The Wires (Jan 31, 2009)

TV Tech: DTV Delay Promises Torment for Broadcasters. Some of those closest to the actual work involved with the analog shutoff are dreading the cascade of complications that a delay would cause.

TV Tech:Study: Many HDTV Owners Still not Viewing HDTV. Out of more than 39 million households with HDTVs, some 17 million homes never actually view HDTV programming.

TV Tech: Analog TV Shutdown May Be Delayed. However, don’t take this to the bank just yet.

Hard Cop: Senate Passes Digital Delay Again. The “on again, off again” Digital TV transition is off again. The Senate voted to postpone the transition date from February 17th until June 12th.

National Post: Zimbabwe, land of the trillion-dollar bill, gives up on its own currency.

Inside Radio: Andy Ludlum gets L.A. post. CBS Radio names Andy Ludlum director of news programming for its two all-news radio stations in Southern California: KNX Newsradio 1070 and "News 980" KFWB. It's an unexpected return for Ludlum, who had programmed KFWB until last September when he exited amid budget cuts

ZDNet: Easeus Partition Manager provides a convenient, easy-to-use interface that enables you to configure and manage partitions without destroying data. License: Free. OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista

Tom Taylor of radio-info.com: Perhaps broadcasters will dodge the bullet on the FCC’s “Localism” push – because of the costs. D.C. legal guy John Garziglia tells me “It is doubtful that either modified main studio rules or 24/7 personnel coverage will be required [under the new Obama administration], as such a dramatic increase in the costs of doing business is not likely to be countenanced by either Congress or the Administration. [But] the enhanced disclosure obligations, and possibly advisory boards, are more likely to become law. Neither can be argued against on an economic basis, and the FCC will also likely be moving toward much stricter license renewal application standards. Both enhanced-disclosure, which is a multi-part quarterly questionnaire on programming to replace the current issues/programs lists, and advisory boards, go a long ways toward giving the public information on licensee performance which will be measured in one way or another during the next license renewal cycle. Democratic Commissioners Copps and Adelstein are likely to drive the radio broadcasting agenda in the short term, because they are intimately familiar with current radio issues, and it is likely that the new Chairman will put his focus on newer technologies such as universal broadband. The new Chairman is no neophyte on broadcasting issues, however, having previously served at the FCC, and having the wide technology background he brings now to broadcast regulation.”

Inside Music Media: Radio -- Bankrupt in 6 to 12 Months - Radio is over -- not because sales and programming can't be fixed -- but because the station's can't service the debt consolidators gleefully took on to put their groups together. Now they're panicked -- I've used the word "panic" before and some may think it was for dramatic effect. But I mean it -- they are terrified, in a cold sweat, in a flap, in a fluster, in a tizzy.

Follow The Game: If you’re stuck in your car Sunday night or just don’t like the idea of spending three hours with John Madden and Al Michaels, there are plenty of radio stations to take care of your Super Bowl jones. Clicking on this radio map will show all the stations carrying the game.

USA Today: Cybercriminals have launched a massive new wave of Internet-based schemes to steal personal data and carry out financial scams in an effort to take advantage of the fear and confusion created by tumbling financial markets, security specialists say.

Pensacola News Journal: It's important to consider the specifics of what Rush Limbaugh is hoping for in Obama's failure. Eight million Americans lost their homes to foreclosure during the Bush years. Perhaps if Limbaugh could step out of his 25,000-square-foot home and see the pain of a mother and father telling their children that they just lost their home, maybe then he would want Obama to succeed. Or maybe Limbaugh could step away from his $400 million job long enough to be on site the day a factory or a bank or a restaurant closes. And maybe he could follow one of those fathers home to tell his family that he just lost his job. Maybe then he would want to pray for Obama, rather than hope Obama fails (read more - Mike Papantonio - Pensacola News Journal)

The Wires (Jan 30, 2009)

radio-info.com is down. Domain expired?

Seattle PI: Every time Rush Limbaugh has tried to go mainstream, from launching a syndicated TV show in the mid-'90s to his short stint at ESPN as a football analyst, he has failed. Those who like him love him, but they constitute a distinct if devoted minority. Nonetheless, in the absence of strong Republican leadership, Limbaugh's presence looms large.

MSNBC: Consumer-electronics retail got whacked over the holiday season, and that meant fewer satellite radios being sold through Best Buy. Moreover, new auto sales have imploded and look to get worse still in 2009. A key source of new subscriber growth for Sirius has evaporated at the worst possible time.

