Wiremania (Oct 22, 2011)

Radio Wires

Washington Times: Old-time radio convention is signing off after 36 years as march of time takes its toll - For one weekend a year, the ghosts and survivors of Jack Benny, Benny Goodman, Goodman Ace and hundreds of other legends of the old days of radio hold court at a hotel across the road from Newark Airport.

Dial Westwood Deal is Done! Dial Global announced its merger with Westwood One is now closed. As of Monday the company will be listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol "DIAL". Dial Global’s executive team will be led by Spencer Brown, David Landau and Ken Williams. Former Westwood One President Rod Sherwood will remain on with the new company until November 15th and then he will move to an advisory role. Dial Global will continue to be headquartered in New York City, with regional offices across the United States in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

TV Wires

BBC.co.uk: Seth Green working on "Star Wars" animated sitcom.

Chicago Tribune: Bob Newhart's comedic delivery may be deadpan, but for five decades the Chicago-area native has made it tough for audiences to match his straight face.

Sports Wires

John Maffei: Two hoops films to gear up for season.

Hollywood Reporter: FOX, Telemundo get 2018, 2022 World Cup, beat out ESPN, Univision.

Chargers Guide to Beat the Jets - Bolt Beat - A San Diego Chargers Fan Site

NFL Picks Week 7: San Diego Chargers Will Send New York Jets Stumbling into Bye

The Post Game: Cody Paul, A YouTube Sensation At Age 12, Is Even More Dazzling As A High School Senior

Tech Wires

CNET: Sprint shutters unlimited 4G mobile broadband. Sprint Nextel is getting rid of its all-you-can-eat 4G wireless broadband plan for tablets, Netbooks, notebooks, USB cards, and Mobile Hotspot devices.

Verizon's iPhone 4S vs. Android? (Ask Maggie) | Signal Strength

Music Wires

Capitol Steps: Announcing our latest album, Desperate Housemembers, featuring John Boehner and his new Republican majority, a bevy of disspirited Democrats, and a cast of international stars.

High Standard Misc Wires

The Secret to Living Well on $11,000 a Year

Wiremania (Oct 21, 2011)

Radio Wires

Study: Digital Car Integration Is "Largest Threat" To Radio & CDs. A new study from the NPD Group says that while radio and CDs still dominate in-car listening, but digital sources are gaining traction.

Kurthanson.com: A new study from the NPD Group found that nearly one-third of respondents said they listen to music from a smartphone in their car. Far more people (80%) said they listen to AM/FM radio and just over half listen to CDs. But those behaviors have declined from last year, while smartphone listening is on the rise.

TV Wires

NY Daily News: Adam Levine is fighting back at Fox News -- in under 140 characters. The Maroon 5 singer launched a war of words with the conservative news network after it used one of his band's songs. "Dear Fox News, don't play our music on your evil f--king channel ever again. Thank you," Levine, 32, tweeted on Wednesday. Almost immediately, Fox News anchors retaliated in defense of their employer -- and in language just as foul Fox said: "Dear Adam Levine, don't make crappy f--king music again. Thank you," host Andy Levy wrote in response.

Half Of Americans Watch Online Video: Nielsen

Cheers: Where are they now?

Sports Wires

Tom Hoffarth: In 'The Big Show,' the Babe stays in the picture.

Multichannel News: ESPN Scores Male, 18-34 Demo Wins With Jets-Dolphins 'MNF' Matchup. Oct. 17 Telecast Draws 12.1 Million Viewers

Tech Wires

Multichannel News: DOCSIS 3.0 To Reach 77% Of U.S. Homes This Year: NCTA. Cable Lobbying Group Highlights Deployment of High-Speed Data Technology in Rural Areas

Miss the Hiss? Fanatics Flip for Tunes on Cassette Tapes

Sports on TV (Oct 21-23, 2011)

Boxing: Showbox: The New Generation, junior welterweights, Gabriel Bracero vs. Daniel Sostre; super middleweights, Edwin Rodriguez vs. Will Rosinsky, in Mashantucket, Conn., Showtime, 8

Canadian Football League: Edmonton at Toronto, delayed tape, NFL Network, 12 a.m.

