Classical Radio (March 30, 2002)

KFSD was expected to change format from classical to adult standards, but that might not happen. There's an FM classical station from Mexico at 90.7 FM. KPBS-FM provides night-time music at 7:30 p.m. XEBACH-AM 540 plans to change its call letters to XESUR or XESURF-AM. Los Angeles-based Mount Wilson flipped the station from classical to adult standards last week.

News Flashes (March 30, 2002)

Another ABC TV station cans local news: Radio newsrooms next? READ

Royalties: A Royal Pain for Net Radio http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/020329/nf200203295377_1.html

Yahoo will share insider's data with 3rd parties under certain conditions http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/1322136

WLOL Minneapolis (CC) gives away $1 Million http://www.wlolfm.com/main.html

Radio & Records (includes Arbitrons)
GO>>>
Clear Channel Faces $1.2B Suit In Britney Hoax... You may remember reading in R&R ONLINE that a 37-year-old woman died at a June 2000 WMRV/Binghamton, NY event that promoted the appearance of Britney Spears, but that featured a Spears lookalike instead. Now the family of the woman, Susan Santodonato, has filed 45 separate charges in seeking damages against station owner Clear Channel. According to the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, the suit claims that when the crowd tried to catch a glimpse of who they thought was Spears, people posing as Spears' bodyguards pushed the crowd back and Santodonato was either pushed into or fell into a garage-door handle, causing a serious head injury that contributed to her death. Santodonato's husband, Paul Santodonato, filed the suit on behalf of himself, his former wife's estate, and their three children, aged 8, 10 and 12. Clear Channel and Paul Santodonato's law firm did not return calls seeking comment by press time.

Inside Radio:
GO>>>
FCC fines Clear Channel's WGBF-FM, Henderson, KY $6,000. WGBF-FM's midday announcer Turner Watson was accused of recording and later broadcasting pieces of a telephone conversation on the air without first informing Craig Jackson Shell, announcer on Brill Media's WSTO-FM, Owensboro, KY that their conversation would be broadcast. The edited portion of Shell and Watson's conversation was alleged to have ridiculed Shell on the air. Shell provided the Commission with a tape of the broadcast along with his complaint. The standard forfeiture amount is $4,000, but the Commission increased it to $6,000 because when the violation occurred a Clear Channel subsidiary was recently sanctioned for a similar violation.

New Radio Star:
GO>>>
DUTCH COURT SAYS KAZAA IS DOING NOTHING WRONG!....OVER TURNS LOWER COURT ON FILE SHARING SERVICE... (March 29, 202 8:36am) The Court of Appeals in Amsterdam has overturned a lower court ruling from last November regarding peer-to-peer service KaZaa and the RIAA type counterpart of Holland, Buma/Stemra. The copyright protection service Buma/Stemra had sued Kazaa and the court had ruled that KaZaA BV was liable for copyright infringement and ordered the company to take "such measures" to terminate these copyright infringements. Today the Court of Appeals overturned the decision, saying "In so far as any infringing use is being made by the means of KaZaA, these acts are committed by its users, not by KaZaA." The ruling is huge in its impact in many areas of the Net in that it states that developers of technology cannot be held liable for what others do with it. Users of the KaZaA program are able to share files via the Internet, including copyrighted files. The Court of Appeals states: "It is not correct that KaZaA's computer program may exclusively be used for downloading copyrighted works." KaZaa's CEO Niklas Zennstrom stated "This is not only an important victory for KaZaa, but for the entire Internet," ..click here for MI2N's story and more on his reaction to the verdict.. Becase of the lower court ruling Kazaa had sold to Sharman Networks Ltd. of Australia two months ago. In the meantime, in the U.S. the RIAA has a pending suit against KaZaa and other peer to peer services. As in the case of Napster courts have ruled almost across the board for the RIAA. It remains to be seen how much the RIAA can impose its regulations on the rest of the world.

