Archives, January 2014 LARadio.com Written and compiled by Don Barrett Edited by Alan Oda

Kaci Christian is Touching the Silence

(January 31, 2014) If you have ever been around Kaci Christian, a former tv news anchor and traffic/news reporter in the Southland, there is one thing everyone can agree on – Kaci is never at a loss for words. Kaci is adventuresome, persistent and always involved with some worthwhile project. Well, she’s really done it this time. As of January 23, Kaci embarked on a year of silence. She believes that if we don’t have to think about what we are going to say next or how we are going to respond, we listen differently and ultimately better. “As a cultural anthropologist and former tv news anchor, I have spent many years professionally observing, interviewing and reporting on what other people are doing, saying or experiencing,” she expressed on her blog. “As I explore and experience my personal journey of listening differently, I will be utilizing the tool of not speaking as a means to expand the space and energy to simply listen – without the need to opine, judge or defend.” Through her blog The Silent Project (www.theSILENTproject.com,) Kaci will recount her experiences, insights and challenges of living and listening without speaking. “One hypothesis is that people who don’t know me or have any expectations of me will not care whether I speak or not. Others may be curious or make assumptions about my silence but will honor and respect it. Some may believe my choice to not speak will mean that I’m deaf. A few may experience irritation at my inability to communicate via speech. On the other hand, those who know me and who have expectations that I continue to communicate in ways they have come to expect may choose to be disappointed or even agitated at my undertaking this journey.”

Kaci explained: “My intention for this project is not to ruffle any feathers, but instead to reveal myself and my flaws and weaknesses, while also demonstrating leadership, integrity and vulnerability. I am aware that some people may disagree with my opinions, thoughts or choices. It is certainly possible that I may receive criticism or flack for some of what I share. It will all be through my filter of what I’m experiencing through The Silent Project.”

Kaci started The Silent Project in Australia last week. Her first stop was Sydney and then on to Melbourne and Adelaide. She then gets on the Ghan train that bisects Australia. “The train only runs once a week, so if you get off the train for longer than the brief stop in the station, then you stay for a week to pick up the next train. I’ll stop in Alice Springs, and catch a ride to Uluru in the Outback where I can ‘touch the silence,’ she wrote. It might be fun the review the story done when Kaci returned from Nepal in 2009. There may be some clues on what led her to this decision:

**

A LARP Journey to Nepal 

I lived there for 9 weeks, exploring, spending my time with locals, traveling in buses that careen around blind curves, stumble over potholes and stop at every village, as people cram every inch of space, depositing young children on the laps of family members, friends or strangers, enlisting the support of those lucky enough to have seats, while more passengers [and frequently goats and chickens] choke on the dusty, polluted air from their perches atop the painted metal roof of the bus. I rarely saw tourists, instead choosing to stay where the locals stay and eat where the locals eat.  

(Kaci with 'baby nuns'; in front of Buddha; and enjoying Nepal)

I was privileged to explore remote areas where no foreigners have ever been. I spent 13 days trekking on my own in the Himalayas, challenging my physical limitations and developing my endurance as I ascended to 12,700 feet [3,867 meters]. And it was here that I witnessed the briefest of moments as a swirl of clouds parted to reveal a momentary glimpse of the majestic and enigmatic Mt. Everest [known as Sagarmatha to the Nepalis and revered as Chomolungma, ‘Goddess Mother of the Universe,’ by the Tibetans] before the clouds once again cloaked the world's tallest mountain [29,029 ft/8,848 meters]. And it was here that the abbot of the Tengboche Tibetan Buddhist Monastery met with me privately to express his deepest concern: that global warming will destroy the cherished Khumbu region, sharing dire predictions via interpreter that the rapidly melting snows and glaciers will soon cause the swollen glacial lakes to overflow and destroy hillside villages, killing thousands of people.

I experienced one of Nepal’s rushing rivers myself while whitewater rafting, and spent the night on a peaceful riverside beach lit by a nearly full moon. I rode into the jungle perched on a wooden platform atop the broad back of an Asian elephant, joined by my interpreter and friend, a compassionate and uncomplaining Tibetan Buddhist nun who translated my questions to the ‘mahout’ [driver] and interprets his responses, sharing details about his daily routine, the physically challenging demands placed every single day on ‘his’ elephant partner [she’s actually owned by a private tourist guest lodge who pays the mahout’s meager salary] and their relationship of thirty years, while his feet constantly and instinctively prodded behind her ears to direct her through the towering growth.  

(Kaci with a group of baby nuns; getting a helping hand;
and pretty in pink on suspension bridge in the Himalayas)

I questioned the head government official at the local parks and wildlife office in Chitwan National Park about tourism, the sharp decline in the rhinoceros population and the  measures being taken to protect animals from those illegally slaughtering endangered species in exchange for money to feed their hungry families. I met with a dejected platoon leader at a remote army outpost, immediately after the platoon’s return from an unsuccessful attempt to trap poachers in the act, coming back only with evidence of the extreme brutality of traps that maim and torture the animals who fall into them and then are cruelly slaughtered. I joined pilgrims visiting the remote village of Lumbini, Nepal, the site of palace and monastic ruins dating to the 3rd century B.C., honoring the location where Siddhartha Guatama Buddha was born.  

(High above Namche Bazar in the Himalayas; The soaring Himalayas above Khumjun;
 Kaci leaving LAX for her journey)

In addition to being inspired by the tranquility at the Maya Devi Temple, honoring Buddha’s mother, I also experienced a paradox: the constant clamor for tourist revenue from the impoverished, uneducated and non-Buddhist locals, in tandem with their hostile, disdainful and disrespectful treatment of the few tourists who endure the very long and difficult journey, most of whom tell me they’re glad they came, but are even happier they’re leaving. Meanwhile, Buddhist monks representing numerous nationalities remain sequestered in various elaborately-designed monasteries built to honor Buddha.

(Kaci with local children in Nepal; on peaceful Phewa Tal (Fewa Lake), Pokhara;
and typical Nepali grocery store)

My time in Nepal also included 11 consecutive days spent in silence at a meditation center with a rigorous schedule, up at 4 a.m. and lights out at 9:30 p.m., with lengthy meditation sessions sitting cross-legged as I learned ignore the physical challenges and  repeatedly tried to simply sit still. I also enjoyed 20 collective days of serenity at a nunnery in Kathmandu, surrounded by more than 100 Tibetan Buddhist nuns ranging from age 83 down to age 6, praying, studying, fulfilling responsibilities as the echoes of chanted mantras rang throughout the courtyard from 4:30 in the morning until late at night.  

(Kaci teaching English at a nunnery; a very clean toilet in Nepal;
and Kaci with abbot of nunnery and nun, Buddha Park, Kathmandu

Yes, there are ‘baby nuns,’ whose parents are thrilled their young daughters are getting the benefit of a formal education, learning to read, write and speak not only Tibetan, but also English, and are learning from revered Tibetan scriptures. They survive on donations from the public, offering prayers in exchange, and from the sales of a delicious, pure homemade incense made by one of the nuns. It costs only $30 a month to sponsor a nun, just $360 a year, but few volunteer to sponsor the older nuns, even though they’ve devoted their lives to praying and helping others in need.

These are but a few of the highlights, and I have only just begun writing about the incredible experiences and the special people I encountered and the new friends I’ve made along the path. The stories are ready to pour onto paper, and I'm eager to spill the anecdotes and the lessons I learned into a book chronicling self-discovery, set against the rugged backdrop of Nepal. I hope you'll want to read all about it. 

**

Happy Birthday Howard. Today is Howard Stern’s birthday celebration (actual birthday was 1.12). SiriusXM opens up his birthday bash to non-Satellite subscribers to share in the celebration. The festivities begin at 1 p.m. this afternoon and it will be broadcast live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. You can listen at: www.siriusxm.com. The free stream will be available on compatible mobile devices as well as online through simple one-click listening.

“I am honored by the number of performers who want to join me on stage, and the number of fans who want to get in. Now, thanks to SiriusXM, I can give the world access to this event for free through this special Internet audio stream in addition to my fans listening on their satellite radios,” said Howard. The event is being hosted by Jimmy Kimmel with guests including Louis C.K., David Letterman and Sarah Silverman, with musical performances by Jon Bon Jovi, John Fogerty, Steven Tyler and many others.

Seward Makes News. Bill Seward, morning sports at KFWB, called the USA Sevens Rugby tournament on the HSBC Sevens World Series from Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The show was sent out to more than 150 countries. “It was a perfect weekend until a person decided to turn in front of me on Pearblossom Highway. I am a big fan of seat belts and air bags,” emailed Seward.

Hear Ache. John Sebastian, veteran of KHJ, KLOS, KTWV, KXLA and KLAC, resigned from a six-station cluster in Roswell, New Mexico.

Overheard

• “We’re going to have on the Millionaire Madame this morning. There was a big article in the Daily News about all the hookers in town for Super Bowl. Where are they? How do you go about getting one?” (Don Imus, KCAA)

• “We don’t have Latino listeners.” (Bill Handel, KFI)

• "Don't think of Seattle as only a great home team. That's a fallacy." (Colin Cowherd, KSPN)

R Dub Jammin. Ever since R Dub, former pd at HOT 92.3, left the rhythmic AC station, he’s been red hot since appearing on Shark Tank trying to raise money for his syndicated show, Sunday Night Slow Jams. Benztown Radio Networks, his current syndicator, has added four new affiliates in the first weeks of 2014, which is the show’s 20th Anniversary year. The new affiliates are stations in Austin, Little Rock, Palm Springs, and Long Branch, New Jersey.

"Sunday Night Slow Jams is now in 75 markets,” said R Dub. He created the show in 1994 at the age of 17, at a tiny AM radio station in the middle of the Tucson desert.

Holiday Leftovers. Cindi Burkey sent along a video of local traffic reporters being Happy and enjoying a break in covering the congestion. “Well, I am the idiot riding on the back of Rick Williams, one of our news reporters,” emailed Cindi. Click the artwork to watch the fun.

The first person you see in the video is Kathy Moses, with the glasses.

The two groovy people with the great moves are Dona Dower (short dark hair) and Kirk Lewis (near the video's beginning)

Chris Payne and Fahd Sheikh are producers/reporters. Chris is in the striped shirt and Fahd is wearing black and doing a foot thing.

In the hallway dancing are Sabina Mora (short skirt, on left) and Wendy Sinclair (traffic reporters)

The lovely girl with the pink top who twirls around in the hallway (and who made the video and got us all to move and edited it) is Kalyna Astrinos, our tv personality. I told her she should do more of this sort of thing.

Vicki Cox has on the striped tights; Steve Counts is dancing with her at one point. You can see Kelsa Kinsley dance through it once, she's the only blonde. Nora Caballero is dancing in the hallway in a white shirt.

Ryan Duggan is the tall guy with the ponytail.  Bryan Vance is leaning over a keyboard.  Brian Otto is dancing with Kalyna and she is really manhandling him with some crazy dancing.

Terry Edwards (who really is a cool boss even though he looks a little bored, and I'm not just saying that) is snapping his fingers in the red shirt.

LARP Identity. John Richards wrote the other morning that he was listening to a story on KNX about a bank robbery in West Hollywood. There was an eyewitness identified as Carol Ramos. Ramos is a veteran news anchor who worked at KFWB and KABC for most of the 90s. She is married to KNX morning co-anchor Dick Helton.

Richards thought it would be appropriate to identify her as the wife of Helton. KNX pd Andy Ludlum isn’t bothered by the lack of reference. “I’m comfortable either way,” responded Ludlum. “Who Carol is married to isn’t really significant to this story. Because of her background as a journalist we were comfortable we were getting accurate information. Journalist might have better description to use since she gave a very clear and detailed eyewitness account of the event.”

Email Friday

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** Magnus is Back

“It was great reading about Johnny Magnus’ return to the air. I just recently wondered how he was doing. Now I know, thanks to LARadio.

He’s part of the L.A. fabric and it will be great to be able to tune him in. Plus, he’s a living musical encyclopedia. This is cool.” – J.J. Johnson

**Alert

“Alert the good folks of The Emirates, NEVER allow Brian Beirne to direct your boat into the water.

And tell Brian that thanks to the unfortunate drought in the Sacramento area, Folsum Lake drained to the point that someone found my ’63 Impala Honduras Maroon 327 S/S.

The interior’s a little funky.” – Bob Sherwood

** Rush’s Move to 1150 AM

“I wrote you not long ago, speculating that Rush Limbaugh's move to AM 1150 might have something to do with KFI’s license renewal. I think I’ve changed my mind.

Clear Channel is under a crushing load of debt, and there is speculation that the reason KFI hasn’t got a new mid-day host is because of budget constraints. KFI also has some very high-priced hosts: Bill Handel and John & Ken. So here’s what I now think is going on:

KFI wants out of those contracts, but as long as the ratings don’t go below certain levels, they either have to (a) keep paying the talent, or (b) take a hit with a large severance payout.

Much like a large store that is the anchor tenant in a shopping mall, Limbaugh was the anchor at KFI that brought in listeners who would stick around [or come in early in Handel’s case] to ‘shop’ the other shows.

With Limbaugh gone, and no replacement host for the early afternoon, there are likely to be fewer ‘shoppers’ [listeners]. The AM & PM drive-time ratings start to slide.

Poor ratings give KFI the ‘out’ they need to fire the hosts, and get rid of the big dollar contracts. Lower paid and/or unknowns – just like John & Ken were 20 years ago – are hired and the cycle begins all over again.

All this is just speculation on my part. I consider myself to be a pretty typical talk radio listener, and frankly Handel and J & K have run out of new and interesting things to say, so I don't tune in anymore.” – Gary Moe 

Weather Will Have a Beat at KKJZ as Johnny Magnus Returns

(January 30, 2014) Johnny Magnus, “the host who loves you most,” returns to Southern California radio at KKJZ on Saturday, February 15 at 6 a.m. with a Big Band show. It will run every weekend from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. “When Stephanie Levine, KKJZ station manager, told me that for personal reasons Chuck Cecil was leaving the Swing program on KKJZ, she was very distressed,” said Saul Levine of Mt. Wilson Broadcasters.  The company holds a 10-year contract with California State University, Long Beach for programming and administrative services. “It isn’t often that a dad can have a quick, simple solution (for my daughter). Immediately, I thought of one of the greatest air talents around Los Angeles, the one and only Johnny Magnus as the person to step up to the plate and take over on both Saturdays and Sundays. I called Johnny and he accepted. And not only that, but he insisted he will do the shows LIVE unlike the recorded version that had been on KKJZ. And on top of that Johnny has a personal collection of swing music that is unsurpassed. And, as I spoke to Johnny I realized that I was talking to a person who has the energy and voice of a 40 year old. Stay tuned because you are in for a big treat.” During two decades-long runs (1963-73 and 1984-94) at 710/KMPC, Magnus’ signature “Weather with a Beat” was a fan favorite. He has been heard on many other Southland stations (KGFJ, KAGB, KRLA, KGIL, KBRT, KIQQ, KPRZ, KJQY, and KLAC) and most recently with the many incarnations of the syndicated Music of Your Life Radio Network. Born near Frankfurt, Magnus fled Hitler’s Germany at age 10 and came to America speaking no English. Radio was his English teacher as he sat for hours listening to series like The Shadow and Green Hornet. At 16, he filled in at WWRL-New York, then went to WOV, doing remotes from The Baby Grand nightclub. At WABC he did broadcasts from New York’s Birdland Jazz Club. A year later, he produced and emceed United Cerebral Palsy Association telethons across the country before moving West. Johnny started at KGFJ while it was still MOR, moving to KMPC in 1963 as, he said, a “professor of sorts, delivering lessons in popular music.” He coined the traveling forecast bit, “weather with a beat,” done to a background tune. “I used a rhythm track with Harry James, and it clicked right away. Then Neil Hefti and Count Basie created this form called Cute, which left some holes in it for me to give the weather. I now have different versions.” The LA Times called Johnny the “Prince of Darkness,” a title originally given to him by Gary Owens, and that eventually proved to be prescient.  He wanted desperately to work days. Johnny said, “I got so tired of getting up from the dinner table and going to work. I wanted more out of life than that. I wanted to be able to go out with a girl at night. In all those years, I never saw a prime time tv show.”

Overheard.

• “There was room for everybody then. With today’s rules, I couldn’t sign the Grateful Dead.” (Joe Smith, former president of Capitol Records, Warner Bros., and Elektra/Asylum, and former jock at KFWB)

• “Metallica thru the 800 speakers at Staples was a religious experience and I believe counts as going to church today.” (Gary Moore, KLOS)

• “I understand that President Obama just signed an executive order demanding Boerner keep his tanning goggles on when he sits behind him.” (Dennis Miller, KRLA)

• “Just now playing back the rest of the Grammys. Robin Thicke, you hurt my feelings, messing around, NOT singing Chicago’s melodies.” (Anita Garner, from her Facebook page)

Beirne Travels. Brian Beirne, Mr. Rock 'n Roll at K-EARTH, is taking his band, SURFIN-The Beach Boys Tribute Band to Abu Dhabi where they will play at The Emirates Palace. Brian is also busy with two cruises in the next year; one is a 12-night Rhine River cruise. On the cruises to exotic locales, every day Brian shares stories about his personal relationships with the rock ‘n roll artists of the past 50 years. Check out the cruises at: www.legendaryshows.com

Cecil Hearing. The appointment of Johnny Magnus was prompted by the departure of Chuck Cecil, who will be leaving KKJZ on February 8. Chuck’s daughter wrote that her father’s The Swinging Years can still be heard on Sunday nights from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. on public radio station WPPB out of Long Island: http://peconicpublicbroadcasting.org/programs/swingin-years.

“Chuck sends his love and best regards to all of his loyal listeners in the Los Angeles area,” posted Chuck’s daughter on her Facebook pate. “With over 70 years broadcasting ‘those swinging sounds’ to you, Chuck hopes you will continue to listen and join us streaming from WPPB.”

Hear Ache. Thanks to Jeffrey Leonard for sending the fascinating 50-year-old memo from Capitol Records ... Bill A Jones will be guest vocalist with the Big Band Swing Express at Vitello’s Jazz Club on February 13.

Funnie.

Main Street, Los Gatos, California -Even the woman peering into the ruin is part of the mural
(thanks to Ed Ey for photo)

Email Thursday

We GET Email …

** Piano Man

“I found very interesting the fact that Piano Man was inspired when Billy Joel played at a bar at Wilshire & Western.  I used to live walking distance from that intersection when I first moved to Los Angeles. Here's a very entertaining well-made video of BJ singing the song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEPV4kolz0.” – Laura Brodian

** Huntin’ With Hunter

“Thanks for re-running the coverage of the funeral for Old HH.  It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly ten years since we lost Hunter Hancock.” – Lane Quigley

** Will Miss the Swingin’ Years

“Chuck Cecil is a veteran Los Angeles radio broadcaster and longtime host of the syndicated program The Swingin' Years, a ‘Best of’ radio show for the Big Band era in music, which lasted from 1935 to 1955.

It is sad that Chuck Cecil is leaving KKJZ on February 9. And with that my friends, The Swinging Years will be just another memory. What a tragedy!” – George Terlaak, Irvine

** K-JAZZ Change

“We'll miss Chuck Cecil, but Johnny Magnus will be the perfect replacement. It will be great to hear the Mag on the LA airwaves again, where he belongs.” – Don McCulloch

** LARP Identity

“There was a bank robbery in West Hollywood earlier this week. KNX aired the story and had an eyewitness to the goings-on outside the bank. Carol Ramos was identified by both KNX readers as a ‘listener.’ Wouldn't it have been more accurate to additionally identify her as the wife of KNX morning reader Dick Helton?” – John Richards

** SCSB Luncheon

“Thanks for sending Alan Oda to the Southern California Sports Broadcasters awards luncheon. As you can see, he did a great job. And thanks for the overall coverage, couldn’t ask for more.

The highlight other than Fred Roggin’s Hall of Fame Induction was Vin Scully’s eloquent speech while presenting Peter O'Malley a lifetime achievement award. He said of all the 23 events he’s attended, this one was his favorite, no doubt out of respect for Peter who’s not chopped liver when it comes to eloquence.” - Joe Cala

** Praise for Roggin

“Congratulations to Fred Roggin for the SCSB Hall of Fame honor. He’s one heck of a man.

Fred helped me get a job on the soap Santa Barbara proving he did MORE than sports.  :-)

I also saw him fill in on the Channel 4 News. Pretty damn good Fred.” – Brother Bill McKinney

** Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame

“Do you suppose the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame will become known by its initials – BARHF?” – Robert O’Brien, Huntington Beach

** Open Email to Andy Ludlum

“Please Andy, let Julie Chin, Jim Thornton, Charles Feldman, Dick Helton and the rest of the staff involved know how much I enjoyed and learned from your coverage of the Obama speech. 

As usual, it was professional, unbiased, and in my humble opinion, the best coverage and background information than any of the media I was listening to. I am hoping that Dick was reporting from home, not the studio as I expect him to wake me up tomorrow morning and he needs some sleep.

Talking about Dick the addition of the interviews that Dick has with Steve Lopez is really great and hard hitting. The banter between them this morning about D'Arcy is award material. It really makes the morning drive interesting.” – Bill Mann, South Pasadena 

Fred Roggin Inducted Into the Southern California Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 

(January 29, 2014) Celebrating the best of the local sportscasting community, the Southern California Sports Broadcasters (SCSB) gathered for their 23rd Annual Awards luncheon at the Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake.  Five individuals received SCSB Special Awards, along with the 2013 On-Air Awards.             Those receiving Special Awards included:             Fred Roggin, Hall of Fame Honoree             Dr. Frank Jobe, the Stu Nahan President’s Award             Peter O’Malley, the Gil Stratton Lifetime Achievement Award (Current SCSB Hall of Famers at luncheon: Fred Roggin, Ross Porter, Joe Cala, Chris Roberts, and Tom Kelly)

Other special award winners included Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw, UCLA Baseball Coach John Savage, Mater Dei High Basketball Coach Gary McKnight, and the UCLA Men’s Baseball and Women’s Soccer teams.  The SCSB also awarded a $5,000 scholarship to Megan Reza, a Media and Cultural Studies major at UC Riverside.

1. Peter O'Malley, Vin Scully, Joe Cala; 2. Fred Roggin, Richel Roggin, Ross Porter; 3. LARadio senior correspondent Alan Oda and Joe Cala; 4. James Worthy and Joe McDonnell

“When I arrived in town, Sunday nights were all about Jim Hill and his sports show.  He owned this town,” recalled Roggin. “When they brought me in, they told me my job was try to make a dent in the ratings. I knew that I couldn’t beat him doing the same thing, so I realized I had to do something different. I don’t know if we beat him, but we definitely did something different.”

Currently in his 33rd year as a sports anchor at KNBC/tv and doing fill-in work at AM 570 / KLAC, Roggin has earned 30 local Emmy Awards, 22 Golden Mike Awards, three Associated Press Awards, and numerous Press Club Awards, among his many honors. He has covered every Olympics since 1984, including this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Roggin has his own national following as the play-by-play announcer for the curling competition held during the Winter Games. “Did you know that, even in curling, there’s a drug scandal? It was obvious when a competitor took his broom and created in front of the stone a divot in the ice 12-feet deep,” claimed Roggin.

1. Lisa Bowman and Tommy Hawkins; 2. Ted Sobel and Joe Cala; 3. Vin Scully; and 4. Fred Roggin and Jaime Jarrin

Former Dodger owner and President Peter O'Malley was introduced by Vin Scully, who noted that in a past survey of the best companies to work for in America, the Dodgers were the only team mentioned in the top 25. Scully noted that every person seated with the O'Malley at their luncheon table were former Dodger employees. "My dad, Walter O'Malley, said it was important to treat people fairly, provide a clean facility, make sure it's a safe facility, and give the fans value," said O'Malley. He said that the current Dodger ownership team "is doing a great job" sharing the values of the O'Malley family.

