Mutterings (Dec 31, 2011)

At the end of Friday's Roger Hedgecock show on KOGO, Roger, in the last 30 seconds of his show for the year, said "I will be working Monday, and I hope you'll be there too, at our new location, 760 AM. Thanks for listening. Happy New Year." KOGO censored out the "760 AM" part, naturally. No sense for KOGO to allow Roger to give a free plug to a competeting station. On Monday, Roger's first show airs live on Monday on KFMB AM 760 from 3-6pm. KOGO AM and FM will have LaDona Harvey from 2-6 in its entireity.

As for Rick Roberts, no indication on where he will be going.

ATTENTION TIME WARNER CABLE SUBSCRIBERS: Time Warner Cable & CBS 8 have reached an agreement and there will be no interruption to any programming.

91X is presenting the 29th countdown of the top 91 modern and alternative rock songs of the year. It's the Top 91 of 2011 and tonight sometime after 5pm approximately, the station will play the listener's picks ranked in order from 91 to number one played around midnight.

Check out the Top 91 Lists of each year from 1983-2010

Wiremania (Dec 31, 2011)

Radio Wires

Some Radio Predictions for 2012. As we enter 2012, we're seeing commercial radio broadcasting fracture in opposite directions. The biggest groups are heading in one direction, while smaller groups and independent operators are heading in another. Many of the trends we will see develop or continue will all come from this fracture. The largest groups, Clear Channel and Cumulus are leading the charge on one end. Some of the things that I predict we will see from these groups in 2012 (read the rest of the article at the link)

HD RADIO - It's Just Too Complicated (Part One)

TV Wires

Huffington Post: Do you feel like your cable bill is significantly higher than it used to be? That's probably because it is. The average cable TV subscriber pays nearly three times as much for cable now as they did in 2001, according to research by SNL Kagan cited by the Wall Street Journal. The jump in average prices -- to about $128 per month from $48 -- may not be good for cable providers; executives have said publicly that they're worried that a boost in bills will push customers away. (read the rest at the link).

Unconfirmed post in rec.arts.tv - ABC's "The Chew" is outperforming the show it replaced, "All My Children", in its 12pm PT timeslot since a year ago. The article is so heavily spun that I can't find the facts in it.

Time Warner New York in Standoff with Sports Networks

Wiremania (Dec 30, 2011)

Radio Wires

Mobile DTV Poised to Take Off

Sun Storms May Affect Radios, Cell Phones

Sports Wires

ESPN's 'MNF' Audience Declines 9.5% during 2011 NFL Season. Franchise Remains Cable's Most-Watched Series for Sixth Straight Year

Sports on TV (Dec 30, 2011 and Beyond)

Friday, Dec. 30

Boxing: Super middleweights, Andre Dirrell vs. Darryl Cunningham; light heavyweights, Luis Garcia vs. Alexander Johnson; middleweights, Jermain Taylor vs. Jessie Nicklow, in Cabazon, Calif.. Showtime, 11 p.m.

College football:Armed Forces Bowl, Brigham Young vs. Tulsa, in Dallas, ESPN, noon; Pinstripe Bowl, Rutgers vs. Iowa State, in New York, ESPN, 3:20; Music City Bowl, Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest, in Nashville, ESPN, 6:40; Insight Bowl, Iowa vs. Oklahoma, in Tempe, Ariz., ESPN, 10

College men's basketball:Western Michigan at Duke, ESPN2, 7; Missouri at Old Dominion, ESPNU, 7; West Virginia at Seton Hall, ESPN2, 9; Southeast Louisiana at Texas Tech, ESPNU, 9

NBA:Phoenix at New Orleans, NBATV, 8; Chicago at Los Angeles Clippers, WGN/NBATV, 10:30

Prep boys basketball: Hillboro, Ore., tournament, ESPNU, third-place game, 4:30; final, 11:30