Radio Business Report:
GO>>>
Webcasters preparing for CARP eventualities (3/29)... No one can know for sure at this point what will happen to the webcasting industry if the recent CARP Panel (RBR 2/25, p.2) royalty rate recommendations (acting under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) are accepted by the US Copyright Office 5/21. While everyone but the RIAA hopes these rates will be rejected (the RIAA actually wants them higher), the grim reality may end up being that commercial radio stations that webcast will have to pay .07 cents per song performance and Internet-only webcasters .14 cents per song. Given the hell and high water the webcasting industry has gone through already-bankruptcy after bankruptcy, AFTRA, ASCAP, BMI, you name it-what contingency plans are broadcasters/webcasters looking at in preparation? We did a quick survey. Of those webcasters still in business, Cablemusic.com was one of the first to halt its streams (RBR.com 3/15). The current message: "Thanks for your patience while we are offline. As you may have heard, license fees have become a big issue for webcasters. We are now deciding how we will proceed given the copyright arbitration panel rate recommendations. Check back soon and thanks again for your support! The Cablemusic Crew." MediaAmazing switched to a subscription-only model 3/9 and eliminated all free streams. $3.95/month/$35.55/year are the new fees. MediAmazing has been a top Measurecast- and Arbitron-rated webcaster since the ratings companies began their service. Bill Grywalski, SurferNetwork President, is already looking elsewhere for content. "We've got a couple of opportunities, an additional product line from a content point of view. We're looking at stations from out of the country and focusing on the content from places like Canada for example. And we're also looking at other types of content that are indifferent to the copyright issues, other than music." Grywalski isn't so much concerned about the SurferNetwork may have to pay, but what his client stations will do. "If this is enacted as it stands, I think we will do fine, because we've already figured out what the damage to us would be, and we could afford it. We estimated that it's going to cost us about $8K a month. The problem is radio stations just need one little thing to push them off the cliff, and this is it. So we would be in a position where we would be very vulnerable to stations just having enough and wanting to just get out and go away. ASCAP-just when you thought it was safe to go in the water, along comes the Digital Copyright Act," he tells RBR. "We've got more stations leaving than coming in. They're just scared to death. People have had enough. Why do you want to stream? There's no money in it for them of any consequence. However, if you're in it this far, though, you should wait and see what happens." Clear Channel, finally back to streaming some 200 stations after being silenced for months from the AFTRA fees issue (RBR 4/16/01, cover), was just getting psyched at its rising to the top of the MeasureCast weekly ratings (RBR.com 3/22) for the second week in a row-and in just its second week in the survey. Clear Channel Radio Interactive VP/GM John Martin is concerned what may happen if the CARP panel fees are put into law: "The onerous copyright fees that are being considered are overshadowing the future of streaming. We know the economics need to be worked out, and the business model needs to be fair and work for everyone. The current model doesn't achieve that parity. It would be a shame to see this exciting new interactive medium halted in its infancy." Hiwire, which solved the AFTRA problem for Clear Channel by targeted Internet-only ad insertion, remeins optimistic that its clients can handle the burden from online ad revenues. Says CEO Steve Goldberg: "I can't speak for entity by entity. I can tell you that Hiwire is a strong company and that we don't believe that this is a major factor in our path towards profitability. Hiwire has a balanced mix of clients and I believe there are still opportunities for them in streaming. We're already seeing the ad market turn around a bit, so time will tell." As many are saying, the reality of those royalty recommendations passing likely mean the record industry controlling all online music. Says Grywalski: "The rumor is if you are of the mindset of a more deviant thinking individual, that the record labels are really interested in killing the business so that they can approach it themselves. They would probably exempt themselves from the copyright issues and simply stream the artists that they represent-their music. And distribute and sell music that way." One likely option is all streaming (not just Rush Limbaugh and Major League Baseball) would end up being subscription-based to pay for the fees. According to Arbitron and Edison Media Research's "Internet 8: Advertising vs. Subscription: Which Streaming Model Will Win?," four out of 10 streaming audio listeners would be willing to pay a small amount for commercial-free content, high quality audio or content they can't find anywhere else. "For streaming subscription models to be successful, however, content providers must follow the time-tested model of offering something extra to the consumer: no commercials, and great, exclusive content," said Bill Rose, VP, Arbitron Webcast Services. "In other words, Webcasters must bring the 'HBO model' of cable broadcasting to the Internet." "I don't think the listeners are ready for a subscription-based model yet," says Grywalski. "I think it's close. I think it's popular enough where some percentage of the audience is going to say Yes, and therefore make it worthwhile to do it. Because you're going to lose most of your people-unless you offer two models-a for free model, just like cable TV with advertising and then a subscription-based with no advertising."

News Flashes (March 29, 2002)

Electronic Media:
GO>>
ABC cancels 'Once and Again'... Citing ongoing rating problems, ABC has decided to cancel the critically-received drama "Once and Again," setting Monday, April 15 as its final airdate (10 p.m. to 11 p.m., ET).

Viacom to hold all 38 stations until ownership debate is resolved... The Federal Communications Commission granted Viacom a waiver Thursday allowing the media company to hold all of its TV stations until at least a year after the agency decides what to do about a regulation that bars broadcasters from owning stations reaching more than 35 percent of the nation's TV homes. MORE >>

'Greg the Bunny' races past 'Wednesday 9:30'... Two new midseason comedies made their debuts Wednesday night, and Fox's "Greg the Bunny" easily leapt over ABC's premiere of "Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)." MORE >>

'Ellie' gets scheduling reprieve... Buoyed by a slight ratings rebound for "Watching Ellie," NBC has extended the scheduling of two more episodes of the Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom for 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. (ET) Tuesday air dates on April 9 and 16. MORE >>

More details on those stories a the emonline.com website!

News Flashes (March 29, 2002)

Radio Horizon:
GO>>>
Dutch Court Clears Web Music Swapping In a setback for efforts to halt copyright abuse, a Dutch appeals court on Thursday told a technology firm it could distribute a software program that is designed to let users share music and films on the Internet.

The ruling in the case between Internet software company KaZaA and Dutch music rights organization Buma Stemra overturned a decision in November in favor of the music industry.

The music industry says rampant online piracy has severely damaged recording sales and the movie industry fears the same could happen to it as computers become more powerful.

The Amsterdam Court of Justice ruled that KaZaA was not liable for any individuals' abuse of its software, which is being used by millions of people around the world every day to swap copyright-protected games, music, pictures and films.

