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(February 15, 1999) Daily column will resume on Tuesday. Meanwhile, this is your opportunity to support <laradio.com>! Click L.A. Radio Goodies
(February 13, 1999) We Get Email…
** Sleepless in Seattle
"After bugging KABC forever to get their broadcast on the Internet, they finally made it sans the personalities and subject material which made talk radio worthwhile. Now I need to get KRLA up on the Internet. Help one and all!
Sad to say, the quality of talk broadcast has declined over the past decade with the broadcaster more focused upon their agenda, politics or just themselves. I've watched Michael Jackson decline over his politics. KABC now has Stephanie Miller whose ‘bash talk’ is not a method I'd wish my children to learn. I did enjoy the computer guys today and compare notes with family who still live in the area. – Kevin Ball, Seattle** Minyard Minion
"I owe Ken Minyard a lot of great mornings dating from 1981. The chemistry with Rick just isn't there. I suggest a rethink and submit that more interviews with prominent experts will be more effective. Take more callers and create more debate. The show needs more punch if we're going to put up with weak signals." -Joel Volk, Chatsworth** KRTH’s Music Repeater
"I know why KRTH bills itself as K-Earth 101. It seems as if 101 songs constitute their entire playlist! I wonder if K-Earth could wean itself from some of the worst offending songs, all great ones, albeit overplayed. I'm an Oldies fan but here is a list of my top 5 ‘played into the ground’ selections:
1. Unchained Melody--The Righteous Brothers [Geez, the movie Ghost happened 7 years ago...Give it a rest!!]
2. He's So Fine--The Chiffons [A filipina co-worker of mine says that ‘Doo Lang’ means ‘cross-eyed’ in Tagalog]
3. Two Lovers--Mary Wells [Great song....but seems that they've hitched onto this one, because My Guy was finally declared illegal by the FCC]
4. Stand By Me--Ben E. King [The song was also done by John Lennon--But that was before he heard it over and over on K-Earth.]
5. No Particular Place to Go--Chuck Berry [One of Chuck's 60 songs that sounds like the 50's in true stereo--and K-Earth plays it to death, but it IS in Stereo--Didn't Chuck have at least 1 or 2 other hits, somewhere in time?]
K-Earth has probably the best DJ's anywhere, slick production, and great promotion....but it would be nice to hear more songs on the radio than I have on cassettes in my car. Just wish I could get KOLA 99.9 from San Bernardino at my workplace, I always listen to it at home." - Dave Hubbert, South El Monte** Talk Tips
"I agree with John Field: Joe Crummey in the morning and Mr. KABC back where he belongs. And please lose flying saucer boy or at least run him overnight when normal people are asleep and don't have to hear him. Phil Hendrie’s show is more real than Art Bell and it's funny. I mean how many flashlights that run on Lima beans or crop circle detection devices can Art Bell's listeners possibly buy anyway? I'm now happy at 9-noon with Michael Jackson back and John & Ken are great. Now let's fix KABC and stop worrying about 19 year olds. Last time I looked, I own a house and two cars and the only 19 year olds I know who can say that are those three-named girls on the nighttime teen dramas. And I'm not an old fart, I'm 44." - Michael DiGaetano, Beverly Hills** More of Your KABC’s
"In your February 9 column, you wrote, ‘Near the end of the hour of listeners voicing their comments about the station, Erik Braverman observed, What we’re really discovering here is that change is what makes people uncomfortable. Well duh. More than being a statement just about radio, this is a statement about life. I take Braverman's comment as a true insult to the listener. That he is in such a ‘people’ business and makes a comment like this…If he really just learned this, shame on him. And if he is just saying it to pander, even worse. KABC must make changes to survive. Their challenge is to do it in a way that does not alienate what listeners they have left.In the same column there was reference to Warren Eckstein chiding a caller to his KABC show for keeping her dogs in a crate. I have two dachshunds, one of whom insists on resting and sleeping in his crate at any time. He is locked in at night, and that's the way he wants it. The crate is his house, no one else allowed, except when the older dog decides to move in. I've not listened to Warren, but I am shocked that he claims to be a pet expert and knows nothing of crate training.
Thanks for the mention of Dick Moreland. He was a lovely man. We had many fun times with him and he definitely was the life of KRLA in the 60's." – Ann Beebe, Encino
** Leykis Revisited
"Tom Leykis declared on KLSX the other day that fat women are the best at oral sex. IMHO Tom is the Jerry Springer of radio. How far he has come. Maybe his ratings are up and that's the name of the game. He admits his sole purpose on the air is to attract more listeners [most of them 25-34 year old males] so ratings go up, ergo advertising rates go up, ergo more salary he can demand from WW1. I think his show has evolved from dynamic to sophomoric and juvenile. I met Tom once in 1994 [about the time Nicole and Ron were murdered] in a restaurant in L.A. where he was doing a live appearance [not on the air] for 710 Talk. He clobbered a piñata with John & Ken's pictures attached. So now he's surpassed them in his target demo but at what cost? Like he always has said, he is a media whore. Thanks for hearing my opinion. PS. I love oral sex. But I am bored with hearing about sex on radio talk shows. Sincerely." -John Nikelsky** Batter Up
"Nice to hear what Don Wells is up to after all these years in your 2/9 column. I can still barely recall when I was a kid in Santa Maria around '63-65, falling asleep on summer nights with my transistor radio tuned to the Los Angeles Angels radio network on KSMA-1240, and hearing Don Wells and Buddy Blattner calling the games. When we moved to Anaheim, the Angels became the California Angels, and the stadium was less then 5 miles from home. I continued tuning to the Angels, on KMPC, and Wells was still doing the games. I believe he was later teamed with Dick Enberg in the late-'60s after Blattner was no longer calling the games. And, of course, being a news junkie, I remember lots of times, in later years, hearing his sports updates on KFWB. So, thanks for the Don Wells update." - Jim Hilliker, Monterey** KRLA Memory
"My favorite memory of L.A. radio was in the very late sixties when KRLA lost its license. The station was run under FCC trust while a new owner was searched for. There were few advertisers since the station was being run non-profit. Many great non-commercials appeared. Remember Mecca Shores? Does anyone have a recording of any of these?" - Jim Crawford, Santa Ana** The Other Tom Brown
"I just saw your Feb-11 column quoting Bob Hamilton's remembrance of Tom Brown. Actually the Tom Brown at WIP was a different guy. He came from Cleveland in the Metromedia takeover of the station in the early sixties and wound up in San Francisco. He retired, I think, and moved down here where he died about a year ago. Both djs referred to their programs as ‘The Thomas Brown Affair’ [I guess they both saw the movie] but they were two different guys." – Bernie Alan** KLOS Afternoon Delight
"A VERY smart move by Rita Wilde and KLOS to bring back Geno Michellini. The station was never quite the same in the afternoons after he left. It's soooo nice to see things like this happening again. Maybe there IS some hope for L.A. radio??? - Jeffrey Leonard** Hi-Fi’s Les Claypool
"You were inquiring the other day if any of your readers remembered Les Claypool. I listened to him regularly through the mid 1960s on KRHM. He had the best nightly folk music [primarily] show on L.A. radio. He featured new recordings, hi-fi stereo equipment reviews and commentary...especially towards the end of his tenure there. To classify him as a Progressive would, I believe, to minimize his politics. One night I missed his show; the next night he was gone. His replacement was Skip Weshner, who had a similar show. While I never got the real story as to why he left, I heard that he had made an extremely caustic commentary, including a slam at station management, and just walked off. Later he turned up at KPFK [I said he was a Progressive], where he recorded a demonstration in front of the Century Plaza Hotel. That is my last concrete memory of him. I, too would be interested in knowing about his whereabouts, as I really, politics aside, enjoyed his radio work. Incidentally, I have several records that he wrote the liner notes [remember those?] for." - John Hindsill** Bet on Radio
