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Wednesday, May 7, 2008
5/7: What’s on Jovita Moore’s purse? And WABE-FM’s spring fundraising results
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Although sweeps are more or less irrelevant in Atlanta now that advertisers can get accurate local ratings 12 months a year, the TV stations still reflexively bring out the wackier stories in February, May and November.
Right now, WSB-TV is heavily promoting a story called “How Clean Is Your Purse?”
They swabbed women’s purses to see what was on them? Here’s the online story.
“We had several of them that came back with fecal contamination,” said Beau Rollins, a microbiologist with Nelson Labs.
You read that correctly. Fecal matter was found on a lot of the purses we tested, including Jovita Moore’s. Needless to say, the women who let us test their purses were shocked to hear that.
Gotta love it, eh?
-Despite the shaky economy and rising gas prices crowding out spending, WABE-FM’s listeners came through this spring and pledged the stated goal of $920,000, even exceeding it by a few thousand dollars, according to general manager John Weatherford.
“We’re deeply gratified by the generosity of our listeners,” he said. He was also happy to see a record spring number of new members — 2,200.
A year ago, WABE-FM cut its pledge days from 10 to 9 and fell short of its pledge goal for the first time in several years. Since last fall (WABE does pledges twice a year), the station went back to 10.
The most popular pledge gift item? The recyclable grocery totes.
-While the Steve & Vikki and Cletus T. Judd TV ads keep airing full force, Q100 recently rolled out a bunch of ads for its Bert Show. It features a fans (or actors pretending to be fans) saying how much they love the show, then the quartet turning pieces of paper saying the Bert Show 99.7. Then they laugh uproariously. Do you like the ad if you’ve seen it?
Speaking of the Bert Show, they are holding a contest that Steve & Vikki did many years ago — get celebrities to call in for a chance for money for their charity. So far, the Bert Show has gotten Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Timberlake, Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Carter as the biggest names I’ve heard so far. Others who have called so far include Trisha Yearwood, Dallas Austin, Big Boi, Melissa Etheridge, Dan Akroyd, George Takei, Fran Drescher, JIm Davis (founder of Garfield) and Jessica Biel. Thursday is the final day.
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5/7: Alton Brown coming to Variety Playhouse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the biggest Atlanta-based TV stars is Alton Brown from the Food Network. But despite his long-time ties to the area, he doesn’t do as well here with book signings compared to other major cities.
“I can do shows to standing-room-only crowds in St. Louis, but not here,” he said, calling in from a gourmet food show in Las Vegas earlier this week. “I’m not sure why.”
So he decided to jazz things up for Atlanta to promote his new “Feasting on Asphalt” travelogue/recipe book, based on the Food Network series last summer. On the show, he rode a motorcycle along the Mississippi River checking out mom-and-pop shops along the way.
Instead of holding his signing at A Capella Books, he’s hosting it at Little Five Points’ Variety Playhouse, a far bigger venue than a bookstore. Check him out at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 8. The $29.50 ticket includes a copy of the book.
How is this going to be different from your typical book signing?
They’ll be a talk, a lot more questions and answers, a lot more interaction with the crowd. People will be able to take pictures with some of the motorcycles from the trip. They’ll be food available, video from the show. And since it’s a school night, families with school children will get to the front of the line. Typically, 25 percent of the people at my events are kids.
Why do you think you draw so many kids?
I’ve been doing “Good Eats” for 10 years now and our kid audience has grown and grown. This show wasn’t designed for kids but it really appeals to them. I’m proud that we cover such a wide demographic.
Last November, you weren’t sure if you were going to sign a renewal with the Food Network. What happened?
They asked me back. I was kind of up in the air last year because I never assume anything will ever continue. It wasn’t done until it was done. I’m glad they still want me. I’m old guard now.
Any new shows on the horizon?
We’ve got a very open-ended deal. I’m still doing “Good Eats” and “Iron Chef.” We’ll start new shows when I have the capabilities to do so. We will continue the “Feasting” brand. This year, I shifted from “Feasting on Asphalt” to “Feasting on Waves.” We traded in our motorcycles for sailboats. We went to the Caribbean. It’s a very different type of show. It’s still about real people. My goal was to discover what Columbus discovered. The Caribbean was the first culinary melting pot on the planet. [The series is set to air again in September.]
What’s your favorite recipe from the “Feasting on Asphalt” book?
I really love the Kool-sicle, which I found in the Delta. That’s a dill pickle cured and concentrated in a Cherry Kool-Aid solution. It sounds hideous. It makes these pink things that look like they came from somebody’s body. But when cold and placed on a stick and eaten like a popsicle, you won’t believe how good they are!