Saturday, Dec. 31

College football:Meineke Car Care Bowl, Texas A&M vs. Northwestern, in Houston, ESPN, noon; Sun Bowl, Georgia Tech vs. Utah, in El Paso, CBS, 2 p.m.; Liberty Bowl, Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt, in Memphis, ABC, 3:30; Fight Hunger Bowl, Illinois vs. UCLA, in San Francisco, ESPN, 3:30; Chick-fil-A Bowl, Virginia vs. Auburn, in Atlanta, ESPN, 7:30

College men's basketball:Louisville at Kentucky, CBS, noon; Virginia Tech at Oklahoma State, ESPN2, noon; Austin Peay at Morehead State, ESPNU, noon; Providence at Georgetown, ESPN2, 2; Yale at Florida, ESPNU, 2; Illinois at Purdue, ESPN2, 4; UCLA at California, FSN, 4; North Dakota at Kansas, ESPNU, 4; Ohio State at Indiana, ESPN2, 6; Creighton at Wichita State, ESPNU, 6; Gonzaga at Xavier, ESPN2, 8; Oregon at Washington, ESPN2, 10

College men's ice hockey:Boston University at Notre Dame, Versus, 7

College women's basketball: Arizona at Arizona State, FSN, 2

NBA:Utah at San Antonio, NBATV, 8:30

Soccer:English Premier League, Blackburn at Manchester United, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.

Sunday, Jan. 1

College men's basketball:Villanova at Marquette, ESPNU, 1; Monmouth at North Carolina, ESPNU, 3; Penn State at Northwestern, ESPNU, 7

Motor sports:Dakar Rally, Mar del Plata to Santa Rosa de la Pampa, Argentina, Versus, 1:30 a.m. (delayed tape)

NBA:Boston at Washington, NBATV, 6

NFL:Regional coverage, CBS and Fox, 1 and 4; Dallas at New York Giants, NBC, 8:20

NHL: Calgary at Nashville, NHL Network, 6

Monday, Jan. 2

College football:Outback Bowl, Michigan State vs. Georgia, in Tampa, ABC, 1; Capital One Bowl, Nebraska vs. South Carolina, in Orlando, ESPN, 1; Gator Bowl, Ohio State vs. Florida, in Jacksonville, ESPN2, 1; Rose Bowl, Wisconsin vs. Oregon, in Pasadena, Calif., ESPN, 5: Fiesta Bowl, Stanford vs. Oklahoma State, in Glendale, Ariz., 8:30

Motor sports:Dakar Rally, Santa Rosa de la Pampa to San Rafael, Argentina, NBCSN, 1:30 a.m. (delayed tape)

NHL:Winter Classic, New York Rangers at Philadelphia, NBC, 1; San Jose at Vancouver, NBCSN, 8

Wiremania (Dec 29, 2011)

Radio Wires

Gary Lycan: Give Don Imus the credit or the blame for the problem. He announced in the first hour of his program on Dec. 13 that Geraldo Rivera was the new 10 a.m.-noon personality for WABC in New York and KABC. No details were given, except Rivera would do the program from New York. KABC and its parent company Cumulus Media were as silent as Blackberrys in a Verizon communications blackout. Days passed, no comment. Then, on Dec. 22, KABC announced its new schedule and Geraldo's name was nowhere to be seen. But is he a coming attraction?

Biz Wires

The Worst Product Flops of 2011

24/7 Wall St. Ten Brands That Will Disappear In 2012

Misc Wires

Nation losing a day with rare switch. Residents of Samoa will go to sleep on Thursday and wake up on Saturday this week

10 Ways to Lower Cholesterol

Wiremania (Dec 28, 2011)

TV Wires

Multichannel News: HDTV Prices Drop to Record Lows. TV set prices are in the dumps this year, punctuating the end of a difficult year for CES manufacturers. Why This Matters: A combination of slower-than-expected demand and excess production capacity has pushed TV prices to record lows in the fourth quarter. High-end sets, including 3D units, have not enthralled consumers but networks have spent millions of dollars buying 3D equipment and creating 3D programming with more shows expected to be filmed in 3D in 2012.