"Read your notes about XTRA and gambling ads. One thing about Jim Rome I have to admire, he has always been critical of these gambling ads. This, in spite of the fact that they probably bring in most of the revenue. Rome may be a two faced hypocrite with athletes but not when it comes to the bloodsucking gambling business." -Jim Benton former webmaster www.jimrome.com** KNX Promos
"Regarding KNX, I beg to differ with the gentleman who found Bob McCormick's previews and teases of what's coming up on KNX to be irritating. I think the teases are very helpful to me as a listener - even though I listen to KNX more than any other station, it helps to know what I'll be hearing next on the station as I drive around SoCal. McCormick, originally one of the top news anchors from the Bay Area, is a welcome edition to the talented lineup of Tom Haule, Linda Nunez, Dave Zorn, and Jack Salvatore. By the way, I think that McCormick is doing a great job with the new KNX Business Hour, a welcome addition to the station's programming. One added bonus: During the Business Hour, I've noticed the station turns off the sound effect of the ongoing teletype machine [does KNX even have a teletype machine in their newsroom anymore?]" - Alan OdaEnd of the Week Stuff
(February 12, 1999) I mentioned in yesterday’s column about the illegal gambling advertisements referred to in the February Los Angeles Magazine article and XTRA 690's offshore betting spots. I wondered if it had to do with the fact that XTRA 690 is a Mexican station and out of the FCC jurisdiction? Tami Booth, vp/gm of radio development at National Media/E4L and former affiliate marketing director at Premiere Radio Networks, emailed: "FCC jurisdiction has nothing to do with it. Those ads are legal and are a staple for many sports stations in California including KXTA and the other XTRA Sports stations. Not only that, off-shore betting facilities make up a growing portion of the national advertising in syndicated sports-talk shows such as The Jim Rome Show. Looks like off-shore betting is here to stay and sports radio is probably pretty happy about it." Before Bob Koontz became gsm at KLOS, he was gm of KCTD, One-On-One Sports affiliate in Southern California. Bob emailed: "You can't believe how much money they spend. I know when I was at One-On-One they were the number one spenders not only on my station but the network." Bob pointed out that illegal gambling spots are cash in advance…KCBS/Channel 2 news anchor and former LARP Larry Carroll, on leave from the station, pleaded innocent Wednesday to criminal charges stemming from an alleged conspiracy to defraud a businessman…Tomorrow night, "Arrow 93’s" Michael Benner will be speaking at Woody Harrelson’s Oxygen Bar on the Sunset Strip opposite Tower Records in West Hollywood. The topic is" Understanding Your Passion for Social Justice and Political Reform."…Earlier this week we noted KFAC’s last broadcast day. Bernie Alan, the voice of KCET/TV, called to say he was the last voice heard on KFAC. They had written the farewell and for some reason the final day was delayed. Every night Bernie went in to the station to deliver the final farewell and after a week finally did…Were you around Los Angeles radio in the late 1950s and early 1960s? Do you remember Les Claypool? He was a record executive and worked at KRHM. Any idea where Les is?… "Handel yourself all morning" is a promo for KFI morning man Bill Handel… Reader A. Lynch is thrilled that Geno Michellini is returning to KLOS. He emails: "This should make Jimmy Buffet very happy about the L.A. market - JB always says [and I believe mentions in his most recent book] that the only L.A. personality who consistently plays his music is Geno."…For a quarter of century, Al Lohman and Roger Barkley were the biggest morning radio team in the history of Los Angeles radio. Starting at KLAC, moving briefly to KFWB before the station went all-News and then 18 years at KFI, they were often referred to as the "Bob and Ray" of West Coast radio. Roger passed away in late 1997. For as close as the team was on-air, off-air they had very little to do with each other. When they broke up in 1986, they never spoke to each other again. Roger commented, "In 25 years of being together I guess we said everything we had to say to each other." Roger finished writing a warm and moving book about his life shortly before his death. (Roger’s book, The Story Man’s First Writes, is available at this site under Radio Goodies.) Al moved to the Palm Springs area and dabbled in radio. Tonight and every Friday night you can see Al in Palm Springs Confidential at the Dinner Theatre in the Oasis Cabaret at the Spotlight 29 Casino. A ¼-page quote ad for the play in the Desert Sun quotes former KABC/Channel 7 anchor Ted Dawson (now with KESQ/TV) as "A very funny show!" Fans of the KFI show will remember that Al played all the characters in the spoofs they performed. Maynard Farmer, Ted J. Bologna, W. Eva Schneider Bologna and food authority Leonard Leonard were all Al…Blondie appeared live with Rick Dees on KIIS yesterday. He invited the group to be part of next summer’s Wango Tango concert and said he would even pay them. Rick chided other stations for asking groups to perform gratis at radio station events…Humble Harve will be working 7 to midnight Saturday and Sunday nights at the Westwood One Oldies Channel …KRTH's Charlie Van Dyke got a sneak peek at president Clinton's Valentines card for Hillary with the three little words she has come to expect from him, "I'm working late." Traffic guy Mark Wheeler said that's better than the one she got last year that was addressed to "Whom it may concern."...In yesterday’s column we updated the activities of former KBIG morning personality Sylvia Aimerito. Big John Carter, big dj with KEZY and KHJ in the 1970s and 1980s emailed: "Let me straighten everybody out about Sylvia. Even if I had the power, I would not change ONE thing about the woman. She is as talented, hard working, professional and delightful as human beings are likely to be. She is so quick on the air that she would be absolutely perfect with a one-liner machine like a Charlie Tuna or a Charlie Van Dyke. And she does news like the big guys. The fact that she is between gigs says precious little for programmers out there who want to kick buttski! What a lucky man I am to have had the privilege those many years of working with a class act like Ms. Sylvia Aimerito!" Big John lives in Central California…Didja hear Huggie Boy last night at KRTH. He came out of the first song laughing hysterically and said..."Ya know that guy that's on before me...Jay Coff-ay. Well, I was just wondering," and then he starts laughing again, "if his wife calls him ‘instant' Coff-ay?’" and then he goes into the next record…Have you heard the new Business Hour at KNX yet? Larry Magid provides daily technology comment at 1:28 p.m. Larry is the computer/technology columnist for the LA Times. Larry has a Web site at http://www.larrysworld.com …Veteran OBG dj Art Laboe is scheduled to guest with the "Mega" morning team of Irma Blanco and Danny Romero this morning…KLSX’s Tom Leykis is big in Seattle through his syndication arm. He relayed on the air the other day a story of how great Seattle has been to him. "I was in Seattle for the National Association of Broadcasters Convention and walking down 6th Avenue on the way to the Westin Hotel for the Marconi Awards. I’m walking down the block and this cab driver pulls over and says, ‘Hellllllllllllllllllo Tom.’ I told him that I would love to stand and talk with him but I’m going to the Marconi Awards. He said, ‘Hop in! I’ll take you for free.’ I hopped in the cab and he drove me over to the Westin Hotel and he did nothing but tinkle all over me. It was a complete pleasure. I go to bars and people buy me drinks. I never pay for anything. I never expect this. Seattle has been great to us." Tom will be broadcasting from Seattle today in celebration of Valentines weekend…KEZY morning man John Fox concludes this week of <LARADIO.COM> with the winning Mid-Week Joke Off. A Georgian dies and goes to hell. The devil says put him to work breaking rocks in 100-degree heat and 80 percent humidity. The good ole boy says, "Shucks, this is like a spring day in Macon. I'm gonna love it heeyah." Devil says crank it up to 120 with 100 percent humidity. The man says, "I used to work all day in the fields in worse than this." The devil says, "Alrighty then, give him 20 below with three feet of snow and gale force winds." The Georgian's dancing around whooping and jumping for joy. The devil says, "I don't get it, why are you so happy freezing in the snow?" The man says, "I'm happy because it's a cold day in hell. That means the Falcons won the Superbowl."