College football:West Virginia at Syracuse, ESPN, 5; Rutgers at Louisville, ESPN2, 5

Golf: PGA European Tour, Castello Masters, second round, in Castellon, Spain, Golf Channel, 6 a.m.; PGA Tour, Children's Miracle Network Classic, second round, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Golf Channel, 11am; Nationwide Tour, Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, second round, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., same-day tape, Golf Channel, 2; LPGA, Sunrise Taiwan Championship, second round, in Yang Mei, Taiwan, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 4:30

Saturday, Oct. 22

Boxing: Nonito Donaire vs. Omar Narvaez, for WBC/WBO bantamweight title, in New York, HBO, 7:30

Canadian Football League: Montreal at Winnipeg, NFL Network, NOON

College football:North Carolina at Clemson, ESPN, 9am; Illinois at Purdue, ESPN2, 9am; Kansas State at Kansas, Fox Sports Net, 9am; Oklahoma State at Missouri, FX, 9am; Jacksonville State at Kentucky, ESPNU, 9am; Yale at Penn, Versus, 9am; Regional coverage, Nebraska at Minnesota, Texas A&M at Iowa State, Maryland at Florida State, ABC or ESPN2, 12:30; Auburn at LSU, CBS, 12:30; Georgia Tech at Miami (Fla.), ESPN, 12:30; North Carolina State at Virginia, ESPNU, 12:30; Oregon at Colorado, Fox Sports Net, 12:30; Air Force at Boise State, Versus, 12:30; Tulsa at Rice, Fox Sports Net, 4; Army at Vanderbilt, ESPNU, 4; Tennessee at Alabama, ESPN2, 4:15; Southern California at Notre Dame, NBC, 4:30; Regional coverage, Texas Tech at Oklahoma or Washington at Stanford, ABC, 5; Wisconsin at Michigan State, ESPN, 5; Oregon State vs. Washington State, in Seattle, Fox Sports Net, 7:30; Florida A&M at South Carolina State, same-day tape, ESPNU, 7:30

Figure skating:Skate America, in Ontario, Calif., NBC, NOON

Golf: PGA European Tour, Castello Masters, third round, Golf Channel, 4:30 a.m.; PGA Tour, Children's Miracle Network Classic, third round, Golf Channel, 11am; Nationwide Tour, Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, third round, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 2pm; LPGA, Sunrise Taiwan Championship, third round, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 4:30

Major League Baseball: World Series, Game 3, St. Louis at Texas, Fox, 4:30

NHL: Minnesota at Vancouver, NHL Network, 1; Detroit at Washington, NHL Network, 4

Sunday, Oct. 23

Golf: PGA European Tour, Castello Masters, final round, Golf Channel, 4:30 a.m.; PGA Tour, Children's Miracle Network Classic, final round, Golf Channel, 11am; Nationwide Tour, Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, final round, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 2pm; LPGA, Sunrise Taiwan Championship, final round, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 4:30

Major League Baseball: World Series, Game 4, St. Louis at Texas, Fox, 5

NFL: Regional coverage, CBS, 10am: KFMB 8 and KCBS 2: San Diego Chargers at New York Jets from MetLife Stadium
NFL: Regional coverage, Fox, 10am: KSWB 5 and KTTV 11: Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers from Raymond James Stadium
NFL: Regional coverage, CBS, 1pm (not seen on KFMB or KCBS)
NFL: Regional coverage, doubleheader game, Fox, 1:15; KSWB 5 and KTTV 11: Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings from Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Indianapolis at New Orleans, NBC, 5

Pan American Games: Women's basketball, USA vs. Mexico, in Guadalajara, Mexico, ESPN2, 9

Mutterings (Oct 20, 2011)

Wiremania (Oct 20, 2011)

Sports Wires

Multichannel News: NLCS Coverage Puts TBS Atop Cable's Primetime. Cards-Brewers Game 6 Draws 5.9 Million Viewers, Third-Largest In Cable History

Tech Wires

7 Gadgets That Won't Be Around In 2020. Standalone GPS Systems, E-Readers, Feature Phones, Low-End Digital Cameras, DVD Players, Recordable CDs and DVDs, and Video Game Consoles.

Wiremania (Oct 19, 2011)

Radio Wires

New York Daily News: WEZW 93.1 FM becomes first radio station in country to broadcast Christmas music all the time.

