Sandy Wells

Radio Column July 30, 2007

2007-07-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Listening In

July 30, 2007

By Sandy Wells

KFI news anchor writes and stars in musical about family therapy

In you feel that there’s too much drama in today’s news presentation you may be right. Radio journalists can be as guilty as their colleagues in TV, print and in the blogosphere of sensationalizing stories to capture a bigger audience.

KFI-AM 640’s weekend news anchor Courtney Kramer is ostensibly very aware of the boundaries between news and fiction, or at least is able to separate the two, since she is also a dramatist and actor.

Kramer has turned her journalistic eye to reporting on the fun and foibles of family life in the new musical she co-wrote and stars in, “Mental” now playing in Santa Monica.

The piece is based on a week-long family therapy workshop called the Meadows in Arizona she attended with co-writer Fiona Hogan.

“Mental” is about Mona Clutterbuck, who attends a fictional family workshop much like The Meadows. In order to be treated for her “love addiction,” she is asked to bring in her parents and siblings.

“The parents are basically based on our parents,” says Kramer.

By the end of the week, the Clutterbuck’s secrets about codependency, sex, depression and love addiction are out in the open.

“Love addicts are dealt with a lot in this musical,” explains Kramer. “It’s about people who can’t be alone, who always need to be in a relationship, ‘serial daters.’ If they’re not with someone they’ll just date anyone who happens to be around until someone better comes along.”

She says a lot of problems that afflict individuals are rooted in family issues and one thing that has provided her the most satisfaction is when audience members come back to see the show again with their families.

Kramer studied drama at Drew University and then moved to the “other Hollywood” in Vancouver where she landed some TV acting roles on shows such as “Andromeda.”

After eight years she felt she wasn’t getting enough acting work and enrolled in journalism school. From there she found work at Vancouver’s only all-news station, where thanks to her dual citizenship (her father is Canadian) she was able to hold a full time job. An audition tape sent to KFI got her a job in Los Angeles radio.

She loves working at KFI, the people and the work.

“I love the fact that I can just come to work in my pajamas,” she says. “I love that I can just talk into the microphone and it’s like I’m talking to my friends. I just love coming to work on Saturday. KFI is just such an amazing station to work for and I feel really blessed. I just have to find another one because I’m only working there one day a week.”

Kramer has another project in the works about a stripper who aspires to be a hip hop dancer. She and her partner hope to take the show to Las Vegas.

“Mental” runs at the Edgemar Center for the Arts at 2437 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405 Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. through August 26th. (310) 392-7327.

Talk radio bias analyzed

We all know conservative points of view dominate talk radio.

That is one of the facts driving a movement among some lawmakers to restore the old Fairness Doctrine in a quest to bring more “balanced” discussions of political and cultural issues to the public’s airwaves.

Conservatives claim their dominance is due to consumer preference and the “free market” of ideas. They say listeners prefer conservative hosts because either they agree with them or they find them more entertaining than liberals or “progressives.”

A new study, “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio,” published jointly by the nonpartisan Center for American Progress and Free Press confirms conservatism’s dominance in talk radio but challenges the view that consumer preference alone is the cause. They say it’s more about concentration of ownership in the hands of a few large corporations.

News/talk radio’s influence is huge, attracting over 50 million American listeners a week on the more than 1,700 stations dedicated to the format.

The study found that their “analysis in the spring of 2007 of the 257 news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners reveals that 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming is conservative, and 9 percent is progressive. Each weekday, 2,570 hours and 15 minutes of conservative talk are broadcast on these stations compared to 254 hours of progressive talk—10 times as much conservative talk as progressive talk.”

Here in the Los Angeles/Orange County market, the study found that conservative content outweighed progressive content 69 to 31 percent.

The authors conclude that if station ownership caps were restored, local ownership increased, and more accountability required of broadcasters to retain licenses conservative radio would be less dominant than it is today.

Radio Column July 1, 2007

2007-07-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

Listening In

July 1, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Anti-Illegal immigration firebrand Kevin James returns on KRLA

Kevin James is happy to be back on the air in Los Angeles. The former overnight talk host and anti-illegal immigration firebrand was let go from his job at KABC-AM 790 about a month after Marc “Mr. KABC” Germain exited the station to take over afternoon drive on “Progressive Talk” KTLK-AM 1150.

“I’m very satisfied with the way things worked out,” said Kevin. “I was off the air for seven weeks. A lot of people think that is a short time. But there were a lot of things happening in the news. I wasn’t able to comment on them on a daily basis. That was frustrating. The timing was right for me to get another job.”

Kevin is also very happy with the people at KRLA and with his new schedule, weeknights from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The native of Oklahoma developed a large following in the wee hours on KABC. Many stayed up just to hear his latest take on the red hot illegal immigration (he’s against it) debate.

“I am going to stay on immigration. But there are other important issues that affect this city, such as what’s going on at City Hall and crime. And even crime is connected to the illegal immigration in many ways. I find the problem of the local politics fascinating and I like to spend a lot of time on that.”

Kevin says word of mouth across the Internet is helping direct his fans to his new radio home on KRLA. It also doesn’t hurt that he got a plug from fellow talk show host Marc Germain who took the time to inform his KTLK listeners about Kevin’s new radio home on KRLA.

“A lot of my ‘Red Eye Radio’ audience seems to have found me. I find that through my call screeners and I get a lot of emails from people who listened to me on KABC.”

Kevin came to LA in 1988 to work for a large law firm. He then spent three years as an assistant District Attorney in Los Angeles, which provided him an invaluable education on the workings of local government. Following that he litigated a number of high-profile entertainment cases as a private attorney. And after his legal expertise was called upon as a guest on Al Rantel’s show on KABC, he got hooked on radio.

“A lot of people say now that the best journalists are not coming out of journalism school but out of law school,” he explained, adding that an education in law is also excellent training for a talk show host.

Despite the University of Oklahoma’s devotion to his alma mater’s football team – he was a cheerleader there while in college – he feels the strongest ties here in his adopted home.

“I’m so glad I got to stay in Southern California radio. I’ve been here most of my adult life – except for the ten months I spent as the morning host in Oklahoma City. But I’m much more knowledgeable about this area so it’s much better for me to work here as far as the quality of the product.”

Gay-themed station debuts on HD radio

LA’s first gay and lesbian oriented radio station is now broadcasting on HD radio’s channel 104.3-HD2. This is the HD channel for hot adult contemporary music station KBIG-FM 104.3 and is run by Clear Channel Communications.

The Pride Radio channel is featuring mixes from artists such as Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and Scissor Sisters. “Divas” Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Janet Jackson are also deemed representative of the new station’s mix. KBIG plays a lot of disco music often associated with the gay clubs of the 70s and 80s, so it is a fitting companion station for people willing to buy an HD radio for their home or car, or are can listen online.

Pride Radio is hosted by personalities Ryan and Caroline, who are being promoted as radio’s equivalent to “Will and Grace.” The two present “Coming Out” listener stories, film reviews, travel, style, health, and celebrity gossip with US Weekly Senior Editor, Albert Lee. Ryan and Caroline will interview gay celebrities and gay icons as well.

“For the first time in LA Radio History, our GLBT Community has a local radio source to turn to for content specific to their entertainment interests,” said Program Director, Dave “Chachi” Denes. “With one of the largest gay communities in the country, I’m certain that Pride Radio LA, with its appealing music and entertainment content, will be well received by not only by our alternative lifestyle listeners but by our community in general.”

You can listen to Pride Radio with any HD Radio receiver at 104.3-2 or online at prideradiola.com.

Fairness Doctrine debated at Museum of TV and Radio

With many in Congress expressing frustration over the failure to pass reform immigration legislation, some are blaming the power of talk radio. They want to bring back the Fairness Doctrine to life, which they say will enforce the airing of opposing views on the nation's radio stations and thus tame popular conservative talk show hosts.

KPCC-FM 89.3’s Patt Morrison (weekdays, 2p.m.3 p.m.) hosted a discussion of the thorny and complex issue. She was joined by about a dozen people gathered in the small visitor lounge that surrounds the museums handsome glass-enclosed broadcast booth.

The May 29 broadcast marked the twenty year anniversary of the doctrine’s demise at the hands of President Ronald Reagan, who vetoed Congress’ attempt to restore it after a court ruling struck it down. For 38 years before that the doctrine had mandated that broadcasters offer equal time for the expression of opposing views expressed on a station’s airwaves. The practical effect of this was that broadcasters avoided controversy, partly out for fear of losing their broadcast license at renewal time. At the same time, radio and TV operators were at pains to prove to the government that they were serving the public interest by providing news coverage of their coverage area and broadcasting programs about community issues.

(L-R, KPCC's Patt Morrison, KABC's Doug McIntyre, Simon Wilkie from USC. Photo By Sandy Wells)

That ended in 1987. Ironically, at that time many conservatives feared that the dominence of the liberal media would further marginalize their political views. But the effect was just the opposite. Since then conservative firebrands such as Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Sean Hannity, have blazed new trails on the AM band and caused some to wonder since if the whole thing wasn’t some conservative plot to obliterate liberalism and the Democratic Party. And local news budgets have been slashed since license renewal has become a perfunctory, “rubber stamp” process.

Joining her inside the little studio was Doug McIntyre, morning talk show host from KABC-AM 790 and Simon Wilkie, Director of the Center for Communications Law and Policy at the USC School of Law. On the phone, was KTLK-AM 1150 mid-morning host Thom Hartmann, who is based in Portland, Ore. and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who wants to restore some semblance of the Fairness Doctrine.

Sanders weighed in saying that the most significant development is concentration of media ownership. He said the public should not be fooled by the apparent abundance of cable, satellite and media outlets. He says most are held by a small number of owners who all share the same interests.

“What is the responsibility of the owner to the people? Right now it's to make as much money as possible.”

Hartmann said that when he worked as a news director thirty years ago, everyone understood that news was there to serve the public and that broadcasters underwrote its costs in return for the privilege of having a broadcast license granted to them by the government.

McIntyre said restoring the Fairness Doctrine would stifle public debate and amount to government censorship of political discourse. He also doesn’t buy the underlying premise of the Fairness Doctrine, which is that since the broadcast spectrum is limited, it must be regulated.

“Technology has changed the landscape,” added McIntrye. “With podcasting and XM and Sirius, a thousand other ways of broadcasting, why are we applying these ‘putting the genie back in the bottle’ standards to terrestrial radio when in fact we’re sharing a smaller and smaller amount of the audience with all these alternatives?”

“Let the public decide what they want to hear, said McIntrye.

Sanders countered that the rise of the conservatives on talk radio is no accident, and that while he doesn’t deny that people like Rush Limbaugh are very talented, they are basically there to say the things the owners of the media conglomerates want said “and that they are saying things that their advertisers are sympathetic to.”

You can hear the full broadcast by going to http://www.kpcc.org/ and clicking on the Patt Morrison show icon.

Radio Column May 27, 2007

2007-05-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

Listening In

May 27, 2007

By Sandy Wells

KSCA’s Piolín pushes immigration reform with letters and calls

Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo, morning host for KSCA-FM 101.9, and one of the prime movers behind last year’s massive demonstration for immigrant rights in Los Angeles, is taking a new tact in his campaign to change the politician’s minds about the red hot issue of immigration: He’s helping to mount an old-fashioned signature drive.

Broadcasting from the Mexican Consulate near downtown Los Angeles last week, the popular DJ encouraged listeners to come by and sign letters asking members of Congress to support “fair and just immigration reform” for the more than 12 million immigrants estimated to be residing in the U.S. illegally.

(RIGHT) Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo, morning host for KSCA-FM 101.9, Marcela Luévanos, 11 a.m. -3 p.m., KSCA-FM 101.9 broadcasting from the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, May 17

His goal is to gather a million letters through his national campaign working with other radio stations and personally take them to Washington, D.C. next month. The plan is to organize a caravan and drive across the country while continuing with his regular morning broadcasts.

“I’ve been receiving a lot of calls from children who don’t have their dad or their mom, because even though they were working they got deported because they don’t have the documentation,” explained Piolín. “That touched my heart, because to see a baby or children crying hurts a lot. Especially when the dad is working; they already have a job. They don’t do anything bad to the nation.

What we’re looking for is to just make people understand that we came here to succeed. We came here to make the nation better. What we’re doing to make it happen is we’re working, doing the best that we can do, learning the language. We’re respecting the laws of the United States – now that we’re here.”

Piolin says the biggest change from last year’s organizing efforts has been the switch from mass demonstrations to gathering letters and making calls for our representatives in Washington, D.C.

“We’ve been learning the different ways for immigration reform. Last year, I didn’t know that it was important to take letters; or the phone calls that we can make, to the Congress. I don’t know that.”

He says KSCA is working with the Hispanic broadcasting network, Univision, to bring experts to immigrant communities who can show people how to fill out applications for citizenship and help study for the citizenship tests. To help listeners learn more about the U.S., Piolin has a regular feature called “Who Wants to Be a Citizen?” where he invites the audience to answer a multiple choice question that might be on the test.

Píolin says the immigrants he speaks for “just want to be part of the family of this great nation.”

Talkers gather in Bel Air

Four top talk show hosts gathered earlier this month for a Talk Radio Seminar hosted by the American Jewish University in Bel Air. Joining the fray hosted by retired radio newsman Bill Moran were Bill Handel, morning host for KFI-AM 640, Thom Hartmann, 9 a.m.-12 noon KTLK-AM “Progressive Talk” 1150, Dennis Prager, 9 a.m.-12 noon, KRLA-AM 870 and Doug McIntyre, morning host for KABC-AM 790.

McIntyre, looking very proper in a suit drew laughs from the capacity crowd of 500 gathered in the auditorium at the school’s Whizin Center for Continuing Education, chided his colleagues for dressing down for the event with casual attire.

The discussion was wide-ranging, full of acerbic quips, witty repartee and a few heartfelt monologues about the media, culture, immigration, Iraq and the trials and tribulations of the talk radio business.

Thom Hartmann, the new kid in LA radio – his show is broadcast from his home base in Oregon – and the only liberal on the panel said the No. 1 topic on his show that week was the impeachment of President Bush.

Handel, who admitted to voting for President Bush twice, called him an “utterly failed President.”

Dennis Prager admitted that he was one of the few conservatives who did not call for the impeachment of President Clinton back in the 90s.

On a lighter note, Prager admitted that the main reason he went to 9 a.m. was that it forces him to “get up before noon.”

“I’m a night person,” Prager said. “My favorite radio time was nine to midnight. I do all my work at night. I’m at my best then, I love it. But radio is more of a daytime venue.”

(LEFT) Talk Radio Seminar at the American Jewish University Whizin Center for Continuing Education in Bel Air, May 6 (L-R) Bill Handel, morning host for KFI-AM 640, Thom Hartmann, 9 a.m.-12noon KTLK-AM 1150, Dennis Prager, 9 a.m.-12 noon, KRLA-AM 870, Doug McIntyre, morning host for KABC-AM 790

K-Earth 101 Beach Party at Belmont Shore

K-Earth 101.1 (KRTH-FM 101.1) is hosting a “Kruis-In” Beach Party in Belmont Shore next to the Belmont Plaza Pool June 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate three and a half decades of playing the “greatest hits on earth.”

The Beatles tribute band The Fab Four will perform live Beatle faves and K-Earth 101 personalities Gary Bryan, Samantha Stander, Lisa Stanley, Jim Carson, Joshua Escandon, Christina Kelley, Dave Randall, Bruce Chandler and Sylvia Aimerito will be broadcasting live. There’ll be food, refreshments, custom cars and fun for the family. It’s a free event. You can find out more at www.mykearth101.com.

Arbitron's Winter Ratings

LA's Top 20 Stations*

1. KSCA-FM 10.9 Regional Mexican
2. KIIS-FM 102.7 Contemporary Hit Radio/Top 40
3. KLVE-FM 107.5 Spanish Contemporary
4. KFI-AM 640 Talk
5. KLAX-FM 97.9 Regional Mexican
6. KOST-FM 103.5 Adult Contemporary/Soft Rock
6. KROQ-FM 106.7 (tie) Alternative Rock
6. KPWR-FM 105.9 (tie) Hip Hop/Rhythmic
9. KBUE-FM 105.5/94.3 Regional Mexican
10. KRTH-FM 101.1 Oldies
11. KCBS-FM 93.1 Classic Rock Hits
12. KTWV-FM 94.7 Smooth Jazz/R&B
13. KRCD-FM 103.9/98.3 Spanish Oldies
14. KXOL-FM 96.3 Latin Rhythmic
15. KHHT-FM 92.3 Urban Adult Contemporary/R&B
16. KLOS-FM 95.5 Classic Rock (tie)
16. KYSR-FM 98.7 Hot Adult Contemporary/Pop Alternative
18. KABC-AM 790 News/Talk
18. KSSE-FM 107.1 Latin Pop
20. KBIG-FM 104.3 Hot Adult Contemporary/Disco Classics

*among listeners 12-plus, Mon-Sun, 6 a.m.-midnight, ranked by Average Quarterly Hour Share of listeners

Radio Column May 6, 2007

2007-05-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

Listening In

May 06, 2007

By Sandy Wells

A new look at radio’s ‘silver age’ of rock music and rebellion

After the arrival of television in the late 1940s, the assumption among the media elite in Manhattan was that radio would soon go the way of sheet music, home pianos, and vaudeville halls. Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher has written “Something in the Air: Radio, Rock and the Revolution that Shaped a Generation” (Random House), a highly entertaining account of the offbeat personalities and innovators who rescued radio and took it to new heights.

A self-described devotee of radio, Fisher nonetheless writes with a nostalgic bent, sometimes sounding like a guy describing his return to his hometown after many years and finds his high school sweetheart married with kids and not looking quite like the beauty he remembered.

Fisher writes, “It’s hard to find a radio executive who does not concede – privately, with the notebook closed – that radio has become boring and predictable, that stations sound the same no matter where you are, and that the consistent decline in the amount of time Americans spend listening to radio is disturbing.”

Fisher is very good at describing radio’s resilience in the years after TV came on the scene, the innovators such as legendary Top 40 pioneers Todd Storz and Gordon McLendon, who grabbed the reigns of the medium as it careened out of its Golden Age preeminence and steered it into what I would call its “Silver Age” of local format radio. But he also weaves into his narrative a litany of complaints – familiar to fans and observers of the industry: The stifling of creativity by consultants, the endless belt-tightening due to deregulation and ownership consolidation; the end of localism, and the demise of the great personality DJs who, with their fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants exploits in promoting themselves and the music, changed America forever.

Fisher is right on the money in his analysis of talk radio, which really was and is the second wave of the revolution. The best talk show hosts, Tom Leykis, Rush Limbaugh, Don Imus, Glenn Beck and Howard Stern, worked their way up the radio food chain as DJs, adapting the rhythm and tempo of Top 40 into the spoken word format:

“They move quickly from bit to bit, connecting with the essential minutiae of daily life, hitting listeners’ emotional cores, never getting in too deep. They might do politics or eschew it entirely, but the format stays the same. David Letterman – another former Top 40 jock (boss Radio 57 in Muncie, Indiana, 1969) – follows the same rules on his late-night TV show: a slam-bam torrent of bits and jingles, always promoting the next feature, with bursts of familiar music to introduce and end each item.”

As an aside, Fisher quotes a radio executive who accurately points out that the key to the success of the Top 40 radio format was its effectiveness in combining a predictable context with unpredictable content.

To appreciate this fine and passionate account of radio over the last fifty years, it’s best not to look for any unifying argument as to why radio is where it is, or is where it shouldn’t be. Fisher is at his best in telling the stories behind the stars and revealing the special quality that made each one stand out in a crowded field: R&B DJ Hunter Hancock in Los Angeles, late-nigh talker Jean Sheppard in New York, progressive FM rock pioneer Tom Donahue in San Francisco and Pasadena, in addition to the national talk stars such as Stern, Leykis, Limbaugh and Garrison Keillor .

Fisher also touches on some of the African-American radio pioneers such as legendary East Coast DJ Hal Jackson and Howard University’s foray into commercial radio with WHUR-FM in Washington, DC. But he leaves out any mention of NBN, the National Black Network, the first black-owned coast-to-coast radio network founded in 1973, which eventually merged with its competitor, the Sheridan Broadcasting Network to form American Urban Radio Networks.

Fisher is perhaps most illuminating in describing how the politics of the late 1960s shaped the views of National Public Radio’s first program director, Bill Siemering. The former history and English teacher was the professional manager of the University of Buffalo radio station. Seeking to go beyond the glib “banality” of commercial radio news, he brought radio microphones directly into the community following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. Later, at NPR he developed its now signature long-form reporting and pioneered in the sort of continuous coverage of major events which has been adopted by the 24-hour cable news networks. In 1971, NPR launched its first national program, “All Things Considered.” All this was created from the leftover crumbs of funding that Congress allocated to public television when it started the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Here again, Fisher finds success eventually blurring the product's uniqueness. NPR is now grasping to regain its footing in the soulless world of consultants and research.

In the end, Fisher is wise enough to admit that “Radio isn’t what it used to be, but it never really was." It still has a future “in the voices of those who open their souls into a microphone, and in the imaginations of those who feel compelled to listen.”

Imus Fired

2007-04-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

April 15, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Imus: Video Killed the Radio Star (Again)

(photo: Don Imus in his heyday)

The Imus in the Morning Show finally hit a big enough pothole to reveal the ever thinning tread he was riding on. His crude, racist remark about the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team after their loss to Tennessee caused his program to veer off the road, crash and burn last week.

Imus was especially vulnerable because his program was simulcast on the MSNBC cable TV network. This is the same news network that fired Michael Savage for lashing out against gay men. Without cable TV exposure, Imus’ remarks would probably have dodged the political and cultural firestorm. Mainstream TV has far less tolerance for speaking the politically unspeakable phrase than radio. Today, impolitic remarks captured on video can be mercilessly replayed again and again on TV and circulated on web browsers.

Savage kept his radio show, however. On another occasion, Rush Limbaugh was fired from his job as color commentator for ABC’s Monday Night Football for suggesting that quarterback Donovan McNabb got special treatment because he was black. Limbaugh’s radio show survived, too. Why didn’t Imus’?

I suspect our country may be suffering from a subconscious paroxysm of guilt and confusion over the war in Iraq and its racist overtones. Firing Imus is a sacrifice to that God of political correctness, that American need to believe that we are ever overcoming our prejudiced past and can therefore maintain our moral standards.

Imus made his mark in radio the early 70s New York radio as America was mired in another war with racist undertones: Vietnam. Back then, his downbeat, irreverent, white trash persona was a hit on the East Coast. Life magazine did a story touting him as possible successor to Johnny Carson as host of the Tonight Show. Imus’ bits were brazen for their time; making fun of preachers through his alter-ego Reverend Billy Sol Hargis, pretending to be a general calling up Burger King and ordering 2,500 hamburgers to go for his troops, driving the hapless fast food worker to distraction with special orders, spoofing the fast food chain’s claim as the burger place where you could always “have it your way.” Imus put the edge back in AM radio as progressive rock and disco erased AM top 40s radio’ relevance.

Is Imus a racist? Possibly, despite the fact that he once aspired to be an R&B singer, he is. But then, most of us carry some racial issues under the surface. Racist notions can reveal when an individual or society feels fear or stress, as in the case of comedian Michael Richards, or be exposed by careless, off the cuff attempts to be funny, as in the case of Imus.

Back in the 70s, humor became the coin of the realm for the disappointed idealists of the 60s. Dark humor, sarcastic quips, cruel, ridiculing sketches, all helped a nation work through the traumas of the 60s’ assassinations, wars, failed protests and frightening riots.

Decades later, new attitudes are displacing most of the cultural and political attitudes of that time. Humor has ceased to be accepted as it once was, as a release valve for the pent up aggressions of disappointed idealists and reformers of the 60s.

In the late 80s, Imus successfully segued from morning shock jock on top 40 WNBC to the jocular patter on WFAN. While doing a general talk show on the otherwise sports talk station, he started to build a following among the Washingtonian elite; mostly white middle-aged men who as guests of the I-man felt at ease with his goofy asides and a cozy, almost insular, locker room sensibility. They appreciated him all the more as his show became syndicated across the country on more than 60 stations. WFAN was ultimately a guy talk station after all and the white male managerial class loved him.

But younger people don’t get Imus. This is an earnest time, with fierce competition everywhere and a war on terror. Many young people are quietly walking away from the cynicism of the Vietnam generation.

As Talkers magazine editor Michael Harrison told KNX reporter Dick Skelton last week, Imus was just an older guy attempting to sound hip by using African-American slang.

As for CBS Radio, the executives who decided to fire Imus are now faced with replacing a great talent in a business that is having a very hard time imagining its future.

Locally, Imus was carried on KLAC-AM 570 until a few years ago. As of this writing, KCAA-AM 1050 in San Bernardino was planning on replaying “Best of Imus” shows until further notice, according to General Manager, Daren Lane.

2007-04-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

Listening In

April 6, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Peter Tilden returns to KABC as late-night host

Popular radio personality Peter Tilden is reviving his act in a new night-time version, starting this Monday on talk station KABC-AM 790. The former KZLA-FM 93.9 country music wake-up man’s new show is billed as “America’s Earliest Morning Show with Peter Tilden.”

Tilden arrived in LA at KLSX-FM 97.1 back in 1988, vaulting from a part-time radio gig in Philadelphia to mornings in the nation’s No. 2 market. He lasted only eight months but he made a strong enough impression to be hired by KABC. Tilden was eventually paired with the late Tracey Miller first in the afternoons and later on the morning show for KMPC (later KTZN). He returned to KABC to join Ken Minyard on the morning show in 1996 before going to KZLA until that station flipped to pop/rhythmic “Movin’ 93.9” KMVN-FM in 2006.

“I’m thrilled to be back at KABC and working with a lot of the great people I’ve worked with before from salespeople and engineers to programming personnel and management,” said Tilden.

KABC says Tilden’s new show will feature interviews, phone calls and topics that listeners might not expect from a traditional evening show in a style that has become synonymous with Tilden throughout his career.

“I am very happy to be able to bring Peter back to KABC Radio, where he is so familiar to our listeners. Peter is a creative person and he has some great ideas for this late night show. I know people are going to make an appointment to hear him every night,” said KABC Operations Director, Erik Braverman.

