(home)

RDN Central Archives I

(Search Tip ... Click EDIT, then FIND in browser menu above to search this page) 
(Note: Links to other sites were reliable when posted.  If a link doesn't work, it is because those Web pages have been removed from their Web site's server)

Tuesday December 27, 2005

ABC's "Monday Night" adieu was important enough to bring Don Meredith out of his quiet seclusion in Santa Fe, N.M. He has avoided television for 20 years, and getting him to do something, anything, on "Monday Night" had been an unrequited quest. "I told him, 'Do you have any idea how many people you will make happy if you do this?' " said Fred Gaudelli, the "Monday Night" producer who persuaded Meredith to offer taped comments in the opening tease, including "Are you ready for some football?" Meredith also warbled, for the credits, "Turn out the lights, the party's over," which he used to sing during blowouts (read more - NY Times)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio recently surpassed three million subscribers and expects a strong year-end as Mel Karmazin found 500,000 more subscribers under his tree (read more- Forbes)  (read more - PR Newswire)  (read more - BusinessWeek)

Since its modest beginning 20 years ago in a small North Hollywood studio, KKLA-FM (99.5) has grown to become the nation's largest Christian teaching and talk radio station. KKLA also has done so well financially that the station is now worth at least $250 million, according to the Southern California Broadcasters Assn (read more - LA Times)

Levittown native, Neshaminy High and Bucks County Community college graduate Anita Gevinson, in the midst of her second stint subbing for Andre Gardner on WMGK 102.9-FM from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., is thrilled to be back home. The former Philadelphia radio personality who relocated to Los Angeles twenty years ago said, “I’ve always worked in L.A., but never clicked there like I did here.” Many rock fans remember Gevinson from her days as Philly’s first female morning drive host on WMMR 93.3-FM and her “Ask Anita” lunchtime segment on WYSP 94.1-FM (read more - Laura Nachman)

Here are five bad things that happened in radio in 2005 -- 1. Howard Stern leaves WXRK for Sirius Satellite: Without him, radio may seem like the NBA without Michael Jordan. 2. The "Tsunami Song": (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

Consumer Reports looks at how the two satellite radio providers -- XM Radio and Sirius -- measure up. In a star-studded commercial for XM satellite radio, celebrity appearances are across the board. You see everyone from Ellen DeGeneres, Snoop Dogg and Martina McBride to showcase XM's diverse line-up. For Sirius, it's Howard Stern. He starts his gig there on Jan. 9. Satellite radio customers like Mike Markhoff considers it a bonus to the radio he already loves. "It's the best radio I've ever had. It's something you can use wherever you travel. When you take long trips, it keeps the same station," he said. Consumer Reports surveyed hundreds of satellite customers nationwide to see what they think (read more - WRAL TV)

Kerry Packer, Australia's wealthiest man whose media empire dominates its television and magazine landscape, died at his Sydney home last night after battling a long illness. He was 68. Listed by Forbes magazine as the 94th richest man in the world, Mr Packer amassed a US$5bn (£2.8bn) fortune on the back of a family business that he ran for 25 years (read more - Guardian Limited)  (read more - Sydney Morning Herald)

From John Rook -- That youthful “money demo” advertisers have been courting will soon expand to include the “graying of America”. Radio programming had best take note (read more - www.JohnRook.com)

He grew up in a time when a nickel looked a lot like gold. For a boy whose family was too poor to buy him a bicycle, the radio became his toy, his retreat and eventually his way of life. Hearing his voice today, broadcast over Madison's WTUX-AM 1550, it's hard to imagine that the bold and lucid tone behind "The Ben Benedetti Show" is nearly 80 years old (read more - Wisconsin State Journal)

From Happy Hare -- It all started when Lee Baby Simms, the KCBQ jock played, ”If I were a Carpenter.” One of his phone lines began blinking. It was a young woman, heartbroken because her parents had considered her too good for her carpenter lover, and now she was pleading with Lee Baby to help her escape captivity. He gently shined her on, and went on with the show. Then, the phone lines lit up with listeners enraged with the parents and insisting that Lee intercede. “Do something,” they demanded. But what? More outraged calls. The show was in a shambles with Lee fighting for control. This went on for several nights with the young lady calling, increasingly grief-stricken (read more - www.HappyHareOnline.com)

According to Finland's latest National Radio Survey, made public on Tuesday, Finns listen to the radio for an average 3 hours and 14 minutes a day (read more - Newsroom Finland)

Although the Federal Communications Commission called the Vibez radio a pirate operation, it never acted like one. Instead of a clandestine operation tucked away in a back-alley apartment, it had a website and a Miramar office. For almost five years, Vibez deejays broadcast music, community service announcements and commentary on Caribbean politics and immigration issues. But the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shut down the popular Caribbean-themed station in October (read more - Miami Herald)

It looks as if XM Satellite Radio, in conjunction with some of its hardware partners, is issuing a voluntary recall of sorts with older XM2go portable satellite radio devices. The impacted units are the Delphi MyFi, Pioneer AirWare and Tao XM2Go which have a rechargeable battery which has a black label and white lettering (read more - DesignTechnica)

Monday December 26, 2005

Radio got a shakeup this year as Howard Stern left his 20-year home at WXRK (92.3 FM), WCBS-FM (101.1) dropped oldies, and Hot-97 (WQHT, 97.1 FM) got slapped upside the head over its ill-advised "Tsunami Song." Hot-97, which paid a million-dollar relief donation and fired two morning show members after the "Tsunami" firestorm, also slipped a bit behind morning host Star and surging rival Power-105 (WWPR, 105.1 FM) (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

Sandy, our Portuguese water dog, is sleeping soundly by the fireplace today. She's completely worn out from her Christmas assignment as a reindog who pulled a sled full of gifts for broadcasting celebrities. But I'm still in a giving mood, so a few gifts are in order: • Wolf Blitzer - A cot, a coffee pot and a miniature stove to help him survive his seemingly around-the- clock schedule on CNN. • Howard Stern - A year's supply of mouthwash. (This is an annual gift, which he never uses) (read more - Dusty Saunders-Rocky Mountain News)

Dear Radio Babe: You forgot 1320 DOVE. They have been playing seasonal music since before Thanksgiving. We old-timers who enjoy good music (it's not elevator music) love the station. I enjoy your column, since my husband was a DJ for many years around the United States. He had a stint at WBRD in the early '60s. I would really love to read "Savage Lost." Do you know how I could get a copy? Thank you. -- M.F. Dear M.F.: Glad you're keen on this column and on the programming at WDDV. Radio Babe sure hopes other "old-timers" are reading this, too, since many still write in looking for the "good music." (read more - Dawn Scire-The Radio Babe)

San Antonio's leading Spanish-language radio station could be forced off the air or face fines over a quirky controversy juxtaposing immigrants and green limes.  A recurring segment started five years ago by KROM-Radio "Estéreo Latino" involves people calling in to report sightings of immigration agents in the city. The station's disc jockeys then alert listeners, particularly undocumented immigrants, to steer clear of the named locations (read more - Hernán Rozemberg-SA Express-News)

Howard Stern may have something more to celebrate than his debut on Sirius Satellite radio. The rumor around town is that Stern has tied the knot with his longtime love, Beth Ostrosky (read more - NY Post)

President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to national security.
The efforts have failed, but the rare White House sessions with the executive editors of The Washington Post and New York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's anti-terror tactics (read more - Howard Kurtz-Media Notes)

On the radio, a hard-rockin' FM station dramatically changed its format to become . . . a hard-rockin' FM station; a country music station started speaking Spanish; and an evil liberal (who's neither) was chosen in an online competition to pick a morning radio show co-host. Let's start our look back on 2005 with that evil liberal Nicole Devin, who won the WISN-AM (1130) "talk star" competition (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

In Arbitron's first ratings period of the year, WSPD-AM (1370) was riding high. Both of its local talk shows — Bob Frantz in the morning; Denny Schaffer in the afternoon — were No. 2 in their respective time slots.
Fast forward to Nov. 14. WSPD unveiled a new lineup: Fred LeFebvre, morning drive; Brian Wilson, afternoon drive.  (What happened to the former hosts? Schaffer left in late September for a job with WGST-AM in Atlanta. In Wilson's first major move as program director, Frantz was taken off mornings and given a one-hour talk show at 6 p.m. weekdays.) (read more - Russ Lemmon-Toledo Blade)

XM Radio is waiving the activation fees during the holiday season for those who haven't yet activated the radio with servicer -- if the new XM Radio is activated  online only by December 31, 2005.  They'll waive all activation fees (up to a $14.99 value) (visit XM Radio)

Bill Fleming loved to talk, whether it was on the radio, before groups of 3-D film enthusiasts or to people he just met. "He was gregarious. He was very much a people person. He would talk to anybody," said Mr. Fleming's son, Scot Fleming, 41, of Green Tree.  William Alan Fleming, a commercial voice actor and former KDKA radio personality, died Friday, Dec. 23, 2005, at his home in Dormont (read more - Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

When Viacom Inc. changed the name of its radio group from Infinity to CBS a few weeks back, KYW-AM (1060) had to tweak its familiar ID, in which announcer Dick Covington begins: "This... is... Newsradio." You might think such a change would be a challenge because the golden-piped Covington died in March 2004 (read more - Michael Klein-Philly Inquirer)

An Idaho Falls businessman who already owns a healthcare products company with about 650 (M) million dollars in annual sales is thinking about expanding -- into radio. Frank Vandersloot, president of Melaleuca, is in talks with Salt Lake City-based media company Bonneville International to buy that outfit's six local eastern Idaho F-M and A-M stations (read more - NBC Newschannel 6)

It's 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and the news goes live on Radio American Living. "Good evening. Welcome to our bilingual newscast," says anchor Jessica Zhu, in Mandarin. With Zhu on one side and co-anchor Daniel Raymond on the other, the news begins in Mandarin and ends in English. Flip-flopping every couple of sentences, the bilingual show is the first of its kind, according to station manager Tyson Chang.  Making it possible are four interns from Mt. San Antonio College (read more - San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

When Rick Bradley was serving overseas in the U.S. Army during Operation Desert Storm, he felt a disconnect from his family back home. Fifteen years later, he and his wife, Pam, came up with a way for people to send a quick message and a tune to loved ones serving their country. Hooah!!!! Radio www.hooahradio.com, a free Internet radio station, is devoted to soldiers and their families (read more - Winston-Salem Journal)

Former reality-TV chef Rocco DiSpirito — whose WOR radio show was set to replace Bob Grant in prestigious afternoon drive time next month — has suddenly left the station altogether, The Post has learned. Unbeknownst to listeners, DiSpirito's final midday show was Friday (read more - John Mainelli-NY Post)

XM's Hugh Panero is named a runner-up as a Washington Business Journal Newsmaker of the Year (read more - Washington Biz Journal)

It has been a year of upheaval in radio and one of the bloodiest in television. Sue Javes, Michael Idato and Greg Hassall list the 10 defining moments of 2005.  Podcasting changes the way we listen to radio, January 3 - Nothing worth listening to on the radio? Not a problem. Grab your portable MP3 player and listen to a program you downloaded overnight. Programs not just from Sydney, but from around the world. A year ago few people knew what podcasting was, including many radio executives. Twelve months on, the savvier operators have positioned themselves to be key content providers to a potential world audience (read more - Sydney Morning Herald)

From Claude Hall -- Photo from Ron Jacobs: I can't locate a picture of the aging Tom Moffatt, "The Man"  in Hawaiian rock radio since this place was a territory, albeit as unknown in Mainland U.S. as Woo-Woo is here. But since everyone seems to be wallowing in nostalgia and pulling a groin muscle from the old days, from my personal files is a photo of young "Uncle" Tom Moffatt, Col. Tom Parker and yours truly (in the grease monkey shirt) at the original KPOI-AM, c. 1960. Shoot, Gordon McLendon himself roared up one day in a rented new Caddy convertible. Stopped by to use our "production room." (Photo by Coolidge Nakamura) (read more - www.claudehallonline.com)

When KDJM 92.5-FM ("Jammin"') switched its music format from R&B to country in mid-December, it brought the station head-to-head with local radio giant KYGO 98.5-FM. KCKK 1600-AM, KYGO's sister station in the Jefferson Pilot stable, fires back at 7 a.m. today with "The Original History of Country Music," 52 hours of country 1940-80, hosted by Ralph Emery (read more - Dick Kreck-Denver Post)

Ted McKay was one of the fathers of talk radio. His radio talk show "Party Line," which began broadcasting in 1955 on WKRC, was the first all-talk radio show in Cincinnati and one of the first in the country, according to his family and friends. Mr. McKay died Thursday from complications due to an infection at Drake Center in Springfield Township (read more - Cincy Enquirer)

There are dozens of radio theater companies operating around the country. The Gotham Radio Players in New York specialize in recreating classic radio plays. Shoestring Radio Theater in San Francisco performs many original plays. The national Christian organization Focus on the Family produces religious-themed plays. But the majority of groups play to small local or regional audiences. And most cannot find radio stations to present their productions. "Radio theater is alive and well; it's just that it has lost its primary performance stage: radio," said Henry Howard, a member of Atlanta Radio Theater Company's board and the designer of the Web site audiotheater.com. "The standing joke among us is that when you ask a radio program director for the best time to schedule your radio drama, the answer is always '1945.' " (read more - NY Times)

For everything from birds to buffalo, playa lakes have played an important role on the plains, and radio listeners can soon learn more. Beginning Jan. 2, High Plains Public Radio will broadcast "Playa Country," a look at what makes up the shallow lakes and what is being done to protect these suppliers of water for various animals, migrating birds and the Ogallala Aquifer (read more - Amarillo Globe News)

The likely sale of Knight Ridder and its 32 daily papers has sent shock waves through an industry in which subscribers and advertisers are defecting to the Internet and stock prices are languishing. How Tony Ridder and his company fare in the coming weeks may show his peers what the future holds for them. It also may serve as a referendum on Ridder himself (read more - LA Times)

Conservative talk show Talk Back America is returning to the Sarasota Fl market starting January 14, 2006 on WLSS AM 930. Talk Back America has joined the Salem Radio Network which features great conservatives such as Dr. Bill Bennett, Laura Ingram, The Savage Nation and more. SRN owns over 160 broadcast stations across America (read more - American Daily)

For retired radio broadcaster Richard Ward Fatherley, it's one last ride down memory lane as host of four "Neon Beat" pilot radio broadcasts scheduled to debut Saturday, January 7, 2006, from 1 to 6 over KCXL-AM 1140 in Kansas City (visit KCXL-AM 1140)

A new portable satellite radio is number one on Brad Mayers' wish list this year. "Radio tends to play pretty much the same music everyday. Satellite radio changes things up and there are no commercials. I like that," Mayers said. Best Buy mobile electronic media supervisor Aaron Rowbatham said Mayers is not alone (read more - News 8 Austin)

PC World has unveiled the list of "Top 50 Greatest Gadgets of the past 50 Years" ... They include:Sony Walkman TPS-L2 (1979), Apple iPod (2001), (Tie) ReplayTV RTV2001 and TiVo HDR110 (1999), PalmPilot 1000 (1996), Sony CDP-101 (1982), Motorola StarTAC (1996), Atari Video Computer System (1977) (read more -ABC News)

Colorado-based NextMedia is moving its FM station, KLAK, from the Sherman area to McKinney. The station (at 97.5 FM) will be on the air by Jan. 15 with an "adult contemporary" music format and news, sports, weather, community events and traffic, said Mr. Smith, the station's general manager. The station will share the airwaves with two other Collin County operations, KHYI, a country music station, and KXEZ, which plays oldies. KLAK's format includes James Taylor, Celine Dion, and Phil Collins (read more - Mike Jackson-Dallas News)

Noe Anzaldua wanted all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be together for the holidays. A longtime Muleshoe resident, KMUL radio station manager and on-air personality, Anzaldua died in a one-vehicle rollover Thursday night while bringing his family together (read more - Portales News Tribune)

WWRL (1600 AM) will spend Saturday linking members of the Caribbean Island family with their friends and relatives back home. WWRL will link up with a series of Caribbean radio stations, giving people here and there a chance to send greetings back and forth + The Rock Marathon at WAXQ last week raised more than $486,000 for area charities (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

The WJBD Radio-BCMW Adopt-a-Family program has assisted 394 low income families with 932 children have a Merrier Christmas this year. 133 individuals, churches, businesses, schools and organizations adopted families this year while 56 others made cash donations totaling $12,623 to make the program possible (read more - WJBD)

A week ago, Andy Samberg was a little-known rookie on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," toiling long hours trying to earn a spot in a skit or two. Then, last Saturday night, "SNL" ran Samberg's "Lazy Sunday" digital video starring Samberg and fellow cast member Chris Parnell. Soon after the show aired, the clip became an instant Internet hit, recording more than a million downloads before the week was out. (click here to view the video)  In short, Samberg's days of obscurity are over (read more - Julian Kesner-NY Daily News)

A new community radio station may be on the air less than a year after the Federal Communications Commission shut down radio free brattleboro for not having a license. The new 100-watt station, called Brattleboro Community Radio, 107.7 FM, may be licensed and broadcasting by early spring (read more - Brattleboro Reformer)

From passion on The Archers to Rattigan on Radio 3, it was a triumphant year for radio. Radio has been sipping all year on a little bottle like the one Alice drank from in Wonderland. Big has therefore become this year's thing. BBC dominance in all formats, analogue and digital and on the web, grew even greater. In commercial radio, companies went in for megabucks mergers and gigantic acquisitions (read more - Gillian Reynolds-The Telegraph U.K.)

Charles Cherry II and his brother, Glenn, plan to launch in January The Florida Courier, a 100,000-circulation weekly that will provide news, sports and commentary to blacks throughout the state. "It will prepare this community toward some positive solutions to its problems," said Glenn Cherry, president and CEO of Tampa-based Tama Broadcasting Inc., the state's largest black-owned media company. Tama's holdings include The Daytona Times, another newspaper and nine radio stations (read more - The Ledger)

A Spanish radio station apologized Friday for a hoax in which its comedian pretending to be Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero phoned Bolivia's newly elected president and congratulated him on his victory (read more - Houston Chronicle)

The BBC broadcast an apology after a retired general used the phrase "nigger in the woodpile" during an interview about the Iraq war on Radio 4's Today programme yesterday. Major General Patrick Cordingley, an opponent of the Iraq invasion who commanded the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, during the 1991 Gulf war, used the phrase while trying to explain why British troops would be unable to leave until the Iraqi police had become an effective force (read more - The Independent U.K.)