FCC orders Detroit FM off the air. Martz Communications has been ordered by the FCC to power down Detroit translator W284BQ used to air the "Smooth Jazz 104.7-The Oasis" format. Clear Channel complained to the FCC that it was interfering with co-channel rock WIOT, Toledo. Martz modified its tower to cut output to the south and even bought smartphones for some who said they could no longer receive WIOT. But the FCC says it doesn't change the fact that the translator is interfering with a full-power station.

Sports Wires

What was Steve Young looking at on his BlackBerry?

All signs point to a low-rated World Series

Biz Wires

Amazon sued in Seattle over revealing actress' age.

Best Buy Sales at Risk as Surgical Shoppers Lose

Misc Wires

New Space Invaders champ doubles previous record

Amazing photos from National Geographic readers

Sirius XM 2.0 Launched (October 18, 2011)

Excerpts:

Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced an expanded channel lineup of new and exclusive commercial-free music, sports news and comedy. The expansion includes the debut of SiriusXM Latino, a suite of new Latin channels featuring a deep variety of commercial-free music, plus programming from leading providers of Spanish-language sports, news, talk and entertainment.

The launch of new programming is the first phase of SiriusXM 2.0, a major upgrade and evolution of SiriusXM's satellite and Internet delivered service that will ultimately span hardware, software, audio, and data services. By employing highly efficient modulation and compression techniques introduced as part of 2.0 technology that effectively delivers 25% more bandwidth capacity, SiriusXM will expand its audio and data services without affecting the broadcast quality of existing channels.

Subscribers can access these new channels through SiriusXM Internet Radio and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smartphones and mobile devices. The new channels are also available by satellite through the new SiriusXM Edge, the first satellite radio able to receive the expanded programming lineup. Edge is on sale now at www.shop.siriusxm.com and available at 2,500 retail locations nationwide by this holiday shopping season. Additional programming and expanded listener capabilities will be announced in coming months as SiriusXM builds on the promise of its new 2.0 technology.

"SiriusXM 2.0 is an exciting new chapter for our company and subscribers, and today is the first important upgrade: going live with new programming that reinforces our commitment to offer the best in audio entertainment," said Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM. "The new suite of channels, including the most comprehensive Latin programming lineup available in radio today, makes our combined offering of English and Spanish audio entertainment second to none. We eventually expect the exciting new features and capabilities being added to our service to offer the opportunity for lower subscriber churn and higher sales of internet radio packages. We also look forward to extending 2.0 content and features soon to our OEM car partners, bringing them and their customers the next generation of satellite radio technology."

An easy way subscribers can get all SiriusXM programming is through the All Access Annual subscription plan: it offers all satellite radio programming, including premium channels, access to all online channels, and the ability to listen to all programming available through smartphones and mobile devices, for $199 a year, a significant savings.

"The expansion of our commercial-free music offerings, the launch of SiriusXM Latino, the near-doubling of our comedy channels, and additions to our live sports talk, deepens the channel offerings available to SiriusXM subscribers and adds to our unparalleled audio entertainment lineup," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM.

Wiremania (October 18, 2011)

Radio Wires

Los Angeles Times: Verizon and AT&T Wireless have pulled their advertising off KFI's "John and Ken" show in response to a campaign by several Latino groups to drive the controversial radio talk hosts off the air. Vons and Ralphs, which have advertised on the show in the past, have agreed to not advertise in the future, the Burbank Leader reported.

Sports Wires

Puck The Media: College Football Realignment Could Be Huge For NBC Sports Network.

Misc Wires

Fast Food Items You Can't Have

How's The Chew Doing? (Oct 17, 2011)

Now, in the three weeks since ABC installed "The Chew" in the 12pm time slot long occupied by its late tenant "All My Children", I would have thought that the ratings for the soaps on CBS and NBC would benefit with reduced competetion when ABC yanked their 12pm soaper after the Sep 23 series finale.

