Radio Wires (Dec 31, 2010)

Multichannel News: Suddenlink Says 20% Price Hike, Epix At Center Of Viacom Renewal Negotiations. With the contract set to expire on Dec. 31, Suddenlink alerted its subscribers that Viacom wants a 20% hike in overall programming costs as part of a package that would include movie service Epix.

Multichannel News: Saints-Falcons Finale Lifts ESPN's 'MNF' To Record Ratings In 2010. Dec. 27 telecast draws 19.1 million viewers, making it the third-largest audience in cable history.

TV Technology: Stations Add Mobile DTV, But Receivers Remain Scarce

TV Technology: National Broadband Plan Recommends 20 Channel Cut

Gary Lycan OCR: Rhythmic adult contemporary station KDAY 93.5 FM has been sold by Magic Broadcasting to SoCal935 for $35 million. The principal buyer is John Hearne. The deal includes a second station in Ontario, KDEY-FM. How times change. Don Barrett at LARadio.com reports they were last sold in 2004 for $120 million. CITADEL Talk KABC-A/LOS ANGELES midday host LARRY ELDER will host a new two-hour program, "LARRY On The Law," at 3p on. SATURDAYS, starting JAN. 8th, reports GARY LYCAN of the OC REGISTER.

All Access: MIDWEST TV Talk KFMB-A/SAN DIEGO brings in MIKE SLATER to do mornings, effective JANUARY. 3rd. His appointment moves RICK ROBERTS to afternoon drive, which moves TRN's MICHAEL SAVAGE to evenings.

All Access: Dennis Mitchell Celebrates 20 Years of Beatles Breakfasts. In celebration of his 20th year s as host, "DENNIS MITCHELL's Breakfast With THE BEATLES," will broadcast a no-frills, stripped-down recreation of MITCHELL's first BWTB shows from back in JANUARY 1991. Listen for an hour of single A-sides followed by an hour of B-sides, and even a few excerpts from the early scripts of those first shows.

John Maffei TV/Radio Sports: Glut of bowl games leaves some with bad time slots and low TV ratings. How much is too much? Ratings numbers from Sunday seem to indicate 35 college football games are over the top.

Other Wires (Dec 31, 2010)

Multichannel News: AT&T Sets 2011 Rate Hikes For U-verse TV. AT&T -- which once argued that telco competition would keep a lid on cable rates -- will increase monthly pricing for U-verse TV packages by up to 10% in early 2011, its second consecutive year of hikes..

All Access: Prosecutor: Defense Says Michael Jackson Killed Himself.

End of The Decade Coming Up (Dec 31, 2010)

New Years Day 2011 marks the beginning of the 202nd decade.

Antenna TV Coming to KSWB (Dec 30, 2010)

The only catch? You have to use antenna ears to get the network on one of KSWB's sub channels, and it may not be receptable in all parts of San Diego county. It won't be carried on Cox Cable, which also doesn't carry This TV, which KSWB also offers on KSWB's over the air digitial sub channel.

KSWB's main programming airs in 720p HDTV on virtual channel 69.1. This TV, which was on channel 69.2, has moved to 69.3, so you'll need to rescan your HDTV set to get the new channel. Antenna TV will be on channel 69.2.

More information about Antenna TV can be found here:

http://www.wgnamerica.com/shows/antenna/

Antenna TV kicks off with a marathon of The Three Stooges, followed by a full day of Benny Hill.

Some TV shows that will be on Antenna TV include The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, All in the Family, Burns and Allen, Dennis the Menace, Father Knows Best, Gidget, The Flying Nun, Good Times, Hazel, Married...With Children, Maude, The Monkees, Partridge Family, Sanford and Son, Three's Company, Too Close for Comfort, Wild Bill Hickok, and more.

Radio Wires (Dec 30, 2010)

RAIN 12/29: New Internet radio ratings for October, November. Ando Media yesterday released new Webcast Metrics rankings for October and November 2010. The charts show Pandora adding to its already intimidating lead, reaching an AAS of nearly 500,000 in November. However, the strongest month-to-month growth came from two other pureplay webcasters.

Multichannel News: Sinclair: TWC Won't Pay 10-Cent Increase Per Sub For Our Programming. Sinclair Broadcast Group says Time Warner Cable refuses to engage in any further retransmission-consent negotiations and as a result its stations will no longer be carried on the operator's systems after midnight on Jan. 1.

USA Today: Ford to let parents censor teens' car radio by allowing parents to block 16 channels on Sirius Satellite Radio that could carry raunchy programming.

Smooth Jazz KIFM/SAN DIEGO brings in syndicated personality and Jazz artist DAVE KOZ joins to fill its 6-9p slot, called "Lite's Out Lounge." According to the station website, he starts JANUARY 10th.

Randy Dotinga: Better left said: the radio year in quotes.

Other Wires (Dec 30, 2010)

Broadcast Engineering: Squeezing 20 channels through a 19Mb/s pipe. KAXT-CA, a low-power (Class A) community TV station based in San Jose, CA, is using statistical multiplexing, compression and IP distribution technology to multicast up to 20 digital subchannels through its existing bandwidth, which previously provided a single channel of analog TV (on UHF Channel 22). More channels of digital audio and video means increased programming for viewers and a potential opportunity to generate new revenue. According to those involved, KAXT is one of the first stations in the United States to offer such a large number of channels within a 19.39Mb/s spectrum. The station began digital broadcasts July 30. Read more at the link.

Survey: More mobile news consumption. News and talk stations are putting more content online, but perhaps a greater focus on mobile phones may be required in 2011. A new Rasmussen survey finds one-in-five (19%) voters now regularly get news on their cell phones or other portable electronic devices. The survey also finds 44% go online for news at least once a week, including 20% who surf daily. Those levels are on par with one year ago.