Deadline: NBA Games Net Big Ratings for TNT, ESPN/ABC. The NBA returned on Christmas and unwrapped Nielsen presents, highlighted by TNT scoring the fourth-largest, regular-season audience in cable history, and ESPN posting its most-watched Dec. 25 pro basketball telecast. Why This Matters: The loss of the early season hurt the networks but the latest ratings suggest viewers -- and advertisers -- are eager to forgive the league's labor issues just as they did with the NFL.

Wiremania (Dec 27, 2011)

Radio Wires

Los Angeles Times: Axl Rose of Guns and Roses bemoans the state of L.A. radio - "... the radio died in L.A. Just died"

Sports Wires

Brees sets passing mark, Saints top Falcons 45-16

Misc Wires

The 22 Worst Foods for Trans Fat

Wiremania (Dec 24, 2011)

TV Wires

Keep CBS 8 on Time Warner Cable. KFMB-TV is currently negotiating to renew their re-transmission agreement for Time Warner Cable to carry their programming on their cable system. Translation into consumer's words: KFMB, affilliated with CBS, is being pressured by CBS to demand higher monthly fees from Time Warner (who, in turn, pass it on to consumers) in exchange for carriage. CBS, in turn, is charging KFMB higher affilliation fees in order for CBS to be able to afford the high cost of NFL play-by-play rights among other issues. So the path of higher fee demands starts with the NFL getting more money from CBS in exchange for broadcast rights, then CBS demands higher compensation fees from some of its affilliates, such as KFMB-TV, to help CBS pay the NFL the higher cost of their broadcast package. KFMB-TV has to go after Time Warner, and ultimately Cox Cable as well, for higher costs of retransmission fees to pay CBS, who uses it to pay the NFL. The cable systems, in turn, yes, have to raise the prices of the cable lineups where KFMB-TV resides for the consumers to pay. So the higher costs of NFL broadcast packages is ultimately paid by, you guessed it, the cable customers. The buck goes from consumer, to cable company, to broadcaster, to the network, and finally, to the NFL and other production companies that CBS pays for broadcast rights.

Biz Wires

Top 10 Worst Supermarket Foods. Healthy Choice is unhealthy?

Amazon Builds World's Fastest Nonexistent Supercomputer

Misc Wires

'Star Trek' mailbox glows at night

Wiremania (Dec 23, 2011)

Radio Wires

No Geraldo Rivera or Don Imus in new KABC radio lineup

Readers offer plenty of suggestions for KABC

Wall Street Journal: If a song plays on the Internet, rather than the radio, does it count for anything? That question is at the heart of an intensifying dispute between traditional radio broadcasters and online radio service Pandora Media over how their audiences are measured. At stake: a share of scarce radio advertising dollars.

Ron Jacobs' Blog: Norman CorwinÆs work is too prodigious, perceptive, personal and profound for me to even begin to list his ôaudiography,ö let alone his work in other media - The style and substance of pre-TV radio emerged from warÆs cocoon and began to fly as new innovators gave new ideas a try. But even by 1965, when Bill Drake and Gene Chenault gained control of RKO RadioÆs Los Angeles outlet, which we co-conspirators renamed 93 KHJ Boss Radio. Before the format switch (and the wakeup Robert W. Morgan Show) the morning program offering was a ôbed in breakfastö program featuring Steve Allen and wife Jayne Meadows.

Larry Elder Returns to The Revamped KABC

ESPN Radio's Dan Davis Calls It a Career On Friday

Sports Wires

John Maffei TV/Radio Sports: Thanks to Paul trade, Clippers in TV spotlight. Fox Sports San Diego, which will be the home of the Padres, still doesn't exist.

The Clippers have 47 games on FSN-Prime Ticket and 10 on FSN. Clippers game will be broadcast on radio on KLAC 570.

The Lakers have 30 games on L.A.'s KCAL 9 and 24 on FSN. On the radio, ESPN 710 is the flagship, with XTRA Sports 1360 picking up games for the San Diego audience.

TV Wires

'Live With Kelly' Ratings Rise Without Regis Philbin

Biz Wires

Comeback Brands of 2012

Cars that fizzled in 2011

How company foils credit card fraud

Science Wires

"Space ball" drops on Namibia

Misc Wires

Pixelated photos make cool brainteasers

Sports on TV (Dec 23-25, 2011)

Friday, Dec. 23

College men's basketball:Western Kentucky at Louisville, ESPN2, 4; Wagner at Pittsburgh, ESPNU, 5; Baylor vs. West Virginia, in Las Vegas, ESPN, 6; Diamond Head Classic, in Honolulu, consolations, teams TBD, ESPNU, 12 and 10:30 p.m., semifinals, teams TBD, ESPNU, 2 and ESPN2, 8.

NHL: Philadelphia at N.Y. Rangers, NHL Network, 4

Saturday, Dec. 24

College football:Hawaii Bowl, Nevada vs. Southern Miss., in Honolulu, ESPN, 5

NFL: Regional coverage, CBS and Fox, 10am; Regional coverage, CBS, 1; Regional coverage, doubleheader game, Fox, 1:15

Sunday, Dec. 25

College men's basketball: Diamond Head Classic, in Honolulu, fifth place game, teams TBD, ESPNU, 1:30; third place game, teams TBD, ESPN2, 4:30; championship game, teams TBD, ESPN2, 6:30

NBA: Boston at New York, TNT, 9am; Miami at Dallas, ABC, 11:30am; Chicago at L.A. Lakers, ABC, 2; Orlando at Oklahoma City, ESPN, 5; L.A. Clippers at Golden State, ESPN, 7:30

NFL: Chicago at Green Bay, NBC, 5

Monday, Dec. 26

College football:Independence Bowl, Missouri vs. North Carolina, in Shreveport, La., ESPN2, 2

NBA: Houston at Orlando, NBATV, 4; L.A. Lakers at Sacramento, NBATV, 7; Chicago at Golden State, WGN, 7:30

NFL: Atlanta at New Orleans, ESPN, 5:30

NHL: Dallas at St. Louis, Versus, 4:30

Soccer: Barclay's Premier League, Wigan Athletic at Manchester United, ESPN2, 6:55 a.m.

What Cable Networks Get From Cable Companies (and ultimately the subscriber) (Dec 22, 2011)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19390543#post19390543

What Cable Networks Get From Carriers
(2010, Per Subscriber, Per Month)
ESPN/ESPN HD $4.58
Fox Sports Net $2.37
Starz $ 2.03 (pay channel, cable company may charge upwards to make a profit)
Showtime: $ 1.59 (pay channel, cable company may charge upwards to make a profit)
RSNs: $0.20-$2.15
TNT $ 0.99
Disney Channel $0.88 (commercial free)
NFL Network $0.80
Fox News Channel $ 0.58
HDNet $ 0.55
USA $ 0.55
ESPN2 $ 0.54
MGM HD $ 0.53
CNN & Headline News $ 0.51
TBS $ 0.49
Nickleodeon/Nick at Nite $0.44
HDNet Movies $ 0.44
FX $0.42
Big Ten Network $0.36
NHL Network $0.35
Fox College Sports $ 0.34
MTV $ 0.33
CNBC $ 0.29
Sundance $ 0.29
Versus $ 0.29
Lifetime $0.28
HD Theater $ 0.27
Universal HD $ 0.27
TCM $ 0.26
Discovery $ 0.25
Golf $ 0.25
A&E $ 0.25
MLB Network $ 0.24
AMC $ 0.23
TLC $ 0.23
Wealth TV $ 0.23
NBA TV $ 0.22
Family $0.22
History Channel $0.21
E! $ 0.20
Speed $ 0.20
National Geographic $ 0.20
Mountain West Sports Network $ 0.20
SyFy $ 0.20
Spike $ 0.20
Independent Film Channel $ 0.20
CBS College Sports $ 0.19
Fox Sports en Espanol $ 0.19
Bravo $ 0.19
Smithsonian Channel HD $ 0.19
ESPN Classic $ 0.18
ESPN News $ 0.17
Cartoon Network $ 0.17
ESPNU $ 0.16
BET $ 0.16
MSNBC $ 0.16
Fox Movie Channel $ 0.16
Fox Soccer Channel $ 0.16
TLC $ 0.16
ESPN Desportes $ 0.15
Tennis $0.15
SOAPnet $ 0.15
VH1 $ 0.15
Style $ 0.14
Comedy Central $0.14
HGTV $0.14
Fuel $ 0.14
Game Show Network $ 0. 12
WGN America $ 0.12
BBC America $ 0.11
Fox Business Network $0.11
Weather Channel $ 0.11
Biography $ 0.11
Travel $0.10
TV Land $0.10
Oxygen $ 0.09
Lifetime Movie Net $ 0.09
truTV $ 0.09
CMT $ 0.08
Food Network $ 0.08
Fuse $ 0.08
G4 $ 0.08
Animal Planet $ 0.07
Military $ 0.07
Bloomberg $ 0.06
Hallmark Channel $ 0.06
VH1 Classic $ 0.06
C-SPAN $ 0.5
TV Guide Network $0.02
Great American Country $ 0.02

Main Source: SNL Kagan Research

Wiremania (Dec 22, 2011)

Sports Wires

When Brees breaks Marino's record, is an asterisk warranted?

NFL May Increase Slate of Live Games on TV Network as Soon as Next Season. Some cable fees notes: "The network offers some of televisionÆs most valuable content, as measured by the fees cable or satellite companies pay for distribution rights, according to a 2011 report by Anthony DiClemente, an analyst with Barclays Capital Inc. The network gets about 73 cents a subscriber, making it the fourth- most expensive in the U.S., ahead of Fox NewsÆs 70 cents and behind the Disney ChannelÆs 91 cents. ESPN gets the most, with $4.40, and TNT the second-most at $1.03, DiClemente wrote, citing data from Barclays and SNL Kagan."

Biz Wires

Honda scrambles to revamp Civic

How Failure to Extend the Payroll Tax Cut Would Affect Consumers

Jobs That Died in 2011

Wiremania (Dec 21, 2011)

Sports Media Wires

NBC to Stream NFL Wild Card Games, Super Bowl. The Super Bowl may never migrate to cable, but it will be available online for the first time in 2012. NBC will introduce NBC Postseason Extra on Jan. 7 streaming the Wild Card doubleheader followed by the Pro Bowl on Jan. 29 and the Super Bowl on Feb. 5. The games will be streamed on both NBCSports.com and NFL.com as well as Verizon mobile phones. Why This Matters: NBC's only shining star this year has been its airing of NFL games. The streaming will give viewers additional camera angles, highlights and stats. The game is annually by far the biggest attraction on television, with last season's Packers-Steelers matchup drawing a record U.S. audience for any show with 111 million viewers.

ESPN sees Monday Night Football ratings drop. Marquee broadcast faces scheduling, scoreboard challenges

Science Wires

NASA Kepler Probe Finds Two Earth-Sized Planets Orbiting Star

Wiremania (Dec 20, 2011)

Sports Wires

Rolapp: NFL Network 'Very Likely' To Air More Thursday Night Games Next Season

Biz Wires

11 Companies On the Edge in 2012

Saab files for bankruptcy

AT&T Drops Its T-Mobile Merger Bid in $4B Fail

Tech Wires

Top 10 tech hits and misses of 2011

A Year In Fail: The 6 biggest technology flops of 2011

Misc Wires

Giant Tsunami-Shaped Clouds Roll Across Alabama Sky

5 Unhealthy Drinks to Avoid at the Supermarket