Tilden’s program will air from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., following the Mark Levin Show which has been expanded to two hours.

Michael Savage returns to AM 830

When KRLA-AM 870’s hired comedian Dennis Miller last month for the 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. slot, it moved conservative political firebrand Michael Savage to a later time slot beginning at 9 p.m. Savage has accordingly taken his program to talk station KLAA-AM 830 where his show can now be heard live from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every weekday afternoon. The “Savage Nation” was introduced to LA several years ago on the same frequency when the call letters were KPLS. KLAA is owned by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team.

K-Jazz’s new management

Long beach public radio station KKJZ-FM 88.1 “K-Jazz” will be officially under the wing of Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasting effective April 21. The ratification of the agreement between the commercial broadcaster and the California State University, Long Beach Foundation was announced by Mt. Wilson President Saul Levine.

“We’re thrilled to be taking on another opportunity to serve a wide audience deserving of high quality programming,” said Levine. “Our goal is to turn KKJZ into the nation’s number one public provider of jazz radio. (But) rest assured that KKJZ will remain a mainstream jazz and blues station.”

Levine, one of LA’s pioneer FM broadcasters, ran a jazz format on KKGO 105.1 FM for 29 years, said, “While staying true to the format’s deep musical heritage, we will endeavor to integrate the latest artists to maintain the relevance and viability of the genre, and to best serve the community.”

Levine will run K-Jazz through his new affiliate, Global Jazz, Inc. He said KKJZ will present the station’s annual Blues Festival in Long Beach this year on September 1 and 2.

Locally, Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters owns stations K-Mozart AM 1260 and “Go Country” KKGO-FM 105.1/AM 540.

Mark of Mark and Brian Show in film

Mark Thompson of KLOS-FM 95.5’s Mark and Brian Show premiered as an actor in the feature film he wrote, “Mother Ghost” this week at Universal Studio Hollywood. Appearing with noted actors Dana Delaney, Charles Durning, Joe Mantegna, Kevin Pollak, Jere Burns, Garry Marshall, David Keith and James Franco, Thompson has garnered some film festival awards and critical praise. In the movie, Thompson plays a man in a marriage teetering on the brink of collapse following the death of his mother. A radio psychiatrist (played by Pollak) helps Thompson’s character put his life back together.

Star 98.7’s new voice at night

KYSR-FM 98.7 Star 98.7 has completed its full-time talent roster with the addition of Summer James to the 7 p.m. to midnight slot.

James began her radio career at WKZQ-FM in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where she moved up to evening personality and music director. Most recently, she was with rocker KCAL-FM 96.7 in San Bernardino/Riverside.

Her talents have also extended to hosting on-camera Red Carpet events at the Emmy’s and Oscars in addition to various TV programs.

Rick Dees helps Girl Scouts

I had to be impressed when KMVN-FM 93.9 Movin 93.9’s morning man Rick Dees offered to help out any Girl Scouts tuned in who were struggling to meet their Girl Scout cookie quotients in the annual sales ritual. Dees told one lucky scout who got through that he was going to buy $1000 worth of Thin Mints, Do-si-dos, Samoas, Trefoils, etc. from her. The scout was pretty happy, but it took the mother to get on the phone for Dees to hear the response he wanted; joy mixed with disbelief. Dees may have to eat them all himself, if he wants to live up to his image on the new Movin’ 93.9 TV ad, where his derriere is greatly enhanced with computer animation.

Radio Column March 23, 2007

2007-03-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

Listening In

March 23, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Radio execs weigh future of talk radio at R&R convention

Hundreds of radio folks, from big stars and major league executives to wannabes looking to get connected – and everyone in between – converged at the Radio and Records Talk Radio convention in Marina Del Rey earlier this month.

There were the annual awards given by Radio and Records, the well-respected industry newspaper: KFI-AM 640 morning man Bill Handel won “News/Talk Local Personality of the Year” – and syndicated Art Bell (KFI, Sundays, 10 p.m. - 5 a.m.) came away with the “News/Talk Lifetime Industry Achievement Award. KFI tied with KGO-AM 810 in San Francisco for “News/Talk Station of the Year” while Rush Limbaugh (KFI, weekdays, 9 a.m. - noon) earned his fourth “Syndicated News/Talk Personality of the Year Award.”

KFI's Bill Handel

The Internet continued to impact the business and consequently was a recurring topic of discussion at the various panels and roundtables at the convention.

R&R Talk Radio Editor Al Peterson told me that he sees radio executives this year are adopting a more realistic attitude in their estimation of new technologies’ impact on their business and livelihoods.

“There was far more embracing of technology and less pie-in-the-sky attitudes than I’ve seen in previous conventions as far as what technology is worth spending time and resources on,” said Peterson of the increasingly sophisticated use of podcasting and web sites by radio stations.

Peterson said he attends many music radio conventions and believes that the guys spinning the hits may be encountering bigger challenges than talk radio in terms of coping with new technologies. He said as long as the “spoken word” format continues to deliver compelling, unique programs and personalities that people want to hear, the format will continue to thrive. Music radio on the other hand, faces more direct competition from iPods, MP3 players, Internet downloads and websites such as iTunes and Rhapsody.

Dennis Miller set for radio debut on KRLA

The Dennis Miller Show will launch from New York on 80 stations starting Monday. Locally, the comedian and TV host/commentator will be heard on news/talk station KRLA-AM 870 weeknights, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., followed by Michael Savage, until 11 p.m. Miller said he plans to broadcast his show from his Santa Barbara home when he’s not on the road with his standup comedy act and speaking engagements.

Miller was the keynote speaker at a Friday luncheon at the R&R Talk Radio Convention held at the Marriott. While delivering a bevy of laugh lines, the “Saturday Night Live” alum reassured the radio folks that he’s serious about his foray into radio as a syndicated host for his new Westwood One show and is not a just a “carpetbagger.”

KFI-AM 640 evening host John Ziegler was in the audience. He asked Miller the question on everyone’s mind: can the former star of “Saturday Night Live” translate his comedy and personality to the radio medium.

Miller admitted he had a lot to learn and said he looked to guys like Ziegler as “templates” for doing a good radio talk show. He said he had filled in on Jim Bohannon’s talk show – also on Westwood One – and felt confident that his show will be a success.

KABC host Mark Levin doesn’t suffer fools … or liberals

Talk radio station KABC-AM 790’s Mark Levin was at the R&R Talk Radio Convention visiting from his home base in New York where he’s heard on sister station WABC-AM 770.

WABC Program Director Phil Boyce said Levin is successful because he comes out of the gate “firing on all cylinders” at 6 p.m. on the New York station, where he has been successful in competing with Michael Savage.

“He always comes up with something new. Otherwise it’s going to be a just a re-hash of what Rush and Sean have already said and that’s not going to get us ratings. I put him on (WABC) in the summer of 2003. We always had a struggle at 6 p.m. Now he holds on to one hundred percent of the Rush and Sean lead-in.”

The former Reagan administration official says he takes his audience seriously.

“People underestimate the radio audience all the time. I do not. I talk about history. I talk about the constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I’ll talk about the law. You just have to do it in an entertaining way and connect it to events. The public is very, very smart. They know a guy who’s full of crap. They know a guy’s who’s faking it. We’re in a very tough time slot anywhere from 6 to 11 o’clock. And we do very well and the reason we do well is we have a conversation – well, unless it’s a liberal lunatic. But otherwise I have a conversation with the audience and I bring something different to the table.”

As for why he is so intolerant of liberal callers – often shouting “get off the phone you big dope!” – Levin explains that those people have nothing of interest to offer his audience.

“I’ve never suffered fools well and I consider the whole liberal philosophy to be a philosophy of fools. So unless people want to call and have a real conversation, I don’t spend a lot of time talking to them. If they want to call with their same damn talking points as before I don’t want to hear it and I know nobody else wants to hear it.”

Although he doesn’t model his show on any particular host Levin says he was inspired by Bob Grant, Jean Sheppard, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and he’s been a talk radio listener since he was 12 or 13.

In Los Angeles, Levin’s show will expand to two hours starting next week on KABC, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Boston tribute with Uncle Joe Benson on KLOS-FM

This Sunday at 9 p.m., KLOS-FM 95.5’s Uncle Joe Benson will air a special tribute edition of “Off the Record” to the music of the legendary rock band Boston. The program will feature archival audio from Benson’s extensive conversations with the band’s late singer, Brad Delp.

Go Country adds new talent

The new KKGO-FM 105.1 “Go Country” has added another local DJ to its daytime lineup. Todd Baker, an 18-year radio vet has worked at many stations from coast-to-coast, including stints at LA’s KBIG-FM 104.3 and KLSX-FM 97.1. Before joining “Go Country” as the afternoon host, Baker was president of programming/network general manager and on-air host at National Lampoon Radio heard on XM satellite radio channel 154.

Radio Column March 9, 2007

2007-03-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

Listening In

March 9, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Marc "Mr. K" Germain on K-Talk

KABC’s former late evening host has landed in a new time slot this week hosting afternoon drive with rival talk station KTLK-AM 1150 “K-Talk.”

The ex-night time talk radio czar is adjusting to the new hours, by dropping the “no guests, no topics, no screeners” approach of his previous show.

“It is event-driven radio with more focus on interviews and news-oriented talk,” said Marc Germain, the real name behind his previous two aliases, Mr. KFI and Mr. KABC. “I have a producer and call screener, Lisa Goitch, who will also come on the air with me.”

Germain said he was approached by several stations after he left KABC. KTLK, which had just lost Al Franken to a run for a senate seat, was in the midst of revamping its lineup of shows.

“We have been looking for the right opportunity that would allow us to go live and local in afternoon drive for some time now,” said KTLK Station General Manager John Quinlan. “When Marc became available, we knew right away our search was over. Marc brings years of talk radio credibility and a passion for the format. We know those are the two keys to being highly successful.”

Germain, who is retaining his nickname ‘Mr. K,’ becomes the centerpiece of that revised lineup along with morning drive host Stephanie Miller. The already tape-delayed Ed Schultz is moved to 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

He says he is not joining the Bush-bashing that is sometimes associated with K-Talk.

“Fire-brand, Bush-bashing – that’s not the show. The idea is to broaden the appeal of the station,” he said, adding he will maintain his independent take on politics and culture. “No one has ever told me what I can and cannot say.”

Phones ring off the hook at new “Go Country” 105.1 FM

It’s been a thrill ride since classical KMZT-FM 105.1 became KKGO-FM the new “Go Country,” with the switch of the country music format from AM 1260 and 540. (“K-Mozart” has moved to AM 1260, where it might well be renamed “K-Salieri”).

“It’s the best case scenario for me,” said morning DJ Sean Parr. “It’s like a dream come true. Clay Walker does a song called ‘Dreamin’ with My Eyes Wide Open’ - if I could have wished for a perfect scenario, I could hone my skills and get chance to practice for a month on the AM side and then bring it over to the FM side ready to roll and that’s exactly the way it happened.”

Parr says diehard country fans emailed constantly saying we’re listening on the AM (1260 and 540) even with all the static. Since the switch to the 18,000-watt FM signal, Parr says the phones haven’t stopped ringing with calls from grateful country music fans.

“A lot of people felt like they had lost a piece of their family and are so glad to have a familiar voice come back in the morning. People are crying to us on the phone. You could not believe the reaction. The passion - I’ve never seen it – in twenty years of radio. The phones just never stop. Every call is the same. ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ ”

And the country mix is a lot broader than it was on KZLA-FM 93.9 (now rhythmic adult contemprary hits KMVN-FM ‘Movin’ 93.9 with Rick Dees.)

“KZLA was pretty corporate run and the music was pretty tightly run I played what I was told to play” explained Parr. “We were playing around five hundred songs. This is the first time I’ve ever worked for a station where I was asked what I thought about the music. They've allowed me to bring in music from my library of hits from the past 25 years in Southern California. (Go Country Program Director) Mike Johnson is fantastic. We just see eye to eye. We both are about the same age and his philosophy is ‘just play the hits.”

Parr says one reason Mt Wilson FM Broadcasting President Saul Levine was able to re-launch the country music format in L.A. before the big corporations did was because he wasn’t asking for the moon and the stars. He says the giant broadcasting corporations typically demand concessions such as free stations concerts by the big Nashville stars in exchange for on air exposure.

Parr added that Levine is very positive about the potential of country music here. At KZLA, management didn’t believe the format had much appeal in ethnically diverse Los Angeles.

“My boss used to say to me KZLA is a 'two-share' radio station. I disagree with that. We sell more concert seats than anyone. If you do it right you can be much bigger. I really think that we got a great mix we’re doing it right and we really have an opportunity to make this happen.”

Star 98.7 adds New York DJ to lineup

Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM 98.7) has hired New York DJ Yvonne Velazquez to take over the weekday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. “All Request Workday” slot vacated when Lisa Foxx joined the morning show as co-host with Sean Valentine.

Most recently, Velazquez was the night DJ on WNEW in New York. Before that she was the voice of MTV Satellite Radio.

“Joining STAR 98.7 is an unbelievable opportunity for me to reunite with my former morning show partner and mentor (Star 98.7 Program Director) Charese Fruge and to work for a station where I am truly passionate about the music. I am forever thankful to (KYSR General Manager) Craig Rossi, Charese and everyone at Star for saying – ‘Welcome to Hollywood’ – I’m going to enjoy every minute.”

KFWB’s Andy Ludlum named program director

KFWB-AM 980 News Director Andy Ludlam has been named program director, taking over from David G. Hall who will now focus exclusively on programming sister station, news/talk KNX-AM 1070.

“We have a great team of anchors, reporters, writers, editors and producers, totally dedicated to providing the best news product and services in Los Angeles,” Ludlum said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to show off what this radio station does on a daily basis.”

KFWB Assistant News Director Paul Gomez replaces Ludlam as news director for the (almost) all-news outlet. KFWB broadcasts Monday Night Football and Dodgers baseball.

Radio Column February 24, 2007

2007-03-01T00:46:00.000-08:00

Listening In

February 23, 2007

Marc Germain a.k.a. Mr. KABC will join KTLK-AM 1150

By Sandy Wells

Mr. KABC winds up 10 years of your questions, his answers

I recently asked Mr. KABC for an interview about completing ten years at KABC-AM 790. No mean achievement in this competitive market. I wanted to ask him how he felt about being on for a decade, about changes in how he approached the show and the callers, plus any general observations about changes and trends in talk radio. He said he’d get back to me.

A week later he told me he had decided to end his career at KABC.

“KABC’s decision based on network pressure to carry the second hour of Mark Levin would have pushed my show an hour later,” he wrote. “Since I didn’t think that was good for my family, advertisers or listeners, I made the decision to leave the station.”

It was odd that the station appeared ready to move the Ask Mr. KABC Show when things were going so well.
”With the ratings and revenue success, in the fall ’06 Arbitron, my show was No. 1 midnight to 1 a.m. and No. 2 10 p.m. to midnight, I plan to find another good home for the show quickly and listeners will be informed if they leave their email addresses for me at http://www.mrkabc.com/. I had ten great years at KABC because of my loyal listeners.”

He went through a similar situation ten years ago when KFI-AM 640 announced it was going to make room for the Phil Hendrie Show by moving Ask Mr. KFI (his former name) from his 9 a.m. to midnight position to midnight to 3 a.m. Mr. K walked rather than take the overnight shift.

On the conservative-leaning KABC, the liberal host went through ups and downs. He was placed in the morning show and paired with voice artist Brian Whitman (now on talk station KLSX-FM 97.1 weeknights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. with Tim Conway, Jr) and later endured the absurd “Concentrated Mr. KABC” where he was reduced to an hour sandwiched between the Stephanie Miller Show and Art Bell.

For now, Mr. K appears to remain, as always, “better than most, not as good as some.”

Al Franken runs for Senate

Another liberal talk show host has taken leave from the ionosphere, as it were. Air America star host and Saturday Night Live alum Al Franken exited the recently sold left-leaning talk radio network to make a run for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Heard on KTLK-AM 1150, where the comic icon has publicly butted heads with Fox News Channel and Westwood One syndicated host Bill O’Reilly (heard locally on KABC-AM 790), Franken often strained to translate his hilarious onstage persona to radio.

KTLK in the mean time is making an impact with veteran radio hosts Randi Rhodes, Ed Schultz and Franken’s replacement, Thom Hartmann, who now is heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

KTLK's Thom Hartmann

XM to wed Sirius?

When the two giant satellite radio companies XM and Sirius were formed, the FCC stipulated that the two were not to merge. That would be anti-competitive. Well after years of bleeding red ink - more than a combined billion and a half dollars, according to industry publication Inside Radio - the two appear ready to come together in a $13 billion merger deal. They are asking the FCC to change its stance and allow the union, hoping that the pro-business Bush administration will be lenient. Terrestrial broadcasters are furious.

“Given the government’s history of opposing monopolies in all forms, NAB would be shocked if federal regulators permitted a merger of XM and Sirius. It bears mentioning that regulators summarily rejected a similar monopoly merger of the nation’s only two satellite television companies - DirecTV and DISH Network - just a few years back,” fumed National Association of Broadcasters’ Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton. “When the FCC authorized satellite radio, it specifically found that the public would be served best by two competitive nationwide systems. Now, with their stock prices at rock bottom and their business model in disarray because of profligate spending practices, they seek a government bail-out to avoid competing in the marketplace. In coming weeks, policymakers will have to weigh whether an industry that makes Howard Stern its poster child should be rewarded with a monopoly platform for offensive programming. We’re hopeful that this anti-consumer proposal will be rejected.”

Satellite radio execs argue that iPods, Internet radio and other increasingly available audio content sources will insure plenty of options for consumers.

Ex Arrow Program Director rebounds in Chicago

The architect of the “Arrow 93” format on KCBS-FM 93.1 (now “Jack FM”) has rebounded with a dream announcing gig in his home town. Tommy Edwards was named the PA Address Announcer for the Chicago Bulls for the 2006-2007season, a job he held for 14 years in before coming to LA. He credited with being the first sports PA Announcer to use the recording of “Rock ’n’ Roll Pt. 2” by Gary Glitter to rally the fans.

Edwards was the creative force behind the “All Rock ‘n Roll Oldies” format that enjoyed great success for more than a decade here in Southern California.

Radio Column Feruary 9, 2007

2007-02-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

Listening In

February 9, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Delilah arrives at KBIG-FM

Syndicated host Delilah is returning to KBIG-FM 104.3. The Seattle-based DJ will launch in Los Angeles Monday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. with a weeknight program that combines music, dedications, and relationship information and advice.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have Delilah on 104.3 KBIG,” says KBIG Program Director David “Chachi” Denes. “We are confident that her broadcast experience, knowledge of our audience, and her personality is a perfect fit with our station. And, of course, her continued popularity and unique style can only be a great addition to our line-up.”

Delilah Rene-Ortega (born Delilah Rene Luke) is actually making her second round on the adult contemporary hits station. In 1998, back when it was calling itself “K-Big” her program was carried from 7 p.m. to midnight. She is currently heard on 250 stations around the country including New York’s WLTW-FM.

“KBIG is a part of the L.A. radio landscape, one that I have had my heart set on for many years,” says Delilah. “And for those many years, I have asked Chachi for this chance. At last, I get to talk to my friends in L.A. every night and I’m so excited about that.”

A single mother of seven – including four adopted children – Delilah combines story-telling with “sympathetic listening and encouragement.” She is popular with adult contemporary soft rock audiences, especially among young adult women. She describes her show as a “safety zone where listeners take off their armor, slip into a ‘Mr. Rogers’ cardigan, sit around the electronic hearth and share their secrets.”

The addition of Delilah puts her in partial competition with KOST-FM 103.5’s long-running, “Love Songs with Karen Sharp” which airs from 7 p.m. to midnight. Both KOST and KBIG are owned by Clear Channel Communications.

KFI lets go of Orange County reporter

Is KFI-AM 640 trimming its news staff? The award-winning news/talk leader raised a few eyebrows recently when Orange County reporter Jay Lawrence was let go and when overnight news anchor Michael Crozier was shifted to weekends and replaced by news editor Donald Morrison.

Not to worry said KFI Program Director Robin Bertolucci, the station remains fully committed to providing aggressive, live and local news 24/7 and is not about to undergo a round of cost-cutting.

“We have the number one (radio) news in LA County and we’re not going to mess it up,” she said. She explained that the KFI news payroll has grown 50 percent over the last five years and it was time to make some minor budgetary adjustments and reallocate some resources. Bertolucci said KFI is currently seeking to fill the position vacated by Lawrence.

Limbaugh nominated by KABC host for Nobel Peace Prize

Two KFI-AM 640 syndicated hosts have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Rush Limbaugh received his from the Landmark Legal Foundation, whose president, Mark Levin, is also a radio talk show host heard locally on KABC-AM 790.
Levin nominated Limbaugh for his “nearly two decades of tireless efforts to promote liberty, equality and opportunity for all humankind, regardless of race, creed, economic stratum or national origin. These are the only real cornerstones of just and lasting peace throughout the world,” explained Levin. “Rush Limbaugh is the foremost advocate for freedom and democracy in the world today.”

Despite the fact that they are on competing talk stations in LA, both Limbaugh and Levin claim New York’s WABC-AM as their flagship station.

Responding to the fact that California death row inmate Stanley “Tookie” Williams had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times, KFI morning host Bill Handel had himself nominated for the prize by a congressman (who asked to remain anonymous, according to a KFI spokesperson). Williams, a convicted murderer, was executed in December, 2005.

Radio Column January 26, 2007

2007-01-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

Listening In

January 26, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Talk radio, oldies and soft rock rebound in latest ratings

The redesigned oldies legend “K-Earth 101” (KRTH-FM 101.1) made impressive gains in the fall ratings period, going from a tie at No. 15 to a tie for No. 10 in the latest Arbitron survey of listeners 12 and up. It is vindication for new Program Director Jhani Kaye and indicates there are plenty of listeners ready for a more 70s-based mix of oldies. Kaye’s previous station, adult contemporary KOST-FM 103.5 which is now programmed by Stella Schwartz, also had a great book, jumping from 11th place to a tie for 4th.

The congressional elections were a boon for talk stations. Clear Channel’s conservative/populist KFI-AM 640 went from a tie at No. 8 to a tie a No. 4 and ABC Disney’s mostly conservative KABC-AM 790 moved up from No. 17 to 15. Liberal KTLK-AM 1150 (also owned by Clear Channel) inched up a tenth to No. 31, tied with Salem ’s very conservative KRLA-AM 870.

Country music fans found a new home across county lines. The Inland Empire ’s “K-Frog” (KFRG-FM 95.1) jumped from No. 40 in the LA Metro survey to No. 28, thanks to the “flip” of KZLA-FM 93.9 from country to rhythmic adult contemporary “Movin’ 93.9” (KMVN-FM) last August. We’ll have to wait for the next ratings results to find out how well newcomer Country AM 540 and 1260 succeeds in attracting the disenfranchised country music fans of LA and Orange Counties .

K-Earth 101 Morning Man Gary Bryan

The top rated stations overall were Spanish contemporary “K-Love” KLVE-FM 107.5, then Regional Mexican KSCA-FM 101.9 which tied at No. 2 with Clear Channel’s top 40 KIIS-FM 102.7. The No. 4 spot was shared by two other Clear Channel stations: KFI-AM and KOST-FM. Regional Mexican KLAX-FM 97.9 scored at No. 6, followed by CHR Rhythmic “Power 106” (KPWR-FM 105.9) at No. 7, alternative rock KROQ-FM 106.7 at No. 8 and smooth jazz “The Wave” (KTWV-FM 94.7) at No. 9. “K-Earth 101” and Regional Mexican KBUE-FM 105.5 tied at No. 10.

K-Earth 101's midday guy Jim Carson

Climbing back into the morning drive top ten were Mark and Kim on KOST-FM up from No. 12 in the summer to No. 8 and “K-Earth 101”’s Gary Brian, who shot up from No. 16 to tie at No. 9 with the adult hits format of “Jack FM” (KCBS-FM 93.1).

KSCA-FM’s “Piolín por la Mañana” held on to No. 1 in morning drive. English-speaking radio’s top performer was KFI’s Bill Handel at No. 2 overall, then at No. 3 KLAX-FM’s Renan Almendarez Coello, “American Idol” star Ryan Seacrest on KIIS-FM at No. 4, Omar and Algeria on KLVE-FM at No. 6, Kevin and Bean on KROQ-FM at No. 7 and Power 106’s big-voiced Big Boy at No. 8. In talk radio, KABC-AM’s Doug McIntyre, KRLA-AM’s Laura Ingraham and KTLK-AM’s Stephanie Miller all gained audience share. Notwithstanding LA’s need for straight forward news reporting and frequent traffic updates, news stations KNX-AM 1070 and KFWB-AM 980 lost audience share in the morning, down two tenths and one tenth respectively.

In the 7 p.m. to midnight period, Art Laboe, whose request and dedications show on “Hot 92 Jamz” (KHHT-FM 92.3) dominates the city with the No. 1 show on Sunday nights, did not improve the ratings picture for the urban AC station with his new weeknight show. KHHT-FM was down from No. 4 to No. 7. If listeners are missing the soft R&B of “The Quiet Storm” (now starts at midnight), the ratings suggest they weren’t going to “The Wave” which dropped down from No. 7 to No. 12 nor to “The Beat” KKBT-FM 100.3 - now KRVB-FM “V-100” – which dipped from No. 14 to 21. Night owls may be tuning to the 70s flavored hits on “K-Earth 101” (up from No. 19 to 15). In talk radio, KABC-AM gained 1.6 points, raising Al Rantel, Mark Levin and “Ask Mr. KABC” from No. 16 to No. 10. KFI-AM’s John Ziegler and George Noory also improved, growing nine tenths of a point from No, 10 to a tie at No. 5 with KOST-FM.

Ask Mr. KABC showed big gains in the evening ratings for KABC-AM 790

NPR news aims for younger audience

National Public Radio is getting set to launch a new news show for younger audiences patterned after “Morning Edition,” which has grown to be a daily habit for 13 million listeners since its inception in 1970. However, the young, college educated FM listeners of that time are now pushing 60. Even at the ultra politically correct NPR, the people in charge know they’ve got to cultivate the young to stay relevant in radio.