Chris Core will now be heard from 9:00am-12:00pm weekdays on 630 WMAL, in an announcement made today by 630 WMAL President and General Manager, Chris Berry. “The Chris Core Show” will air in its new timeslot beginning January 9, 2006 (visit WMAL)

Media Matters for America has documented the most outrageous statements this year. From attacks on women, Muslims, and African-Americans to a call for the assassination of a foreign leader to an open invitation for Al Qaeda to "blow up" San Francisco to a claim that gay marriage would lead to unions between "a man and his donkey," these statements acutely represent the extreme conservative speech we found in the news media in 2005. (We tried to limit the comments to a Top 10 list, but it was simply impossible.) (read more - Media Matters)

Turn the radio dial to one of Memphis' rock or pop stations on a Saturday afternoon, and you may hear something new. Or rather, something old. Several stations have recently adopted weekend format changes that are more inclusive of older rock and pop. WMBZ-94.1 "The Buzz" now plays all-'80s music on the weekends. FM100 has transformed their weekend playlists with "Whatever Weekend," in which deejays play a mix of everything from disco to holiday songs to current Top 40 hits. WHBQ, or Q107.5, plays pop songs from the '80s and '90s during "Wild On Q" weekends (read more - Memphis Flyer)

ARBitron numbers for Birmingham   Honolulu   Indianapolis   Las Vegas   Salt Lake City (read 'em)

Friday December 23, 2005

Seattle radio talk-show host Mike Webb has been charged with submitting fraudulent documents to get money from his insurance company after a June traffic accident. Webb, who has a left-leaning evening radio program on KIRO-AM (710), allegedly produced a forged document indicating he bought a car-insurance policy from Geico before the June 28 accident, police say. Webb said, he's suspicious of the timing of the charge because he's involved in a dispute with Seattle police (read more - Seattle Times)

New York City Dan Schwartzman grew up listening to Sports Talk 950/WPEN’s Jody McDonald when McDonald worked for WFAN.
Soon, he’ll be competing against Jody Mac when he becomes the new co-host of “Philly Sports Live” weeknights from 4-7 p.m. on ESPN 920 (read more - Laura Nachman)

As usual, some local radio stations had barely taken off their Halloween costumes when they began spinning Christmas carols and other holiday music (we're not naming names, but their initials are KLTY and KVIL). But this weekend is when the big deck-the-halls-with-winter-wonderlands stuff really begins (read more - Robert Philpot-Star Telegram)

The new year will mark the return of some very familiar faces on the FM dial and the arrival of some newcomers to AM radio. The "Steve and DC Show" returns to St. Louis, this time to adult pop station WVRV-FM (101.1, The River). The show will run from 5-10 a.m. weekdays starting Jan. 5. (read more - Diane Toroian Keaggy-St Louis Post-Dispatch)

The family of the late veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke have spoken of their horror at reports that their father’s bones were stolen by a criminal gang trading in body parts. Mr Cooke, who presented BBC Radio 4's Letter From America for more than half a century, died in New York in March last year from lung cancer that spread to his bones (The Telegraph U.K.)  (read more - The Sun U.K.)

In the nine months since he became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin J. Martin has pushed through a series of decisions that have made the country's largest phone companies even bigger and, in the view of critics, made it harder for smaller companies to compete with them. During an interview this week in his office, Martin was disciplined when talking about his policy initiatives, and he demurred when asked if he had ambitions for elective office. Asked if he might want to serve a second term as FCC chairman, he said: "I am hoping to survive my current term." (read more - Washington Post)

Kent Burkhart is taking the Christmas and New Year's weekends off for a short holiday vacation.  His column will return in two weeks.  Enjoy one or more of Kent's archived columns (visit www.kentburkhart.com)

Spain protested to the Vatican after a comic from a church-controlled radio station made a spoof phone call to Bolivia’s president-elect pretending to be the Spanish prime minister (read more - MSNBC)

Who were last year's honorees? Click each for their names ...
RDN 2004 Radio Person of the Year
RDN 2004 Top 10 Newsmakers

Dave Graveline and the "Into Tomorrow" crew will feature highlights of recent broadcasts from CEATEC Japan, IFA Berlin and Digital Life New York on the Sunday afternoon show. Next week the show is live on Sunday with the New Year's Day Special (visit Into Tomorrow)

Live nation, an entertainment promotion business is leaving Houston for Los Angeles after splitting from Clear Channel Communications (read more - LA Times)

Remember me? The kid you brought a red Schwinn bike to in 1959? I'm back with a new Christmas list. Hey, I know I'm a little old for this, but when you get to be my age it's mostly ties and sweaters from everybody else, and I really, really need this stuff. Please help me out. • First, how about one of those cool new Bill O'Reilly Christmas Under Siege talking dolls? The one where you say "Happy holidays!" and it erupts with an angry comeback. (I especially like when it sputters, "I am not going to let oppressive, totalitarian, anti-Christian forces in this country diminish and denigrate the holiday and the celebration!") It's a great stocking-stuffer. (Why not? O'Reilly is the sort of guy for whom the expression "stuff it" was invented, eh, Santa?) But keep this toy away from the kids. It doesn't set the best example of Christmas spirit. • Well, that was the easy part. Also, Santa, could you bring me a new FCC? My old one's on the blink (read more - LA Times)

WPRB DJ and My Pal God label owner Jon Solomon is the hardest working man in radio. Since 1988 (at the tender age of 15), Solomon has treated listeners of the Princeton University radio station to a 24-hour marathon of holiday music for all faiths (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza) plus more secular, winter-themed songs (read more - Sara Sher-Philly News)

Comcast said Thursday that it will launch a "family" tier of channels in early 2006, with the aim of giving people more control of the type of cable-TV programming that comes into homes (read more - USA Today)

Friday and Saturday are your last opportunities to purchase Satellite Radio equipment before Christmas. If you're still stuck deciding which service to go with here are five points to think about (read the 5 - Corey Deitz-About)

Jose Zamora most likely woke up this morning in a single-sized bed instead of the futon he spent months sleeping on in his bedroom in his family’s Erie Avenue apartment in McAllen. The bed was part of a holiday wish he had for his mother, Herlinda Zamora, 38. He wanted her hard work as a single parent with five children to pay off beyond what she earns as a local collection agency employee. All it took for Jose, 17, was to listen to the radio, write a letter and be fooled by a local television news crew so his family could find a furniture fiesta outside their front door (read more - McAllen Monitor)

Lite 98, WSLT-FM, August’s home of Soft Rock, 1630 WRDW-AM, and WGAC-AM 580 News Talk Radio, Beasley Broadcast Group stations, announced that the stations are now broadcasting in HD Radio™ (visit Beasley Broadcast Group)

ARBitron numbers for Colorado Springs. Columbus OH. Denver-Boulder, Fresno and Seattle-Tacoma (read 'em)

Thursday December 22, 2005

For 35 years, Jerry Phillips has been the voice of the community on the radio in Washington. This week, Clear Channel Communications, which owns eight D.C. stations, shut down its public affairs department and let Phillips go, eliminating what some local charities called their main link to the public. "We're taking a new direction," said Bennett Zier, Clear Channel's regional vice president. "Jerry is moving on." Zier said his stations, which currently have no news staff, will add "personality-based news for our morning shows," including some public affairs content (read more - Marc Fisher-Washington Post)

News Corp, the global media company (Fox News), has signed a new five-year, $25m contract with Roger Ailes, the head of its television group. The contract also calls for an annual bonus of at least $1m, and includes a grant of 330,000 restricted stock units (read more - Financial Times)

All the commercials advertise "Christmas sales," and most people wish everyone "Merry Christmas." Being Jewish, I feel personally offended by this and, though Hanukkah isn't a national holiday, and a majority of people celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah is still an important holiday. A couple of years ago I even wrote to a radio station that, during the holidays, plays all Christmas songs. I felt this was biased toward Christians. I feel like most people don't even consider Hanukkah a real holiday (read more - Winston-Salem Journal)

Twenty-Five Million Dollars. That’s how much Howard Stern made per year with his Infinity radio contract. One hundred million. That’s how much Howard will make per year with his new Sirius Satellite Radio contract. Twelve million. That’s the estimated number of listeners Howard had during his Infinity contract. Three million. That’s how many subscribers Sirius Satellite Radio expects by the end of this year. You say the math reads a little fuzzy? It would be if there weren’t two types of Howard fans (read more - John Gorman-Cleveland Free Times)

From Murphy Martin --  ... while President Bush was speaking from the oval-office, there came a reminder from Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He said "The media seem to have come up with a formula that would make any war in history un-winnable and unbearable: They simply emphasize the enemy's victories and our losses. What are the enemy's victories in Iraq? The killing of Americans and the killing of Iraqi civilians. Both are big news in the mainstream media (read more - www.MurphyMartin.com)

Jon Yuill, who is best known to BBC News website readers for his occasional rail commuter's column, has more than one reason to celebrate this Christmas - his first play will be broadcast on national radio. As a regular rail traveller between his home in rural Essex and work in central London, Jon Yuill has never lacked inspiration for colourful language (read more - BBC)

Willie Nelson is being inducted into the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce's Hillsboro Hall of Fame. The chamber's 83rd annual banquet will be Jan. 12. The banquet, themed 'Celebrate Hillsboro,' will be held at the Hillsboro Civic Center on Corsicana Highway. It will get under way at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction. Dinner will be served at 6:30. Nelson grew up in Abbott, played football at Abbott High School and worked at 1560 KHBR Radio in Hillsboro. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2002 (read more - Austin 360)

Video may have killed the radio star, but will satellite radio kill regular radio? NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that the new technology is at the top of many Christmas wish lists this year, and Howard Stern might have a lot to do with it (read more - view the video - News Center 5 Boston)

Somehow Ryan Seacrest never stops moving as he hosts L.A.'s No. 1 morning show on KIIS-FM (102.7) and took over Casey Kasem's spot last year in the weekly syndicated radio show "American Top 40" (read more - Merced Search)  (read more - Michael Starr-NY Post)

ARBitron numbers for Atlanta   Charlotte   Miami    Orlando   West Palm Beach  (read 'em)

How big was 2005 in radio? So big that three major San Diego stations ---- Kool 99.3, Star 100.7 and 103.7 The Planet ---- disappeared. Meanwhile, radio personalities from "Jeff & Jer" to Howard Stern played musical chairs, ending the year at different places from where they began. This week, a look at the winners and losers on the radio scene in 2005. Next week, more about the year that was and predictions for 2006 (read more - Randy Dotinga - NC Times)

With some stations going to all-Christmas-music formats in December -- locally including KRWM-FM (106.9) and KCMS-FM (105.3) -- Media Monitors LLC tracked the most-played tunes on 50 all-Christmas stations last year (read the top 10, in order - Bill Virgin-Seattle PI)

Detroit Public Radio began a new program schedule Dec. 13 that brings back public radio listener favorites like Car Talk, Fresh Air, This American Life, Afropop Worldwide and The Tavis Smiley Show. WDET is also bringing some new programs to Detroit listeners such as News & Notes with Ed Gordon, Democracy Now!, Day To Day, BBC's World Have Your Say, Here & Now, Studio 360 and On The Media (read more - PrideSource)

Sirius Satellite Radio subscribers can hear midnight Mass from New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral live at 11 p.m. Central time on Christmas Eve. . . . If you want to watch a Christmas Eve religious service, CBS goes to Lynch Street CME Church in Jackson, Miss., at 10:30 p.m., on Channel 58, with Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt Jr. delivering the message. . . . NBC goes to St. Peter's Basilica at 11:30 p.m. for Pope Benedict XVI's midnight Mass on Christmas Eve (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

It's still three years away, but there now is a firm date for the transition to all-digital television -- the biggest change in the industry since color TV. Legislation passed by the Senate on Wednesday would require broadcasters to end their traditional analog transmissions by Feb. 17, 2009, and send their signals digitally. Such technology promises super-sharp pictures and better sound (read more - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Howard Stern's switch from terrestrial radio was supposed to mean good things for Sirius and its competitor XM Satellite Radio, giving validation to these relatively new services. But you wouldn't know that from the way the two stocks have performed lately. But are concerns overdone? After all, the fourth quarter should be extremely strong for both companies as satellite radio equipment and subscriptions have tended to be popular gifts (read more - CNN Money)

The Houston Astros hired former Iowa Cubs broadcasters Brett Dolan and David Raymond as radio broadcasters for the defending National League champions. The duo will join Fairfield, Iowa native and University of Iowa graduate Milo Hamilton in the booth for Houston. The 2006 season will be the 22nd year calling Astros action for the Hall of Famer (read more - Our Sports Central)

Metro Networks, a Westwood One company unveiled the list of "The Top Ten Worst Traffic Incidents of 2005." Compiled by Metro Networks traffic experts from across the country, the list covers top incident from 10 top U.S. markets (read 'em - Westwood One)

Midland radio station KCRS AM celebrated its 70th anniversary this week. KCRS has been reinvented several times with different format changes along the way, but the station has always been a community standard for news and weather over the air waves (read more - Midland Telegram-Reporter)

With talent on loan from God, Rush Limbaugh, nephew to federal Judge Stephen Limbaugh, was in town over the weekend to attend the wedding of his cousin, Katherine DeVaughn Limbaugh (read more - Deb Peterson-St Louis Post Dispatch)

A journalist, posing as the Spanish PM, called to congratulate him for "joining the Cuban-Venezuelan axis". Mr Morales told a news conference he had spoken to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The PM's office has said the radio station should apologise (read more - BBC)

Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ban on Western music fell on deaf ears yesterday, as shop owners and music enthusiasts in the Iranian capital continued selling, buying and listening to everything from hip-hop to country rock (read more - Salem News)

Ray Stagich has been promoted to Director of Affiliate Sales for The Weather Channel Radio and Newspaper, effective January 2. Stagich had been Manager of Operations for The Weather Channel, a position he held for three years. For the last four years he has also worked closely with the affiliate sales department (visit The Weather Channel)

Wednesday December 21, 2005

Cabbage Patch Kids, Furby, the Xbox 360. Add Howard Stern to the list of Christmas gifts with a following that made them difficult, if not impossible, to find at the height of their popularity. The aging, crass shock jock who ruled mornings on FM radio in Boston and elsewhere until last Friday, takes his act to Sirius Satellite Radio, the number-two player in the subscription radio business, on Jan. 9. Judging by the shelves at some local retailers, he's taking a lot of Boston fans with him (read more - Keith Reed -Boston Globe)

As the transit strike tied knots around the city yesterday, local radio became both information central and an opinion forum that suggested annoyance with the inconvenience and yet considerable support for the transit workers. All-news WINS (1010 AM) and WCBS-AM (880) both dropped virtually all other coverage through the morning, as did news/talk WABC (770 AM) and WWRL (1600 AM) (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

With its amazing array of music choices, satellite has added a new dimension to pop music. They can jump on new music trends quickly: For example, both Sirius and XM added the Latin hip-hop Reggaeton format to their music lineup this year. Satellite also is the new home for many popular radio talents -- some who were fired from the commercial airwaves and others who are syndicated but not heard in all markets (read more - Adrian McCoy-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

One of the hottest musical offerings of this holiday season may be a catchy radio jingle for a New Jersey-based vehicle donation program: "1-877-KARS4KIDS. . . K-A-R-S, cars for kids . . . 1-877-KARS4KIDS. . . Donate your car today." What is left unsaid, and what also is conspicuously absent from the charity's Web site, is that almost all money raised through the Kars4Kids charity goes to a Lakewood, N. J.-based program set up to pay for private schooling and other educational programs. It aims to bring Jewish schoolchildren and adults closer to their heritage (read more - Bill Smith-St Louis Post-Dispatch)

The followers of that supposed "War on Christmas" thing being pushed in prime time by Fox News Channel mud-wrestler-in-chief Bill O'Reilly will be surprised by the card that came from the news channel's press office. It has the evil words "Happy Holidays" emblazoned across the front. Oh, the anti-Christmas horror of it all!
Inside is a funny version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," including these verses:
All of the other networks used to laugh and call Fox names.
Oh how the media darlings thought they'd win the ratings game.
'Til one foggy winter's day, Nielsen came to say: "Fox News with your shows so bright, you will lead the pack tonight." (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

RRadio Network Survey 34 shows that going online is replacing
the more traditional method of looking up phone numbers.
When asked if they use the phone book, or look up phone numbers online, nearly 60% of 1854 persons replied that they "look up phone numbers online." There is little variation in the percentage of response between gender or age groups (read more - RRadio Network)

Just as TiVo and other digital video recorders ushered in the concept of "time shifting" a few years ago, the Slingbox promises to make "place shifting" a reality for households. By letting consumers connect with their cable or satellite hookups when they travel, Slingbox has the potential to splinter further the way television is watched. For instance, even people living far from their hometowns could get a Slingbox, allowing them to watch their local television in another city or even country (read more - NY Times)

KODA-FM Sunny 99.1 reported a significant increase in ratings since its switch to an all-Christmas format last month (read more - Houston Biz Journal)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio will broadcast 12 live college football bowl games during the 2005-06 post-season, including all four games of the Bowl Championship Series. SIRIUS’ coverage will begin Thursday, December 22 (visit Sirius Radio)

During Tuesday night's star-studded show live from the Aladdin Casino Resort, the future home of Planet Hollywood, in Las Vegas, Nevada, NBC announced the 2005 Radio Music Award winners as determined by Mediabase, the medium's leading source for tracking airplay. Mariah Carey led the pack with three awards and the Legend Award (read more - The Futon Critic)  (read more - ET Online)

Testimony continues in the preliminary hearing for a man accused of robbing Joe Francis, the creator of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series. Yesterday, Francis testified that the intruder repeatedly threatened him with a gun and forced him to pose in a sexually humiliating videotape (read more - ABC 7 LA)

Personal computers, cell phones and high-speed Internet are considered essential to getting by for millions of Americans who are showing early signs of addiction to the next wave of high-tech toys, an AP-Ipsos poll found. The latest wave includes MP3 players like iPods -- popular with everyone from the kid next door to President Bush -- high-definition television and digital video recorders like TiVo (read more - Newsday)

Westwood One announced an agreement with CBS Radio to become the exclusive national advertising representative of the new three-hour talk program, the new Jay Severin national radio show. In addition, Westwood One will also exclusively distribute the program to all non-CBS Radio stations nationwide (read more - Westwood One)

ARBitron numbers for Dallas-Fort Worth   Houston-Galveston   Minneapolis-St Paul   Tampa-St Pete (read 'em)