"We are stunned by the verdict," a Buma Stemra spokesman in the Netherlands said, adding the organization could appeal further to the High Court. But Niklas Zennstrom, the Swedish founder of Netherlands-based KaZaA and its technology provider Fasttrack, heralded the decision as "a great victory for our company and for the whole technology sector." However, he also said the ruling came too late to save KaZaA, whose main assets were sold after the initial ruling last year to Australian company Sharman Networks.

Zennstrom continues to run Fasttrack, which developed and licenses the file-swapping software used by KaZaA and its U.S. peer Grokster.

Both companies, and their rival Morpheus MusicCity, are still facing a court battle against music and film industry trade groups Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America, which is expected to start in October.

KaZaA attorney Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm expected the Dutch ruling to be closely watched in the U.S., as his defense was partly built on a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which said manufacturers of video recorders are not liable if consumers use their products to abuse copyrights.

"This is not just about KaZaA. It also affects producers of digital recording devices," he said. These would include DVD recorders from Philips and Panasonic, and digital TV recorders from TiVo .

The Dutch ruling is in stark contrast to last year's decision in which a U.S. judge forced Napster, the original file-swapping Internet service, to cease operation until it could guarantee that there was no copyright infringement on its network.

Unlike Napster, KaZaA and its peers do not operate a central server connecting different users and enabling them to transfer files. KaZaA has claimed in its defense that it was unable to control usage after its "peer-to-peer" software has been installed on PCs.

News Flash (March 30, 2002)

THE ROGER HEDGECOCK SHOW
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S COMMUNITY FORUM
FRIDAY MARCH 29TH , 2002
NEWSRADIO AM 600 KOGO (3P-6P) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
HOME OF THE RADIO MAYOR OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

WHO'S ON FIRST?
(where's ROGER?)

YES..FAITHFUL FLOCK.ROGER REMAINS ON THE RADIO DAILY..EITHER AT OUR HOMESTAND STATION KOGO/AM 600 OR OUR AWAY STATION KSDO/AM 1130. And the fun thing is that you can actually attend a home Padres game; take a portable radio with a headset..watch the game and listen to ROGER at the same time. How good do it get?

John Maffei - North County Times TV/Sports
GO>>>
Broadcast news: Gwynn debuts, Chandler fades out.

News Flashes (March 29, 2002)

Radio Business Report:
GO>>>
ABC Radio Networks may clear second ESPN Radio affil. in San Diego... ABC has filed with the FCC's International Bureau permission to program XEMMM-AM 800 Tijuana, for the San Diego Market. Since San Diego already has a Radio Disney affiliate, XEMMM is likely going to program ESPN. This is the second request for Tijuana this year at the FCC.

"XEMMM wants to run all of our daytime programming. They don't have a great nighttime signal, and we're allowed to do that. It is ESPN Radio requesting the move at their request," ABC VP Sports TJ Lambert tells RBR.

What about ESPN's Clear Channel affiliate in San Diego, XTRA-AM 690? "The guys at XEMMM have asked us to affiliate with them, and as part of that process in evaluation, we have to see first of all if we can from our waiver application with the FCC and the Mexican authority. Clear Channel doesn't clear most of those programs, so I don't think it would affect them. We have already offered Clear Channel the same programming. I'm confident that play-by-play and that kind of stuff will remain on XTRA," Lambert explains.

At the beginning of the year, Radio Unica cleared its Spanish news/talk network on XERCN-AM 1470 Tijuana.

RBR observation: We wonder how contract exclusivity issues may play out, dealing with two affiliates in one market when ownership is based in two different countries.

News Flashes (March 29, 2002)

KCOP in Tension with Viacom-Owned UPN over CBS Promo Programming... Programming, Promotion Spark Disagreement at UPN, News Corp.

Tension is brewing between Viacom's UPN network (Viacom also operates the CBS network) and News Corp., which owns several big-city UPN affiliates, including outlets in New York's WWOR 9 and Los Angeles's KCOP 13, the nation's top two markets.

At issue are UPN programming and promotion moves made since operating control of the network moved from Viacom's Paramount studio to its CBS network. The latest headache is CBS's decision to run a special about the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament, called "The March to Madness," on UPN Wednesday night. Since the tournament is airing on the CBS network, which owns and operates KCBS 2 in Los Angeles and WCBS 2 in New York, some UPN stations aren't happy at being used as a tool to hype a rival. One station -- News Corp.'s WWOR in New York -- has decided not to carry the program at all.

"It is essentially an hourlong promotion for a CBS event that is being aired on the UPN network," says Jim Clayton, the general manager of WWOR, who also runs WNYW, the New York station of News Corp.'s Fox network. "This would be like us asking CBS to air an hourlong promotion for 'Boston Public,' " he adds. Instead, WWOR is airing an episode of the syndicated science-fiction show "Stargate SG-1."

But it goes both ways. In Los Angeles, UPN and CBS executives aren't happy that News Corp.'s KCOP is going to be carrying more than a dozen baseball games on Friday nights in the coming months. This means UPN network shows will be pre-empted. News Corp. owns the Los Angeles Dodgers and last year landed the rights to its games for KCOP rather than for its own Los Angeles Fox station KTTV. That will make it harder for UPN to sell national advertising, although KCOP does plan to air UPN's Friday shows on weekends.

