San Diego Radio Wires 12-21-02

Unfortunately in his hometown in the San Diego Outland, he won't be able to hear himself being played on the December 22, 2002 edition of radio's Dr. Demento show because no station in the San Diego Outland area is smart enough to carry his show in the past six years.

His song "Cowpies For Christmas" is found on his CD "Carols By Campfire" available at amazon.com as well as buckhowdy.com

The Dr. Demento show, heard on the stations listed here http://www.davesfunstuff.com/0430.htm, is featuring the third of three all Christmas novelty songs this week.

[D.T. notes: I'm surprised CC (as in Chris Carmichael, not Clear Channel) hasn't beaten me on the Buck Howdy on the Dr. Demento Show scoop. Chris's been reporting on some Buck Howdy news on his website, but this one wasn't worth the space on his website? It should be great news that he's getting national recognition on some 60 stations that carry Demento nationwide including WKIT and KOZT, which stream the show on the web.]

John Maffei - North County Times TV/Sports
XTRA's management treatment of talent shameful! - read what Maffei has to say about what Clear Channel is doing to the XTRA staff at his website. Excerpt: "Welcome to the world of Clear Channel Communications, aka The Grinches Who Stole Christmas, a company that held its annual holiday party Thursday night in the company break room."

"Cheap" Channel Wants Some Money Back - The Padres and Clear Channel management are trying to work out a contract to keep the team's games on KOGO (600) beyond the 2003 season. But talks have hit a serious roadblock. Clear Channel is asking for rebates from the last two seasons, saying it was promised the team would be in a new ballpark in 2002 and the Padres would be a pennant contender. [From D.T.: sorry, CC, a deal is a deal.]

SD State Moves - San Diego State, whose football and basketball games are carried on XTRA, has reached an agreement to move games next season the KOGO.

No NBA on TJ Radio - Clear Channel has run into problems with the NBA. Clear Channel wants to move Clippers games from KXTA to XTRA, but the NBA has a rule that prohibits games from being carried on Mexican stations.

No CC Sports Radio News - ESPN Radio, XEMM (800) in San Diego, will carry five college football bowl games and will have an NBA doubleheader on Christmas Day. XEMM ---- which already carries USC football and basketball ---- also is talking to the Angels about carrying their games in 2003.

Etc. - Gus Johnson and Brent Jones will work Sunday's 10 a.m. Chargers-Chiefs game on CBS. ABC has set its announcers for the Bowl Championship Series. Keith Jackson and Fouts will be in the booth for the Jan. 3 Fiesta Bowl, this season's national championship game.

Los Angeles Radio Wires 12-21-02

Clear Channel's KPEZ Z102.3 Austin Stops Streaming 12-20-02

"To Z102.3 Online Listener;

"Z102.3 will no longer will be broadcast over the Internet, effective 5pm, Thursday, December 19, 2002. Unfortunately, the costs of streaming, RIAA, BMI, and ASCAP fees have exceeded the original estimated costs. We will no longer be streaming audio online for all Clear Channel Austin FM stations, effective 5pm Thursday, December 19th.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and we hope to explore the possibilities of streaming audio in the future."

Looks like fans of Bob and Tom will have to find another outlet to listen to their popular morning radio show. Also unfortunately, that also means one less radio station streaming Dr. Demento's radio show on the Internet, as it airs the show at 4am Pacific Time on Saturdays.

San Diego Radio Wires 12-19-02

San Diego Radio Wires 12-19-02

Comment from Deaconska: "seriously, all that station play is songs from the mid 90's. it's like high school all over again. sublime, soundgarden, pearl jam, stp, nirvana. s--t it's like every other song. then they throw in some 80's songs, then every now and then a song released in the past year. i listen to 91x more than 94.9 now."

From ourbandrocks.com: "actually, that's why i DO like that station. . . the playlist. there is very little i liked about my adolescence, and the music was part of that small minority. i like rawk stars, not indie cry-babies. although i must say that "1994.9" is clever."

From gabe dude 2000: "galen is right. station sucks. and no station should be allowed to play that damn white stripes song for at least 3 months. if i wanted to hear it 20 times a day, i'd buy the cd."

From TGK: "I like both stations. I said when FM 94.9 came out Halloran blew the dust off the 92.5 The Flash playlist. When this station came out a year and a half ago, I thought this was the new Flash. I was wrong."

From solomfb: "i'm tired of the white strips, jack johnson, the new nirvana song and just about every other song/songs they repeat throughout the day. stations need to play more songs from a cd rather than just one or maybe two. my opinion anyways. they do need to play more artist.... and F the record labels, this station here is suposed to be independant right? all that is said on this page is right on the money. it's all about the money, labels push only one or two songs, and a lot of the times they are the wrong songs to push. so many times have i heard songs on a cd that are so much better than the single they're pushing."