Rob Britton, Managing Director Brand Development and Advertising for American Airlines, will deliver a keynote address at RAB’06, the world’s largest conference exclusively devoted to Radio sales, marketing, and management. Produced annually by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), RAB’06 takes place at the Hyatt Regency DFW Dallas, February 1st through 3rd (read more- RAB)

Westwood One announced an agreement with CBS Radio to become the exclusive national advertising representative of two new morning drive programs hosted by David Lee Roth and Adam Carolla. In addition, Westwood One will also exclusively distribute the two programs to all non-CBS Radio stations nationwide (visit Westwood One)

Tuesday December 20, 2005

A group that promotes decency in the entertainment media Monday argued that America's most famous shock jock, Howard Stern, should still be subject to Federal Communications Commission indecency laws when his show begins broadcasting on satellite radio in January. Melissa Caldwell, director of research and publications at the Parents Television Council, said she agrees that Stern's show should be offered as a separate service, but said indecency laws should not apply to him on satellite (read more - Nathan Burchfiel-Townhall)

Free Radio 96.9 -- a pirate station that was shut down by the Federal Communications Commission in July -- is back on the air with a signal that sounds stronger than the last one (read more - NBC San Diego)

Kidd O'Shea is officially morning co-host at WMYX-FM (99.1), alongside Jane Matenaer, in one of a series of changes at the Mix and WXSS-FM (103.7) that kick in Jan. 3 (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Canada's satellite radio industry, having hurried equipment into stores for the December shopping rush, has run head-on into the sales juggernaut of the iPod, Apple Inc.'s tiny digital music players. Though the two technologies differ greatly, the dominance of the iPod at cash registers this season means Canada's newly minted satellite radio providers will be looking at 2006 to make a bigger splash in the portable music market, analysts say (read more - The Globe and Mail)

ARBitron numbers for Cincinnati   Dayton   Phoenix   Pittsburgh   St Louis   Tucson   (read 'em)

James Martz, the state prosecutor who is leading the investigation into Rush Limbaugh's drug use has been appointed a Palm Beach County judge, Gov. Jeb Bush announced Monday (read more - Sun Sentinel)  (read more - Palm Beach Post)

Mark Messier has signed a marketing agreement with XM Satellite Radio to promote XM's nationwide broadcasts of National Hockey League (NHL) games and XM's exclusive NHL talk radio channel Home Ice (read more - XM Radio)

HDNet is closing out the year packed with great original programming with a week of concert and comedy marathons, and several "Best of 2005" news, entertainment and sports programs (visit HD.net)

Westwood One announced that, effective immediately, Beth Robinson assumes the position of Senior Vice President of Radio Network Operations and Engineering in New York. In this new role, Robinson will continue to oversee all day-to-day radio network operations responsibilities for New York and Washington as well as add oversight of the Production and Engineering functions

Premiere Radio Networks announced that Tom O’Brien has been named Mike Berman’s successor as Vice President/Detroit Manager. Berman, who has been with Premiere Radio four years, will retire at the end of the year. O’Brien will be responsible for representing the company’s programs and networks to current and future advertisers in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Pittsburgh

Dear Radio Babe: Would you please put in your column when Mr. Majik has his polka hour (on) 88.5? Thank you. J.E.H. Dear J.E.H.: You must be psychic -- the "Polka Party X-Press" flier recently came across Radio Babe's desk and was next on her list (read more - Dawn Scire-The Radio Babe)

TXU Corp.'s electric delivery subsidiary will announce a $150 million partnership with Current Communications Group under which Current will build a broadband "smart grid" data transmission system over most of the TXU electric grid system that covers the Dallas-Fort Worth area and much of North Texas. TXU will use the system, which will be installed on about 70 percent of the 114,000 miles of TXU transmission and distribution wires next year, to better monitor its own grid to anticipate and respond to maintenance problems and potential outages (read more - Star-Telegram)  (read more - MSNBC)  (read more - Dallas News)

Former WTVG news anchor Holly Hollingsworth recently joined the morning radio show on WLZT-FM in Columbus. She continues to work full-time as a reporter and fill-in anchor at WCMH-TV, where she has spent the past nine-plus years (read more - Russ Lemmon-Toldeo Blade)

From Happy Hare -- I am happy that Lee Baby Simms isn’t around in the same era as the new jockless Jack radio. We would not have his timeless “bits” to look back on today. Here is one of my all-time Lee Baby “bits.” It was in the late 60’s when Lee Baby, then on the KCBQ San Diego night shift played “If I were a Carpenter.” And after the song, speculated sadly on the plight of the poor carpenter with his upscale girl friend. Then moved on in the show. The phone lines on his control board lit up (read more - HappyHareOnline.com)

Radio host Dr. Mike Newcomb has been chosen to fill-in for the nationally syndicated Bill Press program December 26th through December 30th. Bill Press’ program airs 6a-9a eastern and is heard on the Sirius satellite system as well as more than a dozen local radio stations including KCTC-AM Sacramento and KRXA-AM Monterey

Broadcasting has several halls of fame, and now Dick Purtan will be in two of them. The veteran Detroit morning man on WOMC-FM (104.3) will be inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame at the NAB 2006 Radio Luncheon on April 25 in Las Vegas (read more - Detroit Free Press)

ABC News is to appeal against a London employment tribunal's ruling that it unfairly dismissed one of its journalists because he refused to go to Iraq. The network has consistently denied it terminated the contract of its former London correspondent, Richard Gizbert, for refusing to go to Iraq, saying he was dismissed for budget reasons. It plans to appeal the ruling, which was delivered last week. "This tribunal will have no impact on ABC News policy. The policy always was that war assignments were voluntary and always will be. He was fired because of cutbacks in our London bureau," said the ABC News vice president, Jeffrey Schneider (read more - Media Guardian U.K.)

One of Philadelphia’s favorite disc jockeys, Anita, is returning for another guest-stint on WMGK 102.9-FM Christmas week. She’ll be filling in for Andre Gardner on the 2-6 p.m. shift. The Levittown native’s heyday was on WYSP 94.1-FM in the 80’s (read more - Laura Nachman)

How many people, even rock fans, know John Peel outside UK? Very few, for sure. It's difficult to make comparisons with other talent-scouts, because Peel made it in only one way: from the microphone of radio studios, in particular those of BBC. He was the most well-known Dj in a country, Great Britain, that's fundamental for fans and people sharing pop-rock experiences. For this reason, his merits are undisputed. His intuition made him embrace artist and styles before other conductors, to broadcast them and impose to audience taste. A way to discover his way of life is the book dedicated to him in England (read more - Drammaturgia)

An accountant and a former executive of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. have paid fines to settle charges of insider trading in connection with the announcement of Sirius reaching a $500 million deal in 2004 for shock jock Howard Stern (read more - Forbes)  (read more - Washington Post)

Ronnie Spector wasn't having a holly-jolly Christmas at her annual Yule party at B.B. King's Blues Club on 42nd Street the other night. After apologizing for being an hour late, saying her life is hell, the 58-year-old former Ronettes lead singer ranted, "My ex-husband called and said he would kill me . . . He owes me millions of dollars. Phil Spector sucks." (read more - NY Post)

Going from rock group Queen to the "king of kings," Austin classic rock radio station KPEZ-FM 102.3 switched music formats Dec. 16 to become Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s first contemporary Christian radio station in the United States (read more - Austin Biz Journal)

Satellite radio is like a big-box hardware store where there's 20,000 square feet of retail space but they only sell one kind of snow shovel. Obviously, local content is lacking. It was interesting to hear about a traffic tie-up on Old Hickory Boulevard, which is in Nashville, but that didn't help me on Whitemud Drive, which is in Edmonton. But it's a small price to pay (plus $15 a month). Having the entirety of American pop culture at your fingertips while driving really makes one feel part of the "global village." The talk radio was interesting. There are topics for every taste (read more - Mike Ross-Edmonton Sun)

Paragon Media Strategies, in conjunction with Goodratings Strategic Services, conducted an online survey of 605 Christian CHR listeners (37% male / 63% female) November 10th – 21st, 2005. This study explores who the Christian CHR listener is, why they listen to Christian radio and what other formats they listen to and like. This is the first part of a five part series that summarizes the results of the study. Charts provided represent top-line data only. For more in-depth results of these tables and other questions, visit www.paragonmediastrategies.com
 

Monday December 19, 2005

K-Rock will do talk from Monday to Friday, leaving city radio with no contemporary rocker. "It's mind-blowing that the largest radio market in the country no longer will have a station that showcases new rock," said Steve Blatter, senior vice president of programming at Sirius. Not that he's complaining. Sirius and satellite rival XM would love to step in and scoop up dispossessed rock fans. But so would a lot of terrestrial stations - led by WAXQ (104.3 FM), the city's last remaining all-rock outlet (read more - David Hinckley - NY Daily News)

In what might be the largest single-day radio massacre in St. Louis broadcasting memory, nearly the entire on-air staff at KTRS (AM-550) will be pink-slipped as of Jan. 6, Tim Dorsey, president and founder of the station, said Friday. The personalities who are being let go are familiar names in St. Louis, most of them having joined the station after working at KMOX. They include Bill Wilkerson, Wendy Wiese, Randy Karraker, McGraw Milhaven, Kevin Horrigan, Jim Holder, Scott St. James and Meme Wolff. Horrigan is also an editorial writer at the Post-Dispatch. Frank O. Pinion, however, will stay on the air. "The Cardinals gave us a chance to attract new talent and unique talent from around the country," KTRS manager Craig Unger said (read more - Deb Peterson-St Louis Post Dispatch)  (read more - Dan Caesar-St Louis Post Dispatch)

Premiere Radio Networks reported RADAR 87, December 2005 results for its 14 RADAR networks (Diamond, Diamond Plus, Emerald, Emerald Plus, Female Focus, FOX News, Male Focus, Mediabase, Morning Drive, Pearl, Pearl Plus, Sapphire, Sapphire Plus, Urban One). RADAR 87’s measurement marks the second survey for its new FOX News Network, which is Premiere’s first news network (read more -Premiere Radio)

Toronto may soon have not one, but two country music stations: one beaming from Oshawa's independent "new country" operation, KX96; and another right in the middle of the city, on the 92.5 FM band currently occupied by JACK-FM (read more - Toronto Star)

Sirius Satellite Radio's $500 million investment to add Howard Stern to its programming starting in January has already paid big dividends - even for its rival, XM Satellite Radio. In the year since the Stern deal was announced in October 2004, XM, the industry leader, doubled its subscribers to five million. Meanwhile, Sirius subscribers increased to 2.2 million by the third quarter of this year, up from about a million at the end of 2004. The growth has, in part, been attributed to the "Stern effect," according to company officials and analysts. "Howard Stern has raised the awareness of the entire satellite radio category," said Hugh Panero, XM's president (read more - Eric Taub-NY Times)

Radio extraordinaire Chuck Buell has a small voice role in the movie, "Brokeback Mountain."  At the point in the movie where the two cowboys are talking beside a parked pickup truck with the radio on, you can hear Chuck's voice in the background on KIMN. "Credit Sitters" can see Chuck's  name in the "Special Thanks To" section on screen, so when you see the movie, don't rush out of your seat too quickly when the movie ends (visit www.chuckbuell.com)  (watch a trailer from the movie)

From Claude Hall -- One more photo of the Beach Boys that I took at the Westchester Community Center, White Plains, NY, in the 60s. Is that Brian Wilson? Or Dennis? e-mail from Lee Bayley "Good to hear and read your 'this time of year' feelings. I, too, share
them. I have been blessed by hundreds of people...Bill Drake, Gene Chenault, Bill Watson, Steve Downes, Mike Crusham. Coyote Calhoun, Smoky Dacus (Bob Wills' drummer, who was the GM of KAMO when I was a teenage
jock), Dewey Johnson, Pat Shaughnessy...I could go on
forever. Scattershooting: Your picture of the Beach Boys brings back old memories. While at KAKC, Tulsa, I talked the Beach Boys into coming in for a free appearance at a Youth Rally organized by Lt. Governor George Nigh. I got to know Carl and Dennis very well and stayed in touch over the years (read more - www.ClaudeHallOnline.com)

ABC News Radio has launched its new sports information service. Sports Access will include commentary and live reports from sports broadcasters such as Mike Tirico, Bill Walton, Hubie Brown and Michele Tafoya. Coverage spans the major sports events at both college and professional levels – including NCAA football and basketball, motor racing, golf and most pro leagues (visit ABC Radio)

Was it race or ratings? The overnight morphing last week of radio station KDJM 92.5-FM ("Jammin"') from rhythm and blues to country killed the city's only "urban" voice. It has left the station's devotees livid (read more - Dick Kreck-Denver Post)

Robert Krulwich, a reporter who was a favorite on the Ted Koppel incarnation of ABC's "Nightline," is returning to National Public Radio (read more - San Jose Mercury News)

 Santa makes his yearly stop at Mark Reardon's Thursday WTMJ-AM (620) show in the 8 p.m. hour. . . . "Dr. Christmas" begins the 17th edition of his annual program of Christmas music on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh's WRST-FM (90.3) today. It airs in the 1 to 8 p.m. slot through Friday, and 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Robert Novak, who hasn't been seen on CNN since swearing and storming off the set in August, will leave the network after 25 years and join Fox News Channel as a contributor next month (read more - NY Post)

Sirius is depending on Howard Stern to reverse the company's money-losing ways. Since the 51-year-old shock jock announced his move last year, the number of Sirius subscribers jumped from 600,000 to more than 2.2 million -- and that figure was expected to hit 3 million by the end of this year (read more - CNN)  (read more - NY 1)

From John Rook -- Going from radio station owner to record promotion executive was a natural progression for Jim Davenport (read more - www.johnrook.com)

58 year old John Spencer, who played a tough and dedicated politico-chief of staff on "The West Wing" and who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday (read more - San Diego Union Tribune)

Jeffrey Hedquist of Hedquist Productions is challenging the radio writers of the world to turn the worst radio commercials in North America (winners of the Sow’s Ear Award) into effective radio commercials. Hedquist said, " ... let’s show how these Sows’ Ears can be turned into Silk Purses." Rewrite one or more of them by January 15, 2006 (read more - www.sowsearaward.com)

With Stern's final terrestrial radio show in the history books, Bridge Ratings today released its December update on Stern listener intent related to following the radio personality to Sirius satellite radio in January. This study updates previous data we've been tracking all year, but for the first time clarifies how many Stern listeners do not intend to subscribe and why. For an update on Stern's listeners' thoughts, click here or go to www.bridgeratings.com

ARBitron numbers for Akron   Baltimore   Fredericksburg VA   Hartford    Washington DC   (read 'em)

Paul Duckworth has been named Operations Director for 630 WMAL, Washington, D.C., in an announcement made today by 630 WMAL President and General Manager, Chris Berry. In this position, Paul will be responsible for all on-air programming, along with marketing and operations for 630 WMAL. He will begin on Monday, January 9 (visit WMAL)

92.3 FREE FM, formerly WXRK-FM, has changed its call letters to WFNY-FM, effective Sunday, January 1. 92.3 FREE FM will move to a predominately talk format to coincide with the launch of David Lee Roth’s new morning show beginning Tuesday, January 3, 2006. “92.3 FREE FM is undergoing a major transition to the industry’s newest format,” said Tom Chiusano, Vice President and General Manager, 92.3 FREE FM. The complete new 92.3 FREE FM weekday talent line-up includes David Lee Roth (6:00 – 10:00 AM); JV & Elvis (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM); Penn Jillette (2:00 – 3:00 PM); Leslie Gold (3:00 – 7:00 PM) and Booker, Monday-Thursday (7:00 – 11:00 PM) and Friday (7:00 – 10:00 PM)

Friday December 16, 2005

... for all the hand-wringing about Howard Stern's raunch scaring off other Sirius subscribers or preventing the satellite service from working with more conservative business partners, Mel Karmazin is obviously planning on a multiplier effect: The hoopla about Stern's move from Infinity to Sirius has been in full effect for weeks and won't die down for at least another month (read more - Forbes)

Howard Stern might be leaving terrestrial radio at the wrong time. With the release of the first real digital AM/FM radio receiver, satellite radio may have some real competition to worry about (read more - Gary Krakow-MSNBC) (Photo: Boston Acoustics)

There's a connection between the two provocative New York radio personalities who will soon be leaving their longtime gigs. Bob Grant was one of Howard Stern's radio heroes. As a Long Island high-schooler in the early 1970s, Stern avidly listened to Grant's afternoon talk show on WMCA. The once and future radio talk titans even met each other ... "I looked at this big, gawky kid and I said to him, 'Just be yourself,'" Grant recalled. Obviously, Stern took Grant's advice to heart (read more - Andy Edelstein-Newsday)

Howard Stern, no surprise, is not leaving terrestrial radio quietly. He planned a two-hour midtown Manhattan party to say goodbye to any loyal listeners who turn up (read more - WNBC TV)  (read more - Richard Huff-NY Daily News)

Yahoo Inc. filled the void between Howard Stern's departure from terrestrial radio Friday and his arrival at his new Sirius Satellite Radio home January 9 by offering Howard Nation, a full package of exclusive webcast video, blogs, photos and more (read more - Reuters)  Stern cancels his appearance on Saturday Night Live (read more - NY Post)

XM Satellite Radio and ABC News will launch "The Good Morning America Radio Show," which will be broadcast exclusively on XM Satellite Radio starting January 23. The launch was announced live today on "Good Morning America" by the GMA anchors and their guest Hugh Panero, President and CEO of XM Satellite Radio. "The Good Morning America Radio Show" will feature Diane Sawyer, Charles Gibson and Robin Roberts along with radio personality Hilarie Barsky (read more - XM Radio)

Clear Channel Radio today announced seven finalists for its Request for Proposals to create a state-of-the-art radio ratings system. The company also announced the initial members of an evaluation team, comprising a cross-section of members of the radio industry and advertising community, including media buyers and advertisers. Seven proposals have been selected to be evaluated. The submitting companies are, in alphabetical order, Arbitron, Integrated Media Measurement, MediaAudit/Ipsos, Mediamark Research, Paladin Adsolutions, RadioStat and Simmons (read more - Clear Channel)  (read more - Houston Chronicle)

ARBitron numbers for Boston   Monterey   San Francisco   San Jose (read 'em)

From Kent Burkhart -- Erica Farber is the publisher of Radio and Records. She writes a column called Publishers Profile. She recently interviewed me as a subject for her column. Erica is very highly thought of as a person…people like her. She also does one heck of an interview. I know because I WAS THERE at the other end of the phone line last week. I am not going to disclose the questions she asked or my answers. However, I would like to add two more restaurants….you’ll understand when you read the column. The two additions are El Zarape in Matagorda County, Texas, and the Truck Stop on Interstate 10 as you leave El Paso heading east (read more - www.KentBurkhart.com)

Helsingin Sanomat has learned that the US radio giant Clear Channel Communications is also hoping to enter the Finnish market. In Texas, Bob Cohen, Clear Channel's head of international operations, did not want to comment on the matter (read more - Helsingin Sanomat)

Veteran programmer Clarke Ingram has been promoted to the Program Director post at Broadcast Communication's Pittsburgh cluster, WKHB-AM & WKFB-AM (620 KHB & 770 KFB). Ingram is a Pittsburgh native who was PD of the former WBZZ (B94) and WJJJ (104.7). He's been with WKHB/WKFB for two years. The stations program a variety of Talk, Oldies, and paid programming.