“Morning Edition is a tremendous success and a daily priority for millions of Americans, but one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to news and information,” said NPR Chief Executive Officer Ken Stern. “The 25-to-44 age group is underserved by the media and seeking smart, thoughtful content relevant to their lives. With more than seven million of them already embracing public radio and the public service it offers, this is a logical opportunity for NPR.”

A two-hour morning drive time radio show is planned for September through NPR radio stations, their digital HD radio multicast channels, the Internet and on satellite radio. No word yet on whether KPCC-FM 89.3 or KCRW-FM 89.9 will participate.

Radio Column January 12, 2007

2007-01-18T23:12:00.000-08:00

Listening In

January 12, 2007

By Sandy Wells

Star 98.7 pairs KIIS-FM’s Valentine with Foxx in new morning show

Lisa Foxx moves into new time slot on Star 98.7

Star 98.7 KYSR-FM 98.7 repeated history last week when it removed the morning show starring “Jamie, Jack and Stench,” (Jamie White, Jack Heine and Mike Roberts). The trio exited the Hot Adult Contemporary station billing itself as “today’s music alternative” last April so management could make room for more music-focused programming. However, a big email response caused the management to pull a Donald Trump-like move, giving them a “second chance.” Now that’s over with for good. Or bad, depending on how much you liked or disliked White’s brand of goofball humor.

Sean Valentine moves from KIIS-FM to Star 98.7

Starting next Tuesday, KIIS-FM 102.7’s lightening-witted Sean Valentine joins midday host Star 98.7 DJ Lisa Foxx for the new 5:30 am - 10 am morning show. Valentine spent the last ten years spinning top 40 pop hits for Star 98.7’s sister station, including the last eight as host of the afternoon drive shift. He’s also a regular at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, and has entertained the U.S. armed forces stationed overseas for the USO.

Foxx has been a mainstay on Star 98.7 for nearly ten years, hosting virtually every timeslot. Lately she has been heard hosting the “All Request Workday” weekdays from 10 am to 3 pm. A California native, Lisa honed her on-air skills with gigs in San Jose and San Francisco before coming to Los Angeles.

Both hosts are adept at managing fast-paced shows where music is the focus. Star 98.7 General Manager Craig Rossi says he expects there will be a pretty even blend of music and chatter.

Sean Parr headlines as DJ on country AM 1260 and 540

Sean Parr does mornings now on AM 540 and 1260

On his first day back on the air this week at AM 1260 and 540, prompted by traffic reporter/sidekick Robin Banks – who also worked with him on KZLA-FM 93.9, country music DJ Sean Parr retold the story of the last minutes of the FM country station.

“The boss came in to the studio,” Parr recalled. “He never did that. He never came into the studio. He asked how I was. I knew something was wrong. I asked is everything okay? He told me that in five minutes this station as you know it will be no more.”

Parr, at the mike, with his daughter visiting in the studio, was stunned, but not speechless. He said he asked the boss if he could say goodbye to the listeners, say something to explain what was happening. His boss told him to be a “radio professional” and play one more song without comment, for that would be his last. Shaken, with emotions welling up as the reality began to sink in, Parr picked Keith Urban’s, “Tonight I Wanna Cry” which he played at 10:18 a.m. He was then called into a staff meeting where the grim details were spelled out.

Later, he says he did get the opportunity to say goodbye to some of his listeners. But it wasn’t on KZLA. Morning DJ’s Scott and Tommy on the Inland Empire country station, “K-Frog” (KFRG-FM 95.1) which reaches parts of LA and Orange Counties, invited him to come in and talk about the demise of LA’s only country station on the morning of August 17th.

Parr’s presence in the morning gives the AM station a local show to anchor a broadcast schedule that features other country radio talents such as Whitney Allen, Brian Douglas, Paul Freeman and Tonya Campos, all former KZLA DJs.

Mt. Wilson Broadcasting President Saul Levine says he plans to add more local shows to the lineup of AM 1260 and 540.

Bonaduce joins Carola on KLSX-FM

Danny Bonaduce hooked up with morning man Adam Carolla and Teresa Strasser last week on KLSX-FM 971. The “Free FM” talker has struggled to recapture anything close to the ratings dominance it enjoyed in the morning with Howard Stern at the helm. Nevertheless, Carolla has survived, unlike his hapless East Coast counterpart, David Lee Roth, who was removed last year after less than five months on the job. Bonaduce, who also lost a morning radio job last year, as co-host with Jamie White on Star 98.7 KYSR-FM 98.7, is back in the saddle after a year starring on his own MTV reality TV show “Breaking Bonaduce.”

“If you asked me why I wanted to join Adam’s show, my first reaction would be to say poverty, followed quickly by the fact that I’m a big fan and have a lot of respect for his work,” said Bonaduce in a statement. “There’s nothing quite like doing live radio especially with a veteran like Adam. Having done his show in the past I know that there is something unique about what we bring to the table.”

‘La Raza’ morning man arrested after domestic quarrel

Spanish language radio superstar “El Cucuy” Renan Almendarez Coello had a run-in with the law over the holidays. Police say the “La Raza” KLAX-FM 97.9 morning man turned himself into to police last week on suspicion of making criminal threats over the phone to his wife and later to police on New Year’s Day as officers were investigating reports of a family fight at his home. Police say there were traces of blood at the scene Monday and that they took a knife as evidence. His wife was not injured. After being booked Wednesday, Almendarez posted $50,000 bail and left the police station with his lawyer.

The Honduran native has enjoyed a huge following among Spanish-speaking listeners in LA since his days on KKHJ-AM 930 (now KHJ). His popularity soared when he moved to mornings on KSCA-FM 101.9. Last spring, he played a key role in publicizing the massive rally in downtown Los Angeles to protest a House bill that would have criminalized illegal immigrants.

Radio Column December 29, 2006

2007-01-03T04:08:00.000-08:00

Listening In

December 29, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Top radio stories of 2006

KZLA vanishes; Rick Dees returns on new KMVN

It was a strange day in August when the country music format vanished at KZLA-FM 93.9. The new “Movin’ 93.9” was born by stealth, with not a hint of things to come offered by Emmis Comunications, the corporation that owned LA’s only country outlet. Many country music lovers felt outrage, once they got over the shock of hearing Madonna and the Black Eyed Peas instead of Toby Keith and Sara Evans, not to mention the loss of morning DJ Peter Tilden. The silver lining in the cloud was the announcement that former KIIS-FM morning man Rick Dees was coming back to wake up Los Angeles.

Huggy Boy dies

Dick “Huggy Boy” Hugg died this year following a period of failing health. The 78-year-old pioneer DJ who began spinning R&B hits in the 1950s from Dolphin’s record store in South LA evolved, in his later career on KRLA-AM 1110, into a radio institution among LA’s Latino communities. The Ohio native’s unpretentious presentation of “low rider” oldies with its emphasis on soul and R&B classics plus requests and dedications connected with people of all ages.

Comedy and sports don’t mix well

Can comedy and sports work as a talk format? KLAC-AM 570, made a half-hearted go of it with two comedy acts that ended up going nowhere, or in the case of Phil Hendrie, into TV sitcoms. Chicago’s mighty Mancow was heralded as a kind of new and improved Howard Stern. However, Mancow’s high-energy clowning cacophony sounded like it needed to be on FM as he is heard on his home base station in Chicago where higher fidelity and stereo help sort out the voices amid a pounding heavy metal soundtrack. But I give him credit for packing more entertainment bits into a show than any other radio morning man I’ve ever heard. And they were often very funny. Hendrie, moved from a high-profile evening slot on KFI-AM 640, was often preempted by sports on KLAC’s evening slot. He is now developing his comedy for TV. And KLAC is now programming sports shows with Joe McDonnell in the evenings and “Roggin and Simers Squared” with KNBC-TV’s Fred Roggin and sports writer T.J. Simers with his daughter, Tracy.

Country music on AM

Independent broadcaster Saul Levine came to the rescue of country music fans after KZLA changed to Movin’ 93.9. He “flipped” the format of his AM stations first XESUR-AM 540 and later, KKGO-AM 1260, trading Ferrante and Teicher for Brooks and Dunn.

Jhani Kaye programs K-Earth 101

I had to scratch my head over this one. K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) hired one of radio’s pre-eminent adult contemporary “soft rock” programmers with KOST-FM 103.5 and KBIG-FM 104.3 to reinvent the legendary oldies station. Jhani Kaye started in January. Like a glacial ice flow moving south, the music has changed to the point where except for the old jingles and a smattering of 60s classics the oldies sound has almost melted away. Kaye inserted ex-KBIG personality Joshua Escandon into early afternoons, giving the station a decidedly AC flavor during a key “listen at work” daypart. He also put Gary Bryan back in mornings. Hollywood Hamilton went back to New York radio after a year of waking up Angelenos with the Four Tops and Righteous Brothers.

Tough act to follow on KLSX-FM

KLSX-FM 97.1 Program Director Jack Silver has had his work cut out for this year. Programming a station with top-rated Howard Stern as the morning guy was like owning an Arabian oil field. With Stern gone to Sirius, Adam Carola has faced the daunting challenge of trying to keep as many Stern fans tuned in while developing his own following.

Behind the scenes drama at Star 98.7

Hot Adult Contemporary Star 98.7 KYSR-FM 98.7 has endured some tabloid-style sturm and drang this year, beginning with the firing of practically the whole air staff in order to put the focus back on the music. That move led to thousands of emails reportedly demanding that Jamie, Jack and Stench be given back their morning show. Management put the trio back on and also hired DJs Lisa Foxx, Tom Mitchell and Richard Blade to put some more personality between the records. The year came to a calamitous end when KFI’s Bill Handel, another morning host from the local Clear Channel cluster based in Burbank, burst into the Star 98.7 studio while the on-air lamp was lit, and loudly and profanely went off on Jamie for yelling at his kids, who had strayed down the hall while visiting their Dad’s show. There were a lot of “beeped out” words during that incident.

Revolving doors on urban radio

More evidence that personality is makes for compelling music radio surfaced as Urban AC “Hot 92” KHHT-FM 92.3 put weekend syndicated Art Laboe on a weeknight schedule with his signature requests and dedications. Laboe, a LA veteran broadcaster, helped Huggy Boy get started in the business in the 1950s. Comedian Steve Harvey, who was a huge hit on KKBT-FM 100.3, “The Beat” reemerged on old school hip hop KDAY-FM 93.5. KDAY also added Tha’ Goodfellas following their successful run of afternoons spinning hip hop hits on Power 106 KPWR-FM 105.9. Earlier this year, “The Beat” replaced morning man John Salley with Tom Joyner as it transformed from a hip hop and R&B to Urban Adult Contemporary sound. Joyner exited this month as the Beat’s new program director Kevin Fleming replaced him with KJLH-FM 102.3’s Cliff Winston.

Radio Column December 15, 2006

2007-01-03T04:01:00.000-08:00

Listening In

December 15, 2006

By Sandy Wells

KKBT ‘The Beat’ drops Tom Joyner show

Urban contemporary station KKBT-FM 100.3 “The Beat” is returning to local programming in the morning as it disconnects from the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show after today.

KKBT Program Director Kevin Fleming was on the verge of making it official with an announcement this week that afternoon drive talent Cliff Winston would be named as the next personality to step into the high-profile position.

Before he was picked up by “The Beat,” Winston had developed a solid local following hosting the morning show at the Inglewood station owned by pop/R&B icon Stevie Wonder, KJLH-FM 102.3. His move to 100.3 earlier this year immediately fueled rumors that he was in line to replace Joyner’s program, which was not moving the ratings in the right direction.

“It was difficult for him to find an audience,” said Fleming of Joyner, who programmed the now defunct oldies R&B outlet KACE when that station carried the syndicated show. “That was five or six years ago. There wasn’t satellite radio or iPods then.”

Fleming is convinced that he must focus on developing local personalities to compete for LA’s fickle listeners and feels that Winston is the man to do it.

“He’s an entity in this marketplace and that’s a positive” said Fleming reflecting on the changes he hopes will stem the audience erosion the station has suffered this year. “The bleeding has stopped, we’re making changes; we have to inform the marketplace of who we are.”

Fleming edited the radio industry music tip sheet “Urban Buzz” between radio gigs. He feels the appeal of the urban adult contemporary sound of KKBT will continue to grow, displacing what he sees as hip hop’s fading popularity.

“You can only eat fast food for so long,” says Fleming, explaining the new focus on local personalities and music aimed to satisfy the musical tastes of Southern Californians. “People need to have a meal. You can have a home cooked meal here. That’s what we’re all about now.”

Fleming says KKBT’s music mix will be more ‘mass appeal’ than the similarly-formatted KJLH.

“The Beat” will soon add Shirley Hayes from Chicago’s WNUA-FM to fill the 9 a.m. to noon slot soon.

New female morning host captains the KJLH-FM “Home Team”

As former KJLH-FM 102.3 morning man Cliff Winston gets set to move into morning drive on KKBT-FM 100.3 ‘The Beat,’ one of his former “Home Team” players has moved up to take his place.

Adai Lamar is now counted alongside former “Beat” personality Diana Steele on KHHT-FM 92.3 as one of two female music DJs hosting the key morning drive time period. She is also the only African-American woman currently at the helm of a morning radio show in the market.

Lamar aims to “Entertain, Inform and Enlighten” on her daily 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. program. In keeping with the station’s objective to be “the community station,” drawing her listeners from LA’s vast melting pot, Adai and the Home Team broadcast community affairs, local job announcements and listener calls.

KJLH-FM's Adai Lamar

The Texas native graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in broadcast journalism. After starting her radio career at a station in Oklahoma City she moved to Hollywood where she worked for music star Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds before returning to the airwaves at KJLH.

Lamar is being promoted as someone who delivers “the viewpoints and experience of an attractive, young, single, professional African-American woman, something you won’t hear elsewhere headlining any other morning music show in L.A. radio.”

Adai hopes to move into some TV work in addition to radio. She is currently developing a segment for her show called “Adai in LA: The diary of a single black female living in the City.”

Radio Column December 1, 2006

2006-12-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Listening In

December 1, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Country music returns to LA on 1260 AM today

Country music returns to LA County airwaves today on KKGO-AM 1260, replacing the adult standards format. Although Southern California is the biggest market for the sale of country music CDs, there has been no broadcast signal airing country music since KZLA-FM ended its 26-year run with the format in favor of the rhythmic adult contemporary KMVN-FM 93.9 featuring Rick Dees in August.

In October, Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasting partially filled the void by replacing adult standards with country music on XESUR-AM 540, which covers San Diego, Orange County and can be heard in parts of LA County.

The format flip proved a boon to XM Satellite Radio which replaced KZLA as the sponsor of “Country Bash ’06” at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in October. XM offers nine country channels.

This will not be a perfect solution to country music lovers. AM 1260 has a spotty signal at night, especially for listeners in the San Gabriel Valley, some of whom may have better luck tuning to the San Diego-based simulcast on XSUR-AM 540.

Mt Wilson FM President Saul Levine has always been a big supporter of standards despite the financial challenges.

“I only made $148,000 last year with this format,” he said. “That’s barely enough to pay for the electric bill and the phone lines. The (advertising) agencies don’t want to buy the older audience.”

Levine feels certain that by catering to country music’s younger demographics, he will be able to attract enough agency ad revenue to put his two AM stations in the black this year.

Levine will continue to use programming from Excelsior Radio Networks. Happily, many ex-KZLA DJs work at the Valencia studios formerly operated by Westwood One. Former KZLA evening personality Brian Douglas is the morning man, followed by Adrienne Brooks. Starting in January, Whitney Allen will be host afternoon drive.

Mt Wilson FM’s classical station, KMZT-FM 105.1 (“K-Mozart”) will soon be broadcasting country music on its HD2 channel.

As for people who love the standards, for now, my suggestion is to subscribe to XM or Sirius satellite radio.

Jesse Jackson nabs newsmaker

Jesse Jackson’s weekly syndicated talk show “Keep Hope Alive” nabbed a big newsmaker interview when actor-comedian Michael Richards went on the program to apologize for his recent angry tirade at the Laugh Factory. Richards, best known as the actor who played Kramer on “Seinfeld” used the “n” word repeatedly in a bizarre attempt to shut down some African-American hecklers. Unfortunately for Richards, much of it was captured on cell phone video and distributed to the media.

Richards told Jackson he was raised in an African American neighborhood until he was 11 and that most of his friends were African-American. “My journey now is to go in and get to the face of what’s underneath racist language…but underneath us…underneath me, underneath me, Reverend.” Jackson’s show airs Sunday evening from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on KTLK-AM 1150. The show is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks.

KXLU spins vinyl

I can’t remember when I last heard a record skip on the air. The other morning I tuned to Loyola Marymount University’s KXLU-FM 88.9 and heard the DJ start a song by the punk rock band The Cramps. The song almost immediately started to skip and slide, the needle doing a bit of a dance on the old record’s damaged grooves. The DJ quickly moved the needle ahead to another song and played “I Can’t Find My Mind” from the 1981 LP “Psychedelic Jungle” instead. Coming on the air after the set, Stephanie apologized for the technical problems, which included their old CD players having a hard time playing homemade CD-R recordings without skipping.

KXLU-FM is one of the last college stations that allow college students to host programs and pick their own music. KXLU offers an eclectic lineup of programs, from Latin, to classical and jazz, in addition to rock music shows. It is a great place to hear the unexpected and new. Any LMU alums want to step up and contribute some state of the art CD players? A donation form is available at www.kxlu.com.

ABC Radio Citadel merger on hold

The impending merger of Citadel Broadcasting with Disney’s ABC Radio is apparently on hold until next May.

Disney knocked $300 million off the $2.7 billion price but will retain a 57 percent stake in the new company, up from the previously agreed upon 52 percent.

Under the terms of the merger agreement originally announced in February, Disney would continue to mange ESPN Radio and Radio Disney (Locally KSPN-AM 710 and KDIS-AM 1110), while spinning off the ABC Radio networks and other ABC stations including LA’s KABC-AM 790 and KLOS-FM 95.5.

KRLA boosts power

Talk station KRLA-AM 870 is reaching out to an estimated 1.3 million additional ears “from Santa Barbara to Laguna Hills” with the boost of its power from 20,000 watts to 50,000 watts.

“At 50,000 watts, we are excited that KRLA is now among the most powerful AM stations in Los Angeles,” said Salem Los Angeles Vice President and General Manager Terry Fahy. “This signal improvement enables us to reach a broader audience well-suited to our programming strengths. For people in the Greater Los Angeles area who want hard-hitting truth-telling news and commentary, we deliver.”

KRLA offers the area’s most consistently conservative weekday lineup of talk commentators, with Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Savage, Mike Gallagher and Bill Bennett.

Radio Column November 17, 2006

2006-11-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

Listening In

November 17, 2006

By Sandy Wells

K-Jazz set to welcome new management

Some jazz fans are fearful that the new management soon to take over KKJZ-FM 88.1 (“K-Jazz”) in Long Beach at the beginning of next year will convert the station into a more mass appeal jazz format, possibly into a public radio version of the “smooth jazz” format heard on “the Wave” KTWV-FM 94.7.

Nothing could be farther from the truth according to Saul Levine, the President and owner of Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasting, who won the bid to take over the management of the financially-challenged FM station off the hands of California State University Long Beach this year.

Although one of the most listened-to jazz stations in America – it has an bi-coastal rivalry with WBGO-FM in Newark, New Jersey, which serves the New York metro area – that popularity hasn’t translated into financial stability.

For that reason the university decided that it could no longer afford to underwrite the station and began soliciting bids for new management.

Levine, whose bid was accepted last month, will bring his classical music radio sales force in to sell corporate underwriting for K-Jazz, a move that will help fill the gap between subscriber support and station expenses and hopefully bringing it in line with wealthier public stations, KCRW-FM 89.9, KUSC-FM 91.5 and KPCC-FM 89.3.

Levine says he’s dedicated to keeping classic, “straight-ahead” jazz alive and well.

“We did jazz for 29 years KKGO-FM until KFAC dropped the classical format in 1989,” said Levine, who currently operates commercial classical station KMZT-FM 105.1, standards KKGO-AM 1260 and Country station XSUR-AM 540 in Southern California. “I’d like to dispel rumors that we are going to radically change 88.1. We’re going to focus on straight ahead jazz and we’re not turning it into ‘The Wave.’ But, I don’t want to play the kind of jazz that just appeals to one hundred people.”

Levine says he will look at all the programming and staff at the 30,000-watt public station when he takes over in January.

The weekend blues will probably remain in place, but some shows and air personalities may be moved around or replaced.

Levine says he plans to put country music on the HD2 channel of KMZT-FM in 2007 to supplement the programming on AM 540. He also told me he will be adding more local announcers to his country station, which currently offers mostly syndicated shows emanating from Excelsior Radio Network studios in Valencia.

Stryker named co-host of “Loveline” on KROQ

KROQ-FM’s afternoon drive host, Stryker, has been named co-host of the nationally syndicated call in show “Loveline” broadcast weekday evenings from 10 p.m. to midnight on its flagship station, alternative rocker KROQ-FM 106.7.

(Photo: KROQ's Stryker)

“Loveline” the long-running radio call-in show focusing on the issues of young people and sex, relationships, and health was started by KROQ DJs Jim “Poorman” Trenton and “Swedish Egil” in 1983. Trenton invited Dr. Drew Pinsky on to the show for medical information a year later. Drew, who was a USC medical student when he first joined the show, is currently a board certified internist and addiction medicine specialist. The previous co-host, Adam Corolla, left in 2005 to take over the West Coast edition of the morning show vacated by Howard Stern. Stryker has been a fill-in co-host since then.

“I am beyond excited to be a part of ‘Loveline,’ ” said Stryker who will continue to host his 4-7 p.m. shift in addition to his role on “Loveline.” “I'm also honored to work with the man who is responsible for the fantastic run and success of the show, Dr. Drew. I grew up with the show and now to be a part of it is truly mind blowing.”

Stryker began his career in Tucson as morning host and music director at KFMA-FM. He moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to take over nights at KROQ. He eventually moved into afternoon drive.

“‘Loveline’ has become an entirely new show with an upbeat and positive host who makes the show accessible, young and fresh,” said Dr. Drew. “Stryker's enthusiasm, knowledge and attitude have brought the show back to its roots which is the caller.”

“With Dr. Drew as the heart and soul, ‘Loveline’ has consistently been the highest rated show on KROQ since its debut over 20 years ago,” said Kevin Weatherly, Senior Vice President of Programming CBS RADIO and KROQ Program Director. “Stryker has already proven himself to be a star on KROQ. His energy, passion, and presence on ‘Loveline’ is the perfect complement to Dr. Drew.”

Radio Column November 3, 2006

2006-11-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Listening In

November 3, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Talk radio takes dive in latest ratings

It looks like a lot of people hit the collective mute button on LA’s talk stations this summer – and that’s not a good thing in radio.

Talk commentators – many of whom have been pressing the illegal immigration issue since the huge rallies and demonstrations in the spring – may discover that the “hot button” is more like an “eject button” when it comes to LA listeners, despite the inherent drama in the topic and its profound relevance to everyday life in Southern California.

National Public Radio claimed last month that its audience nationally has grown about 1 percent while commercial news/talk formats have seen their audiences decline by about 2 percent.

It’s possible that some radio listeners may be gravitating to the cable news channels, which have become increasingly similar to talk radio both in substance and style.

In overall ratings measured by Arbitron, four of the top six stations in LA are broadcasting in Spanish:

1. KLVE-FM 107.5 Spanish Popular “K-Love”
2. KSCA-FM 101.9 Mexican Regional “La Nueve”
3. KIIS-FM 102.7 Top 40 “Kiss FM”
4. KLAX-FM 97.9 Mexican Regional “La Raza”
5. KBUE-FM 105.5/KBUA-FM 94.3 “Que Buena” (tie)
5. KROQ-FM 106.7 Alternative Rock “K-Rock” (tie)

Talk station KFI-AM 640, which tied for No. 1 in the spring with KLVE-FM 107.5, dropped to No. 8, in a tie with bilingual KXOL-FM “Latino 96.3” a reggaeton-based format beginning its broadcast day with a program pointedly dubbed, “The Morning Invasion.” Talk Radio KABC-AM 790 maintained at No. 17, even as it lost two-tenths of a rating point. News/talk KRLA-AM 870, KLSX-FM 97.1 and Progressive Talk KTLK-AM 1150 also modest declines in overall listening.

Traditional oldies radio didn’t fare too well, K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) slipped with its 70s-focused format, dropping from a tie at 13 to a tie at No. 15. Spanish oldies “Recuerdo” KRCD-FM 103.9/KRCV-FM 98.3 plunged from No. 9 to No. 14.

In morning radio, “Piolín por la Mañana” on KSCA-FM was No. 1 again, ahead of Renan Armendarez Coello on KLAX-FM and Omar and Algeria on KLVE-FM who shared the No. 2 spot. KROQ’s Kevin and Bean were at No. 4, Bill Handel dropped from No. 2 in the spring to No. 5, followed by Ryan Seacrest on KIIS-FM at No. 6. Ricardo "El Mandril" (The Baboon) Sanchez moved up to No. 7 from No. 11 in the spring, and tied with Big Boy on KPWR-FM 105.9 “Power 106.” No. 9 was shared by Mark and Brian who play no music on classic rock KLOS-FM 95.5 and Jack FM KCBS-FM 93.1, which offers lots of classic rock hits without a DJ.

KNX-AM 1070, which has been evolving from a news station - it still calls itself “news radio” - to a combination of talk shows and news blocks presented in an informal manner. In morning drive, anchors Dave Williams and Vicky Moore moved from a tie at No. 18 to No. 14, ahead of KABC’s topical McIntyre in the Morning, which slipped from No. 15 to a tie at No. 16.

Country music revived on 540 AM

Missing the country music since KZLA-FM 93.9 became “Movin’ 93.9” with Rick Dees? The signal’s not too great for LA County listeners, but AM 540 flipped from adult standards to contemporary country a couple of weeks ago. The station’s strongest reception areas are in Orange County and San Diego.

