US 95.7 Newsletter (May 1, 2004!)

Wanna win? Tune in to 95.7 Monday morning at 8:20. We'll give you the scoop!

We'll talk to you again Monday morning -- thanks for making the switch to US 95.7!

Tony & Kris

Mornings 5am - 10am

The Wires - Nationwide (May 1, 2004!)

Let's start with a conclusion. The Fox News Channel, its chief ranter Bill O'Reilly and the channel's rabid followers are the lunatic fringe of the American culture. I can say this with certainty because I've now got an earful from O'Reilly several times over, but I've also heard from thousands of American readers who view Fox News and O'Reilly with utter loathing and deep embarrassment. I think Fox News Channel is comically overheated with its wailing about "left-wingers" and "elites." I also think O'Reilly is nothing more than an intolerant windbag, what the Irish astutely call a gobshite. If somebody wants to make the Fox News Channel available in Canada, fine. Believe me, if you thought Dan Rather's occasional outbursts of jittery, googly-eyed American jingoism were comical, you haven't seen anything yet. O'Reilly makes our Ed the Sock look like a reasonable chap (read John Doyle -The Globe and Mail) read

While satellite doesn't pose an immediate threat to commercial radio, "There's definitely something happening with mainstream radio," said Sean Ross, vice president of music and programming for Edison Media Research. Listening levels have been on the decline for years. "Listener dissatisfaction has finally become something tangible and harder for many stations to dismiss." For mainstream broadcasters, the formula for success is, to paraphrase the old real estate adage, "Local, local, local." Satellite is "Essentially a jukebox that doesn't identify with any local community," said Keith Clark, vice president of programming for Infinity Pittsburgh. " The most popular programs on Sirius mirror what's most popular on mainstream radio: Top 40 and classic rock channels. At XM, it seems to be the more narrow-cast programs. Both companies are enhancing their programming and expanding their services. Next month, Sirius music channels will become the music service on Dish Network, exposing a whole new audience of satellite TV subscribers to its music (read Pittsburgh Post Gazette) read

Just shy of 25 years at the microphone, Bob Edwards is signing off today as host of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Edwards' removal as one of the nation's most recognizable radio voices launched a petition drive and protests, but they haven't changed the decision by public radio executives to reassign him. He will become senior correspondent of NPR News, with reports appearing on all of the network's broadcasts (read NY Daily News) read

"The claim that satellite radio is violating FCC regulations is just plain wrong," said Richard DalBello, president of SBCA. "Sirius and XM are providing local weather and traffic reports and all other service in full compliance with FCC rules and regulations. Recent NAB efforts to alter the licenses held by SIRIUS and XM are the NAB's response to satellite radio's success in the marketplace. This is another veiled attempt by NAB to eliminate or slow competition. The content restrictions proposed in the NAB petition are unnecessary, anti-consumer, and unconstitutional." (read Telecom Web) read

SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced that its retail market share rose to 44 percent in March, according to data compiled by market information company The NPD Group (read) read

United Stations Radio Networks, Inc., an independent leader in original network radio programming, today announced that it will offer a ten week Country Music series for the summer of 2004 to be hosted by legendary Country Artist, Willie Nelson. The limited run series, consisting of two-hours per week of programming, will be known as Honest Country: An Examination of The Roots and Branches of Contemporary Country Music. The programming, which will bear an entitlement sponsorship from Old Whiskey River Kentucky Straight Bourbon, will be a co-production of United Stations Radio Networks and Nashville-based Americana Entertainment (read) read

"SaveRadioNow.org" aims to reach Americans interested in the First Amendment and the indecency issue.

Consultant Jacobs Media -- which works with many rock stations -- says the object is "to inform Americans about free speech."

FMQB
WKLS/Atlanta Picks Up Bob & Tom... 96 Rock finds replacements for The Regular Guys right inside its own company. Bob & Tom should mesh well with the station's 30-year Heritage Rock position.

44% of Retail Satellite Radios Sold in March Were Sirius... New NPD data suggests that where consumers have a choice of satellite radio services, Sirius is getting closer to catching up with XM's share.

PTC Says Indecency Bill Stalled In Senate... In an e-mail alert, The Parents Television Council warns that if The Senate doesn't vote on the bill in the next few days, it will likely die on the vine.