Claims that Sydney's race violence has been stoked by talkback radio were reinforced today when a radio announcer was forced to apologise for on-air comments about Lebanese Australians. Macquarie Radio station 2GB's late night announcer in Sydney, Brian Wilshire, had accused some Lebanese of being inbred. "Many of them have parents who are first cousins whose parents were first cousins," he told listeners to his 9pm-midnight show. "The result of this is inbreeding – the result of which is uneducationable (sic) people...and very low IQ." (read more - News.com Australia)

Canadian consumers now have the opportunity to fully experience the benefits of Satellite radio,” says Rick Lotman, merchandising, marketing and Ecommerce vice-president for Future Shop. “It’s something completely different and will change how people listen to radio; providing a great alternative to mainstream radio.” It means you can drive from Vancouver to St. John’s and listen to the same station the entire way without any interruptions (read more - Northern Life-Canada)

Tom Petty and XM Satellite Radio announced that he will be back for a second season of "Tom Petty's Buried Treasure." The new season will begin at 10 a.m. Monday. "Tom brings to "Buried Treasure' the same deep passion for music that has made him a musical legend," said Lee Abrams, XM Satellite Radio's chief creative officer. "We are honored to be able to bring him and his musical genius to our listeners in such a compelling way." (read more - Asbury Park Press)

Dan Schwartzman from ESPN Radio (1450-AM) in Atlantic City will be the new co-host of "Philly Sports Live" and Program Director of ESPN (920-AM). Schwartzman will join John Mozes on the weekday afternoon show from 4 p.m.- 7 p.m. Schwartzman replaces Tripp Rogers, who departed the station a couple of months ago (read more - Laura Nachman)

570 KLIF Singing News got CNN's attention. KLIF's morning news anchor Ron DeRoxtra appeared and sang on CNN Thursday at around 1:45pm. You can listen to a podcast of the KLIF Singing Newscast by clicking here. You can also vote on whether this is a good thing or not by clicking here and you can view the CNN video on the KLIF Web site

Dick Purtan, legendary host of Oldies 104.3 WOMC Detroit's "Morning Show with Purtan's People," will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame at the NAB2006 Radio Luncheon, Tuesday, April 25, in Las Vegas (read more - NAB)

For the third time in his broadcasting career, Bob Sirott is going to work for WMAQ-Channel 5 -- but in a considerably bigger role this time than when he first joined as an NBC page (read more - Feder of Chicago)

ABC News Radio will provide affiliates with a one-hour broadcast examining how life has changed in Iraq. Iraq: Where Things Stand will air today (Friday) at 7:06 PM (ET), one day after Iraq’s national elections. The program will be co-anchored by World News Tonight co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas and ABC News Radio Correspondent Aaron Katersky, both in Baghdad (visit ABC Radio)

Time Warner Cable will begin selling a package of 15 television channels for families, becoming the first big cable company to respond to pressure from regulators to curb sexually explicit programming (read more - Newsday)

After 89 days of broadcasting from Atlanta, National Public Radio affiliate W-W-N-O-F-M will return Monday to its studios at the University of New Orleans (read more - KATC 3)

Kay Grace, a nine-year radio host at KCHO Chico and KFPR Redding, Northstate Public Radio, died Wednesday of an apparent heart attack, station manager Jack Brown said Thursday (read more- Record Searchlight)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio's spectacular holiday special programming will feature unique music, talk, comedy, entertainment and sports programs, all designed to enhance the holiday activities (visit Sirius Radio)

Barry Gordon’s “From Left Field” moves to KCAA Radio and “NewsRap” featured on Channel 56 TV. Barry Gordon, veteran actor most recently seen on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and former President of the Screen Actors Guild, can now be heard on “From Left Field” Sundays 2-5 p.m. over KCAA 1050 AM and seen on “NewsRap” Tuesday-Friday 9-10 p.m. on Channel 56 (visit GordonTalk.com)

Radio personality Arnie Arnesen will be off the air at the end of the year because her talk show is "too provocative" to sell ads, Arnesen, 52, said. Arnesen said she doesn't know whether she'll look for a new radio job after she leaves WTPL, 107.7 FM (read more - Concord Monitor)

Thursday December 15, 2005

Tomorrow, when shock-jock titan Howard Stern exits earthbound radio for the burgeoning world of satellite next month, he leaves behind a medium whose audience is spending 17 percent less time listening than it did in 1993. A sense is growing that commercial radio is becoming a technological dinosaur. "It's become such a secondary medium," said Fred Jacobs, a radio consultant best known for originating the classic-rock concept. "Radio is lacking the buzz that's around satellite and iPods." (read more - Baltimore Sun)

The threat of a transit-worker strike is putting a damper on Howard Stern's elaborate plans for his final day on free radio. For weeks, Stern has been hyping plans to hold a rally tomorrow on West 56th Street — likely to be attended by thousands of fans — that will feature his family and a slew of wacky friends from his long-running radio show. But the event will be canceled by cops if New York City's transit workers go on strike (read more - Don Kaplan-NY Post) (read more - Peter Johnson-USA Today)  (read more- Florida Today)

ARBitron numbers for Detroit   Philadelphia   Baksersfield (read 'em)

Some joy at WYSP-FM (94.1). Steven Singer Jewelers, a longtime Howard Stern advertiser, has decided to stay with WYSP after Stern's defection next month to Sirius Satellite Radio. This is a big ad week for Stern's show, in anticipation of tomorrow's finale, says general manager Peter Kleiner. Spots are sold out into next week, when the show goes to two weeks of reruns. Rocker-turned-talker David Lee Roth will start the morning of Jan. 3 (read more - Michael Klein-Philly Inquirer)

The country music world has never been a real friendly place for liberal types. God and the U.S. of A. are at the top of the priority lists of most country singers, even above trucks, guns and dogs. U.S. 95.7 FM, one of San Diego's two country stations, even proclaims its patriotism in its own name. So gung-ho patriotic songs should have been all the rage as the Iraq war passed its 1,000th day Tuesday, right? Well, not exactly (read more - Randy Dotinga-NC Times)

Disc jockeys from "Nine FM" will broadcast live from suburban malls all next week to promote a holiday food drive to benefit America's Second Harvest -- the Nation's Food Bank + John Sebastian, a radio consultant who most recently ran programming for Cumulus Media in Nashville, Tenn., has been named program director of WJMK. The post has been open for six months + Jay Marvin, the former WLS star who now hosts mornings at KKZN-AM in Denver, fills in all next week for Jerry Springer on Air America Radio (read more - Feder of Chicago)  (read more - Nashville City Paper)

Howard Stern, will do his last broadcast on "terrestrial radio'' Friday morning and will resurface in January on the Sirius satellite network. After tomorrow's show, if you want to hear about the exploits of Crackhead Bob, High Pitch Eric, Sal the Stockbroker, Gary the Retard and King of All Blacks; if you want to listen to Howard discuss his latest bowel movement; if you want to know what's going on with Artie's battles with the bottle and Robin's romance with Mr. X; if you want to hear Howard rip Oprah and Starr Jones and "The View"; in short, if you want to hear the most successful talent in the history of radio, it will cost you (read more - Richard Roeper-Chicago Sun-Times)

Ads everywhere you look are helping propel the first-ever sales of satellite radios in Canada this Christmas, but just how many consumers want the technology, and how soon, remains to be seen. Satellite radio is not just a new consumer electronics product but also a whole new product category (read more - Toronto Star)

One of Wichita's major radio broadcasters fired three staff members this week as part of an end-of-the-year housecleaning.
Clear Channel Communications, which operates four stations in the area, let go two on-air personalities at classic rock station KTHR 107.3-FM, The Road, and a program director whose duties were split between The Road and KZSN 102.1-FM, Kissin' Country, said general manager Dick Harlow (read more - Wichita Eagle)

At lunchtime on Wednesday, a chandeliered ballroom in downtown Washington, D.C. played host to scores of communications company executives, who set down their coffee cups and forkfuls of pecan tart to sing a rousing "Happy Birthday" to their guest of honor: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, who just turned 39 (read more - CNet)

KRPM-FM. KKBY-FM. KYCW-FM. KAYO-FM. That's an incomplete list of the local stations that over the years have tried to make it in the country market, challenging KMPS-FM (94.1). None of those is playing country these days. KMPS, on the other hand, has a 30-year-plus heritage as a country station (first on AM, then moving to FM). But the station's position as the top-rated country format in the market appears to be too inviting to pass up (read more - Bill Virgin-Seattle PI)

Laura Gonzo, Director of Affiliate Sales & Marketing of the Bob and Tom Show, was recently honored by the Humane Society of Louisiana (HSLA) for her outstanding efforts in helping animal victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Gonzo traveled to Tylertown, Miss., in October to volunteer at the HSLA’s hurricane rescue and recovery site, nicknamed “Camp Katrina,” and has since been a passionate advocate for the organization from her home in Indianapolis

There's a new-old station in town - KCUV 1510-AM, trying to find a workable format since it went on the air as an "Americana" station two years ago, last week switched to "The True Oldies Channel."
The format from New York City personality Scott Shannon plays only tunes from the 1950s and '60s via satellite programming. It's distributed by the ABC Radio Network (read more - Dick Kreck-Denver Post)

From Murphy Martin --  Old St. Nick has not yet made his rounds and we have some fun days to look forward to the next two weeks. But there is much unfinished business to be addressed throughout this world and I do hope that you will join me in a New Year's Resolution that we will earnestly try to be a part of those who try to solve those problems in 2006. Merry Christmas to all!!! (read more - www.MurphyMartin.com)

Charles River Broadcasting has picked a buyer for its classical radio station WCRB-FM (102.5), and the expected sale price is close to $100 million — a rich deal, indeed. Why so much? There are a lot of things you can do with a classical radio station, and not all of them include playing classical music (read more - Boston Herald)

Kern County will have to dial into a new station to listen to Rush Limbaugh as of next week. The conservative talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh, is moving to another station since News Radio 970 will be undergoing some major change. Clear Channel, parent company to News Radio 970, has decided to go in a different direction for the long term and is pulling the plug on the talk news format this weekend (read more - KGET 17)

CHUM Ltd. is looking to expand its Canadian radio operations and wants federal regulators to allow its proposed subscription radio service to import channels from countries such as the United States (read more - The Globe and Mail)

TalkRadio 790 KABC will host a “Santa Cause” party to benefit the children served by the Assistance League of Southern California (ALSC) on Thursday, December 15, 2005 at 3:30PM. In keeping with a longstanding tradition of lending a helping hand during the Holidays, KABC Radio invited listeners to donate funds that would be used to purchase toys and gifts for children at the ALSC’s Learning Center for Young Children and Children’s Club (visit KABC)

Veteran broadcaster Ray Suarez has been named host of  American RadioWorks, public radio's largest documentary production team. Suarez, who has 25 years of broadcast news experience, begins work in January with the American RadioWorks documentary "Intelligent Designs on Evolution." Suarez is also a senior correspondent for public television's
Newshour with Jim Lehrer

Equity Broadcasting Corp. of Little Rock said Wednesday that it is selling some of its stations in Oregon and Idaho to Fisher Communications Inc. of Seattle for $20.3 million. The sale includes KPOU in La Grande, Oregon (read more - Arkansas Business)

Friday, December 16, nationally syndicated radio host Delilah will deliver a horse-drawn carriage full of toys to Toys for Tots. The toys were donated by her listeners and her Seattle, Wash., radio affiliate, KRWM-FM 106.9. They will benefit the underprivileged kids in the greater Western Washington area (read more - PR Newswire)

ABC Radio Networks announced that Kix Brooks, of the award-winning Country duo Brooks & Dunn, will debut as host of its syndicated program American Country Countdown on January 21. The music-intensive four hour program counts down the 40 biggest songs in Country music, as compiled by Billboard magazine, captivating listeners each weekend with exclusive stories about their favorite country artists and other national celebrities

The Advanced Radio Network, producers of Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline, announce the availability of a new radio feature, "Technically Speaking". Technically Speaking delivers an accurate prediction of stock market trends to listeners on a daily basis. In just 90 seconds, Technically Speaking will tell you not only what the market did, but why the market did it, and what it wants to do next (visit Radio Tech Speak)

Bob Grant is leaving WOR next month by what is said to be a "mutual agreement," The Post has learned. In a move sure to shock fans who made him New York's top-rated afternoon gabber for decades, Grant will do his last show of the year today, then take three weeks vacation and return for a final seven shows beginning Jan. 5 (read more - John Mainelli-NY Post)

Chicago radio's top-rated morning show on news/talk WGN-AM (720) is replacing outgoing news veteran Tom Petersen with rising star Andrea Darlas + WCKG-FM (105.9) is pulling the plug on the midday talk show hosted by Pete McMurray and Maura Myles, as of Dec. 23. Their show lasted only nine months at the Infinity Broadcasting "Free FM" station (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Viacom on Wednesday said that it has renamed its Infinity Broadcasting unit CBS Radio. The original CBS Radio was founded in 1928, when William Paley purchased a company comprised of 16 independent radio stations which he turned into one of the first radio networks. The CBS Radio of today includes many of those same stations, which continue to lead their markets. Additionally, the division is home to 29 of the country's leading sports franchises amongst MLB, the NFL, the NBA, the WNBA, and the NHL including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Chicago Bears and the Detroit Red Wings. CBS Radio will continue to be run by Joel Hollander, who will continue to report to Les Moonves (read more - MSN Money)  (read more - Sandy Brown-The Street)

Since announcing in October 2004 that he was leaving traditional radio for satellite radio - his last broadcast is Friday - Howard Stern has used his top-rated morning talk show (which airs locally on WBCN, 104.1 FM), as a four-hour daily advertisement for his future employer, Sirius. He has praised pay radio as the last bastion of free speech, and he has also claimed, almost daily, that due to the tightening grip of the Federal Communications Commission, his broadcasts on traditional radio have been sub-par, of little interest even to him. In short, he hasn’t just bitten the hand that feeds him (Infinity Broadcasting), he’s severed the arm that feeds him from just below the elbow. Forget "king of all media," he’s the "king of all advertising" (read more - Alexander Stevens-Somerville Journal)  (read more - Rene Rodriguez-Knight Ridder)  (read more - CNet)

Bob Dylan shocked his fans 40 years ago by embracing the electric guitar. Now he's stunning a few more by embracing another technological innovation: satellite radio. The singer has signed on to serve as host of a weekly one-hour program on XM Satellite Radio, spinning records and offering commentary on new music and other topics, starting in March. XM's chief programmer, Lee Abrams, said his company talked with Dylan's management for about two years about the Grammy-winning artist becoming a host (read more - Jeff Leeds-NY Times)  (read more - Paul Farhi-Washington Post)

Bizarre as it sounds, industry sources say the network's package to lure Katie Couric to the "Evening News" slot is about $60 million over five years. Earlier reports that the Katie offer from CBS was closer to $20 million over seven years were knocked down yesterday by the same sources. CBS apparently felt justified in making the lower offer because she would be on the air just 30 minutes a night — compared to three hours at "Today." (read more - Don Kaplan-NY Post)

The Society of Professional Journalists is urging Clear Channel radio group to stop allowing its stations to sell naming rights to their newsrooms. WIBA, a Clear Channel radio station in Madison, Wis., sold the naming rights for its newsroom to a local bank. "The only thing a news organization has is its credibility," said David Carlson, SPJ president. "When that's lost, listeners, viewers and readers will not be far behind." "Does it sound credible to introduce a news report with 'Here's Jennifer Miller from the Battz Beer News Center?'" (read more - AScribe)

"Travelin'" Mike Gallagher's program has moved from WBAP 820 to KRLD 1080 and now settles in to the 6am-9am time slot on News Talk 660 K-SKY beginning today - Wednesday (visit News Talk 660 KSKY)  Conservative talk show host Jay McFarland will replace Mike Gallagher on Infinity Broadcasting's talk radio station KRLD-AM (1080).  He previously worked with Infinity VP of Talk Programming Gavin Spittle in Las Vegas.  KRLD is using the hour from 9-10 am to expand their morning news block.  GM Jerry Bobo says he is thrilled to have the opportunity to provide the Dallas-Fort Worth listeners with expanded news coverage and the best in live and local talk (read more - Dallas Biz Journal)

It had its day — even a proud day — but it has no future. Right? Wrong. As surely as the lip-locked caterpillars presently sported by Jason Lee and Colin Farrell, radio — long associated with wires, transistors and an ancient AM/FM dial — is launching a comeback in our DVD/500 channel/Tivo-ed universe after years of decline. (According to Stats Canada, over the last five years, adults reduced their listening time by nearly one hour per week.) Spurring radio’s resurrection? The Internet, podcasting and satellite technology. This month, Sirius Satellite Inc. unveiled their radio system to Canadians, two days after XM Satellite launched theirs (read more - Calgary Sun)

Flip/Atlantic recording group Staind will be the sole musical guest on Howard Stern's final traditional radio broadcast, slated for Friday, December 16th. The group will perform on 56th Street in Manhattan, outside the studios of radio station K-Rock (WXRK). Stern and his show will move to Sirius Satellite Radio in January (read more - Marketwire)

U.S. senators Ted Stevens and Daniel Inouye said that they would back Tennessee state regulator Deborah Tate to fill the Republican seat on the FCC and a second term at the agency for Democrat Michael Copps (read more - Reuters)

About 50 ABC radio staff went on strike for 24 hours yesterday as part of a long-running dispute about the culling of six production jobs in current affairs in Sydney. The strike affected AM, PM and The World Today (read more - Sydney Morning Herald)