Arbitron: All-Christmas stations shoot to #1 in almost every top-10 PPM market.

Multichannel News: (this really belongs on the Valerie Bertinelli section): TV Land Lines Up 'Hot In Cleveland' Marathon On New Year's Night. TV Land viewers can start 2011 off with their favorite women from Cleveland. The network will present a Hot in Cleveland marathon on Jan. 1 from 8 p.m. to midnight, featuring six episodes, including the pilot, which will kick things off.

Radio Wires (Dec 29, 2010)

Multichannel News: DirecTV To Raise Rates 4% In 2011. DirecTV -- citing higher programming costs -- will raise rates on most packages 4% effective February 2011 and also will increase pricing for some optional services.

Multichannel News: 2010 Ranks As NFL Network's Best Primetime Season. NFL Network closed out its 2010 slate with the third-highest game on its watch, helping the pro football league's in-house network to record its best audience average during its fifth season telecasting primetime contests.

Multichannel News: FCC, CBS Continue To Battle Over Janet Jackson Reveal.

Baltimore Sun: As OWN prepares to launch at noon Jan. 1 and some of its prime programs are made available for preview, that largely overlooked cautionary line about the "extent of Ms. Winfrey's on-air involvement" looms large. While OWN is being portrayed in some news reports as "Oprah 24/7," viewers tuning in on New Year's Day are going to find a different reality.

Radio Ink: Smooth Jazz Lands In Reno. Mas Multi Media's KBDB-AM/Reno, NV, signs up as the newest affiliate for Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network.

Other Wires (Dec 29, 2010)

USA Today: AT&T is expanding Wi-Fi access in public spaces so subscribers can use their iPhone and other devices.

Ron Jacobs: Over the decades, thereÆs been much to like about ESPNÆS Chris Berman. He has been to Hawaii often. But Berman certainly lives in a bigtime media bubble while here on assignment. Unlike many legendary sportscasters who lived and worked in HonoluluùLes Keiter, Harry Kalas and Al MichaelsùBerman is not akamai (hip to) the native tongue.

Radio Wires (Dec 28, 2010)

Post-Trubune: Former WLTH 1370 AM radio Gary morning talk show host Ron Muhammad, 62, died Saturday in his San Diego, Calif. apartment.

Los Angeles Times: Why KCET never became a major player in the PBS network -- Critics say the station lacked ambition and failed to tap Hollywood resources. Station officials say they were kept down by a network that catered to three powerful East Coast entities.

Radio Ink: Magic Sells KDAY & KDEY. Magic Broadcasting makes a deal to sell its Southern California duo of KDAY/Redondo Beach and KDEY/Ontario to SoCal935, headed by John Hearne and Warren Chang.

All Access: The U.S. GAINS a Smooth Jazz station for a change. Smooth Jazz KWJZ Turns On 'Seattle Sound'; Click 98.9. New 'Modern Music' Format Geared To 25-39 Listeners.

Other Wires (Dec 28, 2010)

Multichannel News: Comcast to Offer $9.95 Broadband to Low-Income Households Comcast has "amplified" its public interest commitments to the Comcast/NBCU deal, according to an ex parte filing at the FCC, including providing low-cost broadband, agreeing to carry must-carry noncom stations who give up spectrum and pledging that NBC stations will team up with non-profit news organizations.

Mulitchannel News: Cablevision, PC Richard Make Free Wi-Fi Available For Holiday Shoppers. Retail Chain's Customers Can Test Optimum Service For 30 Days. Cablevision continues to expand its Wi-Fi hotspots, making the service available for free in one of the leading electronics chains in its footprint, P.C. Richard & Son.

All Access: Teena Marie Dies at 54. A variety of media sources report that singer TEENA MARIE died in her sleep last night at the age of 54. Cause of death has yet to be determined. MARIE, born MARY CHRISTINE BROCKERT in SANTA MONICA, CA, signed with MOTOWN RECORDS in 1976. Her debut album, WILD AND PEACEFUL, was released in 1979, which boasted the hits, "IÆm a Sucker For Your Love" and "DTja Vu (IÆve Been Here Before)." Later, her collaborations with RICK JAMES, especially the duet "Fire & Desire," brought her more acclaim. She was nominated for a GRAMMY four times.

San Diego Community News (Dec 18, 2010)

The Nebraska Cornhuskers and Washington Huskies will square off in the 33rd annual Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl in front of more than 60,000 fans at Qualcomm Stadium and a national ESPN television audience.

Exciting football action will be augmented by marching bands and spectacular pregame and halftime pageantry. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 30th.

http://www.holidaybowl.com/

Big Bay Balloon Parade
Dec 30th  10am  San Diego Bayfront

"America's Largest Balloon Parade" returns to downtown San Diego's scenic bayfront on Thursday, December 30th at 10 a.m. Marching bands, floats, drill teams and more giant character balloons than any parade in the country will be enjoyed by more than 100,000 streetside spectators and a national (USA Network) and local (Channel 4 San Diego ) television audience.

The 2010 Grand Marshal is basketball hall-of-famer, Bill Walton. Parade festivities include the finals of the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Dog Races, the Bumble Bee Foods 5K and the Amtrak Family Festival.

http://www.holidaybowl.com/events/port-of-san-diego-big-bay-balloon-parade.html

31st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade
Jan 15  10am  Petco Park in East Village

One of the largest celebrations of its kind, the 31st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade will be held January 15, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at Petco Park in East Village.

Come join thousands of others and help continue the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while enjoying dazzling floats, soulful high school bands, drill teams, colleges, fraternities, churches, organizations, peace and youth groups.

For more information or to participate, visit alpha-zsl.org