New Afternoon Driver at KLOS is the Old Afternoon Driver at KLOS
(February 11, 1999) KLOS has announced a new afternoon dj. Well, he’s really not new. It’s Geno Michellini making a return to afternoon drive after a four-year break. PD Rita Wilde enthused: "He still is extremely familiar with our audience and his appeal is also extremely high. Ever since Garth Kemp announced he was leaving, we've been inundated with phone calls, faxes and emails from the audience asking for us to bring Geno back. I've been talking with him for several months and after looking at my latest research, I'd be crazy not to bring him back. He also was the guy who created the 5:00 Funnies, which was and is our highest rated feature. In Tim Allen’s autobiography, he credits Geno with being responsible for giving him his big break." Geno arrived in the Southland in 1984 from KMEL-San Francisco and worked at KLOS for 10 years. In the summer of 1995, he started a Sunday morning talk show on KFI and stayed until the spring of 1996. When Geno left KFI, the pd David G. Hall said: "We’re like KOST and he’s Led Zeppelin." Geno then moved to mornings at KCAL in the Inland Empire. He starts afternoons at KLOS next Tuesday. Welcome back!…Last week I reported on an R&R story that headlined KIIS/FM as the financial leader among FM stations in the country. Once you look beyond the impressive headlines, the story has an underbelly that paints a troubling dilemma for multiple ownerships and the inherent challenge of how to cover up the red ink being spilled by the also-rans. When you break it out, KIIS isn't billing anymore than any other top rated FM station. If they were, they certainly wouldn't cancel their live overnights. KIIS' AM counterpart, KXTA 1150, needs to bill at least $8-9 million just to pay the Dodger rights. Factor in Jacor's newest stations, KACD/KBCD to the total billings. Figure in salaries for the other "live" shows and you can quickly see that KIIS is combining its four stations to make them look better than they are. The truth is, unless KXTA pulls down at least $16 million, the investors aren't making money. If KXTA doesn't show a profit, it will go the way of so many other former sports stations in the market and disappear. With Jacor's constant name changes and bumping signals carrying the same programming they have enough problems without not getting the credit they deserve for the AM. What AM radio doesn't need is another dismal failure due to lack of billing. When many AM stations are fighting for their survival it might be nice if real credit was actually given to what could be a successful format! Instead the billing is being stolen by the greedy to make them look better than they are… Star 98.7’s Meet Market at the Key Club in West Hollywood is the scene for a singles Valentines party this weekend…Humble Harve starts at Westwood One’s Oldies Channel this weekend…Yesterday we mentioned that Suzanne Ansilio at KLOS was Suzy Cruz at Pirate Radio in the late 1980s. A radio vet emailed to say she used the name Suzy Who at KLSX…Tomorrow, Collective Soul appears in-studio with Mark & Brian at KLOS…Nastyman, formerly afternoon drive at KIIS and evenings at talker KLSX, joins mornings at KHTS-San Diego…KABC morning co-host Brian Whitman is one of the voices on MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch tonight…Bob Hamilton emailed: "In your tribute to Tom Brown, don't forget his years in Philadelphia at WIP. Grew up with him in Philly! He was a great guy." Bob is the consultant behind the recent live changes at KLAC…Former KBIG morning personality Sylvia Aimerito is alive and well and checks in to <laradio.com>: "After working in the wonderful world of radio for 20 years, God has blessed me with another line of work. I'm now devoting my time and energies to voiceovers. I've been with Arlene Thornton and Associates Talent Agency for about 8 years and have been busy with auditions, demos and the likes. I still have my hands in radio, though. Westwood One and I have had a relationship for a number of years. I'm the host one of their weekly syndicated programs. The show is called ‘The Cut,’ and we spotlight an hour's worth of new music that's just bubbling under the charts. And they just recently hired me to host one of their Grammy music specials, which will be airing around the country in the next couple of weeks. So the world of voiceovers and syndicated radio has been keeping me busy, plus I have my own production company, On the Path Productions. We just finished doing sound design for two shows at the Long Beach Playhouse, created jingles for Mark Taylor and Guy Davis show ‘Lifestyles’ on Light 92.7FM, and are in the process of creating new ones for their KABC show ‘TaylorDavis.’ So, life's pretty creative and busy, but not so busy that I don't have time to just kick back and relax."…Just when you think everybody is attached to the Internet and anybody in radio reads this site daily, a new friend arrives. Jim Bain checks in: "Just discovered your Web site, in fact, it's only been since October that I discovered the Internet. Any way, please add me to your radio web address.' I am now doing Saturday and Sunday afternoon on a regular basis on Westwood One's Adult Standards Format along with my weekday management duties at Fullerton College's KBPK-FM." Jim was a big help to me when I was researching my book, Los Angeles Radio People. Many of his students went on to successful radio careers…KIKF, Orange County’s Country station has parted ways with pd Rick Shaw. Former pd Craig Powers will be returning as pd in two weeks. Frank Cisco, a former pd is acting as pd until Craig returns. Got that? And the Arbitron book hasn’t even come out yet….Dr. Laura Schlessinger from KFI and KRLA’s Michael Jackson and the LA Times’ Judith Michaelson (along with, for some reason, a columnist from the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram) joined moderator of KCET’s Life & Times Tonight Gerry Nachman for a discussion of talk radio. When introducing Michael, Gerry said: "His move from his old air shift was followed in this community like some mud slider brush fire and other acts of local destruction." Dr. Laura was introduced as "her kids mom." Michael talked about his early beginnings as Michael Scotland, a rock jock "at the Boss of the Bay, KYA" and claimed if he heard Running Bear one more time that he would go bonkers. The moderator wondered if Michael called himself Michael Scotland because he didn’t want to call himself Michael South Africa? The moderator attempted to brand Los Angeles talk radio as being ahead of the country in using words like "scumbag" and "asshole." Judith said that it wasn’t unique to Los Angeles talk radio and her research found similar stories in Washington DC and Dallas. Michael took a shot at Maureen Lesourd (not by name), the gm who demoted Michael from weekdays to weekends at KABC. He said: "Remember the person who did it to me is now running a Country station 110 miles outside Detroit." When asked about the programming people in L.A., Michael responded: "They bring people from out of town, forgetting that this is an entirely different city in an entirely different community. They bring people in from television sales and make them general managers." There was no mention of Bill Ballance to embarrass Dr. Laura. Ron Rodrigues, editor-in-chief of R&R, was part of the taped intro to the round-chair discussion…The February issue of Los Angeles on illegal gambling. Within the story, the writer writes: "Illegal sports betting becomes more tightly woven into the fabric of L.A. One has only to flip on AM sports stations like XTRA 690 to hear advertisements for any number of off-shore books out of places like Antigua and Curacao that are, the ads vouch, ‘safe and legal.’" Wonder if it has to do with the fact that XTRA 690 is a Mexican station and out of the FCC jurisdiction?…LA Times’ Steve Hochman profiles the KYSR morning team of Jamie, Frosty & Frank on its one-year anniversary in the Southland. Steve proclaims: "Jamie, Frosty and Frank are actually a rousing success here – when you look at the numbers for their, and the station’s, primary target audience."
Oscar Nominee Celebrates at KLOS Clad in His Pajamas
(February 10, 1999) On a recent KIIS afternoon, dj Valentine asked What Am I? "(1) I’m an F word, (2) Once I’m stuck in you, I inject a milky fluid, and (3) I Love Skin. What am I?" Answer later…Mark & Brian called Billy Bob Thornton to tell him about his Oscar nomination at 5:45 yesterday morning. Billy Bob came down to KLOS in his pajamas and M&B threw together an impromptu party with balloons, inflated surgical gloves, toilet paper streamers and food from McDonalds. Staying topical, eh?…Former KABC, KLOS and KLSX talk show host Michael Benner conducts workshops on Success and Personal Development. His periodic seminars are excellent, since I attended one a few years ago. On Saturday, February 20, Michael will be speaking on "Creativity, Confidence and Courage." For information on this all-day seminar at the Red Lion Hotel in Glendale, call 800.5.NewYou…Virginia dj Gary Gardner emailed looking for former "Pirate Radio" dj Suzy Cruz. Suzy is Suzanne Ansilio and working middays at KLOS… Joe Benson will host the private premiere of the War Dogs, America's Forgotten Heroes documentary tonight at the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences. Joe conducts a pre-interview with several of the veterans involved in the project that is about the war dogs and the pivotal role they played in the Vietnam War. Joe has been active with veteran affairs. The documentary will air on the Discovery Channel next Monday…Joe McDonnell was heard at KFWB yesterday. Will he be joining the all-News station? Reader John Kennedy emailed, "Oh no, tell ‘em no Joe." John hopes Joe will hold out for his real strength in talk radio…Yesterday Lance Ballance celebrated his one-year anniversary doing middays at KBIG. Congratulations, Lance…Tomorrow, the LA Times will profile the morning trio at KYSR on their one-year anniversary…The on-going Top 10 voting results were posted earlier this week. KRLA’s Michael Jackson continues to lead the voting! Have you voted for your 10 favorite yet?…Answer to Valentine’s question is a fang….Life and Times Tonight on KCET/TV will feature a number of Los Angeles Radio People talk show hosts including Michael Jackson, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Gerald Nachman (he auditioned for one of the openings at KABC last year)…Larry Carroll, longtime tv news anchor and former radio personality in the early 1970s (KJLH, KIIS, XPRS), and two other men have been indicted on seven criminal counts alleging that they solicited $2 million from an investor with the promise that it would quickly yield large profits at no risk, according to a story in this morning’s LA Times… Al Gordon from San Diego read about the KLOS $100 payroll contest and emailed: "I just wanted to send you greetings from San Diego and to let you know how much I enjoy your daily column. Just a note, the $100 Per Hour XXXX Payroll Contest was run on 103.7FM, The Planet down here last Fall. It sounds like exactly the same setup: A listener is on the payroll at $100 per hour until he gets replaced. It's really a good one." Bill Lewis remembered a similar promotion in Northern California. "In a business where we frequently steal good ideas from different markets [and have ours stolen in turn], KLOS has done the same. The first market I'd heard of with this promo was in Sacramento. The Eagle put billboards up announcing that you could earn $100 an hour at the station. On air, they were doing the $100 an hour promotion. KFI PD and Sacto native David G Hall told me about it after visiting over the holidays."
