"Here's an update on what I’m doing. I'm still at KRAZy Country 105.9, but I'm now news director at AM 1230 KPRL in San Luis Obispo County. I go by Mike Mesmer, there.  

By the way, any word on a dj who used to work at KIK? She was part time and went by Jennifer Bell?  She moved to 95.5 in Tulsa around 1983-84. 

Thanks." - Mike Edwards, mike@kprl.com

1.26   "Ed Crook (left) was Dave Hull's classmate at Alhambra High School.  Ed was general manager of KTHO 590 in South Lake Tahoe in this 2003 photo when Dave appeared and seemed to be 'looking for work.'!" - Bill Kingman

1.26 

"I'm so glad to see that LARadio.com is back! A friend told me about it when he referenced learning of Christine Martindale landing the midday gig at Go Country. Seeing LARadio.com back up made my day. Browsing through the December and January emails saddened me though to learn of the passing of Bill Mouzis. He was an amazing man with all his accomplishments and contributions and will be deeply missed by a lot of us, even those of us who never met him. I also saw a post from Ron Myers, who I've wondered about for years and now know he's alive and well.  

One thing I want to report here for the benefit of anyone who doesn't already know, Bob Manfredo (aka Bob Allen, formerly of Dial-Global and GO Country, who had been working at Peak Broadcasting in Fresno) passed away on December 3 due to a massive heart attack. He was 57. It was a real shock because there were no indications that anything was wrong. He had just sent out an email probably a couple of hours before his death to let us all know that the first of three Wheel of Fortune episodes would air Monday-Wednesday, and he was so proud that he got to see the recording of that show and meet with Jim Thornton. How cruel that he didn't get to even see those shows since he died the morning before it was broadcast. For me it's really unsettling because he called me daily, sometimes more than once, then all of a sudden he's gone.   

Now as an aside, does anybody onboard here know how to get a hold of his friends Mark Fleming and Robert Chenault? If so you can contact me at powersradio1@charter.net   

Thanks so much, and again, glad LARadio.com is back!" - Bill Powers

"Anything new on the whereabouts of former KROQ and KRLA disc jockey, Greg Shannon. Long time ago but he had an amazing voice." - Rich Kredel, rkredel@voyagers.org

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Dave Hull - the Hullabalooer - Sells 400 Books at Burbank Event   "1. The best part of our book signing was the amount of people who showed up to a place that's difficult to find, at best.  There were HUNDREDS - standing in lines for 30-40 minutes without A COMPLAINT.  2. The crowd was thrilled when Bob Eubanks came from his ranch up north - and Rich Marotta (KFI) came down from Reno. 3. The owner of Fuddrucker's had ONLY TIME to say..."this is a GREAT DAY," then went back to slinging burgers. 4. We sold nearly 400 books (just short of 40-boxes of 10).  5. Hollywood types present - KRTH, "Shotgun Tom" Kelly - CBS Producer/Director "Entertainment Tonight" & "The Insider, Kevin Gershan - KTHO, Lake Tahoe "The Insane Darrell Wayne" -  former KSFO jock, Neil Ross -  and NBC's TV Production Director, Bud Stalker.  6. All-in-all - it was a GREAT EVENT -believe me!!" - Dave Hull

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1.25

 

 

J.R. MARTINEZ TO HOST SHOW ON KFI WEEKENDS

 

(January 24) Actor, New York Times bestselling author (Full of Heart: My Story of Survival, Strength and Spirit), Dancing with the Stars champ, motivational speaker and retired U.S. Army soldier, J.R. Martinez, will add talk radio host to his impressive resume as he takes over Sunday evenings 6-8 on KFI AM 640 beginning January 27.   “He’s so inspirational and dynamic; he filled in for Bill Carroll during the holidays and I just had to have him join our line up! I’m thrilled he jumped at the opportunity and I’m excited to see what he will do with his own show,” says Program Director, Robin Bertolucci.

 

In March of 2003, J.R. was deployed to Iraq, and on April 5, less than a month into his deployment, he was serving as a driver of a Humvee in Karbala, when his left front tire hit a roadside bomb. Three other soldiers with J.R. were ejected from the burning vehicle, but he was trapped inside and suffered smoke inhalation and severe burns to 34 percent of his body. He spent 34 months at Brooke Army Medical Center and had 33 surgeries.

“I discovered it is what is inside a person that matters most and I wouldn’t change anything…absolutely anything!" states J.R. "I do believe everything happens for a reason, and I'm extremely grateful for that day because it led me into this life!"

When he does have leisure time J. R. spends it with family and friends.

David Cruz will step down from the Sunday night show to focus on his new expanded four hour program that airs Monday through Friday on sister station KTLK AM 1150.

Email 

1.24

“Hope all is well and I miss your daily news.

I just decided to find Tom Leykis after forgetting that he was on the Internet.  The show is really funny and so are the phony ads.  Tom pulls no punches, has a good business sense and advice, and like Howard Stern, you want to listen to him to hear what he is going to say next.