F**K Billboard Upsets Miami Residents... (insert a "C" and a "U"...in that order...between the "F" and the "K" yourself; I'm not out to offend our dyslexic readers, ah, to heck with it!) You may feel like you work for "FCUK-FM" some days, but this Internet station is for real, and their billboard is raising hackles in Miami. The call letters are actually an acronym for the station's owner, clothing company French Connection United Kingdom, but obviously some residents see the letters as a different kind of "connection," so to speak. How about KCUF-FM? The letters in a past Van Halen album titled "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" have the first letters of each word spelling out a word you can't say on the radio.

George Carlin would have to add more words he can't say on the radio and TV. Why isn't anyone offended with the words "Shiite" or the surname "Lipshitz"? The former sounds like a curse word with an extra "i", and I'm sick of reading unfunny jokes making fun of that Islam branch name, the other has "shit" in the name. How about "Channel 933...San Diego's Hit Music", or "San Diego' sHit Music" is what some altered bumper stickers with the "s" moved to the right spell out. "Push it" in a 1987 Salt 'n Pepa song sounds like someone cursing.

So we have FCUK and the Shiites in Europe and the Middle East. In some countries, if you use your middle finger to point, it's not offensive to anybody, but that alone is funny, seeing how oblivious some cultures are to a gesture that is totally offensive and outrageously funny in America.

All Access (registration required)
Consultant JACOBS MEDIA is launching SAVERADIONOW.ORG to rally fans of HOWARD STERN and other shows targeted in the broadcast indecency crackdown. The site, one of several that have sprung up in the wake of the controversy, is positioned as "a non-profit, non-partisan web effort with four stated goals: To inform Americans about the actions of Congress and the FCC, and their impact on free speech rights; To enable Americans to share ideas and opinions on this topic via chats, blogs, and meet-ups; To provide Americans with easy access to their elected Representatives, and the FCC Commissioners so they can express their opinions; To sign a petition that will be sent to the FCC as well as all members of the Senate and House Committees in charge of writing rules and enforcing policy." President FRED JACOBS says "There is a large gap between the opinions about indecency that are being expressed by the FCC and Congress and what we're hearing from radio listeners in AMERICA. The purpose of this site is to provide education, as well as an equal voice for this silent majority to communicate to their elected representatives, and the regulators who are setting the tone."

According to the MIAMI HERALD, a lot of commuters (approximately 106,000 vehicles daily) on I95 are saying "What the FCUK?" about a billboard advertising a new Internet station FCUK-FM www.fcuk.com. The station is run by clothing company FRENCH CONNECTION UNITED KINGDOM which has used its now-famous FCUK logo on clothing for years as an attention-getter, and this billboard is drawing complaints to the mayor's office. Attorney JACK THOMPSON is threatening to sue if the billboard is not removed. The irony here is that the billboard is owned by CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR.

XTRA Sports 690/1150 Teams With Fox Sports Net For Nighttime Sportscast (May 1, 2004!)

XTRA Sports, heard all over Southern California over two transmitters, is simulcasting the Fox Sports Net television program "Southern California Sports Report" weeknights from 10 to 10:30pm. XTRA follows that with Lee Klein's "Final Call" program after while FSN resumes programming with "Late Night Poker".

XTRA's three-times per hour sports update has been rebranded as the "Southern California Sports Report". XTRA's Lee Hamilton, Mychal Thompson, and Steve Hartman appear regularily on Fox Sports Net's nightly sports news show.

Also, FSN's reporters and anchors Van Earl Wright, Carolyn Hughes, Barry LeBrock, Michael Evans, Lindsay Soto, and Bill Macdonald, will be heard regularily on XTRA as guests and commentators.

Days Dan Weiner, XTRA Sports Radio station manager in a press release, "We are extremely excited about this new partnership, which we believe combines the best local sports in radio with the best local sports team on television. The partnership is a win-win for XTRA's listeners and FSN viewers."

Don Martin, XTRA Sports Radio Program Director, states, "XTRA Sports Radio has made a number of changes over the past year to establish the station as the sports station of choice for Southern California. The addition of the deep bench of Fox Sports Net talent is one more step in our commitment to provide unmatched sports coverage to our listeners."

Also, XTRA Sports aired the exclusive Kobe Bryant interview on April 13th with topics ranging from respect and team chemistry to Kobe's goals, his relationship with Phil Jackson, and the trial. Callers had a chance to talk to the player minutes before the game. Visit the XTRA website top to hear the interview on the MP3 by clicking on the banner once you get there.

