. Mom thing today had me attending back-t0-back birthday parties. I have a 4 yr old and a 3 yr old and the parties fell on the same day. One ended an hour before the other one started. I now know why they serve beer at Chuck E Cheese. Sensory overload. And OMG, one of the parties had 80 percents girls. I never noticed until today the level of hearing damage that occurs when mostly girls decide to all scream at once. It goes front row at a rock concert, 5 year old girls all screaming at once, then thermonuclear explosion.

So, help me out, I need a drink.

Remember the first get together for anyone interested starts at 8 pm at Mr B's in Royal Oak this Saturday the 30th. Scroll down to last post for a map and other info. I'm letting Bill Doyle and Rudy know about it too but not sure if they'll be on hand. Hope to see you there, and if you can't make it, hey, more Jack for me!

2010-01-18T14:30:00.002-05:00

TWO GET-TOGETHERS

Saturday night January 30th I'm going to hang out at Mr. B's in Royal Oak if any of you want to come and have a beer with me. I'll get there about 8pm and hang out till at least midnight, so if there's anyone who wants to come by that'd be awesome. It would be great to see you.

Here's the address

Mr. B's

215 South Main Street, Royal Oak, MI‎ - (248) 399-0017‎

Here's a map

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Royal+Oak&state=MI&address=215+S+Main+St&zipcode=48067-2611&country=US&latitude=42.4885&longitude=-83.14425&geocode=ADDRESS

And then Friday night February 12th I'll be imbibing at Snooker's in Utica. I'll get there same time about 8pm and hang out till at least midnight.

Here's the address

Snookers

45100 Northpointe Boulevard, Utica, MI‎ - (586) 726-0510‎

Here's a map

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Utica&state=MI&address=45100+Northpointe+Blvd&zipcode=48315-5856&country=US&latitude=42.628113&longitude=-83.000159&geocode=ADDRESS

Again this isn't some big event or anything. I'd just like to see you again or meet you for the first time, and God knows I've got a little time right now, lol. I wish I could buy everyone drinks but I just can't. Please, NO pity drinks bought for me! That's not what I'm looking for. Let's just have a couple of us get together, b.s., drink and have some fun. Hope you can make it.

2010-01-14T18:08:00.002-05:00

TEN DAYS

into the show being in cold storage and yes, I'm bored. I'd like to tell you what we're looking into but I don't want to jeopardize anything. I will tell you there's not a lot going on these days. Radio as an industry, like most industries, is hurting, and budgets are real problems. Maybe I'll just become a personal trainer, hahaha. If you knew me you'd get the joke.

So I had this great morning taking my daughter Mina who turns 3 this weekend out to Twelve Oaks Mall, just her and me. I often don't get enough one on one time with the kids so those times are special, and this morning was really cool. To have her at that age where we can have actual conversations about things is so cool. We end up going to Max and Erma's in the mall for lunch. She can be a terror other times, but this time she was so well behaved she might as well have been 10. I thought I had this touching moment where she's looking around the restaurant and puts down her food and looks at me very seriously and says, "This is a very nice place." It seemed so mature, almost like to a 3 year old she was appreciating Max and Erma's as fine dining. I say I THOUGHT I had this touching moment because when I got home and told my wife, she pointed out that she was merely repeating a line said by Giselle in the kid's movie Enchanted. Insert Price Is Right buzzkill music here. I'm sitting there thinking how grown up she's acting and all she was doing was what I've done for years, quoting movie lines. Lines from Scarface, Goodfellas, As Good As It Gets, Tombstone...it all came back to haunt me.

I was thinking about organizing a small night out for any of you who might want to hoist a few. I wish I could buy for everyone but under the current situation I can't, I'm sorry. However no one needs to buy for me! Just would like to get together with whoever wants to. Assuming a Friday or Saturday night would work best but if anyone has any thoughts on the matter please feel free to either comment or write me at jeffdeminski@comcast.net which is my personal email but pretty much everyone has it. And again, I'm not talking a listener party with prizes and games, I'm just talking about a couple of us picking a place, night and time and knocking back a few, that's it. Let me know. Weirdo, you in?