The 2013 Radio On-Air winners were also announced:

            Vin Scully, KLAC, the Chick Hearn Best Radio Play-by-Play Award (also Best Television Play-by-Play)

Mychal Thompson, KSPN, Best Radio Color Commentary

Petros Papadakis, the Irv Kaze Best Radio Talk Show Award

KFWB (Ted Sobel, Bill Seward, Bob Harvey), Best Radio Anchor Staff

"I was very well pleased…we had a great turnout,” said Joe Cala, SCBA president. “It’s always a pleasure to see so many radio and tv luminaries – Fred Roggin, Jim Hill, Vin Scully – and we were especially honored to have Peter O’Malley and his sister, Terry O’Malley Seidler with us.”

It’s not surprising that the best tale of the day was delivered by Hall-of-Famer Vin Scully, who acknowledged his awards by sharing about his fear of making on-air bloopers, particularly the hazard of spoonerisms.  “Spoonerisms are named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner, prone to the error where letters of corresponding words get switched around,” explained Scully. The veteran Dodger announcer said that Reverend Spooner once exclaimed – to the horror of his audience – “let us glaze our asses” when trying to salute Queen Victoria, instead of the intended “let us raise our glasses.” Scully said that he and his fellow broadcasters were always aware that they were a phrase away from a potential disaster. “I once tried to state ‘there’s a shot hit to left field.’”  

Scully paused, then simply left the podium. (Story by Alan Oda. Photos by Alan Oda and Bonnie Burrow)

Ambitious Million Dollar Project to House Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame (January 28, 2014) Over the years, we have solicited ideas on how we can establish a Southern California Radio Hall of Fame. All of the ideas have met a dead end, unfortunately with much indifference.

What we have been unable to do locally has been accomplished 400 miles to the North. The California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) has been active in creating a physical location that will house the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame, the Maxwell Communications Library, the Society of Wireless Pioneers Archives, and the CHRS Vintage Radio Museum. The group is in escrow on a building in Alameda for $1.2 million. They have raised $750,000. The group needs another $450,000.

CHRS, an Educational 501(c)(3) organization, has created and operated a unique West Coast Educational Center for Radio and Radio History at the old KRE radio station building in Berkeley for the last 10 years. This vintage building will become the permanent home for the New Educational Center devoted to Radio. It is 3000 sq. ft. larger than the present KRE location. Naming rights for this building are possible for a $500K donation. “We see Radio as transformational to 20th century society and culture as the Internet has been to the 21st, and we have a passion to tell its story,” according to the CHRS website.

“We realize this building has no broadcasting history, but it fulfills our efforts to have a permanent home,” said the website. “We will recreate the KRE studio and control room in this building. It will allow us to continue all of our activities and programs, with possibly some minor changes. And it will allow us to grow as an organization. This location will give CHRS permanency. We are going to sacrifice our historical location in exchange for a permanent and more practical location. Because, the reality is, we are now responsible for a world class collection of artifacts and historical archives that must be protected and preserved. And we will only move once, unless it is our choice. That and having an educational center devoted to radio for future generations is what permanency is about.”

Voices Over the Pacific. Andrew Baker wrote yesterday asking if anyone knew the host of the recorded in-flight music to Hawaii in the 60s. He thought it was United Airlines. “Kris Erik Stevens (l) used to do in-flight shows for Delta—but then so did another million people,” wrote Dave Mason, Assistant Program Director, KRTH- K-Earth 101.

“I did do inflight show for various airlines,” responded Stevens. “Which I’m sure did the Hawaii route. I was on both Western and Delta for quite a few years and may have done United as well. It’s a bit of a blur at this point in my career (smile). I was also the voiceover talent on airline tv/radio commercials for United and Mexicana at one time.”

Bill A Jones wrote thinking that it could have been his friend Don Savage. “He had a long run at what is now called SpaFax Inflight.”

Roger Carroll, former personality at 710/KMPC, said that he did in-flight Hawaiian music for United and Western Airlines for Bill Zell’s  company. 

Overheard.

• “Did Stevie Wonder know what Daft Punks really looked like? Those were the guys with helmets on their head.” (Gary Bryan, K-EARTH)

• “Can we just say the robot helmets are dumb? There they are sitting in the audience wearing the helmets for four hours. Well, that’s just dumb.” (Ralph Garman, KROQ)

• “The World of Concrete Convention took place in Las Vegas.  No word on whether any old-school mobsters attended.” (Ira David Sternberg)

• “President Obama likes to make promises in front of a lot of people and then apologize in front of a few people.” (Ben Shapiro, KRLA) 

• "President Obama is going to go down in history with his only legacy being the worst roll-out of an Internet site in the history of the Internet." (Bill Handel, KFI)

• "I was listening to Macklemore tonight. I like it. Get this, Macklemore is white. Some people are mad that a white rapper won Best Rap song. That's like saying Charlie Pride shouldn't be singing Country songs. That's like saying black athletes shouldn't be playing hockey." (Leo Terrell, KABC)

• “Miley Cyrus seems to be a deeply troubled soul. She’s doing damage to kids, but she’s damaged, it seems to me. And what is it with sticking her tongue out all the time. I don’t get it. She reminds me of my bull dog except her tongue is out more than his.” (Dennis Prager, KRLA)

• “Watching the Grammy’s – who the hell are these people?” (Jack Hayes)

• “OK, I loved the Grammys and all the music royalty they trotted out. Excellent! BUT, not ONE jazz musician or song represented? I stopped counting Country collaborations at eight. Even Classical was represented (Ylang Ylang on piano.) But NO love for America’s only indigenous form of music? For shame.” (Deborah Howell, KTWV)

Hear Ache. Jami Mayberry worked at KYMS in the mid-80s. She is undergoing a CT scan tomorrow to see if there is any cancer remaining in her body. “How am I handling the stress?” she asked rhetorically. “Well, yesterday I ate a whole box of Girl Scout cookies. Ha. The lemon ones.” ... According to a number of reports, Chuck Cecil is leaving KKJZ on February 9. 

Funnie.

Golden Mikes Golden for KNX, KFI, and KPCC

(January 27, 2014) Celebrating the best of local journalism, Southern California radio and tv stations gathered together at the 64th annual Golden Mike Awards on Saturday night at Universal City.  KFI and KPCC tied for the most radio Golden Mikes, while KNX received the “Best Newscast” trophy.  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. KNX photo - Back row: Paige Osburn, Frank Mottek, Julie Chin, Diane Thompson, Laraine Herman, Debbie Wright, Kathy Kiernan, Andy Ludlum, Jon Baird, Pete Demetriou Front row: Charles Feldman, Chris Sedens, David Singer

Talkradio KFI received awards for the following:

Best Individual Writing, “Superman Stops a Shoplifter”

Best Sports Reporting, “Playing for College”

Best News Reporting, “DWP Worker Steals and Deals”

Best Serious Feature Reporting, “LASD Gun Buyback”

Best Light Feature Reporting, “The Crullant”

Best Use of Sound, “From the Railroad to the Gym”

Best Internet News Reporting, “Oscar Buzz 2013” 

Pasadena City College station KPCC won the honors for:

Best News Public Affairs Program, “Air Talk: George Zimmerman Verdict”

Best Feature News Series Reporting, “Prop 37”

Best Serious Feature Reporting, “Baby Coroner”

Best Entertainment Reporting, “Huell Howser Tribute”

Best Business and Consumer Reporting, “Surgery Center Database”

Best Governmental and Political Reporting, “Compton Mayor”

Best Medical and Science Reporting, “Super Salamanders”

All-News KNX was also a multiple winner, receiving six awards:

Best News Broadcast Over 15 Minutes, “KNX Afternoon News”

Best Newscast Writing, “KNX Afternoon News at 5pm”

Best Live Coverage of a News Story: “Santa Monica Rampage”

Best Hard News Series Reporting, “Healthcare Uncovered: A Guide to the Affordable Care Act”

Best Light Feature Reporting, “You Say San Pee-dro, I Say San Pay-dro”

Best News Special, “Healthcare Uncovered: A Guide to the Affordable Care Act”

KFWB was recognized in two categories:

Best Sports Segment

Best Traffic Report

In the small market categories, KVTA-AM in Ventura won for “Best Radio Newscast Under 15 Minutes” for its KVTA 8:05 AM Local News.

Broadcast luminaries honored with special awards at the show included Dick Enberg, the nationally acclaimed sports broadcaster and writer who received the association’s Broadcast Legend Award.  Until recently, Enberg was the only person to have received national Emmy awards as an announcer, writer and producer. He currently does television play by play for the San Diego Padres.

John Brooks, another Lifetime Achievement honoree, spent more than 40 years covering Southland news on radio, including a full gamut of topics -- from space missions to natural disasters to crime and human interest. His colleagues have called his reports, “always accurate and delivered in a smooth, entertaining style.”  John retired recently after 34 years reporting for all-news radio stations KFWB and KNX. (Photo: Jeff Baugh, Rhonda Kramer, and John Brooks)

“It was a really solid and entertaining show for all,” emailed KNX’s Jeff Baugh. John Brooks and Giselle Fernandez and Dick Enberg were really candid, funny and empowering during the acceptance speeches. Standing ovations were given to all three.”

KCRW Announces Press Play. Today at noon, KCRW begins a live daily show hosted by Madeleine Brand (l). According to the station’s press release, Press Play mixes “Madeleine’s distinct perspective and thought-provoking guests. Press Play will examine stories that truly matter to Southern California - a cultural hub for many of the nation’s most creative industries and cutting-edge ideas.” The station release continued: “Among the primary goals of the show is to explore Los Angeles as a major player in the spheres of politics, entertainment, arts and culture, technology, and science - both nationally and internationally.  This means looking at the world through the lens of Los Angeles, and turning to guests uniquely tapped into the region’s culture. Press Play will also take advantage of such KCRW talent as Frances Anderton, Kim Masters, Matt Miller and Anne Litt, as well as those who cover food, literature, politics, art, and entertainment.” “It is our great pleasure to announce Press Play and welcome Madeleine Brand to the station,” said Jennifer Ferro, KCRW’s president and general manager. “Madeleine is like that good friend you always wish to have - intelligent without being intimidating, versed in a wide-variety of subjects from world news to pop culture, a good sense of humor, and always knows what is going on. At KCRW we’re about connecting Los Angeles to the world and the world to Los Angeles. Press Play is our latest conduit to achieving that goal.”

“I’ve been a listener and member of KCRW ever since I returned to Los Angeles ten years ago to host NPR’s Day to Day,” said Brand.  “I want Press Play to continue KCRW’s role as a cultural destination for Los Angeles.  You can listen live at noon or download it later, so whenever you want, you can press play to listen to our unique blend of news and culture.”

Who’s driving the mornings? A breakdown of listener’s habits as reported in the most recent Nielsen ratings (Holiday '13) reveals listeners’ preferences during the all-important morning drive:

Hear Ache. Did you know that Billy Joel used to play at a tiny piano bar at Wilshire & Western in LA? According to Uncle Joe Benson at 100.3/the Sound, that’s what inspired his song Piano Man. The Classic Rock station is giving tickets to Billy Joel’s first Hollywood Bowl appearance … Ben Shapiro, morning co-host at KRLA, may leave the airways at any moment. His wife is nine months pregnant … Bill Handel is planning his extravaganza for February 22 at the Grove in Anaheim … One of the go-to restaurants for entertainment “power lunches” belongs to Ryan Seacrest, who is partnered with Adam Sandler. The restaurant is Bouchon in Beverly Hills. The two owners throw many of their events at Bouchon.

Overheard.

• “My mother had a lifetime Kaiser plan based on the union contract my dad had. It continued on when my dad died. My mother was livid when her premiums went from $8 to $13 a month. She went berserk. And that’s for a class A platinum plan.” (Bill Handel, KFI)

• “What do you call a sleep-walking nun? A Roman Catholic.” (Surfer Dude, character on Gary Bryan morning show, K-EARTH)

• “Four stars for this strange, moving, and very funny August: Osage County.” (Michael Medved, KRLA)

• “It seems to me that America by Simon and Garfunkel is one of the quintessential songs of the 60's.” (Mike Nolan, from his Facebook page)

• “Has anyone ever seen Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus at the same place at the same time?” (Ben Shapiro, KRLA)

Ganador del premio. Jaime Jarrin, the voice of the Dodgers for Spanish listeners, was honored by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters on Friday, with previous honoree Vin Scully presenting the award.  Jarrin starts his 56th year of play-by-play during the 2014 season. Click the artwork.

Funnie. Rich Brother Robbin celebrated his 70th birthday over the weekend. He wrote: “I hope this poem will have the same effect on you as it did on me ...  

Walk With Me by the Water, a beautiful poem about growing older.

Shit ...

 I've forgotten the words

Email Monday

We GET Email …

** Huntin’ With Hunter

“What an outstanding story of Hunter Hancock, and Margi too.  The memories flooded my head and brought back hours of conversation with my wife.  What a great time radio was then.” – Stan White, Seattle

** Hunter Was on Gower

“KGFJ was the station I listened to  back in the late 50’s and 60’s. I couldn't stand KFWB or KRLA. They had too much ‘pop’ music and silly dj talk.  

Hunter Hancock’s office/studio was on Gower Street above Naples Restaurant, across the street from Columbia Square and when I worked in the script department there, I  could look out the window into them. Great line up:  Larry McCormick, HH, Johnny Otis, etc and great r&b music.

Before moving to Los Angeles, I lived in Palo Alto in the late 1940s and early 50s. We listened to Jumpin’ George Oxford, white guy on a black station, KSOL, playing r&b. His sign off line was:  ‘I love everybody – especially you baby!’” – Tom Bernstein

** Moon Doggie Memories

“When I was a kid in Akron, Ohio, Alan Freed used to be on a station. Every day for 15 minutes, he would read the comics in the paper and I would follow along as I wasn’t old enough to read yet. By junior high, he was on a station in Cleveland with a night time show called the Moon Dog Show.” – Ron Karam

** Radio Watering Hole

“Seeing that photo of the old Nickodel’s made me want to slide up to the bar.” – Bob Koontz

** Carlucci Had a Crystal Ball

“Mike Carlucci is one of the best examples of a radio jock who saw the business as it was – and diversified. He is truly an amazing and talented person, who's done so much , with no signs of slowing down. He clearly sets an example for others. Go get ’em Mike!” – Gary West, MrPopHistory.com

** Culver Roles

“I enjoyed seeing the Howard Culver photo you recently ran.

Howard developed himself into quite a newsman. In fact when I was pd at KGIL, we had not only Culver, but Frank Bingman handling newscasts.

Side note:  One of Howard Culver’s most memorable radio roles was the lead in the show Straight Arrow.  The announcer for the show was Frank Bingman.” – Chuck Southcott

** In-Flight Voice 

"Do you remember which dj [L.A.-based as best I can recall] hosted the recorded in-flight music to Hawaii? I want to say it was on United, but am not sure. Thanks for any light you can shed!" - Andrew Baker    

Sunday Funnie

Two Nebraska residents are out hunting, and as they are walking along  they come upon a huge hole in the ground. They approach it and are amazed at the size of it.

The first hunter says, "Wow, that's some hole; I can't even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is!" The second hunter says," I don't know. Let's throw somethin' down there, listen and see how long it takes to hit bottom."

The first hunter says, "Hey, there's an old automobile transmission overthere. Give me a hand, we'll throw it in and see."

So they pick it up and carry it over and say, Omaha, hut one, hut two, hut three and heave it in the hole. They are standing there listening, looking over the edge,when they hear a rustling behind them. As they turn around, they see a goat come crashing through the underbrush, run up to the hole and, without hesitation, jump in headfirst.

While they are standing there staring at each other in amazement, peering into the hole, trying to figure out what that was all about, an old farmer saunters up. "Say there," says the farmer, "you fellers didn't happen to see my goat around here anywhere, did you?"

The first hunter says, "Funny you should ask, but we were just standing here a minute ago and a goat came running out of the bushes doin' bout a hunnert miles an hour and jumped headfirst into this here hole!"

The old farmer said, "Naw, that's impossible! I had him chained to a transmission." (Thanks to Jim Bain)

LARadio Archives from August/September 2004

Hunter Hancock, Pioneer of R&B L.A. Broadcasting, Dies  (August 9, 2004) "Huntin' With Hunter" was the familiar cry every afternoon in the fifties and sixties. Hunter Hancock, an early pioneer of r&b music in L.A. radio history, died August 2 at the age of 88. He was living at Claremont Manor, a retirement home in Claremont. During his time in L.A. radio, he worked at KFOX, KFVD/KPOP and KGFJ. In 2001, Hunter participated in LARadio.com Day at the Museum of Television & Radio where he shared many stories about those early days when r&b was emerging from the white halls of high school into the mainstream. (Photo: Perry Allen, Hunter Hancock, and Jim Hawthorne) On September 25, 1954, comedian Stan Freberg had his record parody of the Chord’s song Sh-Boom played on the CBS show Jukebox Jury, a show that featured new music and a panel of judges who voted a Hit or a Miss. Stan was quoted in Billboard as saying about his parody, "I hope this puts an end to r&b." The article quoted r&b dj Hunter Hancock: "It’ll take more than Freberg to stop r&b!" What Alan Freed was to r&b on the East Coast, Hunter Hancock was to r&b on the West Coast. He set a standard for a new generation of kids who were ready to embrace anything but the prevailing Pop Standards of Perry Como, Doris Day and Patti Page. The voice was unmistakable to a youngster growing up on the beach in Santa Monica with his tube-infested Philco "portable" radio. "From bebop to ballad, swing to sweet, and blues to boogie…some of the very best in rhythm and blues records, featuring some of the greatest and most popular musicians, Negro singers, and entertainers in the world." That was how he opened his show. The man in control was Hunter Hancock, long before there was Chuck Blore, Boss Radio, 11-10 Men or Color Radio. Hunter arrived in Los Angeles when I was two years old, in 1943. By the time I discovered radio and the world of the disc jockey in my pre-teen years, KLAC and KMPC dominated the personality radio dial playing Pop Standards. Tucked away in a small house with no air conditioning on Sunset Boulevard, at the current site of the Cinerama Dome Theatre, was KGFJ. In a house full of personalities, Hunter had the insight to play the most popular r&b records of the day. He didn’t play Rick Nelson’s I’m Walkin.’ He played the original by Fats Domino. Today you wouldn’t think twice about what Hunter did, but at the time it was a big deal. When Hunter arrived in L.A. he started working at KFVD (1020AM). He had an hour show on Sundays sponsored by Todd’s Clothing Store. "My job was to appeal to the Negro customer so I played jazz music and the rest of the time I was the staff announcer," Hunter told me by phone from his retirement home in Claremont in a 1999. By the late 1940s a fortuitous meeting with a rep from Modern Records encouraged Hunter to play "race" records, which was rhythm ‘n blues music. "I started with one ‘race’ record a show and the reaction was so strong that the next show I played two and soon my entire show was r&b. My show very quickly went to one hour, then one and a half and a little over a year I was on 3 and a half hours a day," said Hunter. In 1950 the Sentinel newspaper said Hunter was the most popular dj in Los Angeles among the Negro population. Hunter was born on Good Friday, April 21, 1916. Hunter was born white in Uvalde, Texas. His father built stone buildings in Hico, Texas. "When that job ended my father led a big brass band. During World War One we lived in New Mexico where my dad worked in a mine for the war efforts. After the war we went back to Uvalde and my dad raised fighting gamecocks, which was legal then. He also repaired and tuned pianos. I was two weeks out of high school when he died." Hunter’s mother was a piano teacher and his brothers have gone on to careers in music. His older brother was a violinist in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the other played in a dance orchestra. Before Hunter got to Los Angeles he worked on the radio in San Antonio and Laredo. "Where I came from there was no respect for black people. In Los Angeles, my entire career I played black music and worked with black people. They are wonderful people. Thank God I changed," Hunter said. You can imagine the shock of the black people when he first appeared at concerts at Wrigley Field, sock hops, and the Lincoln Theatre and they saw for the first time that the man leading the r&b music radio charge was white. The white people were shocked to learn that he was white. "The black people accepted me because I was playing their music when no one else was," Hunter emphasized. At one time during the 1950s Hunter worked 2 ½ hours in the evening at KGFJ, 3 ½ hours on KPOP in the afternoons and a gospel show on Sundays. KFVD became KPOP and it was in the mid-1950s that I first met Hunter when I was a gofer for Earl McDaniel. Hunter recorded his evening show from his office in Hollywood and his on-air partner, Margi, would play it back. Why did you record your show? "I was single and wanted to go out in the evenings. It was as simple as that." In 1955, KNXT (now KCBS)\Channel 2 gave Hunter a half-hour on Friday nights to feature a show with local black artists. "We had everyone from Duke Ellington to Fats Domino to Little Richard," remembered Hunter. The show was called Rhythm ‘n Bluesville. Hunter was a hunter. The walls of his office were filled with his prize trophies. "Your hunting wouldn’t go over so well today?" I asked. He was quick to retort, "If you don’t hunt, the herds get out of control and they die of malnutrition. Most people don’t know that." In that 1999 interview I asked if he had any of his animal trophies left? "A wolverine. I’m looking at it right now. It’s sitting on top of a wall unit. I don’t know where the rest are. For a while I had them stored next to a gun shop where some of the boys would gather every Tuesday and tell lies. The rest were kept at a gas station in Glendale, but the guy went out of business and I never saw him or them again." He has killed buffalo, moose, elk, deer antelope and goats. He said he camped or visited 49 states and hunted in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, British Columbia, Mexico and Texas. In the late summer of 1982, Hunter was camping with his wife Dorothy in an isolated area. Two days later he was home when he experienced chest pains. He was rushed to Cedars Sinai Hospital. "Two days earlier and I would have been camping and I wouldn’t be here today," Hunter said matter-of-factly. He was going to have three-way by-pass heart surgery but the vein in his leg was so good, they did a six-way by-pass surgery. In this 1999 interview, I asked Hunter if he thought much about those glory days in early Southern California radio? "Only when someone reminds me. At my retirement home there are a couple of workers who remember my radio work," according to Hunter. He quit radio because of the "nervous strain" of putting together daily shows, mc’ing at records hops, running a record label. "I was taking Valium four times a day and finally got off that and started taking Zantac," he said. "My stomach is not really in great shape and my heart has been acting up." His wife of 42 years passed away in February of 1999. Hunter continued to talk in retirement. "I’m still using my mouth yakking it up," volunteered Hunter when asked about how he filled his days. He recorded text at the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic eight hours a week. "In my retirement manor I try to do everything I can do to make the people here feel good. Many are depressed and getting old." The 83-year old recounted a recent dinner conversation where everyone talked about his or her spouses. "I told them that I promised my wife that I would never marry again," said Hunter. One elderly lady swooned, "My heart is breaking knowing I don’t have a chance to marry you, Hunter." Another offered: "Who would want to marry him?" Those at the table laughed. One Saturday night Hunter entertained the people living in his manor with music and airchecks from the Cruisin’ series. He told the marriage story to the delight of the group. "People cheered me up when I was sick. Now it’s my turn," said Hunter. Hunter Hancock was a pioneer in the history of Los Angeles radio. He led the charge in the airing of r&b music when no one else was. His contribution to Southland radio has been indelibly etched. Hunter played a significant role in the life of many people. The following is from Lane Quigley:   “By the time I was born in 1949, Hunter Hancock's daily program was already on the air for over a year. It wasn't known as rhythm & blues at the time. The kinder moniker was Jump Blues. Most folks called it ‘race music.’ Hunter's ‘Harlem Matinee’ soon became the most popular show with LA's black population. The early 50s knew the music as rhythm & blues and his audience grew to include lots of young whites and Latinos digging the sounds of Big Jay McNeely, The Robins, Johnny Otis, Earl Bostic, Ruth Brown, Jesse Belvin, The Clovers, Roy Milton and other great artists of the day.   In 2000, The Southern California Doo Wop Society honored Hunter Hancock with a concert featuring a number of legendary 1950s artists. The outpouring of love from the audience was incredible. Hunter was a humble man, and he was truly surprised that so many people even remembered who he was.  I had the pleasure and privilege of becoming friends with Hunter over the past four years. I would speak to him regularly over the phone and visit him at his retirement home in Claremont when I could. Even as his health was failing, he remained kind, upbeat and funny. He was an avid photographer and loved to share albums of his favorite photos.  In 2000, I persuaded him to ‘come out of retirement’ to do another ‘Huntin' with Hunter’ program, which aired as part of The Memory Lane show on www.RockitRadio.net. Although it had been 1/3 of a century since he had done a show, he never missed a beat.  He was as energetic and corny as ever. We will soon be re-running the program on RockitRadio in tribute to Old HH.  I feel truly honored to have become friends with Hunter over the past few years.  He is truly an icon of LA Radio. Long before there was Top 40, Color Radio, Boss Radio, More Hits More Often, Mega, Power or any of the other over-used adjectives, there was Hunter Hancock. A true legend. Rest in Peace Old HH.” Thanks, Lane.  Hunter Hancock Hosts His Memorial Service  (September 2, 2004) Hunter Dunagan Hancock, pioneer r&b dj who died last month, orchestrated one last show. In one of the more bizarre memorial services ever encountered, Hunter was host for his own funeral celebration. Showtime started precisely at 2 p.m. last Saturday at the Claremont Methodist Church in Claremont. In a congregation filled with radio people, r&b stars (Jewel Akens, members of the Platters, and Robert & Johnny), and friends from Claremont Manor (his home for the past 8 years), we went Huntin’ With Hunter one last time.  Over the sound system, Hunter welcomed the guests. “Now, let’s sing four hymns. Relax, I only want you to sing one verse,” said Hunter. And off we were in a rousing round of hymns accompanied by a full choir. When we finished, Hunter’s voice suggested, “There is a place for us in His heavenly kingdom.” He then asked us to join him in the 23rd Psalm. And that’s the way it went for an hour and a half. There was a screen near the front of the church where award-winning photographs were shown that represented his passion for photography.  Pastor Robert Davis read many messages from his friends and colleagues. “Hunter was 40 years ahead of his time and he was color blind,” was one message. On two separate occasions Hunter remembered his life as he talked about himself and his wife Dorothy. He even told some corny jokes, reminiscent of his broadcasting career in the 1950s and ‘60s. At the end of the service, Hunter, a tenor, sang Panis Angelicus. He then asked the congregation to sing one last hymn that ended with “Rejoice.” Hunter wanted his friends to sing out loudly Rejoice. “Rejoice not that I am gone, but that I have joined Dorothy in Heaven. And perhaps one day we will all be together again.” There was hardly a dry eye in the church.  (The Master Blaster Tom Reed (KGFJ, KMET, XPRS, KDAY); Church lobby; Jewel Akens) Hunter recorded his memorial service about two years ago, according to a church spokesperson. He came back twice to make changes. In late May Hunter was mainly confined to bed and he kept in touch with other residents in Claremont Manor by cell phone. He was always cheering others with his corny jokes as long as he could. On May 31 he asked his doctor how much time he had to live. “One minute to two months,” the doctor responded. Hunter got all he could out of the prediction. He passed away two months and a couple of days later.  (Claremont Church and R&B favorites from Robert & Johnny and the Valiants) Hunter Hancock was one of a kind on the radio, in his life, and now in death. He did it his way.