The current ad campaign as we reported last week is running on Adelphia Cable in the Los Angeles and Orange areas, but no word if any San Diego cable operation has been approached by XTRA Sports to run the campaign, which features over 20 professional athletes. The spot can be seen at the XTRA Sports website.

XTRA Sports Radio will make that move into the new Clear Channel Los Angeles Burbank studios in May to join Ryan Seacrest and KIIS-FM and other stations there. I'm not sure of the station count in the new building as of now. Is XTRA the last to move in?

KSPN 710 To Boost Reception (April 30, 2004!)

Fans get better reception Radio station make improvements

Anaheim Angels fans who listen to the team's broadcasts on Los Angeles radio will have reason to celebrate by Opening Day of 2005.

According to Bob Koontz, the sales director for the Disney-owned stations that include the Angels' flagship station, KSPN 710-AM "ESPN Radio", the station's radio tower and transmitter are going to be moved to a new site to ensure better reception for Southern California listeners.

The tower and transmitter will be moved to Irwindale, which is closer to the center of Orange County. The project, which Koontz said will cost between $4 and $5 million, will be complete by the time the 2005 season starts.

"We have approval from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to move the transmitter and tower site to Irwindale," Koontz said.

"All the engineering is done and we have the equipment. In the interim, we have a new transmitter on our current site that will help the signal. When we finally complete the relocation, we'll have the potential of 2 million to 3 million more listeners."

The station's current tower and transmitter are located on a site in North Hollywood, and FCC regulations necessitate a large wattage reduction that takes effect at night, resulting in spotty reception in southern Orange county and western San Diego county. XESPN 800 in San Diego carries most of the Angels games locally in San Diego.

As a result, a significant amount of listeners on the fringes of the signal lost reception of Angels home games, most of which start at 7:05 p.m.

"It's the original signal of the Angels on the same frequency for 30 years," Koontz said. "The fan base has obviously grown. We recognized that there was potential that we weren't taking advantage of. That's why we're investing that kind of money."

The Wires - San Diego (April 30, 2004!)

Jay Posner - TV/Radio Sports - The San Diego Union
XPRS-AM (1090) has found a temporary "solution" to its signal problem in the East County. The station is suggesting affected listeners buy something called the GE Super Radio, which is available for $39.99 (plus shipping) on several Web sites. Yeah, that seems fair. Here's a better solution: Improve the signal, or sign up an affiliate.

The Wires - Nationwide (April 30, 2004!)

File Sharing Is Totally Uncool (Wired magazine 2:00 a.m. PDT)... The MPAA tries to turn junior high school into anti-piracy camp, complete with scripted role-playing educational games. By Jeff Howe from Wired magazine.

Will RSS Readers Clog the Web? (IT/IS Important 2:00 a.m. PDT)... Sure, news aggregators are handy tools, making Web surfing a breeze. But the programs are greedy little buggers that swamp websites with unwanted traffic. Something has to change, and soon. By Ryan Singel.

Clear Channel to Trump: You're Hired (April 30, 2004!)

The daily program, running some 90 seconds, will span business and nonbusiness topics, including the real estate mogul's thoughts on the media and entertainment world as well as politics.

"The public's appetite for Donald Trump's sharp, sage commentary has never been bigger," said Clear Channel Radio president and CEO John Hogan, who recently dumped Howard Stern from six company stations amid the FCC's indecency crackdown.

Says Trump: "The personal connection Americans have with radio makes it a strong fit for the commentary and advice I'll be sharing. Business, entertainment, politics, the media -- watch out, you're all fair game."

During the upcoming second season of "Apprentice," the Donald will share insights each Friday morning as to why he fired a certain candidate the previous night. As many as 40.1 million people watched the final episode of the first season of "Apprentice" on April 15.

"Trumped!" will be broadcast from Trump's offices on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.

The Wires - Nationwide (April 30, 2004!)

Also today in RAIN: A new study says 21 percent of employees say they use streaming media to do such things as listen to Internet radio.