2010-01-10T19:38:00.002-05:00

THE REAL SCOOP

This is very funny. A listener let me know about this. I didn't even bother reading the link although I'm sure it was very entertaining. You guys remember about half a year ago when we talked about how it was frustrating the way some bikers (bicyclists) took their 'right to the road' to an almost zealot level and would not get out of your way while doing far below the speed limit? We were talking about the types who would ride three abreast at 13 mph in a 35 road, almost defiantly being a pain in the ass? Well now half a year later, some bikers' association or something or another is claiming THEY are the reason we moved on from WCSX, because of their complaints in other words. Riiiight. I told you they were nuts.

Coming off 13 straight hours watching my two yr. old and four yr. old. 220, 221, whatever it takes. On a fifteen minute breather and thought I'd say hi to you folks. Thanks for all the email and kind words. Check back in here to find out if we land something in town or somewhere else or if we slowly starve to death beneath an overpass. Either way I'm sure good stories will follow.

Oh special hi to Heather who I met...whom I met?...this chick I met at Chuck E Cheese on John R today. We both happened to take our kids there at the same time and she is, like many of you, a long time listener going back to 2000 or 1999. Very cool person and it made me miss ALL our listeners. Also makes me long for the kind of station where we can be more interactive with you guys again like the 97.1 days.

Okay, back to the kids and having to say things like, "You can stick it in my ear but you CAN'T pull the trigger!" and "If your sister wants to poop she'll tell me!"

2010-01-08T09:07:00.005-05:00

DEMINSKI & DOYLE - HEY, WHA' HAPPENED?

As of 9:00 am January 4th I am no longer working for WCSX nor is my partner in crime of 16 years Bill Doyle.

When Greater Media first approached us they wanted the show as it was, a talk show, the same as we'd always done in the Detroit market. They hired us in for morning drive to do just that, but they very quickly decided that doing talk on an otherwise all music station was more radical for their 'CSX audience than they realized, and they simply wanted to get back to their roots. Throughout 2009 we were offered the chance to change the show to a music intensive one, but we're not disc jockeys and didn't want to become that. In the end, we both came to the agreement it was best to chalk it up to creative differences and part amicably. I also want to thank them for being classy enough to allow us the chance to say farewell on-air. There are some great people there for whom I wish nothing but the best. KC (Ken Calvert) is indeed the casual one; incredibly down to earth, funny gentleman. Karen Savelly is such a pro and truly one of the nicest people I've met in the business. Steve Kostan is probably the most knowledgeable classic rock jock anywhere, and while I never got the chance to run into him that much he was always a cool guy when I did. Uncle Buck who does overnights there (so I'd see him every morning at 4 am when I rolled in) is my fellow Springsteen-addict-brother-in-arms and I hope I always know him. So many people who work off air who's names you never know but who are terrific as well.

Thanks for all the calls, texts and emails from all of you. I want to say I'm sorry about how 2009 turned out, but a show and it's station has to be on the same page, period. I know the main thing folks want to know is "what now?", and what I can tell you is for right now we're both still living in metro Detroit but looking everywhere. It would be great to find a station in Detroit again that would actually want and commit to what we do, but the national economy has left the entire industry in a bad way and we have to be realistic. We'd be fortunate to find that station anywhere. If we land something here in the Motor City you'll hear of it right here a.s.a.p.. If we need to move away I'll certainly let you know that too.

Many of you will be asking about the others, so let me give you the rundown. Jamie Samuelsen was doing our sports and he is still there in mornings on WCSX. He'll be doing sports for Ken Calvert's new morning show. Same for Nicole Salem who remains doing traffic for KC. I'm not sure what's going on with Rudy Desantis at this point. Jim O'Brien who was our producer for just this past year will remain with WCSX. He was one of their guys to begin with; had been there at least 6 years before we got there.

So that's it. That's about all I can say. If anyone wants to write me directly my personal email address remains the same...jeffdeminski@comcast.net. Stay in touch, and I'll do the same. Now pardon me while I go home and get my f'ing shinebox HAHAHA.

2010-01-08T09:07:00.001-05:00

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