Home Truths, BBC Radio 4's Saturday morning programme, which for many of its listeners was synonymous with its presenter John Peel, is to come to an end next spring. It began in 1998, growing out of John Peel's previous award-winning series, Offspring. Explaining his decision to bring it to an end, Mark Damazer, Controller Radio 4, said: "John Peel's death last year was a terrible shock. We did not want to make a decision in haste so, with the support and hard work of the highly skilled production team and the pool of great presenters, the programme has continued. "However, John's unique personality was bound up with Home Truths and now it's time to look for a different programme (read more - Waveguide)

Lex & Terry launched their show on a new affiliate, KHBZ-FM (94-7 The Buzz) in Oklahoma City this morning (visit Lex and Terry)

ARBitron numbers for Chicago   Los Angeles   Milwaukee   San Diego (read 'em)

Salem Communications has named Joe Gonzalez manager of its three-station group in Orlando (read more - Orlando Biz Journal)

Arnold Diaz, best known for his "Shame On You" con sumer report segments, is gone from Ch. 2 after a sec ond go-round at the station. Diaz returned to Ch. 2 in 2003 after spending seven years on ABC's "20/20." (read more - Michael Starr-NY Post)

Got a Minute? You can now click on a clip to hear a sample broadcast of CNN in :60.  It's the new, fast-paced one-minute news update from CNN (visit CNN)

Do you live in a remote area of Wyoming that has poor radio reception -- or selection -- and have thought about switching to satellite radio? The Casper Star-Tribune wants to hear from you (read more - Jackson Hole/Casper Star-Tribune)

The new lineup of HD Radio receiver products and features will be on display this year in the iBiquity Digital booth at CES - located in the Convention Center North Hall, #4616 as well as multiple partner booths - in Las Vegas during the first week of January 2006. Among the highlights: (1) new HD Radio receivers across multiple product categories, including OEM, automotive, tabletop, and custom home, (2) live multicast programming from local Las Vegas stations, (3) vehicle navigation demonstrations, and much more (visit iBiquity.com)

It's an experiment in radio broadcasting this Wednesday on Talk Radio 570 KLIF/Dallas: 570 KLIF Singing News. First of its kind in the world, belted out by KLIF morning news anchor extraordinaire Ron DeRoxtra. The singing 'cast will be repeated at noon and 6 p.m. KLIF listeners will vote yea or nay on the idea of future singing newscasts by casting votes online at www.KLIF.com

Tuesday December 13, 2005

Prosecutors can subpoena Rush Limbaugh's doctors as part of an investigation into whether the conservative radio commentator illegally bought painkillers, a judge ruled Monday. Judge David F. Crow ruled that Florida laws do not prevent doctors from talking with prosecutors if the discussion is relevant to the prosecution of a crime, ending months of legal delays over that issue. But they can't ask the doctors much, at least at this stage of the investigation, Circuit Judge David Crow decided. Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, released a statement saying the ruling upheld a patient's statutory right of doctor-patient confidentiality. "We've said from the start that there was no doctor shopping but Mr. Limbaugh should not have to give up his right to doctor-patient confidentiality to prove his innocence," the statement said. Crow wrote at length in his order, though, that the doctor-patient relationship does not have the same privilege of confidentiality that an attorney and client have under the law. A doctor could be asked specific questions about medical conditions if compelled at a hearing, deposition or trial, Crow wrote (read more - John Cote-Sun Sentinel)  (read more - Seattle PI)  (read more - Susan Spencer-Wendel - Palm Beach Post)   (read more - Margie Kacoha-Palm Beach Daily News)  (read more - Miami Herald)

In a major legal victory for Rush Limbaugh, a circuit judge in Florida has ruled state prosecutors cannot ask the radio talk-show host's doctors about his medical treatment and condition or information he shared with his doctors during his care. The decision could hamper efforts by State Attorney Barry Krischer, a Democrat, to continue his investigation related to Limbaugh's use of painkillers (read more - WorldNetDaily)  (read more - NewsMax)

Colin Farrell is being treated for exhaustion and dependency on prescription medication, his publicist said. The medication was prescribed to the Irish actor after a back injury (read more - Washington Post)

Clear Channel Radio completed the restructuring of its Chicago station group this week with the appointment of two new vice presidents and a consolidation of management roles + After one of the longest on-air auditions in local radio history -- seven weeks -- Bill Leff signed on Monday as a full-time contributor to Roe Conn's afternoon show on ABC-owned news/talk WLS-AM (890) (read more - Feder of Chicago)

A Bakersfield radio station is offering a ten-thousand dollar reward for information leading to the killer of one of its D-Js. KUZZ music director and D-J Karen Garcia was found dead in her apartment on November Seventh (read more - KESQ TV)

Starting today, central Iowa soldiers stationed 6,000 miles away in Iraq can wake up to morning radio hosts Van and Bonnie on WHO-AM 1040 just like their families back home (read more - Des Moines Register)

Call it a mild irony that the main talk-radio station in Iraq is less verbally confrontational than much of talk radio in the U.S.
Radio Dijla - "Dijla" is the Arabic name for the Tigris River - went on the air in spring 2004, and recent accounts call it Baghdad's most popular station. It programs 21 hours a day, going dark from 4-7 a.m., and has about two dozen shows - mostly talk, advice, sports and religion. It has a staff of about 100, who earn about $300 a month, and hopes soon to expand the current 90-mile reach of its signal (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

WIBA-AM (1310) will start promoting its "Amcore Bank News Center" next month. But its Clear Channel sister station, WISN-AM (1130), has been using this advertising tactic for a couple of years. Its newscasts originate from "the PyraMax Bank News Center." "It's like any other news sponsorship," says WISN's program director, Jerry Bott, whose station, like WIBA, is owned by Clear Channel. "Why would that be any different than saying 'This news is sponsored by' . . . ?" (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

From John Rook -- While I’d like to accept the hope terrestrial radio has for HD, I just can’t climb aboard the bland wagon. Frankly the programming on satellite and terrestrial is mediocre at best. Both will soon be challenged by Internet radio (read more - www.JohnRook.com)

The National Basketball Association and SIRIUS Satellite Radio  announced a multi-year agreement which expands upon their current broadcast arrangement and makes SIRIUS an official NBA marketing partner. The partnership makes SIRIUS the broadcaster of more live NBA games than any other radio outlet (visit Sirius)

XM Satellite Radio announced that Bob Dylan will host a new hour long music show exclusively for XM, marking the first time the music legend has hosted a radio show. Dylan will play music and take emails from XM subscribers. The show will debut in March 2006 on XM's deep album rock channel Deep Tracks (read more - XM Radio)

Irreverent Christian radio personality Glenn Beck brings his Christmas tour to Boise Tuesday. The sold-out tour has surprised some of his listeners, according to Beck. He said the first half of the show is what his listeners expect from him: jokes about Christmas, family stories and lots of audience interaction. But the second half delves into a darker period of his own life (read more - Idaho Statesman)

The new Strategy Analytics report, "Automotive Digital Radio - Content Driving Adoption," highlights the dominance of XM and Sirius in North American automotive digital radio, illustrating how investment in content is driving growth. The emergence of terrestrial broadcasters using HD Radio/iBiquity in 2006 will, however, impact satellite growth rates (read more - TCMnet)

Dear Radio Babe: What happened to Prior Smith, the Canadian that gave the Canadian news at 10:30 every day? Any help would be appreciated. -- G.S. Dear G.S.: Here's the word from "the Canadian," Prior Smith, himself. Good morning, Radio Babe. "Canada Calling" made the move to the "new" WGUL (860 AM) this winter season (read more- Dawn Scire-The Radio Babe)

CNNRadio will provide its nearly 2,000 affiliates with 25 one-minute vignettes as well as a two-hour long-form program for year-end programming needs. The 25 vignettes will highlight the biggest, most-interesting stories of the past year. Topics for the vignettes include the 2005 hurricane season, the Michael Jackson trial, the deaths of Pope John Paul II and Terri Schiavo, steroids in baseball and more (visit CNN Radio)

Doug Stephan's Good Day is having an hour by hour Christmas giveaway. During just about every hour of every show from now until December 23, Doug will be giving away a variety of gifts and prizes to listeners (read more - DougStephan.com)

Clear Channel Communications has agreed to pay a Nashville-based radio station group a license fee to use the “Buzz” name for its radio stations in certain markets. The agreement, announced Monday, settles a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in June 2004 against the nation’s largest radio group by The Cromwell Group, owner of 102.9 WBUZ-FM, known as “The Buzz.” Nashville-based Cromwell, which owns 22 stations in the Midwest, including 102.5 WVNS-FM, “Venus” in Nashville, has held a trademark for “Buzz” since 1999, said its president, Bayard H. “Bud” Walters (read more - Nashville City Paper)

Arbitron announced that RADAR 87 will include American Urban’s STRZ Entertainment and Westwood One’s FM Morning. The increase in RADAR sample size from 90,000 to 95,000 is part of the ongoing quality enhancement program for the RADAR service. Initial findings in RADAR 87 indicate that, over the course of a typical week, radio reached 95 percent of Persons 18+ who live in a household with an income of $75,000 or more. Ninety-five percent of college grads listened to radio, as compared to 91 percent of people who did not go to college. Eighty-one percent of Persons 18+ listened to radio while in their cars (read more - Arbitron)

Radio insiders say “The Radio Factor” with Bill O’Reilly could be the odd show out when “The Jay Severin Show” begins on WPHT 1210-AM in January. Currently, the weeknight lineup is “Dom Giordano” from 6 – 9 p.m., “The Radio Factor” from 9 – 11 p.m., and “Rollye James” from 11 p.m. – 2 a.m. Severin’s show is scheduled to run from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. (read more - Laura Nachman)

ARBitron numbers for New York   The Hamptons   Nassau   Middlesex   Riverside-San Bernadino (read 'em)

From Happy Hare -- Forget about it with Bob. He wanted "on", despite an all-night trip on the red eye..What did we talk about? Everything. He was bright and funny and very Bob Hope. He began telling us about his latest trip to Viet Nam with a large stellar USO troupe., "Wow!" I said reflexively "I wish I could go on one of the trips." "Really?" said Bob "Hand me the phone." We had an on-air phone already plugged in and within a minute, he was connected with the Pentagon. I can still hear that letting Bob Hope voice, "Hi darling, Put Rosie on the phone, will ya.." General Rosie O'Donnell, the head of the USO tours, dropped everything for Bob. "Hello Rosie? Bob. Listen, Rosie, I'm here in Cleveland with a morning radio guy named Harry Martin. Fix him up with a tour, will you? Make it a sports tour. He seems to be a sports kind of guy. Thanks, Rosie" That was it. Next? Specs could have gone ,but he thought I was crazy (read more - www.HappyHareOnline.com)

50 ABC radio current affairs journalists walked off the job for 24 hours today because of new work demands from management. The journalists went on strike at 5.30am (AEDT), keeping national current affairs programs AM, PM and the World Today off air. Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance federal secretary Chris Warren said ABC management wanted journalists on those programs to start operating the radio panel at the same time as presenting on air (read more - News.com Australia)

Stewart's syndicated show, "Martha," was renewed for a second season yesterday despite mediocre ratings — avoiding the fate of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," which lasted only one season (read more - Michael Starr-NY Post)

Bob Marovich, gospel music historian and host of “Gospel Memories,” a Chicago-based radio program, contributed biographical entries to the "Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music." It is one of the first scholarly books to provide information on artists and topics important to the development of both black and white gospel (visit Gospel Memories)

The Qwest Spirit of the Season Concert by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra will be aired live Saturday (7-10 p.m.) on CBS 4 and streamed live on www.cbs4denver.com. The Webcast is a CBS 4 first. "Viewers in Colorado and parts of the country who do not receive our signal or who simply live too far away to attend the concert will be able to watch concert live on our Web site," said CBS 4 general manager Walt DeHaven (read more - Dusty Saunders-Rocky Mountain News)

Fisher Communications Inc., owner of KOMO-TV in Seattle, has reached an agreement to buy two Oregon television stations, along with other assets, for $20.3 million. The company also owns 27 radio stations that broadcast in Washington and Montana (read more - Puget Sound Biz Journal)  (read more - Seattle Times)

Leading cable companies plan to offer family-friendly programming packages early next year, giving parents a new way to protect children from televised cursing, sex and violence, an industry official said Monday. Amid mounting government pressure over the spread of shows deemed indecent, Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, told lawmakers that six providers reaching more than half of U.S. subscribers will have this family option, including the industry's top two: Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable (read more - Austin American Statesman)

Stars from the worlds of action sports, television and music will be taking over SIRIUS Satellite Radio's Faction channel 28 on a weekly basis, when the new Faction program Hostile Takeover launches on Friday, December 16. The special guests can spin any tunes they like for SIRIUS' nationwide audience, take calls from listeners, and talk about whatever they're into, in a completely uncensored environment (visit Sirius Radio - Faction Channel 28)

Executive life coach Francine Ward will deliver her motivating message of achieving turn-around success at the Friday luncheon during RAB’06, the world’s largest conference exclusively devoted to Radio sales, marketing, and management. Presented annually by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), this year’s conference is at the Hyatt Regency DFW, Dallas, February 1 to 3, 2006 (read more - RAB)

Larry Kane, the dean of Philadelphia news anchors, will lead a new and untraditional broadcast format that will go beyond the headlines and into the heart of many of the nation's top stories. The Emmy-award winning journalist joins CN8 to host "Larry Kane: Voice of Reason," premiering Sunday, January 29 at 6:30 PM. This exclusive 30-minute show will feature discussion and analysis of hard-hitting news and newsmakers that goes beyond the headlines to tackle the stories that have a major impact on people's lives (read more - PR Newswire)

After weeks of intense negotiations, high-level arbiters were able to bring MusicBiz's leading radio mind, legendary programmer Steve Rivers, together with MusicBiz's foremost music mindless, Bill Blog. Placed in virtually the same room for the first time, the two decided to discuss the pressing issues of the day. If both come out alive, this would well be a regular feature (read more - MusicBiz.com)

Monday December 12, 2005

According to a qualitative research study conducted in the past 30 days, almost nine out of ten consumers would prefer seeing HD radio supplemental stations displayed as “expanded bands” instead of “layered bands.” In the national study, conducted by Bob Harper & Company and funded by Cox Radio, Inc., consumers in 12 separate focus groups were asked to discuss two possible options to display new radio stations addresses made possible by HD technology. One option would have new station addresses appear on an expanded FM band above 107.9 (i.e. new HD stations would appear as 108.1, 108.3 or 108.5). Another option would have new stations appear under existing radio stations in a layered band (i.e. new stations would appear as 98.5 HD-2, 98.5 HD-3 or 98.5 HD-4) (read more - Bob Harper & Co)

The man who started "Music Contesto el Grande," had a public love affair with poutine, and isn't afraid to express his fear of fisher cats, is leaving The Point radio station, to the disappointment of many of his loyal fans. DJ Ric Tile's last day hosting the morning show is Friday, after two and-a-half years at the station, heard locally at 104.7 FM on WNCS Radio (read more - Times Argus)

In one of his final broadcasts before defecting to satellite radio, Howard Stern was working himself into a lather. "I've come in every day and given my best under ridiculous circumstances, between the editing, the commercial load and the censorship," Stern told Tom Chiusano, general manager of his flagship station, WXRK, who was foiling his plans for an on-air farewell this week. Once he moves on, he declared, "I'm doing the things I'm not allowed to do here." Which raises an intriguing question: If Stern can do whatever the #!@&** he wants at Sirius Satellite Radio -- curse, get anatomically explicit and cavort with naked strippers -- will that defuse the rebellion against authority that has long defined his career? For a man who thrives on pushing the boundaries, is there such a thing as too much freedom? (read more - Howard Kurtz-Media Notes)

New York's K-Rock — which becomes all-talk "Free FM" (92.3) on Jan. 3 — is negotiating with a recently banished San Francisco shock-jock team known as The Doghouse, according to Post sources. The Dog house — billed on their Web site as "a fraternity party [with] raunchy antics, crazy stunts and potty mouths" — was fired from "Wild 94.9" last April after a woman from a local drum and bugle band claimed she was subjected to "lewd remarks" and "leers." (read more - John Mainelli-NY Post)

A radio station has sold the naming rights to its newsroom. WIBA of Madison's newsroom will be known as the Amcore Bank News Center beginning Jan. 1 (read more - Gazette Extra)

So how much does KMOX dislike KTRS? So much that when Tim "Monty" Montemayor from KHTK - like KMOX, an Infinity Broadcasting station - in Sacramento, Calif., came in to town to interview with KTRS for a sports job, KMOX wouldn't let him use its broadcasting facilities (read more - Deb Peterson-St Louis Post Dispatch)

FamilyNet and SIRIUS Satellite Radio have launched Christian Talk exclusively on SIRIUS channel 159. The new channel airs FamilyNet’s most popular programs, including preaching from some of the nation’s top pastors, innovative radio-specific programs, and leading evangelical talk personalities. FamilyNet is the broadcast arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (visit Sirius Radio)

As of Friday, 275 stations nationwide had made the swap, according to 1000watts.com, a site run by Inside Radio that tracks the conversions. At least one or two stations pop up in every market, and there are four each in Omaha; Milwaukee; Columbus, Ohio; and the Norfolk area, among others (read more - WTOP News)

In less than a month, Howard Stern moves to Sirius Satellite Radio from Infinity Broadcasting, where his morning show is - for five more days - heard locally on WXRK-FM. We asked our readers: "Are you going to invest in the equipment and fork over 13 bucks a month to hear The King of All Media drop F-bombs and listen to lesbian strippers recount their most memorable trysts? Why or why not?" (read more -  Kristen A. Lee-Bergen Record)

Whittle it down, and the essence of Howard Stern comes to this: a guy playing the piano with his ... manhood. One of Stern's guests pulled that stunt during a Christmas radio show in 1987, and the bit - which was only heard, not seen - resulted in Stern's first FCC fine. "To me, that goes to the basis of what I do, which is outrageous, fun, sort of anything-goes humor," Stern told the Daily News last week. "It's not the idea that the guy played the piano with his penis. It was sitting there and talking to a guy who would come up to the radio studio and play the piano with his penis. That's what's so great about the show. We could spend an hour with that a------." (read more - Richard Huff-NY Daily News)  (read more - LA TImes)