The Federal Communications Commission may be cracking down on "indecency," but all that seems to mean for Howard Stern is that more people are listening to him these days. Stern, whose syndicated morning show airs locally on KLLI/105.3 FM, placed first among men 25-54 in radio's winter Arbitron ratings, released Wednesday. The station's afternoon talker, Russ Martin, also boasted superior ratings, placing first in four measured demographics. The strong performances helped KLLI, known for often politically incorrect FM talk, to an 11th place finish in the winter survey -- the station's best showing in its four-year history. KKDA continues a long-running first-place streak, but its audience share, or percentage of listeners, is declining. Rival KBFB continues to be a strong contender, but also saw a small dip in overall listeners. WBAP took over second from longtime runner-up KPLX, which dropped into a tie for fifth (read Robert Philpot - Star-Telegram) read

Bill Brundige, a radio and television sportscaster whose decades-long career included announcing games for the Los Angeles Lakers, Angels and Rams, has died, a hospital official said Wednesday. Brundige, 89, died of heart failure on Friday at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, said spokeswoman Dru Ann Copping. Brundige had also called USC football and USC and UCLA basketball games, and was a member of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame (read The Mercury News) read

FMQB
Paying The Price For Dumping Bubba and Howard... Winter Arbitron numbers released this week begin to show the ratings damage for the 10 Clear Channel stations acclimating to life without their top-rated morning shows

Stern Ratings Effect Continues... Howard Stern's position at the center of the indecency firestorm continues to reap ratings rewards for many -- but not all -- of his affiliates.

The Wires - San Diego (April 29, 2004)

rronline
Mike Thomas Takes KGB/San Diego PD Title... After close to four years as PD of Clear Channel's Classic Rock WFBQ/Indianapolis, Thomas has accepted similar duties at Classic Rock sibling KGB. Thomas' first official day at KGB is set for June 1. Thomas, the winner of the 2003 R&R Industry Achievement Award for Classic Rock PD of the Year, succeeds Bryan Schock, who recently was named PD for KJAC (Jack FM)/Ft. Collins, CO. Thomas will also take KGB's midday shift, as interim midday host Jen Shevlin, KGB's MD, keeps her regular weekend slot.

The Wires - San Diego (April 28, 2004)

Crackdown Continues To Goose Stern's Ratings When they dropped his show from six stations at the end of February, Clear Channel expected a morning ratings exodus to follow. In San Diego, they got it. With Stern, KIOZ was No. 1 12+ in February. Without him, the station's morning drive ratings crashed to a 27th place in March. The in-demo decline was even more spectacular: dropping 95 percent in Men 18+ and 18-34, and 90 percent in 25-54.

FMQB
PD Mike Thomas Transfers To KGB/San Diego... Leaving WFBQ after nearly four years, Thomas fills the PD position last held by Bryan Schock.

(commentary: now, will either of the PDs at KGB and KIOZ have the mind to put "Bob and Tom" and "Dr. Demento" in this market? San Diego is not a dream city without any comedy on the airwaves, and there is none to be found on the dial.)

All Access (registration required)
CLEAR CHANNEL Country KUSS (US 95.7)/SAN DIEGO morning guys TONY & KRIS have named JIM MCLINTOCK as the latest SUPERFAN. MCLINTOCK was crowned the "Human Vacuum for VASSAR" by sucking up bowls of blue cheese dressing, mayo and cream of mushroom soup while blindfolded. This won him a pair of great tickets to see PHIL VASSAR, a chance to meet PHIL and hang with him on the bus. He and a guest also won dinner at an area restaurant and an autographed keyboard.

(note: since rronline regularily does some San Diego radio news, I'll put allaccess into the competetion.)

The Wires - Nationwide (April 28, 2004)

FMQB
Crackdown Continues To Goose Stern's Ratings Cleveland and Hartford join the list of markets with explosive Stern ratings, while KIOZ/San Diego gets its morning cume thoroughly cleansed.

Emmis' Smulyan Talks Indecency & Q101 Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan further layed out the company's stance on indecency, saying "We are determined to provide the content our audiences want, but we will do that while staying within the rules."

Ranting and Raving about Ratings (April 27, 2004)

Boosted by the fact that it was the only credible commercial radio station covering last fall's worst fire in San Diego county history, KOGO shot up in the ratings, but even without any sports properties and fire disaster coverage, KOGO is doing 0.5 better than it did a year ago. Though the station lost 25 percent of its fall ratings, it still finishes at #1.

Longtime soft AC favorite, KYXY, is #2 overall, but the biggest surprise is KFMB-AM, despite relying on its TV news arm to provide the AM station with news, finished a close fourth to the challenged rap Z90, who is getting some leakage in listeners as the discover the new hip hop 98.9 on the dial. Z90 is programmed but not owned by Clear Channel, and it will be a matter of time before this new challenger to an existing Clear Channel format will make a difference.

KFMB 760 once tried an all-local talker format from 6am until 10pm some years ago, but failed with that. They're doing well with mostly syndicated fare during the waking hours, plus the local talkers from 5-10am.

On the subject of head-to-head matchups between a Clear Channel station and a non-Clear Channel station, many of which began doing battle recently:

(CC)KOGO #1, KFMB-AM #4 (news/talk). KOGO and KFMB are longtime leading AM stations.
KFMB-FM #6, (CC)KMYI-FM #11 (both Hot AC). KMYI began as "My" in Dec 2001, KFMB (as "Star") since June 1994.
(CC)Z90 #3, MORE-FM #29 (both play rap). MORE-FM in its current form began in March 2004, Z90 since April 1990.
(CC)KGB #9, KPLN #19 (both play old rock and roll). KPLN has been old rock since 1996, KGB since 1972.
KSON #12, (CC)KUSS #15 (both play country) KUSS signed on in January 2004, KSON since 1964.
(CC)XTRA #16, KBZT #17 (both play alternative). XTRA since January 1983. KBZT since November 2001.
(CC)XOCL-FM #20, XSUR-AM #26 (both play oldies). XOCL (going back to the days of KOOL 95.7) since November 2001. XSUR-AM since February 2004.
XPRS-AM #24, (CC)XTRA-AM #26, XESPN not listed (all play sports and related talk). XESPN since July 2002. XPRS since March 2003. XTRA since 1988.

The only Clear Channel stations that remain unchallenged in like formats: KIOZ (hard rock), XHRM (old school R&B), KPOP (nostalgia, recently back to unchallenged status since AM 540 switched formats), KHTS (top 40). It will be a matter of time before someone takes on KHTS with a more broad-based Top 40 format, or if another AM broadcaster wants to challenge KPOP with another nostalgia format. Maybe another Mexican FM could do one better on Magic 92.5's old school R&B format and mix in mostly today's dance music with the classics.

WKIT Ceases Internet Casting (April 27, 2004)

Soon to be former WKIT deejay, Jeremy Mixer, when asked if WKIT would reconsider and offer the WKIT Internet feed on a pay service, gives more insight:

"The problem with having a subscription service is how the internet stream is distributed, as well as the fact that there are probaby other licensing issues that the station would have to do if they were making money off of the streaming. When we got our new computer system about 2-3 years ago, it was unnecesarry to block out commercials from the internet stream. Unfortunately, it came to a time when we had to. The engineer installed a small switch which lit up when blocking the feed. Once the light burned out, sometimes it was not as easy to do this. And it may suprise you, but I am not the only one who has forgotten to flip the switch and blocked out programming that was not meant to be blocked out. There are a lot of things going on at any given time that sometimes it's just a simple oversight. One that can piss a LOT of people off, but as posted in the message just before this one- WKIT does not make money off of the internet streaming, nor has it ever. WKIT makes money from it's local listeners, and the ratings from Arbtron that we get from our local listeners. The internet stream means diddlysquat to potential advertisers- they are looking to advertise the the greater Brewer/Bangor area.

"The solution? Install a new computer system that automatically blocks out commercials that are produced by AFTRA talent, and replaces them with either a local promo or music.

"The problem- The company does not have the money, or the patience, to suddenly up and get a brand new computer system for WKIT. If that happened, since the computers for all three stations, WKIT, WDME, and WZON, all run off of each other, use many of the same commercials, etc, then a new computer system would have to be purchased for every station.

"I can hear someone crying "But Stephen King owns the station, he can afford it!"

"While the radio station IS owned by him and his wife, Tabitha- it runs as an independent business and that's how they want it to be run. It's not worth it for him to pump tons of money into the station every year, if that were happening we probably already would have been swallowed up by Clear Channel years ago because we ARE a successful station.

"The ones who lose out are you guys- the ones who have listened to the station for many years...and of course we feel bad about that. But as a business, sometimes you have to make decisions that do not work for everyone involved. And unfortunately, this is one of them.

"I somewhat lose out too, after Dr. Demento, tonight will be my last shift on WKIT and I will be moving 2 1/2 hours south of Bangor to Old Orchard Beach, where I pick up a completely different Clear Channel station on the 100.3 frequency. I was looking forward to listening over the internet after I left and now I can't....and I really will miss this station, the listeners, and everyone that works there.

"Thanks for the years of support!"

Jeremy Mixer
soon to be ex-WKIT overnight guy

KKSM 1320 Oceanside Goes on the Internet (April 27, 2004)

"KKSM is finally STREAMING ONLINE! We're legal, we got all of our fees paid, our lawyers have OKd everything, everything is filed, all royalties and paperwork is in place. And now after four years of hurdles and setbacks we are now STREAMING WORLDWIDE on the net.

"Visit our brand schpanking new website at: http://www.palomar.edu/kksm

"Please excuse any broken links or technical difficulties. We're still working on the site.

"And if you wish to listen to my show I'm on every Saturday from 1-3PM Pacific Time.

"Thanks for all your support!"
- Zeb Navarro -
KKSM 1320AM
Program Director

The Wires - Nationwide (Midday April 27, 2004)

Federal regulators may have painted a big bull's eye on Howard Stern's back, but the recent government crackdown on indecency over the airwaves has proven a boon to the shock jock's ratings. In San Diego, one of the markets where his show was removed by Clear Channel, radio station KIOZ-FM's drive-time ratings dropped from an 8.9 share in February to 0.7 in March, the first month without Stern. Stern's show remains syndicated on a total of 36 stations nationwide (read Steve Gorman) read

The music magazine industry is singing the blues, not unlike the record industry it has chronicled through good times and bad. Hits, which recently cut its staffing, is one of several magazines hit hard by the record industry's consolidation, declining sales and a new generation's ability to download for free music they once had to buy. "The consolidation of the record companies has had a severe, negative impact on our business," said Dennis Laventhal, publisher of Hits Magazine. Industry fixture Billboard has also felt the crunch. Meanwhile, according to Publishers Information Bureau, a division of the Magazine Publishers of America trade group for consumer magazines, the number of ad pages in Blender, Rolling Stone, Vibe and Spin all fell in the January-March 2004 period from the same period a year ago (read Reuters) read

"I think if there's one thing I could change, it would be radio," said Sleater-Kinney guitarist and vocalist Corin Tucker. A shortage of independent radio stations, Tucker said, is the basis for why the music industry is under fire. Instead of thought-provoking tunes, listeners -- especially teenagers -- have succumbed to commercialism in music. "I would change radio and people would be able to play all kinds of music and we'd make money that way," she said. "Now, the stuff they play on commercial radio is garbage. That's what teenagers are listening to." (read Poughkeepsie Journal - Darren Ratner) read

The All Comedy Radio/New Radio Star "Radio Comedy Competition" is in full swing with an incredible number of great Radio Comedy Productions being uploaded to the site. Anyone, including the public is encouraged to come to the RCC Voter site and listen to the files, then vote and rate them (Voting site) read

Howard Stern's Radio Ratings Up Amid FCC Flap (April 27, 2004)

Howard's morning radio show reported ratings spikes in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, the three biggest radio markets in America, according to the Arbitron radio ratings service.

Howard is #1 on his home radio station, WXRK-FM, in New York and #1 among listeners in the 18-34 and 25-54 demographics. Howard was #1 in the latter demographic in Los Angeles, but rising to #4 in total audience, and in the Windy City, he's #9 overall.

Also during the past ratings period, Clear Channel, citing a sexually frank interview with Rick Salomon, who was a former boyfriend of some gal named Paris, and a racist remark from a caller in the same show, pulled the Infinity-owned Stern show from six of its owned stations including Rock 105.3 in San Diego. Clear Channel's action of pulling Stern from the morning hurt KIOZ's overall ratings as its once-high morning drive-time ratings dropped from an 8.9 share in February (it was dropped in Mid February), to a dismal 0.7 in March, about the same rating as many Mexican radio stations on average. Without a headline morning show, KIOZ becomes another has-been in the morning drive time radio wars. KIOZ should opt to pick up the syndicated "Bob and Tom Show" from Clear Channel's syndication arm, Premiere Radio Networks, and do better with it there. No word if KPLN, an Infinity-owned station, will eventually have enough balls to put Stern on despite the fact that parent Viacom stands by Stern, but with all of the FCC fines being levied on Viacom and its affilliates, it won't stand by Stern for long.

The following month, the FCC levied a $27,500 against a Detroit radio station for a different Stern broadcast involving explicit discussion of sexual techniques, and in April, the FCC proposed another $495,000 in fines against Clear Channel for yet a third Stern broadcast, prompting Clear Channel to sever ties with the radio host for good.

The Wires - Nationwide (April 27, 2004)

Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone and Viacom president Mel Karmazin recently embarked on a new venture. They've now become First Amendment champions. Rolling Stone magazine, who's also decided to join their crusade, extensively quoted both these men in an anti-FCC editorial featured in their April 29 edition. "I don't know about you guys, but to me, a woman's breast is not such a big deal," Redstone told an investors' conference. Karmazin took a shot at Clear Channel, saying that "another company canceled Howard (Stern)'s show for no reason other than that they were going to Washington (to) testify and just didn't seem to have the courage to stand up for programming that they aired." Rolling Stone went on to cite Redstone and Karmazin for their courage and call on not only the rest of the broadcasting industry but also those controlling the recording industry to assert themselves. "We need figures of courage and strength to fight back in the war on culture," the writers concluded. Unfortunately, here's an example of the wrong people being recruited to fight the right battle (read Nashville City Paper) read

Howard Stern rode the indecency hysteria back to the top of the morning radio ratings for the winter quarter, while WLTW kept a solid lead both overall and with the 25- to 54-year-olds who maximize a station's ad revenue. But the biggest surges in the January-March Arbitron ratings belonged to WRKS and WHTZ (read David Hinckley) read

Wi-Fi is not only freeing up notebook and PDA users to connect to the Internet from anywhere in the home, it's also making Internet radio work almost like the real thing. British start-up Reciva is currently pitching its standalone Net radio receiver to a variety of consumer electronics companies, ISPs and network providers, while Cisco's WLAN subsidiary, Linksys, is preparing a new version of its Wireless B Media Adaptor that can pump your favourite on-line stations into your living room (read ElectricNews) read

Now you can watch ESPN Radio's Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPNEWS as their Mike & Mike in the Morning show makes its television debut from 6 - 10 am ET (ESPN Radio) read

Foul-mouthed shock jocks, beware: Radio stations equipped with Eventide gear can make your raunchy diatribes disappear. Following a recent federal crackdown on obscenity over the airwaves, Eventide Inc., a Little Ferry electronics company, has enjoyed brisk sales of its digital audio-delay boxes. The privately held company won't disclose sales figures, but says the devices have been moving fast. "We've had a significant increase in the last couple of months," said Ray Maxwell, vice president of sales and marketing. Eventide won't know until annual sales are tallied whether the recent uptick will result in a record year, but the company knows why the sales frenzy occurred (read Miami Herald) read

To the surprise of longtime listeners across Southern California, the venerable Los Angeles all-news station KNX is undergoing an extreme makeover. The background sounds of clickety-clacking teletype machines? Gone. The nightly radio drama hour? History. Even KNX's just-the-headlines approach to news is now a thing of the past. The credit ---- or the blame, depending on your point of view ---- belongs to David Hall, vice president of programming at KNX and its sister news station, KFWB. Since Hall arrived last fall, his overriding goal has been to give individual personalities to the two stations. "They've been trying to do the same thing and beat each other up for 35 years," he said. "I'm trying to separate them. The idea is not to homogenize; the idea is to make the stations even more different." Indeed, KNX ---- heard easily in North County ---- and KFWB have long been locked in a battle for listeners. The cross-town fight even continued after they landed under the same owner, Infinity/CBS, in the 1990s (read Randy Dotinga - North County News) read

Low-Watt Radio Wields Its Power (Politics 2:00 a.m. PDT) Four years ago the FCC made honest people out of a few pirates. Community broadcasters are moving ahead, but getting a license doesn't automatically mean success. Jason Silverman reports from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

New Radio Star
The All Comedy Radio/New Radio Star "Radio Comedy Competition" is in full swing with an incredible number of great Radio Comedy Productions being uploaded to the site.  Anyone, including the public is encouraged to come to the

RCC Voter site and listen to the files, then vote and rate them.  This Friday night, at midnight a $1,000 first month winner will be decided.  A look at today's voting shows Michael Elwood of KWIN in first place, followed by Eric D at XHTZ...but the race is tight and far from over.

FMQB
Infinity Challenges $27,500 Stern Fine In a 64-page filing, the company claims the Commission has "abruptly and systematically altered almost every aspect of indecency enforcement in ways that dramatically undermine the lawfulness of the overall scheme.

Pew Study Points To New Wave Of Music Downloaders While Pew Internet Project says 17 million Americans have stopped downloading music online, another survey says the number of people who do download music is actually up.