Thanks to relaxed government rules, broadcasters can own two television stations in one market. This is leading to strange situations in which onetime competitors have to be partners. In this case, when News Corp. outbid Viacom in 2000 for the television stations owned by Chris-Craft Industries, the two entered a forced marriage. Most of Chris-Craft's stations are affiliated with the UPN network. UPN persuaded News Corp. to keep the Chris-Craft stations affiliated with the fledgling network after agreeing to pay big bucks for the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which is produced by a News Corp. production company.

But that doesn't mean everything is running smoothly. Besides the issues at WWOR and KCOP, executives at all of News Corp.'s UPN stations are upset about promotions for other Viacom properties, including MTV, that they say have been popping up on the network since January, when CBS started overseeing the UPN network.

In most cases the News Corp.-owned UPN stations aren't airing promotions for other Viacom networks. "Our goal is to get people to watch UPN," says Mr. Clayton, who adds that he also doesn't promote Fox programming on his UPN station. Instead of running the Viacom promotions, he is instead running spots for WWOR's news and other UPN shows. "I don't think they're particularly happy," he says.

"We value our relationship with our UPN affiliate body and are very mindful of their concerns," says Peter Schruth, president of affiliate relations for CBS and UPN. He adds that the performance of UPN will improve.

Other UPN stations also have issues with the way the network is being run. Since taking over management of UPN, CBS has been using it to repeat its own shows. For example, the reality program "The Amazing Race," which airs on CBS on Wednesdays, also appears on Fridays on UPN, where it is paired with another reality program, "Under One Roof." Unfortunately, "Race" numbers on UPN have been awful, and many UPN outlets are warning that they will stop carrying the network's Friday night programming if the situation doesn't improve. Such pre-emptions could hurt the network's advertising efforts.

"The numbers we've seen show this is not working," says Dave Hanna, president of Lockwood Broadcast Group and chairman of the UPN affiliate board. "If they plan to keep going forward with it, some stations will have to make a decision about what they're going to do." CBS is expected to tweak its Friday lineup soon, but whether that will fix the ratings problems remains to be seen.

News Flashes (March 28, 2002)

ABC files with the FCC for permission to program XEMMM-AM, Tijuana.... This is the second request the FCC has had this year for Tijuana.

Tanny Note: I've received a few e-mails from the web manager Tanny, one of which was forwarded to Carmichael, and the rest for some of the other columns, but he failed to tell me where he is currently vacationing (or is it another work mission like he had last year?).

NFL expected to bench proposed sked shuffle (March 28, 2002)

'MNF' kicking off with rematch of AFC's champ teams (March 28, 2002)

News Flashes (March 28, 2002)

North County Times "San Diego Radio Static" - Randy Dotinga
Sinatra this way comes...EXCERPTS... As of Monday, the station formerly known as X-BACH dumped its classical music format for the second time. The station, at 540 AM, is now known as "The Surf." But the Beach Boys won't be on the playlist. The station is playing golden oldies from the past half century or so, the kind of music that isn't heard anywhere on the local dial except San Diego's KPOP, which is often hard to pick up in North County. The core artists will include Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Mel Torme, Nat King Cole, Harry Connick Jr., Linda Ronstadt, George Benson and Billy Joel, said Saul Levine, president of the Los Angeles-based Mount Wilson Broadcasters company, which runs the station. (Legally, Americans cannot own Mexican stations, but they can make agreements to run the stations and broadcast English-language content to the United States. XTRA Sports, 91X and Magic 92.5 are all Mexican-owned and American-run. That's why you hear the stations announce their call letters in Spanish.) The station had been broadcasting classical music since last fall, when it dumped its jazz format. As for the dearly departed classical music of X-BACH, Levine said there's plenty of Mozart and Beethoven to go around. North County's KFSD-AM continues to broadcast classical (through April 1 when it changes to Nostalgia, as does Tijuana's XLNC-1 (with no announcers) and KPBS-FM (at night only).

News Flashes (March 28, 2002)

Al Brumley discusses internet radio... http://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/stories/032702dnbusnetradio.d4a98.html... Thanks to Tom Blackwell for the link.

AM-FM car radios: iBiquity Prepares for Digital Radio Rollout http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1448730

Al Brumley: Royalty rates could force small radio stations offline http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/stories/032702dnbusnetradio.d4a98.html

Classical Streaming: NY Times will stream audio from WQXR-FM http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020326/262223_1.html

Proposed webcasting fees could ruin another Internet radio company... SomaFM is an Internet-only station that has about 20,000 listeners a day tune in. If the new ruling under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act goes into effect, it would just about shut the company down for good. For more on this story by Salon.com... http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/03/26/web_radio/index.html

Washington tunes in Critics accuse Clear Channel of shady radio deals and nasty concert business. Now the government is starting to pay attention By Eric Boehlert http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2002/03/27/beltway/index.html

News Flashes (March 27, 2002)

Salon Web Radio's Last Stand: DMCA ruling set to eliminate online radio. http://salon.com/tech/feature/2002/03/26/web_radio/print.html

Radio & Records (includes Arbitrons)
GO>>>
Oppose the digital fees!... Arbitron sent a letter to Capitol Hill yesterday stating the reasons it believes Congress should oppose the digital-rights fees proposed last month by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel and recommending a five-year freeze on any streaming fees. The ratings firm calculates that, if radio were to attract online listeners in numbers equal to its over-the-air audience, the fees for the industry could be as much as $2.4 billion.