From Claude Hall - The Beach Boys appearing at Westchester Community Center, White Plains, NY, circa 60s. This was a phenomenal group for its time. Set trends in music. Literally carved out a musical culture for the West Coast. Sold LPs. Hit singles. Made enough money to buy a chunk of beach in Santa Barbara, CA. Their performance in the east was like, hey, it's the Beach Boys. Lots of other acts made the trek from west to east. Jefferson Airplane, Seeds, Bobby Fuller. None of them made an enormous impact. After all, the east had Bob Dylan. Al Kooper. Later, Mountain. But I think the Beach Boys outshone all of the other acts who ventured east by far (read more - www.ClaudeHallOnline.com)

Radio Linx announced that Make Money Now with Jerry Wade (www.jerrywadeshow.com) has welcomed new Minnesota affiliates KROC Rochester and KYMN Northfield and that the  syndicated radio program Caribbean Country (www.caribbeancountry.com) added KPGE Page Arizona and KCZE Mason City Iowa to its 18-market roster (visit Radio-Linx.com)

Media company Viacom Inc. said Monday its board of directors has approved a stock buyback program allowing New Viacom, an entity that will control the company's cable networks and the Paramount movie studio, to buy up to $3 billion of its own stock (read more- Crain's NY Biz)

It is common wisdom among TV industry experts, many of whom are still involved with "Today" and asked not to be quoted by name here, that after 10 years at the top of the morning ratings war, "Today" may not substantially miss Katie Couric if she leaves. If she does decide to leave, Zucker will still be confronted with a huge decision: Who will replace Katie? Weekend "Today" anchor Campbell Brown and MSNBC anchor Natalie Morales both have strong news backgrounds and have to be considered the front-runners (read more - Don Kaplan-NY Post)

Mardi Gras Galveston has new radio station co-sponsors. The big winners? San Antonio’s Clear Channel Communications and Atlanta’s Cumulus Broadcasting. The big loser? Atlanta’s Cox Communications (read more - Galveston Daily News)

Irv Brown and Joe Williams have built the Dave Logan coaching bandwagon and are urging everyone to hop aboard. The KKFN-AM sports-talk hosts are on record as favoring the KOA-AM personality as Gary Barnett's successor (read more - Dusty Saunders-Rocky Mountain News)

Cumulus agreed to acquire a pair of Huntsville FM stations from Clear Channel and move one it already has in the market to the Clear Channel tower in Madison. Cumulus will get oldies WWXQ-FM 92.5 in Trinity and WXQW-FM 94.1 in Meridianville for $3.3 million/cash. The pair will join the local Huntsvile Cumulus group that includes urban contemporary WHRP-FM 93.3, news/talk WVNN-AM 770, pop contemporary WZYP-FM 104.3 Top 40 and sports/talk WUMP-AM 730 (read more - Huntsville Times)

KHOW 630-AM's auction for Children's Hospital ends on Friday. Among the premiums is a three-day vacation in Pittsburgh, for $900. To help sell the trip (he's from Pittsburgh) and other items, Peter Boyles does his talk show at Children's from 5 to 9 a.m. Friday (read more - Dick Kreck-Denver Post)

When Fidelity Investments signed Paul McCartney as its spokesman this fall, pop culture critics chortled. The former Beatle who once sang "I don't care too much for money; money can't buy me love" was about to sing the praises of financial planning ... Though marketers still covet the 18-to-49 age group in this youth-obsessed culture, a growing number of companies realize that fiftysomething consumers offer a lucrative business opportunity they can't afford to overlook (read more - Bob Moos-Dallas News)

You probably don't know it, but 21 radio stations in the Los Angeles area are broadcasting in digital, even though only a handful of listeners have the equipment to hear it. Digital radio signals, which offer the potential of better sound quality and the elimination of static and interference, are being simulcast along with the traditional analog signals from such well-known stations as all-news KNX-AM, pop KPWR-FM, rock KROQ-FM and classical KUSC-FM (read more - LA Times)

Today, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, which went public in 1994 and 1999, respectively, have yet to make a penny in profit but together are approaching 10 million subscribers, most paying nearly $13 a month. Doubters, deal with it: Satellite radio looks as if it is here to stay. A landmark event in the industry's evolution is approaching in January, when the radio jock Howard Stern moves from his longtime home at Infinity Broadcasting, now part of the Viacom monolith, to Sirius. But while Mr. Stern's well-compensated antics are sure to gain plenty of attention - and, Sirius expects, a bump in subscribers to gain ground on the larger XM - an equally controversial new act is appearing on satellite radio in the form of portable receivers (read more - Richard Siklos-NY Times)

Veteran major league baseball announcer Bob Carpenter will be the guest speaker at next month’s Field of Dreams Baseball Banquet in Claremore (read more - Claremore Daily Progress)

Dick Hungate's first professional radio job was in 1968. He was 15.
A program director at a radio station in Greensboro, N.C., was impressed with young Hungate's lack of a Southern accent. That's because Hungate had lived in Syracuse, N.Y., before his family moved south. "I told him the two accents canceled each other out." While the rest of his generation was listening to The Doors and The Beatles, Hungate was playing Percy Faith and Andy Williams at Greensboro's WBIG-AM (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)

A 24-hour, English-language, state-funded television channel went live from its Moscow studios on Saturday, designed to broadcast news from a Russian perspective around the globe (read more - Reuters)

Amid a massive advertising campaign and media blitz for Howard Stern, both satellite radio providers reportedly discounted prices for satellite radio receivers and are rushing new ones, which include MP3 capabilities, onto store shelves to attract new customers. Price cutting is only the latest salvo in the satellite-radio competition. While most traditional -- or ''terrestrial" -- stations aren't yet quaking in their boots, satellite is clearly a growing industry. Not that the numbers are that impressive yet. Although a recent report by Forrester Research shows that 12 percent of households intend to subscribe to satellite radio, that goal is still far off (read more - Clea Simon-Boston Globe)

Del Kidwell died at his home after a lengthy illness. Affectionately known by his friends and co workers by his radio name Kevin Stone, Del will be remembered in a memorial service in Austin at All Faiths Funeral Chapel (north location) on Monday 12th of December at 2:00 p.m.. Though Kevin had been a DJ and program director (from Cleveland, to KLIF in Dallas, to KLBK in Lubbock), Kevin's pride was being a first rate radio engineer (read more - Austin American-Statesman)

If a cell phone tower is erected near your child's school or your mother's nursing home, will low-level radio-frequency emissions cause them to develop cancer? "We're talking about radio waves--they've been used by radio stations for decades," she said. "And all the research out there points to the fact that there are no negative effects to health." (read more - Fredericksburg Free Lance Star)

A Bell, California man was convicted yesterday morning on federal charges of interfering with radio frequencies being used by the United States military, the United States Coast Guard, and other public safety organizations (read more - Linux Electrons)

Tom McCarthy, host of the Phillies' pre- and postgame shows the past five seasons, will join the Mets' broadcasting team at WFAN (660-AM) (read more- Philly Daily News)

Talkers magazine has announced that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are the most popular radio talk show hosts in the United States (read more - UPI)

"To engage in the business of originating, producing, reproducing, exploiting, exhibiting, presenting performing and transmitting, plays, musical compositions and all other manner of entertainment of interest of educational value . . . and to employ actors, artists, singers, performers, artisans, mechanics and other persons in connection therewith." News-Journal executives say the document shows the family-run newspaper has been helping improve the community and build good faith through performing arts since long before Cox became a partner in 1969. But Cox attorney John DeVault asked Davidson if the charter had been amended to benefit the WNDB radio station the company owned until 1972, suggesting it was not related to the current operation. "I have no idea what the motivation was," Davidson said (read more - Dayton Beach News-Journal)

Double O Radio Corporation, based in Charleston, S.C., has agreed to purchase the assets of Encore Broadcasting I Limited Partnership and Encore Broadcasting I of San Angelo Limited Partnership from Tommy Vascocu and John Kerr. The radio stations include KMCM-FM and KHKX-FM, Odessa; KQRX-FM, Midland; KKCN-FM, Ballinger; KGKL-AM, KELI-FM,KGKL-FM, San Angelo, and KNRX-FM, Sterling City (read more - Midland Reporter-Telegram)

A landmark decision in Washington has allowed the sale of a convicted sex offender`s local radio stations. Doug lane sits in jail tonight. And because of his crimes, his three stations will now be sold. And he won`t get a penny. But his victims will. Nine months ago, the sixty-two-year-old was convicted of sexually-molesting
several of young males. Friday, for the first time in history, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the media outlets can and will be sold. This is going to have a national ramifications this is going to set precident for people who may commit crimes that may have other types of listeners that could be forfeited," said Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola. Doug lane owns WWDL FM, WICK AM, and WYCK AM (read more - WYOU TV)

Bid4Spots, an online marketplace for unsold radio ad inventory, announced it now has more than 1,100 participating radio stations, representing nearly all of the top 300 U.S. markets. This new ad marketplace now covers some 21% of the total radio market and an aggregate listener base of roughly 25 million Americans, per Arbitron data. More than 100 advertisers have signed up to participate in the Bid4Spots reverse auctions, along with 43 agencies (visit Bid4Spots.com)

Jeff Katz, Talk KNEW-AM San Francisco midday host, has formed his own "Jeff Katz Blue Ribbon Commission", consisting of the public, thousands of whom will be given blue ribbons to wear and place on their cars to signify support for the SFPD.  The controversy over a videotape made by San Francisco police for a captain's retirement had earlier caused Mayor Gavin Newsom to form a "blue ribbon commission" to investigate and possibly press charges against the responsible officers (visit KNEW)

Veteran newsman and longtime Bristol Broadcasting Co. employee Ned Michaels, whose legal name was Edward Michael Ryan, has died. Michaels, 64, passed away unexpectedly at his home Thursday night. Michaels' career in broadcasting began when he joined Bristol Broadcasting in 1969. Michaels worked as a news reporter, news anchor or news director for several radio and television stations in Tennessee and North Carolina, including WJHL-TV in Johnson City and WBT radio in Charlotte, N.C. Michaels returned to Bristol in 2003 as news reporter and anchor for WFHG-AM and WXBQ-FM (read more - Kingsport Times News)

In recent years, Howard Stern claims to have harbored a deep secret. It’s a notion that seems, on the face of it, preposterous. After all, Howard has a confessional urge like no one’s ever heard. Before Howard, radio was mostly comforting, discreet, tasteful. Emotion, if it surfaced at all, was happy (later on, and even worse, it was mellow). “[Radio] was a lot of people who didn’t say shit,” grumbles Howard. To Howard, that was all phony, and Howard despises phonies. “The show is about honesty,” he says earnestly. But Howard’s honesty is not the honesty of, say, Oprah. Howard hates Oprah (read more - NY Magazine)

HD Digital Radio Alliance President and CEO Peter Ferrara is getting a tremendous amount of interest from broadcasters, all of whom are invited to join the HD Digital Radio Alliance if they have viable HD radio signals or will have them and are willing to contribute both inventory and dollars as part of participation.  As the Alliance moves forward with its objectives, it is asking other groups to finalize membership by December 30th if they would like to take part in the first round of format selection calls for the top 25 markets

Bridge Ratings has revised and updated its analysis of website traffic to XM and Sirius satellite services which reveals solid growth in reach over the last six months. In fact, traffic at the XM website (www.xmradio.com) is up nearly 100% when comparing its 3 month average to current traffic estimates. Sirius' growth over the last year is reflected in its website traffic with its momentum building with users who are visiting both sites for the purpose of: * Obtaining general information *Curiosity * Howard Stern * Sample listening (read more - Bridge Ratings)

Friday December 9, 2005

An 18-year veteran of WGN-Channel 9 who rose to station manager (or second-in-command) became the latest casualty of Tribune Co. layoffs Thursday. Dominic Mancuso will be leaving the company when his position is eliminated, effective at the end of the year (read more - Feder of Chicago)

A Toronto radio host on an Italian talk show has been arrested after a listener was allegedly defrauded out of $70,000 by someone posing as a psychologist, police say (read more - Toronto Star)

On Sunday, December 11, talker Phil Hendrie will sign his Best-of-2005 CD, “Are You For Real?” from 4 - 6 p.m at Dave and Buster’s in Arcadia, Calif. In addition, the first 250 people to arrive between 3 - 4 p.m. will get to witness Hendrie in action in a special 30-minute show. All proceeds from CD sales will benefit My Friends Place, a non-profit resource center offering a comprehensive continuum of care that includes free emergency resources such as food and clothing in combination with health, educational, and therapeutic services to over 1,000 homeless youth and their children each year (read more - Premiere Radio)

From Kent Burkhart -- Last week’s column brought a lot of comment and suggestions from radio bosses. They offered additional points to GM’s that are below. 1. A boss doesn’t like a surprise (except if it is a good one). Try to predict to your boss the business plan and stay on it. If you see a problem coming up alert your boss about it before the problem becomes reality. You do not want to hear you boss say, “I wish I had known about this problem. I might have had a solution, but now it is too late”. 2. Send your group/chief engineer to the annual NAB Radio Convention. Have him/her look for and recommend new technical advances…followed by a memo to all department heads. 3. Send your group GSM to the RAB sales meeting. Have him/her write a report to all department heads and sales people (read more - www.kentburkhart.com)

Radio programming consultants should tell their station clients to promote HD Radio, in order to increase penetration of HD and enable terrestrial radio to compete successfully with satellite, iBiquity Digital president/CEO Robert Struble said at Arbitron's annual Fly-In, Radio World reports. iBiquity Digital is the company that created digital radio technology (read more - Media Buyer Planner)

Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan ordinarily wouldn't fight over a measly $1,945.64. After all, he's in the middle of trying to buy the Washington Nationals baseball team. But the broadcast and magazine mogul says principle has compelled him to wage a two-year court fight that could go to trial early next year (read more - Indy Star)

A U.S. investigation into allegations that the American military is buying positive coverage in the Iraqi media has expanded to examine a press club founded and financed by the U.S. Army. The Baghdad Press Club was created last year by the U.S. military as a way to promote progress amid the violence and chaos of Iraq, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman. The Army acknowledges funding the club and offering “reporter compensation,” but insists officers did not demand favorable coverage. “Members are not required nor asked to write favorably,” said Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone. “They are simply invited to report on events.” He said the military exercised no editorial control over the coverage ... The syndicate of 25 to 30 freelance reporters and staff employees for television stations and newspapers were paid about $25 for each story and $45 if the piece ran with photos, al-Hamdani said. Television reporters were paid $50 for pieces, he said (read more - USA Today)

Did the Christmas conspiracy begin way back in 1941? The seasonal wishes to Americans in uniform come from one of Hollywood's big names: "We want to send this message to all of them, and their loved ones, and all the liberty-loving people of the world. We want to wish them a very happy - and a free - holiday." It's not Susan Sarandon or Warren Beatty or Rob Reiner. It's Lewis Stone. Lewis Stone? Stone was once a big Hollywood name, best known as Judge James K. Hardy, the patriarch of the Hardy clan in a series of family films in the 1930s and '40s that starred Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy. His comments come from a theatrical short called "Holiday Greetings 1941" ... Somebody call Bill O'Reilly. The conspiracy to destroy Christmas was hatched by Andy Hardy and the evil Hardy family! (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)  (read more - Ellis Henican)  (read more - First Amendment Center)

James Floyd Fletcher, a founder of broadcasting in Durham, died Wednesday. The family was and continues to be involved in broadcasting ventures in the Triangle, founding what became Capitol Broadcasting in Raleigh, which operates WRAL-TV in Raleigh (read more - Durham Herald Sun)

No matter how you slice it, weathercasters and traffic correspondents are different from the other reporters on the air.
How so, you ask? A newscaster shouldn't appear in commercial spots, but history has shown ads are fair game for those in the supporting roles (read more - Richard Huff - NY Daily News)

The Conclave, having fostered three solid years of continued conference attendance growth, announced today that two media pro’s have joined the Conclave Learning Conference’s Board of Directors to contribute to the positive contributions, such as scholarship, for which the Conclave is known. Billboard Radio Monitor’s Director of News, Music & Programming, Paul Heine and WB TV Minnesota’s Sales Promotions Manager, Siobhan Kierans were unanimously elected to join the Board at the Fall BOD meeting held in Minneapolis in November. The two join the Conclave as plans are well under way for the 31st Annual Learning Conference (read more - The Conclave)

Dave Graveline's Into Tomorrow on Sunday broadcasts from Smart Home in Irvine this week.  Into Tomorrow is syndicated and on over 100 stations each Sunday afternoon (visit www.graveline.com)

Arbitron Inc. announced that “twin panel” research conducted in Houston as part of Arbitron's demonstration of the Portable People Meter (PPM) has confirmed that randomly selected PPM audience panels produce ratings that reliably reflect media use in the market (visit ARBitron)

Led by Chief Executive Hugh Panero, XM is the clear market leader; yet the CEO has watched the media cauldron boil over at seemingly every move made by his counterpart, Sirius Satellite Radio chief Mel Karmazin. The latter added Martha Stewart to his stable of talent, and--as everyone in the industrialized world has doubtless heard--will be welcoming fellow Viacom alumnus Howard Stern to the fold on Jan. 9. Now its Panero's turn to whip up some buzz (read more - Forbes)

Apple and other online music companies along with music labels are facing a threat from satellite radio providers, according to The Wall Street Journal: "The beleaguered music industry faces a new, unexpected threat in its battle to protect copyrights and royalties: the arrival in stores of new satellite-radio receivers that mimic iPods in their ability to store and organize hundreds of songs (read more - iPodNN)

Thursday December 8, 2005

When the new digital broadcast of WBBS-FM (B104.7) had a brief outage recently, manager Joel Delmonico was pleased about one thing. Several of the station's country music listeners called to complain. That proved to him that some Central New Yorkers are already hooked on the benefits of owning a high-definition radio receiver to enjoy clearer sound and other features (read more - Syracuse Post Standard)

Katie Couric says "Today" can go on without her if she makes the leap to CBS. "I have no doubt that if I did make a decision not to stay, the show would continue to do really well," she tells the latest edition of TV Guide. CBS has confirmed that Couric is in talks to take over Dan Rather's old job as the anchor of "CBS Evening News." If she made the move, it is also likely that she would become a correspondent for the network's long-running newsmagazine, "60 Minutes." (read more - NY Post)

A day after WABC/Ch. 7 correspondent Anthony Johnson was ambushed by a fan of the Opie and Anthony show on XM Satellite Radio, a station official said they're taking precautions to ensure employees' safety. Separately, the radio hosts - Gregg (Opie) Hughes and Anthony Cumia - told listeners yesterday that they were calling off their "Assault on the Media" campaign, saying the incident with Johnson had gone too far. New Jersey's acting governor, Richard Codey, released a statement Tuesday saying the air-horn blast could result in "permanent hearing damage for the reporter who was harassed." Codey also said that encouraging fans to intervene in live news shows was "inappropriate and dangerous." Codey said the person who "committed this act should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law" (read more - Richard Huff-NY Daily News)