Is a Clear Channel Shell Game in Operation?

(January 24, 2014) Despite what you think of Clear Channel (and there are plenty of opinions both pro and con), the company has been the leader of the industry, primarily because of size. Many times Clear Channel would institute something, then like a domino effect, other station owners would follow suit.

Starting modestly in the early 1970s, the Mays family eventually owned over 1,200 radio stations. In 2008, Clear Channel went public with a leveraged buy-out from Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners for a whopping $18.7 billion.

The purchase could not have come at a worse time. The national economy began its free-fall. By 2010, the New York Post was reporting a possibility that Clear Channel was facing bankruptcy.

As one observes the local Clear Channel cluster, there is a feeling of a major struggle going on inside the walls of the Pinnacle Building headquarters. Programming needs resources, yet corporate is not being accommodating. For example, when the decision was made last year to abandon Rush Limbaugh at KFI and slide him over to KTLK (now KEIB) at 1150 AM, there was an announcement that Gary Hoffmann would be given the 5 a.m. – 6 a.m. shift, followed by Bill Handel from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. and Bill Carroll would move two hours earlier from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. This would provide an open opportunity from 1p.m. – 3 p.m. to add a new voice to what was promoted as “live and local” from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

All of this was to start in January but it didn’t and hasn’t. Where is the new talk show host, or is there no money to pay this individual? There is speculation that Clear Channel is under a mandate of “one out before one in.”

If corporate is operating under an existing head count cap, Clear Channel must eliminate someone before a new one can be added. You might respond by saying, Rush Limbaugh is gone, shouldn’t that open up a slot. Rush only moved to a sister station. 1150 AM is made up of syndicated programming but apparently still comes under the head count “one out before one in.”

We see it manifest itself at Clear Channel’s sports station, KLAC. Pat O’Brien and Steve Hartman are gone, but they were replaced by Steve Gorman (photo-drummer from the Black Crowes). He will eventually have a partner on the air in Nashville.

So, is there a shell game going on with management sliding the walnut shell over the different dayparts?

To an outsider, it is difficult to understand how upper management can create sanctions while local programming rearranges the on-air shifts creating a hole to be filled and the local people don’t know this.

If any of this is true, expect to see the expanded hours for the talent at KFI for some time to come. The now $21 billion in debt is seemingly strangling Clear Channel.

AfterMidnite. Go Country 105 KKGO has added Country overnight show, CMT After MidNite with Cody Alan. Alan will also be a regular contributor to the station with call-ins reporting the latest news live from Nashville on KKGO’s morning show. Cody Alan has more than 20 years' experience on the air, and winner of two Academy of Country Music Awards for ‘National Personality of the Year.’  “It’s truly a dream come true to soon be on Go Country 105!” stated Cody Alan. “With all that CMT and After MidNite deliver, I’m excited to give fans in Southern California 360-degrees of Country music coverage, across multiple media platforms.”

Hear Ache. A memorial for Howard Anderson, founder of the Highway Stations, will be held tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. at: 10740 Ohio Ave LA 90024. A family burial at Forest Lawn is set for this morning. 

KNX Heroes. KNX honors its 2013 Heroes today with a special luncheon at Hollywood and Highland. “It's a great event,” emailed Diane Thompson. “There's nothing like spending two hours with a roomful of some of the bravest, most compassionate and inspiring people in Southern California.” The afternoon co-anchor has sponsored this project for years. “Some of my favorite hero stories include the Santa Barbara man who grants wishes for dying adults, the bus driver who pulled two motorists out from underneath a fallen tree, the North Hills couple who pass out ‘bags of hope’ on LA's skid row, and the Hollywood costume designer who cradled an injured woman in her arms after a frightening roll-over crash on the 5 freeway.” Diane concluded: “This is my seventh year as host and it is a humbling experience to be with so many amazing people!”

Art Laboe, nights at HOT 92.3 and recipient of the LARadio Lifetime Achievement Award, is still producing great concerts and he's got a bunch of them set for Valentine's Day.

Funnie. A son sends a hooker to his father as a birthday gift. She knocks on the door. The father opens the door. She says, ‘Hi, I’m here to give you super sex. The father thinks for a moment and responds, ‘I’ll take the soup.’ (Caller to Conway & Steckler, KLSX, 2004)

Email Friday

We GET Email …

** Planning for Rush’s Solo Debut on 1150 AM

“From LARadio this week: ‘This was a rare situation with an early game,’ emailed KEIB pd Robin Bertolucci. ‘Most Kings games start late afternoon or early evening. Once or twice a year there is an early game such as yesterday's. This one forced us to pre-empt 30 minutes of Rush's show since coverage started at 11:30.’

So Clear Channel has been working on the move of Rush for 640 to 1150 for weeks if not months, then they start promoting the ‘big’ day’ and what happens? The Kings have a day game. So no one thought to look at the Kings schedule? It’s only been published for 4 or 5 months. How embarrassing.” - Bob Koontz

** Lois Culver Story “In his story, Jim Hilliker mentioned Lois Culver’s husband, Howard Culver (d. 1984). Howard was also one of Jack Webb’s ‘regulars,’ on Dragnet and Adam-12 in the 60s and 70s. I just ran across a website page with photos of a good number of his regulars. (click Howard Culver photo for site) Does any L.A. tv subchannel run MeTV? Those two shows air each weekday afternoon.” – John Adkins, Phoenix  (Ed. note: MeTV is available on Channel 56.3 and on several cable and satellite outlets.)

** Does Holiday Ratings Survey Mean Anything?

“I wonder why the Christmas numbers for KOST are worth anything.  The season has past and everyone knows the numbers will return to ‘normal’ for the next 11 months. No ad sales will be based on the stunt programming even if it is a yearly event.  Am I missing something?” – Doug Brown

** KOST Holiday Music Success

“Tomorrow's headline on LARadio.com:  KOST Radio Switches to All-Christmas, All-The-Time, Year 'Round!” – Jerry Downey, Detroit

** Carlucci’s Gold

"Great story on Mike Carlucci. He just happens to be a friend of mine, and I can attest he is a really hard working dude! Plus funny as well, good times every time I see him.” – Mike Raphone Ritto

** Passing of Nelkane Benton’s Husband

“I too would like to add my condolence to Nelkane Benton on the passing of her husband. Her sweet and short statement about her husband was so touching, it moved me deeply.” – Steve Chang, Venice 

** Geezer Rock “I loooove today's funny and all those old geezers and their rock music.” – Diane Thompson ** Geezer Rock Variation “As I told Fred Jacobs when he featured that cartoon on his blog several days ago, it appears that Mimi Chen [who originally posted it on her Facebook page] found an altered version of the cartoon. The original is entitled ‘Stones/Beatles’ and has only four ‘talk balloons’ arguing ‘Stones!’ ‘Beatles!’ Here’s the link to the artist’s website: http://www.inkognito.de/postkarten/nach-themen/satire/7520/stones/beatles” – K.M. Richards

** Howard Anderson Memories

“Howard Anderson and I were good friends. I hadn’t heard from him lately and I had a note to call him this week. 

Years ago, I got him involved with SCBA and the suggested he run for the NAB Board of Directors. Eventually he served as Radio Board Chairman for two consecutive terms. We used to meet for lunch about once a month but I knew he didn't sound right about a year ago. He was a wonderful person and had all of the right values.” – Bob Fox 

Carlucci Wins Announcing Gold at Olympic Venues (January 23, 2014) Mike Carlucci has always prided himself in being a double, or even a triple threat in the world of Los Angeles radio/entertainment. If one assignment goes away, he has a couple of options available to fall back on. Mike was born in San Francisco, and grew up in the East Bay. When he moved with his parents to Orange County in the mid-1970s “there was nothing but orange groves.” Mike started his radio career at KSON/KNTF-Ontario, then moved to KGGI-Riverside. In the early '80s he jocked at KDES and KPLM-Palm Springs. He worked at KFI in 1984 as a weekend and fill-in jock before the station jumped to talk radio. He hooked up at Country KIKF where he was known as Mike West. From 1988 to 1995 he worked at the Unistar/Westwood One Country format. He also worked at KFWB in the late '90s anchoring sports updates and joined KLAC in 2001in the same capacity.

In the spring of 1994, Mike began a new corridor of employment as the public-address announcer at Dodger Stadium. “When I was growing up my idol was Vin Scully. I used to imitate him as a kid and to think that I worked a couple of booths away from him at Dodger Stadium for a decade was great. Vinnie is a super guy and the stories he fills you with during the lull of time between pitches is sensational. Also his longevity as the symbol of Dodger baseball for so many decades is amazing.”

During the mid-90s, after the Dodger home games, he would rush to KYSR for the station’s all-night shift. As part of his multi-tasking approach, Mike was also the booth announcer at KDOC/TV in Orange County, now being held by Charlie Tuna. In 1995, he added Anaheim Mighty Ducks P.A. announcer duties and numerous voiceovers to his busy schedule. He joined the San Diego Gulls as P.A. announcer and back-up play-by-play in 1997 as well as backing up the P.A. mic at Staples Center for the Los Angeles Kings. He rejoined the Ducks in ‘07 for two more years. Mike moved up to Salt Lake City in February, 2002 to announce both men’s and women’s ice hockey at the Winter Olympics and this opened up a whole new set of opportunities. How did he get into the arena of P.A. Stadium announcer for a number of Olympic sports? “I knew a friend of an Olympic producer for the Winter games who was looking for announcers for specific sports people with specialized talents,” said Mike, over lunch at the Olive Garden in Oxnard. “I called the guy, he called back, did a quick demo, sent it to him, and boom, and a week later I was hired through the Olympic organizing committee.”

He was invited to do the baseball stadium English announcing in Greece in 2004 and 2008 in Beijing, China. “I was the venue producer and English announcer in Beijing. They called me at the last minute asking me to come early to take over for the director (who worked with Mike in Greece) decided not to come at the last minute. I ended up spending three-and-a-half months in Beijing, but I had to run two venues in 100+ degree temperatures in 100 degree humidity. I lost 18 to 20 pounds. You don’t eat any junk food in China, fresh food and lots of soup noodles and you end up working 16 hour days … I also exercised quite a bit walking around town and avoiding getting hit by cabs and bicycles ... Haha.”

Mike added, “the gentleman who decided not to come and direct the baseball venue in Beijing is the GameDay Director with the New York Yankees and while I was visiting a few years ago in the Big Apple, he put me on the mic. at Yankee Stadium for a handful of innings for a few games, giving the legendary Bob Sheppard a well-deserved break. Yankee Stadium was awesome. It was so electric with the fans going wild.” “I was going to do the Summer Olympics in London but the Olympic Committee got rid of baseball and I didn’t respond quickly enough for some of the other sports. I can do tennis, soccer and even badminton,” Carlucci continued. “I did some badminton games at the Honda Center, and was notified to contact the Olympic committee, but it was too late in the game. Plus they have plenty of English speaking fellows in England.” Mike also announced Ice Hockey at the Winter games in Torino, Italy in 2006. He is hoping baseball will back at the Olympics in 2020, then he will be lined up for the task at hand. Mike also does P.A. announcing at a variety of other international and local events. “Last year I did UCLA baseball. They won the championship, first time ever. That was fun and they pay decent.” Mike also provided some Play by play work with IBNsports.com for the last three years, but they shut down late last year. Along with numerous voiceovers to his busy schedule, including a couple of Gatorade spots, a Google and a Nike spot in 2013 and a recurring VO role in the big selling games, Mike has been the SONY sports voice since 1996.

Mike knows he has to invest in himself. He has three agents who hustle for commercial work, sports games, and video games. “I have a set-up at my Camarillo home so I can record something and ship it out immediately. I’ve been doing a lot of tv work where you hear the voice in the background on radio or tv. I was ‘on the radio’ while Harrison Ford was driving a car in one movie titled Firewall.”

Mike can be seen on the screen as he had a recurring role on the Nickelodeon show, Big Time Rush. He’s also a frequent guest star on Cartoon Network's Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, the Disney film The Muppets, and as Jay the Morning Man in Drew Peterson: Untouchable on Lifetime Movie Network. He has a role lined up in a tv pilot to be shot in New Mexico later this year and produced by the SciFi Channel.

Mike also teaches media classes at Santa Monica College and Coastline College. (You can reach Mike at: michaelcarluccivo@yahoo.com)

Christmas Gift for KOST

(January 22, 2014) KOST dominated the Holiday '13 Nielsen ratings. Playing all-Christmas music from before Thanksgiving through Christmas day is a ratings winner. For the past two years, KTWV adopted a similar format of all holiday music but did not this year. Last year in the Holiday '12 ratings, KTWV had a 4.0. This year "the WAVE" had the biggest decline of any station in the market dropping from 3.1 to 2.3.

Most of the top music stations, outside of KOST, took a hit.

There are 50 stations reported in the Nielsen ratings survey. It should be noted that KTLK in the last month of the Progressive format tied for last place.

This is the PPM 6+ Mon-Sun, 6a - Mid:

1. KOST (AC) 6.3 - 10.4

2. KBIG (MY/fm) 5.4 - 5.0

3. KIIS (Top 40/M) 5.2 - 4.9

4. KPWR (Top 40/R) 4.6 - 4.4

5. KAMP (Top 40/M) 4.0 - 4.1

6. KRTH (Classic Hits) 4.1 - 3.5

7. KLVE (Spanish Contemporary) 3.3 - 3.4

    KROQ (Alternative) 3.6 - 3.4

9. KLAX (Regional Mexican) 3.0 - 3.2

10. KFI (Talk) 3.3 - 3.1

12. KHHT (HOT 92.3) 2.5 - 2.6

      KRCD (Spanish Adult hits) 2.7 - 2.6

     KSCA (Regional Mexican) 2.6 - 2.6

15. KKGO (Country) 2.9 - 2.5

     KYSR (Alternative) 2.5 - 2.5

17. KBUE (Regional Mexican) 2.9 - 2.4

18. KCBS (JACK/fm) 2.3 - 2.3

      KTWV (Smooth R&B) 3.1 - 2.3

20. KPCC (News/Talk) 2.0 - 2.1

      KUSC (Classical) 2.1 - 2.1

22. KLOS (Classic Rock) 2.0 - 1.9

     KSWD (The Sound) 1.8 - 1.9

24. KDAY (Rhythmic AC) 1.4 - 1.6

25. KLYY (Spanish Adult Hits) 1.6 - 1.5

26. KWIZ (Spanish Variety) 0.9 - 1.3

27. KFSH (Christian Contemporary) 1.3 - 1.2

     KXOL (Latin Urban) 1.5 - 1.2

29. KHJ (Regional Mexican) 1.2 - 1.1

      KXOS (Spanish AC) 0.9 - 1.1 

31. KDLD (Regional Mexican) 1.2 - 1.0

      KJLH (Urban AC) 1.0 - 1.0 

      KSPN (Sports) 1.2 - 1.0

34. KCRW (Variety) 0.9 - 0.9

35. KSSE (Spanish Contemporary) 0.8 - 0.8

36. KKJZ (Jazz) 0.7 - 0.7

37. KLAC (Sports) 0.6 - 0.6

38. KABC (Talk) 0.5 - 0.5

39. KFWB (News/Talk) 0.3 - 0.3

      KRLA (Talk) 0.3 - 0.3

      KTNQ (Spanish Talk) 0.4 - 0.3 

Highway Radio Founder Dies. Howard Anderson, the founder of Highway Radio died yesterday morning. Ira David Sternberg provided some information on Anderson that was used when he was a guest on Ira’s Las Vegas radio show.   Howard’s entire professional career has been in broadcasting, beginning in 1948. Prior to creating unique Highway Radio, he served as a staff vice president of Howard Hughes’ Summa Corporation. He joined Hughes in 1972. Anderson was also director of the communications group of Summa with responsibilities for the Hughes Television Network and KLAS/TV-Las Vegas.

 

The genesis of Highway Radio dates back to the late 1970s, when founder Howard Anderson realized 50% of visitors to Nevada tourism markets came from Southern California. He went to his boss, the late Howard Hughes, and convinced him that reaching visitors on the highway would boost walk-in traffic to Hughes’ casinos: The Sands, Desert Inn, Castaways, Silver Slipper, Frontier, and Landmark.

“It's the Coca-Cola theory,” Anderson said. “Put your advertising as close to the point of purchase as you can.” Hughes said to go for it, but on April 6, 1975, he went to the great casino in the sky.

The Hughes operating businesses were liquidated following his death, but engineering data for the radio concept passed on to Anderson, who put the stations on the air in 1980. Anderson used an existing microwave relay site on Calico Peak and located another at Mountain Pass to cover Interstate 15. A subsequent three-year study at Primm showed a 300 percent increase in off-ramp traffic. Originally called The Highway Stations, the broadcast group changed their name to Highway Radio to better reflect the brand they have developed over the past 20+ years. Howard served on the Radio Board from 1994 to 1998 with two terms as Radio vice chairman and one term as Radio chairman. He was also on the board of the Southern California Broadcasters Association.

Overheard.

• “Everyone talks about Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth would be a shortstop today.” (Colin Cowherd, KSPN)

• “JACK/fm is just a false front to what we’re selling out back.” (JACK/fm liner)

• “Obama put our children in grave danger by telling them that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol.” (Michael Savage)

• "Why did God create economists? To make weathermen look good." (Surfer Dude, character on Gary Bryan Show, K-EARTH)

Hear Ache. Condolences to Nelkane Benton on the loss of her husband, Tommy Hill. He passed away last week at the age of 90. “He had a wonderful life and I will miss him for the rest of mine,” emailed Nelkane, long-time public affairs director at KABC … Billboard Magazine interviewed Howard Stern in the current issue. Click the artwork to read the interview ... Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will take center stage on KNX with the quarterly program, “Ask the Mayor,” airing live on Wednesday, January 29 at 10 a.m. “Ask the Mayor” will be hosted by KNX news anchor Tom Haule and chief investigative reporter Charles Feldman and will give Angelinos the opportunity to put the mayor in the hot seat. "Ask the Mayor” will stream live on cbsLA.com.

Great Radio Story

One thing that many old timers miss is sitting in a watering hole telling radio stories. George Johns is a radio consultant who represented the Amaturo stations in the Southland, as well as much success across the country. I loved this radio story and now share it from George’s blog:

Years ago my buddy Reid Reker and I launched a radio station in Phoenix, which ended up getting more publicity than any other I’ve ever been involved in and yet I bet you’ve never heard of it. It all began with a tv spot which we dreamt up while driving around San Diego looking for muses in dark dingy bars.

The TV spot featured Reid sitting on top of a giant Radio saying: “Are you as tired of hearing nothing but wimpy Barry Manilow music all over the Phoenix Radio dial as I am? Well I for one am so fed up with it I’m not waiting, I’m gonna do something about it and I’m gonna do it next Monday on FM 100.7 so if you’re a real Man I invite you to join us at 4 PM as we begin the construction of a historic new Radio Station which we call ‘Radio For Men.’ This Radio Station will be the first one in North America to broadcast exclusively to Men and the best part is we’re gonna do it right here in Phoenix Arizona.”

While the tv spots were running we also had Billboards up which showed the symbol from the door of Women’s restrooms circled in red with the slash going through it which read, Radio For Men now on at 100.7/fm.

As soon as we launched our new format the town literally exploded. Every local tv station and newspaper was at our front door as were the national press like Entertainment Tonight and People Magazine. The whole city was in an uproar claiming we were being very sexist and that’s gotta be against the law and before long even the NOW organization marched on us. Reid and I were doing leaping high fives in the hallways mainly because we felt we had discovered the next new thing. After doing the Class FM format across America for almost a decade we thought we had another one that could be syndicated successfully.

The celebration had barely begun when I got a call from Reid that said … It’s over Man! You’re sh**ting me was my only response. Hey he went on to say, we can still do the male oriented programming but ownership has pulled the plug on us calling it “Radio For Men,” they claim Women will boycott all our sponsors.

In America you can do Radio For Women, Radio For Blacks, Radio For Christians, Radio For Teens, Radio For Hispanics, Radio For Catholics, Radio For Asians, Radio For Tweeners, Radio For Haitians, Radio For Hawaiians, hell Radio for anybody but not “Radio For Men” and Lord help you if you were ever courageous enough to do “Radio For White Men” which would be #1 in about 10 minutes. No Radio format is worth giving up your life for but I’m very tempted!

Funnie. From 100.3/The Sound:

Email Wednesday

We GET Email …

** The Patriot Turns on Listeners

“I am not in radio, but I love, love radio. I discovered Rush Limbaugh sometime in the mid-90s. I have been a loyal listener, despite numerous attempts to discredit him.

When you announced that he was moving from 640 AM to 1150 AM, I was okay with that because I wasn’t losing the ability to hear him. But surprise, not only do I have to listen through static, they pre-empted his show during the last half hour on Monday.

Do they not care about their loyal listeners?

