The Wires - Los Angeles (May 22, 2004)

Is Your Radio Station Not Being Reported On? (May 22, 2004)

For many radio stations, none is the best that they can do unless the station managers take the inititave and start sending out radio station happenings that will hopefully target the consumer with ideas in programming and contesting that will attract the listeners who probably overlook your stations towards your station.

For many of the readers, have you come across anything your favorite radio station is doing in terms of programming, staffing, contesting, and promoting itself? Why not tell me what the station is doing by e-mail and I'll be able to pass it on to the readers.

Many radio stations in town don't get any press coverage: Oldies 540, KECR 910, KLOVE 100.1, Z90, KPBS-FM, KSDS, KCBQ, KPRZ, college radio stations (UCSD, SDSU, Grossmont, "Comet" 1320, and whatever), and MORE-FM 98.9, while some that get covered are few and far between at best.

I repost many of the radio station newsletters here for the readers to give them a good idea what a radio station is doing to promote itself today, but not every radio station has a weekly e-mail newsletter. If you're a San Diego radio station and you don't see yours here, please sign me up if you have a weekly station happenings newsletter and I'll show it to the readers. Several readers discover radio stations by way of reading the news on a regular basis, and if they see what Oldies 540 is up to this week, that will make the potential listeners aware that a new station to them exists for them to check out.

So, if you're a radio pro or a listener and don't see it being talked about here, please don't blame me. I can't possibly listen to every radio station all the time, but one listener of one station multiplied by 50 who each listen to different favorite stations equals a lot of material to talk about. If they don't send e-mail telling us about your station, then I guess that none of my readers are aware that your station exists.

Now, without any furthe commentary, it's time to polish up next week's radio newsletter and publish it via e-mail.

The Wires - San Diego (May 22, 2004)

Beginning May 29, Jerry Gross moves his Saturday talk show on KCBQ (1170) to 6-7 p.m. and will broadcast live from Croce's on Fifth, as well as the Hilton Gaslamp Quarter. Gross also is doing 10 sports segments a week ---- weekdays at 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. on KCBQ on Mark Larson's show.

The Wires - Nationwide (May 22, 2004)

Spam Adversaries to Meet, Debate (Business Thursday)...Alleged spammer Scott Richter and SpamCop founder Julian Haight will meet next month to duke it out in a public debate. It could get nasty. By Amit Asaravala.

TV Faces Online Piracy Problem... A recent increase in online trading of shows raises fear that the music industry's file-sharing crises is spreading to the TV industry

The Wires - Nationwide (May 21, 2004)

Report: Kids Know File Sharing Is Illegal... 88 percent of 8-to-18 year-olds know the definition of copyrighted music yet 56 percent still download it illegally.

rronline
FCC Indecency Enforcement 'Still At A Fever Pitch' Despite a cooling of interest in the subject among mainstream media, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein tells R&R his agency is still hard at work with the increased indecency enforcement efforts it launched earlier this year. "It got a lot of attention in the wake of the Super Bowl incident, but there's a lot of discussion still currently going on, and we have a number of items in the pipeline that we're looking at," he said this morning.

All Access (registration required)
DELPHI CORP. and XM will introduce the "Roady2" -- a new plug-and-play receiver -- at the 2004 Home Entertainment Show in NEW YORK this weekend. The Roady2 is on average four times smaller than competing plug-and-play models, and contains a built-in wireless FM adapter for connection to car or home radios. The Roady2 can also display up to 20 customized stock quotes. The unit, which will hit stores in JULY, is supposed to retail for under $120.

ENTERCOM Talk KQBZ/SEATTLE inks a deal to air ALL COMEDY RADIO's (ACR) stream of programming 5 nights a week from 11p-3a. Sister Talk KOTK-A/PORTLAND has been airing ACR programming during overnights 7 days a week (and SUNDAY afternoons) since MARCH. In other ACR news, HIGHVELD STEREO FM/JOHANNESBURG and 94FM/DURBAN in SOUTH AFRICA have added the network's daily comedy vignette, "Superstar Standup," to their programming lineups.

The Wires - San Diego (May 20, 2004)

Also:

Remember Janet Jackson and nipplegate? The public display of a single body part ---- one whose existence in the human anatomy, last time I checked, wasn't much of a secret to the population at large ---- inspired the wrath of nearly every craven politician with a working vocal cord. Everyone from the president on down was shocked, appalled, disgusted, etc., etc. Yet when several radio talk-show hosts broadcast the sounds of an execution, nobody seemed to care. In case you didn't tune in, the screams of the unfortunate Nicholas Berg were heard all over the dial in San Diego last week. KOGO's Roger Hedgecock and Stacy Taylor, KFMB's Rick Roberts and the nationally syndicated Sean Hannity (also on KFMB) each aired the audio of Berg's death at the hands of terrorists for listeners whose imaginations weren't enough. Some radio stations even offered helpful links to the uncensored video itself. Roberts broadcast the audio one morning after repeatedly warning his audience that he would do so. "This is pure, unadulterated evil taking place in front of you," Roberts said in an interview. "This is part of what this war is about. That's who we're fighting." We are indeed "under attack": by demagogues who use the American radio airwaves to broadcast the sounds of a snuff film, robbing a man of a private death and dehumanizing us all in the process. Shame on them.

(editor: I couldn't agree with Dotinga more on this. I've seen and heard enough of that Berg news on TV and the Internet. Why should I turn on the radio and be exposed to more of this audio torture by Roger, Rick, and the other talk show hosts? If I wanted to hear audio torture, I would turn on Dave, Shelley, and Chainsaw in the morning! That's why I chose not to report on radio covering the Berg story because I feel that the readers have gotten too much of that elsewhere.)

The Wires - Nationwide - Reach Grown-Ups Instead of Teens (May 20, 2004)

The Wires - Nationwide (May 20, 2004)

When Tony Randall returned from military service during World War II, he did Henry Morgan's radio show and in 1948 played Jarrod in a 13-part dramatization of "Samson and Delilah" on NBC's Bible-based program "Light of the World." His most famous radio role was probably three years as Reggie Yorke on the Mutual drama "I Love a Mystery" + WABC program director Phil Boyce says he has received "about two dozen" E-mails about Sean Hannity airing the audiotape of Nicholas Berg's murder in Iraq last week. "They're about evenly split pro and con," says Boyce. John Gambling and Steve Malzberg of WABC also played the tape, which Boyce calls "important" (read David Hinckley) read

XM Satellite Radio announced that Panasonic, the world-renowned electronics brand, will produce XM-ready car stereo units for the nation's trucking fleets. Panasonic will manufacture two types of XM-Ready-AM/FM truck stereos, one with a CD player (CQ-5330) and one with a cassette tape player (CQ-4330). "XM Radio is a must-have for truck drivers, and Panasonic is famous for producing high-quality, affordably-priced stereos for the trucking industry," said Dan Murphy, Senior Vice President, Product Marketing and Distribution, XM Satellite Radio. "This is ideal for both companies and the truckers who love XM" (read) read

There's a nifty little device out there right now that would allow you to use your computer to listen to the radio, watch digital TV, and surf the Web at the same time. It's a cool machine called a GNU Radio, and you're not allowed to buy one. In fact, some lawmakers would say you're not even allowed to own one. The GNU Radio may be a groovy widget with an obvious market, but two relatively obscure Federal Communications Commission regulations threaten to keep it out of the Sharper Image catalog forever. The FCC's "broadcast flag" mandate, which goes into effect in July 2005, stipulates that any device that receives digital television signals (like a GNU Radio) must run "tamper resistant" software to decode that signal (read AlterNet) read

Clear Channel Entertainment has entered into a new partnership with Habitat for Humanity that will allow musical artists, fans, corporate sponsors and individual supporters help build homes for needy families. The company's Raise the Roof program will feature top artists who will lend their name and support to a local Habitat for Humanity program in the city in which they are touring (read San Antonio Biz Journal) read

Correction to Website (May 19, 2004)

Another New LPFM Station Coming Soon? 5-19-04!

The Wires - Nationwide (May 19, 2004)

Delphi Corp.'s advanced wireless communications and entertainment technologies will take center stage as Lincoln, the luxury division of Ford Motor Company, takes to the road to showcase future innovations in mobile entertainment connectivity. An advanced Delphi audio system with embedded 802.11 WiFi capabilities is the "front and center" focal point for Lincoln's 2004 Lincoln Aviator demonstration vehicle. In addition, helping to make the rear seat the "best seat" in the vehicle is Delphi's overhead rear-seat entertainment system. The entertainment system uses a SIRIUS Satellite Radio stream to bring real-time TV and audio entertainment to the Aviator (read) read

In New York, Howard Stern asks a stripper to unveil her new implants so that he can describe them to his listeners. In Chicago, Mancow Muller discusses naughty sexual practices with a sidekick, Turd. And in Los Angeles, Tom Leykis urges female listeners to flash motorists on the freeway, while he muses on his favorite types of "boobage." Scandalous attacks on America's high moral character? Not really. Punishable offenses that could generate millions of dollars in federal fines? Quite possibly. The real issue at play here, however, is not whether American culture is blossoming or dying on the vine but, rather, whether the federal government should impose steep fines to try to influence inevitable shifts in public taste. Do Americans, in other words, concur with FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who said in 2001, "I don't know that I want the government as my nanny"? Or do they agree with Powell's abrupt turnabout, after rock star Bono uttered an expletive in a non-sexual exclamation during last year's Golden Globes TV show? "A clear line has been crossed, and the government has no choice but to act," Powell said in March, as the FCC decreed the Bono incident "indecent and profane," though without issuing a fine (read Howard Reich - Chicago Tribune) read

Legal Downloading Triples Among CD Buyers... New data shows that CD buyers have increased their legal downloading over the past year and decreased illegal file-sharing.

The Wires - San Diego (May 18, 2004)

(editor's commentary: That's what KIOZ should have done. Put Bob and Tom on, in fact, put that show on both stations and get rid of that unfunny Mikey. As for more hate e-mail about Mikey, most of which I can't print here, I'm not sure if some of them hate Mikey because he's replacing Howard, but for the programmer at KIOZ, they have a publicity nightmare to deal with. Now Mikey will be getting the brunt of the anger from the former listeners of KIOZ in the morning because he replaced Howard, rather than the fact that his show is basically more full of FCC red flags in terms of indecency than Howard's ever was, in short, unessential. We'll see if I'm right.

IMHO: Howard is a bore most of the time when I used to scan past KIOZ in the morning to see if he has anything other than porn to talk about, I guess I need pictures to make it more exciting, but somehow, otherwise entertaining to listen to and likeable. Bob and Tom is one of my favorite morning shows; too bad nobody here thinks of importing some talent to quality-starved San Diego. Oh well, I guess I'll be setting my HI-FI VCR to catch the Bob and Tom internet feed from a station on the East Coast at 3am. You can find the Bob and Tom link on the left side of the main San Diego Radio News section and other key entry points.)

CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40/Rhythmic XHTZ (JAMMIN' Z90)/SAN DIEGO and MD/morning man PABLO SATO have parted ways. You can reach out to the talented programmer and jock at (619) 508 2685 or at pablosato@san.rr.com.

CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KHTS (CHANNEL 93-3)/SAN DIEGO OM/PD DIANA LAIRD is over the top about the reaction to the sellout "CHANNEL 93-3 YOUR SHOW #5" at the COORS AMPHITHEATER this past FRIDAY (5/14). The show featured KIMBERLEY LOCKE, FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE, EVAN & JARON, MAROON 5, NICK CANNON, BLACK EYED PEAS, JESSICA SIMPSON, HILARY DUFF, RYAN DUARTE, and BUSTED. (editor: am I the only clueless person to not be able to name a single song from any of these singers featured on Your Show 5? At least I've seen Jessica Simpson, but can't recall any of her songs either. Too bad Top 40 has gotten so young that I can't listen to it anymore. At least Top 40 in the 60's and 70's catered to the older people as they should with music I was too young to care about. Now, it's the polar opposite. The 80's were my sweet spot in Top 40 history. How about doing a Your Show for 40-Somethings? Maybe I'll meet a single mother of a child who plays this stuff in her house all the time and clue me in or I'll keep thinking that a Hilary Duff is a Simpsons' diet beer for ladies.)