Letters:

From Steven Shutters:: "I went to Chris Carmichael's website to find out who was the #1 morning show team on his website that was having another survey, but he took the page down and there was no news. Why don't you post the whole thing on your page so that we can read it here instead of going to his website."

D.T. responds: - "I like to throw in teasers to get people interested in some of the stories and make them go to another website to read more about it. There, you can not just read the story, but also the advertisements that go with the story that are sponsoring the website. Besides, since Clear Channel basically dominates too many media outlets including the Internet, I have taken an editorial stand to withhold excess Clear Channel coverage on my website (unless an Indie pays me $$$$ or something if you know what I mean) from taking over the webpages that I author so that stories about other radio stations sent in (yes, you have to send them in) will be enjoying coverage that stands out here instead of being buried by some uninteresting blurb about what goes on at AJ's Lame House and the unfunny morning show trio at some obsolete rock station only one reader gives a flying bleep about here.

The San Diego Union TV/Radio
'More FM' toy drive Tijuana's XMOR/FM 98.9 ("More FM") and San Diego Fox affiliate XETV/Channel 6 are conducting a toy-collection drive to benefit orphanages in Tijuana. Through Jan. 6, "More FM's" four vehicles will patrol the Tijuana/San Diego streets to collect new and used toys in good condition. Blankets, clothes, shoes and such personal-use items as toothbrushes and toothpaste also are welcomed. The collection is in keeping with Dia de los Reyes traditions; Dia de los Reyes, or Three Kings Day (on Jan. 6), is a special holiday for many children across the world, but particularly in Spanish-speaking nations. Instead of receiving treasures from Santa, the gifts come from Los Reyes Magos, or the three wise men. The station's official toy-drive collection center is at Shop Las Americas (4211 Camino de La Plaza) in San Ysidro. To find out when the vehicles will be in your area, log on (http://www.morefm989.com) or tune in to 98.9 FM for updates. "More FM" is owned and operated by MEC Network.

Technical difficulties with a broadcasting receiver (and not the Marx Brothers) prevented XLNC/FM 90.7 from airing last Saturday's live Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Verdi's "Il Trovatore." (In their 1935 movie, "A Night at the Opera," the Marx Brothers run amok on stage during a performance of "Il Trovatore.") A XLNC spokeswoman said the station expects to be able to air this Saturday's performance of "Elektra." XLNC is buying a backup receiver and will put it into operation if the original equipment fails again, she added.

Mark Larson has been re-elected president of the San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association. It's his sixth consecutive term to head up the organization that represents 25 San Diego radio stations. "Larson Live!" can be heard throughout Southern California from 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays on talk format station KCBQ/AM 1170.

North County Times - Randy Dotinga
Mr. Nice Guy, for once... It's that time of the year again, when there's more pretending going on in most households than you'll find in a whole year of "Mr. Rogers

Excerpt: "Dave Rickards is nearly insane." (better get Dr. Demento on KGB and have him advice Dave on a couple of men in clean white suits that could take him away to the loony bin.)

Excerpt: "Runners-up (for best morning show): The best morning shows make you feel as if you're listening to a family of people who are willing to share the ups and downs of their lives (and ours). While it has a veneer of sugar substitute fakery, Star 100.7's "Jeff & Jer" still spreads warmth after a zillion years on the air. The casts of the morning shows on 91X, KSON and Magic 92.5 also draw upon chemistry...(snip!)

Best local talk show: (again, who cares?). Excerpt: "Roger Hedgecock, San Diego's former mayor and current creep-in-chief."

D.T. wonders if Chris Carmichael and Randy Dotinga are the same person? Some PD at a Clear Channel station thinks David Tanny and Ken Leighton are the same person.

Best rock station: He didn't say. Excerpt: "KPRI's listeners tend to be richer and better educated than those of some other stations. Advertisers like that."

Best doomed rock station: "The annoyingly named "FM 949" ---- couldn't their budget include a dot after the four? ---- is a great idea in concept. Like KPRI, it's going after intelligent, curious listeners who are willing to listen to strange music they've never heard before."

Dotina flubs here: "But unlike KPRI, FM 949 is too hip to attract a lot of middle-aged listeners with money to spend. Its audience may be too young and too poor to turn on advertisers." Sorry, Randy, but 94.9 attracts this over 35 male listener among others. It's Z90, and 933 that have audiences that are mostly too young and too poor to turn on advertisers, which is why you hear a lot of ads on stuff teenagers buy on those stations.

