Wiremania (Dec 3, 2011)

Radio Wires

Jim Ladd Has Been Hired By SiriusXM to do a daily radio show. Rock radio pioneer Jim Ladd will host a daily free-form music show on Deep Tracks, channel 27. For the first time ever, Ladd's daily show will be broadcast to a national audience and will be heard exclusively on SiriusXM. The live show will air nightly starting in January 2012.

The End of Rock Radio is Near?

All Access: Jonathon Brandmeier Joins WGN/Chicago For Mornings.

Fox News reports on the growing interest in ham radio

Ham radio in the 21st century

Tom Taylor: L.A. radio's KNX (1070) is slammed by high winds, and a TV tower is toppled. The CGC Communicator reports that "unusually heavy winds" caused CBS Radio's KNX to run an unmodulated signal (that's not good) on Wednesday evening. Up on Mount Harvard, the newsletter reports "a major [TV] antenna mishap." A chief engineer says "one of the main antennas on Mount Harvard was blown off the main tower, nearly taking out the generators.It is laying between the microwave dishes and the generators." Operator American Tower says it's "aware of the issue and the station is addressing it." Two years ago, Mt. Wilson was menaced by out-of-control wildfires. This time, it's super-high winds stressing out broadcast facilities. The winds have also taken out power lines to transmission facilities, and some stations are on generator backup power.

TRI's "No Names, Please" - Late night panic attack - These days, Jeff Gerstl is director of host services with VoiceAmerica and World Talk Radio networks, and he used to be "Jeff Powers" on the radio. He says "In 1989, I was working part time at XHTZ/Z-90 Tijuana-San Diego. At the time we were a 'Rock 40' type format similar to L.A.'s Pirate Radio. I was doing the overnight shift and our studios were up on Mt. San Antonio, with all of the other Tijuana transmitters. The offices and request lines rang in to the Chula Vista, CA sales office. At the age of 20 I was (and still am) a Doritos junkie - Cool Ranch, Nacho Cheese, whatever - and I used to start and finish a big bag during my shifts. One Saturday night, I went to play `Coming Up' by Paul McCartney and started to speak, but I inhaled some "Dorito dust" and it got stuck in my throat. I started choking. In some high, squeaky voice, I said on the air `I think I'm choking.' Then I went to the water cooler, and started thinking, `Hey, we're a 100,000 watt station that can be heard all over Southern California, and a bunch of listeners just heard you say you were choking." I started imagining the fire trucks and squad cars and paramedics surrounding a closed sales office in Chula Vista, breaking down doors and windows to save the lone overnight DJ. After the song ended, I joked about the whole ordeal, saying 'Oh the fun of overnight radio - I'm okay.' I still have that aircheck, and to this day I am the only person who has ever gotten to hear it again, and it will stay that way." Ready to share your story? Email Tom@in3media.com.

TV Wires

BREAKING NEWS: Brian Frons STEPS DOWN at ABC Daytime!

B&C: Frons...Out. The Chew, which replaced All My Children, has seen constant ratings improvement in its first six weeks on the air, and it's produced at approximately 40% of the cost.

Deadline: NOVEMBER SWEEP: CBS' `Late Show' Tops `Tonight' For 1st Time In 17 Years, `Late Late Show' Posts First Victory Over `Late Night'

New trend: A drop in TV households. The number of households with TV sets will decline in 2012

Tech Wires

Goodbye, Napster.

Free MP3 Cutter and Editor 2.5.0.808 (Windows)

Sports Wires

Report: Suchon, Block Exit 'Dodger Talk' As Games Move To KLAC

Comcast eyes new NFL contract to drive increased cable, satellite carriage fees.

Magic Johnson to Bid to Buy Los Angeles Dodgers.

Multichannel News: NBA's Christmas: Tips Off 2011-12 Season With Five Games. Celtics-Knicks Opens On TNT, Followed By Four Matchups On ABC, ESPN

Misc Wires

6 Carbs to Add to Your Diet to Help You Stay Slim

The 12 Scams of Christmas

Find My Phone iPhone App can help the police recover a stolen cellphone.

Wiremania (Dec 2, 2011)

Radio Wires

All Access: Four Hosts Out At KGO/San Francisco As Station Adds More News.