The Best of <LARADIO.COM> 1998 is Coming!
(February 9, 1999) A new publication, The Best of <LARADIO.COM> 1998, is being readied for publication in March. Month-to-month news from 1998 will be featured along with email addresses for Los Angeles Radio People as well as a list of all birth dates. If you are a LARP and your email address, or birthday is not on our page, please send it along immediately. Former afternoon driver at KBIG, Anita Garner, is helping with the editing. Anita most recently wrote Who Killed the Candyman?, which is available under Radio Goodies from the main menu at this site…A memorial service for Thomas Brown IV was held at St. Victor’s Church in West Hollywood yesterday afternoon. During the ceremony, mention was made that Tom would be joining Thomas Brown V who died when he was 16. Following the formal ceremony, Tom’s son George provided a most moving memory of his father. About 50 family, friends and KGIL and KNX colleagues attended. Some of the LARP who paid their last respects to Tom included: Dick Spangler, Bill Smith, Tom Sperry, Frank Mottek, Chuck Cecil, Jim Mergen, Michael Ambrosini and Jack Salvatore. A reception at Mirabelle’s followed the services. I sat with Tom Sperry who worked at Metro Traffic when Tom Brown worked the all-night hours at KNX. He introduced me to the owner of Casa de Pizza in Mission Hills. The host of "The Thomas Brown Affair" at KGIL has a pizza named after him at the pizzeria…Last week the LA Times’ Brian Lowry took a shot at the entertainment reporters on tv referring to them as "clowns." LARP Sam Rubin responded in Monday’s Counterpunch column. Sam insists that he has never attended "Clown College." Sam says, The KTLA Morning News remains among the most profitable and most frequently emulated local newscasts in the entire country. That doesn’t happen by accident. That happens because my colleagues and I actually do something on the air every day that most newscasters don’t. We act like human beings; we respond to the news and to one another…I talk about entertainment in an entertaining way." Sam takes a shot a Lowry, concluding that his clown costume is hanging in his closet, right below the shelf containing his three local Emmy Awards…KABC programming executives Drew Hayes and Erik Braverman took to the airwaves for an hour yesterday morning for "Ask the Suits." Near the end of the hour of listeners voicing their comments about the station, Erik observed, "What we’re really discovering here is that change is what makes people uncomfortable." Following the broadcast, Drew told me, "The KABC listener is really smart, and I'm thrilled at the response we got. Talking to listeners is part of the ongoing process. We're building a station for smart people, so they're doing their part."…"Arrow 93’s" Mary Price will be broadcasting live from Disneyland on February 20…Don Wells, longtime KFWB sportscaster (15 years) and one of the original voices of the California Angels, has been living in Switzerland since 1987. He recently checked in with KFWB historian Rich Buhler: "My son Chris and I still love baseball and other sports. In fact, we watch many games on TV. As for baseball, we can hardly wait for the start of spring training in the Swiss League. Chris plays all positions for the ‘Hunters,’ a team based in the nearby city of Thun. I love watching these guys play and they ask me to be an umpire quite often. The only contact I have with the outside world is with my aging Olivetti. No email or computers. We still live in our chalet in the charming Swiss village of Aeschiand surrounded by the snow-covered Alps."…KXTA’s Newy Scruggs conducted a revealing interview with football’s Lawrence Taylor last week. After listening to the sometimes rambling interview, Newy and his partner Dave Denholm argued whether L.T. still had drug problems…Ken Minyard’s wife surprised him with a mystery trip north to the wine country. Now Ken has to reciprocate with something as creative for Valentines Day…Charlie Tuna saves everything. He was on the air 28 years ago when the 1971 Sylmar quake hit and this morning he replayed what it was like in the studio…Charlie’s sidekick Fran Tunno saw bright lights yesterday morning. As she pulled into the KLAC parking structure and went down the ½ level to the gate where you swipe your card to get in, one of Glendale’s finest was flashing a spotlight in Fran’s car. At first she thought he was searching for a suspect, however, it turned out to be Fran he had been chasing. As the gate lifted the officer said over his loud speaker, "Next time, slow down, you were driving too fast." His voice reverberated throughout the parking structure. Fran hopes he was not a listener…Valentines is a tough day for singles. To the rescue KROQ’s Kevin & Bean. The morning pair is throwing a Valentines roller skating party for singles only. Tickets are given to the saddest stories about how Valentines past have not worked out. Skate ‘n Date with Kevin & Bean in their first singles only party since last Halloween…Warren Eckstein was very tough on one of his callers to his pet show on KABC this past weekend. The caller kept her dogs in a sleeping crate and on Prozac. Well, Warren criticized the owner for keeping her dogs "in jail." And he doesn’t want any animal on human drugs…KRTH and Westwood One’s Gary Marshall read the piece about Dr. Demento in yesterday’s column. "Funny you should talk about Dr. Demento playing L S Bumblebee and the Beatles in the same sentence since Bumblebee was rumored for months to be a pirated copy of the Beatles next single. While music director at KFXM in San Bernardino, I received an acetate copy of it from KRLA pd Dick Moreland. Dick occasionally sent such interesting oddities, like the original long version of the Buffalo Springfield's Rock 'n Roll Woman. These were records too ‘too’ for them to play but that Dick thought I might be adventurous enough to give some airplay. He was usually right."…Westwood One’s Zack Taylor emails: "President Clinton was disappointed that the Senate voted against dismissing the charges in his impeachment trial. As usual, he was hoping for a quickie."
Demented Saturday Nights
(February 8, 1999) Just when you think Los Angeles radio has gotten a little too predictable, a jolt of Dr. Demento on Saturday nights at KLSX serves up nothing but fun. This weekend he came out of a weird Peter Cook and Dudley Moore single called The LS Bumblebee to play an even weirder cut from the Beatles that was originally set for the White Album. The cut, What The New Mary Jane, turned up later on the Beatles Anthology, Volume 3 CD. Dr. Demento followed the Beatles song with something from The Rutles…Funeral services for Tom Brown will be held this afternoon at 2 p.m. at St. Victor's Catholic Church, 8634 Holloway Drive (off La Cienega Blvd.), in West Hollywood…A college graduate from Vancouver, Canada has requested information on California schools with great radio broadcasting programs. He’s heard about the Fremont Academy of Radio Broadcasting. Any recommendations?…Lotsa Stones excitement this week with the appearance of the Rolling Stones at the Anaheim Pond. On KLOS Tuesday night Gary Moore will be broadcasting live and Thursday night Suzanne Ansilio will be backstage…Rita Wilde, KLOS pd, is due to announce a new afternoon drive dj "within 2 to 3 weeks"…Week in and week out, Rod Lurie presents the cream of the crop of Hollywood on his Saturday midday show at KABC. Last weekend, Mel Gibson phoned in to talk about his newest release, Payback…Alex Ben Block presents entertainment news on the all new KNX Business Hour. Alex provided similar news for 8 years with the morning news block at KGIL with John Swaney. In recent years Alex was the editor of the Hollywood Reporter and most recently president of marketing at Morgan Creek Productions…Last night KFI’s Ted Rall broadcast the "first American radio talk show from the island of Cuba." Ted started his show from an undisclosed hotel location. He was there attending an editorial cartoonist convention and KFI pd David G. Hall wouldn’t give Ted the weekend off from his KFI duties. Thus the broadcast idea was born. Based on two days observation: "Havana is a city that in all respects is falling apart. Things are rusting away. There’s hardly any traffic in the street. All those stories you’ve heard about the 1950s automobiles cruising around are all true. The infrastructure is rotting away. There is very little maintenance. This morning our bus was stuck in traffic because of a bread line. We’re not talking a very happy circumstance."…Last Friday Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News printed the results of the best L.A. Television Sportscasters voting and the list included some radio people. Runner-up in the polling was Channel 11’s Randy Kerdoon who worked at KFWB between 1990 and 1996. At 4th place, the ever personable Ed Arnold from KTLA/Channel 5. Ed’s heart has always been in radio having worked at KNOB, KOCM, KDAY, KHTZ, KRLA and KMPC. He started at KNOB while attending Santa Ana College on a football scholarship. He received his B.A. degree in speech/radio/film in 1968 from San Diego State. For over a quarter of a century Ed has been the on- and off-camera announcer for Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s Hour of Power telecast from what is now known as the Crystal Cathedral. At KMPC Ed worked with Jim Lange and Robert W. Morgan in morning drive. In other Daily News polling Hoffarth reported: "Departed KABC/Channel 7 celeb Todd Donoho had more write-in votes giving him the best grade than nine of the guys currently working. The man who replaced Donoho, Bill Weir, ended up with the worst graded average. KABC weatherman Dallas Raines got as many favorable votes (one, as a write-in) as Newy Scruggs, Kenny Sargent and Steve Hartman."…All weekend, KIIS gave away tickets to an upcoming Sheryl Crow concert…KACD/KBCD’s Nicole Sandler saw my comment that it has been 100 days since anyone had emailed a comment on the AAA format. Nicole emailed: "Perhaps you're just not listening, but we feel and hear the buzz. Natalie Merchant's coming in and playing live Tuesday, 1 p.m.-ish. Did you miss all the fun Chris Isaak stuff? See, you should have been listening!" Thanks, Nicole…KIIS gm Roy Laughlin is featured on the front page of the current issue of R&R. The trade publication reported that KIIS "won the Super Bowl of FM radio" as the No. 1-billing FM station in America, with over $39 million in gross revenue. Tony Novia’s in-depth interview with Roy covered everything from selling to promotions to Rick Dees. "I view Rick like Denver quarterback John Elway. Some people could say, ‘Let’s trade him so we can rebuild.’ But let’s not forget, the Broncos won a Super Bowl with Elway last year and again this year. If you have a really good plan and you have a superstar, you can win it all," said Roy. He sprinkles sports methaphors into his explanation on success…At noon today, the Southern California Broadcasters Association will hold its annual awards luncheon to honor those the group has selected as the best in L.A. On the list for best radio play-by-play announcers are Vin Scully, Chick Hearn and Chris Roberts. LA Times tv-radio sports columnist Larry Stewart wondered about Chris. "It pains us to say this because Roberts is such a good guy, but what in the world is Roberts doing on the list with two legends?" Apparently the UCLA radio voice has quipped, "My wife says she loves me, but she says she would vote for Scully or Hearn."