RIAA Sucking Out Loud... In July 2001 U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel ordered Napster to stop all file-sharing until it could block 100% of infringing file-trading, and yesterday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling. The Ninth Circuit earlier granted an injunction delaying enforcement of Patel's ruling pending its own decision, but because Napster never resumed file-sharing after taking it offline in July this decision will have little immediate effect. "Once again, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed that Napster must do everything feasible to police its system against copyright infringement," RIAA Sr. EVP/General Counsel Cary Sherman says. "As we have said from the very beginning, technologies are available that allow copyrighted works to be filtered out of a peer-to-peer system, and the big news from [yesterday's] decision is the court's strong endorsement of that point."

New Radio Star:
GO>>>
ARBITRON TELLS CONGRESS WHY THEY SHOULD OPPOSE CARP FEES!... An unlikely opposition to the charge for streaming music over the Internet has emerged. The number one radio ratings service, Arbitron says that Congress should issue a 5 year moratorium on such fees. The Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) under the U.S. Copyright office and the RIAA has set a rate for playing music on the radio for the first time in U.S. history. While broadcasters will continue to pay no fees for playing the music, if they simulcast it on the Net their costs will be in the millions of dollars. "We foresee that the impact of these fees will dramatically reduce the consumer's choice of streaming content, limit the diversity of streaming `voices' on the Internet, stifle competition among content providers and impede the growth of a popular new medium," wrote Bill Rose, vice president and general manager, Arbitron Webcast Services, in letters to members of Congress. ..complete release here... http://newradiostar.com/NEWS/ARBITRONopposesCARP.htm

WEB RADIO LISTENING UP AGAIN... Measurecast reports that their Internet Radio Listening Index£ for the week of March 11 rose 5%. The total time spent listening to streaming radio stations measured by MeasureCast has increased 452% since January 2001. Nineteen stations in the MeasureCast Top 25£ ranking (Six more than the week before) saw an increase in their total number of hours streamed, and 20 stations (Five more stations than the week before) attracted larger audiences.

Kurt Hanson
GO>>>
I hope you're checking this website daily like I am. There's far too much to excert for this page. Bookmark Kurt's page and make it a habit. Very detailed stuff going on regarding the dreaded digital rights fees and the radio economy.

News Flashes (March 27, 2002)

"Happy Easter and Best Wishes" - greets Mike Cook and Family via e-mail, "Hooked On Trivia"(tm). Listen to his radio show weeknights at 11pm on KFMB 760 AM on a blazing 50 kw nighttime stick on most of the western part of the U.S. continent.

My Mix 94.1 Copying Dave's site?...Now Clear Channel is taking Dave's advice from his website, but it's not what he had in mind as My Mix or My Whatever is now featuring what's been on davesfunstuff.com for months... Britney Spears news! See For Yourself!.

Cheap Gas From The Planet?... Can you believe the price of gas? It's gone up a record 14 cents a gallon over the last two weeks! Your friends here at Classic Hits 103-7 The Planet want to help relieve the stress of high gas prices by giving you the opportunity to fill up for just $1.037! That's right! Just one dollar and three point 7 cents a gallon tomorrow morning from 9am to 11am at Barry's Chevron on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, just east of the 805. We'll also have free coffee, free Pepsi, Dave and Busters Power Cards, tickets to Cajon Speedway and tons of other Planet prizes. In fact, as a VIP member you'll get a free Planet T-Shirt just by bringing this letter with you! Cheap gas, free food and a free Planet T-shirt tomorrow morning at Barry's Chevron!

This weekend, Classic Hits 103-7 The Planet celebrates the opening of America's favorite pastime and our hometown team, The Padres! All weekend we'll play singles, doubles and triples, of your favorite classic rock artists. When you hear a triple, be the 7th caller at 1-888-388-1037 and you'll pick up a family four pack of tickets to see The Padres opening week!

Classic Hits 103-7 The Planet is proud to sponsor the Artwork of Grace Slick at The Fingerhut Gallery on Prospect in La Jolla next Saturday April 6th through the 20th. Listen to Cindy Pace from 9am - 2pm Monday through Friday all next week to win a passes to meet Grace at the private screening party Friday night April 5th. Plus, you'll also qualify to win a limited edition autographed piece of Grace's artwork. In fact, Grace will be in our studio on Friday the 5th with Cindy to co-host The Planet Caf‚ and draw the lucky winner of the artwork. Go to our website at www.planetfm.com and hear Cindy's interview with Grace about the upcoming show in La Jolla

As always, thanks for listening to Classic Hits 103-7 The Planet!

Happy Passover!

Happy Easter!

Christie Banks
Program Director
Classic Hits 103-7 The Planet

The San Diego Reader Blurt - Various journalists
Oops! We forgot to check the SDReader website for this article before it's too late...