Also note that on the Eastern and Central time zones, "Days of Our Lives" airs at 1pm ET, 12pm CT on NBC in most cities. Opposite "Days" is CBS's "Young and the Restless" at 12:30pm ET/11:30am CT, followed by "Bold and the Beautiful" at 1:30pm ET/12:30pm CT. "The Chew" airs opposite the other two networks at 1pm ET/12pm CT. There are no more time slots where there are three soap operas competeting against each other. The last time there were no three-way soap opera battles was on July 23, 1976 when ABC aired the series finale of "Break the Bank" at 2:30pm ET/1:30pm CT opposite the "Guiding Light" (then a half-hour soap) on CBS, and "The Doctors" (the name of the soap that's been resurrected on a talk show) on NBC. ABC would expand "One Life to Live" to 45 minutes and place it in that time slot the following Monday.

For more on the history of network daytime TV schedules, check out http://www.sandiegoradionews.com/018.htm.

Now I would think that the vacuum created when "AMC" left ABC's 1pm ET slot would benefit both CBS and NBC. I was half right. According to the We Love Soaps link above, "Days" is getting new ratings life in the important young women demographics. Also note that on Sep 26, Deidre Hall, longtime regular that was axed last year or the year before, I forget, made her return, also contributing to a spike in interest.

But what is going on with "Young and the Restless"? We know that "The Chew" is tanking, more on that, but the household rating for the soap is going downward, nearing 3.0. It's expected that viewers are checking out other choices to watch, or as some critics contend that it's the writing of "Restless" that's suffering as of late? Whatever the case, it's bad news for CBS, which could fear that the downward spiraling of the soap could cause the shows following it to ebb as well.

That's exactly what "The Chew" is doing to the ratings of the shows that follow it. "One Life to Live" (which ABC cancelled in April and will leave the schedule in January) and "General Hospital" are down considerably. Anxious ABC afilliates are going to be up in arms over the network's decision to replace a soap with a show that, as rumor had it, performed poorly as a pilot presentation in test audiences. ABC should have considered reviving game shows instead. Expect "The Revoultion", which will replace "Life" in January, to underperform, and possibly cause ABC to cancel "Hospital" outright. "Chew" and "Revolution" will probably be cancelled soon enough and be replaced with yet more talkers, or game show revivals.

I think ABC should bring back Password, the original Allen Ludden version that was once on CBS's daytime schedule. Not the "Plus", "All-Stars", "Super", or "Million Dollar" versions that have succeeded it since. Bring back Pyramid to follow it. Add in some others like Card Sharks, Family Feud, Press Your Luck, or whatever.

There could be a game show revival someday, but new ideas to engage viewers need to be thought of that would get their interests. Game shows are perfect for students who have a day off from school. No first grader is going to bother with a soaper.

Back when I was a kid, a real kid, not the college-age kid. A kid, you know, from age 5-12. I used to take note on some of my favorite game shows. I was a fan of the Bill Cullen hosted "Eye Guess" and "Three on a Match" games. The NBC games were the most intesting. CBS had some game shows until 1968 when then-CBS programmer Fred Silverman replaced them all with more soaps and sitcom reruns. NBC had "Letters to Laugh-In", an extension of the popular prime time show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In". "Concentration" was good as any kid could enjoy that game. No questions. Just pick two boxes to make a matching pair. "Jeopardy!" was a quiz show scheduled during lunch time. "Hollywood Squares" had wisecracking celebrities making joke answers to questions. "Who, What, or Where" wasn't an Abbott and Costello routine; it was a quiz show that was slower paced than Jeopardy!, but had three categories of questions related to one of those three W's.

For a while, from 1972-73, the 12-1pm ET time slot had NBC's "Jeopardy" and "WWW" facing ABC's "Password" and "Split Second" fighting it out for the quiz/brain game audience, while CBS's soapers chuggled quietly but slowly gained viewers as NBC's and ABC's games faultered by programming and producer mistakes, leading them all to leave by July of 1975.

Joker's Wild mixed in knowledge with the lady luck of a slot machine used to spin for categories and jokers. In the mid 70s, casino-style and chance games were the rage, also with Gambit, High Rollers, Spin-Off, Card Sharks, Dealer's Choice, and Wizard of Odds.

The most bizarre and extreme game shows? I would have to give the award to Gong Show on NBC, but also to Treasure Isle on ABC for the most elaborate game show setting ever. Then followed it with The Magnificent Marble Machine on NBC, then a few others like Baby Game, Supermarket Sweep, and Money Maze. Those were crazy ideas. None of them lasted long.

Nowadays, daytime TV is riddled with talk shows, court dramas, judge shows, medical advice, and news from network and local stations. Infomercials only make daytime TV worse. Came across one on Fox 5 the other day. They showed an informercial about the Real Age of a subject that's not printable in a family newspaper; I thought I was watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live.

Games just aren't returning to the daytime schedule as they should. Soap opera time is down to four and a half hours, the fewest since the early 1960s. The baby boomers are no longer desired by advertisers. The younger generations just are not devoted soap fans.

Most sitcom reruns, plus all movies and cartoons exist only on cable.

The only thing weekday daytime TV is good for? When there are playoffs for MLB in October and NCAA college basketball in March. That's about it. Bring on some live college sports in daytime! Sports and game shows are more fun.

Ideas: KGTV (Oct 17, 2011)

Back in the 90s, some affilliates burned the low-rated daytime shows in the overnight time periods. KGTV ran "Port Charles" weeknights at 1:10am.

Here's some ideas that KGTV could explore as a stopgap measure. This would be in place until January 2012 when "Life" is replaced with "Revoultion".

9am: The View, 10am: The Chew, 11am: The News, NOON: General Hospital, 1pm: One Life to Live, 2pm: local programming.

9am-11am: local programming, 11am: The View, NOON: news, 1-3pm: soaps, 3pm: local programming. 1:40am: The Chew

9am: local, 10am: The View, 11am: news, NOON: news, 1-3pm soaps, 3pm: local programming. 1:40am: The Chew

9am: The View, 10am: news, 11am: One Life to Live, NOON: General Hosptal, 1pm: The Chew or local programming. 1:40am: The Chew if not slotted in daytime.

9am: local programming: 10am: The View, 11am: One Life to Live, NOON: news, 1pm: local, 2pm: General Hospital. 1:40am: The Chew.

One punster joked that ABC could follow "The Chew" with two more shows, "The Swallow" followed by "The Belch."

Mutterings (Oct 17, 2011)

On Wednesday the 12 when 1700 was airing a late start for the Tex @ DET game, 1090 could have aired MIL @ STL when it started an hour later. Another blown call for the geniusses at XX Sports 1090. Is there a rule that says AM 1090 can't air postseason MLB games?

2011 MLB Posteseason Schedule (Oct 17, 2011)

AL Championship Series Game

All games on Fox

Game 1 DET @ TEX - Saturday, October 8 - 5:05pm (TEX 3, DET 2)
Game 2 DET @ TEX - Monday, October 10 - 1:19pm (TEX 7, DET 3, TEX leads series 2-0)
Game 3 TEX @ DET - Tuesday, October 11 - 5:05pm (DET 5, TEX 2, TEX leads series 2-1)
Game 4 TEX @ DET - Wednesday, October 12 - 1:19pm (TEX 7, DET 3, TEX leads series 3-1)
Game 5 TEX @ DET - Thursday, October 13 - 1:19pm (DET 7, TEX 5, TEX leads series 3-2)
Game 6 DET @ TEX - Saturday, October 15 - 5:05pm (TEX 15, DET 5, TEX wins the ALCS Pennant 4-2)

NL Championship Series Game

All games on TBS

Game 1 STL @ MIL - Sunday, October 9 - 1:05pm (MIL 9, STL 6)
Game 2 STL @ MIL - Monday, October 10 - 5:05pm (STL 12, MIL 3, series tied 1-1)
Game 3 MIL @ STL - Wednesday, October 12 - 5:05pm (STL 4, MIL 3, STL leads series 2-1)
Game 4 MIL @ STL - Thursday, October 13 - 5:05pm (MIL 4, STL 2, series tied 2-2)
Game 5 MIL @ STL - Friday, October 13 - 5:05pm (STL 7, MIL 1, STL leads series 3-2)
Game 6 STL @ MIL - Sunday, October 16 - 5:05pm (STL 12, MIL 6, STL wins the NLCS Pennant 4-2)

I plan to update the schedule and scoring as the playoffs progress. You can check mlb.com for the latest schedule. Most of the games should be on ESPN 1700, 1070, 710, and others like 830. Turn the dial around until you find them.