And who listens to hockey during the day?” – Anita Sullivan, San Bernardino

** Lois Culver Story

“Sometime this month, you included a photo of Lois Culver (1919-2011), who was married to radio/television actor Howard Culver, who died in 1984. One of the radio programs Howard Culver did in the 1940s was on KFI called A Joy Forever. On that program, Howard read poetry, while Bob Mitchell accompanied him on the KFI pipe organ. I believe he and Lois got married around 1950.

The photo of Lois was from her first job in radio at KWLK [now KEDO] in Longview, Washington.  Around 2000 or so, I was taking part in the weekly Old Time Radio chat room discussions, which were led by Lois Culver. By that time, she had moved to Grants Pass, Oregon. She told me she worked behind the scenes at KFI in Los Angeles, starting in 1944 in the Continuity Department, putting the program logs together.  Next, she worked in the sales department as National Traffic Manager and secretary to Sales Managers George Whitney and later Hahn Tyler. Lois left KFI in 1948, but returned briefly a couple of years later in Continuity.

Lois loved to share funny stories about her years at KFI. After I had talked to her about early Los Angeles radio announcer and singer Charlie Wellman, Lois recalled that Wellman's widow had worked at KFI with her briefly. Charlie Wellman had been KFWB's first announcer during 1925and 1926, then moved to KMIC-Inglewood, back to KHJ in 1928, where he began in 1924, and then to KFI-KECA from about 1930-36, and finally at KFAC in 1938. I haven't been able to determine when Charlie Wellman died.

Lois Culver was anxious to tell me this story:

 ‘Jim...the name Charlie Wellman made me want to pass along an anecdote to you.  When I first went to KFI looking for a job, they put me into the Continuity Department preparing the log for the next day.  The woman who was supposed to train me was doing the logs for KECA, named Wellman - the widow of Charlie Wellman. Someone else actually trained me, because she would start off and then would get soused early and pass out, and someone else would have to take over.   Then the security guard would finish her job and put the logs in the offices and studios to finish off for the night ... said he didn't have anything else to do, anyway. Before she passed out she'd cry and sob about her Charlie and how beautifully he sang on the radio. I never knew just who he was, except a singer. Finally I guess they caught up with her and she was fired. Sometime along the line she had the hots for George Barclay, one of the handsome young KFI announcers, and she insisted that she had something at her apartment she wanted to give him. She invited him over.  When he arrived, she of the henna'd hair greeted him in oriental garb, heavily perfumed, with incense burning and oriental music playing He turned tail and said he was double-parked and never did return!’

I remember Lois also told me another story about Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons drinking before she got enough courage to go on the air with her program on NBC from the KFI studios, which I shared several years ago.

Lois was a nice lady and did a lot for the old time radio hobby.” - Jim Hilliker, Monterey

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Funny Thing Happened on Rush’s Solo Debut on 1150 AM The Patriot

(January 21, 2014) A funny thing happened on Rush Limbaugh’s solo debut at 1150 AM / The Patriot. Much was promoted about KIEB becoming the exclusive home for Rush starting Monday, only to have part of his program pre-empted by a Los Angeles Kings hockey game. A number of fans wrote LARadio wondered what was up, given the buildup for the newly touted format flip of 1150 AM to Conservative radio. “For several weeks, KFI promoted Rush's [big] move to KEIB  today – January 20,” wrote Gary West from MrPopCulture.com. “I tuned in the 11 a.m. hour and at 11:30 – without any kind of mention – the Kings’ hockey pre-game began, pre-empting the last half-hour. Is this station talk and sports? Totally confused. Is somebody kidding?” Roy Allen noted that KEIB is named after Rush Limbaugh's Excellence in Broadcasting network. Allen was shocked that Rush allowed the pre-emption of his program for a hockey game. “This was a rare situation with an early game,” emailed KEIB pd Robin Bertolucci. “Most Kings games start late afternoon or early evening. Once or twice a year there is an early game such as yesterday's. This one forced us to pre-empt 30 minutes of Rush's show since coverage started at 11:30.” Robin said that 1150 AM has a commitment to their partners, the Stanley Cup champions, LA Kings.

Overheard.

• “Give me 15 minutes and I’ll give you America.” (Michael Savage)

• “Kat Corbett has a Facebook page for her two dogs – V and Bleu, both rescue dogs. Their interests include: eating, farting, chewing and snuggling.” (Kevin & Bean, KROQ)

• “Sitting here watching the Seahawks and 49rs it’s hard for me to believe either of these two teams have a chance of beating Denver in the Superbowl.” (George Johns, radio consultant)

Bitcoin Used to Buy Ads. KCAA Radio, an NBC News affiliate serving the Inland Empire might just be the first radio station in North America to accept Bitcoins as payment for advertising and airtime. Last Friday, KCAA signed its first programming agreement purchased with Bitcoin. KCAA utilized a service called “Coinbase” to process the payment. Coinbase was founded in June of 2012 in San Francisco. This company enables users to create virtual wallets for buyers and sellers to safely and securely store their Bitcoins.

When a sale is made, the seller goes to the Coinbase site and enters the buyer's email address and the amount of the transaction. When the buyer receives this “request,” it can be approved or denied. If approved, Coinbase instantly transfers the correct amount of Bitcoin to the seller’s wallet and the transaction is complete.

“Our first transaction paid us 9.4 Bitcoins, which Coinbase displayed as approximately $7,200, said KCAA ceo Fred Lundgren. “These funds will appear in our bank account in two to three business days.”  Lundgren added. "The value of Bitcoin as a digital currency will grow as more businesses accept it. We can’t be certain that KCAA is the first commercial radio station in the world to accept Bitcoin, but to our knowledge, we are the first in North America."

Gavin Reported. David Gleason, a consultant with Univision Radio, emailed yesterday after seeing mention of his collection of The Gavin Report. “The link, though, just accesses the single issue whose cover you posted," emailed Gleason. "Click the artwork to see a listing of all the issues I have online. I have about 100 issues, out of over 3,000 that were published since 1958. I’ve been trying to borrow [or buy in the worst case] more, and if at some point you’d like to mention this it would be most appreciated. There must be quite a few LA area garages with a box or two of them waiting to be scanned!” Gleason continued: “The Gavins I do have are searchable, too. You may have noticed I also have R&R with over 800 issues, also searchable, and all the Broadcasting Magazines from 1931 to 1995 similarly searchable.”

Funnie. Thanks to Rusty Citron for this morning’s funnie.

INTERESTING OBSERVATION

1. The sport of choice for the urban poor is BASKETBALL.

2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is BOWLING.

3. The sport of choice for front-line workers is FOOTBALL.

4. The sport of choice for supervisors is BASEBALL.

5. The sport of choice for middle management is TENNIS.

And…

6. The sport of choice for corporate execs is GOLF. 

THE CONCLUSION:  The higher you go, the smaller your balls become. There must be a boat load of people in Washington playing marbles.

Email Tuesday

We GET Email …

** Older Country Music

“I am wondering why Country music station 105.1 always seems to play the older songs of the current popular artists instead of their newer ones.  It seems like you might hear some of their newer songs when they come out and then it's back to playing their older ones. The songs played seem so repetitious.  It would be nice to have a bigger and newer variety of songs.” – Gale Carroll

** K-EAGLES Reaction

“Nice piece on K-Earth's switch to K-Eagles 101 for a day.  You know what would have really been a challenge for them?  Trying to incorporate the word Eagles into the original K-Earth 101 logo they used prior to changing it recently.......lol! 

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it that day!” – Anthony Kardoes 

---

If You Don’t Promote, a Funny Thing Happens – NOTHING!

(January 20, 2014) For decades while in the motion picture marketing business, in radio and for the past 20 years writing about radio, I learned there has been a simple mantra, “If you don’t promote, a funny thing happens – NOTHING.” Radio is notorious for serving up a very empty plate of marketing. I’m not talking about giving away a family four-pack of tickets to Disneyland, I’m talking about an honest to goodness plateful of marketing and promotion. And marketing doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The good ones don’t cost much. Can you imagine a movie studio or tv company launching a new movie or tv show without promotion? The successful ones plot out a creative campaign and execute it with precision. Radio rarely does marketing anymore except as an advertiser tie-in or tying into an existing concert like Wango Tango or Stagecoach Country Concert.

Last week, K-EARTH put the fun back into a format that lends itself to having fun. The historic Forum reopened with the iconic Southern California group, the Eagles. Many stations gave away tickets, but K-EARTH went a step beyond.  The station re-imagined themselves by rebranding itself “K-EAGLES 101.” Jingles, station IDs and jocks referenced itself to K-EAGLES 101. Despite the fact that old habits are tough to break – and the djs from time to time forgot and called the station K-EARTH 101 – it a fun period of promotion.

It is this kind of word of mouth that captures the imagination of those people who are not regular listeners. When the station first started mysteriously teasing the coming change, we received a couple of dozen questions about what was going on. Was there a format change? What the heck was going on?

“What started out as a way to honor the Eagles and commemorate these historic shows did become humorous at various points,” related K-EARTH pd Rick Thomas, the brains behind the promotion. “Rumor mill had us everywhere from changing format, to changing our name to K-Beatles. Even our own company back at HQ wondered what we were up to.  They say great radio both seizes the moment and should be a master of the ‘tease.’ I’d say we achieved both, but the true highlight was having the band members, these musical legends on air with us playing along with K-EAGLES and joining the fun.  Joe Walsh was amazing on with Gary Bryan and the crew painting pictures of what listeners could expect at the concerts in the newly re-done Forum.”

Rick had high praise for K-EARTH production director, Keith Smith. “He took on the monumental task of changing every single K-EARTH production element into K-Eagles. Most stations would have moved past the idea as soon as they realized the huge amount of work involved. Keith is one of those guys who saw the vision and ran with the ball. I am still awed and humbled by the amount of love the Eagles’ band members showed LA radio listeners via K-EAGLES 101 that day.”

Overheard.

• “24/7 Wall St.com reports North Las Vegas is among the ‘worst run cities in the country.’ Have they noticed Detroit?” (Ira David Sternberg)

• "Los Bravos in English means 'the Bravos.'"  (Andy Chanley, 100.3/The Sound)

• “An Irish guy walks out of a bar …  hey, it could happen.” (Long Paul)

• “What do you think would happen in Los Angeles if the big one hit? I think complete chaos.” (John Phillips, KABC)

• “I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror. The SAG Award goes to my ass!” (Randy West)

• “The question is why we lease these large water-dropping airplanes from Canada. What happens if there is a conflagration in Canada and they want the planes or they refuse to release them here?” (Larry Elder, KABC)

Hear Ache. Condolences to sports radio veteran Barry Turnbull on the passing of his mother at the age of 75. “She had been an invalid at Flagship Retirement Center for the past several years. I have been emotionally numb since she died,” he posted on his Facebook page. “Mom, I love you now and forever.” … Christian Wheel and Joe Vinyl have a new syndicated show, RetroMix, that features beatmixed 80’s mixed back to back. It debuted this weekend on a half dozen stations … Former KSPNer Brian Long left his sports radio job in Seattle and headed for San Diego. “I would post a pic of Salem, Oregon but we can’t see through the freezing 34 degree fog,” said Brian ... Gary Hoffmann is calling his new 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. KFI program the Wake-Up Call. "It is going to be all about what it is you need to get going got for the rest of day," said Gary when he signed on this morning. "So if you're here right now, you're going to know everything you need to know by six o'clock." ... Subscribers to LARadio got the word on Saturday that KFI would NOT be announcing the new talk show host to fill the 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. slot ... By the way, if you want to receive the email blasts with ratings, radio-related stories, and bulletins, send an email to db@thevine.net.

Voicecasters. Veteran voiceover talent agent, Bob Lloyd, read about the passing of Larry Mann, a voice actor who voiced Yukon Cornelius in the animated Christmas favorite Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Mann died at age of 91.

Bob reminisced about the early days of his talent agency. “Our first ‘studio’ was on top of Barham.  It was a 9x13 room and in it I built a 4x6 audition booth, with a 26 inch door which opened inward. One day a gig came in that called for two voices, one character and one announcer.  In my naiveté I just happened to pair Larry with Rod Roddy. Those of you who knew these two lads know that they both shared a serious tendency toward the rotund. 

Bob continued: “Somehow they managed to get into the booth and close the door. But when it came time to get out it was a different story. The inward opening door became an obstacle to overcome and despite every effort, and getting to know one another VERY WELL in the process, they simply could not get the door open to free themselves. Fortunately I had a few tools in the place and eventually got the door off its hinges in order to slide it sideways behind them, freeing their formidable and now well perspiring selves.”

“It was all done in good nature and I believe Rod, who was closest to the door, was particularly pleased with the adventure. But it took quite a while and backed up the other actors waiting to audition, some of whom were rather amused to see two guys leave looking like they had been a sauna and wondering what the hell kind of audition was this. I had long forgotten the incident till I saw the notice on the death of Larry Mann,” concluded Lloyd.  

Click the artwork to a catalog of the Bill Gavin Report issues, including the entire issue of each edition for over 20 years! The radio and record industry newsletter was very popular

Stand By Crescenta Valley. KNX on Your Corner will take an in-depth look at the unique aspects of the Crescenta Valley on Friday, January 31 as part of KNX’s year-round coverage of Southern California’s diverse regions.

On that day, KNX’s programming will focus on the group of communities lying between the San Gabriel Mountains and the Verdugo Mountains: La Crescenta-Montrose, La Cañada Flintridge, Sunland and Tujunga.  Featured on-air guests throughout the day will include local civic and business leaders.

As part of the day-long focus, KNX will broadcast live from the Black Cow Cafe at 2223 Honolulu Avenue in the heart of Old Town Montrose. News anchors Tom Haule and Vicky Moore will kick off the day from 5 a.m. – 9 a.m., Frank Mottek will host the KNX Business Hour from 1 p.m.  – 2 p.m. and Chris Sedens and Diane Thompson will be on hand from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. The public is invited to watch the broadcast and meet the KNX team.

Funnie. Do Las Vegas Churches accept gambling chips? This may come as a surprise to those of you not living in Las Vegas, but there are more Catholic churches than casinos. Not surprisingly, some worshipers at Sunday services will give casino chips rather than cash when the basket is passed. Since they get chips from many different casinos, the churches have devised a method to collect the offerings.

The churches send all their collected chips to a nearby Franciscan monastery for sorting and then the chips are taken to the casinos of origin and cashed in.

This is done by the chip monks.

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** Answer to Spotify? Less Variety

“I think that, after deregulation,  there was a bubble burst in radio similar to the housing market. Stations sold for more than they were worth since there was a buying frenzy. This created a lot of debt, so they are afraid of taking chances on anything for fear they can’t cover their debt. I don’t know if I pointed this out, but I like listening to Clark Howard on KTLK. I discovered that there is a 17 minute time period where he is only on for 3 minutes and the other 14 minutes are all commercials. The times may have shifted since the switch to the Patriot, but before when Clark said it was 20 past the hour, there is 6 minutes of commercials until 26 past. Then Howard says it's 29 past and there are commercials until 37 past.” – Ron Karam

** Throwback Thursday “Thanks for posting the oldie photo. That black and white roll was shot by a high school buddy [Chuck Boone] who went on to be a pro photog working with Annie Liebovitz and did a lot of fashion and automotive work. I was one of his early subjects when he was at Art Center. I had never seen this stuff from 1970 until a couple of months ago when Chuck came across the negatives. Fun to share.” – Douglas Brown

** Less Variety on Music Stations

“Kinda sucks. That's why ‘alternative radio’ was started. Someone should bring back ‘free form’ radio. It would work.” –Jerry Downey, Detroit  

Bill Handel Breaks Down at David Hall's Tribute Party (February 8, 2002) Friends and colleagues from the Clear Channel AM stations, KFI/KXTA/KLAC, gathered at El Cholo's in Koreatown to pay tribute to David G. Hall  (pictured), program director who is credited with the decades-long success of the the 50,000 watt Talk station. "David is the man who created the sound of the station," said morning man Bill Handel. KFI afternooners John & Ken aired a "Best of" segment so they could surprise and honor their boss. "It really touched me," remarked David. "They were on the air having a GREAT show but slipped on a tape so they could come honor me for ten minutes. I was really touched. If you know them, you know that was a BIG thing." Greg Ashlock, gm of the three AM properties, said that KFI was David's house. "David had no reason whatsoever to 'let me in,' but he graciously did anyway. He taught me some amazing things about how the format works, and he took me under his wing. I'll never forget both his grace and the invaluable information." Bill Handel made fun of the fact that David never showed up at things and was shocked to see that he actually showed up at his final event. Bill acknowledged that David molded him and built him into the morning man that he is. As he spoke in the most gracious terms, he started to cry and then many in the room started to cry. One observer said it was a "surreal moment." Karel thanked David for his "grand experiment" giving them (and the late Andrew) an opportunity to find a home in Talk radio. David's assistant Stella Marroquin (r) was acknowledged by David for her work, service, and attention that she gave him for twelve years. David said that he had three options when he left KFBK-Sacramento to come to KFI as news director in 1989. "First, I had been offered a job I had sought as a newspaper photographer for El Universdal newspaper in Mexico City. Second, I had been offered a job as assignment editor at KCRA television in Sacramento, and I was offered this by George Oliva, who is the pd who put KFI on the air as a talk station. This was the highest risk, but I took it anyway." David shared with the group a painful lesson about never firing someone over a meal. "I fired Daryl Gates over lunch in Glendale. It was a difficult, scary meeting and involved him baring his teeth and saying, 'I'm going to get you, David.' I whimpered at the thought of what that might mean, and THEN our food came. One of the many lessons learned the hard way at KFI." "I don't think it hit me until I walked into David's office expecting to see him at the desk," reflected Don Elliot, production guru at the AM stations. "There was an unfamiliar echo bouncing off the bare walls, marred only by the empty nails staring back at me from where pictures and plaques once hung. David was the soul of the station, who made us all perform to our highest degree. You WANTED to please him because he wanted to push you to be your best. He respects, rewards and appreciates talent." At the end of the evening, David reflected. "I really felt honored and then incredibly sad."

KFI Delays Announcement of New Talk Show Host

(January 18, 2014) Bill Handel announced yesterday morning before he signed off that KFI was not yet ready to announce a new 1-3 p.m. host on Monday. Daytime shifts will be extended to compensate for this void. Bill begins his new 6 a.m. - 10 a.m. shift followed by Bill Carroll from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and John & Ken will start an hour earlier and work from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. No explanation was given. There have been rumors that Clear Channel is under pressure to reduce overhead by 5% before the end of the month. If that rumor is true, perhaps the environment of trying to add a new employee to KFI while having to reduce expenses is playing havoc in the hallways of the Pinnacle Building.

When and Who Will Fill Numerous Open On-Air Positions?

(January 17, 2014) Has there ever been a time when so many major stations had on-air vacancies, some for months, with no word on a replacement? Last month, Clear Channel announced that Rush Limbaugh would be leaving his longtime home from 9 a.m. to noon at KFI and move to sister station, AM 1150 / The Patriot.

As a result, there are some changes afoot at AM 640. KFI has added morning drive news anchor Gary Hoffmann to his own show from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., teamed with newswoman Jo Kwon. Beginning Monday, Bill Handel will be on from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. followed by Bill Carroll from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Still to be determined is who will fill the newly vacant 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. More on that in a moment. The rest of the schedule remains intact: John & Ken, Tim Conway, Jr., and George Noory.

At KABC, Sean Hannity left January 1 and checked in at 1150 AM / The Patriot. There was lots of speculation that ubiquitous trooper John Phillips would finally be given his own primetime show from noon to 3 p.m. on 790. But that hasn’t officially happened yet, despite the fact he is filling in that time slot without a contract.

Sports KLAC is attempting to establish its own identity with Don Martin, gm/pd, leaving Fox Sports Radio last summer to concentrate on the local product. Apparently, he still wants to – or is still required to – keep Dan Patrick and Jay Mohr, offerings from the national Fox Sports Radio feed. In the afternoons, Petros Papadakis and Matt Money Smith are no longer syndicated nationally by Fox, and are heard exclusively in Southern California. There’s the departure of Steve Hartman and Pat O’Brien, formerly  occupying the noon-3 p.m.  slot. For now, network voices are heard, though this may be a temporary situation, as there is speculation that Fred Roggin will be given that opening. But when?

At Go Country, KKGO, morning man Shawn Parr abruptly left the station last year to take an evening syndicated slot with Cumulus’ syndicated NASH/fm. The morning show has been empty ever since. There was initially word that a new morning person would be announced by the end of the holidays. But nothing.

Going back to KFI, even Bill Handel seemed perplexed as to what was going on with his station as far as announcing new talent. “We’re getting ready for Monday,” Bill said earlier this week. “The line-up changes are fairly dramatic here at KFI. We know that Rush Limbaugh is leaving but we don’t know who is going to be the host of the 1 to 3 p.m. hours.”

Bill said he was talking with someone very high up in the radio world. “He’s been in radio for 30 years and I asked him if he ever, ever experienced a major market radio station that is adding a new show in a major daypart and no one knows who it is yet. And he said, ‘No,’ this almost never happens.’”

Handel ruminated there may be no announcement and it’s something that will just happen.

I have no inside source with a name for you but I do have some guesses.  Robin Bertolucci (r), KFI’s very successful program director, certainly broke a glass ceiling in the world of Talk Radio. She has won numerous industry awards for her work. Still, though she herself broke the female glass ceiling, when given the opportunity to hire someone for a rare primetime daily opening during her tenure at KFI, she has always hired a man. KFI and Clear Channel have been under fire in recent years from the National Media Hispanic Coalition to hire more minorities. In addition, this is coupled with the controversies involving John & Ken, including their derogatory comments about the passing of Whitney Houston. The 'crack ho" remark caused a suspension for the afternoon pair. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Robin hire a woman to fill the 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. slot. Maybe even a Latina woman. It’s about time. Who might be on the short list? Josefa Salinas may be one candidate, she’s a feisty and outspoken woman who is outstanding in talking about issues during public affair shows, plus she’s already in the Clear Channel house.

Others might include Giselle Fernandez, born in Mexico and raised in California, she’s been a familiar face on network tv as well as former co-anchor of the KTLA Morning News; Monique Marvez, profiled recently at LARadio and currently a fill-in at KFI; Lee Hernandez, admittedly a dark horse; and Jillian Barberie Reynolds, former NFL weather girl for FOX and two decade co-host of KTTV’s Good Day LA with Steve Edwards and Dorothy Lucey.

We will know soon enough.

Hear Ache. Ricardo ‘El Mandril’ Sanchez is joining KXOS (Exitos 93.9/fm) beginning Monday. He posted on his website: “The baboon returns. First I became the American dream of success in the United States and now I find the Mexican dream, to succeed with the company stronger within Mexico." … Fred Roggin has been filling in for KNBC/tv’s Today in L.A. early morning newscast … Gary Hoffman’s new KFI weekday show from 5 a.m. – 6 a.m. will sound a lot like his Sunday show … MY/fm’s Valentine announced earlier this week that all his bosses were out of town. “The rumor is that they are all out of town until a minimum of Monday. We’re going to have so much more fun today,” said Valentine ... Fun to hear Louie Louie on 100.3/The Sound.

Radio Robust. Radio revenues in December 2013 enjoyed a robust 6.3% growth rate, according to the Miller Kaplan Arase report. “December was a great month for our region, as we were finally out from under the political comps from 2012 and the market flexed its true revenue muscles as only Southern California Radio can,” said SCBA President Thom Callahan.

For the 12 months ending December 2013, total market revenue growth was 1%, according to Miller Kaplan Arase. “While we view the 2013’s 1% growth rate as an encouraging benchmark for the country’s largest Radio revenue market, the 12 month Miller Kaplan Arase report is not indicative of the region’s real strength,” said SCBA President Thom Callahan. “In our view, our real growth rate for 2013 was 4.4%, when factoring out 2012’s huge political revenue of $20.5 million. It’s more than fair to deduct those comps, which are never a true indicator of market growth or the health of our business,” he stated.

Overheard.