"A lot of the bands that are popular now -- Saves the Day, BRMC, Dashboard Confessional, and Sigor Ross -- we've been playing for years. But no one knows it," says student Andrew Alacante who is in charge of the on-air staff at UCSD's student-run radio station. He says KSDT is the only local station that really is on the cutting edge of rock. "We played the Strokes long before 92/1 or 91X." But he's frustrated because "it's the best radio station no one has heard of."

KSDT keeps the spirit of free-form college radio alive in San Diego. The 25 DJs on KSDT pick their own music, which runs from indie rock to death metal to Mediterranean.

KSDT has no FCC oversight because it isn't broadcast on the airwaves: "We're on Internet radio at http://www.ksdtradio.org," says promotions director Rishi Shaw. "We're looking for an FM signal to use in San Diego. In L.A. there are a whole bunch of college stations with FM signals. We want to get a low-power [FM] signal so we could at least cover the campus. Right now we're looking to put up an experimental transmitter and test it for a year."

News Flashes (March 27, 2002)

Electronic Media:
GO>>

Discovery Kids announces NBC Saturday block shows: Discovery Kids and NBC have announced six new shows that will debut Oct. 6 in the three-hour "Discovery Kids on NBC" Saturday block. The shows, all 13-episode commitments, are:

-- "Walking With Dinosaurs," a half-hour kids version of the high-rated "Walking With Dinosaurs" and "Walking With Prehistoric Beasts" specials that were produced in conjunction with the BBC. The series version will add new narration and graphics to existing computer-animation footage.

-- "Croc Files," a half-hour repurposing of the popular Crocodile Hunter series.

-- "TLC's Junkyard Dogs," a new half-hour kid-friendly version of "Junkyard Wars," in which two teams race to create functioning machines from scraps and junk

-- "Endurance," a half-hour in which teams of kids compete in various trials of strength and smarts.

-- "Black Hole High," a half-hour scripted series about a school in which the usual laws of physics do not apply.

-- An untitled dramatic scripted series set in Africa, from producer Tom Lynch, who also is working on a separate pilot for NBC prime time that is also set in Africa.

The new series were "created to fill what we see as a huge hole in the marketplace-real-world programming for kids, "said Marjorie Kaplan, senior VP and general manager, Discovery Kids.

The various new series target tweens, primarily, but are appropriate for kids under 12, too, and the block will be sold by Discovery's sales force, according to Ms. Kaplan. Both she and Lee Gaither, NBC's VP of Saturday morning and family programming, declined to say whether the time period has been leased by Discovery or whether NBC will share in ad-sales revenues.

News Flashes (March 27, 2002)

TV News posted on USENET by PUSSSYKATT@aol.com.

Greg The Bunny...A Comedy Masterpiece?... March 26, 2002 -- "Greg The Bunny"...Fox, Wednesday at 9:30... OK. Sit down. I have just watched one of the funniest TV show I've seen in many seasons. Yes, I laughed like the first time I saw "The Simpsons" and "Seinfeld." It's funny the way the candy factory, the wine making, and the melting putty nose episodes were and are on "I Love Lucy." What's this masterpiece of TV comedy called? Well, er, well, it's called Greg the Bunny. And it's about a puppet. Or a muppet or something. Imagine the muppets as irreverent, dirty-mouthed malcontents living among humans. Mixing live action and puppetry, the show is based on Greg the Bunny's early work (as they say in the the-a-ter), in public access television on a wacko show called "Junktape." So, how do I know this is the funniest show ever? I happened to pop the three-episode video tape into my office VCR the other day, and plopped on some headphones to keep the sound from bothering my colleagues. Then I started laughing very out loud, and drew a crowd behind me. In a matter of seconds, two, then four, then five people were standing behind my desk laughing out loud just from reading the captions and watching the action - without even hearing the sound. So I took the headset off, and we all watched. A regular laugh riot - I mean we were all wiping the tears from our eyes from laughing so hard. No - this ain't the muppets for kids. In fact, it's not even muppets - it's a takeoff on them - so put your kids to sleep, (wait - that didn't sound right - I mean put them to bed) and watch the thing alone. "Greg The Bunny" is about a kiddie TV show, "Sweetknuckle Junction," which is filled with driven and bitter puppets (who are alive) and share the studio with equally driven and bitter humans. Now, I know this doesn't sound funny, but it is. First off, one of the stars is Eugene Levy who makes me laugh every time he shows up on screen. (Think "Waiting for Guffman," think "Best In Show," and "American Pie.") He plays the show's director and he's perfect as the smarmy Hollywood TV guy. His son, a malcontent Jimmy, (Seth Green who was named Best TV Actor by "Entertainment Weekly" in 1999), is Greg The Bunny's friend, and ends up as his agent when Greg mistakenly lands the lead role on the failing show. Other humans include Junction Jack, (Bob Gunton), the railroad engineer on the kiddie show, Dottie Sunshine (Dina Walters - the funeral groupie on "Six Feet Under), "and TV exec, Alison, (Sarah Silverman). Fellow puppets on the show include Warren "Professor Ape" Demontague, and the funniest one, Count Blah - just like the Count on "Sesame Street" - except he says "blah" after every sentence. Into the mix throw Sammy Davis Jr. plastic eyeballs, a puppet that's a radical advocate for "fabricated Americans" (the PC word for puppets) named Hurbeta Hymina, (a combination Rev. Al, and Louis Farrahkan) and dialog from the puppets that is side-splitting. For example, when human Jimmy, trades his dirty T-shirt and jeans for a pink polo shirt, khakis and a sweater tied around his neck, Greg, says, "Nice Camouflage - where are you trying to fit in - Pottery Barn?" I think I'll go home now, and watch it again.