(February 6, 1999) Services for Tom Brown will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at St. Victor's Catholic Church, 8634 Holloway Drive (off La Cienega Blvd.), in West Hollywood.
We Get Email…
** Tom Brown’s Passing
"To read about Tom Brown's death was a jolt. Worked with him at KGIL while doing casual anchor between gigs. What caused his death so young? At 69 I'm beginning to feel like one of the oldest surviving L.A. radio people. I enjoyed Tom's work on KNX, providing a knowledgeable delivery of the news as I drove to work in the early morning hours. He provided my ‘briefing.’ Although we had never discussed it, I knew from his air work he was from the Midwest or Missouri, because he pronounced the state like a local: Missoura. He was an excellent talent and I know his voice will be missed by many." -Bill Browning** All Nicole Sandler, All the Time
"I've been encouraging people to use the call letters ‘KNSR’ [for Nicole Sandler Radio] instead of KACD/KBCD. I can't believe Jacor hasn't gotten any resumes during the last four months. I pledge my undying love for Nicole, her show from 2 - 7 p.m. and her passion for music, but she's only on for five hours a day. The people I know who loved KSCA and the AAA format enjoy hearing new music. If I hear a great song that I've never heard before, and it's not during Nicole's shift, I will never know what it is. That is very frustrating.The ironic thing is that when KSCA went away, many people I know turned to KLON, KPCC, and KCRW. The music shows on the non-commercial stations have all of their songs back-announced, I can hear news at the top of the hour, and they're commercial free. In addition, stations like ‘Mega 100’ came along with a fresh mix of oldies, and I found the beat at ‘the Beat’ 92.3FM. I really wish the best for 103.1, and it is one of my favorite stations, but the minimal effort at hiring on-air talent has taken some of the air out of the balloon." - John D Repka, Laguna Beach
** New Age Music
"For those people who want to hear the New Age and real jazz vocalists need not listen to ‘the Wave.’ There are many other great stations that stray away from the mixing of Urban and AC into jazz." -Cassandra Meyer, Jazz FM 88.5 KSBR** Response to Leykis
"You wrote on Feb. 3, 1999: ‘Tom Leykis declared on KLSX yesterday that fat women are the best at oral sex. [They’re always eating. They’ve always got something in their mouths. They’re good at it. Are you surprised that Monica Lewinsky gave the president a hummer? She never takes a fork out of her mouth except to put the president in,] said Tom matter-of-factly…"Have you taken a good look at Tom Leykis lately? Maybe it would be amusing if he didn't eclipse Lewinsky. I realize you need to stay on everyone's good side, but I was surprised to see this. If you have nothing better to fill your column with, then radio in this town is in even worse shape than I thought." -David Saltzman, Studio City
** KWKW/KFAC/KALI History
"Found the January 21 piece on KWKW/KALI of interest. I knew about that and wrote about it in 1988 for my AM band DX club, in an article called ‘Los Angeles Radio History Repeats Itself.’ The background of the story was that KWKW-1300 was buying KFAC-1330 and moving to KFAC's AM frequency to have better night coverage and a better all-around signal. It was the end of an era for KFAC, which started in 1931 on 1300, then moved to 1330 in March of 1941. KWKW was licensed for 1430 in September of 1942. The F-A-C was for Fuller-Auburn- and Cord. E.L.Cord got KFAC in 1931 and he manufactured Cord and Auburn automobiles. Fuller was Fuller Motors on Wilshire Blvd at Mariposa, and KFAC studios were on top of the car dealership for years where Cord's cars were sold. It was 10 years ago last month, January 17, 1989, at 7 p.m., that KFAC-AM went off the air forever." - Jim Hilliker, Monterey, CA** KABC Revisited
"I can't believe how KABC has blown it. The station had a great line-up of talk show hosts and I listened to the station all day. I am in my car most of the day. The line-up I thought was great was: Peter Tilden and Ken Minyard; Michael Jackson; Dennis Prager; Melinda Lee; Larry Elder; Stephanie Miller; Mr. KABC; and, Merrill Shindler on weekends. An intelligent diverse group coming from various points of view. I now think I will be spending more time on KRLA than KABC. I realize that ratings must play a part, but people I know and talk to about talk radio are all disappointed with the changes at KABC." -Gary Aminoff, Los Angeles** All-Night Repeats Repeat
"Sad to read that Jacor has dropped live overnight jocks on KIIS-FM. One of my all-time KIIS memories was studying for midterms during a 3:30 a.m. Whittier Narrows aftershock. Joe Cipriano was on the air at the time and fielded calls and generally talked all us night owls through it. Those overnight jocks [Benny Martinez was one] certainly reassured us that we weren't the only ones burning the midnight oil." -Ron Antonette** Syndication Thoughts
"George Green's efforts, described on the site today [2/5], are interesting, but one wonders if he realizes that the ancient KABC talk programming is passe.
Ask any astute observer of the L.A. radio scene.
And why would anyone in Chicago or Des Moines or Jacksonville want to listen to the inane jabber of Hollywood-influenced, tasteless, uncultured, uninformed, liberal-baiting blabbermouths who stimulate phone call-ins from undereducated guys speeding up the 405 in Porsches. - Gary Franklin, Sometime Professional Critic** Former KLAC gm Checks In
Thanks for responding so promptly to my 'cap' order. I collect logo caps and I just couldn't resist the 'LA Radio People' one.Maybe some of your readers will remember me. I was VP/GM of Metromedia's KLAC from June 1980 until my retirement in August of 1983. We continued to live in southern California until May 1996. My wife Jean and I became heavily involved as 'volunteers' in Simi Valley and Ventura County. We are now living comfortably in Minnetonka, Minnesota near the Bass fishing paradise of Lake Minnetonka. Our two sons are still living in the L.A. area. Don, Jr. is an LAPD sergeant assigned to Wilshire Division and Tom is the lead guitarist and singer with the rock band "Flush."
We love to hear from old friends and former co-workers. Please write us at donjean56@juno.com.