Ex-KZLA evening host Brian Douglas is now morning man, followed by ex-KNX weather reporter and San Antonio country personality Adrienne Brooks in middays. Other highlights: Big Time Saturday Night with Whitney Allen tomorrow from 7 p.m. to Midnight and Paul Freeman, Sunday afternoon from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. followed by The Grand Ole Opry Weekend Special from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The adult standards and old time radio dramas remain on KKGO-AM 1260.

Alfred Molina stars in Oscar Wilde play

When actor Alfred Molina lent his voice to Oscar Wilde’s famous play, “An Ideal Husband” in 1997, he was not quite the major film star he is today. LA Theatre Works’s “The Play’s the Thing” presents a broadcast of the witty English comedy from 1895 tomorrow night (Saturday) on KPCC-FM 89.3 at 10 p.m. Jacqueline Bisset, Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Yeardley Smith, and Miriam Margolyes are also in the cast. Wilde explores the plight of a promising politician desperate to hide a secret in his past. The broadcast includes an interview with the director, UCLA Professor of Theatre Michael Hackett.

Radio Column October 20, 2006

2006-10-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

Listening In

October 20, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Award-winning KNX reporter Luis Torres looks to new life in theatre, public radio

Luis Torres, award-winning radio journalist, filmmaker, record producer and aspiring playwright, is a man of two contracts.

Thanks to one good contract, Torres has been to take early retirement from his nearly quarter-century career at KNX-AM 1070, allowing him ample time to pursue a new life as a writer and playwright. He also has a contract with the prestigious Mark Taper Forum to complete a musical based on the songs of the brilliant 1990s album by the East LA band Los Lobos, “Kiko.”

“It’s a love story basically. I extracted characters from some of the songs on the album,” says Torres of his collaboration with songwriter and longtime friend Louie Perez. “They are really extraordinary songs.”

Torres, who plays guitar – “well enough to know how poorly I play” –produced an album for the band ‘a million years ago.’

“It’s an exciting process working on a play. I’ve written non-fiction most of my life. We’re in the final stages of the last draft.”

The show is “in development” with an eye towards a major production in 2008 at the Taper.

Torres is also in discussion with KPCC-FM 89.3, the non-commercial public radio station based in Torres’ hometown of Pasadena to work as a radio journalist. While he has a few reservations about moving into the world of public radio where he finds the “slightly elitist tone a little off-putting” he is nonetheless interested in reconnecting with his passion for news and the stories that continuously bubble up in what he calls the “cauldron that is our city.” He has worked there in the past as a substitute host on “Talk of the City.”

Torres’ career at KNX came to an end after he was called into a meeting with the new News Director Julie Chin about a month and a half ago. He was told he wouldn’t be doing any more reports on Latino affairs in Los Angeles.

“I had been doing three to four minute pieces on Latinos in LA about writers and musicians. The idea was to get people ‘in the tent’ in this city that is 50 percent Latino. I asked her, ‘Is this for the time being? Is it permanent?’ I was told, ‘I don’t have to justify myself to you.’ It was clear to me what the atmosphere there would be.”

After a brief period of reflection, Torres, a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism, winner of a George Foster Peabody Award, five Golden Mike Awards, a duPont-Columbia award, an Edward R, Morrow Award and four Greater Los Angeles Press Club Awards, decided to “look for other things to do.”

“I was there for over twenty-five years – I took three years off to teach – and much of my time there was terrific. I think I’m a good reporter and this is a great city. The last couple of years hadn’t been all that much fun for me anyway – and I don’t mean that in a frivolous way, but it was not fun.”

For one thing, he found it frustrating that reporters were being asked to cut the time of their reports in half, doing in 30 to 40 seconds what they used to do 60 to 90 seconds.

Torres says he finds the change of direction at KNX puzzling, likening it to the ‘kids in the sandbox’ approach to journalism he sees on the KTLA-TV channel 5 morning show. Whatever the ultimate goal is, he thinks KNX should make up its mind.

“If you’re going to be a news organization, do news. If you’re going to do something else – call it something else.”

In the meantime, Torres says he having the time of his life, catching up on reading, working on his new musical and helping his wife complete her book, “Teatro Chicana” about Latino activist theatre in the 1970s.

“I’m very happy,” says Torres.

Howard Stern for free online

Sirius Satellite radio is offering some prime content for free over the Internet for a two day period next week to launch its Sirius Internet Radio (SIR).

To publicize the availability of SIR, listeners on Sirius.com will be able to hear The Howard Stern Show and Stern’s two 24/7 channels without having to pay the subscription fee on Oct. 25 and 26th, as well as commercial-free music, talk, entertainment, and sports programs. Listeners can go to www.sirius.com/howard to register for a free trial of Sirius.

“Howard being available live for the first time ever to a worldwide audience is an unprecedented event in the history of radio,” said Scott Greenstein, Sirius President, Entertainment and Sports. “Listeners can now get what they have been missing: Howard at the top of his game and more than 75 channels of the best radio on radio.”

Radio Column October 6, 2006

2006-10-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Listening In

October 6, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Hip hop Syphe and Eric DLux move up to Power 106 drive time

Hip Hop Power 106 (KPWR-FM 105.9) made the official announcement last week that it had decided to promote from within to fill its afternoon drive 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekday show.

“After an exhaustive national search, I couldn’t be more excited with the results!” said Emmis VP of Programming and Power 106 Program Director Jimmy Steal. “Syphe and DLux have been simply done an outstanding job filling in and I’m pleased that we were able to promote within.”

“Syphe” and “Eric DLux” filled in during the search for a new team and were so popular the station management decided to give them the job, according to a station spokesperson.

(Eric DLux and Syphe)

Both Syphe and Eric were raised in the Los Angeles area. Syphe attended Pasadena’s Blair High School but sidestepped college to focus on hip hop music production and mixing. He credits include a sound track for a Nike commercial. Eric DLux attended Carson High School.

They started out as part of Power 106’s street team known as “The Flava Unit.” About a year and a half ago, they got a chance to host their own weekend and overnight programs, eventually being promoted to evenings.

The pair joins long-time afternoon personality Tito, the real life janitor-turned radio sidekick, who keeps the atmosphere light with his homespun humor and distinctive Mexican accent.

Syphe and DLux fill the shoes of the Goodfellas – who kept the station in the top tier of the afternoon ratings for seven years. Romeo and Dejai have since moved from Power 106 to hosting evenings on R&B/hip hop KDAY-FM 93.5.

The 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. timeslot will be covered by Miguel Barrozo who arrives from San Francisco’s popular KYLD-FM on Oct. 16.

“This is a dream come true! I’m looking forward to moving to Los Angeles and joining Power 106!” said Borrozo.

Satellite vs. HD

Although satellite subscription radio has managed to acquire about 14.4 million subscribers, or about five percent of the American population over the last few years, new research indicates the growth may be tapering off.

A new study released by Bridge Ratings found that 48 percent of consumers with XM or Sirius satellite radios in their car did not plan to renew their subscriptions after their three to twelve month free trial ended. About 30 percent who purchased their radio at retail – either after market for their car or a home radio also did not plan to renew.

The Stern factor also appears to be fading. After all the hype last fall leading up to the launch of the Howard Stern Show on Sirius, Stern has managed to capture about 1.2 million subscribers. That’s about half of his estimated 2.5 “most loyal” terrestrial radio listeners, according to the study. By the end of last month, the Stern effect was accounting for less than 20 percent of Sirius sign-ups.

One analyst quoted by the study said that U.S. carmakers, struggling to maintain market share, are less generous in their promotion of satellite radio.

Another factor slowing satellite radio’s ascent may be the growing awareness of HD radio, which offers many extra channels at no cost.

Once you’ve invested in a radio with HD reception, you’re done. There are no subscription fees. You now have a radio that can pick up two HD signals where there was once one channel. For instance, you can hear HD KMVN 93.9-1 (“Movin’ 93.9) playing Rick Dees and rhythmic adult contemporary music (the same as on FM), while its HD second channel on 93.9-2 offers the KZLA country format (without the DJs). If you like pre-Beatles, “good time” oldies which K-Earth 101 no longer plays, you can hear them on KRTH-FM’s second HD channel: 101.1-2; and still listen to what the FM version of K-Earth 101 plays in pristine HD by tuning to 101.1-1. More than thirty Los Angeles-area stations are broadcasting in HD now, or will be soon.

Bidding with Star 98.7’s ‘Lounge for Life’

Last night, Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM 98.7) held a concert at the House of Blues in West Hollywood to benefit City of Hope Hospital’s breast cancer research. On the bill were Ray LaMontagne, Jewel, Train and Teddy Geiger.

Today, the station begins running an on-line auction to benefit the hospital where you can bid for autographed guitars from the Dixie Chicks, John Mayer, Snow Patrol, Jewel, INXS and many other items on the STAR 98.7 website: www.star987.com.

The Star 98.7 Lounge presented live in-studio concerts since 1996. Many of the performances are available on the station’s CD collection which you can purchase online at the Star 98.7 website.

Radio Column September 22, 2006

2006-09-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

Listening In

September 22, 2006

By Sandy Wells

KFI’s John and Ken at ‘war’ with LA’s mayor

Two of radio’s most politically provoking personalities now see themselves as being in a state of ‘war’ with the mayor of Los Angeles. For KFI-AM 640’s John and Ken Show, who rate their effectiveness on how often they can goad the high and mighty into taking their bait, this may be their biggest catch to date.

At the 4th Annual Impact Awards luncheon sponsored by the Hispanic Media Coalition honoring Latino broadcasters in Beverly Hills last week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa congratulated Spanish radio personalities such as KSCA-FM’s Eddie “Píolin” Sotello, for organizing the peaceful pro-immigration rallies last spring. He then paused and took a moment to scold the KFI afternoon talk show hosts, addressing them directly, “while the cameras are rolling.”

“Two people who get on the radio everyday, who share a commitment to dividing America, who demonize our immigrants,” said Villaraigosa. “Let us say to them, ‘Shame on you; shame on you for dividing America.’ But make no mistake, like the people we honor today, we will stand up, we will speak out, we will do it the right way, speaking out on behalf of an America that is bigger and better then the rhetoric that you put on your radio waves every single day.”

That afternoon, John and Ken were broadcasting from a special screening of the immigration-themed film “Border War” in Orange County. They broke in with the story of the mayor’s comments, adding that a KTLA-TV reporter was on the way to get their response.

“It was like a declaration of war,” Ken Chiampou later told KTLA-TV’s Willa Sandmeyer. “There was emotion and anger in his voice. But he did the same thing that all politicians do. He referred to the issue as the United States as ‘a nation of immigrants.’ He completely only talks about immigration, never dividing into the categories you have to divide. There are legal immigrants and there are illegal immigrants.”

KFI Program Director Robin Bertolucci did not offer a comment on this latest political imbroglio involving her drive time duo. Instead she handed me off to John Kobylt, who usually plays ‘bad cop’ to Ken Chiampou’s more reasonable ‘good cop’ attitude during their on air ruminations about the latest political or cultural outrage.

Kobylt admitted that he was initially surprised that the mayor, so often the target of their invective in the past, had picked that day to publicly condemn their show’s position on immigration.

He told me he felt Villraigosa was really just politicking in the typical way so many politicians do, by pandering to their base when they are in front of a friendly audience and unnoticed by the mainstream media.

“Villaraigosa had been off our radar for a while as we focused on Phil Angelides and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I wondered if he wasn’t just throwing meat out to the Spanish media crowd, not really noticing that Channel 5 was there. It’s jut like when (former) governor Davis signed the illegal drivers’ license bill with only Hispanic media there and our reporter Eric Leonard found out about it. These politicians are often trying to skip it by English media … (Villaraigosa is) firing up his base because he wants to run for governor.”

Kobylt explained that the mayor may not have considered that KTLA-TV would be there to cover the award being given to their own Carlos Amezcua for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. Then, that story got upstaged by the mayor blasting the KFI hosts.

“The channel 5 news director thought this would be a big deal. Why he thought he should lead with the story, I don’t know.”

Typically, local broadcasters like to ingratiate themselves with those in power. John and Ken have made a name for themselves doing just the opposite. In their early days, as radio hosts in Trenton New Jersey, they openly ridiculed the state assembly after reading an article in the local paper about a huge tax increase that had been quietly voted into law in an after midnight session. They kept up the heat. Eighteen months later, they took credit for getting about a third of the state legislature voted out of office.

For Kobylt, the real scandal these days is the existence of a cowed and intimidated body politic, afraid to speak plainly to those in power. He feels that their show and its million-plus local audience, is making a difference in how people think about politics.

“The pc bubble has burst,” said Kobylt. “The stories that used to be scandalous aren’t any more. It’s a change of reality. The most common comment we get from listeners is ‘You say what we’re thinking.’ But they’re afraid to say these things. It’s about speaking the obvious truth. There’s a whole professional ‘lying class’ out there. Our whole niche is cutting through the b. s. and getting out the truth.”

Radio Column September 8, 2006

2006-09-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Listening In

September 8, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Remembering radio’s ‘Living Legend,’ Huggy Boy

I called up KRLA-AM 1110’s Huggy Boy show the Saturday night after my girl friend and I got engaged and made a request. Huggy answered the phone himself and taped me dedicating “I Got You” by James Brown to my future bride. Then he told me, “Sure, buddy, I’ll get it on for you.”

I remembered that night after I learned that Dick “Huggy Boy” Hugg had died last week at the age of 78.

The sincerity and warmth in his voice stayed with me. Huggy Boy was definitely not your average DJ. Maybe possessing that reservoir of sincerity available to give to each and every one of the thousands who called him was one of the reasons he remained a popular figure for six decades in Los Angeles radio.

When he worked at K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) – his last radio gig – his difficulty fitting in to the straight-jacket standards of the station modeled after “Boss Radio” KHJ-AM, the super-slick top 40 powerhouse of the 60s and 70s – was plain to hear. His creative energy and playful attitude, the signature stack of “low rider” oldies he used to woo and win his huge nighttime audiences at KRLA-AM 1110 – where he often humbled his mighty FM competitor in the ratings – were all, sadly missing. Huggy Boy, an anomaly in a profession that celebrated anomalies – was out of place on K-Earth 101. Too bad the station just didn’t let him do his own thing, chat with the listeners for as long as he wanted, play his signature R&B hits, and sing over the songs when the spirit moved him.

I remembered my interview with “The Mayor of East LA” in 1998, just after he’d signed on to work at K-Earth 101.

He told me his last song on KRLA, which had switched from all oldies to a talk format, was “Don’t Let No One Get You Down” by War.

The noise of the traffic outside the window of his first floor apartment near East LA made it hard for me to understand him as he often seemed to mumble his words. I often asked him to repeat what he’d said as I strained to catch everything, not really trusting my tape recorder to catch the words my ears missed.

Huggy Boy told me how he made his name hosting the “Harlem Hit Parade” from midnight to 4 a.m. on KRKD-AM 1150 from Dolphins of Hollywood record store at Vernon and Central. He became one of a handful of cultural white disc jockey spinning “race records” that actually appealed to people of all races in Los Angeles.

Later, at home, going over the tape, I was astonished to find his voice and words come across as clear as a bell, a voice made for the microphone.

Huggy was never one of the slick well-connected DJs who transitioned easily from the role of playing the hip sounds for the young crowd into a record industry job or a seat on “Hollywood Squares” or a lucrative career doing voice-overs.

After a decade and a half of playing contemporary music ended in the mid sixties, he made a go at some other lines of work, including a stint as a strip club entrepreneur, a job he did not like. In the early 80s, he reemerged in Southland radio, playing requests and dedications on XPRS-AM 1090 before launching a 14-year reign as a DJ on KRLA-AM 1110.

The last time I saw Huggy was at a tribute held for him in the City of Industry in 2003. Hundreds of people came out that night to see the man who, although no longer on the air, was still a “living legend” in the world of rock and R&B radio. He was frail and obviously in poor health, but his spirit was still strong and he hadn’t lost the ability to command a room full of admirers.

He graciously asked me to say a few words of introduction. Unprepared, I could only manage a few platitudes about his legendary popularity. I wanted to say more, but I didn’t want to steal the occasion by launching into a long discourse about what I felt his significance was as a pioneer of R&B and rock n’ roll radio.

I wanted to say something like – “to me, Huggy, you are one of a handful of originals who blazed a trail for thousands of DJs and pop impresarios to come. You were out there doing it when no one knew how to do it or whether the music would last another six months, making up the rules as you went along – spinning the R&B rock sounds that simmered until the heat boiled over into a major cultural revolution. It was lead by radio personalities such as you – what the mainstream press condescendingly called the ‘Pied Pipers of Rock and Roll.’ But it was really just the start of something very big, something that continues to this day.”

There, now I’ve said it. I wish you well Huggy, up there in rock and roll heaven.

Huggy Boy in 1994 (second from left) with (L-R) fellow KRLA personalities Mucho Morales, Dominick Garcia and actor Jimmy Smits promoting the film "The Cisco Kid."
(Courtesy Dominick Garcia)

Radio Column August 25, 2006

2006-08-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Listening In

August 25, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Rick Dees on new ‘Movin’ 93.9 replaces country music

It was a radio “sneak attack” last Thursday when “America’s most listened country station” KZLA-FM 93.9 was “blown up” and replaced by a new rhythmic pop format called “Movin’ 93.9.”

Although morning host Peter Tilden had been off the air - ostensibly on vacation - and a slightly subdued overnight host Blair Garner was in his place with unusually tight-lipped co-host Ashley Paige, there had been no indication otherwise from anyone anywhere that Emmis Communications execs were ready to pull the plug on the music of Faith Hill, George Strait, Toby Kieth and Jo Dee Messina; or, for that matter, to be the ones to bring ex-KIIS-FM 102.7 Rick Dees’ legendary morning show back to the LA airwaves.

The ratings for Country KZLA weren’t stellar – they were tied for No. 20 with KLSX-FM 97.1 in the most recent ratings of listeners 12+ – but the station was still very profitable, according to general manager Val Maki, who also oversees Emmis’ hip hop Power 106 (KPWR-FM 105.9).

“Our research company – Coleman Research – researched the market place and saw there was a big opportunity for this type of music and for Rick Dees,” said Maki about the decision to go with Movin’ 93.9. “We’d had a lot of growth in revenue for six years, until the last year [with KZLA]. But that was a tough year everywhere.”

The new rhythmic pop contemporary blend promises to focus on the music of artists such as Beyonce', Gwen Stefani, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Gnarls Barkley. Described as “The Mix That Makes You Move,” Movin 93.9 is not unlike a rhythmic pop version of retro pop-rocker Jack FM (KCBS-FM 93.1).

“We're overjoyed that Rick Dees will be joining Emmis Communicationsand Movin 93.9,” said Jimmy Steal of the stealthy format flip. The Emmis Communications VP of Programming added, “Rick's passion for Los Angeles’ morning radio is legendary and his live and local show is a perfect fit for Movin 93.9. …. He’s the perfect complement to this exciting new format.”
Dees was continuing his impressive ratings track record at KIIS when he was dropped to make room for Ryan Seacrest in early 2004.

“Emmis is the perfect fit,” said superjock Dees of his new home on the air. “I've been presented with many opportunities, and the new Movin 93.9 gets me excited like I've never been before!”

Although Maki denies this is their goal, Dees and Movin’ 93.9 are certainly well positioned to pose a challenge to Clear Channel’s FM formidable pop music cluster: KIIS, KBIG-FM 104.3, KOST-FM 103.5, KHHT-FM 92.3 and KYSR-FM 98.7. By aiming for its top performer, Top 40/rhythmic KIIS, Movin’ 93.9 may cherry-pick listeners not only from the other Clear Channel “flanker” stations meant to attract the remaining mostly young females and soccer moms who don’t listen to KIIS, but from KIIS itself. Some listeners may decide that Movin’ 93.9 mix – reminiscent of KIIS in the 90s – ‘does it all’ for them.

As for the exit of the country format here, as with every contemporary music format, it lives and dies by the new music that’s available, and country music hasn’t been all that strong lately. In an ethnically diverse area such as Los Angeles, you need to appeal to a fairly wide audience, and without the Urban Cowboy phenomenon of the 80s, or a new Garth Brooks to draw folks in besides those weaned on country and who know and accept no other kind of music, there’s little that can be done.

The country music version of KZLA should be available to fans via Internet streaming as well as on Movin 93.9's HD Radio side channel. Go to www.kzla.com for information.

Will another LA station take up the country music format? CBS Radio runs a popular country station in Chicago – and of course “K-FROG” (KFRG-FM 95.1) in the Inland Empire – but would they try it here with KLSX-FM 97.1 or KFWB-AM 980? Or will one of the three sports stations in town will give it a go: KLAC-AM 570 (it used to be country), KSPN-AM 710, or KMPC-AM 1540?

Power 106 looking for new afternoon superstars

“Power 106” has been advertising for a new superstar DJ team to fill the shoes of the once top-rated Goodfellas – Romeo and Dejai - who exited the station recently. Station General Manager Val Maki says they’ve been looking at people who don’t necessarily have radio experience – but are deeply immersed in the hip hop lifestyle. The station has been searching outside the radio community – even placing an ad in the actors’ magazine Backstage West. Maki says they’ll be announcing their selection soon.

New Star 98.7 lineup includes Richard Blade at night

Clear Channel’s decision to restore the post 10 a.m. DJ lineup to Hot AC Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) couldn’t have come at a better time as it faces some competition from Emmis Communication’s new rhythmic pop hits Movin’ 93.9 (KZLA-FM 93.9).

“Lisa Foxx and Richard Blade have enormous equity in the Los Angeles market and Tom Mitchell is just ‘great radio’ said Star 98.7 Program Director Charese Fruge. “I’m thrilled to have talent of this caliber on my team. I’m confident that they will make the connection with the Star 98.7 audience.”

The new lineup after Jamie, Jack and Stench in the morning is; Lisa Foxx, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., newcomer Tom Mitchell, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Richard Blade from 7 p.m. until midnight.

Mitchell has worked at radio stations in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Boston, and Las Vegas.

“I have always wanted to work in LA radio, and I can’t think of a better station than Star to do so,” said Mitchell.

Radio Column August 11, 2006

2006-08-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

Listening In

August 11, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Study shows NPR listeners lean Democratic

People who listen to news/talk programs on public radio stations such as KPCC-FM 89.3 and KCRW-FM 89.9 are 18 percent more likely to lean Democratic or identify themselves as Democrats than the population at large, according to the new study “Public Radio Today 2006” released by Arbitron.

That doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering that just about everyone I know who listens to non-commercial radio is a Democrat. But then again, this is Los Angeles County. Not exactly a Republican stronghold.

Nationally, public radio listeners who also listen to news/talk on AM stations are 44 percent Democratic versus 36 percent Republican. On the other hand, more than half of the people who tune in just to AM radio talk shows are Republican or lean to the right politically and only 30 percent are Democrats or lean Democratic.

The study shows that 26 million people across the country are tuning into public radio every week. Most are 35 or older and slightly more are male than female.

“Public radio is home to a unique mix of formats,” commented Mike Powderly, Senior Account Manager, National Radio Services, Arbitron Inc. “While news/talk is the leading format for public broadcasters as well as for commercial radio stations, public stations serve different audience segments for music than their commercial colleagues. Classical Music, jazz and album adult alternative are the leading music formats among public radio stations. This is in contrast to the leading music formats on commercial radio: adult contemporary, contemporary hit radio and urban.”

Last fall, Arbitron had reported NPR’s audience was stagnant or declining for the second year in a row, after years of strong growth. The news sent NPR execs into some serious soul searching.

However, last fall’s disappointing report was offset by a more recent survey by The Media Audit, which said that NPR was the fourth-most listened to format in the country, behind news/talk, country music and contemporary hit radio (CHR). Even more encouraging, the report also said that NPR was the most successful format of any in the top ten at converting listeners into “loyal” listeners. Nearly 60 percent of NPR listeners surveyed said that they listened to NPR “most often,” indicating the kind of loyalty sought after by radio executives.

Jack hires Freddy Snakeskin

Ex-KROQ DJ Freddy Snakeskin has joined the Jack FM (KCBS-FM 93.1) staff as a writer-producer for the retro-rocker. That has fueled speculation that Jack FM might be adding another voice to the on-air presentation. But no, says station spokesperson Chad Fitzsimmons. Snakeskin is just there to help write those witty liners voiced by Howard Cogan the voice of Jack and to run the controls. Jack is actually run as a live station with human beings pushing the buttons, something programmers feel gives the station a better sound than if a computer was simply firing off the songs and commercials. Still, all the music, commercials and announcements are stored in a computer hard drive as is standard for the industry now.

Ex-KROQ-FM Tami Heide is heard voicing station “Jack-tivities” about concerts and other stuff, but Jack remains the sole host. Cogan voices scores of fresh lines every week, all of them unique to the LA version of Jack and not shared by the other Jack stations around the country featuring his attitude-laden quips.

Sports reporter blues

There was apparent recent belt-tightening at news stations KFWB-AM 980 and KNX-AM 1070 with three ‘WB sports reporters getting pink slips; Joe Cala, Geoff Witcher and Bob Harvey. Almost immediately, Cala was rehired by sister station KNX (the stations are housed in the same building), according to laradio.com. Additionally, sports station KSPN-AM 710 local sports anchor Dave Stone was released from his gig reporting the sports headlines. While he had his job with the Disney-owned station, he was working for the same company that employs talk superstar Sean Hannity, carried locally by KSPN sister station KABC-AM 790. Hannity has mentioned Stone on the air as the guy who as program director for a talk station in Huntsville, Ala., gave him his first job in commercial radio. Aside from the sports changes, KNX also released news reporter and commentator Michael Ambrosini.

Radio Column July 28, 2006

2006-08-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

Listening In

July 28, 2006

By Sandy Wells

King of ‘Old School’ Art Laboe moves to weeknights on Hot 92 Jamz

LA’s King of Old School, Art Laboe is now headlining the evening lineup on KHHT-FM 92.2 “Hot 92 Jamz.”

“Art is the quintessential personality for this station,” said Hot 92 Program Director Mike Marino about the new “Art Laboe Connection” airing weeknights from 7 p.m. to midnight. “He has a very rare connection with the audience, reaches across all demos and ethnicities and his wide appeal is documented in the ratings success he consistently achieves in the weekend show he’s had on Hot for the past five years.”

Laboe is also very popular among LA’s Latino community with a familial on-air style that makes him a hit with people of all ages. It is no accident that much of contemporary hip hop incorporates samples of classic R&B hits dating from the 70s and before. Laboe has been compiling and selling collections of “Oldies but Goodies” since he popularized the phrase on his radio show back in the late 1950s.

“This is the first daily radio show I’ve done in 19 years, so I am pretty excited about it,” said Laboe.

Sean Andre now moves into a split shift. His popular evening show “The Quiet Storm” is shifted to mid-night to 3 a.m. In addition, Andre’s “At Work Requests and Dedications” now airs weekdays from noon to 3 p.m.

“By moving Sean to the noon to 3 p.m. slot, we position ourselves for some tremendous growth in the daypart,” said Marino. “Until now we’ve kept the focus on Hot’s unique music mix in mid-days by running jockless.”

Interactive is the new buzzword in FM music programming as stations seek to create closer bonds with their listeners and develop more loyal, long term listeners. For KHHT as well as for the newly reformatted KKBT-FM 100.3 “The Beat,” the answer has been to place more personality presence between the songs with listener phone calls.

KFI is nation’s most listened to AM station

The Spring Arbitron ratings just out show that not only was talk station KFI-AM 640 tied for No. 1 in Los Angeles with Spanish Adult Contemporary KLVE-FM 107.5 “K-Love” – not just among news and talk stations – but among all stations. KFI also continues to be the most listened to AM station, talk or otherwise – in the nation, beating out New York’s WABC-AM for the honor.

It’s quite an achievement, especially considering the station has been operating below its authorized 50,000-watts of power since its tower was destroyed when an airplane crashed into 19 months ago. Plus, no AM station has reached the top in LA since talk station KABC-AM 790 dominated the market in the 1980s.

Elsewhere in the ratings of people 12+, top 40 hits KIIS-FM 102.7 tied with Mexican Regional KSCA-FM 101.9 for No. 3. Smooth jazz KTWV-FM 94.7 (“The Wave”) gained a full ratings point to move from No. 11 in the winter to No. 5. Alternative rocker KROQ-FM 106.7 edged up from No. 8 to No. 6, followed by soft rock KOST-FM 103.5 at No. 7, Mexican Regional KLAX-FM 97.9 at No. 8 and Spanish oldies (“Recuerdo”) KRCD-FM 103.9/KRCV-FM 98.3 at No. 9. No. 10 was split three-ways among hip hop KPWR-FM 105.9 (“Power 106”), 80s/90s rock KCBS-FM 93.1 (“Jack FM”) and Mexican Regional KBUE-FM 105.5/KBUA-FM 94.3 (“La Que Buena”).

KSCA-FM morning talent Píolin (below)

KSCA-FM’s Píolin por la Mañana dominated the morning drive again, followed by Bill Handel’s show on KFI.

In the “listen at work” mid-day period, The Wave jumped nearly two points to the No. 1 spot.

Afternoon drive was dominated by KFI talk show hosts John and Ken who bounded a point and a half from No. 9 to No. 1.

KIIS-FM owned the nights with a massive 6.2 share – down from 6.9 in the spring, but still way ahead of its nearest competitor, K-Love.

Paris says ‘Mais Oui!’ to American music radio

I spent my recent vacation in London and Paris with the family. Although I gave up driving and reading any email for ten days, I couldn’t help tuning around on a little radio I bought near London’s Piccadilly Square. Half-way around the globe, I heard some LA radio flavors on European airwaves.

In England, I caught KABC-AM 790 host Al Rantel’s voice on a Talk Sport promo for Mike Mendoza’s show. (Rantel and Mendoza keep up the U.S.-U.K “special relationship” with a cross-Atlantic (and continental) simulcast Friday evenings, sharing views and callers from the two nations “separated by a common language.”)

British talk host Mike Mendoza
KABC anglophile Al Rantel

The French may not think much of President George Bush, but they appear to have an enormous appetite for all things American when it comes to pop music radio.

In Paris, I heard AM radio DJ, Georges Lang, whose program “Beach Party” comes on station RTL every night at 11. He serves up American top 40 hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s. I heard him play an old KBIG-FM station ID: “It’s 12 o’clock in the west”! Lang reveres Southern California top 40 radio stations and DJ legends Rick Dees, The Real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan and Mr. Rock and Roll.

American music – including lots of club music and hip hop – is everywhere up and down the Parisian radio dial. The pop music DJs almost all sound like Ryan Seacrest speaking French. Paris also boasts its own full-time Radio Latina at 99.0 FM!

Radio Column July 7, 2006

2006-07-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Listening In

July 7, 2006

By Sandy Wells

KNX veteran news anchor Dave Zorn looks back

After nearly 25 years with KNX-AM 1070, veteran reporter and news anchor Dave Zorn officially retired from the CBS affiliate. Although he has been out of the afternoon drive spotlight for more than a year, his departure marks a milestone not only for the reporter but for the station as well.

Zorn was honored at the LA Press Club earlier this month with the award for Best Radio Documentary for a series he made last year with KNX Assistant News Director Ronnie Bradford about their return to Vietnam on the 40th anniversary of their tours of duty there.

“The award also comes at a special time for me since I’m retired and moving away. It’s nice to finish strong in a business where, I’ve always believed, you’re only as good as your next review,” said Zorn. “This is a good one to go out on, personally and professionally and we’re very grateful.”

In a recent email interview, Zorn says he’s going to miss his colleages at KNX.

“The truth is that behind the scenes the people I worked with at KNX were some of the wittiest, playful and downright nutty people I’ve ever known. I think there is a dark gallows humor that people can call upon to keep stressful situations from escalating into something dangerous. The best example I can think of is M*A*S*H. You have to ask yourself, ‘when the going gets tough, do you want to be around Frank Burns or Hawkeye Pierce?’ It was ALL fun.”

Zorn was a bit ‘star struck’ arrived in Hollwood for his first day at KNX in 1981.

“I came to KNX from KTAR radio in Phoenix where I had been Director of News and Programming for three years. The reputation of KNX was well known to me and, for that matter, anyone who knew anything about radio news. The whole day was a head-spinning event: Getting a tour of the landmark Columbia Square building on Sunset Blvd where so much radio history had been made; being introduced to the staff by the man who hired me, News Director Gregg Peterson; meeting George Nickolaw, who was already a legend as Vice President and General Manager of KNX; and looking out the newsroom window and seeing the world famous Hollywood sign. I knew right away that getting the job was one thing but proving myself worthy of it was yet another. All of a sudden I was swimming with some pretty big fish in a very large pond and I had to do better than just treading water.”

Zorn described the most difficult aspect of anchoring the news in the busy afternoon drive period - one of radio’s peak listening times.

“Keeping calm, controlling the chaos that often surrounds you, cutting through the myriad newsroom distractions in order to get to what is really important in the news, and never, repeat NEVER, forgetting the listeners. They haven’t tuned in to hear me They aren’t interested in hearing about my problems...they have enough of their own. I tried to give them a friendly, authoritative voice that they could trust to keep them informed.”

Last year, a terrifying, life-changing health crisis convinced Zorn that it was time to retire.

“The decision was made for me on September 29, 2005 when I died. Sudden cardiac death is what the doctors call it. I thank God every day for the firefighters and paramedics of Ventura County Fire Station No. 36 in Oak Park who were in the right place at the right time with the right equipment and expertise to keep me alive until I could be transported to Los Robles Medical Center in Thousand Oaks. There, a similar group of dedicated professionals opened a 100 percent blocked artery, inserted a stent and stabilized me in less than a half-hour. Shortly after getting a room in the hospital’s C-C-U, I went into cardiac arrest. For about the next six hours a team of doctors and nurses worked on me, bringing me back to life several times. In all, I was defibrillated 42 times. I’ve been told that the death rate in cardiac arrest cases is 95 percent. The chances of coming back repeatedly are very slim indeed. The repeated electro shocks left burn marks on my chest for about two weeks. No complaints. I’m just glad the hospital didn’t bill me for the electricity they used on me.”

Zorn leaves a business that is going through major changes driven by technological innovation.

“All-news radio as I knew it for 35 years of my 37 year career will never be the same. But, what is the same today as it was 35 years ago? When I started in 1969, nearly every AM radio station had a news department. Granted, there may have been only one or two reporters on staff, but you were able to get news once-an-hour on your favorite radio station. All-news has always been the most expensive format because of the salaries. When you have a newsroom with anywhere from 20 to 30 people on average, you’ve got a big nut to crack every month. The benefit of all-news radio ‘way back then’ was summed up: ‘Hear it now, see it tonight and read about tomorrow morning.’ The 24/7 cable news cycle has tipped the scales the other way. Today, you can hear it AND see it now on cable and even most newspapers have their own websites featuring news updates around the clock. I have some suggestions for making all news radio viable again but I’m afraid they would be looked upon as the last gasps of some ‘old breed’ newsman who is more interested in telling stories on the radio than selling stories on the radio.”

Zorn and his wife Carolynn are moving to their new retirement home in Arizona.

“So, I’ll ride off into the sunset - or, since we’re heading east to Phoenix, into the sunRISE - spend more time with my family, especially my wonderful grandchildren (6, so far), and enjoy every additional day God gives me. Two hundred and sixty-seven and counting.”

Asian immigration, history in US focus of new series on KPCC-FM

A superb new series about Asian immigration is begins on public station KPCC this weekend. “Crossing East” focuses on the usually overlooked history of immigration to this country from the lands across the Pacific Ocean. The eight-part series is hosted by Star Trek star George Takei and Margaret Cho.

The first public radio history of Asians-American begins with a look at the first immigrants. Many were sailors on the formidable galleons of Imperial Spain or ship builders and traders who settled in the Northwest.

Other highlights in the series include the experience of Asian immigrants working on the sugar plantations of Hawaii, the racist Exclusion Act of 1882 and the refugees arriving from the devastation of wars in Indochina.

The series, produced by Peabody Award-winning Producer Dmae Roberts and MediaRites, in association with Public Radio International, airs on KPCC-FM 89.3 Sundays, 8-9 p.m., July 9 through August 27.

Radio Column June 23, 2006

2006-06-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Listening In

June 23, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Phil Hendrie leaves radio show for TV acting career

The Phil Hendrie Show airs its final live broadcast tonight on sports station KLAC-AM 570. The multi-voiced, riotously funny talent that entertained on KFI before being transferred last year to Clear Channel’s sports talk station is signing off tonight to focus on his acting career.

Hendrie was recently seen on the NBC sitcom “Teachers” but the show was cancelled after six episodes. He is said to be developing a new show for NBC.

I believe the real reason Hendrie is quitting is because radio giant Clear Channel moved him from top-rated station KFI to KLAC where Lakers games often preempt his program. Yes, he’s syndicated on 80 stations, but KFI was his major venue, the one that reached all the Hollywood creative types. He needed to have that exposure on a consistent basis. As it is, he’s better off just focusing on developing a TV show that matches his talents.

Born in Pasadena and raised in Arcadia, Hendrie attended Pasadena City College for two years. After doing some odd jobs in Florida, he found his way into radio, working as a DJ for 15 years. In LA, he was heard on K-West, KNX-FM, KLSX-FM and KFI. He began developing his stable of characters while working for a talk station in Ventura County. He polished the act where clueless callers interact with his outrageous “guests” and fictionalized station personnel in the Midwest and in Florida before returning to the LA area to join KFI in 1996. He has done voice acting for the animated TV series “Futurama” and “king of the Hill.”

KLAC will run recordings of previously aired Hendrie shows at his regular time from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. through September.

Government funding of public radio under attack … again

There are clearly people in the U.S. congress who are unhappy with everything public broadcasting stands for from its content to the fact that its costs continue to be underwritten by the American taxpayer. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting draws criticism from Republicans despite its own efforts to correct a “tilt to the political left” in its publicly-funded programming.

This is why a Republican-dominated House Appropriations subcommittee voted to cut $115 million from the CPB budget the earlier this month.

While America originally followed a different path from her cousins across “The Pond” in the U.K. by adopting the advertiser supported model to pay for radio and TV instead of a user tax, times are changing. The market for subscriber-based or non-commercial content is growing. The fact that satellite radio – both XM and Sirius – continues to attract subscribers suggests that there is a hunger for more programming that isn’t dependent on advertiser support.

One plan to save publicly funded radio being bandied is the brainchild of FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) founder Jeff Cohen and Vassar Professor William Hoynes. They suggest that a trust be established to pay for public broadcasting funded by a tax on advertising or commercial broadcast license sales. They say that such a tax could generate $1 billion in annual funding for “a robust, truly independent” public broadcasting system.

One major advantage to creating a trust is that CPB would cease to be a political football that continues to be kicked about by politicians looking to score big points with voters over a relatively miniscule slice of the Federal budget.

Beloved radio mom dies

A favorite feature of KABC-AM 790 talk show host Larry Elder’s show was his weekly on air discussion with his mother. Sadly Viola Elder died June 12 at the age of 81.

Elder dubbed her “The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.” Every Friday afternoon, Elder would spend some time towards the end of his program sounding her out on the major events of the week and soliciting her reviews of the latest films, which she rated by the number of “gavels” (the more the better) she gave them.

Viola’s common sense commentary, homespun humor and unfailing wisdom made her a favorite of listeners coast to coast, many of whom called in to say that they had adopted her as their own radio “mom.”
At her memorial service, Elder referred to his mother as his “best frien

Radio Column May 26, 2006

2006-05-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Listening In

May 26, 2006

By Sandy Wells

“Fly Jock” Joyner joins new “Rhythm and Talk” KKBT-FM 100.3

Tom Joyner, the famed “Fly Jock” is returning to the LA radio airwaves on urban station KKBT-FM 100.3. Joyner is already listened to in 115 cities – including Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Miami, and Washington D.C. – by about eight million people. The Radio Hall of Famer is about to add one more big enchilada – Los Angeles.

The “Fly Jock” grew up in Tuskegee, Alabama. His father was one of the famed Tuskegee airmen of World War II. After getting his degree in sociology, he went into radio, first as a newsman, then as a successful music radio personality.

At one point in his career, he was simultaneously offered two jobs, one as a morning man in Dallas and the other as an afternoon DJ in Chicago. Rather than choose one, he accepted both. He maintained his commitment by flying between jobs, an accomplishment which earned him much publicity and the nickname, “The Fly Jock.”

Joyner currently resides in Dallas, but a KKBT spokesperson said Joyner is purchasing a house in Los Angeles and will be flying out here to do his programs on a regular basis. He also said the Joyner plans to do two extra hours exclusively for LA listeners every day. Angelenos last tuned into his program on R&B oldies KACE-FM 103.9 before the station was sold six years ago.

The Tom Joyner Show is syndicated by Joyner’s company Reach Media, which is owned by KKBT’s parent company, Radio One and is distributed by ABC Radio Networks. Joyner’s arrival headlines a major shift in KKBT’s programming designed to target an adult audience with a mix of talk and urban contemporary music.

Over the past several months KKBT management says it conducted market-wide research on the music preferences of urban radio listeners. They concluded that people who like hip hop music were already “getting enough of it from KPWR-FM 105.9 “Power 106,” KIIS-FM 102.7, KXOL-FM 96.3 and KDAY-FM 93.5.

In addition to Joyner, the new “Rhythm & Talk” format will feature strong “foreground” personalities such as Ananda Lewis, Michael Baisden and Free.

“This is the future of radio,” said 100.3 The Beat Program Director Tom Calococci. “[It’s] a proven musical formula combined with compelling, passionate, community minded hosts. It is the best of both worlds…great music and content.”

It’s also a move that puts it squarely in competition with Inglewood’s less-powerful urban adult contemporary station, KJLH-FM 102.3.

Steve Harvey joins KDAY-FM

Such is the bizarreness of radio that Steve Harvey, who would be anyone’s first choice to head up a black-oriented entertainment talk and music format such as the new “Rhythm and Talk” format on KKBT, will be taking on the new morning show starting next Tuesday at the struggling old school/hip hop station KDAY-FM 93.5. The TV/film star and comedian charged out of the gate with spectacular ratings on “The Beat” a few years ago. He departed in 2005 to develop his own national morning show.

Premiere Radio Networks launched “The Steve Harvey Morning Show” into national syndication last October. It is currently heard in 25 markets including New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.

KDAY, now part of Magic Broadcasting/Styles Partners, boasts former KIIS-FM general manager and Clear Channel Market Manager, Roy Laughlin as part of its new management team. He’s been working to boost the signal’s reach by combining two signals on 93.5 FM; one in Redondo Beach (KDAY) and the other in Ontario (KDAI).

“This 70 percent signal improvement for the newly syncrocast 93.5 KDAY and 93.5 KDAI has been in the works for over a year but was only completed a week ago,” said Laughlin last week. “The signal improvements are dramatic and exponentially improve this radio signal in the No. 1 radio market in the world.”

KDAY claims young Hispanics whose primary language is English prefer “Hip Hop Hits from multiple eras as their No. 1 music genre choice as do African Americans 18 to 49.”

The station predicts that by fall, its audience will be 40 percent Hispanic, 38 percent African American and 22 percent “Other/ Mixed Origin.”

John and Ken on TV

KFI-AM 640 afternoon talk hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou were interviewed by KNBC-TV reporter Conan Nolan last Sunday morning on Channel 4 News Conference. The subject was immigration.

Kobylt told Nolan about a million people tune in to them every afternoon between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and that most people listen for about 40 minutes. Chiampou said most of their listeners are suburbanites from Orange County and the Inland Empire.

“They are pretty much family people, he said. “They have taxes to pay. They have steady jobs. They have kids to raise. They have a lot of problems with the way things work in society and immigration is a big example.”

Kobylt added that the audience is mostly white collar, but the callers are predominantly blue collar. And the immigration issue is bigger than anything else.

“This is something that is affecting the school system in many towns. It’s affecting the emergency rooms in the hospitals It’s affecting the traffic enormously. The average person has to deal with the effects of illegal immigration morning to night. All the family members are affected.”

John and Ken said they jumped on the immigration issue back in January 2004 after President Bush announced he was going to push for an amnesty plan. Kobylt said that’s “when people went berserk.”

Kobylt said “You are not going to believe the backlash if the House passes an amnesty bill.”

“And it will all be good for ratings?” asked Nolan.

“That’s right, we always root for chaos,” replied Kobylt.

Radio Column May 12, 2006

2006-05-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

Listening In

May 12, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Two FM morning shows return to LA radio

They’re BAAACK!!! Jamie, Jack and Stench ended their unexpected month-long hiatus from KYSR-FM Star 98.7’s

K-Earth 101's Gary Bryan (KRTH Photo)

morning show this week. Hot Adult Contemporary station’s trio of jokers made an exultant return Monday. Even traffic guy Chris Hughes seemed giddy with joy as he improvised rhyming songs about the latest freeway conditions.

After disappearing from the official Star 98.7 web site, Jamie, Jack and Stench fans kept abreast of their radio idols partly by reading about Jack on www.myspace.com. Star 98.7 General Manager Craig Rossi says the exit of all the DJs was done to draw attention the “re-launch” of the station as much more focused on new music. But thousands of complaints from listeners made him reconsider his decision to take out the morning team. He says their return was clinched after a 48-hour station poll taken just a week and a half ago attracted 900,000 votes “overwhelmingly” in favor of bringing Jamie, Jack and Stench back on the air.

Jamie will be temporarily off the air again in a few weeks for maternity leave. It will be her first child. Megan Mullalley of “Will and Grace” fame and Extra TV’s Dayna Devon are slated to be among the fill-in hosts.

Star 98.7 continues to place a lot of focus on its music, using its interactive web site to offer downloads of songs and videos, plus garner info on listeners' music preferences. Rossi says he’s hoping the refreshed Star 98.7 will keep folks tuned in for longer periods of time.

Star 98.7 personality Lisa Foxx is back as an evening host, from 7 p.m. to midnight. Other time slots will be filled by new and returning talent, including long-time fave Richard Blade.

In the world of oldies radio, Gary Bryan has been reinstated as the ambassador to the workday replacing Hollywood Hamilton and crew in the K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) morning show. Bryan returns to prestigious post Monday after more than a year in afternoon drive – a position he was shifted to before K-Earth 101 Program Director Jhani Kaye came on board at the beginning of this year.

“It’s an honor to be entrusted with morning drive on K-EARTH 101 by people like Maureen Lesourd, Jhani Kaye and the CBS RADIO team. I feel a real connection with the audience and I look forward to serving them again as the host of the morning show,” said Bryan.

Former K-Big (KBIG-FM 104.3) personality Joshua Escandon takes Bryan’s place in the 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. slot.

Star 98.7 DJ reborn on The Fish

Former-Star 98.7 personality Lara Scott’s life as a DJ was born again on Christian Contemporary “The Fish” (KFSH-FM 95.9) this week where she now hosts the midday slot.

“I love the music and The Fish lifestyle, and am excited to join the team,” said Scott. “The station reflects my faith and values and I look forward to being able to combine my passion for radio with the positive music and message of The Fish. It's been a great six years at Star, but I'm looking forward to this new season in my life.”

Scott is also heard on Delta Radio’s in-flight programming and she was recently honored to be selected to record the in-flight programming for Air Force One.

Spanish radio and KIIS-FM big winners in winter ratings

It was a mega winter Arbitron book for Hispanic radio in Los Angeles area radio. The ratings show that, in total, Spanish language radio stations added about half a million listeners.

That said, the biggest station in the market was English language top 40 mainstream KIIS-FM 102.7 which topped them all with a 4.9 share among all listeners 12 and older, up from third place in the fall. Spanish Adult Contemporary KLVE-FM 107.5 remained in No. 2, followed by Regional Mexican stations KLAX-FM 97.9 and KSCA-FM 101.9. Talk station KFI-AM 640 kept its 4.0 share but slid one notch down into fifth place. Soft rock KOST-FM 103.5 was No. 6, down from its Christmas music-driven No. 1 rank in the previous book. Regional Mexican KBUE-FM 105.5 was No. 7. Alternative rock KROQ-FM 106.7 dropped from No. 5 to No. 8. Jack FM (KCBS-FM 93.1) regained its momentum and jumped up to No. 9. The no-DJ retro-rocker tied with Spanish oldies KRCD-FM 103.9, which shot up from No. 20.

KIIS-FM with JoJo (7 p.m. – 10 p.m.) and Odm (10 p.m. – 1 a.m.) ruled the evening airwaves, posting a 6.9 share. Left trailing in their wake were the usually very strong Hot 92 KHHT-FM 92.3, urban KKBT-FM 100.3 and hip hop and R&B Power 106 (KPWR-FM 105.9) and KROQ-FM. KROQ and KKBT each lost more than one full share point.

In the morning show sweepstakes, Píolin was No. 1 at KSCA, Bill Handel in second place at KFI, American Idol mega star Ryan Seacrest in third at KIIS, followed by El Cucuy de la Mañana on KLAX in fourth and Kevin and Bean on KROQ in fifth place. “Jack FM” scored an impressive 2.9 share to place at No. 11 by just “playing what we want.” KABC-AM 790’s McIntyre in the Morning, KLTK-AM 1150 K-Talk’s Stephanie Miller and KRLA-AM 870’s Laura Ingraham all showed improvement, with Miller’s liberal take on current events upping the audience intake by half a share point.

Adam Corolla, saddled with unenviable task but nevertheless golden opportunity of succeeding Howard Stern on talk station KLSX-FM 97.1 crashed but didn’t quite burn, diving from No. 7 to a tie at No. 31. His counterpart on the East Coast, rock star David Lee Roth is already toast. He's been replaced by the highly obnoxious but ratings-proven Opie and Anthony. The KLSX morning show plunge didn’t take anything away from midday’s “Triplets” Heidi, Frosty and Frank,” who actually improved their ratings.

Radio Column April 28, 2006

2006-05-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

Listening In

April 28, 2006

By Sandy Wells

KLOS PD finds room to grow playlist in post Arrow 93 world

A year after the sign-off of Arrow 93 (KCBS-FM 93.1) and its rebirth as Jack FM its KLOS-FM 95.5 is seeing the light.

(left) KLOS Midday DJ Cynthia Fox, (right) KLOS Program Director Rita Wilde

KLOS Program Director Rita Wilde says it’s not just her station that is letting the sun shine in. Other station programmers in LA are feeling safe to come out from hiding and bask in expanded music playlists.

Perhaps the “Dark Ages” of pop/rock music radio are over.

Wilde says KLOS has doubled its offering of classic rock songs over the last year, moving from about 400 “in rotation” to about 800.

“With Arrow, it was always neck and neck. We shared about 60 percent of our playlist with them,” says Wilde about the cut-throat competition in which neither station could afford to let down its guard and playother than very well-tested album cuts.

“It’s rare in a market to have two classic rockers go head to head for so long,” observed Wilde.

Although the factors that went into Infinity Radio’s (now CBS) conversion of Arrow to Jack are open to some speculation, Wilde believes that Arrow 93 made a fatal error when it went head to head against KLOS’s long-running Mark and Brian Show with Jonathan Brandmeier.

It was the second go around for the Chicago personality in Los Angeles. He had a stint as a midday host on talker KLSX-FM 97.1. Another effort to match Mark and Brian failed when the Seattle-based Bob Rivers lasted just 11 days.

But now with Jack, the expanded playlist genie seems to be out of the bottle and that is really improving the sound of commercial radio generally.

Wilde says she sees other stations in the market, such as top 40 KIIS-FM 102.7, oldies KRTH-FM 101.1 and KYSR-FM 98.7 all increasing the number and variety of songs.

“I think it’s healthy,” she says. “We’ve probably doubled our playlist. We have a huge heritage and catalogue.”

KLOS has added an 8 a.m. Sunday show called “The Deep End.” Nick Michaels, who does the vocal imaging for the station, does his best to exploit the station’s vast collection of album rock from the late 60s and 70s.

“When was the last time you heard ‘Heard it in a Love Song’ by the Marshall Tucker Band?” says Wilde about one of the cuts Michaels aired recently. I couldn’t think of any time recently, as I attempted to scan my memories of listening to the radio since the song’s release in 1977.

Wilde has been kicking around the idea of creating a new slogan for KLOS: “Who Needs Jack When You Have Jim?”