• “I went and saw the movie Lone Survivor. I believe it is an anti-war movie. I believe Lone Survivor is an Anti-American movie. I believe it puts the American military in a terrible light. It makes the SEALS look like victims and the Taliban look like great fighters.” (Michael Savage)

• “How much is pirate corn? A buccaneer.” (Dude, character on Gary Bryan Show, KRTH)

• “Didn’t the Obama people look at the target young people who were supposed to pay for Obamacare are not working. The target audience has no money?” (Rush Limbaugh, KFI)

• "I do know how visas work. If you commit a felony and you are not a citizen of my country, you are butt-hurt. You are deported." (Bryan Suits, KABC)

• “In Barack Obama’s America, the part-time bird gets the worm. We’re in a dangerous place where busting your ass is falling by the wayside.” (Dennis Miller, KRLA)

• "I'm looking to keep the Lexus sports car I've got because of the engine. It's supposed to get 250,000 miles. I really don't want to sell it because they don't have high resale value." (Bob McCormick, KFWB Money 101)

• “Proud San Francisco 49er fans can’t buy tickets for the Seattle Seahawks game on-line.” (Jay Mohr, KLAC)

• “I’ve had sex in public.” (Heidi Hamilton, KLOS)

• "Alcohol is the best reason to go to college." (Jim Rome, Mighty 1090 Sports Radio)

• “Paul McCarthy dropped his wallet and caused a 4.2 earthquake in Fontana.” (Gary Bryan, K-EARTH)

• “We are all drivers at the George Washington Bridge on traffic test day. That’s how I see it. I can’t undo what the President does with the stroke of a pen against the will of the elected leaders.” (Dennis Prager, KRLA)

Over 70. Recently an aging LARP thought it might be fun to find out what Los Angeles Radio People who are over 70 are now doing while not in radio. “Ahhh, the good old days,” wrote Jack Hayes, veteran of KFWB in the mid-1960s. “I will be 74 on Valentine’s Day. While I may be retired it sure doesn’t feel like it. I fly to LA once or twice a month for freelance voice work, we have an adopted 14 y/o granddaughter [Kati] up here who keeps us busy and I have a 16 y/o Goddaughter [Brittany] down in San Diego who was born 11 weeks premature and addicted. We do whatever we can to help keep her on the straight and narrow. We’re very proud of our high school sophomore who’s an honor student who was not supposed to be. Kati’s mom died when she was 5 so my wife Patricia has really stepped up to fill in there. “ Hayes continued: “My biggest job is taking care of Patricia. She was diagnosed with a lesion in her spinal column ten years ago.  Docs at UCLA gave her two or three years to live and we’ve fooled them for quite a while now. While her condition deteriorates as the years go by, she’s able to function OK a few hours a day and we have a pretty good time with our life – even if it is not what we envisioned when we got together many years ago.” The picture is Brit and Patricia.

Funnie. Law of Mechanical Repair – After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch, and you'll have to pee.

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**CBS Columbia Square

“I’m so happy that they saved the old Columbia Square building. There is so much history there. I did seven wonderful years on the 5th floor.” - Bob Hastings, Director Sales, Salem Communications

** Columbia Square Times Story Correction

“There is some mis-information in the mention of the tv home of Burns & Allen in the 50’s. Burns & Allen only did one season [1951-52] from Columbia Square as a tv show [using studio A].  In 1952 they began filming the show at General Service Studios where they stayed for the next 6 years. It is those film episodes that are seen on Antenna TV.” – David Swartz

** Passing of Time “It occurs to me every time I read one of your posts that it’s rare that I know anyone mentioned. I’ve been away from L.A. for 36 years. That’s before a lot of the people on the air now were born. Kinda makes a guy feel old. That and the fact that I’m old. Not the Pampers and dementia sort of old; more like the having-trouble-putting-my-socks-on kind of old. Not complaining. I had a good run.” – Steve (Fredericks) Liddick, former K-Earth news director. Author of But First This Message: A Quirky Journey in Broadcasting, a memoir; All That Time, Sky Warriors, Old Heroes, Campsite Gourmet: Fine Dining on the Trail and on the Road. available at:

**Worked with Rick Wallace in Ventura

“Thanks for the Rick Wallace update. Every year or so I would look around electronically for Rick, but I had no success. In the mid-1970s I was working as a part-time dj and talk show producer at KVEN in Ventura when Rick hired me for a reporter position and with his training and guidance I was able to succeed him as news director there when he left for KABC. Rick has the greatest voice and a set of skills that I always envied.” – John Brooks KFWB/KNX (1979-2013 retired)

** Fun to Find Colleague Rick Wallace

“”Absolutely unreal to read about Rick Wallace after all these years! I worked with Rick at KPOL/KZLA, and he was outstanding. A true out-of-the-box thinker before it was in vogue to say that.

Regards to Karen, too.” – Mike Sakellarides

** State of DJ

“With a little help from a Willie Nelson Hit ... '‘Momma don't let your babies grow up to be deejays / cuz Clear Channel ruined your radio dial / Fired all the deejays while wear-in’ a smile.” – Mike Butts

** Imus Comment

“Don Imus calls everybody ‘a loud mouth jerk.’ Please take a look in a mirror.” – Jack Naimo 

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LARadio Preserved in eBooks (January 16, 2014) Many of you have expressed a desire to support LARadio to offset the thousands of dollars it costs to maintain the only destination for daily news about  LARadio. This website is no longer subscriber-based and is open, at no cost, to all who want to read about the daily activities in Southern California radio. In the almost 20 years of publishing LARadio, there is a rich archive of information, stories, articles, and profiles. Some of the more popular material is being turned into eBooks that would serve as a repository to preserve this history. You can help support LARadio by clicking the artwork and purchasing the book for $2.99. The 10 eBook series begins with Volume 1 – “Secrets of Selling.”  The first volume features three compelling stories. The thread that weaves through each narrative is the basic instinct to sell. Each account takes us on a very different journey, yet all conclude with lessons that have changed the history of LARadio. ·         Wally Clark, former general manager at KIIS, promised KIIS would be the first station to crack the $1 million mark in sales for a single month. He takes us back to his early selling days, convincing markets to carry braunsweiger meats. Clark later parlayed his experiences to accept the challenge of taking a dysfunctional KIIS (#22 when he started) to incredible heights. Wally also reflects on working with two radio icons – Howard Stern and Rick Dees – who continue as friends today. ·         Norm Epstein got his first radio sales job by proclaiming, “I’ll be your best salesman or fire me.” Not only did he become the best salesman the first month he went to work, Norm became the successful general manager and owner of several Los Angeles radio stations. His creativity and selling techniques propelled him to a spot of being admired and envied by those who worked with him. Norm finds himself fondly remembered by those in LARadio who got to watch his meteoric rise. ·         For decades, George Green was the storied general manager of iconic KABC. He took the radio station from its early struggles with the advertisers who didn’t understand Talk Radio to a place of appointment listening that revolutionized the talk business and took 790 to the pinnacle of success. Buy the book!

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Rick Wallace Found on Survivor Island

(January 15, 2014) Rick Wallace worked in LA Radio at KFWB, KABC, KPOL/KZLA and KMPC from 1967 to 1984. He served as news director at KPOL and 710/KMPC. When we published Los Angeles Radio People (pre-Internet), we were unable to locate him. He'd been missing in action since the mid-80s - until now. Earlier this month, Rick checked in from Vashon Island, Washington. After his last assignment at KTTV/Channel 11, he left journalism in 1984, right after the Olympics. As an entrepreneur, Rick started a number of companies, including CompuTutor, a video based computer training with Brent Seltzer. “I was hired initially as writer/producer and later, with Brent's support, became president. We put together a number of ‘how to’ videos on practical use of computers and desktop publishing,” said Rick. “In 1993, I joined Winner and Associates, a public relations/crisis communications firm. I had key accounts involving much travel to Chad, Cameroon and Papua New Guinea,” continued Rick. He retired as Vice President after 18 years in 2011. He's now living on Vashon Island, with Karen Baer, his wife of 33 years and a retired physician. “I’m working on getting a Low Power FM license for 'Voice of Vashon' here on the Island. I’m also the volunteer manager of Vashon Emergency Operations Center and president of non-profit 'VashonBePrepared.'”

Rick started his radio career while in school at University of California, Santa Barbara. While in college and in the Army from 1964 to 1971 he worked at KMUZ- Santa Barbara, where his first news story was the Wellman Canyon Fire. Rick then traveled to KNJO-Thousand Oaks, KOXR/KPMJ-Oxnard and then to KFWB to work as an assistant when the station first went all-News. While serving in at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, he worked at WHTG- Eatontown.

Following the Army, Rick joined KUDU-Ventura as news director, then KVEN-Ventura, again as news director. During his two decade career, he won a number of Golden Mike awards. In addition, he was past President of California AP Radio TV News Association. He was heard again at KFWB, this time as the Ventura/Santa Barbara County stringer. At KABC, he was the outside newsman as part of the Ken & Bob Show.

If you would like to catch up with Rick, you can reach him at: rikwall@gmail.com

K-EARTH Soars with the Eagles. A number of LARadio stations have been giving away tickets to the Eagles concert, which launches the $50 million refurbished Forum in Inglewood tonight. One station is flying with the Eagles even higher. For the past 42 years, KRTH has been known as K-EARTH 101. That changed with Gary Bryan at 7 a.m. as the station changed to K-EAGLES 101 for the string of monumental concerts at The Forum.

All day long K-EAGLES 101 will feature Eagles music and end the day with one solid hour of Eagles for the ride home from the concert. “Keith Smith has been working on ‘re-working’ our jingles, promos, and sweepers,” emailed Dave Mason, apd of K-EARTH. “Lots of Eagles music all day long, Eagles CD’s every hour from 7 a.m. - midnight, pairs of tickets with Gary and Jim Carson, and every CD winner gets into a drawing to win a limo ride and tickets to one of The Eagles upcoming concerts.”

Benner Stresses. For over three decades, Michael Benner was part of LARadio beginning at KNAC in 1975, followed by KWST, KLOS/KABC, KLSX, KPFK and KCBS. Michael heads a stress management company based in Los Angeles. He belongs to the part-time faculty of Rancho Santiago Community College to teach Emotional Intelligence to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. A graduate of Michigan State University (1970) with a B.A. in television and radio management, Michael spent four years in Detroit radio before arriving in the Southland. Though he's worked as a dj and newsman, he was best known for his popular talk radio programs. In 1987, Michael started a stress management and personal development company for individuals, couples and business. His next public seminar in Southern California will be presented on Sunday, January 19th at Body 'n' Soul in La Crescenta, just north of Glendale between Burbank and Pasadena. “Our topic will be: Feel it to Heal it - during which we'll provide you with practical tools to manage physical and emotional pain and, at the same time,  accelerate the body's natural healing process. Details and map are in this flyer https://www.smore.com/z6j8,” said Michael, host of The Ageless Wisdom Mystery School Podcast.

Record Breaking Traffic Data. The Southern California Broadcasters Association (SCBA), in conjunction with Southern California Association of Governments and the California Household Travel Survey, reveals a record breaking 16.5 million vehicle trips are being made each weekday from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. in the Southern California Region.

“This level of hourly driving activity dramatically showcases the immense mobility and density of Southern California driving habits and the critical role that driving has in our daily lives, hour by hour,” states SCBA president Thom Callahan. “Southern California is a massive car-driving region with our driving population making multiple vehicle trips throughout the working week. Our region’s astounding amount of daily vehicle trips exceeds the entire populations of most West Coast metro areas including San Francisco, Seattle, and Sacramento, as well as multiple state populations including Illinois.” 

“This critical data takes on increased urgency as advertisers wrestle with the best ways to invest their media budgets,” said Callahan. “The case for Radio advertising has never been stronger and this data offers 16.5 million compelling reasons why Southern California Radio is the solution for any advertiser.”

Hullabalooer Signs Up. Dave Hull, one of the legendary LARadio personalities in the second half of the 20th century, has written a very tasty and comprehensive (650 pages) history of his life in radio. On Thursday, February 6, Dave will be autographing and reading from Hullabaloo! The Life and (Mis)Adventures of L.A. Radio Legend Dave Hull at Book Soup in Hollywood at 7 p.m. Wine & cheese will be served.

Overheard.

• “Our memories of how great Radio was back in the day are far superior to how it actually sounded.” (George Johns, radio consultant)

• “What’s amazing to me is that Jews still vote for Obama.” (Michael Savage)

• “What idiot goes to the movie theatre anymore?” (Don Imus, KCAA)

• “Most people with power are deeply flawed. It’s deeply depressing.” (Dennis Prager, KRLA, on New Jersey bridge incident)

• "First they hit Target and now they hit upscale Neiman-Marcus. Not the same hackers however. There's a certain snobbery among cyber thieves. The Neiman-Marcus guys call the Target guys off-the-rack hackers." (Jim Carson, K-EARTH)

More is More. John Hogan originated radio’s version of “Less Is More” in 2004, a sales concept that even confounded Clear Channel sales executives. After almost 15 years with Clear Channel, Hogan announced his retirement yesterday, while at the same time, Bob Pittman was granted a 5-year extension on his contract. In a filing filed with the SEC, some of the highlights:

• Pittman will receive a base salary at a rate no less than $1,200,000 per year, which shall be increased at the discretion of the Clear Channel Board or its Compensation Committee.

• Pittman will also have the opportunity to earn an annual performance bonus for the achievement of reasonable performance goals. The aggregate target performance bonus is 150% of his annual base salary.

• "During the term of his employment, Clear Channel will make an aircraft (which, to the extent available, will be a Dassault-Breguet Mystere Falcon 900) available for his business and personal use and will pay all costs associated with the provision of the aircraft.  If a company aircraft is not available due to service or maintenance issues, Clear Channel will charter a comparable aircraft for Pittman’s business and personal use. 

• Hogan entered into a Severance Agreement and Clear Channel agreed to pay him:

• (1) $900,000, representing the amount previously earned by Hogan pursuant to a supplemental incentive plan with respect to 2012 performance.

• (2) an annual bonus of $77,250 for performance during 2013.

• Additionally, in exchange for the Separation Agreement, Hogan’s release of claims and the extension of certain restrictive covenants applicable to him, and provided that Hogan does not revoke the Separation Agreement, Clear Channel agrees to pay Hogan: (a) $333,000, representing the remaining amount earned by him pursuant to a supplemental incentive plan with respect to 2011 performance; (b) an 'equity value preservation payment' equal to $1,027,355, paid in a lump sum payment; (c) a lump sum severance payment equal to (x) $1,538,000 minus (y) the Repurchase Amount; (d) a severance payment equal to $3,297,000, paid over 36 months; and (e) a payment of $1,000,000, paid over 12 months, beginning on the first anniversary of the date of separation.

• Hogan is also entitled to received continued healthcare coverage for 36 months, continued secretarial services for six months, $20,000 in outplacement services, and a housing allowance of $25,000 per month for up to nine months, which amount is grossed up for certain applicable taxes; provided, that the housing allowance payments will stop if Hogan ceases to have obligations under the terms of his current lease agreement.  Clear Channel also will pay up to $25,000 for Hogan’s reasonable legal fees incurred in connection with the negotiation of the Separation Agreement.

Funnie. There comes a time when a woman just has to trust her husband.  

A wife comes home late at night and quietly opens the door to her bedroom. From under the blanket she sees four legs instead of two. She reaches for a baseball bat and starts hitting the blanket as hard as she can. Leaving the covered bodies groaning, she goes to the kitchen to have a drink. As she enters, she sees her husband there, reading a magazine.

"Hi, sweetheart," he says. "Your parents have come to visit us, so l let them stay in our bedroom. Did you say hello?"  (Larry Clark)

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** For What Ailes You

“Roger Ailes is BRILLIANT. He’s my kind of broadcast executive. Roger is creative takes chances and is a winner. FOX hard news beats ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and everybody doing news.” – Roger Carroll

** KGO Holiday Party

“I know it's not LARadio, but thanks for the peek into the KGO Christmas party. 

During the day I'm into LA radio. But, at night I often listen to KGO, KCBS in San Francisco and KFBK in Sacramento. These stations come in sounding like local stations at night.

It's an interesting period to be alive regarding radio, isn't it?” – John Rich, Santa Clarita 

LARPs in Roger Ailes THR Story

(January 14, 2014) Roger Ailes, arguably the most successful news executive in cable tv history, is profiled in the January 17 issue of the Hollywood Reporter. Some Los Angeles Radio People are mentioned in the three-page spread. Some highlights: At 73, the Ohio native shows no interest in retiring. He runs Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network and the Fox Television Stations Group. Among your competitors, is there any talent you particularly admire? I think Rachel Maddow has been a surprise to a lot of people. She wouldn’t really work at this network because she wouldn’t even come in the door, but on a personal level, I like her. Is it hard for you to deal with change sometimes? All change is hard for humans to deal with. The advertisers say 25 to 54 is the demo. Well, I invented Fox News when I was 56, so I was already outside the demo the day I started here.

How long will Bill O’Reilly continue his show?

You can never tell. If you go back pretty far to Steve Allen and Jack Paar, they had a very short life span. I think Bill can last as long as he wants because he’s driven by things that he sees that are not right from his point of view. He is still killing everybody in the ratings.

Do you have any interest to work with Bill on other projects, like the assassination histories he’s done with National Geographic?

I do. I would like News Corp to form a history channel and let Bill work with me. I’d run it for him because I’d like history done correctly for a change. They are not teaching the kinds the real stuff. I think there is room for another channel, and I would love to do it.

Do you think about retiring?

Yeah, every 15 minutes. I’ve never wanted my kid faced with the idea of, ‘Who’s the fat guy sitting in the living room? What the hell is he doing?' I won’t quit stirring things up. I saw Les Moonves one night in a restaurant with my old friend Mel Karmazin. They came over to my table and said: “We got a pool on you, Ailes. It’s up to a million dollars. Everybody wants to know when you’re going to die or retire because you’re killing us.’ I said, ‘As long as I’m doing that, I’m going to keep working, boys.’ I have a good relationship with all those guys, but they would like to see me retire.

Mack Attack. Greg Mack worked morning drive at KDAY and later KJLH from the mid-1980s until 1992. Greg is back on the local airwaves with a new syndicated show. Greg’s new show features Classic R&B and is heard on KTWV, “The WAVE.” The show is also carried on Magic 92.5 in San Diego and stations in Bakersfield and Lancaster/Palmdale. “Five hours per weekend and you're cruising under the sage of Rhythmic radio, the Mack Attack himself,” said Ed Mann who’s company is syndicating the new show. “Legendary jock and programmer from his days at 1580 KDAY in LA, and THE man responsible for the debut and growth of acts like Dr. Dre, N.W.A., Ice Cube and a list too numerous to mention."

Overheard.

• “The ’57 Chevy is 57 years old this year.” (Leon Kaplan, KABC)

• “This bunch of songs in a row is worth two in the bush.” (JACK/fm liner)

• “When the Righteous Brothers recorded You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling the writers Mann and Weil didn’t have an ending so Phil Spector came up with … Whoah whoa ho! He shares 1/3 of the writers fees from the 28 million dollars collected so far. That’s what I call a big ending.” (George Johns, radio consultant) 

• "My wife dragged me to Enough Said. I did not want to go at all. It's not my kind of film. It was really great." (Kevin Ryder, KROQ)

• “Funniest show on tv is back. Episodes. Great line from show … Disneyland is Walmart with rides.” (Geoff Edwards)

Sluggo Hits It Out of the Park. “Light travels 6 trillion miles in a year’s time. So, anyone looking at us here on earth from deep in space is seeing way back into our history. 200 some years from now, camera ships launched from the Peragro Museum in the mega-city Great Falls, Montana are gathering images from 2,000 years in earth’s past and turning them into interactive holograms called ‘Vapors.’” This is the description of KROQ’s Sluggo’s new book, Vapors, available at Amazon.

Funnie. “I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.” (Comedian Steve Wright)

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** Memories of NBC Burbank

“I'm happy that some of the readers enjoyed the aircheck of the 1949 Steve Allen broadcast.  To tie-in with the farewell to the NBC TV studios in Burbank, I found this clip of Steve Allen’s Sunday night variety show from February 1958, which was usually from New York.  But this one was taped at the NBC Burbank studios. 

Here, Allen sings with Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Ann Sothern, and Dinah Shore.  As they walk through the halls of NBC-Burbank in black and white in 1958, the bottom right corner of the video shows the same footage of the same building in color from a more recent time.  I have fond memories of being in the studio audience for several of the NBC shows with a high school class in 1971-73, such as Sanford and Son, Hollywood Squares, Flip Wilson and The Dean Martin Show.  So, this clip from '58 inside that building was great to see.” – Jim Hilliker, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbxoF4F0TrY 

Rob Wagman Took a Long and Winding Road to Afternoons at The Fish 

(January 13, 2014) Rob Wagman begins his second year into afternoon drive at Christian Contemporary station, KFSH, 95.9/fm The Fish. To get to his gig at The Fish, Rob has arrived via a long and windy road. In his life he hit a bottom, searched out God for help, and discovered redemption. Rob responds to a series of questions from LARadio. When and where did you grow up? How did you get interested in radio? I grew up in a lower-middle class town called Carpentersville, Illinois, about 40 miles northwest of Chicago. I began winning radio contests in the 70's and would win so often that I would have to lie my name and change my voice to fool the djs, and out of that came a character named ‘Keith,’ who was a 5-year old prodigy child. Keith knew a lot about life, for a 5-year old. DJ's in Chicago found his content fascinating and his naiveté charming enough to put him on the air often, and eventually offer him a job.  Larry Lujack, Fred Winston, Steve Dahl and Garry Meier were my earliest radio influences, as they demonstrated how ‘real personality’ can draw in an audience. Where did you go to school and what did you study? Columbia College Chicago was where I chose to study radio, which quickly turned into on air and management positions at the college station, and an internship with B96, a CBS Top 40 in Chicago that would grow me up real fast. I was exposed to the fast side of our industry and my inability to manage the party lifestyle and the responsibilities of having a real job, got the best of me. I lost my positions in college, and eventually dropped out, before graduating.

Didn't you have on- and off-air jobs before The Fish?

I used a demo from my days at Star 98.7 in LA to get the attention of Chuck Tyler, pd for The Fish job, and obviously it did work, as I am starting my 2nd year tomorrow.

I have had many on-air jobs in radio, from Rockford, Illinois to Providence to Vermont to Tampa to Syracuse to Greenville, South Carolina, to New Orleans and then to LA the first time, but mostly since 1995, I have been programming radio stations.

Your bio suggests some life changes? Anything you would like to share?

I hit on the beginning of it back in the college years, but I was in the way of my own success for so many years, as I wanted success for all the wrong reasons, and it never came during that time; in fact, mostly the opposite, heartache and poverty. In 1991, I was desperate and couldn't see continuing in life if something didn't change. In a last ditch effort, I called out to a God I wasn't even sure existed, and faster than my words came out of my mouth, HE came into mine. It was fast, it was real and it changed me from the inside out. The people who knew me before that time and know me now can discuss with fervency the drastic differences of the two Rob Wagmans.

How did you get the job at KFSH?

In November of 2012, I saw an ad on AllAccess.com, advertising the position.  At the time, I was the assistant pd/music director of 92.2 NOW in New York City, but I knew that with a new boss, that my days there could be numbered, so, stepping out in faith, I answered the ad.  The pd, Chuck Tyler hit me back immediately telling me that they would start the search around Thanksgiving, and by that time, we were already discussing the possibility of my return to Southern California. I had never cut up a demo from my time at Star 98.7, but since then I didn't have much time on the air, so I went through all of my on air demos from that time and assembled a job winning demo.

How would you describe your afternoon drive job at 95.9/The Fish?

I love this job, as I am truly just myself. Being a Christian since 1991, I don't have to worry about what comes out of my mouth, as to whether I will say the right things or not.  I get to, truly be myself, which is really, a goofball, often having a sense of humor at times, when people might want me to be more serious.  However, I am just me, which is the greatest freedom I can express about this job. I don't have to be someone I'm not.

Afternoons is made up of current content and topics, audience feedback, phone calls, all wrapped around music that's message is about positivity, faith, family and community. Humor is definitely an obvious part of all the content.  