Sincerely." - Don & Jean Kelly
Radio Godfather is Green
(February 5, 1999) Former KABC gm George Green is the force behind Ken and Rick Minyard and Ira Fistell being on KRLA. According to Gary Lycan’s most recent column in the Orange County Register, "syndicating both shows is part of the game plan. Green – not KRLA – is paying the salaries of the Minyards and Fistell. KRLA views itself as the flagship station purchasing, in essence, a syndicated show. Green hopes to recoup his investment by selling the shows to stations across the United States. And knowing Green, a very savvy broadcaster, we bet he’ll do it." According to Gary’s story, George represents Kelly Lange and Melinda Lee and he is attempting a similar arrangement…"Arrow 93" morning man Joe Benson wants to know why all the fuss about KLOS’ current promotion. Joe emails: "So what's your fascination with $100 per hour? Yesterday [just a typical business day] I gave away $1,000 in the morning and Bob Coburn gave out another $1,000 in the afternoon. Plus we're giving away tickets to the sold out Stones shows. And someone is seriously contending that $100 per hour is a hot promotion? Maybe in 1957." Joe hosts the nationally syndicated program "Off the Record with Joe Benson" which is broadcast on "Arrow" Sunday nights at 10. This weekend Joe features the music of Dire Straits and conversation with Mark Knopfler…Tonight at 10:30, KTTV celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Part 2 will air next Friday and Gary Lycan makes an on-air appearance. Tomorrow morning Gary steps in front of the camera to host The Pet Place, TV's only local adoption program. It's on 7 a.m. Saturdays on KDOC, Channel 56. Gary hosted the tapings for the Febrary 6 and February 13 shows. Apparently the media can’t get enough of the OC Register’s radio columnist following his contribution to Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s A&E Biography…Today marks the 100th day since any mention of KACD/KBCD. Has the station missed out on the cult buzz that was associated with the former KSCA AAA format?…Richard Kaplan was in town when KTWV was launched. He now lives in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, but keeps up with L.A. Radio on this site. He wrote: "I saw your comment on KTWV playing Toni Braxton’s big hit. I know the ‘Wave’ is highly successful, and I would imagine it is because of the Urban and AC crossover stuff, but I really miss those first years when they would really play some really great New Age music from artists like Yanni. It was unique music and you don’t hear it anymore. When I hear an AC hit on ‘the Wave’ that is an immediate tune out for me." Good that Richard is back East…Don Imus was critical of KABC management this morning for dropping talk veteran Michael Jackson, but added how thrill he was that Michael followed him at KRLA...KKTR, "K-Traffic," is the nation’s first 24-hour all-Traffic radio station. The station is set to debut an all-female line-up during the day. Anchoring the line-up is 15-year traffic veteran, and former KNX reporter, Judy Abel. Piloting during the midday is 10-year traffic veteran Nancy Bond, followed by Lisa Osborn in the afternoon and Lori Ryan in the evenings. Rick Cruise, the lone male of the group and a nine-year traffic veteran, will handle overnights. The traffic channel claims that they offer updated traffic reports, not on the one’s, two’s or eight’s, but when you need it…Jimmy Kimmel’s farewell from the Kevin & Bean KROQ morning show yesterday was a hoot. Among others, Steve Garvey and X-Files’ Gillian Anderson called in to wish the "Sports Guy" good luck on his new tv show on Comedy Central…Former KOST, KCBS and KYSR dj Jim Rondeau has been sitting in for KBIG morning team Rick Diego and Carolyn Gracie… Bill Taylor checked in from a Milwaukee radio station to say that his life is going "great." Bill came to the Southland in 1966 to work at KFWB and he later joined KLAC, KGBS, XPRS and KFOX. Bill was nominated twice for CMA Country Jock of the Year and once by Billboard.
Historic Cuban Broadcast Planned
(February 4, 1999) KFI’s Ted Rall is broadcasting from a mysterious location in or around Havana, Cuba this weekend. Stuart Turner, pr maven for KFI, emailed that this will be "the first live, controversial, no-holds barred capitalist running-dog talk radio show to be broadcast from Cuba." Listen this Sunday night at 9. If things don’t go well, this may be Ted’s only chance of seeing the inside of a Cuban prison. Ted was in the process of planning a business trip to the communist nation when he wondered, "Instead of skipping my radio show, could I broadcast live from Cuba? I thought the KFI engineering department would laugh at me, but instead they figured out a way to do it." Ted has mixed emotions about possible punishment. "Actually, I'm not sure what side of the border to fear more, communist shock troops or the FCC goons. But I think it's worth the risk -- this is a once-in-Castro's-lifetime opportunity." Ted is an award-winning social-commentary cartoonist and opinion columnist for Universal Press Syndicate, a freelance graphic illustrator, and a staff writer for P.O.V. Magazine…Former KFWB reporter and anchor Julia Chavez has been promoted to news director at KNUU ("K-News") in Las Vegas. Julia emailed: "We're the ONLY news-talk format in the market – which is growing amazingly fast. We're a CBS/AP/Bloomberg affiliate. ‘K-News’ is owned and operated by entrepreneur Ron Cohen, who also owns KFNN Financial News Radio in Phoenix."…Mark Kriski phoned KRTH’s Charlie Van Dyke to boast that Channel 5’s Morning Show overnight numbers ranked the station #1 on Tuesday. Mark told Charlie that the tv brass thought the 3-hour remote from KRTH contributed a large part to the numbers. Mark had to cater a breakfast, from The Palm no less, for Charlie’s crew after losing a Super Bowl bet…A number of Los Angeles stations are having trouble competing because of poor signal. GAC in Mission Viejo wrote: "When Jacor first took over KXTA, they said that their signal problems would be solved after they increased their power to 50,000 watts. I looked forward to that, as I am an avid Dodger fan. Well baseball season came along, but they still sounded lousy in Mission Viejo. They are weak during the day but stronger at night with occasional fading. I spoke with Jacor last year and they said they were working on the problem, but there was no real significant improvement during the season. I wonder if the Dodgers are aware of these problems? They used to sound great on 5000 watt KABC. Where are those 50,000 watts going? Certainly not to South Orange County!!" Alan Oda wrote to say that sports radio doesn't have to be a loser. He cites KHTK in Sacramento. Once an all-conservative talk station, "Sports 1140 KHTK" is in the top five in the competitive Sacramento market and was recently designated station of the year by the Sacramento Bee. I asked Alan what set KHTK apart from others. "One: Grant Napier - he does both play-by-play and sports anchoring. He's got a lot of credibility in the Sacramento market. Two: KHTK is the flagship station for the only professional sports team in town, the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Three: PD Mike Remy trusts his talent and leaves things alone - one problem with KXTA is that I don't think that they gave things enough time and made too many changes too quickly, not the least of which was the identity of the station [‘XTRA Sports 1150’ – ‘AM 1150 XTRA Sports L.A.’ – ‘AM 1150 Sports Radio L.A.’ - and then back to ‘XTRA Sports 1150’]."…Speaking of exclusive sports stories, homerun king Mark McGwire revealed a startling and very candid admission about going into therapy while on the KLOS Mark & Brian show yesterday morning. "I think everybody needs therapy. It was in 1991 after the season and I stunk the place up with a .201 batting average. I had no idea who I was as an athlete or as a person. I went through so many problems off the field that I had to wake up in the morning and look myself in the mirror. I thought about what I needed to do as a person to get my life back in gear. Everybody, no matter who you are, some time in their life will hit a wall. But the problem is a lot of people bounce off the wall and go backwards. It’s poor me, poor I instead of crashing through that wall and straightening it out. I needed to get some help to find out who Mark McGwire is and what he likes and what he wants to do in life. I stepped up to the plate and went and got some therapy for myself personally and in turn it helped me professionally because it becomes a mind game. I don’t think that people really realize that the mind is the strongest thing on your body." During the broadcast, sports guy Todd Donoho read a terrific ode to Mark. I know what you are thinking. Why didn’t our sports stations get McGwire? Credit the M&B behind-the-scenes production crew for hustling. Mark & Brian recently interviewed in-studio the young man who caught the historic 70th homerun ball, which earned him $2.7 million. XTRA Sports heard the interview and called KLOS looking for the phone number of the young man who retrieved the historic ball…KLOS is paying listeners $100 an hour to join the station payroll. Every hour a name is called. If there is no response, the winner stays on the payroll until another listener calls in. On Monday Suzanne Ansilio called seven names, had five winners with one winner getting $300. On Tuesday KLOS had called seven names, had five winners with two winners getting $200…Dr. Laura Schlessinger will headline the Radio Day luncheon for the Ad Club of Los Angeles on February 24. Her talk is titled "Ten Stupid Things I Hate and Love about Morality in Advertising and Radio." Tickets available at the Ad Club…This afternoon at 1, Jacor will become the first radio station in the nation to fully integrate its on-air programming and identity with the Internet. KSDO.COM Radio at AM 1130 in San Diego will mark the beginning of its all-new, interactive, online business-talk format by piling one million dollars in its studio. KSDO.COM will simulcast on the Internet, allowing listeners to instantly interact with the talk show hosts live and online at the KSDO.COM Web site. Now we know what Jacor is doing with all its money…Kevin & Bean’s KROQ morning team beat the Midget basketball team by one point last night. LARP correspondent Vincent couldn’t get in the stadium. He was one of 400 who were turned away from the first-come, first-served event…The war for local radio ratings heated up this week in Ventura County as KTRO- 1520AM staged a coup by coaxing cross-town’s KVEN popular morning show hosts and most of its news department to jump ship.