She means Jim Ladd, the nightly 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. host who is allowed by virtue of his proven ear for programming and his late night hours, greater leeway in picking his own music.

Cynthia Fox features “deeper cuts” (less-well known by popular artists) In Tune at noon. Uncle Joe Benson has a regular afternoon feature “The Vault” out of which recently emerged another classic rock gem, “Maggie’s Farm” by Bob Dylan.

It’s obviously no secret that with millions of dollars of ad revenue pegged to the capriciousness of audience surveys and Arbitron’s quarterly ratings reports, nothing is just slipped into the CD player. Everything is tested and everything seems untried is a potential risk. It is music radio’s cross to bear, the legacy of decades of success.

Right now, Wilde is busy getting ready to launch KLOS’ HD station, “Fusion Rock,” which will be the first bilingual rock format.

“I’m really excited about it,” says Wilde about the preparations for the new channel aimed at specially-equipped HD radios. “We all have memories of college radio working 20 hours a day – never getting tired – because we love it and we are excited. There are no rules.”

Spanish-language artists such as Mana, Jaguares and Ozomatli will take their place alongside well-known Anglo bands such as AC/DC and Metallica.

“Santana opened for Mana a few years ago at Arrowhead Pond. People were singing along with Mana,” said Wilde. “I’d never heard them played on any stations. Spanish rock bands are not that exposed. I think it will be unique to (air them on Fusion Rock).”

Wilde, who is in her 23rd year with the station, is optimistic about the purchase of KLOS and other Disney-owned radio outlets by Citadel this year.

“I’m looking forward to it. We have a chance now to really reinvent radio. Citadel people are really very passionate about radio, as I am. I’m not scared at all. I welcome the change.”

KLOS prehistory: LA’s first all-news station

KLOS has been banging out rock tunes since 1969. Before that, KLOS was licensed as KABC-FM and simulcast with sister station KABC-AM 790. In 1967, the FCC required FM stations co-owned with an AM sister station to broadcast at least 50 percent original programming. In 1968, LA’s first 24/7 news radio station was launched. All-news KABC-FM relied heavily on the resources of the ABC Radio Network to fill the day. Following the launch of news stations KFWB-AM 980 and KNX-AM 1070 later that year on the still-dominant AM band, KABC management decided to cash in on the growing popularity of FM “underground rock” and KABC-FM was reborn as KLOS-FM.

Radio Column April 14, 2006

2006-04-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

Listening In

April 14, 2006

By Sandy Wells

New pop alternative music in focus as Star 98.7 changes format

The personalities are gone; Jamie White, Jack and Stench are on permanent hiatus from morning drive and Bradley is no more in the afternoon (his contract ran out). And, a station announcement said there will be no radio personalities until further notice. Goodbye also to most of those ’80s hits. “Star 98.7” KYSR-FM 98.7 has ceded that ground to the Jack FM juggernaut (KCBS-FM 93.1) and is now focusing on exposing the exciting new crop of pop “alternative” artists.

“The next evolution of this format is here and Star 98.7 will lead the way in Southern California,” said Star 98.7 Program Director Mike Marino, in a statement. “This new generation of artists has joined the format’s established artists in embracing the art of great storytelling in their music, and our listeners have told us they want to hear more of it. Star 98.7 will celebrate by featuring top artists from our playlist in signature live on-air Star Lounge performances on every Monday in May.”

Its new slogan launched this week is “Today’s Music Alternative.” Featured prominently now are artists such as James Blunt (“You’re Beautiful” Natasha Bedingfield (“Unwritten”), Jamie Cullum (“Catching Tales”) and Daniel Powter (“Bad Day”).

Hits from established artists such as Greenday, Nickelback, Alanis Morissette, U2, The Killers and Train are also in the mix.

Station spokesperson Robert Lyles explained that the new approach is taking the station back to its “roots” as a more contemporary-oriented pop music station.

This may bring the FM station some better ratings, plus give exposure to all these gifted young artists that otherwise depend on word of mouth, iTunes and MTV to get their names out into the public.

“We’re thrilled about the compelling new music coming out for our format, and the results of our on-air music search yesterday confirm that there’s an audience for it,” enthused Star 98.7 General Manager Craig Rossi. “We’re also seeing that the power has shifted to the listener when it comes to audio entertainment choices, so Star 98.7 is going to provide lots of opportunities for listeners to tell us what they want from their radio station. And, they can connect to very cool interactive features through www.Star987.com web offerings like the Stripped Music performances, Videos on Demand, NEW!, The Music Store downloads and lots of other on-demand content.”

As I wrote in this column earlier this year, the exit of Howard Stern has really opened the door for music radio’s resurgence. The pressure on programmers to counter Stern with a morning comedy show is gone, and now other options are being explored. We’ll see if Star 98.7 is up for the challenge.

Wanted: one full-time all-news station for Los Angeles

Now that baseball season is here, and the Dodgers games are being carried on KFWB-AM 980, there is no fulltime radio news outlet in the Southland.

Former news station KNX-AM 1070 is developing a full slate of daytime (9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Mon. – Fri.) business-consumer talk programming including “Money 101” and the “KNX Business news Hour” with Bob McCormick, Westwood One’s “Real Money” with Jim Kramer and business news with Frank Mottek.

Radio Column March 31, 2006

2006-04-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

Listening In

March 31, 2006

By Sandy Wells

KPCC names new ‘Talk of the City’ host

Former public TV co-host and local columnist Patt Morrison will join KPCC-FM 89.3 as the new permanent host of the weekday public affairs talk show “Talk of the City” starting April 10th. Morrison has been a frequent substitute host on KPCC’s “Air Talk” with Larry Mantle.

The announcement followed the Pasadena station’s decision to move longtime host Kitty Felde to a new post as a reporter with the public news/talk outlet.

“Patt brings encyclopedic knowledge of the city, a contact list that goes on forever, and a distinctive personal way of relating to listeners,” said KPCC program director Craig Curtis. “Adding Patt to our regular schedule is a real coup for KPCC.”

Morrison is a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” (carried by KPCC) and has published a best-selling book on the Los Angeles River. She was a founding host of KCET-TV “Life and Times” for which she won six Emmys and six Golden Mike awards. She is currently the president of the Los Angeles Press Club.

“I've enjoyed my substitute gigs on KPCC,” Morrison said. “I'll probably find the difference between subbing and having your own show is the difference between baby-sitting your friends’ kids and having your own. There is always something new to learn and write and say about California.”

Felde told me her focus was often on stories and issues in the less-well-known and less-glamorous cities and towns of the Greater Los Angeles area. Morrison, with her extensive background writing about Los Angeles city politics, will likely take the program in a more LA-centric direction.

Talk of the City airs weekdays from 2 – 3 p.m. on KPCC-FM 89.3

KSCA’s Píolin helps draw massive crowd to political rally

The power of radio to influence politics was again on display last Saturday as well over half a million people jammed the streets and area around Los Angeles City Hall to protest pending legislation to clamp down on illegal border crossings and potentially penalize undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S.

As a witness to the event, I can say that the crowd’s response to the local radio DJ’s, such as KSCA-FM 101.9’s Eduardo Sotelo El Píolin, was more enthusiastic than to LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Píolin drew roars of approval as he addressed the crowd in Spanish about the HR 4437 penned by Rep. James Sensenbrenner and passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December. At one point, he dramatically released a dove into the air and said in English, “God Bless America.”

According to event organizers, other local Latino air personalities tapped to publicize Saturday’s rally were Ricardo Sanchez El Mandril and Pepe Garza from KBUE-FM 105.5, Hugo Cadelago and Gerardo Lorenz KTNQ-AM 1020, Omar Velasco from KLVE- FM 107.5 Renan Almendarez Coello and Mayra Berenice from KLAX-FM 97.7, Humberto Luna from KHJ-AM 930 Francisco Galvez Pacorro from KRCD-FM 98.3 and 103.9 and Colo Barrera and Nestor Pato Rocha from KSSE-FM 107.1 and 97.5.

KLSX post-Howard Stern fallout

The ratings for the new morning show on KLSX-FM 97.1 show don’t look too encouraging up to this point. On the eve of the release of the Arbitron winter quarter audience estimates (in about four weeks), the numbers show that a large segment of former Howard Stern listeners are not adopting his successor, Adam Carolla for their morning radio listening.

KLSX went from 7th place in morning drive (6 a.m. to 10 a.m.) in the fall to 13th place in the first phase of the Arbitrends (November, December and January) to 25th place in the second phase of the winter quarter. Stern signed off from over the air “terrestrial” radio December 16th.

The sort-of good news is that a Jacobs Media poll taken in late February showed that 70 percent of Stern’s former audience of about 12 million is hanging in there with terrestrial radio. About nine percent of his “regular listeners” have taken the plunge and bought a Sirius receiver and subscription while another 19 percent say they plan to do so.

The poll suggests that a sizeable chunk of Stern fans are making their peace with other commercial radio morning shows.

Radio Column March 17, 2006

2006-03-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Listening In

March 17, 2006

By Sandy Wells

K-Earth 101’s new PD mining for new gold in old veins

New ‘old’ songs are finding their way on to K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) these days. Jhani Kaye, the recently appointed program director of the CBS oldies outlet, is currently taking some small, short term risks in hopes of a big dividend in the long run.

“We’ve expanded the playlist,” said Kaye. “We examined our song scores. All songs on our station are run through panels of listeners who prefer oldies. They get to rate the songs in a research environment.”

As a result, says, Kaye, new additions have been popping up on the K-Earth 101 “Soundtrack of Southern California,” such Neil Sedaka’s “Laughter in the Rain,” Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” and “Call Me” by Chris Montez.

The risk of adding songs that the previous programming shunned as too obscure or “low scoring” on the research is offset by the benefit of keeping oldies fans tuned in for longer periods of time, a benefit that is valued by advertisers. And what I always hear is how frustrated oldies fans have been with the excessive repetition of staples such as “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers and “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch” by the Four Tops.

“Generally, expanding the playlist takes the ratings down,” explained Kaye. “But that happens with more with contemporary music stations. With oldies, you have a limited universe. The oldies format is its own entity and you have to have an expanded playlist so you don’t burn out your core library.”

Kaye has taken some of the top scoring songs and stopped playing them so often to keep the station from sounding like it’s always playing ‘the same old song.’

“When you play the lower-scoring songs is when people say, ‘Oh yeah! Ooh!’ It screams variety when you catch listeners from left side, when you play songs they believe they haven’t heard for a long time.”

Kaye is also adding the long “album” versions of favorites, such as the Doors’ “Light My Fire” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Kaye hopes to grow the oldies brand name that K-Earth 101 has established. For starters, that means not tampering too much with the talent lineup.

“I like to listen to the lineup for a long time, get to know them before making any adjustments,” says the veteran programmer who guided soft rock adult contemporary KOST-FM 103.5 for more than two decades. Joshua Escandon – midday personality on KBIG-FM 104.3 until a year ago – is the only new hire so far.

The current personalities, which include Hollywood Hamilton and the K-Earth 101 Morning Crew, Jim Carson, Gary Bryan, “Shotgun Tom” Kelly and Christina Kelley have all been very supportive, says Kaye.

“They are a great team. They all want to win in the worst way.”

Kaye joined the K-Earth 101 team in January after winding up a stint as Clear Channel’s Director of AC Programming for LA, where he supervised both KBIG-FM and KOST-FM. He says he was enticed to fill the programming position vacated by Jay Coffey by the history of the station and its association with the legendary “Boss Radio” KHJ.

“In my radio career, I’d been a disc-jockey in Los Angeles. The one station I always wanted to be on in LA was KHJ. KHJ is gone but the great inheritor of the Bill Drake sound was K-Earth 101. I love the songs. Bill Drake is a great resource for us. I get to speak to him on the phone – talk about programming issues – he’s such a gentleman. It was a great time for me to have a new experience in LA radio and work for a property I respect and love.”

The sound of K-Earth is changing but also sounding more like its antecedent, the top 40 version of KHJ. In addition to finding some neglected oldies and adding more 70s hits, he has dusted off some of the old jingles and vocal imaging recorded by Bill Drake back in the 60s and 70s. That lends an air of authenticity to the station. Kaye is also tweaking the sound processing to make the music more “natural sounding” and, he hopes, entice people to stay tuned for longer periods of time.

Kitty Felde takes on reporting duties

Public radio KPCC-FM 89.3’s Kitty Felde wrapped up a five-year run as full-time host (plus four years as the Friday host of the same) of “Talk of the City” a couple of weeks ago.

“They took my radio show away from me for no reason that I can discern,” the still somewhat shell-shocked award-winning reporter told me this week. “I have no idea what happened. I was blindsided by it. There was no reason given other than they wanted to shake things up.”

Well, part of the shake up means Felde will soon be working out of KPCC’s downtown LA offices as a reporter. But the station, despite its tepid commitment to local long-form programming, has shown an admirable determination to cover Southern California news with a large and ambitious news organization.

Felde, who covered the O.J. trial for KCRW-FM 89.9 and has been in public radio for twenty year, is confident she’ll regain her footing.

“I have a way of talking to people, of making complicated issues sound interesting and showing how policy issues affect real people.”

Now that’s an attribute any news department worth its salt should be souring the four corners of the earth to find.

Radio Column March 3, 2006

2006-03-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Listening In

March 3, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Radio’s answer to satellite: HD Radio

HD radio is terrestrial radio’s answer to satellite radio. Its digital signal offers better quality sound, promising AM stations that sound like FM and FM with “CD quality.” Now the race is on to get consumers to adopt the new technology by purchasing HD radio receivers.

Last month, Boston Acoustics, a leading manufacturer of HD tabletop radios, announced it had lowered its suggested retail price from $499 to $299.

“We’re very excited about the level of interest our Recepter Radio HD has had from both consumers and the media,” said Phil Cohn, Boston Acoustics Vice President of Sales. “We were the first to offer a table radio featuring digital HD Radio technology and are the first to be able to make this technology accessible to a broader audience of radio listeners. We continue to work closely with the broadcasting industry which is quickly launching more and more HD Radio stations and HD2 channels across the country.”

Other manufacturers producing HD radios are Radiosophy, polkaudio, Yamaha, Rotel and ADA.

Nationwide, more than 3,000 stations are in the process of upgrading to HD Radio broadcasting, with more than 700 on the air so far and several hundred also launching new multicast channels this spring.

Multicasting allows radio stations to offer several channels of content beyond the one signal per frequency spot on the dial what analog radios can deliver. For instance, KOST-FM 103.5 also offers “Lite Classics” in addition to its popular soft rock format.

“HD radio is the most exciting thing to come to radio since being able to stream on the internet,” said Mary Beth Garber, President of the Southern California Broadcasters Association. “Los Angeles already had several Clear Channel stations broadcasting in HD, and they are already programming sub channels. Emmis, Clear Channel, Infinity and ABC have committed to HD radio, as have others. One of the appealing sides to programming for HD is that the station can also stream the material and make podcasts out of it, so it can garner appeal that will drive the purchasing of HD radios. I have one; the sound is amazing.”

And Garber swears that this will not be another technological fizzle the way AM stereo was back in the 80s. Lots of AM stations took a stab at broadcasting in stereo, but the sound was never really good enough to stem the exodus of music programming to FM and the industry never fully rallied behind a single technical standard until the 90s. By then, it was too late to interest the public at large. In Los Angeles, only KABC-AM 790 continues to broadcast in AM stereo.

“It won't go the way of AM Stereo,” says Garber of the new technology. “We are talking new capabilities with HD, not just the tweaking of the sound. This gives the stations new ways to connect with their listeners, and gives their listeners reason to spend even more time within a given radio station's ‘family of content.’ The broadcasters are behind it. The listeners will be behind it as they come to know about it and are able to sample it.”

Current LA area stations broadcasting in HD are: KBIG-FM 104.3, KCRW-FM 89.9, KCSN-FM 88.5, KDIS-AM 1110, KHHT-FM 92.3, KIIS-FM 102.7, KKBT-FM 100.3, KKJZ-FM 88.1, KLVE-FM 107.5, KLYY-FM 97.5, KMXE-AM 830, KMZT-FM 105.1, KNX-AM 1070, KOST-FM 103.5, KPCC-FM 89.3, KPWR-FM 105.9, KROQ-FM 106.7, KTNQ-AM 1020, KUSC-FM 91.5, KWIZ-FM 96.7, KWVE-FM 107.9 and KYSR-FM 98.7.

So far, only BMW offers factory-installed HD car radios, but JVC, SANYO and Kenwood sell installable car radios.

Conservative host joins KABC

Conservative commentator Mark Levin joined the KABC-AM 790 lineup this week with a one-hour rebroadcast of his New York-based program starting at 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. Levin, a popular talk show host for WABC, has often filled-in for Sean Hannity’s nationally-broadcast midday program also heard on KABC. Levin’s show is syndicated by ABC Radio Networks and airs live in New York from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific Time.

Levin’s conservative credentials are impeccable. He served as a top adviser to several Cabinet members during President Ronald Reagan’s administration and currently practices law in the private sector as head of the Landmark Legal Foundation in Washington, D.C. He is also a contributing editor for National Review Online.

“Mark’s show is smart, entertaining and informative,” said KABC Program Director, Erik Braverman. “He takes on the tough issues and the tough guests in a passionate and intelligent way that I think our audience will really enjoy.”

The “Ask Mr. KABC Show” starts an hour later and now airs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., followed by “Red Eye Radio” with Kevin James.

Radio Column February 17, 2005

2006-02-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

Listening In

February 17, 2006

By Sandy Wells

KOST’s Mark and Kim land spot on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Los Angeles radio’s longest-running morning show received their due with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this month. KOST-FM 103.5’s Mark and Kim were on hand for the unveiling of their names Feb 1st. Pop singing star Barry Manilow and noted TV, film and theatre producer Garry Marshall were among the celebs at the event near Disney’s El Capitan Theatre hosted by Hollywood’s Honorary Mayor Johnny Grant.

For Mark Wallengren and Kim Amidon, having Manilow at the ceremony was special since he was the first in-studio guest the duo had on their show.

According to Arbitron, KOST’s Mark and Kim Show has been a top five program among adult women listeners for 19 consecutive years. In the fall ratings, the team was No. 8 among listeners 12-plus and KOST was LA’s No. 1 station.

The pair has been nominated for numerous awards, and has won two Marconi’s, eight Billboard Awards, and four Gavin Awards. The Mark and Kim Show debuted on KOST in 1985.

New program head at KRLA-AM 870

Salem Communication’s flagship talker KRLA-AM 870 and the Inland Empire’s KTIE-AM 590 have ended its search for a new program director with the hiring of Craig Edwards. Edwards recently served as vice president, regional director of operations for Metro Networks/Westwood One and previously as director of operations, Los Angeles and as news bureau chief, Los Angeles. A veteran broadcaster, his experience includes positions at WTAM in Cleveland, as news director at WGR in Buffalo, and as traffic personality at KHOW in Denver.

New radio merger

Once again the radio landscape has been dramatically altered by a major merger. But it’s been a decade since the media world was shaken by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the subsequent “merger mania.” This latest merger is more like an aftershock. In this case, Disney Company, in a long anticipated move, has merged 22 ABC radio stations plus the ABC radio networks, except for ESPN and Radio Disney to Citadel Broadcasting Corp. for a cash and stock deal estimated at $2.7billion. The new company, Citadel Communications will be the nation’s third-largest radio company. Citadel CEO Farid Suleman, the former CEO of Infinity Broadcasting, will lead the new management team.

There is no telling right now what the ultimate impact on ABC stations will be. Here, it means that album rock KLOS-FM 95.5 and talk station KABC-AM 790 will now be part of Citadel. KSPN-AM 710 and KDIS-AM 1110 will remain within the Disney family of companies.

Among the major radio networks, ABC radio adapted best to the changing times of the 1960s creating specially targeted newscasts for different radio stations formats and a chain of highly successful top 40 rock stations that appealed to the younger audiences. It was the company that gave birth to the full time talk radio format right here in Los Angeles at KABC in the early 1960s.

More recently, ABC led the way in talk radio syndication developing stars such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Larry Elder. Paul Harvey News and Comment and the top of the hour news summaries have maintained their relevance and appeal despite the growth of less-formal, longer-form news and talk presentations.

Commercial radio in LA is still cash cow

Even with the competition from podcasting, iPods and satellite radio, commercial terrestrial radio remains a very healthy industry. The Southern California Broadcasters Association recently released their figures on ad revenues for 2005 and the 59 stations in LA and Orange Counties was $1.080 billion, a 3.4 percent gain over 2004. The Los Angeles Media Market, defined as the five county area including Los Angles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties took in $1.130 billion.

According to SCBA President Mary Beth Garber, Southern California is the world’s No. 1 radio revenue because of long commutes.

“Radio is growing because more advertisers understand how consumers use different media. Working people in Los Angles spend 3 ½ hours each workday with radio, just between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. … Because we’re not at home we look for companionship and connection. We don’t use radio just as a music delivery system (like an iPod, CD, Muzak or satellite radio). We look for emotional connection, for virtual neighborhoods.”

Radio certainly has proved remarkably resilient in the past. It could end up being like the cockroach of electronic media. Having survived onslaughts from TV, audio cassettes, CDs and cable radio, it seems likely to survive satellite radio and the Internet. Radio, thanks to its ubiquity and low-tech ease of use, will around long after many more exotic and more spectacular media delivery systems become extinct. Now if radio executives could just convince more people to buy the new HD radios ...

Radio Column February 3, 2006

2006-02-01T07:48:00.000-08:00

Listening In

February 3, 2006

By Sandy Wells

Adam Carolla brings classic radio style back to morning radio

Morning shock jock radio has grown up. KLSX-FM 97.1 listeners have graduated from the savage high school antics of social outcast Howard Stern and have now been presented with the comic sophistry of The Adam Carolla Show.

The change reminds me of the intra-generational shift among the baby boomers back in the 60s, when teens graduated from high school rock and roll “rebels” such as Dion and Belmonts and became young adults, ready to appreciate the more socially-aware and sophisticated music of Crosby, Stills and Nash, or Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Blind Faith, etc. Carolla’s kind of like a shock jock for the college crowd.

The Adam Carolla Show launched Jan. 3 and is now carried on 10 stations. He sounds far less angst-ridden than Stern did. The former Kevin and Bean (KROQ-FM 106.7) bit player doesn’t need to rattle his cage to assert his identity, but instead manages to exude the aura of a guy who doesn’t need to have a big career in show biz in order to breathe. It also helps that he’s not engaged in a futile attempt to defy the FCC’s indecency restrictions.

What’s more, and what seems refreshing about this program, at least for an FM morning comedy talk show, is that it is so well crafted. Carolla conforms to what I’d consider the classic morning talk radio style and format. Segments appear to be well-planned out. Commercial breaks don’t go on forever. Stern, on the other hand, couldn’t be bothered to pause for commercials until he’d exhausted a comic vein or bit. Then he’d bury his listeners under a quarter-hour avalanche of commercials. With Carolla, points are made and then it’s time to move on. Carolla, a former carpenter and someone presumably comfortable with following a plan, sticks to the format. It may not be groundbreaking radio, but it is easier to listen to.

Carolla’s droll delivery also makes for good companionship and he sounds extremely comfortable filling the shows of one of radio’s most talked about personalities.

“I’m going to try to be funny, interesting and maybe a little thought provoking,” Carolla told NPR’s Renee Montagne on the eve of his new radio show’s launch. “I’m not taking over the Howard Stern show; I’m just doing morning radio. I mean Seinfeld was on NBC at 8 o’clock on Thursday nights. Eventually he went off the air and another sitcom came on. But they weren’t taking over for Seinfeld. They were just doing another sitcom.”

Carolla’s entourage – the svelte VH1 countdown queen Rachel Perry who reads news headlines, sports guy Dave Dameshek, executive producer Jimmy Brusca, et al. is growing apace. Although not yet as deep a team as Stern’s, it has promise. Because Carolla’s show is so well structured, I never feel imposed upon, wondering to myself, “Where is this bit going? Will it never end?” Stern could go into a comic aerial freefall and somehow pull up in time to save the segment from crashing and burning. Carolla, apparently not compelled to take such chances, concentrates on finishing one bit and moving on to the next.

Listening to Carolla, I’m reminded of hearing tapes of classic morning radio shows such as Bob Crane on KNX-AM from the 50s and early 60s, or more recently, KABC-AM’s Ken Minyard with Dan Avey. Carolla is squarely on the side of the listeners, never disappearing into inside humor or allowing the disorientation I sometimes felt listening to Jonathan Brandmeier on KLSX and Arrow 93.

The radio brain trust generally seems poised to concede music radio to satellite radio’s large channel selection and huge capacity to satisfy different niche audiences – not unlike the way AM stations surrendered music programming to FM in the early 80s – while concentrating on unique, spoken word content.

If that’s so, then The Adam Carolla Show might prove to be a model of how to do things right on terrestrial FM radio.

Radio Column January 20, 2006

2006-01-27T08:07:00.000-08:00

KNX offers more advice on consumer and money matters

News/talk station KNX-AM 1070 is offering more financial advice by adding an hour to its successful midday consumer call-in show “Money 101” with host Bob McCormick. The program now starts an hour earlier at 9 a.m. weekday mornings. David G. Hall, KNX vice president of AM programming for Infinity Radio in Los Angeles, also named veteran KNX correspondent Frank Mottek host of the “The KNX Business Hour” from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. The moves should bolster KNX as a go-to place for useful expert advice and “answers.”

(Frank Mottek, KNX photo)

“The new three-hour time slot will allow us to increase the amount of consumer news we deliver,” Hall said of Money 101. “The program has become increasingly popular because it gives listeners relevant information on consumer topics. Bob tells the audience how to save money, whether it's a discount airfare or an unclaimed property search.”

The programming compliments KNX’s weekend midday call-in block beginning with “Food News” with Melinda Lee (Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to noon) and “Computer News” with Jeff Levy (Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 2 p.m.).

