Route 66-based story
written by OC,SH’s founder, inspired by his September 2009 Route 66 road trip

CHAPTER 52: INTEREST IN THE 2 LANES!?

In his office at the WSM studios in Nashville TN, Kyle sat in awe. He knew the “from the road” broadcasts would generate interest, excitement & correspondence, but he hadn’t anticipated the levels he & the other station brass were seeing. From just the 1st 3 broadcasts (including photos & podcasts) at Dwight IL’s The Old Route 66 Family Restaurant, the correspondence received was slightly outpacing the amount of correspondence the station had received for the Grand Ole Opry broadcasts for the last month … combined. The station did not have the time nor the resources to answer every note, nor did they particularly want to answer each. However, some correspondence was the same: “When would the brothers be at such-&-such place along Route 66?” … “Would the brothers be interested in appearing on a local TV newscasts during their stay in such-&-such town?” … “Would the station consider traveling broadcasts along other famous roads?”… etc. Kyle already knew the answer for that 1st generic inquiry; they didn’t nor could they know since the brothers planned the trip to develop on its own without a set schedule. The answer to the 2nd query, of course, depended on when the brothers arrived in the area of the requested appearance & how long they wanted & were willing to stay there. Within hours of the 2nd broadcast, Kyle’s team had put up a “FAQ” (“Frequently Asked Questions”) on the different social media outlets as well as WSM’s website. That, however, did little to stem the flow of incoming messages.

It was the 3rd generic question, tho, that had Kyle thinking the most. When the middle brother had 1st asked him about broadcasting from along Route 66, he balked in terms of cost alone. But, now, companies, also noticing the buzz about the concept, were slowly starting to line up to place advertisements. It still wasn’t near the interest in advertising during the Grand Ole Opry shows or, for that matter, the Super Bowl, but the trend was more than Kyle thought it ever would be. Even so, Kyle was skeptical; maybe the interest would slowly & steadily decline over time. He’d have to wait & see, of course, but the idea of broadcasting along the Lincoln Highway, the Dixie Highway, US Route 20 & other 2-lanes intrigued Kyle. Maybe people really are hungry for these mom’n’pop type places in a world where society is so fast-paced & increasingly impersonal!?