KFWB Anchors a New Personality
(February 3, 1999) In a move that suggests that new pd Dave Cooke is about to put his programming prints on all-News KFWB, the station has announced Kathleen Sullivan as co-anchor of morning drive with news veteran Dan Avey, starting February 15. The pair have been working together in recent weeks and it seems clear that they have been given a mandate to add "personality" to the news. Yesterday morning during a counterfeit golf club story, one wondered how you can tell a golf club is a counterfeit and a reference was made to serial numbers on the shaft. Kathleen asked Dan if he "had looked down his own shaft." Kathleen gained national attention while covering the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. She was the first anchor hired by CNN at its founding in 1979. Kathleen has anchored numerous ABC/TV shows including Good Morning America, World News This Morning and World News Saturday. Senior correspondent Bob Jimenez, a thirty-year veteran of tv (Channel’s 2 and 13 during the 1990s) and radio news reporting and anchoring will be the senior correspondent with Kathleen and Dan. Featured with the new morning news team: sports reporter Bret Lewis; business reporter Jim Newman; and, traffic reporters Jeff Baugh, Rhonda Kramer and Tom Story. The midday team includes co-anchors Judy Ford and Jack Popejoy, sports reporter Rod Van Hook and traffic reporters Allan Lee and Radene Marie. Also starting on February 15 is the previously announced KFWB Noon Business Hour hosted by Ron Kilgore. Afternoon drive features co-anchors Tammy Trujillo and Ken Jeffries, sports reporter Joe Cala and traffic reporters Jeff Baugh, Jane Monreal and Tom Story. The evening team includes co-anchors Vicki Cox and Paul Lowe. Covering overnight anchor duties are Jim Burson and Bob Howard. Covering the Southland are reporters John Brooks, Bill Cooper, Pete Demetriou, Sharon Katchen, Steve Kindred, Dirck Morgan and Michael Shappee…Tom Brown, most recently overnight anchor at KNX, has died. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1960 with a degree in journalism. Following a stint in the Army, Tom worked at KCMO and KDAE-Kansas City, WHN and WNEW-New York and KNBR-San Francisco. In the Southland he worked at KMPC, KGIL, KIEV, KJOI and KNX. Tom was 60…Tom Leykis declared on KLSX yesterday that fat women are the best at oral sex. "They’re always eating. They’ve always got something in their mouths. They’re good at it. Are you surprised that Monica Lewinsky gave the president a hummer? She never takes a fork out of her mouth except to put the president in," said Tom matter-of-factly…The "new" KBIG (I’m always suspect at the claim of "new" when the music has made no discernible changes in the music or dj line-up) is running a Valentines promotion. The winner will win a fairy tale wedding at Disneyland in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and a reception for 150 family and friends. To qualify engaged couples must tell how they were proposed to and winning names will be called during the morning show. How many of us had goofy weddings or receptions? Now we get a real Mickey Mouse wedding…When one tunes into the very successful KTWV, there is no confusing "the Wave." However, while scanning the dial this weekend, I stopped at Toni Braxton’s You Mean the World To Me thinking I had stopped at one of the AC stations. Nope. It was KTWV…While Brian Whitman was solo on KABC Monday morning (co-host Mr. KABC was ill), he revealed that he has had a two-year addiction to ChapStik. His addiction has gone from a casual user, almost recreational, to daily use. "I can’t seem to cut the vicious cycle off. I can’t stop it." His supplier at the 7-11 doesn’t seem to care. Scores of listeners phoned to admit to their own addiction…Jimmy Kimmel, the sports guy on Kevin & Bean’s KROQ morning show since 1994, is leaving to devote needed time to a new half-hour show for the Comedy Channel he’s doing with Adam Carolla. In a farewell party of sorts, The Kevin & Bean Family will be facing the "L.A. Breakers" tonight at 7:00 at Cal State Fullerton, with listeners invited to cheer along. The "L.A. Breakers," according to correspondent Vincent, is a team of little people (or as irreverent Jimmy calls them: "Shrimpians") who play in a basketball league. The K&B Family lost to the Breakers four years ago by one point on a last second shot; and this is the long-awaited rematch. How Kevin, 6'1", and Bean, 6'6" lost to the Breakers once before is still an "unsolved mystery." One of Jimmy’s most memorable moments a few years ago was when he fought "Michael the Maintenance Man," in "The Bleeda in Reseda" boxing exhibition…Welcome to our newest Los Angeles Radio People. Greg Simms is in his third week working middays at KYSR. Born in Whittier, Greg grew up in Yorba Linda. Following graduation from Esperanza High in Santa Ana, he became a receptionist at KFMB-San Diego. "As a little kid I listened to Rick Dees and fell in love with radio," Greg said from his home in Orange County. "I wanted to know what was going on behind the speakers." From KFMB receptionist, Greg delivered the mail and hung out with the djs. "Danny Romero [now mornings at ‘Mega 100’] was working mornings and he taught me the controls. The move to KYSR has been easy because KFMB was also known as ‘Star,’ so it is the same format." Greg’s brother is Mike Simms the DH for the Texas Rangers. Ironically the brothers work for the same person, Tom Hicks." Welcome, Greg…Now that KIIS is re-running the 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Gary Spears show from 1 a.m. - 4 a.m., regular <LARADIO.COM> reader Alan Oda asks the question, "Is it just me or does this sound like a bizarre economy move? Something about the nickel-and-dime atmosphere over at Jacor is becoming disturbing - note that none of the Jacor stations in the area are running live local programming during overnights."…Gary Moore thanked his KLOS audience of 4 shortly after the kick-off of the Super Bowl. "Since there’s nothing to watch on tv this afternoon, sit back and relax. Enjoy the rock and roll," Gary said "By the end of the first hour, I was up to 17 listeners," Gary lamented. I would imagine by late afternoon, everything was back to normal at KLOS. The Super Bowl received the lowest ratings in a decade…A Bob Hamilton nightmare or at least an annoying irritant category. I bet the folks at KLAC can't wait to drop the Westwood One feed in middays. Jeffrey Leonard caught Charlie Tuna playing You'll Never Find by Lou Rawls at 9:55 a.m., and it was played AGAIN on the WW1 feed at 10:15 a.m. I thought only KRTH had such a powerful power rotation…More stimulating talk radio? Last weekend Tim Kelly and Neil Saavedra spent an hour kvetching about too many handicapped parking spaces…Former KROQ/KMET/KWST guy Bob Gowa is pd at Country KFGY in Santa Rosa. He has just been named pd of co-owned Newstalk KSRO. Congratulations to Bob. (I wonder what Bill W would have done working in Santa Rosa, the heart of the beautiful California Wine Country?)…The response to A&E’s Biography profile of Dr. Laura Schlessinger was overwhelmingly negative. The reliance on archival footage, no participation by Laura or any of her family, gave the impression of an opportunist broadcaster who mirrors her knife-cutting on-air style in her approach to life. It would have been nice to have had Bill Ballance on camera to at least stir things up…Gary Lycan of the OC Register had much on-camera time during the Dr. Laura Biography piece because no one else would talk or they were prevented from talking. As a result Gary is hearing from people all over the country whom he hadn’t thought of in years. He said, "It is amazing the impact of the medium."
They’re Almost Naked!
(February 2, 1999) KLSX’s Howard Stern crowed to the NATPE convention in New Orleans last week, "I single-handedly revolutionized this industry whether you want to admit it or not. Every time Ricki Lake says ‘penis’ on the air, she has me to thank." Howard took a shot at Don Imus’ MSNBC show. "Imus looks like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." Producer Gary Dell’Abate ran around the convention in undershorts…Charlie Van Dyke, morning driver at KRTH, won a Super Bowl bet with KTLA Channel 5/Morning Show’s weather guy Mark Kriski. This morning Mark arranged for a catered breakfast of steak and lobster presented in grand fashion by the Palm. Charlie was decked out in a John Elway Broncos jersey. News sidekick Joni Caryl was wearing John Elway underwear. The tv coverage for Charlie and KRTH was spectacular. During one of the breaks to the Channel 5 helicopter reporter, Jennifer "I’ve got new headlights" York zeroed in on a KYSR billboard at Sunset and San Vicente where "Star" afternooner Ryan Seacrest was preparing to pay off a Super Bowl bet by appearing on the billboard to perform the "dirty bird" in his bikini underwear. He wasn’t there for the 7:10 helicopter report, but later in the morning KYSR eventually covered the uncovered dj…St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire will be the in-studio guest on the KLOS Mark & Brian radio program tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. Baseball fans can call in to the show at 800.955.5567. If you are not in a Mark & Brian market, you can hear the broadcast over the Internet at http://www.955klos.com/ …"At the new LA Talk 11-10, we only have three rules. One: Listen every day. Two: Listen all day long. Three: When you can’t listen, select a substitute listener and make them write down everything for your review later. Hey, we don’t make the rules, we just enforce them." KRLA promo…Dr. Laura Schlessinger came out of A&E’s Biography smelling like, well, she came out of the one-hour profile last night not only intact but as a complex lady who appears to continually change her views as it fits her. The profile, unfortunately, failed to answer many of the troubling questions around her childhood that molded a very strong drive in Dr. Laura to excel. The production never explained her father’s incessant lack of respect for his daughter or why her mother would walk out of Dr. Laura’s life because she refused to take typing lessons. There must have been more to the story, but as her clip on Tom Snyder's show aired, she refused to discuss "personal" matters. By the end of the show, even detractor Dr. Toni Grant was complimentary, "The culture needed a Laura…and that’s why she’s so successful. She is saying some important things that people need." The references to the Bill Ballance "home-grown photos" were dealt with during Bill’s appearance with KLSX’s Tom Leykis (his name spelled correctly here). The glue that held together Dr. Laura’s radio career was Orange County Register’s Gary Lycan. During the holidays, Gary attended a book signing in Orange County for Laura’s Ten Commandments. Gary has known her husband, Lew Bishop, for over a decade and they have had a very cordial relationship. At the book signing when Lew spotted Gary, Lew turned his back and snubbed the journalist for failing to be a supporter, rather than a reporter during one of the biggest radio news stories of 1998. Nonetheless, Gary eloquently traced Dr. Laura’s early radio beginnings up to her current superstar status. He also presented Bill’s side of the controversy with the naked photos appearing on the Internet. Dr. Laura refused to cooperate in the production and aside from the interviews with the above mentioned participants, virtually all of the material was gathered from CBS News archives…Try saying "Whittier Narrows Area" three times. Tough. This weekend on KFI, Craig "Sea" Carpenter had to say it all afternoon in connection with a major traffic problem…"Have a cup of Joe before you go to bed" is a KABC promo for Joe Crummey…Last Saturday we published a note from Chris Parker about KXTA, XTRA Sports. Allan Robertson of Los Angeles emailed this response: "While I agree with much of what Chris had to say about XTRA SPORTS 1150, I strongly disagree with his comments regarding the ‘Ben & Dave Show.’ As an avid listener to sports talk radio in Los Angeles for the past 10 years (KMAX, XTRA, KMPC, One-On-One) I feel the Ben Maller and Dave Smith show is the best combination of entertainment and sports information ever put on an L.A. sports talk station. I don't understand why anyone would say they sound drunk and are annoying? Big Ben is sarcastic and funny and Dave is witty and amusing. They really play well off each other. These guys to me sound like a couple of guys at a bar just relaxing having a discussion about L.A. SPORTS. The question I have for Mike Thompson is why they are on in middays instead of drive time? This new show the ‘Dawg Pound’ is horrible. It is the kind of show that can cause a station to change formats. Newy Scruggs is good on Channel 13 but please get him off the radio and Dave Denholm sounds like a child." …KFI’s Debra Rich hosted a fetish hour on Saturday. The host, a guest and callers talked about defecating on each other…Wide range of guests yesterday morning across the dial: Howie Mandell (claims he was in the KABC "green room" that seemed to be frozen in a 1992 time warp with 3 magazines, 4 telephone books, and awards on the wall saluting Ira Fistell and Dr. David Viscott) was on KABC with Brian Whitman; Art Linkletter spent time with Charlie Tuna at KLAC (Art revealed that in exchange for being the MC at the opening of Disneyland in the mid-1950s, Walt Disney gave him a 10-year license for all photo-taking and film); and, Channel 4’s Fred Roggin talked Super Bowl at KRTH with Charlie Van Dyke.
CBS VRS. CBS
(February 1, 1999) No sooner had KFWB announced a new "Noon Business Hour," the fax machine churned out a press release from KNX announcing a "Business Hour" that would debut a week earlier than KFWB’s. Nothing like healthy competition between the two all-News stations, ironically both owned by CBS. The "KFWB Noon Business Hour" will be launched on February 15 and hosted by Ron Kilgore and Judy Ford. The "KNX Business Hour" will be anchored by Bob McCormick with business reporters Charles Laszlo and Randy Riddle…In the Sunday LA Times, KNX took out a 1/8th of a page ad promoting its Web site. "It’s all just a click away at www.knx1070.com," said the ad…From time to time Ted Shireman provides wonderful pieces of Los Angeles radio history Didjaknows? March 30, 1941 was the date that 795 US radio stations (out of 883 operating) changed frequency by order of the FCC, per international agreement. Fourteen were in So Cal, including KECA moving to 790, KFVD to 1020, KFSG/KRKD (sharing time) to 1150, and KFAC to 1330…Larry Stewart, sports tv/radio editor for the LA Times, complained on Friday that his job started at 8 a.m. with Super Bowl pre-game coverage, kickoff at 3:25 p.m. and then the post game show taking him to at least 7 p.m. Larry did add that it beat covering the IOC mess…Big push for Keith Olbermann during the Super Bowl festivities in Miami. The contributor to KFWB will have 50,000 temporary Olbermann tattoos distributed in the South Miami area. And 50,000 free ice cream bars will be distributed by folks in Good Humor trucks (didn’t know they were still around) and pushcarts. According to Daily News sports media guru, Tom Hoffarth, the bars will be wrapped in the Fox Sports News logo with Olbermann’s face. Think Keith will take a licking from this Fox promotion?…On the sales circuit, there is speculation that many Arbitron diary holders who marked XTRA Sports gave credit to the San Diego operation and not "XTRA Sport 1150." The other day Derrick Hall and John Ireland pleaded, "The name of the radio station that I now work for is XTRA Sports 1150, Los Angeles, home of the Dodgers, home of the UCLA Bruins. We don’t talk about San Diego State or the Padres. If you want San Diego sports, listen to those guys. We are Los Angeles sports. If you want to cover L.A, if you want to talk about the Lakers, Clippers and the Kings, the Dodgers and the Angels, the key is 1150. 1150. 1150. 1150. We’re going to continue to get it until people get it right. It’s unbelievable that people still don’t get that 1150 is the sports voice of Los Angeles. XTRA Sports 1150. Remember that number. Please." This musta been confusing to those in the Santa Clarita who get XTRA Sports 1150 at 1220AM. Immediately following the plea to remember 1150, I heard, "Now, afternoons stuck on the freeway have a purpose because it means quality time with Dave and Newy. Commute home with the ‘Dawg Pound’ from three till seven on XTRA Sports 1220.’ Jacor bought a number of surrounding stations, KBET in the Santa Clarita being one of the them, to cover the market because of the poor signal at 1150. If I get a diary in Santa Clarita, do I log 1220 or 1150? It is further complicated as you listen to XTRA Sports on another frequency in Palmdale/Lancaster. This is a major marketing problem for Jacor. The quilt-like assemblage of stations may help to spread the signal, but it causes major confusion to the listener…Michelle Roth has been subbing for Joni Caryl at KRTH. Michelle and morning man Charlie Van Dyke used to work together in 1970s at KHJ. Michelle went on to KRLA until 1985. "I went over to the Financial News cable TV Network where I worked with Johnny Darin as a co-anchor and announcer for about five years," said Michelle. "I then worked as the announcer on the syndicated Crosswits game show, which lasted a couple of seasons [thank you and Dave Schwartz for the mention]. Shortly after I was a travel reporter for the News Travel Network [out of San Francisco] which syndicated news pieces to 200 network affiliates [KNBC locally]. Also during that time, I was the fill-in morning news gal at K-LITE, and a year later at KTWV. I worked briefly at KBIG on weekends. Since then, I have been the station promo and break announcer for GTE's interactive cable network Mainstreet for over three years. I'm working on my thesis now and will have my Doctorate in psychology in about three months." Michelle was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Northridge. She and her husband Mark (he’s in the banking/loan industry) have a six year old son…A&E’s Biography will profile KFI’s Dr. Laura Schlessinger tonight. CBS News produced the episode, which includes interviews with her husband Lew Bishop, KLSX’s Tom Leykis, KRLA’s Dr. Toni Grant and Gary Lycan of the Orange County Register. Gary says he hasn't seen the final cut, but he noted TV Guide's Susan Stewart gave it a "7" in the current issue of the magazine.