Radio-Info: Songs That Used To Test.

TV Wires

Sara Bibel: 10 Reasons Daytime Television Will Never Be The Same After 2011. 2011 was the most newsworthy year for daytime television ever. Two popular soaps were canceled. Two beloved talk show hosts opted to leave their long-running shows. The internet seemed to be the future home of soap operas, until it proved financially impossible to launch a daily show online. Here's a look back on a year that was good, bad, and ugly, but never boring.

Time Out Chicago: Calling it a "sad but necessary moment of realism," Roger Ebert announced Wednesday that his weekly movie-review show will go off the air at the end of December.

Biz Wires

A Frosty Reception for Coca-Cola's White Christmas Cans

Misc Wires

Jaw-dropping amateur space photos

Action Comics 1 sells for $2.16 million in auction

Sports on TV Weekend (Dec 2-4, 2011)

Friday, Dec. 2

Boxing: Super bantamweights, Chris Avalos vs. Jhonatan Romero; super middleweights, Anthony Dirrell vs. Renan St-Juste, in Santa Ynez, Calif., Showtime, 11

College football: Mid-American Conference championship game, Ohio vs. Northern Illinois, in Detroit, ESPN2, 7; Pac-12 Conference championship game, UCLA at Oregon, Fox, 7:30

College men's basketball: Florida at Syracuse, ESPN, 6:30; Cincinnati at Georgia, ESPNU, 7; Vanderbilt at Louisville, ESPN, 8:30; Auburn at Seton Hall, ESPNU, 9; Washington at Nevada, ESPNU, 11

College women's soccer: College Cup semifinals, Florida State vs. Stanford, in Kennesaw, Ga., ESPNU, 5

Golf: Sunshine Tour, Nedbank Challenge, second round, in Sun City, South Africa, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 9 a.m.; World Challenge, second round, in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Golf Channel, 3; PGA European Tour, Hong Kong Open, second round, Golf Channel, midnight

Motor sports: Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony, in Las Vegas, Speed, 9

NHL: Detroit at Buffalo, NHL Network, 7:30

Saturday, Dec. 3

Boxing: Super welterweights, Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito; lightweights, Brandon Rios vs. John Murray; junior middleweights, Pawel Wolak vs. Delvin Rodriguez and welterweights, Mike Jones vs. Sebastian Lujan, in New York, Pay-Per-View, 9; Champion Anselmo Moreno vs. Vic Darchinyan, for WBA super bantamweight title; champion Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko, for IBF bantamweight title, in Anaheim, Calif., Showtime, 9

College football: Conference USA championship game, Southern Mississippi at Houston, ABC, noon; Connecticut at Cincinnati, ESPN, noon; Syracuse at Pittsburgh, ESPN2, noon; Iowa State at Kansas State, Fox Sports Net, 12:30; UNLV at TCU, Versus, 2:30; Texas at Baylor, ABC, 3:30; Southeastern Conference championship game, Georgia vs. LSU, in Atlanta, CBS, 4; Brigham Young at Hawaii, ESPN2, 7:30; Big Ten Conference championship game, Michigan State vs. Wisconsin, in Indianapolis, Fox, 7:30; Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, ABC, 8; Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, Clemson vs. Virginia Tech, in Charlotte, ESPN, 8

College men's basketball: North Carolina at Kentucky, CBS, noon; Massachusetts at Miami (Fla.), 1; Purdue at Xavier, ESPNU, 3; Arkansas at Connecticut, ESPN, 3:15; Gonzaga at Illinois, ESPN2, 3:15; Texas at UCLA, Fox Sports Net, 4:30; Oregon at Brigham Young, ESPNU, 5; Pittsburgh at Tennessee, ESPN, 5:15; South Florida at Kansas, ESPN2, 5:15; Kansas State at Virginia Tech, ESPNU, 5:30; LSU at Rutgers, ESPNU, 7; South Florida at Kansas, ESPN2, 7:15; West Virginia at Mississippi State, ESPNU, 9

Golf: Sunshine Tour, Nedbank Challenge, third round, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 9 a.m.; World Challenge, third round, Golf Channel, 1 and NBC, 3; PGA Tour, Qualifying Tournament, fourth day, in La Quinta, Calif., Golf Channel, 4; European PGA Tour, Hong Kong Open, third round, Golf Channel, midnight

NHL: Montreal at Los Angeles, NHL Network, 3:30; Toronto at Boston, NHL Network, 7

Soccer: Premier League, Chelsea at Newcastle, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.