You can reach Rob at: rob@thefishla.com

Hogan Retires. John Hogan, chairman/ceo of Clear Channel, has announced his retirement. The parent company made the announcement at the same they extended Bob Pittman's contract five years. Hogan joined Clear Channel in 1999 when the company acquired Jacor, where he was svp/radio. Three years later he was named president/ceo of Clear Channel. Hogan will take the title of Chairman Emeritus. "John Hogan has made tremendous contributions to Clear Channel during his tenure – particularly during the unprecedented economic headwinds our country, our industry and our company, faced in 2008 and 2009," said Pittman. “As my friend and partner John has been an important element in Clear Channel's transformation into a multiplatform media company. There is never a perfect time to make big decisions like this, but his logic was compelling and making this change at the start of a new year made sense. We thank him for his long service and the enormous positive impact he's had on both our company and the radio industry, and we are delighted that John will remain part of the family," concluded Hogan.

Suits Condolences. Condolences to KABC’s Bryan Suits on the passing of his father. “Like in all things, he took care of all the details,” Bryan posted on his Facebook page. “He took care of our mother Dorothy for 25 years after she was diagnosed with MS. Amazingly selfless, my dad, Robert Suits Sr., was a veteran of the horrific Battle of Okinawa as an 18 year old in April 1945. He was a naturalized Hawaiian and opera lover."

Golden Mike Honors. Nationally prominent sportscaster and veteran Dick Enberg, journalist and entrepreneur Giselle Fernandez, and award-winning radio newsman (KNX and KFWB) John Brooks will receive top honors at the 64th annual Golden Mike Awards show in Universal City. Enberg will receive the Radio & Television News Association a Broadcast Legend award at the gala dinner on Saturday, January 25. The versatile sportscaster is recognized nationally for his signature cry of "Oh, my!" His long career has encompassed NFL football, two decades of Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Game of the Week college basketball games, as well as UCLA basketball, LA Rams pro football and California Angeles baseball, not to mention dozens of events at the Olympics. Currently he is the voice of San Diego Padres on Fox Sports San Diego. Enberg broke into tv fulltime at KTLA/Channel 5 in 1965, after several years in academia at what is now Cal State University, Northridge. He holds a national Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Ms. Fernandez is a recipient of RTNA's Lifetime Achievement Award. She gained national prominence anchoring major network newscasts and morning shows for CBS and NBC, after beginning her career on local tv in Los Angeles. She is a five-time Emmy Award winner for her insightful interviews of global leaders such as Fidel Castro, Henry Kissinger, and Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.  She currently hosts the Big Shots online video interviews for LA Magazine.  

John Brooks also receives a Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 40 years on Southland radio reporting thousands of breaking stories, features and investigations. Thirty-four of those years were spent on all-news stations KFWB and KNX covering stories from NASA space missions to fires and floods, and always in Brooks' smooth, accurate and entertaining style. He began his career at KVEN-AM in Ventura and garnered six Golden Mike Awards before retiring last year.

Overheard.

• “I’m huffing and puffing this morning. I almost didn’t make it in. I came out of my bedroom, which is about 120 feet away from the studio and Chris Christie set up the orange cones all the way down the hallway. I didn’t endorse him so I paid for it this morning.” (Dennis Miller, KRLA)

• “My father and I share the same doctor. The doctor asked me how often I drink. I tell him I go home and have a beer or two. Then on the weekends maybe a couple of beers and a cold shot of vodka. But that’s it. The doctor tells me not to do that. He tells me I should be more like my dad who has one or two beers a year. I’m thinking to myself, this is great, two generations of Conways BSing the same doctor.” (Tim Conway, Jr., KFI)

• “This is New Jersey, folks. They are all about retaliation.” (Peter Tilden, KABC)

• “I look at this picture from Colorado and I see this long lines of dopers swamping the Colorado pot shops. Just a bunch of long lines of losers. All I could think of was, wow what a country we’re living in. We’ve gone from the bread line to the pot line in one generation. Look at the country we’re living in. Think we could ever win another war?” (Michael Savage)

• "Whotta day ysterday between Golden Globes and football." (Bill Handel, KFI)

• “Why did the banana go to the doctor? Because he wasn't peeling well.” (Nick Federoff)

• “Four members of the original Jackson Five will perform at Planet Hollywood next month. Isn’t that like seeing the Dave Clark Four?” (Ira David Sternberg)

• "I think Jacqueline Bisset walked from her home to get her Golden Globe." (Kevin Ryder, KROQ)

• "I hate Harbaugh and the 49ers. He's a loud-mouthed jerk." (Don Imus, KCAA)

 Funnie.

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** Shout-Out to Bender

"After listening to all the fill in hosts over the holiday season at KFI, I want to give a BIG shout-out to Aron Bender. He managed to keep up the high caliber program that is expected at KFI without tarnishing his reputation as a true news reporter. That's not easy on a station that relies on hosts being opinionated, while news reporters remain neutral. 

Aron Bender always maintains his head above the fracas while reporting. That is what one should expect in his profession. What is special is his wearing the host hat and not giving us a dull 'news' program. He uses humor, music and banter with the traffic reporter, board operator and news person to entertain us. I never felt like turning the dial away until the regular host returned. Ding Dong!" - Gary Brasher, Castaic  

Sunday Funnies and Jerry Clark's Decorating Tips from Real Men

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Saturday LARadio Archives from January 2010  "The Big Chill" Almost Hit The WAVE (January 13, 2010) “I had Phil Jackson ready to go to do a tv commercial for ‘The WAVE,” remembered Roy Laughlin, former CBS/Radio market manager in late 2008 and early 2009. With the recent appointment of Jhani Kaye as pd at ‘The WAVE,’ the following story was shared yesterday.  Roy believed he had a full mandate to assess the state of CBS Radio/LA and move toward changes to enhance the revenue and ratings. He saw that ‘The WAVE’ had ratings challenges and set about to do some ear and eye-catching marketing.   “I had Phil Jackson ready to go to do a tv commercial and the theme was going to be ‘Chill Like Phil.’ I was going to shoot the spot at Staples Center while they were going for the national championship. Phil would do a little feature on the station including the bumpers just to make it funny. The announcer says, ‘When you need to chill at work’ you then show Phil in his little Zen thing with everyone screaming around him at the Staples Center, ‘Chill Like Phil.’”  Phil was represented by Brian Musberger, son of college football announcer, Brent Musberger. “I explained that I wanted Phil to drive a Toyota on the way to Staples so I could sell it to the Southern California Toyota Association. I’ll pay the $100,000 fee, which we all agreed on. In the Toyota Scion or some kind of inappropriate Toyota car, we see Phil driving and listening to ‘The WAVE.’ The announcer says, ‘You need to chill like Phil whether you’re in the car or ‘then we cut to the scene of him in that yoga position sitting on the sidelines with no one in the building. The visual reads, ‘At work, chill like Phil.’”  Roy had no intention of buying a heavy tv schedule, perhaps just a handful. “The whole concept here was to get the press to run the spots and then he could roll out his line of yoga mats. I told Musberger that he needed to get beyond basketball.”  Musberger loved it and they all got together with Jeanie Buss of the Lakers. “We were talking about moving the Lakers to 980AM. I told her I would pay her $10 million a year. She said, ‘Send me the contract for a three-year $30 million deal.’ The Lakers don’t need a big signal to sell out Staples. The Dodgers need a big signal because they need to continually promote attendance at the ballpark. Lakers don’t need radio. They don’t care. When you have a team that hot you don’t need radio. All the games are on tv.”  “I called New York and tell them we can sell it in combo with KCAL./Channel 9 and then we have a lock on the market. The guy at K-CAL thought I was trying to get in on his deal and he called Jeanie and said that I didn’t have the authority to offer that deal. Now KLAC was paying the Lakers $8 million and were planning on offering $7 million because no one else in the market would offer $9 or 10 million. Surprise to everyone. ESPN did.”  Roy said he wanted to make ‘The WAVE’ music wider while doing some very unconventional marketing tricks. “They didn’t get that and it didn’t happen.” Roy had a relationship with Phil that went back to when Clear Channel sponsored a motivational seminar in Orange County called, ‘Our Winning Ways’ (on stage besides Phil: Jerry West, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Muhammad Ali, Pete Carroll, John Wooden, Tommy Lasorda and Mike Scioscia). In a conversation with Musberger in Chicago, he confirmed the negotiations did take place for Phil doing this promotion. “The program director at ‘The WAVE’ and the people at CBS thought it was stupid and it never happened,” said Roy.   An Open Email To: Jhani Kaye From: Don Barrett Re: Your new assignment as program director at KTWV Station groups all over the country have consolidated the duties of the program directors by giving them all the stations in the cluster as a cost-saving move. So far, LA Radio has been far more judicious in adding stations to existing responsibilities of programming execs. They have made the move only when it seems to fit, instead of simply trying to save a buck.    There’s some good reasons CBS Radio has added KTWV to your responsibilities at K-EARTH. You have demonstrated to the suits that left alone to create a well-disciplined radio station, your success will flourish. Your vision for KOST took this station to the heights of AC radio for two decades and became the standard by which all others are judged. K-EARTH was a languishing Oldies station. Many critics had written off the format as, well, old. The once-standard of Oldies radio had mummified itself, rotating a couple of hundred titles, playing them ad nauseum and removing the fun. You could hear the stifling and choking sounds of the station as it sputtered toward extinction. The day you arrived at K-EARTH in 2006, the bones began to rattle. You began to add some titles that hadn’t been heard in years. You expanded the playlist. You had aircheck sessions with the jocks. You juggled the staff. And it paid off with steady ratings that culminated this past November with KRTH ranked #1 in the PPM 6+.  Now CBS/LA Radio has given you the ratings-challenged KTWV. The 94.7 frequency has evolved from the legendary years of KMET to the launch of the NAC format in 1987 with Sting’s If You Love Somebody. The “New Age” format was complete with dangling wind chimes. Over the years the station captured the mood of Smooth Jazz and ratings followed.   Ten years ago I was chatting with the then-general manager Tim Pohlman at a Valentine’s Day listener promotion event in Santa Monica. I asked the seven-year veteran what his biggest challenge was at the highly successful station. “The challenge is not to get complacent. I’ve borrowed a line from Jimmy Buffet that sums up my philosophy: Quietly Making Noise.” But it did become complacent. The station seemed stuck in another time. Smooth Jazz stations all over the country have been dropping the format, but CBS/LA  management has stubbornly held on in Los Angeles because of its long-time position in the market. So the WAVE may be drowning, but it can still be resuscitated.  The decision to hire Smooth Jazz musicians to host the morning show (Dave Koz and Brian McKnight) hasn’t worked. The morning show is voicetracked and sounds it. There is nothing relevant. We wake up in the morning, not only wanting to be entertained, but we need to have the sense of what happened overnight and what the day holds in store for us.   I have no inside information, but I would imagine that Brian McKnight will be replaced sooner rather than later. This station needs to breathe. It needs some oxygen, so if management has given you the same freedom and budget to give it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as it did with K-EARTH, I would imagine that the station will not only be live but even weekends will be live and vibrant. This might give the opportunity to out-of-work veterans that you’ve worked with in the past a place to help you succeed.   The reference to ‘Smooth Jazz’ has been dropped from your Web site. At K-EARTH you changed ‘Oldies Radio’ to the ‘Greatest Hits on Earth.’ It will be fun to hear how you evolve the sound of the station and give it a new coat of paint. At K-EARTH, the purists were disappointed when the ’50s and early ’60s music was dropped, only to be replaced by, hold on, ’70s hits. Today it is not jarring to hear music from the ’80s at KRTH. You have smartly evolved that station into a contemporary “Oldies” station.   The 94.7/fm frequency may become the new home to KROQ. The rumors have certainly been strong for well over a year. KROQ’s transmitter is not on Mt. Wilson. The storied Alternative station has struggled with the PPM technology because you can’t hear the station in enough of the nooks and crannies of Southern California. With so many great sounding alternatives, no one will put up with anything but a strong signal free of interference and static.  If that happens, KTWV will move to 106.7. The frequency swap couldn’t come at a more opportune time for you. You will have an opportunity to create your new, evolved image for the station at a new home. You will not only take your P1’s with you but have an outstanding opportunity to enlarge your audience far beyond what you could have at 94.7. You have inherited a staff of talented individuals. Change is always difficult for them but I’ve always observed you being fair and patient giving them every opportunity to see and execute your vision.  Well Jhani, you could have gone out on top with the enormous success of K-EARTH and KOST. Whotta’ career you have had. But it is clear you are about to embark on a hat trick by taking three stations to the top. We see all-pro quarterbacks stay one season too long. In your case, you have many more seasons to play and delight all of us who enjoy LA Radio. Good luck. PD Change. With the promotion of Jhani Kaye to pd at KTWV, the pd since 2003, Paul Goldstein, has exited the station. Jhani had high praise for him. "Paul Goldstein has done an excellent job of creating one of the strongest brands in the market, and it’s a privilege to work with Ed Krampf and the entire staff of The Wave to continue to improve its position in the market.”  Paul (l) had some farewell words: "As a co-founder of 'The WAVE' back in 1987, looking back over the past almost 23 years it’s so gratifying to see that we built one of the most iconic brands in Southern California with a lifespan longer than it’s predecessor, KMET. The station is in great hands with Jhani Kaye, a friend and remarkable programmer. I’ll miss many of the wonderful and talented people at The WAVE with whom I’ve built friendships over the years. Looking forward, this is such an exciting time to be in media. Now I’ll be able to focus all of my time on some exceptional opportunities."

LA Radio Revenue Drops from High of $1 Billion to $640 Million in 2013

(January 10, 2014) It wasn’t too long ago when radio revenues for the Los Angeles market topped $1 billion. But a depressed economy and with ad revenues now being spread out over a larger media canvas, the total revenue for 2013 is expected to be $640 million.

Not everyone is gloomy about the year-end figures. “Revenues have been climbing back since the start of the recession in 2008. The estimated 2013 revenues make us still the largest revenue market in the US,” emailed Thom Callahan, president of the Southern California Broadcasters Association.

A new study from research firm Borrell Associates suggests that broadcasting will be treading water with revenues for the next five years. Borrell’s new study is titled, “The Future of Legacy Media: With 5 Years of Digital Disruption Ahead, What Happens Next?”  

Borrell predicts that minutes spent with AM/FM radio (which has already dropped from 124.1 in 2008 to 93.5 in 2013, according to the study) will continue to erode, even though the number of individuals listening as least once per week may remain fairly constant.  By 2018 Borrell predicts minutes spent with radio will further drop to 81.9 (for a total decrease from 2008 to 2018 of 34%). 

As far as revenues, Borrell notes that radio ad spending has dropped by almost a third over the past 13 years and predicts the level the industry is at right now – about $14.3 billion – is roughly where it will be in another five years. 

The study has this to say about AM/FM radio’s future:  

If trends hold true, traditional radio ad spending will continue to tread water, remaining largely unchanged while growth moves online – especially among national advertisers.  Detroit is already equipping some new cars with Pandora service, so even that industry sinecure may have been breached.  Losses – where they occur – will be most felt in the larger metros, while suburban and rural areas will still depend on the local flavor of stations that have been good friends to their fathers and grandfathers.

Yet SCBA’s Callahan remains upbeat. “The region’s economy for 2014 is on the upswing according to every major local, regional, and state indicator. Because of significant political dollars coming Radio’s way in 2014 (all Congressional seats are up for grabs) and increased new categories of advertisers coming into Radio, we see the LA market growing by 2-3% in 2014.”

Part of Callahan’s optimistic outlook has to do with the fact that this market has always been ahead of the country in terms of revenue. “We see that continuing in 2014,” added Callahan.

Callahan expressed his concern and skepticism for the research offered in the Borrell study. “It is easy to project the future when you don’t divulge how you arrive at your projections. I can only tell you what I hear from our member stations and that is optimism, based on ratings growth, improving revenue, and an exceptional new generation of sales people that is giving the market new energy and results.”

Thom contradicts Borrell when the study suggests that radio has been in a 13-year decline. “The Borrell ‘study’ states that Radio’s revenue decline began as early as 2006 and suggests it can’t all be blamed on the recession. Well, the fact is that 2007 was the Radio industry’s greatest revenue year EVER! All the trades should make a pledge that if they print negatives about Radio, they should also report the positives as well. I think that is called being ‘FAIR.’”

Callahan added “Please read my blog on the enormous growth of Radio stocks in 2013 at www.scba.com under Thom’s Blog. It will give everyone ‘the other side of the coin.’”

Watch Paraquat Kelley and Melody Rogers on the KTLA/Channel 5 Morning Show by clicking the book

KFI Line-up. The morning team at KFI is preparing for some changes come January 20. News anchor Gary Hoffmann will have his own show from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., and then serve as Bill Handel’s newsman from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Handel is being pushed up to a 6 a.m. start. Bill asked Gary how much more money he would be getting for adding the new show. “I will mouth to you how much more I’m getting,” said Hoffman.

“His lips did not move,” revealed Handel.

Newswoman Jo Kwon will be part of Hoffman’s new show and David Perez will produce the show. “We are setting up all the social media stuff,” said Hoffmann. “Twitter ‘HoffmannShow’ and 'Instagram ‘HoffmannShow.’”

Handel revealed that the February station extravaganza may just be a ‘ganza.’ “It may not be as big as we thought and that’s a little disappointing. We’re having discussions about it,” said Bill. Mike Nolan added, “Perhaps it will be at the back booth at Denny’s.”

LARP Engagement. KLOS afternooner Gary Moore and Georgia Berkovich, Community Relations Manager at the Midnight Mission, got engaged over the holidays. My wife Cherie and I (seated in photo) were honored to spend New Year’s Eve in Cambria with the couple having dinner at the Sow’s Ear. Earlier in the day we saw The Wolf of Wall Street and counted in the New Year by counting all the F-bombs in the movie. Two nicer people you will not meet. Gary loves the music he plays every afternoon and is head over heels in love with Georgia who has a heart as big as all outdoors. She brings a smile to everyone she comes into contact with at the Mission. They are blessed.

Hear Ache. K-EARTH is having fun with the audience-pleaser Hi/Lo promotion. They’re giving away thousands of dollars … K-EARTH’s Lisa Stanley played Crystal Gayle’s Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue at her 1984 wedding. After her admission, Gary Bryan said, “Bad luck song, eh?” … KLOS is giving away tickets to Eagles concert at the Forum  … KRLA’s Hugh Hewitt was lecturing and doing a book signing at the Nixon Library last night … Lifetime Movie Network will be airing an encore of Drew Peterson: Untouchable tonight at 7 p.m. Mike Carlucci plays ‘Jay,’ a morning radio host. "My close to 2-minute scene has me interviewing Drew Peterson, who is played by Rob Lowe," emailed Mike.

Allen Zaps Zappa. In recent days, many readers have loved the links to the old Steve Allen Show on tv. Did you know that Frank Zappa appeared with Allen playing the bicycle as a musical instrument?

Overheard.

• “The Los Angeles Department Water & Power’s Ron Nichols is stepping down. Why is that? What did they spend that $40 million on? He’s just an old, tired bureaucratic hack who’s bad at his job. And he was paid $300 thousand-something. And this Ron Nichols knows everything that happened and that’s why he’s quitting.” (John & Ken, KFI)

• “Requests? Nah, sorry. How about a burrito?” (JACK/fm liner)

• “Despite some scenes of political violence and brief sequences of marital and extramarital eroticism, three stars for the potent and powerful Mandela.” (Michael Medved, KRLA, movie review)

• “Nobody would do anything like that if they didn’t have some vague feeling that Christie wouldn’t care all that much and he would approve it sort of.” (Don Imus, KCAA)

• "A woman was working at a closed caption company that handled a lot of live, breaking news stories. One of them was doing a story about Alan Greenspan going into the hospital with an enlarged prostate, however, her fingers slipped and what went over the air was 'an enlarged prostitute.'" (Stephanie Miller)

• “Some wag said, ‘Who would have thought that Chris Cristie would be involved in clogging a major artery.'” (Doug McIntyre, KABC)

• "The NFL is the only league that asks you to sit for four hours in weather conditions you wouldn't walk your animals in." (Colin Cowherd, KSPN)

• “It is pretty remarkable, contrasted with where-the-buck-never stops, which is in the Obama administration. Here it stopped with Chris Christie almost immediately.” (Hugh Hewitt, KRLA)

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** Too Much Fawning Over Bob Grant

“I have read your stuff for years and love keeping up on LA radio but, I have got to say, this fawning over Bob Grant is getting nauseating.  The man was a disgusting racist.  He has spawned the ugliness that is Rush Limbaugh [who is a really cheap imitation…the man was never original]. 

Everyone just glosses over the things he said but the only brave souls that talks about the real Bob Grant’s career was the New York Times. Everyone in radio either just says nothing or sings Bob’s praises, without mentioning the dark side of his career.” – Karen McHale, Whittier

** Live and Local Spreading

“Curtis & Kuby are reunited at WABC-New York from 9 a.m. - noon. It appears New York City is going ‘Live and Local’ much like KFI and ‘The Patriot’ in New York at WNYM. The move in both cities makes a lot of sense.” – Gordon Martin 

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Fred Roggin to be Honored at SCSB Luncheon

(January 9, 2014) The 23rd annual Southern California Sports Broadcasters awards luncheon will be held on Monday, January 27 at 11:30 a.m. at Lakeside Country Club in Toluca Lake.  Among those being honored include Peter O'Malley, new Hall of Famer Fred Roggin, Dr. Frank Jobe, Mater Dei High School coach Gary McKnight, UCLA baseball coach John Savage and Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw.  Other awards will be presented in myriad categories including for work during the 2013 calendar year in radio and tv play-by-play and analysis, and radio and tv sports anchoring.  A "who's-who" of local sports broadcasting will be attending the event.

For the first time ever, a limited number of tickets are available to the public at $75 each, and can be purchased through Russell Ono at 805.907.8366.

LARadio competing morning men, Carson Daly (AMP Radio) and Ryan Seacrest (KIIS), appeared yesterday morning on The Today Show. Who is doing their radio shows?

Coast to Coast. Tonight at 10 p.m. on KFI, the owner of one of the world's largest and best collection of rare records and high-quality radio shows from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, will appear on George Noory’s Coast to Coast. John Tefteller will discuss the rich history of recorded entertainment in the United States. He'll play examples from his vast collection including Suspense, Inner Sanctum, Mercury Theatre with Orson Welles, Groucho Marx and more.

Funnie. If you are not there yet, you will be ... (thanks to Bob Maryon)

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** Credibility Gap Question “So soon after you ran that lovely piece about me from AP comes the little jab from Lew Irwin.  If it were public knowledge why Mr. Irwin's tenure with the Gap lasted only a year, people might better understand his swipe at ‘funny news.’    However, a devotion to what I thought was at the heart of journalism - factual accuracy - compels me to point out that, contrary to Mr. Irwin's assertion, the Credibility Gap under his management was not just ‘a news program.’  It was, in fact, marketed as a comedy act. Mr. Irwin himself made a deal with Blue Thumb Records for an album called An Album of Political Pornography.   The artist: ‘Lew Irwin and the Credibility Gap.’" - Harry Shearer

** Requiem for NBC Burbank

“Fascinating stuff. I especially liked seeing Steve Allen, who was the main reason I decided to major in television at Wayne State and Ernie Kovacs, who implanted a weird sense of humor in me. At one time, I thought I'd be one of those guys who assembled before the Carson Show: a tv writer.

Sad to see the Burbank Studios go, but they're actually just moving down the street, with new tenants taking over. Thanks for the link!” – Gerry Downey, Detroit

** More Beautiful Downtown Burbank Memories

“Sometimes we forget how funny and creative early radio was.  Loved the Steve Allen 50 minutes, I smiled and laughed the whole time.  Thanks for sharing.” – Stan White, Seattle

** Academy Contenders

“About three weeks ago, my wife and saw Inside Llewyn Davis. In our opinion and the opinion of others who were walking out of the movie, the movie stunk. No one liked it. I thought it was redundant, boring and lacked entertainment value. I have talked to two friends who are members of the Academy and vote. Neither of them enjoyed the movie. John Goodman was in the movie and his part was gratuitous and didn't fit in the movie. I see all of the ads and the critics who think it is the best movie of the year. I think they are nuts - as do others.