Westwood One Chief Executive Shane Coppola resigned today and Joel Hollander will assume the title. Westwood One updated their 4th quarter guidance and reported that the accelerated growth in advertising sales that occurred within the fourth quarter 2004 did not materialize as anticipated during the fourth quarter 2005. As a result, Westwood One expects fourth quarter 2005 revenues to decline by a percentage in the low single digits from last year's fourth quarter results (visit Westwood One) (read more - Crains NY Biz)

Sumner M. Redstone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom announced that Carl D. Folta will assume the newly created role of Executive Vice President of the Office of the Chairman in 2006, following the separation of the organization into two publicly traded companies (read more- PR Newswire)

XM Satellite Radio has named multi-platinum recording artist Snoop Dogg as executive producer of XM's classic hip-hop channel The Rhyme (XM Channel 65), current home of Snoop's popular radio show "Welcome to Da Chuuch With Big Snoop Dogg," available exclusively on XM Satellite Radio (read more- XM Radio)

American Forces Radio this week began airing “The Ed Schultz Show,” nearly two months after the controversial host was originally scheduled to hit the airwaves. The first hour of Schultz’s daily show, along with the first hour of the Al Franken radio show and the Sean Hannity show, will be broadcast Monday through Friday over the network’s Voice Channel. The decision to add the shows is designed to “provide a balance of popular political viewpoints,” AFR officials said in a statement (read more - Stars and Stripes)

Jonathon Brandmeier could give new meaning to his nickname "The Hyper Rooster" when he broadcasts on WLUP-FM (97.9) for 28 consecutive hours. He began at 6 a.m. today and he'll stay on the air until 10 a.m. Friday + Mancow Muller, the morning star of Q-101, turns up Wednesday Dec 14 as Craig Ferguson's guest on CBS' "Late, Late Show." (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Howard Stern, who will next month begin broadcasting on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., said he may retire from radio in five years. Stern told Bill O'Reilly, host of cable television's "The O'Reilly Factor" on News Corp.'s Fox News Channel, that he may "stop the radio in five years" (read more - Arizona Central)   (read more CBS News)  (read more - USA Today)

Twenty-five years ago today, John Lennon was murdered on the sidewalks of New York. What goes around, comes around: It was the arrival in America of Lennon and Liverpool bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1964 that electrified a nation still coming to terms with a presidential assassination three months before. And from the beginning, New York was part of their frenzied story: The screaming fans meeting them at JFK International Airport . . . the electrifying live performances on the Ed Sullivan Show . . . the open-air concert at Shea Stadium. And, of the Fab Four, John Lennon loved this city the best — so much so that he made it his home for most of the decade after The Beatles broke up. A 1974 photo became iconic: Lennon wore a white T-shirt with "New York City" inscribed in black letters (read more - NY Post)

Nate Bell has just been named program director of WWPR (105.1 FM), which has inched ahead of WQHT (97.1 FM) in the fierce battle for city hip-hop supremacy. "I'm excited," says Bell, who starts Jan. 2. "Usually when I come to a new station, it's because it's in trouble. Power's on the way up." (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

Cumulus Media bid $2.6 billion for Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Radio, but Disney said the offer was too low and has dropped Cumulus from the auction process (read more - Reuters)

Sirius Satellite Radio has a four-hour tribute to John Lennon at 1 p.m. today on its Channel 18 + A number of Milwaukee radio stations are already broadcasting in the new digital technology. IBiquity Digital, the company behind the technology, lists five Milwaukee stations  +  Bailey Coleman has dropped the "interim" from her program director title at WKKV. She stepped in after Doc Love left (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Carl Elder, an English major at Augusta State University, is one of many who use Sirius Satellite Radio. He listens to stations such as Planet Jazz, Dog Comedy, Classic Rewind and Faction for a variety of reasons. He also likes how easy Sirius is to use, with fewer buttons than XM, and believes that Sirius is more organized in its music programming. Would he ever go back to local radio?
"No, never. I despise local radio." It seems as though satellite radio sounds great to the average radio listener who loves variety and hates to be bothered with commercials and local radio talk. Could this advancement in satellite radio affect local radio stations? What if everyone jumps on the satellite radio bandwagon? Clear Channel Augusta News Director Ed Ross, who has been in radio broadcasting since 1974, has a different take on it than Elder. "I don't think there will be an immediate impact on local radio in the CSRA. However, some of the national advertisers are looking at it as a broad picture to see what effect satellite radio will have on local broadcasting or advertising revenues (read more - Phoenix Magazine)

Seattle conservative talk station KTTH-AM (770) has replaced Mike Siegel's morning drive show with a show hosted by David Boze and Dan Sytman. KTTH management says more changes are coming (read more - Bill Virgin-Seattle PI)

From Murphy Martin -- As we move closer to December 25, 2005 why are we seeing and hearing more questioning about what we call this season? Have clerks in stores being frequented more now than any other time of the year been ordered to say: "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas"? Are some stores intentionally dropping the use of "Christmas" or "Merry Christmas" in their ads in newspapers or on television? Since when did it become unfashionable to celebrate the day set aside to signify His birth and use his name in calling this the CHRISTmas season? The last figures I saw revealed more than 80% of the people in America were Christians (read more - www.MurphyMartin.com)

WXPN-FM (88.5)'s David Dye will do his first book signing for the World Cafe Playlist Handbook at 6:30 p.m. today at Tower Records at Broad and Chestnut Streets + WHYY accepts donations from companies and organizations during fund-raisers, but this time the table has been turned. The public stations have given $55,972.32 - raised during (read more - Michael Klein-Philly Inquirer)

Nick Clarke, presenter of World at One on BBC Radio 4, has been diagnosed with cancer. Clarke is expected to make a full recovery after surgery scheduled for the near future, which will involve the loss of a leg. BBC News Online says the presenter hopes to be working again by the summer of 2006 (read more - Digital Spy)

While one can hardly blame music venues for having monopolized the live performance market (You try getting the Rolling Stones to play in your walk-in closet), music fans everywhere have—for years now—found a more deserving target for their pathos in the duo of media-giant Clear Channel Communications and Ticketmaster, which, for the uninformed, is a kind of automated service that takes your money in exchange for causing you physical pain. These two companies have played a large role over the last decade in bleeding concert-goers dry through a certain kind of underhanded corporate bastardry known as exclusivity agreements (read more - The Daily Cardinal Editorial)

Were were last year's honorees? Click each for their names ...
RDN 2004 Radio Person of the Year
RDN 2004 Top 10 Newsmakers

The last couple of weeks, this column has looked at gift ideas for radio buffs. But on-air personalities need some love too, and I'm in a giving mood. Here's a sneak peak at my Christmas list. A year's supply of lozenges is on its way to Richard Lederer, the loquacious co-host of the weekly "A Way With Words" show on KPBS-FM ... The next present goes to Howard Stern. But what do you get the man who has everything ---- a big mouth, a big paycheck and a big ego? There's one thing he could give all of us ---- a break (read more - Randy Dotinga-NC Times)

Sirius Canada hosted a live concert in Toronto on Tuesday, December 6 to celebrate the launch of its satellite radio service in Canada. The first of two concerts, Sirius Live was simulcast live throughout North America, and featured well known and emerging Canadian artists. The second concert took place on Wednesday, December 7 in Montreal (read more - Market News Canada)  (visit Sirius Canada)

Coca-Cola is shaking up its marketing with a new ad slogan: "Welcome to the Coke side of life." The soda giant hopes the tagline will hit home with consumers after its last effort — the "Real" campaign — fizzled. The first ads to include the new slogan will appear in early 2006, when Coke plans to debut a global campaign to coincide with the Winter Olympics (read more - NY Post)

For Dan McLain of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, there was a compelling reason to buy a satellite radio receiver: shock jock Howard Stern's looming move off the traditional airwaves. "It's just a show I enjoy. I'm a listener and my wife's a listener," he said.  A recent check of prices found some radios for the services selling at $50 or less, including rebates. Industry insiders say that reflects the benefit of falling prices of electronic components used to make the radios. It also reflects fierce competition in the two-player market (read more - San Diego Union Tribune)

Want to go on a video tour of Howard Stern's new studio at Sirius HQ in New York City? (click here to tour)

The former parent company of KGUN-TV Channel 9 is giving station employees a surprisingly nice parting gift: three months' pay. The bonus, which company officials said in a memo is their way of thanking employees for sticking with them through the months-long sales process, is highly unusual, some say (read more - Arizona Daily Star)

Infinity Broadcasting has completed its previously announced purchase of 106.9 KIFR-FM (previously known as KEAR-FM) in San Francisco from Family Stations. This brings the total number of stations owned by Infinity in the fourth largest radio market to six, including KCBS-AM, KFRC-FM, KITS-FM, KLLC-FM and KYCY-AM.
KIFR-FM currently broadcasts Infinity's FREE FM format. Adam Carolla will headline the station's morning drive show and Penn Jillette will host a unique one-hour live radio program beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006. Darian O'Toole, John London and Tom Leykis round-out the station's line-up (visit Infinity Broadcasting)

Mexico's electoral institute will use a 21-hour show on U.S. television on Wednesday to convince more Mexicans living north of the border to vote in next year's presidential election (read more - CNN)

Wednesday December 7, 2005

Clear Channel's Mark Mays  told Reuters he expected some HD radio receivers to sell for as low as $99 as early as 2007, although that target is not set in stone. "A lot of it depends on how successful we are in our partnerships," Mays said. The $99 receiver "would probably be a 2007 story." (read more - Reuters)  (read more - Business Week)  (read more - USA Today)

As major radio corporations collaborate to advance the presence of HD Radio in the marketplace, the fiercely independent public radio station at UMass Boston, WUMB, has been quietly but steadily ahead of the curve. Since February 2004, WUMB (91.9FM) has been broadcasting in HD Radio – the first public radio HD transmission in New England. The station’s Falmouth transmitter went HD in early 2005, and the rest of their frequencies will be up and running digitally in a matter of days or weeks (visit WUMB.org)

I would love to have a nickel for every time someone has asked me why conservatives dominate talk radio. Some believe it's due to a conspiracy pulled off by "Corporate Media" executives... I just want to laugh. The execs could care less what the political bent of hosts may be. They are in business to amass profits for stockholders...the bottom line if you wish. The truth is clear. "Right Wing Radio" attracts an audience...an audience which is, not only large, but well educated and affluent (read more - David Gold)

If you have switched on your stereo this week, it is likely you have a question: What is Jack FM? The radio station WSPT-FM 97.9 made the switch to the SparkNet Communications licensed product at midnight Sunday. The channel signed a long-term agreement for the trademark rights, said Rick Muzzy, the president of Stevens Point-based Muzzy Broadcasting. Muzzy Broadcasting also operates Solid Rock 104.9-FM and Newstalk 1010-AM (read more - Stevens Point Journal)

A deal between two radio station competitors will benefit radio listeners in the Valley. Cumulus Media is buying two radio stations from Clear Channel Radio. As part of the deal, Clear Channel will relocate its greatest hits of the "60's and 70's" station from Florence to Huntsville (read more - WAFF 88)

The Federal Communications Commission's enforcement of media decency standards has significantly raised the profile of the five-member body. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said he is not surprised the FCC itself has become a part of the news, but he was taken aback at a recent private brunch when a young boy wanted to meet him because of his job (read more - Washington Times)

Mark Chernoff has been named Vice President, Programming of New York’s 92.3 FREE FM and sports station WFAN-AM. Chernoff will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day programming operations at 92.3 FREE FM. Additionally, he will continue serving as WFAN’s Operations Director (visit Infinity Broadcasting)

ABC News Radio's National Correspondent Jim Hickey has been selected to receive the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Created in 1969, the National Eagle Scout Service recognizes Eagle Scouts who have made noteworthy contributions to business, professions, and service to their country with the Distinguished Eagle Scot Award. The award ceremony will take place today in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey

The Arbitron PPM is being cited as a significant technological innovation by EE Times at “The Great Minds, Great Ideas Project” to be presented at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Mr. Kolessar, Arbitron's VP of Technology is also being recognized by the editors of EE Times for leading the development of the Portable People Meter (PPM) system at Arbitron (visit EE Times)

Her rivals are calling it an "unmitigated disaster" and "an absolute routing", but Angela Catterns is surprisingly calm about Vega's less-than-spectacular debut with Sydney audiences. The former 702 breakfast host who once knocked the mighty Alan Jones at 2GB from the top spot attracted a tiny 2.4 per cent of the breakfast audience in her first ratings survey at the new FM station for baby boomers. In contrast, Jones scored his best figures since joining 2GB in 2002, attracting 17.3 per cent of the breakfast audience (read more - Sydney Morning Herald)  (read more - The Age)

The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC)is announcing it has received a $50,000 grant from the Siragusa Foundation in support of the Museum's capital campaign. The gift will be used for exhibit development and for the expansion of the new media museum in downtown Chicago (visit Museum of Broadcast Communications)

Broadcaster Gary DeGraide will be leaving his morning show on WWLI-FM (Lite Rock 105) after 22 years behind the microphone. His last show will be Dec. 23. Tony Bristol, operations manager for Lite Rock 105, said the station's management was shocked when DeGraide told them of his decision. He said the station has not yet determined who will replace DeGraide, who had co-hosted the show with Heather Gersten (read more - Providence Journal)

Howard Stern is planning a huge farewell for his final broadcast on traditional radio. On December 16, Stern is slated to say goodbye with a star-studded cast of wack-packers and super fans expected to gather outside of the K-Rock studios in New York, where he broadcasts from (read more - Philly Burbs)

Elizabeth Vargas isn't the first former Chicago newsperson to ascend to the top job on a network evening newscast. John Chancellor did it at NBC, and Frank Reynolds did it at ABC. But she could be the most unlikely, given her relatively modest tenure at WBBM-Channel 2. In that regard, Vargas may have more in common with Lester Holt, whose stardom at MSNBC today still surprises many who watched him at the CBS-owned station here (read more - Feder of Chicago)

In what sounds like an entertaining bout of mud wrestling, Bill O'Reilly takes on Howard Stern on his Wednesday and Thursday shows at 7 p.m. on the Fox news channel (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)  (read more - Richard Huff-NY Daily News)

Clear Channel Communications' Lowry Mays and his wife, Peggy, have donated $20 million The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (read more - SA Biz Journal)

ARBitron numbers for Albuquerque   Charleston SC   Des Moines   El Paso   Jackson (read 'em)

President Bush was out talking up the economy the other day, and that is no accident. The White House is convinced that the media aren't telling America how well things are going, fiscally speaking. Sound like Iraq? This is a familiar lament for most administrations. I remember the Clintonites, during the first term, complaining that their man wasn't getting credit for an economic rebound whose existence was doubted by many people. Presidents and their handlers talk up the economy. It's almost in the job description (read more - Howard Kurtz-Media Notes)

ChickChat Co-Host Heidi Hanzel Emceed the Annual Warrenton Christmas Parade put on this year by the Mom's Club of Warrenton, Virginia. 2005 Annual Warrenton Virginia Christmas Parade Grand Marshals were soldiers from the National Guard – Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry recently returned from a deployment in Afghanistan. The 2005 19th Annual Warrenton Christmas Parade was presented on December 3, 2005, by the MOMS Club of Warrenton (visit ChickChat Radio)

Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. said on Tuesday it had set its initial public offering at C$16 per share, valuing the company at C$800 million. CSR said it will use the proceeds to, among other things, complete its initial infrastructure rollout and to fund operating expenses of its XM Canada satellite radio service. The offering is scheduled to close next Monday (read more - Reuters)

Cox Radio announced that Jimmy W. Hayes has been elected to the company’s board of directors, increasing Cox Radio’s board to nine members. Hayes will serve as a member of the executive and community relations committees of the Board (visit Cox Radio)

Dr. Laura Schlessinger will kick off an online "boutique" featuring her personally designed and handcrafted jewelry at noon on Monday, December 5th, through her web site www.drlaura.com

Westwood One's CMT Radio Network announced today that country superstar Garth Brooks will join Lon Helton as co-host of Country Countdown USA, December 10-11 and 18-19, 2005. Brooks will talk about his life after retiring from music four year ago, his recent engagement to Trisha Yearwood, and play music from his new boxed set, "The Limited Series" (read more - Westwood One)

John Batchelor, host of the ABC Radio Networks syndicated The John Batchelor Show will broadcast live this week from a mobile unit at a border crossing into the Gaza Strip (visit the John Batchelor Show)

Tuesday December 6, 2005

To avoid being squelched by satellite radio, conventional broadcasters say they have joined forces to promote digital programming.  Seven of the top U.S. radio companies announced a strategic alliance to accelerate the rollout of HD Digital Radio. The Alliance’s charter is threefold: To coordinate the rollout of HD digital radio, including coordinating the formats on new multicast channels known as HD2 * work together to secure automotive design wins and lower receiver price points and * jointly market HD digital radio, in partnership with receiver manufacturers and retailers. Member companies will also devote more than $200 million in commercial inventory on their own stations in 2006 to promote HD digital radio and the new HD2 multicast channels. Charter members jointly announcing the Alliance today at a press conference here include: Bonneville International, Citadel Broadcasting, Clear Channel Radio, Cumulus, Emmis Communications, Entercom, Greater Media, and Infinity Broadcasting. The Alliance also announced that 30-year radio-industry veteran Peter Ferrara was named CEO (read more - Sandy Brown-The Street)  (read more - Reuters)

How much would you pay to hear your favorite radio show, one you used to hear for free? Howard Stern is making his move to Sirius satellite radio and Sirius is betting $500 million that fans will shell out $12.95 a month to hear more from the shock jock who brought something called “butt-bongo” to radio. “Today” show host Katie Couric recently talked with Stern at his future home — a studio still-under-construction in New York’s Rockefeller Center (read more - MSNBC)

When I stop to think about it, the concept of 24/7 sports talk radio blows my mind. How can people listen to themselves for hours on end, often talking about insignificant subject matter? Sure, there are guests and co-hosts, but I get the feeling nobody’s listening to anybody else. Rarely is there an impassioned exchange of ideas, just impassioned self-promotion (read more - Brad Locke-BP Sports)