The Wires (Jan 29, 2009)

TV Tech: Ion Television Eyes HD by Mid-February. Initially, it will ramp up its HD content in at least 20 of its 55 markets, making HD content available in an estimated 45 million homes.

TV Tech: Finally, Bart Simpson is Drawn to HD. The first HD episode is set to air on Sunday, Feb. 15.

ARS Technica: The House of Representatives yesterday today failed to pass the DTV date-change bill, meaning that President Obama cannot sign it into law as he promised he would if it passed in the House. It passed in the Senate the day before. Instead of June 12 as it stated in the bill, February 17 remains the official last day for full powered analog TV stations. The delay was actually supported by 258 congressmen, but House rules require a two-thirds majority for an expedited vote with no debate.

All Access reports that yet another smooth jazz station has changed formats. In Atlanta, WJZZ flipped to Urban A/C.

Randy Dotinga: Longtime KyXy morning co-host Sonny West is recovering from a serious heart attack and is doing well. Look for more details next week or online.

The Wires (Jan 28, 2009)

Inside Music Media: Turnabout is fair play. Consolidators have screwed employees out of their jobs. Now, advertisers are screwing radio stations out of previously agreed upon rates. What do you expect when there is only one rep firm for the entire radio business? And that rep firm is owned by Clear Channel, the largest radio group

About Radio: The question I often mull over about HD Radio is one of timing. With the fast growth of Internet Radio and increased competition from Podcasts, Satellite Radio, cell phone streams, and MP3 players is HD Radio trying to stay afloat in a perfect storm of inventive technology all vying for the same users?

StopSet: Let me make it short and sweet: could radio do better? There’s so much other media to contend with now. Radio is not the only store on the block. So if you want people to come to your store you better have something to sell. Radio flunks out on all counts

FMQB: Save Sirius Group Calls For Satcaster Subpoena. Also, Sirius XM price increases become official.

Update: LPTV 61 and LPTV-DT 9 (Jan 27, 2009)

Also from Jo, a reception report about K09YL-D that is now broadcasting as of January 2009.

MTVtr3s, 480i, 6x9, ERP:300 watts, Antenna location: somewhere in Kearny Mesa.
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?contex t=25&appn=101285913&formid=911&fac_num=56830
Receiving this one with amplified indoor rabbit ear antenna from close to Clairemont Mesa Blvd. and I805 ramp.

The Wires (Jan 27, 2009)

Rogerreport.com: Today in HEISTory: NY Times: Bank Nationalization Being Seriously Debated, Citigroup Buys New $50,000,000 Dollar Jet, Blago Says He Thought About Oprah for Senate Seat.

Roger Hedgecock: Real reasons for big bailouts. George Bush let Treasury Secretary Paulson talk him into believing that he had to destroy capitalism in order to save it. The plan was to borrow massively against future American generations' paychecks to solve problems caused by previous massive borrowing. Last fall's $700 billion TARP bailout (assembled secretly in panic by Ted Geithner and others) was sold as crucial to save the economy from a cascade of bank failures and the elimination of credit. The original idea was to back up debt securities that were failing because of the real estate bust – debt securities that were largely owned by foreigners with a big chunk owned by the Chinese. Read more at his link.

Inside Radio: Rush Limbaugh says President Obama is "more frightened" of him than he is of congressional Republicans. The Premiere Radio Networks host was responding to Obama's suggestion that people stop listening to Limbaugh to get more done on the pending stimulus package. Rush says, "I think Obama wants me to fail."

Inside Radio: Payola probe in South Texas. Several Brownsville-McAllen Spanish-language stations have received letters from the FCC digging into their relationships with the record labels, while others have had face-to-face meetings. The Brownsville Monitor says the investigation is linked to allegations brought by a former Fonovisa Records executive.

Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Senate on Monday approved a bill that would delay until June the date when television stations must broadcast in an all-digital format. Without congressional action, all TV stations by law must stop broadcasting their programs in analog format Feb. 17. After President Obama voiced support for a delay to the transition, congressional Democrats quickly moved to bring legislation forward. The delay means that people who rely on over-the-air TV will have until June 12 to either buy a digital television or converter box, or subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service. The digital TV transition hit a snag earlier this month when the U.S. Commerce Department was forced to set up a waiting list for people applying for $40 coupons to offset the cost of converter boxes. Read the rest at the link.