Excerpt: "Best country station: KSON wins by default. It's a professionally run station with knowledgeable hosts who actually live in San Diego County. But most important, its name isn't Bob 99.3. "

Excerpt: "Best News Station (none) KOGO always has a reporter on duty, but its brief hourly newscasts are so jam-packed with commercials that they have all the depth of a puddle."

Excerpts with comments: "Best of the rest: Sam Bass and Sonny West, the seasoned hosts on KyXy who aren't nearly as goody-goody as you might think; traditional jazz on KSDS, the most underappreciated treasure on the San Diego dial (but it needs more diverse variety as its the only non-commercial college run station that can operate in the Outland area); and: the nightly oldtime radio dramas on L.A.'s KNX; the fantastic archive of National Public Radio shows and stories at www.npr.org; 1970s disco on Magic 92.5 (once a month is enough for most listeners); brilliantly creative promos on 91X (a bit too overhyped for my taste); and finally, the underdog ultraalternative rock station Premium 92.1 (based in Carlsbad), which has little or no promotions budget, a skeleton staff, a weak signal and surprisingly decent ratings. The station has been dogged by rumors that it's about to be bought by a chain of Spanish-language stations. Hopefully it will stick around and show the big guys that you don't need a huge bankroll to attract listeners.

San Diego Radio Wires 12-18-02

Los Angeles Radio Wires 12-18-02

San Diego Radio Wires 12-17-02

Best Morning Show (non-music)...Jeff and Jer Showgram Star 100.7 Second Place

Best Morning Show (With Music)...KyXy Morning Show with Sonny West and Susan DeVincent First Place. Tony and Kris KSON Third Place; tied with Chris Cantore Brand X 91X Third Place.

Best Local News Broadcast...KOGO AM First Place

Best Syndicated Show...Rush Limbaugh KFI|KOGO Third Place

Best Weekend Show...Hooked on Trivia KFMB Third Place

Top Radio News Story for 2002...Clear Channel Fires veteran staff including Jim McInnes of 101KGB First Place.

Also: brief bios on SDR Station of the Year (KYXY) plus SDR Talk Show Host of the Year (nobody interesting by D.T.'s opinion) and SDR's choice for Producer of the Year 2002 (Tommy Sablan Jeff and Jer Showgram Star 100.7).

SDR's guide to the Best Shows You're not listening too ... but should: Here's one: The KPRI Morning Show with Madison and Tony: The best interviews on topics you want to know .. and explained in a way you'll understand. Plus, guests from Jewell, Pete Townsend, John Hiatt, Santana, et. al, Madison's interviews are the best in the market. Four more are on his website. Check out the full details.

National Radio Wires 12-16-02

Los Angeles Radio Wires 12-16-02

KLAC LAUNCH... It wasn't quite noon, but thank God that incessant ticking clock finally died at about 12:05 p.m. and KLAC/570 AM introduced its new adult standards format "Fabulous 570" last Thursday. With much fanfare, the launch party at the Museum of TV & Radio in Beverly Hills offered Rod Stewart singing material from his new "It Had To Be You - The Great American Songbook" CD. The station later moved into its 24- hour marathon of Frank Sinatra music, albeit with on average 16 minutes of commercials and promos per hour. The focus is first on the music; personalities will be put in place early next year. For more details, check out www.fabulous570.com. The launch was not without incident. Saul Levine sent over staffers from rival KSUR (The Surf) to protest the launch and grab attention for what Levine sees as Goliath (KLAC) battling the little guy (KSUR). Both stations exchanged words during the days leading to the launch in what became a "inside radio" sparring match. Bottom line, there's probably room for both stations. Listeners may go back and forth between them. Tell us what you think and the forum will be open here next week.

Hal Lifson, ex-"Radio A Go-Go," has a new book out - "Hal Lifson's 1966!" available through Amazon.com. He's also promoting the '60s group Tower of Power, playing Friday at the Canyon Club Theatre in Agoura Hills. More info: www.TowerofPower.com.

L.A., CA
12/15.4/02 - "Surfing the Waves: Radio thrives on the Web. Web Specials Archives Issue." More at www.utne.com/web_special/web_specials_archives/articles/418-1.html. Larry's tip.

12/15.1/02 - Those who miss April Winchell can check her site at www.aprilwinchell.com/. Gary's tip.

12/14.9/02 - Clark Howard and Dr. Dean Edell. Those who miss their shows on KLAC can hear them both on KXNT 840 AM in Las Vegas. I can hear the station ok, mostly at night, but try other times. Schedule at www.kxnt.com/programs.asp. Check 'Air Schedules' above for other stations. Like, Clark Howard is on KFMB 760 AM in San Diego with an ok signal.