Millionaire Back on TV?... ABC might try and bring "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" back to its on-every-night-of-the-week roots. Network officials are mulling the possibility of putting the once mega-popular quiz-show back on like a mini-series as a special programming stunt. "It might not be a regularly scheduled program [next year]," ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne told the industry trade magazine, Advertising Age. "We will probably return to the format where it runs every night in short bursts. People like to follow a contestant over a 24-hour period." When "Millionaire" first debuted during the summer of 1999, it aired as many as seven nights a week, and it's frequency became a double-edged sword - largely credited with turning the show into a hit but later overexposing it to the point where viewers became tired of watching every night. A rival network chief went so far as to liken "Millionaire" to crack-cocaine, alluding to ABC's heavy reliance on the show for ratings and the eventual collapse that the network has yet to recover from. That collapse - "Millionaire" currently draws about 10.3 million viewers a week versus as many as 26 million when it debuted - has hurt ABC's bottom line and made the future of the show uncertain.

News Flashes (March 26, 2002)

ZENtertainment(tm):
GO>>

O'Reilly Taking No Spin Zone to The Airwaves
-
WESTWOOD ONE will launch THE RADIO FACTOR WITH BILL O'REILLY 
in syndication on May 8th.
The two-hour radio show will feature the conservative news 
commentator taking on a single topic each day with guests 
and calls from listeners.
http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly


ZEN QUICK HITS:
- Nikka Costa will open on Britney Spears' upcoming tour


NBC Pulling ELLIE
-
NBC will only air two more episodes of WATCHING 
ELLIE, pulling the show after its April 2nd episode.
Sherilyn Fenn guests on the show this Tuesday.
http://www.nbc.com


AS IF, RANDOM YEARS Cancelled
-
UPN has canceled its Tuesday night series AS IF and RANDOM YEARS.
http://www.upn.com


Laura Dern Stops by WEST WING
-
Laura Dern plays the new U.S. Poet Laureate Toby is 
eager to meet on a new episode of WEST WING this 
Wednesday night at 9, on NBC.
The episode also guest stars Peter Scolari (Bosom Buddies) 
as a computer chip manufacturer who meets with Leo.


GREG THE BUNNY Premiere This Wednesday
-
FOX premieres its new sitcom GREG THE BUNNY, in which 
puppets co-exist with people, this Wednesday night at 9:30.
The show features an impressive cast of comedians that 
includes Eugene Levy, Seth Green, and Sarah Silverman, 
and David Spade guest stars in the pilot episode.


MTV Airing New Tom Green Special
-
Tom Green returns to MTV this week for the SUBWAY MONKEY HOUR special.
The hour-long special, airing Wednesday night at 10, has Green 
playing tourist in Japan, where he visits a monkey zoo in Nikko 
while dressed in a Gorilla costume, impersonates Elvis in front of 
a sacred temple, and hangs out with a used panty salesman in Tokyo.
The special is the first of three Tom Green specials airing on 
MTV in the coming months.
http://www.mtv.com


Hurt, Stiller Guest on KING OF QUEENS
-
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY reports William Hurt and Ben Stiller 
will guest star on the 100th episode of the CBS sitcom 
KING OF QUEENS, airing on May 20th.
Hurt will play a psychiatrist who treats the Heffernan 
family, while Ben will play the father of his real-life 
father, Jerry Stiller, in a family flashback.
http://www.ew.com
http://www.cbs.com


CONAN to Air on Cable
-
COMEDY CENTRAL has signed a one-year deal to air 
next-day episodes of NBC's LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN.
The talkshow will premiere Tuesday, September 3rd, at 7pm.
http://www.comedycentral.com

News Flashes (March 26, 2002)

New Radio Star:
GO>>>
NEW FORMAT HITS SOCAL KJAZ/X-BACH... KJAZ at 1260 in Los Angeles and a Mexican frequency at 540 in San Diego have switched formats to what creator Don McCulloch calls "Contemporary Adult." McCulloch, President of Portland based Radio DeLuxe says the sound is not to be confused with the nostalgia formats that many in the industry refer to as "Adult Standards." The new format has a more contemporary quality and younger appeal, according to McCulloch. "It consists of true standards, by traditional as well as new artists: `Route 66' by The Manhattan Transfer, `I Remember You' by Diana Krall, and `I Get a Kick Out of You' by Frank Sinatra. It's not oldies by Bobby Vinton, the Ames Brothers, and Helen Reddy." KJAZ will switch calls to KSRF and the station is programmed locally by Lawrence Tanter who also does afternoons. The stations are owned by long-time, independent broadcaster Saul Levine, who also owns the successful classical outlet KMZT (K-Mozart) in Los Angeles.