Tom Taylor or radio-info.com: Obama versus talk radio? Barack Eyes LimbaughBarack Obama’s already challenging Rush Limbaugh by name. A tricky game – and one that Rush probably can’t lose at. He’s getting that “made you look!” kind of attention that he and his base dearly love. While new President Obama will have to do this very delicately, to make it clear to most Americans that he’s talking about Limbaugh’s old-style partisanship and its receding relevance. Otherwise – Obama could get mired in the same-old “vast right-wing conspiracy” riff that made Hillary Clinton an object of hilarity among movement conservatives. But Obama’s clearly thought about it and on his third full day in office he advised Republicans that they “can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done” with the new administration. Of course Rush doesn’t want to “get along” – he wants to throw rocks at the White House.

Gary Lycan, Orange County Register: In major cities, in small towns, wherever Clear Channel had a radio station, people were let go. Immediately. No goodbyes, no farewell parties. In many cases, the only other person to know who was leaving was the one escorting them out the door and into the parking lot - Locally, let's start with Los Angeles. Two program directors are gone – R Dub at KHHT "Hot 92.3 FM" and "Chachi" Dave Denes at KBIG/104.3 "MY/fm". Read more at his link.

NY Daily News: Cheech and Chong will reunite for their first comedy tour in more than 25 years.

Daily Pilot: Barry Jorgensen is not just a disc jockey at KOCI-FM (101.5) - a newly formed radio station in Costa Mesa - he’s the only DJ. In fact, he’s not just the only DJ: He’s also the only engineer and the only producer. In lieu of a detailed description of his on-air style, suffice it to say he hosts a three-hour blues program using the name Dr. Barry, despite having no medical degree. If that’s not enough detail, imagine a man in his 60s with a deep, gravelly voice leaning back, sipping a can of Budweiser and staring at the dials of the sound-mixing equipment in front of him while listening to Muddy Waters play a 12-bar blues over the air waves. Along with two partners, Jorgensen recently rented a multiroom office on the third floor of a tower at the corner of 17th Street and Irvine Avenue. They furnished one room — the broadcasting booth — with an L-shaped desk loaded with all of the necessary equipment and microphones. From behind the desk you can see the Santa Ana Mountains over the tree tops through a panoramic window. On the thick magenta carpet sit many small stacks of blues CDs. An antenna is planted on the roof of the building, broadcasting Dr. Barry’s blues with a power of 50 watts. Just for a little comparison, the nearest station broadcasting on the same frequency — San Diego’s KGB-FM (101.5) — puts out a signal with 60,000 watts of power (more than 1,000 times stronger). Read the rest at the link.

Conan Signs Off Feb 20 (Jan 26, 2009)

In addition, Fallon's nightly video blogs will continue at www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com as he ramps up for his March broadcast debut.

As previously announced, O'Brien will be taking over "The Tonight Show" hosting duties on June 1, 2009 and Jay Leno's last "Tonight Show" telecast will air Friday, May 29, 2009.

Fallon is the third host of "Late Night" which has dominated the 12:35 a.m. timeslot since its inception in 1982 with then-host David Letterman. Fallon's "Late Night" will depart from Letterman and O'Brien's Studio 6A and cross the hall to Studio 6B in NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York.

Studio 6B has a long history of comedy within its walls. 6B was the New York home of the first ten years of Johnny Carson's unprecedented "Tonight Show" tenure as well as for his predecessor Jack Paar, who made television history -- in 6B -- by quitting his own show – on the air – after NBC censored a joke the night before. In its days as a studio for NBC Radio, it hosted such comedy legends as Bob Hope and Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis. It housed the first late night show in television history "Broadway Open House" in 1950 as well as the legendary "Texaco Star Theater" starring Milton Berle. In addition, it was from Studio 6B that the infamous game show "Twenty One" (the basis of the film "Quiz Show") originated, as well as where the legendary Ernie Kovacs created innovative comedy on his groundbreaking daytime show.

"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" is produced by Universal Media Studios and Broadway Video. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer. Michael Shoemaker produces.

Top 5 Headlines Of The Week (Jan 19-25, 2009)

4. Tom Leykis Drops His Subscription of the L.A. Times which just raised its daily price to 75 cents. Copycat!

3. Bill Zucker releases "I Want Some Tarp"

2. Microsoft plans to fire 5,000 employees.

1. Clear Channel Cuts 9 percent of workforce.