Through last weekend, gross revenues were just under $ 7 million for Inside Llewyn Davis, Saving Mr. Banks at $55 million, and American Hustle at $88 million. The word of mouth is out there and people are not going to see Inside Llweyn Davis in spite of all the advertising and promotional dollars.

We saw American Hustle and I thought there were too many sub plots and the movie was scattered although lots of women's breasts in evidence. If Llewyn Davis wins any awards, I think it would be a travesty. Also, saw Saving Mr. Banks and it was an entertaining movie. The same for Philomena, It was a true story and Judy Dench was terrific.” – Bob Fox 

Aircheck: Life in Music Radio
New Book by KDAY veteran J.J. Johnson 

(January 8, 2014) J.J. Johnson has been around LARadio for decades, so who better to chronicle the activities of a dj than J.J.? He’s written a new book, Aircheck: Life in Music Radio. In June of 1974 he arrived at 1580 KDAY where he remained for 17 years, serving as program director twice in the late seventies and early ‘80s. He also was heard on KMPC, KJLH, KKBT, KACE and V-100. Born in Cleveland as James O. Johnson, Jr., J.J. hung out at WCUY, the local jazz station. He was 15 years old when local air personality Chuck Lansing asked, "Why don't you do this?"

That was his start. On January 6, 1968 at the age of 17 he went on-air at WABQ-Cleveland under the name "Jimmy O'Jaye." In the summer of 1969 he moved on to KYOK-Houston, replacing Walt "Baby" Love, who'd moved on to Top 40 KILT.

In early 1971 he moved to WGRT-Chicago. Four short months later, he then moved on to San Francisco's legendary KFRC, where consultant Bill Drake and pd Paul Drew gave him the name "J.J." Johnson. It was at KFRC where Drew taught him the mechanics of radio programming.

In the late summer of 1973, he took the pd position at KFRC/fm, which ran an automated Oldies format.  It was mid-June of 1974 when Jim Maddox hired J.J., starting his 17-year association with KDAY. In addition, he simultaneously did a year-long, once-per-week stint at the L.A. MOR giant, KMPC. He was KDAY's pd twice and won virtually every industry and community award, including two Billboard Awards and a Black Radio Exclusive award, among others.

J.J. voiced most of the Motown network specials during the 1980s beginning with the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Motown 25, one of the all-time great tv music specials. His was the last voice heard on 1580 / KDAY upon sign-off in 1991.  In 1992 he became the JAMS editor at HITS magazine, where he remained for two years.

J.J. has two main mentors; his first pd, Mike Payne, and the aforementioned Paul Drew. He entered radio syndication in 1982 when he co-hosted, with singer Lou Rawls, the 24-hour radio special The Music of Black America.

In the mid-1980s he hosted Westwood One's bi-weekly Budweiser Concert Hour and Fresh Traxx. He spent a year-and-a-half as host of Bullitt Productions’ Highlights. In the early 1990s he produced – via Too Lunar Productions, the company he started with partner Gary Jackson – Countdown/Countdown, hosted by his former morning partner Russ Parr. He became segment narrator of Paramount's Real TV with Ahmad Rashad in mid-2000.

How did his new book come about? “Man! It started as a blog simply to get old memories down and out,” he states. “I have lots of stories and I wanted to safeguard them and perhaps – perhaps – write a book. So, weekly, I would write about whatever came to mind. It might be about a station, a celebrity, a viewpoint or rant [which is a viewpoint] and, generally, about my five-decade odyssey. Finally, after a year and 70+ posts, I went about transposing it into book form.” J.J. thought it would be a piece of cake to create a book, but as he and many others have found, it isn’t so easy. “I spent another six months or so bringing it up to ‘first draft’ status. Then, I spent the rest of the year refining and editing. You could edit into eternity so I came to a point where I declared that this book is as written as it's gonna get! Then, I had to learn – and am still learning – the ins and outs of self-publishing on Amazon/Kindle.” J.J. could have gone the traditional route, but he didn’t want anybody telling him what should or should not be in his book. “Besides, I'm a jock,” declared Johnson. “We get acceptance and we hate rejection. So, Kindle appealed to me.” Finally, this week he got the Amazon book up and running.

Add J.J.’s book to your radio collection and you won’t be disappointed. Check out his unique video trailer at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRfuiMXQAbU&feature=em-upload_owner

Jarvis Revolt. A documentary filmmaker from Northern California is working on a project about Howard Jarvis, Prop 13 and the birth of the tax revolt. The California Council for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities is underwriting the project. Does anyone have information where some of the archived Jarvis recordings could be accessed from 1977-78? Contact Jason Cohn at: jason@breadandbutterfilms.com or 415.786.8941

After a decade at KIIS/fm, this week Dave Styles took over afternoons at sister station, MY/fm 

Hear Ache. Rush Limbaugh is still on KFI until January 17. He’s currently simulcasting on both 1150 AM and 640 AM.

Nebraska. My five Oscar nominations are due at Price Waterhouse this afternoon. In a very diverse collection of films, I thought most of the contending films rated a B or B+. Nothing really said ‘this is the Best movie of 2013.’ But five picks needed to be made. At the top of my nominations was Nebraska. For regular readers of LARadio over the years – remember, what I vote for rarely wins. And we are only in the nomination phase. With Nebraska, I thought the filmmakers put together a labor of love (in black & white, which didn’t hurt The Artist) that explored the effects of aging, a troubled father/son relationship, and living in a simple, bleak landscape. When the actually voting begins, we will have our annual readers’ poll.

Overheard.

• “I am a fan of electing the sheriff, but don’t be surprised when it is abused?” (Bryan Suits, KABC)

• “Just because I look okay doesn’t necessarily mean I’m okay.” (Heidi Hamilton, KLOS)

• "You want to know how bad the economy is, folks? There are adult children moving back in with their parents and their parents are homeless." (Dennis Miller, KRLA)

• “Stop tricking the animals with duck calls. It is a cheap, cheesy, cowardly way to do it. Don’t you think it’s awful that the ducks think they are going to get some duck nuckie and they get their heads blown off?” (Don Imus)

• “January is the biggest divorce month of the year.” (Peter Tilden, KABC)

• "And now everything is so regulated I think we want to go back to less regulation and less is more. I'm thinking we split up California into six states, I'm all for it." (Tim Conway, Jr., KFI)

• “Men are dumb, women are insane.” (Frank Kramer, KLOS)

Email Wednesday

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** Putting Face on Radio

“After all these years I finally see a picture of Barbara Brooks. There are so many traffic reporters I’ve talked to but never met.” –Jack Naimo

** Credibility Gap “Thank you [and please thank Alan Oda for me] for the mention in today’s column. Just to clarify: During my association with it, which was just over a year, The Credibility Gap was not the name of a group but the name of the news program, and as Alan indicated, we had numerous personnel changes during that time. While most of the contributors were topical satirists, some were bona fide broadcast journalists like Leo McElroy, Bob Ferris, and George Martin. And the program won numerous awards for news content. It was never intended to be simply ‘funny news.’ By the way, I will be discussing, reading, and signing Deadly Times at Vroman’s book store on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena on Monday, January 13. A couple of people have asked if I would talk about the Credibility Gap there, too — and I’m happy to do so. After all, Vroman’s is just a stone’s throw away from the scene of the crime.” – Lew Irwin, STUDIO BRIEFING

** Memories of Bob Grant

“As one of Bob Grant’s former producers at WMCA and a colleague at WABC – much will be written about his career.  My hope is that people will remember Bob not as a Conservative talk show host as the present genre of ‘no hope’ radio is perceived.   

Bob made people think and laugh. He wanted everyone to listen no matter their affiliation. He was an entertainer who’s cynical and sometimes bitter outlook on life made the show about HIM – not about anything going on externally.   Many people that listened to him didn’t agree with anything he said – but they did learn and LAUGH.  He never was predictable about positions. For those who worked with him and those who listened, he was one of a kind.  I am sure others will agree with me it was the best part of their career to have work with Bob Grant!” - Mike Thompson, KSPN Program Director

** Rush’s Move to the Right at 1150 AM

“In response to the KFI move of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to the 1150 AM signal: What are the actual ratings for the below conservative talk shows in the LA/OC market? We never see actual LA/OC ratings numbers for:

1. Rush Limbaugh KFI (only see his numbers as last hour of Bill Handel show.)

2. Sean Hannity KABC

3. Mark Levin KABC

4. Larry Elder KABC

My personal hypothesis is that the LA/OC ratings for these shows is are not all that good, in particular for the coveted 25-54 age segment.

In particular, Larry Elder bothers me in that he is so cocky about himself. But he’s on a station that cannot match the ratings of the local community college radio station at Santa Monica Community College. So how many folk actually listen to him? Can’t be many. So what does he have to be cocky about?

Anyway, I think many of your readers would be interested in seeing some hard numbers PLUS your analysis of those numbers.

Hoping you can report on these issues I’ve mentioned above. I believe your readers will be interested in this type of coverage.” – Steve Jonas, Fullerton

** Steve Allen Memories “Mahalo for posting the link to the Steve Allen radio broadcast in 1949. Steve is one of the most talented people ever. I had the joy of spending a day with Steve making a one hour tv show on his life and times. He spoke on camera about his pioneering time at KNX and how the Tonight Show format came from his spontaneous interaction with the audience when a guest did not show up. The photo was taken in Steve’s home in Encino, as the crew was getting set up for the shoot. Beside Steve and myself there is Robert Young who directed the day long shoot. Steve played several of his hit songs for the show. He composed thousands of songs and wrote 60 books.” – Joe Cosgrove

** The F-Bomb Repetitious Repetition

“Re the Overheard: ‘Congratulations to Martin Scorsese. His film The Wolf of Wall Street now officially holds the record for the most F-bombs in a movie. In the course of the 180 minute film, the F-bomb is used 506 times, at an average of 3 times a minute. The previous record was held by Spike Lee's 1999 film, The Summer of Sam.’ (Ralph Garman, KROQ)

And, like, that's exactly why, like, The Wolf of Wall Street, like, becomes, like, boring and, like, repetitious, like saying the same thing, like, every other breath.  Like, save your money and 3 hours if superfluous F-bombs tire you.  Like, a good production otherwise. Whatever.” – Bill Kingman, Lake Tahoe 

Shearer Talent Makes Harry the King of All Media 
by Alan Oda, senior correspondent, LARadio.com

(January 7, 2014) There are others who vie for the title “King of All Media,” yet consider a resume that lists being several voices of The Simpsons (think of Mr. Burns, Smithers, and Ned Flanders), portrayed bassist Derek Smalls in the movie This is Spinal Tap, appeared in other movies including A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, and The Truman Show, directed the movie Teddy Bears’ Picnic, authored three books, worked two stints on Saturday Night Live as both a writer and performer, and most recently wrote and directed The Big Uneasy, a film that investigated why New Orleans flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (was it the hurricane or the Army Corps of Engineers who were really at fault?). And that’s just a partial listing.  Described as a “modern day Renaissance man,” Harry Shearer can now claim 30 years of bringing radio listeners Le Show, a program that Vogue magazine describes as “wildly clever, iconoclastic stew of talk, music, political commentary, readings of inadvertently funny public documents or trade magazines and scripted skits.” Asked what’s the “thread” that holds the weekly program together, Shearer said “the thread, not to be narcissistic about it, is me. My taste, my sense of humor, what interests me, what I didn’t know that the audience might not know either.” He also explained how he’s kept the show on the air for three decades. “Sheer stubbornness…just keeping the thing going is an act of supreme stubbornness.” “Also, since I don’t do standup, Le Show has always been the place for me to hone my craft, keep writing, develop new characters, and maintain regular contact with an audience,” added Shearer. He continues to make Le Show a priority no matter how busy he is. The radio program allows him to “(keep) the writing muscle toned, keeping an audience entertained on a regular basis, whatever the vicissitudes of show business. Which are many.”

Shearer is no stranger to the Los Angeles radio airwaves, having been part of The Credibility Gap, the satirical comedy team formed by then-KRLA news director Lew Irwin in 1968.  What started as a group consisting of radio veterans, including John Gilliland, Thom Beck, Richard Beebe, and folk singer Len Chandler, the troupe later became dominated by comedic performers, including Shearer, David L. Lander, and Michael McKean.  After the ensemble was fired by KRLA in 1970, Shearer himself landed a weekend shift as a disc jockey at KPPC, which allowed him to give The Credibility Gap a short-lived new home.

Radio continues to be a favorite medium of Shearer. “I love radio’s intimacy, the ease of producing complex material as compared to movies or tv, and its utter portability, both for listeners and now, with all the wonderful technology at our fingertips, for creators as well.”

For years, Le Show was a long-time staple of Santa Monica’s KCRW until the station made a seemingly sudden decision last April to drop the show from its broadcast lineup, though the station kept the show available on the station’s website as a podcast. That’s no longer the case. 

“I’ve shifted the podcast from KCRW to my new New Orleans home station, WWNO. I just didn’t feel, given the suddenness of KCRW’s decision to un-broadcast Le Show, that I could be confident about them going forward, and I preferred to make the switch at a time of my choosing.  There was a lot of Twitter traffic about that, since KCRW, understandably, didn’t go out of its way to tell listeners that change was coming,” said Shearer.

By July, Le Show found a new home elsewhere in Southern California. Now the program can be heard on KCSN in the familiar time slot of Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. “KCSN has been great. From the first contact, (gm and pd) Sky Daniels has been welcoming as well as honest about the shortcomings of the station’s signal.   But it’s been great to relocate to a station that really seems to value the program.” 

Asked about the future of radio, Shearer pointed out some of the current shortcomings.  “I dislike what I dislike about any medium, the preponderance of formula material, the absence of creative spark. The true geniuses of modern radio, from Joe Frank to Phil Hendrie, have brought an absolutely uncategorizeable, unreplicable individual voice to the medium.   In my view, that’s what management should be looking for and encouraging. Shows you what I know.”  “I think in the Spotify-iTunes era what I’d put on a local radio station would be simply the most entertaining people I could find. Local radio in Chicago, at least some of it, has always impressed me by the way individual voices are still allowed to be eccentric and entertaining. I’d do a whole lot of that. I mean, we are in Southern California, a lot of talent could do a lot of great radio with a little cajoling, and, probably, even less money,” said Shearer.

Given that his program is now available for podcasting, Shearer offers his assessment of what’s available online. “I’ve listened to my share of podcasts, and the quality varies widely. Much of them sound like what they are, a couple of guys or gals fooling around in the garage. You get good bands that way.” 

Shearer sees no reason that he or anyone else needs to start a new radio station. “Currently, I listen to a lot of terrestrial radio, but not necessarily based in the part of the world where I am at the moment.  To me, TuneIn is the essential radio app; I don’t want to create my own radio station, fine broadcasters all over the world have already done that work for me. You have to live for a while, as I have recently, in the UK to realize how utterly vibrant, creative and popular radio can still be.”

As Le Show enters into its fourth decade, Shearer provided some insight as to what to expect and any upcoming projects. “At this point, survival is a special project. Nothing in mind, seriously. One of the great treats of doing weekly radio is you forget about the last show the moment it’s done, and I wait until almost the last minute to figure out what the next show will be.”

26 year veteran news director at KSBR, Dawn Kamber, and morning drive host Garrison West were married in a civil ceremony yesterday in Laguna Hills

Over 70. Rich Brother Robbin, veteran of KIQQ and 10-Q, turns 70 later this month. He’s still going strong with his tasty Oldies Internet station. He wondered what other 70 year olds who started out in radio are doing today. “Might be fun to run a few of 'em down and find out what they're doing,” emailed Rich. “The idea is fueled by my own b'day comin' up plus a pal wonderin' whatever happened to Scotty Brink.”   

Overheard.

• “Remember when you used to be afraid to take a two week vacation because the whole Radio industry would change and you’d have to play catch up when you got back. Now you’re afraid because you know they would figure out how to do your job without you.” (George Johns, radio consultant)

• “For seven months we’re not in the radio business, we’re in the football business. Football has become so captivating. We have Fantasy leagues, we bet it, we wear it, and we go to the game.” (Colin Cowherd, KSPN)

• "Let me say this about Andrew Luck ... there's not a super model in that boy's future." (Don Imus)

• "What a GREAT game. Good Bye BSC. The system has only really worked twice. Playoffs ... Baaabyyyyyyyy. Yea!!!!!" (Dave Sebastian Williams, from Facebook page)

• "One of the greatest college football games ever was played last night right down the street at the Rose Bowl. The last three days have been the greatest three days of football EVER, as far as unbelievable, heart-stopping, down-to-the-wire last minute finishes." (Rich Marotta, KFI)

• "It's so cold the Chicago Zoo wouldn't let the polar bears out." (Doug McIntyre, KABC)

• "What did one fish say to the other fish while they were in their tank? You man the guns, I'll drive." (Dude, character on Gary Bryan morning show, K-EARTH)

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** Requiem for NBC Burbank

“It's sad to see the changes at NBC. I was interviewed for a cameraman job at NBC Burbank in 1972. I didn't get that job, but instead took a radio job doing nights over at KWIZ in Santa Ana.

Still, a lot of memories are attached to that property. Thankfully, CBS Television City is still in existence today. That's another place where I hung out as a young kid and lived the dream when I later walked through the Artist Entrance to audition for shows. It's funny how much an old landmark like that can feel like another home. And, if only those walls could talk. What would they say?” - Ted Ziegenbusch

** NBC Burbank Article

"Thanks Don, great clip of the Tonight Show. No one will ever be better than Johnny Carson. Those were the days!" - Michael Wick

** Steve Allen Was a LARP

“I saw that December 26 was the birth anniversary of the late Steve Allen. I only recently found a KNX aircheck from October of 1949 of Steve's midnight to 1 a.m. program, which has been available on the Internet for a long time.   After about 10 minutes, Steve introduces his guest, Al Jolson, who was promoting the movie Jolson Sings Again, in which Al sang the songs in the film for actor Larry Parks. Parks had played the part a few years before in The Jolson Story. 

I got a kick out of Steve's remarks in which he said, ‘...a man who's very big in show business, who needs no introduction, and whose initials are A.J.   I'm referring of course to Al Jarvis!’ [Big laugh from the audience]

Steve then says Al can't be there tonight because he was doing another show.  ‘But why beat around the bush, ladies and gentlemen?  Here he is, Al Jolson!"  It turns out to be a very funny and entertaining 50 minutes of radio, with Jolson getting in his share of ad-libs to keep up with Steve. It turns out Jolson is a big fan of Steve's show and compliments him throughout the program, too. 

Jolson, who died in 1950, is largely forgotten today.  I believe that the Associated Press in 1950 named him the top entertainer of the first half of the 20th Century.  So, it was quite a big deal for him to go on KNX on Steve Allen's late-night show, which had no sponsor at the time!  Anyway, for those who haven't heard this aircheck and those that are curious about the way Steve Allen sounded on radio nearly 65 years ago, you'll discover that the KNX shows he did were not too far from what he later did on his television shows for so many years.  Here's the link to hear this fascinating aircheck of Steve Allen on KNX, which is also found on a few other websites.  The show begins right after you click on the link.

http://boxcars711.podomatic.com/entry/2010-10-18T16_02_38-07_00.” - Jim Hilliker, Monterey

** KRKD Calls

“Thanks to Jim Hilliker for providing the date of KRKD to KIIS AM as I was the first to say those call letters as I was only weeks from my 37th birthday and was there a short time (3 years) on what I felt was a big time L A station but it led me to KABC and the Dodgers.” – John Naimo

Monique Marvez: Not Skinny – Not Blonde

(January 6, 2014) So many stand-up comedians have tried radio and ultimately failed. Think Sinbad and George Lopez. Somehow the rapid fire one-liners and quick stories don’t translate into a successful radio show.  Last Saturday night I had the pleasure of 'discovering' Monique Marvez, a Latina stand-up comedian. She was doing an evening show at KFI. No billing. No promotion. Even the KFI website referred to the time period as “Guest Host” from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m.  My “discovery” apparently has been a well-known “secret” for months at Clear Channel. Neil Saavedra, a longtime friend and mentor, brought Monique to the attention of Robin Bertolucci and evidently the KFI pd liked what she heard. “THAT was a GAME-CHANGING event,” emphasized Monique.  In the spring of 2013, Robin started using Monique on the now defunct KTLK. By the summer, she was subbing for vacationing personalities on KFI. “I've been on a LOT on both stations and have continued to get stronger in my presentations with the benefit of her guidance,” said Monique.

Monique is a melting pot of Latin cultures — her mother is half-Cuban and half-Puerto Rican, her father Venezuelan. She has a very likeable style of story-telling with a combination of self-effacing revelations and a sassy edge. 

“Early in my comedy career, 1992 to be exact, I realized the power of radio and that a hilarious, sound bite filled interview put as they say in the biz, ‘butts in the chairs.’ As I began to make a name for myself in Florida, I was invited to sit in with popular local shows.” She was then being heard on other popular morning shows around the country. “I’d always loved listening to radio, now I was on it and HOOKED!” 

“My star rose steadily on stage and I continued to be invited back by program directors and hosts alike. I was frequently told if stand-up didn’t go the way I’d hoped, I should consider radio full time.” 

In the summer of 2003, Monique was on WENS in Indianpolis when pd Greg Dunkin offered her a job.

In early 2006, San Diego pd Tracy Johnson was conducting a search to replace Jeff and Jer. “Tracy paired me with a longtime 100.7 talent, Greg Simms and Monique and the Man went on the air.” At the time she was also writing a dramedy pilot for Dick Wolf/NBC Universal. “I spent a LOT of time on the 405,” recalled Monique. 

When she started doing comedy Monique never gave up her day job. “I sold medical malpractice insurance to doctors. You can’t think of a dryer job in the world,” she confessed. 

Before that, Monique sold cosmetics. “I was great at selling lipstick. I won like every award. I would get the women who were intimated by the perfect make-up ladies. I figured if I could sell lipstick on commission, I could make real money selling professional liability.” 

She started stand-up in 1990 “on the yellow brick road” journey, as she described it. Monique has been part of three Showtime comedy specials. In 2007, she was featured in The Latin Divas of Comedy. The second show was Snoop Dogg Presents the Bad Girls of Comedy in 2012. Last year she got her own Showtime special, Not Skinny, Not Blonde. 

“I’m not going to lie to you, I shed my skin and put my bones into that Showtime special,” said Monique. “I really worked hard to write material that I would be proud of, so if that was the pinnacle of how good my life was going to get, I left nothing on the table.” 

Saturday night on KFI, Monique was candid about her love life. She had a poodle terrier mix for 18 years. “He was my four-legged security system when I was a road comic,” revealed Monique. “Very frequently I would sleep at road stops and you couldn’t get within 10 feet of my car without intense barking. I had my dog longer than all three of my husband’s put together.” 

Monique claimed she had a very bad man picker. “I’m Hispanic and Catholic and I didn’t believe you could just shack up with people and test drive them to see if you liked them or not. You don’t have to test drive a dog. You pick them. They pick you. Your man picker can be off but you dog picker is not going to be off.” 

Why We Love Vin Scully. Dodger announcer Vin Scully was the grand marshal of the Rose Parade last week. The LA Times’ Gary Klein captured the spirit of the day and the humility of the man. (click the artwork to hear Scully share an emotional moment in sportscasting)

Vin Scully rang in the New Year with a full day.  

The legendary Dodgers broadcaster served Wednesday as grand marshal of the Rose Parade and the 100th Rose Bowl game, an honor that began at 4 a.m. and concluded with the pregame coin flip. 

“It’s been absolutely thrilling and heartwarming,” Scully said after offering a visitor a chance to pull up a chair in a Rose Bowl suite. “One of the great things about it is I was able to share it with my wife with our grandchildren, most of them, and children. So the thought that they were enjoying it as much as I did made me feel even better.” 

Scully, immaculately dressed in a blue blazer — what else? — and gray slacks, was not fazed by the early morning start. 

“I don’t think we would have slept much anyway thinking about it and relishing the experience,” he said. “It’s been really somewhat overwhelming.” 

Scully, 86, said he also was initially overwhelmed when R. Scott Jenkins, president of the Tournament of Roses Assn., called to invite him to be grand marshal. 

“I’m not being falsely modest, but I didn’t know why,” Scully said. “The more people talked to me, they said, ‘It’s all the years you’ve been out here. It’s your association with the Dodgers.’ 

“Once I kind of grasped the idea that it wasn’t that I was unworthy, and I shouldn’t be doubting myself about being unworthy, then it became somewhat of a comfortable fit — like a new pair of shoes. 

“Now as we come to the end of it, it’s just a marvelous treat.” 

Scully had once co-hosted the television broadcast of the Rose Parade in the late 1960s. In 2008, he rode on a Dodgers float that celebrated the team’s 50th year in Los Angeles. 

But traveling down Colorado Boulevard as grand marshal was a new experience. 

“Anyone who’s heard me do a ballgame — I love the roar of the crowd,” he said. “So you can imagine, today, going down Colorado, it was a field day just to hear the roar of the crowd. 

“And the one thing I tried to do, and I did it until, really, my shoulders were sore, I wasn’t just waving — I was applauding a lot. I kept applauding and gesturing to the people, ‘I’m applauding you. I’m thanking you for all the years,’ and they’ve been so good and kind and generous to me. 

“That was the real point out of the whole parade, to applaud the fans.” 

At the stadium, before the coin flip, Scully was intrigued by the size of the players. 

“I just said to them, ‘Congratulations and Happy New Year,’” he said. 

For an announcer accustomed to describing the action on the field from the press box, the spectacle of being on the field was breathtaking, Scully said. 

“Ninety-four thousand people, colorfully attired on a brilliant, brilliant day,” he said. “And the bands, and then the teams running on the field and the fireworks. 

“And then we were at the end of the field with the grandkids. And don’t you know, Stanford comes down and scores in our area. It's just been perfect. 

“I said to the kids, ‘Well, there you’ve seen it. You’ve seen a touchdown. How much better can it get than that?’” 

Scully thanked Jenkins and his wife for making him and his wife, Sandi, feel “like old friends.” He also expressed gratitude to Heidi Hoff of the Tournament of Roses and “all these nice people” that made his experience so memorable. 

“I will say, in all honesty, God’s been so very good to me, and I really have never understood why he’s been so generous,” he said. “And this was just another case of his generosity.”

Another Kidney Transplant. Veteran engineer Carl Swanson donated one of his kidneys recently, bringing to light the second such transplant involving LARPs in the past 12 months. Carl gave the ultimate gift of life to a lifelong friend. “It was done at Cedars-Sinai like Bean and Scott Mason did,” emailed Carl. “The staff at the Living Donor Center and the hospital were amazing, and my donor, like Scott, is feeling better than he has in the last 5 years.”  Carl made the donation decision before learning of Scott and Bean’s transplant. “I was grateful to Bean for some words of wisdom he gave me during the screening process,” added Carl.  “I may no longer be in LA radio, but I visit frequently for family and kidney maintenance checkups, so I still try to keep track of the industry. I am now gainfully employed with the US Government, servicing the many radio studios for the Voice of America. As I tell some industry friends in LA, it ain’t sexy radio, but it takes an act of Congress to get fired,” concluded Carl.

Patriot’s History. LARadio historian Jim Hilliker provides a wonderful history of 1150 AM. This is especially interesting in light of the recent format flip of the station from Progressive Radio to Conservative Radio. 

“The license for 1150-AM has had 8 combinations of call letters, but the station used the KIIS call letters two separate times, 1970 to 1980, and again from 12.1.84 to 8.17.97. The change from KTLK to KEIB on January 1, 2014 will be the 9th set of call letters used by 1120/1150.  Between 1927 and 11.11.28, the licensee used 775 kilocycles, 1140 and 1340 kilocycles or kilohertz today on the AM band. The station moved from 1340 to 1120 on November 11, 1928, but had to divide air time with KFSG. The change from 1120 to 1150 took place on March 29, 1941. The KRKD calls were used the longest from January 21, 1932 until May 1, 1970, 38 years. 

Here is the chronological list of the different call letters used by the 1150 AM license: 

Note, the first date given with the call letters KMIC was the date of the station’s first broadcast at 7 p.m. that night. Other dates are mostly the dates that the FRC/FCC approved call letter changes, others may be first dates the calls were used on the air.

KMIC January 10, 1927 Universal MICrophone Company of Inglewood 

KMCS October 29, 1930 Metropolitan Christie Studios (Calls first used on the air January 16, 1931) 

KRKD January 21, 1932 Spring ARKaDe Building, Los Angeles 

KIIS May 1, 1970 K-double-I-S 

KPRZ June 12, 1980 K-Praise, the Praise of 11-50, for religious format 

KIIS December 1, 1984 Kiss 

KXTA August 17, 1997 X-TRA Sports 

KTLK February 3, 2005 K-Talk 

KEIB 2014 

Trivia about the station history: Network radio and tv announcer Harry Von Zell started in radio at KMIC-Inglewood in 1927; also, movie and later radio and tv cowboy star Roy Rogers first sang on the radio over station KMCS-Inglewood in 1931 on amidnight talent show using his given name of Leonard Slye. 

SD Broadcaster Dies. Jerry Coleman, a two-time war hero who became one of the most endearing figures in Padres history, passed away Sunday afternoon at the age of 89, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Coleman died at Scripps Memorial Hospital with complications of head injuries he'd suffered in a fall last month. Coleman had been in and out of the hospital since the early-December fall, according to several of his close friends, and also contracted pneumonia.  Gerald Francis Coleman, born Sept. 14, 1924, in San Jose, wore the Padres uniform for only a year. At that, it was a fairly desultory year for all concerned — and yet his jersey number is one of few retired to the franchise’s wall of fame.  In 42 years as broadcaster of Padres games, Coleman became the link between the major league team and San Diego. To many, he was its very identity.  Coleman was as beloved for his favorite-uncle voice as Hall of Fame player Tony Gwynn was for his line drives between short and third. Coleman’s mistakes and misspeaks, much as he had to swallow his annoyance at their too-frequent re-hashing, made him even more of an icon of the community.

Coleman’s humility and self-effacing ways belied an extraordinary personal history of courage, sacrifice and accomplishment. Addressed affectionately and respectfully at the ballpark as "The Colonel," he was a Marine Corps aviator in both World War II and the Korean War. And he was an All-Star second baseman for the dynastic New York Yankees who once was Most Valuable Player of a World Series.

"Jerry Coleman was a hero and a role model to myself and countless others in the game of baseball," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement released Sunday. "He had a memorable, multifaceted career in the national pastime -- as an All-Star during the great Yankees' dynasty from 1949-1953, a manager and, for more than a half-century, a beloved broadcaster, including as an exemplary ambassador for the San Diego Padres. (Thanks to the UT-San Diego for the story)

 

Bye Bye Love. Bill Kingman of Lake Tahoe sent a vintage video of the Everly Brothers and their first hit. Click the artwork to see the song.

 Overheard. 

• “You Twitter haters drive me insane. Don’t use Twitter for hate, use Twitter for love and respect.” (Carlos Amezcua, KEIB)

• “Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ monster hit Thrift Shop was in my five-year-old son’s holiday program this year. (Carson Daly, AMP Radio)

• "I was in Ralphs yesterday and I was really upset because I saw Valentine's candy. Then I came around the corner and saw a display of Reese's Peanut Butter Easter eggs." (Terri-Rae Elmer, KABC)

• "Congratulations to Martin Scorcese. His film The Wolf of Wall Street now officially holds the record for the most F-bombs in a movie. In the course of the 180 minute film, the F-bomb is used 506 times, at an average of 3 times a minute. The previous record was held by Spike Lee's 1999 film, The Summer of Sam." (Ralph Garman, KROQ)

Funnie.

Two ducks are flying south for the winter when an Air Force jet flies overhead. One duck says to the other, "Did you see that? Jeez, he was moving." The other duck says, "I bet you would too if you had two assholes and both were on fire." (From Esquire's series 'Funny* Jokes from a Beautiful Woman.' * Esquire cannot guarantee that his joke will be funny to everyone) Jenna Dewan-Tatum was a dancer for Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson and appeared in American Horror Story

 

Email Monday 

We GET Email …

** Broadcast with Stone

“I was sorry to read about the passing of Dave Stone. I spent a week in Tokyo with Dave in 1999. We were broadcasting from there with two other stations and over that time I found myself in many spirited discussions about our favorite sports including one hilarious evening where he and I spent a subway ride to Yokohama trying to explain baseball to our British engineer.

My condolences to his family and friends.” – Bryan Simmons, KTWV and Westwood One

** Go Back to 7^th Grade with Dave Stone

“I was very saddened to hear about the passing of my long-time friend, Dave Stone. I met Dave in the 7th grade at Northridge Jr. High in 1962, and we stayed friends through Cleveland High School and beyond.

His passions for sports were beyond anyone I have ever known. I used to tell him not to get so worked up over the loss of a Dodger or Laker game, but Dave put his heart and soul into every game. He was a walking sports encyclopedia who could tell you every statistic of any player you asked. His memory was phenomenal when it came to sports.

I realized early on that his health problems stemmed from his intensity, and I told him on numerous occasions that these were only games, but Dave took every minute of every game to heart.

My best wishes go out to his family. He certainly was one of a kind.” – Jeffrey Leonard

** My Marriage is Due to Bob Grant

“Sorry to read the passing of Bob Grant. He was responsible for my first date with my future wife, Sheila. She was the script girl for the Condylis and Grant Show on KNX.  One day, Bob comes up to me and says ‘here’s two tickets to Sunday's Rams game, why don’t you take Sheila.’ I did and 52 years later, we’re still married. 

When Bob and Paul Condylis came to LA from WBBM-Chicago, Bill Wolfe, also from WBBM, joined KNX as publicity director.  During the Christmas holiday one year, Grant was filling in for Rush Limbaugh [I was an avid listener then] and I tried to call in and tell him I was driving back from Western Costume with a Santa Claus suite for Jewish Bill Wolfe – he always played Santa at the station Christmas party, and I was still married to Sheila. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get through.” – Tom Bernstein

** Where Did the Liberals Go?

“Hello there, thank you for your wonderful and continuing radio news. Do you know where the talent from K-TALK will be headed? There is no way on this earth I would ever listen to Conservative talk radio. The very thought of it disgusts me.” – Jeanne Sims

** The Patriot

“In a word – ‘Ick.’” – Mary Lyon

** Master Blaster in Times “Thanks for sending the LA Times article on Tom Reed.  It brought back some good memories.  During my adolescents, my folks listened to KGFJ exclusively.  Some of the people on that station became my radio heroes.  Hunter Hancock was the first radio personality I became a fan of.  He was fun and entertaining, and made an impression of a young man born in 1954.  From there, The Magnificent Montague, Lucky Pierre and The Master Blaster took me through my youth.  Good to see Mr. Reed is still around and doing his best for his community.” – Davey Croakette, KFRG, Colton

** Early LA Radio

“I read your column for the OC Register, sorry it is ending, I enjoyed it, and I live in north O.C. and listen mostly to 100.3/The Sound. Had my mom drive me to Scriveners drive in to see Art Laboe about 1958 or so, order chicken dinner get a free 45 give away but you had to know to look under the plate or you did not get it.

My all-time favorite radio station was KPPC growing up in the South Bay in the 60’s. Remember Dick Hugg [Huggie Boy]? And KDAY was great.” – Dennis McKee

** Comedy Favorites

“Saw your last article in the Register. I will miss reading your articles. I have enjoyed radio for over 40 years. My particular favorites have been Lohman & Barkely, Jim Healy, Harry Shearer and Phil Hendrie. As you can see, I really enjoy comedy by those who have used the medium in new ways.” – John Jackson 

Sunday Funnies from Mike Baird

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(LARadio Archives from September 2010)

An Open Email to Steve Carver New CBS/LA Cluster Chief  (September 29, 2010) Dear Steve: First, welcome to Los Angeles! When you arrived to helm the CBS/LA cluster late last month, corporate PR in New York put a 3-to-4 week moratorium on having you do any interviews. Admittedly, it seemed like a strange restriction from the Tiffany network for news to be so controlling in providing access to information. This is the network that for decades defined journalism at its finest. Here you’ve arrived in the biggest radio market – you’re a big newsmaker coming into the LARadio community and we can’t talk to you for a month? But you and corporate certainly have the right to run your operation anyway you see fit.  Now that your budgets for 2011 have been completed (apparently you had to complete a budget for West Palm Beach, where you spent a couple of months running the CBS cluster before coming to L.A.), conducted meetings with department heads, and lunching with key advertising agency execs, perhaps you now have a feel for how you will go forward.  Never knowing if I’ll be on your short list to be granted an interview, I thought I’d give you a heads up with questions that readers have been asking LARadio.  What was the charge from CBS Radio prexy Dan Mason? One would guess it would be to find a way to increase revenues and maintain or lower costs with the local stations. You are the fifth cluster market manager in a couple of years. What is it that Dan Mason saw in you to lead the cluster into 2011 and hopefully beyond?  When the moratorium on an interview was imposed, I spent a week talking with people in Chicago, Atlanta and Hartford. An interesting picture of you emerged. I talked with a number of people from WBBM-Chicago, where you spent seven years. Oh my God, programmers and sales people alike just raved about your time running the all-News operation. You were a top-rated boss with nothing but “A+” grades.  Then all of a sudden you moved across town to WGN, the Tribune station, for three years. Some never understood why you left the very high-performing ‘BBM, but others thought you were being groomed for bigger things to eventually be the head of the Tribune radio and tv operation (KTLA/Channel 5 here). Tribune then sent you to their tv station in Atlanta and later to the Tribune newspaper in Hartford.  One can certainly understand the major shifts and shakeups throughout Tribune affected your time there, but it’d be fascinating to hear your thoughts and opinions about the state of your former company.  You inherited some of the best programming people in the market. Kevin Weatherly has guided and launched some very successful formats (KROQ, AMP RADIO, and JACK/fm).  Still, there’s a challenge to keep up with revenue in relation to ratings. It wasn’t too many years ago that KROQ was the #1 biller in the United States. You are on target to perhaps bill $40 million this year, a far cry from 2006-07 when the station billed well over $60M.  Jhani Kaye has returned Classic Hits K-EARTH to new heights. Now, he’s also taken programming responsibility for KTWV (the WAVE), breathing new life into the Smooth Jazz station that has fallen out of favor with markets all over the country. And Andy Ludlum has brought solidarity to KNX and KFWB, but the latter station needs to confront some real challenges soon, which will be addressed in a moment.  CBS Radio is very proud of the success of the “Fresh” format in New York City. Is there any pressure from your national programming people to find a place for “Fresh” within your cluster? The format seems to be very PPM friendly. Your cluster has strong male demos but you could always use more women in your efforts to snag additional revenues from female-targeted buys. And then there is KFWB. The news/talk/sports/infomercial station has a respectable 600,000 cume that shouldn’t be used for bonus spotting, but as a station in its own right. The station faces a gaping hole in the side of the ship from noon to 4 p.m., come the end of the year with the departure of Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Do you fill the hole with another Talker or do you re-think your programming strategy? For 40 years, the station asked listeners to “give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world.”  KFWB transitioned from providing headline news to a predominantly talk format, making sister station KNX the dominant news station (much like KCBS-San Francisco). The rebranded “KFWB NewsTalk 980” featured Dr. Laura as your prominent hood ornament. Her iconic stature and position in the world of talk radio and LA radio in particular was a perfect personality to wrap your marketing around. Yet changes were made to the rest of the lineup. It didn’t take long before your 9 a.m. – noon slot was filled by a different host, and afternoon drive went from talk to a news block. And now Dr. Laura is leaving. Is it time to re-evaluate your programming at 980AM?  Those are just some thoughts that I would like to talk with you about, now that the 3-to-4 week period has ended. I’m easily reachable and would love for you to tell your story. I look forward to meeting you.

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“Passing parade starts early – Dave Stone and Bob Grant”

(January 3, 2014) The end of the year brought two sad passings – KABC/KSPN sports anchor Dave Stone and talk radio pioneer Bob Grant; Charlie Cook joins Cumulus/Nashville cluster

Dave was born in New York City and moved to L.A. in the late 1950s. “I became a sports junkie immediately upon being taken out of kindergarten on April 18, 1958, by my mom and Dodger fanatic dad so they could take me to the L.A. Coliseum to see the Dodgers and Giants in the first major league game ever played in Los Angeles. My dad grew up in Brooklyn and turned me into a baseball fan in his image,” said Dave. Dave loved all sports. His first job out of college in 1975 was as a public relations intern with the Dodgers. “The job paid basically nothing, but working for the Dodgers? I’d have done it for free.” Dave got into sports reporting with AP Radio and UPI Audio. He would get sound bites from sporting events and phone them in to the syndicates. From 1979 to 1986 Dave was the PA announcer for the Harlem Globetrotters. In late 1989 Dave joined a Huntsville, Alabama station as ops manager. “I gravitated from news and management to talk while in Huntsville.” It was there when Dave gave Sean Hannity his first high-profile job. In 1997 Dave worked afternoon drive at WGST-Atlanta and then “K-News” in the summer of 1999.  At that time, he was doing political news/talk.

In the fall of 2000, Joe McDonnell offered Dave the chance to return to sports radio via a position at the new ESPN station, KSPN. Dave also did sports for the morning team at then-Disney sister station KABC.  McDonnell said that Dave was “intelligent and well-prepared…One of the most passionate people I’ve ever known.”

Joe offered this tribute on his Facebook page:

I first met Dave Stone in the mid 70’s when we were both going for the job of operating the message board at Dodger Stadium. Dave beat me out, but it became a moment when I met one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Dave was also a radio reporter like myself, and we would ride to almost every game together that didn’t involve the Dodgers. And if there was a bigger Laker fan than me, it was Dave. We would spend hours talking about West, Baylor, Chamberlain, Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark. If he was a Laker, we knew about him!  Dave then got a job as the traveling voice of the Harlem Globetrotters, and if the phone rang at 3 in the morning it might be Dave calling from Singapore to get the score of the Laker game. It was an amazing friendship that continued until he passed away. I got home from dinner with Elizabeth and some friends and received the horrible news. I didn’t even know he was sick, which was typical of Dave. Didn’t want anyone to fuss over him, even when he was batting a terminal disease. Dave was my first hire when I was putting together ESPN/710 in 1999-2000 and he put his heart and soul into everything he did there. God bless you Dave. You have no idea how much I’m going to miss you. Happy trails. I love you. After several months of ill health, Dave was diagnosed with ALS this past Saturday, and died earlier this week. His services were held Thursday afternoon. 

"The service lasted about an hour. We all went up to the gravesite for interment after that. It was a very nice service with Dave's wife Lois and kids Evan and Jordan eulogizing Dave,” said Joe, who also spoke at Dave’s funeral, along with Steve Futterman and Ted Sobel, “some of it lighthearted...some very emotional.” Dave Stone was 64.  

Grant Dies. Though many obituaries refer only to his legendary work in New York, Bob Grant spent part of his early career in Los Angeles at KNX and KLAC in the 1960s. Bob died New Year’s Eve in Hillsborough, New Jersey, after a long illness. He was 84. He began his radio career in the late 1940s at WBBM-Chicago. He later moved to Los Angeles where Bob partnered with Paul Condylis in the early 1960s on KNX. He worked afternoons when KLAC was a Talk station. Bob went on to be a long-standing voice in New York radio and was eventually syndicated nationally. Grant started in New York at WMCA in 1970.  He was best known for his work when he moved to the afternoon show on WABC in 1984. He made national headlines in 1996 when WABC fired him for comments about the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. (First reports about the plane crash that killed the commerce secretary said everyone might not have died. Grant cracked, "My hunch is that Brown is the one survivor. Maybe it's because at heart I'm a pessimist.")

Within two weeks after being fired, Grant reemerged at rival WOR, where he worked until 2007, when he returned to WABC to finish out his career. Grant was admired by many of the younger hosts over the years. Sean Hannity, who replaced him on WABC in 1995, said at the time, "He's the reason I'm on the radio."

"He was certainly one of the most important talk show hosts of all time," said Michael Harrison, publisher of TALKERS. "There were others before him, but he was a founding father of modern talk radio." (Grant photo courtesy of New York Daily News)

Cooking at NASH. Charlie Cook, veteran of KHJ, KLAC, and KKGO, has been named operations manager for Cumulus’ cluster in Nashville (4 stations), as well as pd of fabled Country WSM and WKDF. Charlie is returning to Cumulus, having served as vp/programming for Cumulus’s 61 Country format stations from 2006-08. "I am thrilled to welcome Charlie back to Cumulus at such an exciting time for the company," said John Dickey, evp/co-coo of Cumulus. "I am confident his vast radio industry experience will contribute greatly to the success of the growing Nashville market." "With all of the new and exciting things Cumulus is launching in conjunction with the NASH brand I am thrilled to rejoin the company," Cook said. "Being based in Nashville, in the middle of all of this, is an incredible opportunity. Cumulus has an unbelievable cluster here and I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with the team to reach new heights."

Overheard.

• "You know we can't mention the call letters or name of the previous all-Liberal station. Once a station from Clear Channel disappears, it's like the Amish, you shun the station." (Bill Handel, KFI)

• "What was the first rule I made for the new home studio? I'm not going to heat up anybody's food or be anyone's mother." (Stephanie Miller)

• "This day represents the beginning of the third year of this broadcast. We had another incarnation of the morning show for five years and that got ka-boomed. It went up like the Hindenburg." (Doug McIntyre, KABC)

• "A red-shirt freshman worked the great Nick Saban." (Colin Cowherd, KSPN)

• "I think people are now settling in with Obamacare after the first of the year. Aren't people starting to enjoy their Obamacare?" (Brian Whitman, KRLA)

• "I think the Progessive movement is ancient in its relative thinking. What they were purposing in 1912 is exactly the same thing they're proposing today." (Glenn Beck, KEIB)

Hear Ache. Doc Thompson, most recently with the Blaze Radio Network, is joining KEIB (1150 AM) as part of “The Patriot” programming ... Also now with the station, former KTLA and KTTV news anchor Carlos Amezcua (l) holding down afternoon drive at "The Patriot" … Advertising trade publication AdAge is listing the 10 to watch in 2014 and Clear Channel’s Bob Pittman is on the list: “Pittman, Clear Channel’s ceo, has an all-star team in place, but will it be enough to overcome its debt burden -- and the challenges radio faces in a digital world?”

Email Friday

We GET Email …

** Early Oldies Radio

“Thank you so very much for reproducing last week the feature article you wrote a few years ago about Art Laboe. I still remember the remote broadcasts he did back in the 1950s from Scrivener’s Drive-In, not only the one in Hollywood, but the Scribner’s at Wilshire and Crenshaw. I saw Art a few years ago when he was the  celebrity of honor in the annual Fourth of July parade in Pacific Palisades, and I reminisced briefly with him about some of his old remote radio broadcasts and about his love of  Oldies music.

As for the current status of Right Wing radio, I simply want to echo the sentiments of Rich Brother Robbin, who, by-the-way, continues to have an outstanding automated Oldies station on the Internet (www.RichBroRadio.com) .” –  Carl C. Spring, Jr., West Los Angeles

** Baseball Pictures

“One thing about baseball on the radio, as compared to television: With a good broadcaster, the pictures on the radio are better.” – Mike Norton, Aliso Viejo

** New 1150 Call Letters

“With the change in call letters at 1150 AM to KEIB, it kinda makes you wonder if Rush Limbaugh has an interest in that station.

Keep up the good work.” – Mike Baird

** Patriot Logo “Not sure why the artwork is in the center. Shouldn’t it be on the far right?” – Mike Raphone Ritto

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