From Happy Hare -- Most personalities, whether in radio, television or movies have a fantasy of standing in front of a large crowd, the center of high excitement. with press photographers jabbing cameras in their face and shouting for them to look their way and smile. That happened to me in Japan. The catch was that maybe four of the several hundred welcoming me to Yokohama with such verve had the faintest notion who I was. That didn’t matter (read more - www.HappyHareOnline.com)

His sidekick was a rubber ducky and his conversations were punctuated periodically with a raucous quack. Ron Drake, a long-time radio personality in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area, has died. Drake was renowned for his on-air antics and his man-on-the-street interviews. His trademark phrase was, "I'm crazy, but you're listening." (read more - KVOA TV)

The elevation of Elizabeth Vargas, who will continue her work on 2 0/20, and Bob Woodruff comes as speculation increases that Katie Couric will leave Today and take over as anchor of the third-rated CBS Evening News when her contract expires next spring. FOOTNOTE: The Walters-Reasoner team did not produce positive results. ABC News remained a distant third in audience ratings behind NBC and CBS (read more - Dusty Saunders-Rocky Mountain News)  (read more - David Bianculli-NY Daily News)

Walter Z. Berger has been named to Infinity Broadcasting's top financial post as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Berger will assume his responsibilities with the Company in January 2006.  He was formerly Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and member of the Board of Directors of Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corporation (visit Infinity Broadcasting)

Irish-born BBC 2broadcaster Terry Wogan was knighted by Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday, after the ceremony revealed the monarch had tuned into  his morning radio show. "Her Majesty said she had been listening to the programme," said Wogan (read more- Reuters)

From his first program over WNYC on Dec. 10, 1945, Oscar Brand has never gotten a dime. That means when he celebrates his 60th anniversary this coming Saturday at 10 p.m. on WNYC (820 AM) with a special show that will include Christine Lavin, Guy Davis and his old friend Jean Ritchie, he marks six decades as a volunteer. That ought to be some kind of record, and as a matter of fact, it is (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

New over-40s radio station Vega FM's first ratings survey puts it "bang on track", says the broadcaster's program director. Debuting on the Nielsen Media Research ratings survey, the station's audience represented a 1.9 per cent share of Sydney's total listeners, or about 255,000 people (read more - News Australia)

ARBitron numbers for Chattanooga   Columbia SC   Huntsville   Omaha   Shreveport (read 'em)

One of the biggest consumer electronic stories in Canada this year has been the arrival of two satellite radio services - Sirius Canada and XM Radio Canada. On the surface both services are very similar. XM Radio Canada (XM) and Sirius Canada both offer plenty of radio stations commercial free for a monthly fee and both require new radio receivers to receive their signals. Beyond that, however, the changes are significant. For example, XM Radio offers fewer stations (80) than Sirius (100) however XM has a lower monthly fee. XM radios will be stock in plenty of new GM cars in 2006 while Sirius radios will be found in plenty of Fords, Chryslers, Toyotas and Hondas. In addition, the two XM satellites are geostationary while the three Sirius satellites are geosynchronous. Does this matter? (read more - Digital Home Canada)

The GM and Veep for Minneapolis radio division is leaving. With all the talk about Clear Channel's new talk-radio endeavor, things couldn't have appeared to be going better for Dan Seeman, the local exec who has been overseeing the building of KTLK. That's why this afternoon's internal announcement that he was leaving came as a surprise.
"It's with regret I announce the departure of Dan Seeman as VP/General Manager of Clear Channel Radio Minneapolis," wrote regional Clear Channel vice president Mick Anselmo in an e-mail to regional general managers and all local radio employees of the company. "He will be missed at many different levels across our enterprise." (read more - Minneapolis-St Paul City Pages)  (read more - Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

Bob Doll has published "The Radio Funny Book."  It's a collection of hundreds of  radio stories and a great holiday gift for media folks (read more and contact Bob Doll for info)

Listeners of KKCS-FM country music station will now find the station at its new dial home of 104.5 FM. The station's former dial spot at 101.9 FM went to Bustos Media LLC and its flagship Regional Mexican format "La Gran D." The Spanish-language station will use the call letters KGDQ upon FCC approval (read more - Pueblo Chieftain)

Dear Radio Babe: In past years, one or two local radio stations have played continuous Christmas music from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Any stations doing that this year? Thanks. -- P.A. Dear P.A.: Yes. Two Fort Myers/Naples stations began playing favorites just before Thanksgiving: "Lite 93.7" (WTLT 93.7 FM) and WJPT (106.3 FM), a nostalgia/standards channel that first claimed the "Southwest Florida Official Christmas Station" title this year. Now, Tampa has an "Official Holiday Music Station" in "Magic 94.9," Cox's WWRM (94.9 FM) (read more - Dawn Scire-The Radio Babe)

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday that news media organizations were focusing too much on casualties and mistakes by the military in Iraq and were failing to provide a full picture of the progress toward stabilizing the country. "We've arrived at a strange time in this country where the worst about America and our military seems to so quickly be taken as truth by the press, and reported and spread around the world, often with little context and little scrutiny, let alone correction or accountability after the fact," he said in a speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (read more - NY Times)  (read more - Howard Kurtz-Media Notes)

Acclaimed author and founder of the heralded organizational development firm QBQ, Inc., John G. Miller will deliver the opening keynote at RAB 06, the world s largest conference exclusively devoted to Radio sales, marketing, and management. Produced annually by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), this year's conference takes place at the Hyatt Regency DFW Dallas, February 1st through 3rd (read more - RAB)

Hy Lit, one of Philly's first rock-and-roll disc jockeys, is stepping down from his 16-years-running show on WOGL-FM (98.1) to settle an age-discrimination lawsuit he filed against the station. After 51 years on terrestrial radio, Lit, 71, is going to the Internet. He and his son, Sam, have oldies station www.hylitradio.com (read more - Michael Klein-Philly Inquirer)

Add another player to the Latino radio game in Denver.  KKCS 101.9-FM in Colorado Springs flipped from country to a Spanish-language music format on Friday. Its new owners expect to make an impact in the Denver market. The station has been re-named KGDQ and will be known as "La Gran D." (read more - Dick Kreck-Denver Post)

Lennon Live, an exclusive special simulcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio in the U.S. and BBC Radio 2 in the U.K., will include an hour-long documentary followed by live performances from Abbey Road Studios in London and SIRIUS studios in New York by major artists in tribute to John Lennon on the 25th anniversary of his death. It'll air Thursday, December 8, from 2 pm ET to 6 pm ET on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 18, The Spectrum (visit Sirius Radio)

Monday December 5, 2005

Diane Newman, the WWL operations manager and program director who bumped local talk hosts to return Rush Limbaugh to the New Orleans airwaves has vowed to formally invite Rush Limbaugh for a visit. "I will do my damnedest to get Rush Limbaugh to broadcast from here, to drive through Lakeview, through Gentilly, drive through Mid-City, drive through New Orleans East, drive through St. Bernard, drive through the 9th Ward," she said. "I believe that Rush -- as I believe about anybody on a big stage, like Rush, like Oprah, like Al Franken, like Bill O'Reilly, like Bill Maher -- I think they all owe it to their audience in New Orleans and the Gulf South and really to America to come and see it and feel it." (read more- New Orleans Times-Picayune)

According to a Bridge Ratings study released this week, 12-24 year olds, if given a choice, would choose their MP3 players over traditional radio. The study interviewed 2000 persons 12-24 years of age and was done on a national platform. The project was part of a University of Southern California Media Lab analysis entitled "How to Make Music Radio Appealing to the Next Generation." Some findings at the core of the study included the following: 85% of the total sample would choose their MP3 player over traditional radio as their preferred option for music + When given a choice between listening to music over the Internet or traditional radio stations, 54% prefer the Internet while 30% prefer radio. This preference is more pronounced among 18-24 year olds (visit Bridge Ratings)

60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley profiled Howard Stern and discovered a softer side of his persona on Sunday  (visit  60 Minutes) (read more - SAWF)

He was a broadcast pioneer who brought Top 40 music to Canadian airwaves and had a hand in Ottawa's football history. Allan Waters, the founder of CHUM Ltd., and one-time Ottawa Rough Riders owner, died in hospital in his sleep. He was 84. Mr. Waters began his broadcasting career in 1954 when he bought 1050 CHUM in Toronto, which went on to become Canada's first Top 40 radio station. All Shook Up by Elvis Presley was the No. 1 song on CHUM's Top 40 radio when it started on May 27, 1957. Within five weeks, CHUM's slice of the audience went from 5 per cent to 24 per cent. By 1958, its 1050 CHUM was the No. 1 radio station in Toronto. By 1968, CHUM Ltd. was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Mr. Waters was a rich man (read more - The Globe and Mail) (read more - Ottawa Citizen) (read more - Channel Canada)  (read more - Toronto Star)  (read more - The Globe and Mail)  (read more - DBD)  (read more - London Free Press)

Peter Jennings' anchor seat will be shared by two. Rotating bottoms. Elizabeth Vargas, who, whilst she's been sitting in, is garnering good ratings, and Bob Woodruff. Also, what the execs are slowly coming to realize is: Doesn't really matter all that much anymore. The nighttime network heavyweight news anchor has gone the way of the dodo (read more - Cindy Adams-NY Post)  (read more - ABC News)

When Jim Scott first came to Cincinnati in 1968 to play rock’n’roll for WSAI, the radio market was wide open. FM radio had not yet made its mark and there were only five or six AM stations in town, he said. “Now there are over 30 signals in town,” he said. “That makes it really tough to be current and right on the edge. “What I work at every day is to be the top-rated morning show in Cincinnati,” Scott said. So far, so good. Except for one year he took to work at WNBC in New York in 1972, Scott has been a familiar voice to Cincinnati radio listeners for nearly 40 years. Since 1984, Scott has been the morning drive-time host for 700 WLW (read more - Journal News)

The selling point of satellite may be the general lack of commercials -- some channels do have ads, about seven minutes worth per hour -- but some argue the real value is in the choice of programming. While the Canadian services will be somewhat less than their U.S. counterparts at the outset, the choice of 80 to 100 channels is tempting (read more - The Globe and Mail)

The recent sale of radio stations WMLP and WLVY to Sunbury Broadcasting Co. concludes the radio careers of two radio pioneers in the region. John Yingling and Don Steese have both been in the business for a half-century or more (read more - The Daily Item)

As a student at the University of Illinois, WAY, FM-88.1 personality Brant Hansen did a 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. shift on a radio show no one listened to. One night, desperate for listeners, Hansen offered all the money he had in his pocket -- a whopping $12.40 -- to the first caller. No one called. And even when he began singing on the air for the entire show, no one called to complain. Today, Hansen, 36, is still known for his quirky antics and has plenty of listeners as half of the Donna and Brant Show (read more - Sun-Sentinel)

When Jack Swanson called, I asked about how he dealt with the Melanie Morgan mini-crisis, in which her contract as co-host of KSFO's popular morning show expired. With no new deal signed, she was told by VP/GM Mickey Luckoff that she was out, and she tearfully relayed that news to her listeners -- ostensibly including Swanson, who is not only KSFO's program director but her husband as well. Well! "The only way it works is if we don't talk about work at home," he said. "We talk about the dog, the kids, the plumbing, sex -- a lot of things, but we don't talk about work." (read more - Ben Fong-Torres - San Francisco Chronicle)

From Claude Hall -- Freddie Weller, left, and Ron Martin, then program director of KGBS in Los Angeles. Ron was one of those quiet guys (at least, in comparison to most) and although I didn't see much of him, I liked him and respected his radio acumen. Like many, including Larry Scott and Bill Ward at KLAC, he was never ashamed of being "country." I found it very humorous that the Country Music Association had their awards show in New York City a couple of weeks ago. Country music was persona non grata there for so very many years ... (read more - www.ClaudeHallOnline.com)

Earlier this year, I helped write three letters to the editor about just how bad radio is in this city. These articles were critical about the lack of programming choices for adults, raised questions about radio station operations and insisted that at least one full-time station play orchestra and easy listening songs. The letters, which started to appear last February, attracted over 100 responses to the Rockford Register Star. Callers and writers agreed that broadcasting in this city needed much improvement (read more - Rockford Register Star)

Fifteen student-members of the Boise State University Organization for Gender Equality and Education received national attention Tuesday from conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh after they sent him a vagina-shaped chocolate. The group sent Limbaugh a vagina-shaped chocolate sucker and a card thanking him for publicizing the chocolates on his show in August, which they said helped raise $845 for the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence from the sale of the chocolates (read more- Arbiter Online)

Former KUAZ DJ Tony Frank has launched the Tucson Jazz Radio Project to put the American art form back on Old Pueblo airwaves.
He says he wants "to bring back what the community lost." Right now, the station is available online only, at www.tucsonjazzradio.org but Frank says he hopes to have a Federal Communications Commission license and a frequency within a year (read more - Arizona Daily Star)

Trying to preserve their electronic pulpits, the nation's religious broadcasters find themselves in the unusual position of fighting an effort by anti-indecency groups to thwart channels offering racy programming. The issue involves a debate over whether cable companies should continue offering subscribers mainstream and niche channels in bundles, or let them buy what they want on an "a la carte" basis (read more - Jube Shiver-LA Times)

A radio newsreader is on life support in a Sydney hospital after being stabbed during an argument with two men outside a party.
Rowan Barker, 35, reads the news for Sydney radio stations 2GB and 2CH, weekdays from 6am to midday, during the Alan Jones and Ray Hadley talkback programs (read more- National Nine News)

Last year, Media Monitors began tracking the songs played by the 50 all-Christmas stations in the top 50 markets between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And though no religious tunes were part of its top-10 list of songs played on the mostly secular stations, a spokesman estimates that as much as 25 percent of the radio stations' Christmas library "may be religious in nature." He noted, however, that this could mean 10 different versions of "Away in a Manger." According to Media Monitors, the religious song heard most on the stations was "Do You Hear What I Hear?" performed by Whitney Houston (read more - Winston-Salem Journal)

All-news WINS (1010 AM) was knocked off the air for nearly an hour Friday by the very computer that was supposed to save it from such catastrophes. WINS people ran three blocks to broadcast from all-news sister WCBS during the outage. They were off for 10 minutes, then went with CNN for 40, then winged it from WCBS for another 20 before returning to WINS studios (read more - John Mainelli-NY Post)

The chief executive officer of Redwood Broadcasting expects the price of the Blue Lake FM broadcast construction permit to once again hit the stratosphere, but he can’t figure out why. “There is no economic model that justifies anything more than $90,000,” Pattison Christensen said. “I couldn’t even venture to guess what it will go for, but I suspect that it will go for at least what it went for last time. That will make every other property in the area more valuable.” Christensen’s company operates radio stations KXGO and KAJK (read more - The Eureka Reporter)

Quitman is a picturesque East Texas town, surrounded by dogwoods and towering pines at the base of Lake Fork Reservoir. It is the hometown of actress Sissy Spacek. It is where Texas statesman James Hogg was born and where he gave his daughter the dreadful name of "Ima." And it becames the official home of the Light Crust Doughboys Hall of Fame and Museum ... Fort Worth played an important part in the popularity of the Light Crust Doughboys. The band was heard on more than 170 radio stations around the country, and most of those broadcasts originated on WBAP in Fort Worth. But Fort Worth has had plenty of opportunity to honor the group with a museum. The idea was kicked around for years, but no one took the financial initiative.  Now, Western swing fans can travel about 120 miles east into the land of big lakes, big bass, sweet potatoes and lumber (read more - Art Chapman-Star-Telegram)

The Ravens are on the verge of moving to a new radio home. After 10 seasons on Infinity-owned WJFK (1300 AM), the team is in final negotiations to have WBAL (1090 AM) and 98 Rock (WIYY-FM) broadcast games and related content next season (read more - Baltimore Sun)

Motorola iRadio(R) was named Best Radio Service at the 2005 Digital Entertainment and Media Excellence Awards, held Thursday evening in Los Angeles. The award ceremony was part of the two-day Digital Entertainment and Media Expo, co-sponsored by Billboard Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, AdWeek, Nielsen Entertainment and Digital Media Wire. Motorola iRadio was recognized by a panel of judges from across the entertainment and digital media industries as the "the best radio service (digital, Internet, satellite or other format) with respect to variety, innovation and user experience." Other finalists in this category included XM(R) Satellite Radio, America Online's AOL(R) Radio Network, and Yahoo! LAUNCHcast Music Radio Service (read more - PR Newswire)

From John Rook -- As I watched the “Open Forum on Decency” spearheaded by Alaska’s Senator Ted Stevens, I was reminded how it was a direct result of what the Senator from South Carolina started prior to his recent retirement. Thank you Senator Ernest Hollings. The leadership you provided is now receiving the attention of the broadcasting industry that could be the catalyst for saving it (read more- www.johnrook.com)

"iBiquity and the industry realize we now have to sell some radios. I've never seen a higher level of coordination and discussion among the market's leaders," Bob Struble of iBiquity told Reuters this week at a digital media conference in Los Angeles. Chief executives from several radio companies, including market leader Clear Channel Communications, plan a joint announcement on December 6 that analysts believe involves a mass rollout of HD radio (read more - Reuters)

Emmis Communications said that Walter Z. Berger, chief financial officer since 1999, will be leaving the company in January. David Newcomer, the current vp of finance and controller of Emmis' Radio Division, was named interim chief financial officer (read more - Business Week)

She Made It: Women Creating Television and Radio is a three-year initiative to build a unique collection of television and radio programming that celebrates the achievements and preserves the legacy of great women writers, directors, producers, journalists, sportscasters, and executives. She Made It recognizes the early female trailblazers, the current level of power and prominence women have in the industry, and the exciting potential for new generations of women entering the business in the twenty-first century (visit She Made It) (read more - The Stamford Advocate)

The radio industry could find itself at the kids' table in the media banquet hall, as new technology threatens the business, advertising executives said this week at the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit. Satellite radio, digital music players and the Internet are slowly encroaching on traditional radio's stronghold on local entertainment and advertising. Plus, radio ads themselves are less memorable and creative, these executives said. "Radio is at the center of a perfect storm of technological threats," said David Verklin, chief executive of media buying agency Carat Americas. "It has to reinvent itself." (read more - Reuters)

ARBitron numbers for Grand Rapids   Johnson City-Kingsport   Knoxville   Nashville   Oklahoma City  (read 'em)

As the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s death approaches on December 8, Premiere Radio Networks’ prep services including Today’s Rock Facts, The Classic Daily, Hot Wax Daily and Triple A Daily, will provide daily audio recollections about Lennon. From December 5 - 8, Premiere Radio will honor the memory of this rock legend by providing affiliates with actualities from Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Cynthia Lennon, