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Bob

Bob McGrath visited us in our homes daily through at least two generations over more than 40 years as the longest-running human character on Sesame Street.

I was an early watcher of Sesame Street, when it first came on the air in the fall of 1969.  I was finishing my Master's thesis and I had papers spread out across my parents' living room floor.  At 4 o'clock one day I decided to take a break.  I put the TV on. It was tuned to Channel 13 PBS, which my parents had been watching the night before.  Before I could tune away to another station, I got caught up watching this new fast-paced children's show with puppets and a few humans including Bob.

Sesame Street became a daily habit for me for the rest of that year.  And I became a regular watcher again years later as my own kids were young.

I was lucky enough to meet Bob a few times when Sesame Street won Christopher Awards over the years and I was handling PR for the events.  But the best was the first time I met him, unexpectedly.

It was around 1988 and I was attending a luncheon at Chanel 13, representing my client McDonald's, which was an underwriter of the show.  My cab got hung up in traffic so I arrived after everyone was already seated.  Someone from Channel 13 brought me to table that had an empty seat.

I apologized, introduced myself and then all the others went round the table to introduce themselves.  Finally, the man immediately to my right turned to me and said "Hi, I'm Bob McGrath."  I couldn't catch myself as I went into fan mode. 

"Bob!" I shrieked.  He smiled as my face turned beet-red.  When I regained my composure I told him how I had found Sesame Street while working on my Master's thesis.  He thought that was a hoot.

Through lunch we had a nice chat about children's TV and how much he loved working on Sesame Street.

I'm fortunate to have that memory.

Bob will be missed by millions of kids of all ages.

...

Bob was a lot more than a Sesame Street cast member.  His bio, here in The Hollywood Reporter, is interesting.

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What We Do: On Tour for Teen Driver Safety

Just finished the last of two weeks of interviews to promote Teen Driver Safety Week for the National Road Safety Foundation.

I did the last spot just now, live on Boston's WCVB-TV 5.  I also did several taped and live spots via zoom around the country over the past several days, and my NRSF associate Michelle Anderson did a few, along with teens from student advocacy groups SADD and FCCLA.

We also did a spot on WCBS Newsradio 880 in New York that aired several times over the past few days, with my friend and morning anchor Paul Murnane.

Thanks go to Bob Thomas for helping get these interviews set.  We did nearly two dozen interviews, from Portland OR to Atlanta, with stops in between, with tips on how parents can keep their teen drivers safe behind the wheel.

 

 

What We Do: Virtual Media Tour

For the National Road Safety Foundation, we're doing a virtual media tour, hitting TV stations around the country with messages for National Teen Driver Safety Week.

Click here to see how a station in Mississippi used our interview and coupled it with comments from a local teen driver, her dad and a local driver ed teacher.

 

 

We have interviews with about 20 stations in markets including New Orleans, Toledo, New York, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Richmond, Portland OR and more.

 

 

 

What We Do: Teen Driver Safety Week

Sunday marks the start of National Teen Driver Safety Week, when we put the focus on teen drivers and what parents can do to keep them safe behind the wheel.

We're doing a virtual media tour for the National Road Safety Foundation, with zoom interviews with TV stations in about 20 markets.    It kicks in next week, but we've already done a few in advance in Roanoke, Toledo, Texas, Nebraska.. with more to come including some major markets like Atlanta, New Orleans and Portland OR.

Perfect Ending

A perfect end to a great story.  "Better Call Saul."

What We Do: Safest Summer Ever

Every summer, teen car crashes and deaths spike.  An average of 9 teens die on the roads every day during the summer months. 

The National Road Safety Foundation, along with SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), is making a push to put safe driving on the minds of teens this summer, to help make this the safest summer ever.

In addition to a massive social media campaign involving tens of thousands of SADD students nationwide, we're doing a virtual media tour.  Along with my associate Michelle Anderson at The National Road Safety Foundation, we're doing remote interviews with TV stations nationwide.

Click here to see one Michelle did with a station in Lansing yesterday.  I did some in Hartford and Providence Tuesday, and I'm about to go on with the NBC station in San Antonio in a few minutes. 

We have more lined up with stations in Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago, Toledo and more as we're trying to get teens -- and all drivers -- to slow down, pay attention and always buckle up.

 

What We Do: Distracted Driving Awareness Month Virtual Tour

For The National Road Safety Foundation, we're mounting a virtual media tour to talk about the dangers of distraction during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

I was the spokesperson yesterday, as we kicked off the tour with two TV interviews in Tennessee and Minnesota.

Here's a clip from the segment that aired last night and this morning on KAAL-TV ABC in Rochester, Minnesota.  I'm thrilled to see that the 8-1/2 minute story began with some comments from Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, talking about distracted driving.  She's been a vocal supporter of tougher distracted driving legislation since back in 2010, when I met her at the first National Distracted Driving Summit convened by then-Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood.

Lots more to come during the next two weeks.  Stay tuned

30 Seconds...Flush...$7 Million Gone

 

NBC announced this week that it has sold all its inventory of commercial spots for this year's Super Bowl.  Some advertisers spent as much as $7 million for a single 30-second ad.    

Yes, it's true that the game and all the hoopla that surrounds it gets big audiences.  And some of the ads get talked about and shown and re-shown online. But I wonder how many people actually see the ads. 

Commercial breaks are when many people make a run to the kitchen or a run to the bathroom.  Who stays to watch a 2- or 3-minute commercial break?  And of you do watch, how many actually remember any specific ad or who sponsored it.

I wonder what else might a business do with $7 million?  Lower prices?  Pay employees more?  Put some into programs that benefit people in need?

Just sayin'.

 

  

 

Lou Grant

 

Safest Summer Ever

 

The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day is traditionally the most dangerous time for teen drivers, with a 21 percent spike in teen traffic fatalities. 

Traffic safety officials often refer to it as “the 100 deadliest days.”

On behalf of client The National Road Safety Foundation, I'm working again this year with the leaders and student leaders of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) to help make this “The Safest Summer Ever.”  The two groups are mounting a massive social media campaign to call attention to a range of safe driving issues from distracted and drowsy driving, as well as many other driving skills.  The campaign will have different safe driving messages posted on social media every week, with those posts amplified by shares and re-posts by SADD chapters and tens of thousands of SADD members nationwide. 

“We’re mobilizing the tens of thousands of student safety advocates in the SADD community at the middle school, high school and college level to help spread important safe driving messages to peers, friends and family,” said SADD President and CEO Rick Birt.  “We hope to make this the safest summer ever, not only for teens on the road, but for all drivers and passengers.”  

Part of the effort is media outreach.  We're arranging for TV interviews nationwide, using SADD student leaders and, in some cases, myself and my colleague at NRSF, Michelle Anderson.

 

Here are links to two stories that aired on newscasts yesterday in Missouri and Wisconsin.  And there's lots more to come.

WXOW-TV   ABC 19    LaCrosse/Green Bay WI   

KSNF-TV   NBC   16    Joplin MO