Pirate Report: DFSX Retransmitted? (May 18, 2004)

Arrr! Looks like another alienated Howard Stern fan doing some dirty work on the airwaves. I'm honored to have my voice on the local airwaves, but this isn't what I had in mind.

Pirate Report: 96.9 Steps on Another Pirate (May 18, 2004)

Hey oldies guy, whoever you are, get another frequency! The s**t is going to hit the fan when Bob Ugly reads this.

Commentary: Mini FM Transmitters (May 18, 2004)

The problem with that is that some of them may be altered so that they can transmit far more than the 30 feet it was designed to transmit, some going as far as 1/4 mile depending on what the electronic wizards can do to the device. Even some unaltered transmitters can transmit about 100 feet with a small antenna, or further if someone hooks it up to a large outdoor TV antenna and adds more voltage to the unit. Many can be bought on the Internet by doing a Google search.

With the way radio has been going downhill in the past seven years, it's no wonder that we're just seeing the beginning of what could possibly be a huge pirate prescence in San Diego. Anyone for retransmitting mp3 downloads of Dr. Demento?

The Wires - Nationwide (May 18, 2004)

rronline
As Expected, WOXY/Cincinnati Shifts To 'X97.7'... The heritage Alternative closed up shop as the clock struck midnight on May 13 by playing the same song that the station known as "97X, The Future of Rock 'n' Roll" signed on with more than 20 years ago: U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday." Within an hour, new owners First Broadcasting flipped the switch on its new incarnation of WOXY: "X97.7, New Music First." The station is now airing Waitt Radio Networks' "Alternative Now" format under the stewardship of new PD Matt Sledge, who will also hold down a local afternoon shift for X97.7.

A Viacom, Time Warner Merger?... Viacom is reportedly looking to pull off a major acquisition. Could Time Warner be in Sumner Redstone's wish list?

The problem with drawing absolute content guidelines for radio, or any media, is that they can't take into account all shades of context. Tragic example: the audio of Nicolas Berg being beheaded by Iraqi militants. Sean Hannity of WABC played the 10-second tape last week after repeatedly warning his audience it was coming, so they could tune out if they chose. He played it, he said, "because people need to know what we're dealing with." Meanwhile, two deejays on KNRK in Portland, Ore., Tiny and Macaroni, played the same tape and followed it with music and wisecracks. A day and a half later, they were fired + WBAI broadcasts the Obie Awards (read David Hinckley) read

Randy Sharp wants the Federal Communications Commission to regulate cable TV the same way it regulates broadcast networks. To Sharp, indecent images and foul language should be stopped whether they're on MTV or CBS. Under the jurisdiction of the FCC, Sharp says, cable television would no longer be a haven for shows promoting "gratuitous sex and violence." "We believe Congress should authorize the FCC to have authority over cable broadcasts," Sharp said in a phone interview from Tupelo, Miss., where he's director of special projects for the American Family Association, a conservative organization with 2 million members. "We want to see TV cleaned up for our children." (read SF Gate) read

In a victory for human decency, the audience reacted in horror and the pair and their producer were fired the next day by KNRK-FM. (The station is owned by Entercom Communications Corp. of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., a mega-media corporation that owns four radio stations in Hampton Roads.) Why it took 24 hours to fire Marconi and Tiny is a question that likely will go unanswered - maybe the bosses were waiting to see the ratings - but the company did offer a full, groveling public apology (read The Virginian Pilot) read

Truckers love it. Salesmen love it. Music lovers love it. Traditional radio folk hate it. It's satellite radio, and it's revolutionizing the industry. With a special tuner and a subscription, you can listen to everything from "Sinatra and Friends" to hard rock to Broadway show tunes, commercial free from coast to coast. It's so popular in Lansing, Skory Auto Sound can't keep the tuners in stock. "We sell them as fast as we can get them," said Dave Leathers, a salesman at Skory's Holt location. "We have people who come in weekly and ask 'are they here yet?' " (read Lansing State Journal -Stephanie Murray) read

"[The older fans] are people who still buy CDs, and who are likely to go buy concert tickets, too," said Nic Harcourt, a radio programmer with KCRW-FM in Santa Monica, Calif. Harcourt's syndicated show "Morning Becomes Eclectic" has helped break many adult-rock acts, as have NPR programs such as "All Things Considered" and "Fresh Air." However, programs such as these are rare in radio nowadays, when most major FM stations are owned by media conglomerates that plainly push for less variety. This has led to the rise of satellite radio. Companies such as XM Radio and Sirius offer a wide variety of music formats via satellite or the Internet. Their subscription services have proven especially popular with the over-30 demographic, said XM programmer Jessie Scott. "These are the people whose tastes tend to be more eclectic," Scott said. Added Harcourt, "One of the reasons satellite radio has taken off is because audiences are becoming so fragmented." But new technology might be less essential than one of the oldest ways in which musicians can get discovered. "Touring is still huge for these artists," Scott said (read Minneapolis Star-Tribune) read

The Wires - Nationwide (May 18, 2004)

ROGER DOES RUSH ON MONDAY!! (On May 17, 2004)

Backwaves: The Readers Strike Back! (May 17, 2004)

From John Trevithick:

Someone at KIOZ must have had a programming malfunction when they decided to put the dreaded untalented Mikey show on KIOZ in June. This Mikey character is simply nothing that qualifies for a good engaging morning radio show, pure and simple. My solution would have been to move AJ's Playhouse over to KIOZ and beam in Ryan Seacrest from KIIS on Channel 933 since he's far more in demand for the younger radio listener than Mikey is to whatever small population can stand to hear his bankrupt mind spew out sewage that makes Howard Stern sound like a Mormon by comparison. Mikey simply can't do radio right. I hope his morning show and KIOZ tanks and people get a satellite radio subscription to listen to anything better.

From Hank Thomas:

Either Planet or KIOZ need to pick up the funny and talented Bob and Tom show and put them on in the mornings or both of these radio programmers will be out of a job. They're wasting an opportunity by playing worn out rock and an unfunny Mikey broadcasting from somewhere else on the left coast. I'm not going to bother with KIOZ in the morning with a proven loser like Mikey and I'll stick with my CD stack in my car.

From Russ:

I made the switch from the cold KOOL to Oldies 540 just recently after reading one of the letters here. I'm glad I did. Thanks for the reccomendation. KOOL should get word that listeners demand real sounding radio, not premanufactured jocks from the middle east... Cincinnatti.

From Troy Richards:

Thanks for the Dr. Demento programming information. Finally, a radio columnist that has a clue about serving us fans of comedy music, a lost art that is not being heard in San Diego. DFSXRadio.com is truly an alternative to those other alternatives that seem to play the same pop rock stuff all the time. I listen to it at work most days and reccomended it to my friends. I tune in Dr. Demento on the radio stations you have listed in your weekly column, though I'm still on dial-up and the songs go on and off all the time. I should get a faster connection one of these days. Wish someone here would get Dr. Demento on the station near me. This is what alternative music is, songs that dare to be funny and weird, not the same emo drones that bore me to death. 91X and 94.9 play too many soft and heavy rock songs to suit me. I wish they would play more comedy and country rock and roll music and less of that other stuff.

You're right about Preston Turegano, Dave, Preston doesn't have a clue what today's radio listener is all about.

From Eugene Clark:

Morning radio needs DFSXRadio,com comedy music in the morning, not some moron from San Francisco. The KIOZ guys promised us a great morning radio show. They renegaded on their promise and gave us that stupid Mikey show. What a ripoff! I would have suggested comedy music programming from whereever instead of this dud. No thanks, KIOZ. Try again.

From Arnold Schwartzenegger:

Give me KIOZ, Clear Channel. I promise San Diego that I will deliver a radio station they want to hear. They want to hear me in the morning and my politics. Recall Mikey immediately and elect me for morning radio show host. (editor: OK, that last one was a joke letter but you get the drift.)