What really caught my attention was his Facebook note to have fans call KLOS and get on the air to ask about the ratings.

I think there was a lot of animosity KLSX flipped to music.  As I recall one of the Frosty, Heidi & Frank crew blamed Tom and his high salary for the firings.  I think it must have been Frank.

Anyway, Tom was pretty self-assured in his reply then and NOW it looks like he's still miffed.

I remember you told me that FH&F were pulling in the lowest ratings for the mid-morning slot on KABC as they were ending their contract. It seems still hard to get ratings now as Tom says he's sure it's now

about 40% less for H&F in that KLOS time slot than what Mark & Brian were doing.

Your web page noted that rating dip and I don't know if Tom saw that before he came up with his idea to call Heidi & Frank.

I read that Jimmy O'Neill died and that was a surprise to me.  He seemed to be relatively ‘young’ to me compared to most of the broadcasters of the day.  I still remember that panel discussion of about 10 years back where he was among the biggies of the time.

The KRLA morning show is pretty good - Heidi Harris is very outspoken, and might be too much alone, but Brian Whitman and Ben Shapiro do a good job going over conservative and liberal sides of issues.  Ben is very quick as is Brian and that makes it entertaining besides informative, which might be a bit boring.  That often pulls me away from McIntyre in the Morning for a while and I can get those

podcasts later, too, but not as quickly posted as KFI does.

I don't hear Heidi & Frank too often on KLOS but they are funny.  Better than Geraldo, whose time slot is best when a guest fills in, especially Joe Crummey.

Well, hope all is well.   I am trying to do what I can to get Kevin James into the Mayor's runoff election.  He actually has good ideas from all the years of his show focusing on city issues.  He is a better communicator from the several debates I have seen in person. 

I will end my venting here but the radio side of life is becoming more mysterious as time goes on without your column as a guide.” - Robert Guevara, Eagle Rock  

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Alan Oda Suffers Heart Seizure 

Alan Oda has been released from UCLA Hospital and is now home recuperating. Yeah.

1.24 (6:30 a.m.) 

"Hi - a brief check in since they just did another 5 AM blood draw. Please keep Donna and my boys in your prayers, good thoughts, and any other way you can help, they've bared the brunt of my infirmary. I still need to catch up on sleep, but that's a good thing. As for the procedure, I'm just glad they found a heart!" - Alan Oda 

1.23 (5:15 p.m.) 

"Alan hasn't come back yet but the electro cardiologist who did the procedure just came by. The arrhythmia was on the right side of his heart so they went in and ablated it. The procedure was a complete success! Thank you everyone for your prayers." - Donna Oda

1.21 

"Visited with Alan this afternoon in his ICU room at UCLA. He was in good spirits. Due to being admitted on the weekend and the MLK holiday, he will not be able to learn about options until tomorrow. He wants to thank everyone for the well wishes." - Don Barrett 

1.21 

Alan was stable yesterday and throughout last night. I will be visiting him today and give you a first-hand report - Don Barrett 

1.20

"Hi, Donna again. Alan had another seizure just before 1 AM. Don't know what is going on. Please pray."  

1.19 

Please send prayers for Alan Oda (senior correspondent LARadio.com) on a speedy recovery from his recent heart seizure. - Don Barrett 

From Donna Oda: "Since I have a quiet moment, I'm going to recap what happened and explain why Alan is in ICU. On Tuesday I was at work and my cell rang. I immediately had this bad feeling because the person calling was using Alan's cell. I don't remember exactly what he said, but the gist was that Alan was found collapsed on a sidewalk about 1/2 mile from our house. Luckily our dog, who he was walking at the time, started barking like crazy and brought the neighbors out. He was unresponsive so they called 911. The paramedics hooked him up and found that his heart was racing (over 200 beats/min.). In the ER, they ran a battery of tests, but everything came out normal. They decided to admit him because every time he sat up, his heart started racing. I ran home to get some things for him and when I returned, he was having a seizure. After they stabilized him, he was taking to ICU. After more tests, the docs determined that the problem with his heart was due to SVT (more info at: webmd.com). They said it was serious but very treatable with a non-invasive procedure. They believe the seizure was due to a combination of high blood pressure meds, dehydration, and hitting his head when he blacked out with the dog. Hope that helps clear things up for everyone."

(January 22, 2013) KOST and KTWV (The WAVE) adopted a 24/7 platform of all Christmas music, all the time, shortly before Thanksgiving. It paid off handsomely for both stations in the recently released Holiday Arbitron PPM 6+ Mon-Sun, 6a-12 mid. KOST came in 1st, almost doubling the second place station, KIIS, jumping from 7.1 - 10.2. KTWV was up almost a point leaping from 3.1- 4.0 to come in 4th place. Rounding out the Top 10: 2. KIIS (5.6 - 5.5), #3. MY/fm (4.8 - 4.8); #5. KFI (4.2 - 3.7); #6 tie AMP Radio (3.1 - 3.5); #6 tie KPWR (3.8 - 3.5); #8 KRTH (3.9 - 3.5); #9 HOT 92.3 (3.6 - 3.4); and #10 KROQ (3.0 - 3.3). 