KOST dominates fall listening with help of Christmas music

Holiday music on KOST-FM 103.5 (“The Coast”) once again proved to be a big draw for Southland listeners, according to the latest Arbitron audience estimates of listeners age 12 and over. The soft rock favorite rose to the top spot in overall listening. Soft adult Spanish-language station KLVE-FM 107.5 followed very close behind at No. 2, followed by the summer’s top station, top 40 KIIS-FM 102.7 at No. 3. Talk radio from the likes of Bill Handel, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and John and Ken helped place KFI-AM 640 at No. 4, then fifth place alternative rock KROQ-FM 106.7 and Mexican Regional KSCA-AM 101.9 at No. 6. Last year’s biggest newcomer, the reggaeton/hip hop “Spanglish” station KXOL-FM 96.3 (“Latino 96.3”) slipped a bit, from a tie at No. 2 last summer to No. 7. Hip hop powerhouse KPWR-FM 105.9 (“Power 106”) also took a pretty dramatic hit, slipping from a tie for fourth place to No. 8. Mexican Regional KLAX-FM 97.9 dropped one place to No. 9 and smooth jazz “The Wave” climbed back into the top ten at No. 10. Last year’s other big newcomer, adult hits “Jack FM” KCBS-FM 93.1 seems to have lost some of its appeal, falling from No. 9 to No. 11. “Jack” boasts variety and unpredictability, but perhaps it loses some of the impact of that with the solitary presence of Howard Cogan, the Canadian voice over artist whose wry, sarcastic attitude provides the “image” of the station rather than a schedule of DJs.

Arbitron’s sample of the LA market’s roughly 10.8 million potential listeners that among the talk stations, Clear Channel’s KFI was again in first place, followed by Disney-owned KABC-AM 790, Infinity’s KLSX-FM 97.1 and KNX-AM 1070 (which has become nearly all-talk), Salem’s KRLA-AM 870 and Clear Channel’s “Progressive” KTLK-AM 1150.

In morning drive, KSCA’s Píolin lead the pack, with Bill Handel on KFI, Kevin and Bean on KROQ, KIIS’ Ryan Seacrest and KLVE’s “El Show de Omar y Argelia” making up the rest of the top five. Classic rock KLOS-FM’s Mark and Brian continued to grow their audience share, gaining three tenths of a point to go from No. 11 to No. 10.

KOST made huge gains in midday listening, a time the industry typically considers the “listen at work” period, jumping 1.7 points from a tie at No. 6 to No.1. Other stations top stations between 10 p.m. and 3 p.m. were KLVE (No. 2) with Sofía Soria and KFI (No. 3) with Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

Listening In January 6, 2006

2006-01-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

Top Stories of 2005

by Sandy Wells

Stern leaves terrestrial radio

As Howard Stern (KLSX-FM 97.1) spent the year trumpeting his impending departure to the freer speech venue of Sirius satellite radio, the congress simultaneously seemed to lose all interest in levying those half-million dollar fines it had threatened after the 2004 Super bowl Janet Jackson breast reveal that induced lawmakers to notice naughty language heard on radio. In the end it’s hard to say who won the battle over the right to be free from indecency versus the right to freely express yourself even if it offends others.

Jack FM

It’s the music stupid! I always want to shout that when I hear radio people scratch their heads in wonder about the defection of listeners to XM and Sirius subscription satellite radio. But here on earth, Jack’s impressive debut of mostly 80s and 90s pop, rock and soul in place of “Arrow 93” on KCBS-FM 93.1 proved that, like Detroit auto makers, big terrestrial radio stations can still reap rewards when they dare to think out of the box. For commercial radio, the pseudo-eclectic mix is a well-brewed revelation, prompting other LA stations to stop gazing at their bellybuttons and have a little fun playing records, for a change.

Salem Celebrates 20 Years in Los Angeles

Religion continues to pound its way back into public discourse in to a level probably not heard since Aimee Semple McPherson broadcast on KFSG in the 1920s. One of the main players in this movement has been Salem Communications which has labored to move God talk from the Sunday morning broadcast ghetto to a full-spectrum presence in radio. This year, its first LA station, KKLA-FM 99.5 celebrated 20 years in the business of successfully preaching the Word of God in and around supposedly god-less Hollywood.

Payola rocks radio

Bribing a program director to play a worthless single so that it will be a hit? Leave to an intrepid New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to shake-out the payola shenanigans and fine the offenders. While rock music lovers migrate by the millions to un-free satellite radio to get some satisfaction, corporate bean counters at the 1200-station Clear Channel Empire and elsewhere have been finally getting around to experimenting with smaller commercial loads and more interesting mixes of music.

Latino radio blazes to top

It’s a bilingual world out there and this year LA got its first Spanish-English, or “Spanglish” station: KXOL-FM “Latino 96.3.” It shot to the top (or very near) just months after its launch in the spring with a mix of Reggaeton and hip hop/R&B. The battle for cultural dominance in Southern California appears, for the time being, to have ended in a Mexican standoff.

570-690 swap

The “Fabulous 570” (KLAC) moved to 690 and “XTRA Sports” 690 changed its frequency to 570. AM 570 continues to carry the Lakers but has made little headway in creating a sports identity. Afternoon host Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton was relegated to part-time, comedian Phil Hendrie was moved over from sister station KFI-AM 640 to fill the time at night when the Lakers are off, and a wacky Chicago dynamo named “Mancow” was hired to be the morning show. Comedy may prove to be LA’s most popular “sport.”

Hollywood Hamilton back

Hollywood Hamilton is a truly gifted radio performer and deserves to be on in LA if he wants to. This year K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) hired the former CHR KIIS-FM and New York radio star to try and stir up things in the morning. Great as he is, his presence has only exacerbated the schizoid sound of the station: Half- ghost of Boss Radio KHJ and half-70s/80s FM CHR redux.

“Progressive” Talk?

I don’t get why Clear Channel markets its liberal talker KTLK-AM 1150 which debuted this year as “Progressive Talk.” It sounds like they are competing with woefully ignored Pacifica station KPFK-FM 90.7 and it fails to represent the fact that the people on the air are not progressive; they’re liberals, who sometimes sound just as mean-spirited and hateful as their right-wing opposites. Still, it’s fun to have Stephanie Miller as a morning show host.

End of news radio

Yes, I can’t resist this hyperbolic heading to describe the horror of watching Infinity Radio – now CBS Radio (I think) – slowly sink its two former West Coast flagship stations: KNX-AM 1070, once the pride of CBS, and KFWB-AM 980, one of the once-indomitable Westinghouse all-news giants. You can’t fault ex-KFI programming whiz David G. Hall for trying to think out of the box in the Age of the Internet, but throwing the (excellent) morning KNX traffic guy into afternoon drive without so much as a dress rehearsal was almost perverse. His co-host designate, the superb veteran reporter Gail Eichenthal, balked, then walked, rather than insult the memory of Murrow.

McDonnell Douglas show leaves KSPN

The McDonnell-Douglas Show on KSPN-AM 710 was a winner. It paired a great radio personality – Joe McDonnell - with a top of the line sports journalist – Doug Krikorian. Krikorian was let go in June. Later in the year, KSPN did not renew McDonnell’s contract. Since then, “The Big Nasty” has landed a general talk show on Clear Channel’s KTLK-AM 1150, Saturdays, 4 – 6 p.m. and has reported for some fill in assignments on “XTRA Sports” 570.

Fear from Katrina victims-to-be heard on Art bell

My last top radio story of 2005 is more personal. On the Sunday into Monday (Aug. 29) overnight, just as Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, Coast to Coast host Art Bell was taking calls from frightened residents on his overnight show heard here on KFI-AM 640. The fear, even terror I heard in those voices as I listened to caller after caller talk about how they were trapped, unsure of where to go or what to do in the two to three hours that remained before the category 4 monster struck, was palpable. It was 3 in the morning. KFI, to its credit, dropped their re-feed of Bell’s show and went live with Wayne Resnick to cover the story.

Radio Column December 23, 2005

2005-12-30T10:05:00.000-08:00

Listening In

December 23, 2005

By Sandy Wells

Oldies K-Earth 101 names new program director

K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) has appointed former KOST-FM/KBIG-FM programmer Jahni Kaye to take over as program director for the oldies giant starting Jan. 3.

“K-Earth 101 is legendary not only in Los Angeles, but throughout the world as one of the finest music radio stations, said Kaye. “K-Earth 101’s uptempo, foreground presentation is very exciting and I’m really looking forward to taking the station to the next level.”

Kaye’s track record in the business is almost unrivaled. At KOST-FM (“The Coast”), he was the longest running program director of a music station in Los Angeles. Under his direction, KOST picked up two Marconi Awards, four Billboard Awards and three Gavin Awards for “Station of The Year.” Kaye also received four Billboard Awards and two Gavin Awards for “Program Director of the Year.” His resume includes stints at LA stations KUTE, KKDJ, KGBS, KROQ, and KBIG. His latest position was Director of AC Programming for Clear Channel/LA.

The naming of Kaye marks a major change in direction for the oldies giant. Since the early 90s, K-Earth has patterned itself after the glory days of legendary top 40 KHJ-AM 930. With program director Mike Phillips at the helm, and later, under his music director and protégé Jay Coffey, the station continued to echo the sound of “Boss Radio.” With The Real Don Steele in afternoon drive and Robert W. Morgan in mornings – timeslots they occupied on KHJ – K-Earth 101 enjoyed its greatest popularity during the mid 1990s.

After the deaths of Steele and Morgan and the exit of Phillips, Coffey tweaked the format with new jingles, adding some more hits from the 70s and hiring some new talent.
His pick for morning drive, Gary Bryan, was moved to afternoons and replaced by former KIIS-FM DJ Hollywood Hamilton this year, by which time, Coffey appeared to be on his way out as programmer.

I can only guess what Kaye will do with K-Earth. He inherits a talent roster that embraces a curiously inconsistent mix of DJ styles and attitudes. It will be interesting to see how he sorts all that out.

Even before his arrival, the station has added more 70s hits and is clearly advancing the oldies timeline to catch a newer wave of nostalgia consumers. The station is now referring to itself in the latest press releases as the “premiere adult hit station” playing “The greatest hits on earth.”

With some pressure from Jack FM (KCBS-FM 93.1) and satellite radio and to expand the playlist of songs, K-Earth will probably continue to broaden its mix of hits.

K-Earth 101 claims to be among the few U.S. radio stations that attract more than million-plus listeners weekly. Jack Silver, Operations Manager said of Kaye’s appointment, “We are handing over a lot of responsibility to Jhani Kaye and he is among the elite few who have the experience to grow the coveted adult audience of K-Earth 101.”

In my interviews with Phillips and Coffey, both defended the extremely tight list of oldies (3-500 songs by most estimates) as the only way to guarantee high ratings. Phillips said it just never made sense to play anything but the songs that test highest in the research. Coffey said every time the playlist was expanded in the past, the ratings would go down.

But with Jack FM’s apparent no holds barred approach to song selection, the rules have changed. It remains to be seen how Kaye, who made his reputation arranging impeccably smooth 40 minute sets of easy listening pop hits, rises to the challenge of reinventing K-Earth 101.

Radio Column December 9, 2005

2005-12-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

December 9, 2005

Terrestrial broadcasters tout “free radio” as Stern heads to satellite

The inimitable Howard Stern is crossing over to the “other side” next month, launching his much anticipated reincarnation on Sirius satellite radio Jan. 9. The outrageous “shock jock” who issued a CD “Crucified by the FCC” in 1991 will have a “second coming” in January. For people weary of his depraved, lewd and juvenile antics, that day can’t come too soon. For his admirers, the groundbreaking comedic genius of FM radio will finally be free of the straightjacket of conventional radio practice, FCC fines, censorious Senators and jittery corporate legal departments.

Next Friday will be his last show on KLSX-FM 97.1 and all the other stations coast to coast that carry his morning program.

Adam Corolla of KROQ-FM 106.7 “Loveline” fame starts on Jan. 3 as the replacement for Stern on KLSX “Free FM.” Corolla will also be on at in least four other markets in the Western U.S. Late night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel will serve as creative consultant for the radio show. He will assist in the development of new talent and show ideas for the Company, and make guest appearances on the program.

In New York, flagship Stern station WXRK-FM will carry former Van Halen front man, David Lee Roth as the morning show host. Roth is scheduled to launch on seven stations in the eastern U.S. Air personalities “Rover,” ‘The Junkies,” “Star and Buc” and “Drew and Mel” will fill Stern’s shoes in other markets.

Three stations that carried Stern are “Jack FM” music stations and will air music instead of Stern-style comedy/talk.

In an obvious response to the challenge posed by satellite radio (Sirius and XM) Infinity Broadcasting rolled out its Free FM moniker for several stations, leaving “FM Talk” behind. This coincides with the National Association of Broadcaster’s stepped up campaign to convince people that radio should be free. The NAB has created spots that end with the tag line, “Radio, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.”

“The new spots remind listeners of the 24-7 news coverage, compelling personalities, weather and traffic bulletins, local regional and national talk, local sports, and other programming, all of which is available for free on local radio,” said NAB Radio Board Chairman and President and CEO of Entercom Communications David Field.

Sirius, the service that will carry the Howard Stern show, currently charges $12.95 per month, $142.45 annually or $499 for a lifetime subscription.

Stern will offer two channels: “Howard 100 News” (already available) a very slick news and interview service that promotes the stars of the Howard Stern “universe,” and the “Howard II” channel, set to launch Jan. 9.

The NAB says that broadcasters are rallying to air the spots this month, effectively donating at least $40 million worth of airtime to dissuade listeners from defecting to satellite radio. They might as well build another Berlin Wall.

Stern quipped on the air last week that if those broadcasters had handed him the “50 million” they’re spending to fight him, he would have “walked away” from his satellite venture.

So what is the future of free terrestrial radio once Stern exits? Does FM talk have a big future? I believe the answer is yes, but a big shake out is coming. Stern’s departure will be like a shopping mall after the big “anchor” department store moves out. In radio’s case, there aren’t likely to be the same size crowds coming in the morning to carry the whole day anymore. Obviously, a lot depends on how well Corolla, Roth and others can hang on to Stern’s audience.

Regardless of how well FM talk adapts, the door is wide open now for music radio formats to enjoy a kind of renaissance that may end up helping the ailing record industry. For the past 20 years, morning shows have been dominated, starting with the rise of “Morning Zoos” in the early 80s, by talk and comedy and very little or no music. With Stern out of the picture, contemporary music-focused, local personality shows may have a chance to take back a huge slice of the morning mass appeal audience pie.

A word about Stern: He was an unremarkable DJ when he started out. His “genius” was to take the goofy, irreverent side of the generic DJ, add elements of his personal life and basically flip the perspective for the audience. So, instead of getting the conventional polished presentation, listeners heard an exaggerated version of what might normally be the off-air, “behind the scenes” banter with station personnel and listener phone calls. To accentuate the “shock” value of this 180 degree change, Stern routinely belched on the air, insulted celebrity guests, cued tapes live instead of getting them ready beforehand and appeared to talk off the top of his head with no preparation. (His wannabe imitators learned the hard way how far from the truth that is.)

Before Stern, none of that would ever have happened on the radio. Call it “reality radio.” Call him the Godfather of reality TV.

Another key to the success of the Stern format was getting rid of the music. Stern was determined to live or die on his own personality and not allow himself be defined by music he didn’t choose and would needlessly alienate listeners otherwise attracted to his program.

On satellite, Stern will finally be free to speak as he pleases without censorship or the threat of FCC indecency fines. However, if he doesn’t ultimately attract enough subscribers to make the show self-sustaining, expect advertising to quickly become part of the mix.

Radio Column November 25, 2005

2005-11-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

November 25, 2005

Fabulous 690 gets ready for final close up

The Fabulous 690 (XETRA-AM 690) is getting ready for its final close up. The exact date is yet to be announced and there seems to be some uncertainty among station personnel as to when the switch will be pulled on the standards served up by Brad Chambers, Jim Duncan, Daisy Torme, Gary Owens, Lou Simon, et al. On the station web site http://www.fabulousradio.com/, listeners are invited to vote for the format’s final song.

One thing is sure. It has to happen. All the kicking and screaming by those who love the great songs performed by Frank Sinatra Sr. and Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Rod Stewart, Tony Bennett and so many others, will be of no avail, since the change has been mandated by our own government.

In a recent decision, the Federal Communications Commission determined that stations operated by an American owner south of the border count as one owned inside the U.S. if it reaches a U.S. radio market. In this case, it means that XETRA-AM, booming across the border with 77,000 watts from south of San Diego, counts not only as a San Diego station, but also a Los Angeles one.

As a result, Clear Channel is over the eight-station limit by one in Los Angeles and must sell off its stake in XETRA. In San Diego, it must let go of several stations.

Since its launch on Frank Sinatra’s birthday (Dec. 12) in 2002, the Fabulous 570 - later the Fabulous 690 following 570s flip to sports/guy talk – has attempted to redefine the standards format in terms of presentation and target audience. Not satisfied to be just a nostalgia format for folks old enough to remember when the classic popular songs first landed on the hit parade or were show stoppers on Broadway, Program Director Brad Chambers and Clear Channel Regional Vice President and Station Manager Greg Ashlock strived to attract not only baby boomers burned out on rock ’n roll, but younger people as well.

“We had to find a way to attract a young, hip audience while maintaining the dignity and class of the music,” said Chambers. “There’s a whole generation of baby boomers are rediscovering the music as something that fits their changing lifestyle. These are people who might go see a Rolling Stones concert once a year, but would rather not hassle with the huge crowds. The rest of the year they might be going out to a place like the Catalina Bar and Grill and hearing some jazz or standards. We believe firmly that this not about an age group, but about a lifestyle. A whole generation will continue to party, but at a different beat.”

Chambers says the decision to go with the standards was considered risky back in 2002. As a format designer for Clear Channel, he’d been commissioned to create a 70s format for KLAC-AM 570.

“The 'Seventies at 570' sounded like an old top 40 station. It was good, but it didn’t have an emotional hook. Greg Ashlock said, ‘Why don’t we do the standards again?’ ”

Chambers says the decision was cinched after former Clear Channel executive Roy Laughlin showed up a meeting and mentioned that his friend Rod Stewart had just released an album of standards. The timing seemed perfect. More and more pop recording artists, Hollywood trendsetters and hip literati had been professing their appreciation for the great songs and tunes that happened to coincide with Hollywood’s Golden Age. And Rod Stewart agreed to perform at the launch party of the station.

From its inception, The Fabulous 570 had a hip edge to it. While at times seeming a little self-conscious, almost ironic in its presentation, with Steve Tyrell’s gravelly, Vegas Rat Pack-style voice imaging, the station neverthless earned its place in the competitive LA radio scene.

“We have had good numbers and attracted a broad audience. At station events, we see people of all ages come out to enjoy this music.”

And Chambers maintains that The Fabulous 690 continues to be a successful business proposition, generating enough revenue to satisfy Clear Channel’s corporate needs.

The concept of “contemporary standards” translates into growing acceptance on the part of youth-obsessed advertisers. A steady stream of new renderings of the standards by new artists as well as pop/rock superstars has kept the sound fresh and up-to-date. Unlike rock n’ roll; it’s not so much about the recording as it is about the song.

“The songs of the 30s and 40s were written to get others to sing or perform. It’s not odd for a Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow or Bette Midler or Alanis Morissette to record them.”

Chambers says two farewell parties for the station have already sold out. As to the future of the standards in Los Angeles, aside from their presence on KKGO-AM 1260/540, Chambers says he’s in talks with a number of LA station owners.

Radio Column November 11, 2005

2005-11-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

November 11, 2005

Bilingual “Latino 96.3” KXOL-FM soars in latest ratings

Latino 96.3 FM’s midday entertainer Donaji and morning man Nico Jones (KXOL photos)

The latest ratings from Arbitron proved that LA radio was ready for something mucho grande! Pues, the new bilingual “Latino 96.3” KXOL-FM 96.3 exploded on the radio scene this summer, zooming from a tie at No. 18 to a tie at No. 2 in a matter of weeks.

I guess this success story helps prove that the idea of the “melting pot” is still valid in America and especially here in Southern California. On Latino 96.3, both English and Spanish are woven into a seamless sound texture that reflects the linguistic reality in many Southland communities.

The practice is not new to radio. There have been numerous instances of bilingual patter by personalities before - the long running Chicano-oriented “Sancho Show” on KPFK-FM 90.7 is one example - but as a fulltime commercial radio venture, it is new to Southern California.

“We’re absolutely thrilled!” said KXOL Vice President and General Manager David Haymore about what may well be counted as the fastest ratings ascent of a new format in LA radio history. “It hit a vibe, a nerve. We knew right a way from the calls we received. The listeners responded, adopting it passionately.”

Latino 96.3 prominently features Reggaeton, a genre of Caribbean music that originated almost twenty years ago in Panama and Puerto Rico.

“This station incorporates a mix of Hip Hop in English and Spanish with Reggaeton,” says Haymore. “We saw Reggaeton concerts that immediately sold out, so we saw there was this demand for the music.”

“We launched this station back in May with the strong belief that LA was ready for a bilingual station with emphasis on the youth. The dominant ethnicity of LA youth is Hispanic – 59 percent of 12 to 24 year old males and 56 percent of females 12 to 24 are Hispanic who are (nevertheless) predominantly functioning in the English language world.”

There were none of the common marketing gimmicks often involved with the launch of this new station, such as playing no commercials for the first month.

“Its popularity was driven by word of mouth, with text messaging, email, phone calls, all with an excitement we’ve never seen before,” said Haymore.

As with the launch of “Jack FM” (KCBS-FM 93.1) this year, this move showed some guts on the part of corporate radio station owners. Their examples could lead to more exciting new formats for us in the next year.

In other ratings news, the top stations among listeners 12+ were No. 1 KIIS-FM 102.7, KXOL tied at No. 2 with Spanish adult contemporary “K-Love” KLVE-FM 107.5. News/talk KFI-AM 640 tied with hip hop KPWR-FM 105.9 “Power 106” at No. 4, followed by alternative/modern rock KROQ-FM 106.7 at No. 6. Regional Mexican stations KLAX-FM 97.9 and KSCA-FM 101.9 scored at No. 7 and 8 respectively with “Jack FM” KCBS-FM 93.1 at No. 9 and soft rock KOST-FM 103.5 rounding out the top 10.

In morning drive, Renan "El Cucuy" Almendarez Coello on KLAX moved up to No, 1, swapping rank with Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo on KSCA, then talk radio kingpin Bill Handel on KFI again in third place. KROQ’s Kevin and Bean moved from No. 6 to No. 4 and KIIS’ Ryan Seacrest slipped from fourth to fifth place.

In the morning talk radio sweepstakes, KABC-AM 790’s Doug McIntyre gained eight tenths of a point to move into 10th place from 16th with a very respectable 3.0 share of listeners. KRLA-AM 870s Laura Ingraham moved up from 29th place to a tie for 25th and liberal talker Stephanie Miller gained some traction by moving from 47th to 29th place with a gain of eight tenths of a point on KTLK-AM 1150. KLSX’s Howard Stern, still a potent force on the eve of his departure to satellite radio, is in at 7th place while KLOS-FM 95.5 funnymen Mark and Brian inched up to No. 11.

Meanwhile, Jamie White on KYSR-FM 98.7 fared poorly without Danny Bonaduce, dropping half a point from a tie at No. 16 to a tie at No. 23.

Radio Column October 21, 2005

2005-10-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

October 21, 2005

Ex Channel 5 airborne reporter Jennifer York joins KFSH-FM

Former TV reporter Jennifer York has joined morning personality Billy Burke to co-host on the “family friendly” KFSH-FM 95.9 “The Fish.”

York adds a vivacious female voice to the morning hours of the Christian contemporary music station. She is a familiar face to millions of Southern Californians after 13 years as a KTLA-TV Channel 5 airborne traffic reporter. Her accurate and clear reporting from “Skycam 5” on earthquakes, floods, fires and other breaking news stories earned her numerous Emmys and Golden Mike Awards. York first gained recognition as a radio traffic reporter for news station KFWB-AM 980. She is credited with being the first woman traffic reporter to fly in a helicopter.

“We’re very pleased to have such a well-known personality join the 95.9 The Fish family,” said Terry Fahy, Salem Los Angeles vice president and general manager. “Jennifer’s passionate persona and sense of humor will play well with Billy Burke’s energetic, easy-going style. We look forward to seeing the morning show’s popularity expand even further.”

Jumping from huge exposure on the number morning TV news program to a niche format on an Anaheim FM station doesn’t appear to be a step down for the multi-talented York. The synergy should work well considering she is also a professional electric and acoustic bassist who has recorded two CDs with the Christian rock band “Rachel, Rachel.” She has also recorded two jazz albums with her own “York Quartet.” The group has been together for 11 years, performing at jazz clubs and festivals throughout Southern California. They have opened for John Tesh, and most recently at the Anaheim Pond for Boney James, Macy Grey and Seal.

Tracey Miller Dies

Radio news anchor and talk show host Tracey Miller died two weeks ago after a three-year battle with cancer. She was 51. Miller co-hosted a morning news talk program with Terry Rae Elmer, “TNT in the Morning,” on KFI-AM 640 in 1990 after six years as a reporter for the station.

In 1994, she moved to KABC-AM 790 and co-hosted with Peter Tilden in afternoon drive and then mornings on “The Zone” KTZN-AM 710. For me, her best work was with Tilden on KABC, where her husky voice and wry humor was perfectly balanced with Tilden’s rapid-fire wisecracking.

This remarkable broadcaster is widely acknowledged to be a pioneer in news/talk. As a talk show host Tracey seamlessly shifted from serious news to humorous banter and was both a credible news anchor and entertaining personality.

Clear Channel radio heads roll in payola fallout

The investigations by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer into “pay for play” practices and payola involving the Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Clear Channel radio programmers have reportedly resulted in two employees losing their jobs for misconduct and others are being disciplined.

Clear Channel, the nation’s largest owner of radio stations, is not naming the individuals or the stations involved.

Eric Boehlert reported on the problems at Clear Channel in a series of articles for the web magazine Salon.com back in 2001. Most industry observers say payola – the practice of record companies or their agents bribing station programmers to play songs regardless of artistic merit or popularity - has been a chronic issue with pop music stations of all genres.

