The Wires (Feb 7, 2009)

Radio World: Performance ‘Rights/Tax’ Bills Re-Introduced. Rehr: ‘Local radio broadcasters are not the reason the recording industry is losing money’

Radio World: Local Voices Disappearing? Buffalo News looks at a question we hear all too often

Radio World Online: The Consumers Are Now in Charge. Mark Durenberger writes in a guest commentary that we in radio need to provide what consumers want, when and in the form they want it

TV Tech: When Will You Be Pulling the Plug? As a broadcaster, what are your plans? When do you plan to pull the analog plug? Share your thoughts with us on our forum.

TV Tech: San Diego Stations to Keep Feb. 17 Deadline. The southern California broadcasters cite continuing high electric power costs as the reason for wanting to abandon their duplicated transmissions as soon as possible.

TV Tech: ‘Funeral’ for Analog TV Planned. Event, still scheduled for Feb. 17, combines DTV and performance art.

Randi Rhodes silent. Progressive talk show host Randi Rhodes is off the air for a second day in what appears to be a dispute with syndicator NovaM Radio. Her producer says on the show's message board, "This is a Nova M issue and nothing of her own making." Rhodes' show is heard on 28 stations and Sirius XM.

Tom Taylor of radio-info.com: Round 2 of Clear Channel cuts – February 20? Heard that late last night. This T-R-I newsletter has been predicting that the Inauguration Day layoffs (1,850, across all of Clear Channel) wouldn't be the last ones dictated by San Antonio. Now I'm hearing that Friday, February 20 could be the next day to watch out for. Once again - I'd love to be wrong.

Inside Music Media: ou have to feel for radio people who are stuck working for consolidated radio companies that don't seem to know what to do next. Some readers write to tell me that they want to remain positive and do the best that they can -- and I think that's probably a smart move. But if you're still scratching your head wondering what these group CEOs are doing, maybe I can shed some light on it. They never intended to be operating radio groups 12 years after consolidation began (read more - Jerry Del Colliano - Inside Music Media).

EARTH SHAKING NEWS BULLETIN...THIS JUST INTO THE SDN NEWSDESK (Feb 5, 1999)

I repeat...FM 94/9 is now broadcasting in HD.

We'll have more details on this late breaking story as it develops.

(play bumper music from "A Current Affair" now)

The Wires (Feb 6, 2009)

Flashreport: Weblog on California Politics. Sunday San Diego: The Future of Political Talk Radio by Barry Jantz. Media watchers blame the "death" of local talk radio on the economy and high cost of staffing local programs, as compared to the efficiency of nationally syndicated shows. The significantly reduced overhead cost to local stations makes syndicated programming very attractive, but at the expense of localized content. Another excerpt "...the only live, local talk show host broadcasting after 12 noon in San Diego - Rick Amato on KCBQ-AM 1170, weeknights 9-11 p.m." KCBQ's The Rick Amato Show is now one of only three local radio shows on the air in San Diego, unless one counts sports, infomercials and publicly-funded KPBS. (the article also mentions that the other two are Rick Roberts on KFMB and Chip Franklin on KOGO.) Read the full article at his site.

Voice of San Diego: San Diego Killed the Radio Star by Randy Dotinga. San Diego-based radio talk-show hosts have suddenly become an endangered species, leaving listeners with few places to hear chatter dedicated to both local politics and national issues. In recent weeks, the station known as San Diego 1700 has severed ties with Stacy Taylor and Mark Larson, both longtime staples of local talk radio, apparently in favor of less expensive alternatives. The top-rated afternoon show of former San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock, meanwhile, has abandoned its local focus to appeal to a new, national audience. In the political talk arena, KOGO's Chip Franklin and KFMB-AM's Rick Roberts are now the only local hosts on commercial stations during weekday mornings and afternoons. That's a far cry from the 1980s and 1990s, when some San Diego stations had three or more local hosts on the air each day. Now, almost every talk show on the local dial is nationally syndicated. "Cheap, syndicated talk radio has been an alluring temptation for radio management for some time, but now that revenue streams have dried up apparently they can't resist," said Taylor, a local radio veteran. Read the full article at his site.

Gary Lycan: OCR: KFWB to air Angel games? On the radio: Will KLSX drop FM talk for a Top 40 music format. KLSX program director Jack Silver responded, "No." Still, talk persists. In response to a request for comment, Tom Leykis e-mailed that his show is no longer being syndicated nationally. "Westwood One did not want to keep paying the support staff who engineer and edit our two shows, so we mutually agreed to part ways. We are in talks right now to move syndication of the daily show, the weekend edition, and the Tasting Room, and we should have something to announce shortly," he wrote. As to the KLSX format change question, he said, "I am under a no-cut contract through March 31, 2012, and we are number one in men 25-54 ... top-rated talk show in the market adults 25-54 (first time since Howard Stern left). That is all I know."

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Inside Music Media: Clear Channel...hiring?

FMQB: EchoStar To Take Over Sirius XM?

SD Reader Blurt: After four years as KGB’s afternoon deejay, Ditch was fired on January 20. “The entire building was on lockdown that day. You couldn’t even walk into the lobby. You had to get buzzed in. What is the purpose of that? Do they think someone who was fired is going to walk back in with a gun?” Ditch says he and everyone else who worked at Clear Channel’s seven-station San Diego group knew that January 20 was going to be “bloodbath day.” Clear Channel fired 1850 employees nationwide and a reported 57 in San Diego stations.