All-News KNX remained steady in the Holiday book coming in #14 moving from 2.9 - 3.0, while sister News/Talker KFWB was in 35th place with a 0.4, same as last month. 

Stations taking a significant hit include Country KKGO, dropping a half point, 3.0-2.5. Alternative KYSR (98.7/fm) had lowest numbers in a half year and JACK/fm fell from 2.6 to 2.1. 

Hoping to get a boost from Heidi & Frank replacing Mark & Brian in morning drive, KLOS fell to a new low of 1.7. Cumulus is rolling out a new Country format, NASH/fm, which launches in New York and that might be a consideration for KLOS if ratings don't improve. 

And Sports radio has numbers that should be a real concern to all involved. KSPN dropped from 1.9 to 1.4 and 23rd place. KLAC seems to be in free fall with a 0.4, which ties with KFWB, and Salem's KRLA. Progressive Talker KTLK fell from 0.8 - 0.5, but still beat KFWB and KRLA. And the Angels' Sports station, KLAA, almost failed to be listed coming in with a 0.1.

Drew Hayes to Return to KABC for Programming Assignment

Article from Robert Feder who broke the story at

 http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/16016071/wls-program-boss-hayes-headed-back-to-kabc-in-l-a

 

After three tumultuous years as operations director of news/talk WLS-AM (890), Drew Hayes is leaving the Cumulus Media station here to fill the company’s programming vacancy in Los Angeles.  On Tuesday, Hayes, 54, is expected to be named program director of news/talk KABC-AM in L.A. — a post he previously held under Walt Disney Co./ABC ownership. The position has been vacant since another former Chicagoan, Jack Silver, left last June.  At WLS, Hayes’ job as operations director is not expected to be filled. Tracy Slutzkin, who was promoted from assistant program director to program director under Hayes in September 2010, will continue in her role.  “I’m really excited for the next chapter,” Hayes told me Monday. “I appreciate the confidence that Cumulus has shown in me and in what we’ve built at WLS. It’s in great hands with Tracy.”  The latest run was the second tour of duty at the Big 89 for the New York native and onetime WMAQ talk show host. In 1989, Hayes was one of the architects of the news/talk format at WLS, where he headed programming and operations for seven years. He left in 1996 to serve as general manager of ESPN Radio in Bristol, Connecticut, and later program director of KABC. He returned to Chicago in 2001 as operations director for several CBS Radio stations, including all-news WBBM-AM (780), sports/talk WSCR-AM (670) and former FM talker WCKG, which collapsed and died on his watch.

Since Hayes rejoined WLS in January 2010, the station underwent a change of ownership from Citadel Broadcasting to Cumulus Media, a change in the front office, with Donna Baker replacing Michael Damsky as vice president and market manager, and four changes in its midday talent lineup. More recently, veteran morning personality Don Wade was diagnosed with a brain tumor, prompting him and his co-host/wife, Roma Wade, to step down. And last week midday co-host Jim Edwards, known on the air as Jake Hartford, died of a heart attack.

KNX Wins Six Golden Mikes Including ‘Best News’ Honors for Third Consecutive Year               KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO won a total of six Golden Mikes at the 63rd annual awards dinner held Saturday evening in Universal City. The awards are presented annually for excellence in radio, TV and Internet broadcast journalism by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California (RTNA), representing newsrooms in Los Angeles, San Diego and other markets from Bakersfield to the Mexican border.               The 2012 KNX 1070 award recipients are:

Emails/Stories

1.21 

"I feel so blessed.  Excellent job!  I’m so excited and I can’t wait to go back on the air at Go Country 105.  Everyone is so nice.  Please stay in touch and thank you again for everything." - Christine Martindale  

Fist Fight in LARadio

Joe McDonnell tweeted this weekend: "IS IT TRUE that an ego-driven PD of an LA radio station got in a fist fight w/ an on-air employee of a sister station? Bane of his existence?" 

Hmmmmmm. Any thoughts? 

Friday Funnie

 

There's this actor, Marty, in his 50s living in L.A. who's never had his big break. One day, his agent calls him. "Marty, you're not gonna believe it. I got you a part. It's on Broadway. It's just one line, but it's a huge play. And you're on tomorrow night." Marty says, "This is great. What's the line?" The agent says. "Hark! I hear the cannons roar." Marty agrees to the part, and he's thrilled. He gets to the airport and starts running the line out loud over and over again all the way to New York. "Hark! I hear the cannons roar. Hark! I hear the cannons roar." All the way to the theater he runs the line. He gets to the theatre, goes backstage, waits for his cue. He runs onstage and hears the cannon. Bang! And he screams, "What the fk was that?" (Funnie Joke from a Beautiful Woman series in the February 2013 issue of Esquire. Lauren Cohan, featured on The Walking Dead)