K-Earth 101 looking for a new program director

K-Earth 101 KRTH-FM 101.1 Program Director Jay Coffey has departed and the search is on for his replacement. Coffey is looking for a fulltime on air job along with voice over work after 18-years with the oldies station. Coffey also did stints as evening host and was music director under KRTH’s previous program director, Mike Philips. The San Francisco native was a bass player in a Bay Area rock band before getting the radio bug. After stints in smaller California cities, he landed a gig on legendary top 40 programmer Bill Drake’s KIQQ-FM in Los Angeles in 1977. Coffey joined K-Earth 101 in 1985 as a weekend host. He was most recently heard doing the overnight shift from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Radio Column October 7, 2005

2005-10-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

October 7, 2005

PHOTO: Frank Pastore (left) and Terry Fahey

KKLA celebrates 20 years of Christian radio

Christian radio has come a long way since KKLA-FM 99.5 “The Spirit of Los Angeles” first took to the airwaves broadcasting from a tiny North Hollywood studio on Oct. 15, 1985. The station is celebrating its 20th anniversary next week.

Salem Communications, founded in 1974 by Edward Atsinger III in Camarillo, Calif., has grown to operate 105 stations nationwide. It has diversified from airing Christian teaching programs into pop music radio – Christian Contemporary and secular, conservative talk. Since going public in 1999, Salem’s healthy profit margins have won the respect of Wall Street analysts.

Salem has come to represent a significant counterweight to the generally secular, often anti-religious tilt of the so-called “mainstream media.” This has come in part by adopting mainstream media aesthetics to make the programming more appealing to general radio audiences. On KKLA, programs are introduced by presenters Jim Governale, Ted Ziegenbusch and Steve Geiger, who provide friendly chat and promote the rest of the station’s lineup.

This practice of making religious radio sound like “normal” radio was carried to a new level when KKLA launched an afternoon talk show, “Live From L.A.” in 1986. Ex-rock radio DJ and “Mighty Met” KMET-FM program director Warren Duffy was chosen as host.

“It was a big leap,” says Terry Fahey, Salem LA Vice President/General Manager who runs Salem’s LA “cluster” –KKLA-FM 99.5, KFSH-FM 95.9, KRLA-AM 870, KTIE-AM 590 and KXMX-AM 1190. “Basically we took three hours – that meant giving up a lot of time we had to sell [as block programs]. But it was a good compliment to what we were doing and the advertisers supported us.”

Duffy was succeeded by former Cincinnati Red pitcher Frank Pastore in early 2004. He is not what most people expect to hear on a Christian-themed talk show.

“We do everything from a Christian world-view,” says Pastore. “We do the news of the day, politics, pop culture, the silly stories as well as the serious.”

Broadcasting from “intersection of faith and reason,” Pastore brings a hard-charging, unpretentious yet passionate flair for religious and political debate to the table. He strives to dispel any preconceived ideas of Christians as wimpy “doormats,” who’d rather turn-the-other cheek than defend their beliefs in public.

“What motivates me is that Christianity is true,” says Pastore, who holds advanced degrees in political science and theology. “What was lacking before was the ability of Christians to articulate a political philosophy. Politics is theology applied. I’m getting back to our roots as to what it means to be a Christian patriot.”

KKLA’s block programs have been carefully chosen and nurtured over the years. Even though the programmers pay KKLA to air their shows, the station has always been very selective, according to Fahey.

“We have had really good programming; we have syndicated bible and teaching shows – the best out there,” says Fahey, who has counted “Focus on the Family” with Dr. James Dobson as client since “day one.” Other programs airing on KKLA from the beginning include “Focus on the Family,” “Insight For Living,” “Thru the Bible,” “In Touch,” “Grace to You” and “Haven Today.”

KKLA, now comfortably situated in modern facilities in Glendale, attracts about 250,000 listeners a week, according to Fahey. The new KKLA Speaker Series is drawing as many as 1,500 to the events. KKLA has subscribed to Arbitron, the company that measures radio audiences for advertisers since acquiring news/talk KRLA in 1999. While KKLA does not enjoy “big ratings” – its afternoon show audience has nearly doubled since Pastore signed on as host in early 2004 – half of KKLA’s revenue is still derived from selling the longer-form religious programs.

This hybrid business model – selling both long form programming “blocks” along with 30 and 60 second spots – has helped keep KKLA’s revenues consistent and growing for two decades – avoiding the industry’s cyclical ups and downs that affect the bigger commercial stations.

Despite its close identification with the film industry, LA has the largest number of evangelicals in any major U.S. city - nearly a million, according to a new study by the Ventura-based research firm, The Barna Group. The study estimates there are also 3.6 million born again Christian in the greater LA area, leaving KKLA with plenty of potential listeners within reach of its 10.5 thousand watts of effective radiated power.

“This is exactly where I should be, where the battle is most intense,” says Pastore of his radio mission in the midst of Hollywood, the “Belly of the Beast.” “That’s where Paul went - to Athens and to Rome.”

Radio Column September 26, 2005

2005-10-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

September 23, 2005

K-Earth 101 and KLSX host concert to aid Katrina victims

Oldies station K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM 101.1) and FM talk station KLSX-FM 97.1 are pulling together and hosting an oldies concert at the Greek Theatre Sunday to help out victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Frankie Valli

The lineup looks like a blast. So far, the stations have recruited The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, guitar legend Dick Dale with his 13-Year old “guitar prodigy” son Jimmy Dale, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, the Surfaris, actor Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band, Dean Torrance (of Jan and Dean), Chuck Negron (formerly of Three Dog Night) and comedian Paul Rodriguez are slated to appear at the charity event. Come to think of it, now would be the perfect time for the 80s pop band Katrina and the Waves (remember their 1985 hit “Walking on Sunshine”?) to make an appearance.

“Our audiences are so diverse,” said KLSX/KRTH Operations Manager Jack Silver. “It’s good that we are able to promote this event on both stations. The synergy is getting better,” he added, noting that sister AM news stations KFWB-AM and KNX-AM are also helping to inform the public about the event.

The money raised by the two Infinity radio stations from the concert will benefit the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

“We are truly grateful that we are able to help the people impacted by this terrible disaster,” said Frankie Valli, whose falsetto vocal work with the Four Seasons was a staple on AM top 40 radio in the 60s (“Walk Like A Man,” “Rag Doll,” Sherry,” etc.) and later as a solo artist (“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “My Eyes Adored You,” and the 70s disco smash, “Swearin’ to God”).

The American Red Cross is collecting funds in greater Los Angeles and elsewhere, to support the disaster relief operation and has also been training local volunteers and sending them to the affected areas.

“So many times the Red Cross has been of invaluable assistance, helping those in desperate need as tragedies occur. It adds another level to what we are able to do as entertainers when we are able to participate in an event whose purpose is to raise money for such an outstanding organization,” said Beach Boy icon Mike Love.

More than a thousand families that have come to Los Angeles on their own from the hurricane area are being helped by the Red Cross. Over $750,000 in direct financial assistance has been offered to these families to help with their urgent needs for food, clothing and emergency medical items. The Red Cross has also placed especially desperate families in Southern California hotels to insure they have a safe place to stay.

“The Red Cross is responding to the largest domestic disaster in our 125 year history,” said Roger Dickson, CEO American Red Cross Los Angeles Chapter. “We are providing assistance to over 100,000 families. This is an enormous job. We are very grateful to Infinity Broadcasting radio stations, K-Earth 101 FM and KLSX 97.1 FM talk and all these artists for contributing their time and talent to help those that need it the most.”

Tickets are $40 and Ticketmaster is waiving all additional service charges for this event. For those with a little more cash to spare, a very limited number of VIP packages are being sold for $100. VIP ticket holders will have a chance to meet the artists.

“Music is the great unifier that brings people together in love, spirituality, sadness and joy. K-Earth 101 is so thankful that these musical performers are donating their talents to help our southern neighbors, especially since their songs have been such an important part of the soundtrack of Southern California,” said Maureen Lesourd, K-Earth 101 Vice President and General Manager.

Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets including Tower Records, Wherehouse Music, Robinsons-May and Ritmo Latino. To charge by phone, call (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or at The Greek Theatre Box Office.

Radio Column September 16, 2005

2005-09-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Star 98.7 afternoon DJ Bradley (left) with pop superstar Gavin DeGraw

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

September 16, 2005

Star 98.7 puts Bradley in afternoon drive

Afternoon entertainers Jason Pullman and Lisa Foxx found themselves out of work the day after Labor Day at adult contemporary Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM). They were replaced by evening talent Bradley Wright. The station, now under the direction of new Program Director Mike Marino, is “tightening up” the sound of the station, cutting back on the chatter in the afternoon and putting more focus on the music, plus adding more “gold” from the 80s and 90s to the playlist.

Yes, Star 98.7 is feeling pressure from the LA’s break out station, “Jack FM” (KCBS-FM 93.1) which made an impressive debut this spring by focusing heavily on an eclectic cross-genre blend that included many of the same oldies that have enhanced Star’s performance for the past decade. Star 98.7 has relied heavily on personalities such as former afternoon driver Ryan Seacrest, and many of same past hits from the 80s and 90s now heard in a more concentrated form on Jack to spice up its presentation of current music.

While Jack was not well-received in its New York version where it replaced the legendary oldies station WCBS-FM, here it’s had the benefit of guidance from Kevin Weatherly. The KROQ-FM 106.7 programmer has very skillfully managed to draw the multitudes that remember, and maybe pine for, the glory days of the old KROQ of the 80s and early 90s.

Is it time for Star might to consider a switch to “FM talk” and go head to head against KLSX-FM 97.1 which will lose the irreplaceable Howard Stern later this year? They’ve already got a good start in the talk game with Jamie, Jack and Stench.

KPFK host Samm Brown on the pop music industry’s doldrums

We’re always hearing about the decline of the once mighty recording industry and how it was creatively hollowed out by corporate consolidation, and continues to be financially hammered by Internet file sharing – or stealing as many in the industry see it.

KPFK-FM 90.7’s Samm Brown has a lot to say about the music business. He’s hosted a program about the recording industry, “For the Record,” on the public station for ten years. The show allows him to combined his love of journalism – he once worked as a TV reporter for WLS-TV in Chicago – with his love of the music business – he’s worked as a music producer, composer and talent manager since producing pop icon Michael Jackson’s early solo work in the 1970s. He now helps develop new artists and composes for TV and film.

I sat down with Brown last week and listened as he analyzed the state of the record business and pop music radio.

“There wasn’t much technology change from 1955 to 1965,” explained Brown. “In those ten years there weren’t quantum leaps in the technology. But I guarantee you don’t even recognize the technology from 1995 to 2005. Nobody in 1995 saw iPods coming; nobody saw the downloading, Kazaa and Napster. That’s only ten years ago!”

Consolidation and technology have combined to radically alter the way new pop music hits are created and the kind of music that is ultimately heard on the radio.

“In 1955 you had all these mom and pop stations. You could break a record and get one or two mom and pop stations – especially in Midwest, Northeast and Southeast. LA was never a break out market in the early days because as a record promo guy explained it to me, half the signals on the West Coast go to the fish.”

But the Midwest radio stations all overlapped each other, broadcasting in all directions, so that a few smaller stations taking a chance on a record would often cause a ripple effect that could ultimately reach the big city stations.

“So you could get on a couple of mom and pop stations back in the late 50s and 60s - when rock n’ roll was really happening - and all of a sudden kids are tuning into those stations and then they’re calling the big stations saying. ‘Why aren’t you playing such and such record?’ including all these ‘race records,’ like Little Richard. And they made the big stations that were playing Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and all the big band stuff, start to change.”

After Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowing unprecedented consolidation of the nation’s radio stations into the fold of giant corporations such as Clear Channel, record companies lost the relatively unimpeded path to getting airplay.

“No longer could a record company make a record on Friday and have it on the air by Monday. That kind of turnaround can’t happen anymore.”

One of biggest detriments to creativity in the music business is the take over of the major record companies by the corporate “bean counters.”

“Quarterlies drive the record companies today. It’s all about the dollars. They don’t deal with developing artists. They don’t deal with taking the time to allow an artist to find its audience. Today, you’ve got to have your own audience going in. You don’t have the time to let the audience find out what you’re doing and build word of mouth getting into something new that you’re doing.”

That’s why, says Brown, new music often lacks distinction, often having that ‘been there, done that sound.’

“You hear people saying, ‘Oh the business is over. Kids are buying Xbox and so forth. Well, the time it takes for kids to discover something new musically doesn’t exist like it did thirty years ago. Kids are forced to choose their music based on what the labels think the kids are going to like. And [the labels] assume that they’re going to like what they liked yesterday, which is why the record industry has such a high failure rate.”

Hand in hand with that problem says Brown, is the lack of focus on creating memorable, well-crafted songs.

Samm Brown’s program “For the Record” airs every Sunday afternoon from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Old radio drama on KKGO-AM 1260

If you still miss the KNX Drama Hour then you’ll be glad to know that KKGO-AM 1260 has brought back “When Radio Was” weeknights at 9 p.m. The hour-long program features classic radio comedy, drama and news programs from radio’s “Golden Age” such as “The Shadow,” “Our Miss Brooks,” “The Red Skelton Show,” and “The Whistler.” The program repeats at 2 a.m.

Radio Column September 2, 2005

2005-09-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

September 2, 2005

Senate fails to raise broadcasting indecency fines

(Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson perform at the Super Bowl - PHOTO by AP)

The U.S. Senate is fiddling while the ears of Americans burn with indecent, profane and obscene radio broadcasts.

With the worst outbreak of broadcast indecency complaints behind them, the Senate now appears hesitant to pass legislation that would raise the FCC fines from $32,500 to the whopping $500,000 per incident penalty approved by the House of Representatives last year in the wake of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl mini-strip tease.

The issue remains a bit of a conundrum for the Republican-controlled Federal government, which on the one hand seems eager to appease socially conservative activist groups such as Concerned Women for America and at the same time feels obliged to hew to the long-standing Republican practice championed by industry groups such as the National Association of Broadcasting which is to keep hands off business as much as possible.

As it stands, fines are down this year compared to 2004’s obscenity penalty-palooza in which the FCC issued $7.9 million in the heaviest bout of wrist slapping for public naughtiness to date.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D) West Virginia introduced legislation in March that would not only bring the Senate up to the House’s level of half a million per incident, but also extend indecency fines into the heretofore untamed realms of satellite and cable radio (and TV) programming.

Indecency complaints filed at the FCC have surged in recent years according to FCC statistics, from a piddling 111 in 2000 to 2,240,350 in 2003. A Media Week story found that Parents Television Council greatly amplified the volume of complaints by using automated complaint letters.

The FCC has three levels of offensive material that it will respond to: 1) obscenity (never allowed) 2) indecent (allowable only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.) and 3) profane (also only allowed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.).

The FCC also regards context as key to evaluating a complaint from the public. For instance, Larry Elder (KABC-AM 790, weekdays 3-6 p.m.) used the “n” word when he quoted from an article in order to explain a political issue. Anyone listening with a modicum of attentiveness could tell he was not using it as a racial epithet to stir up resentment or outrage, or just to be a provocateur.

To complain to the FCC

You can write to:
Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division445 12th Street, SWWashington, D.C. 20554

Call: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)

Or send an email: fccinfo@fcc.gov

Radio host Michael Graham, fired for making ‘cracker’ comments, is hired by KFI

A talk show host on Washington, D.C.’s WMAL-AM 630 who was recently fired after he refused demands to apologize for repeatedly saying on the air that Islam is a terrorist religion was hired by talk station KFI-AM 640 for a fill-in shift last Friday night.

“If there's one thing KFI stands for, it's free speech,” said KFI Program Director Robin Bertolucci in explaining why she was hiring Michael Graham to fill-in for 7-10 p.m. host John Ziegler. “I heard the context of his comments. He said most Muslims are good and decent people but they have an obligation to disassociate themselves from the bad elements. He sounds like a smart guy.”

Graham was suspended by The Walt Disney Company’s WMAL for his remarks made after the terrorist attacks in London. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded that Graham apologize for his statements. Graham refused to back off what he maintains is the “truth” about Islam. The station issued a statement saying that the conservative host had “crossed the line.”

CAIR hailed the decision to fire Graham as a victory against anti-Islamic hate speech. Others have come to his support on web sites, printing pro-Graham T-shirts and demanding that he be rehired. Graham claims that WMAL received 15,000 emails and phone calls protesting his removal from the airwaves.

Graham is the author of “Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War.”

Hear podcasts on your cell phone

There are fresh developments on the way to making your cell phone the equivalent of the ubiquitous little palm-sized transistor radio of the ’60s and ’70s.

A small Seattle company is releasing new software this month that should make it relatively easy to download podcasts into an Internet-ready phone.

Melodeo, Inc. says that it is the first company to make podcasts available to cell phone users through its free Mobilcast software.

The company points out that to access the nearly 400,000 Podcasts available today, you need to connect your PC to the Internet, and then hook up your portable device to your PC. Its Mobilcast software offers users a way to shortcut the process of finding and listening to Podcasts by allowing you to directly download Podcasts to your cell phone, over the air.

Find out more at http://www.melodeo.com/mobilcast.

Radio Column August 21, 2005

2005-08-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

August 21, 2005

KNX departs from historic Hollywood studios

(PHOTO: KNX news studio in 1960s)

Last weekend, KNX-AM 1070 moved from 'Sunset and analog' to 'Wilshire and digital,' trading its historic but antiquated Hollywood studios for new ones on LA's “Miracle Mile.” Now, it is physically united, on two floors, with fellow Infinity-owned stations KTWV-FM, KRTH-FM, KLSX-FM and KFWB-AM.

Built at a cost of $2 million in 1938, the year the famous “panic broadcast” of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” with Orson Welles testified to the awesome power of the medium, the structure at Columbia Square has since stood as an impressive physical reminder of radio’s Golden Age. It was the costliest radio facility to date. CBS chief William Paley, then just 36, spared no expense to guarantee his new broadcasting palace would win the respect of Hollywood’s sheiks.

And it did. The stars came, and following them were the crowds, who lined up at all hours to watch the exciting live broadcasts. Entertainment critic and historian Leonard Maltin says Columbia Square quickly became “the heartbeat of West Coast radio.”

“The Jack Benny Show,” “Blondie,” The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective,” “Ozzie and Harriet,” ‘The Whistler,” “Burns and Allen” and “The Red Skelton Show” were among the hit radio shows broadcast from Columbia Square.

In the 1950s, as TV became dominant, KNX became the home of many noted radio personalities like Steve Allen, Bill Balance (“Balance of the Night”), Jim Hawthorne, famed morning man Bob Crane (who went on to star in the hit TVs series “Hogan’s Heroes”). KNX was the first LA station for talk radio star Michael Jackson. In 1968, KNX adopted its current role as a news station.

It’s unlikely the current owner of the building will save the historic spot for future generations. VP and Market Manager for Infinity News Radio stations in LA Pat Duffy says after the TV stations move out in late 2006, the building will probably be torn down to make way for new commercial development as part of Hollywood’s ongoing revitalization.

Is radio going into hiding? In Burbank, Clear Channel’s most popular stations are also tucked away, invisibly wedged inconspicuously in a large office tower.

Duffy says that wasn’t the intent and that were it not for the rush to move KFWB out of its old facility on Yucca, both news stations might have enjoyed a very high profile location in downtown LA. There was a plan, he says, to house the stations opposite the Staples Center in the AEG Building with street level picture windows that would have allowed passers by to view the broadcast operations.

While acknowledging the nostalgia for the old facility will be strongly felt among many long-time employees, Duffy said the move makes it possible for KNX to upgrade all the technical facilities, junk obsolete cart machines and reel to reel tape decks, and adopt all new digital equipment, bringing both KNX and KFWB into the world of HD radio, web cams and podcasting.

And all those hundreds of Golden Mikes trophies garnered by both KNX and KFWB over the years? Well, as pleasantly spacious as the new facilities are on Wilshire Boulevard, there’s no space for those. Duffy says the stations are offering them to those whose names are inscribed on the trophies and giving the rest away.

The Museum of TV and Radio in Beverly Hills should seriously consider adopting the studios on Sunset Boulevard. It would be a great location for attracting big crowds, being so close to the heart of Hollywood’s tourist district.

XTRA Sports 570 builds team…

Two ex-FM morning show sports reporters have moved over to "XTRA Sports Radio AM" KLAC-AM 570. Last week Joe Grande joined the team after five years of morning radio at KPWR-FM 105.9 “Power 106.”

“The last five years at Power 106 have been amazing for me,” said Grande. “I am going to miss ‘Big Boy’s Neighborhood’ and the entire Power 106 family. I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to hitting it out of the park with XTRA Sports AM 570.”

General Manager Don Martin of XTRA Sports AM 570 said, “Joe brings energy, excitement and fun to every show he does and is loved in the community. I am very excited to have him in house on a fulltime basis.”

Also joining the XTRA team is Matt “Money” Smith to the Lakers Broadcast team. Money begins his "dream job" with the Lakers Radio Network as the 2005-2006 season begins.

Money was most recently the sports voice for the KROQ morning show featuring Kevin and Bean.

“I've been associated with KROQ for eleven years,” said Money. “I started when I was in college answering phones, and as sad as it is to leave a group of people I consider family, it's equally exciting to work with a franchise like the Lakers and the dominant Sports radio station in Los Angeles – XTRA Sports AM 570.”

Radio Column August 5, 2005

2005-08-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

August 5, 2005

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

Music radio under Jack attack

The latest Arbitron audience survey spelled vindication for the Infinity radio execs who risked their careers to put “Jack FM” on at the expense of “Arrow 93.” The mighty Clear Channel’s adult oriented pop on Star 98.7 and KBIG are scrambling for cover. However, CC had one conspicuous bright spot with KIIS-FM 102.7, which raced past long-time front runner Power 106 KPWR-FM 105.9 to win the ratings sweepstakes.

The spring ratings drilled a hole in any hopes that LA’s news/talk stations would make a comeback after the post-election doldrums. Especially noticeable was KNX-AM 1070’s abrupt fall from its apparently anomalous big audience gain in the winter book. The only talk station that showed improvement was Clear Channel’s liberal-leaning KTLK-AM 1150 “K-Talk” with comedian Al Franken, Florida-based talk host Randi Rhodes and the liberal Limbaugh sound alike, Ed Schultz.

In the overall ratings for the spring, Spanish music stations KLAX-FM 97.9, KLVE-FM 107.5 and KSCA-FM 101.9 tied for third place. News/talk KFI-AM 640 slid seven tenths of a point into 6th place, followed by smooth jazz KTWV-FM 94.7 “The Wave.” Soft rock KOST-FM 103.5 and alternative rock KROQ-FM 106.7 tied for 8th, followed by urban KKBT-FM 100.3 “The Beat” in 10th place.

KCBS-FM, which was languishing in 24th place until flipping to the new “Jack” format in March, shot up to No. 11. The variety rock/pop format playing hits and notable album cuts mostly from the 80s and 90s appeared to punch a hole in traditional oldies station KRTH-FM 101.1 “K-Earth 101,” which saw its overall ratings deflate half a point and out of the top ten. It’s possible that KROQ also suffered from Jack’s presence as it also dropped half a point. Perhaps it is lucky for all three that they are all owned by Infinity.

On the news/talk front, the news was mostly dismal. KFI, the market leader in this category, dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 while KABC-AM 790 saw its audience share slip two tenths of a point. KNX-AM 1070, after showing progress in the winter book, lost heavily, falling from 16th to 26th place in the ratings, behind its less powerful sister news station KFWB-AM 980. KRLA-AM 870 was also down as was FM talker KLSX-FM 97.1.

The exception was the left-leaning, Bush-bashing, Air America affiliate, KTLK-AM 1150 “K-Talk”, which rose from a tie a No. 47 to No. 31 by more the doubling its audience share.

Among the morning wake-up shows, KSCA’s Piolín was No. 1, followed by Renán Almendárez Coello on KLAX, Bill Handel on KFI, Ryan Seacrest on KIIS, Big Boy’ Neighborhood on Power 106, Kevin and Bean with KROQ, Howard Stern on KLSX, Omar y Argelia on KLVE, John Salley on KKBT and Dave Coz on KTWV.

Were they reacting to Jack’s auspicious out of the box performance adult when contemporary outlet “K-Big” (KBIG-FM 104.3) changed to just the simple call letters, “K-B-I-G”? Or, when KYSR-FM 98.7 “Star 98.7” dropped Danny Bonaduce and renamed the show, Jamie White, Jack and Stench? Or can we entertain any doubt as to why Thousand Oaks KMLT-FM switched from “Lite 92.7” to “92.7 Jill-FM”?

New payola scandal unraveled in New York

The record and radio biz is reeling from the $10 million settlement reached between New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Sony/BMG to halt “pay for play” practices in the music industry.

“Our investigation shows that, contrary to listener expectations that songs are selected for airplay based on artistic merit and popularity, air time is often determined by undisclosed payoffs to radio stations and their employees,” Spitzer said. “This agreement is a model for breaking the pervasive influence of bribes in the industry.”

The New York Post published a story this week that Spitzer was originally tipped off by a female employee who was “hit on” by a Sony record promoter at a bar in Miami. The guy apparently tried to impress by regaling his intended conquest with tales of his payola shenanigans.

Documents released show music promoters and their companies routinely offered laptop computers, cameras and other goodies to get airplay for their artists, in violation of state and federal law, which forbids the practice of “payola.”

One email released was from an Epic employee who was trying to promote the group Audioslave to a Clear Channel programmer. He asked one radio programmer:

"WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET AUDIOSLAVE ON WKSS THIS WEEK?!!? Whatever you can dream up, I can make it happen."

The attorney general’s release also quoted Don Henley, a member of the Eagles and founding member of the Recording Artists’ Coalition: “Attorney General Eliot Spitzer should be commended for successfully addressing the pay-for-play problem. There is no question that payola hurts recording artists.”

Well, if you ever wondered how some of those truly awful songs ever do get on the air, you now know it’s less to do with programmers’ lack of taste than their expensive tastes.

Kudos to Spitzer and his staff for winning this important battle against radio broadcast “air pollution.”

AM 1260 welcomes back Nic Gerard

KKGO-AM 1260/540 welcomed back former morning man Nic Gerard. It’s nice to hear his smooth voice in the morning serving up the “unforgettable” standards with class. He is followed by Mark Morris, John Regan and Mike Johnson.