News Flashes (March 26, 2002)

Inside Radio:
GO>>>
"My mornings with Jagger and Kristi" debuts yesterday on KMYI-FM, San Diego. Morning duo Jagger and Kristi move cross-town to Clear Channel's KMYI-FM from Midwest Television's KFMB-FM, San Diego. Jagger and Kristi air from 5:30am to 10am and for the first week will also air from 3pm-6pm. Jagger and Kristi joined together as a team in June 1996. The duo will bring together their brand of humor, insight and style to KMYI-FM mornings.

Radio Deluxe of Portland, OR to provide music and consulting to KSUR-FM, LA.... Saul Levine's "The Surf" is simulcasting on 1260 AM in Los Angeles and 540 in San Diego. "The Surf" format is more of a standards-based format with a contemporary quality with younger appeal. The music consists of true standards along with new artists: Route 66 by The Manhattan Transfer, I Remember You by Diana Krall and I Get a Kick Out of You by Frank Sinatra. Programming originates in Los Angeles under the leadership of Lawrence Tanter who is also the afternoon host.

Gary Lycan - Orange County Register
'Surf's' up at former KJAZ/1260... KJAZ/1260 (and XJAZ 540 Tijuana) AM dropped jazz-for-adult standards this weekend, and the new call letters are KSUR or "The Surf." "Our research showed listeners missed hearing the music by Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand and others, so we've decided to give it to them," owner Saul Levine said. KJAZ debuted in March 2000 and had a good run under the direction of Lawrence Tanter. But with KLAC dropping adult standards for talk, there was a void in the L.A.- Orange County market. Art Astor's KMXN/1510 AM Ontario plays standards, but 1260 - once it gets a power boost to 20,000 watts, from 5,000 - should reach a wider audience. Tanter is still on board, along with Bob Myers, Nick Tyler, Mark Morris and Nancy Serena. The format is not syndicated, and Levine said that wherever possible, "contemporary" versions will be played. Astor, meanwhile, plans to flip KFSD/1450 AM in Escondido from classical to adult standards April 1. It reaches into south Orange County.

News Flashes (March 26, 2002)

Wang-Net
GO>>>
Standards Return to the Los Angeles Airwaves... Adult standards music has been missing from the Los Angeles airwaves ever since KLAC (570 AM) decided to go all talk last year and disappear from the ratings almost completely in a move best described as "pulling a Clear Channel." Fans of the music held out hope that the music would return, although most knew the chance was slim in the short term. Radio just doesn't change that quickly. Well, its time to change. As of (Mar 22), Saul Levine's KJAZ (1260 AM) is scheduled to be playing adult standards under the new call letters KSUR ... apparently the closest combination available to "spell" K-SURF. The move takes the station full-circle, as it once played the same music under the direction of Music of Your Life programmer Chuck Southcott. The station will be programmed locally and will, according to reports, feature the same personalities that played the jazz on KJAZ. The signal should be cleaner for many listeners throughout the area within the next month or so, as the station is gearing up to increase its broadcast power to 20,000 watts from 5000. No word on if it will be in stereo, however, for the handful of people who own AM stereo radios. Decent ratings, which have been missing from 1260 since Levine dropped standards years back, should return soon enough.

News Flashes (March 26, 2002)

Inside Radio:
GO>>>
Radio Deluxe of Portland, OR to provide music and consulting to KSUR-FM, LA.... Saul Levine's "The Surf" is simulcasting on 1260 AM in Los Angeles and 540 in San Diego. "The Surf" format is more of a standards-based format with a contemporary quality with younger appeal. The music consists of true standards along with new artists: Route 66 by The Manhattan Transfer, I Remember You by Diana Krall and I Get a Kick Out of You by Frank Sinatra. Programming originates in Los Angeles under the leadership of Lawrence Tanter who is also the afternoon host.

Gary Lycan - Orange County Register
'Surf's' up at former KJAZ/1260... KJAZ/1260 (and XJAZ 540 Tijuana) AM dropped jazz-for-adult standards this weekend, and the new call letters are KSUR or "The Surf." "Our research showed listeners missed hearing the music by Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand and others, so we've decided to give it to them," owner Saul Levine said. KJAZ debuted in March 2000 and had a good run under the direction of Lawrence Tanter. But with KLAC dropping adult standards for talk, there was a void in the L.A.- Orange County market. Art Astor's KMXN/1510 AM Ontario plays standards, but 1260 - once it gets a power boost to 20,000 watts, from 5,000 - should reach a wider audience. Tanter is still on board, along with Bob Myers, Nick Tyler, Mark Morris and Nancy Serena. The format is not syndicated, and Levine said that wherever possible, "contemporary" versions will be played. Astor, meanwhile, plans to flip KFSD/1450 AM in Escondido from classical to adult standards April 1. It reaches into south Orange County.

O'REILLY FACTOR... Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly joins KABC/790 AM on May 8 with a 9-11 a.m. weekday talk show, syndicated nationally from New York by Westwood One. No word on the future of Mark Taylor and Gloria Allred, although station announcements have indicated it will try to find a place for them.