Sunday, Dec. 4

College football: BCS Selection Show, in Bristol, Conn., live and tape, ESPN, 9

College men's basketball: Notre Dame vs. Maryland and George Washington vs. Virginia Commonwealth, in Washington, Versus, 2; South Carolina at Clemson, ESPNU, 3:30; N.C. State at Stanford, Fox Sports Net, 4; Kansas State at Virginia Tech, ESPNU, 5:30

College women's soccer: College Cup, championship game, Florida State/Stanford winner vs. Wake Forest/Duke winner, ESPNU, 1

Golf: Sunshine Tour, Nedbank Challenge, final round, same-day tape, Golf Channel, 9 a.m.; World Challenge, final round, Golf Channel, 1 and NBC, 3; PGA Tour, Qualifying Tournament, fifth day, Golf Channel, 4; European PGA Tour, Hong Kong Open, final round, Golf Channel, midninght

NFL: Regional coverage, CBS and Fox, 1 and 4; Detroit at New Orleans, NBC, 8

Wiremania (Dec 1, 2011)

TV Wires

Multichannel News: NCTA to FCC: Let All-Digital MSOs Encrypt Basic Tier. Cable Group Files Comments With Agency. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has urged the Federal Communications Commission to allow cable operators that have gone all digital to encrypt their basic tier.

Fox News: Could Microsoft and Roku Finally Kill the Cable Box? It's been a thorn in the backside of couch potatoes for decades: the underpowered, clunky, costly cable box. They tried to kill it with CableCards, then IPTV, and then Netflix. But nothing could slay the beast. Could companies like Microsoft and Roku finally put a stake in the cable box's heart?

Syndicated host Delilah renews her long-term contract with Premiere Networks. On the heels of her 25th anniversary of her nationally syndicated nighttime radio program, Delilah Luke has signed a new long-term contract with Premiere Networks. The show airs on about 200 stations, mixing music and storytelling, making her the most-listened-to-woman on radio.

Inside Radio: Study: Tight playlists don't hurt CHRs. When it comes to pounding the hits, no format comes close to CHR. About one-third of total spins come from just 10 songs, according to a new Arbitron-Mediabase- Inside Radio study of stations in PPM markets. And yet the format also delivers radio's second-largest cume. Meanwhile rhythmic CHRs tilt toward diversity.

Tech Wires

New Facebook worm spreading

Sports Wires

Illegitimate BCS process holds game hostage.

High Standard Misc Wires

Watch a black hole devour a star in a distant galaxy!

Vitamin D: Who Should Take a Supplement

A Recipe for Middle-Class Jobs

Some Notes: (Nov 30, 2011)

Wiremania (Nov 30, 2011)

Radio Wires

Radio Insights: Most efforts to replicate successful stations have failed. Time and time again a format that succeeds in one market fails in others. Each time a radio group replicates a very successful station across other markets, the results are uneven at best.

Bruce Stump: Radio Man John Allen keeps radio history alive -- "Radios were sold without tubes right up until 1930. A set of tubes cost more than the radio in many instances. Tubes amplified the signal. It also enabled the listener to fine-tune his station selection" - Radios sale are probably down, because people listen to streaming audio on the Internet. AM, too, seems to be fading away. On the AM band, Allen can use his radios to pick up AM broadcasts. But if stations end AM broadcasting, his radios will be mute witnesses to the history that once was.

All Access: Will Royalties Keep Pandora From Being Profitable? The Debate Continues....

Radio Info: With Lyrical Edits, The Logic Is Obscured. Three months ago, a reporter for all-News KYW Philadelphia called with an interesting question: why was there such inconsistency in the way that radio stations edited current hits? My best guess at the time was that as AC and Hot AC stations started to take more of their product from Mainstream CHR, there were more hits with potential lyric issues being played on a wider swath of stations that had different needs.

Misc Wires

Business Wire: Valerie Bertinelli Introduces Veebow, a Free App Designed to Change the Way America Shops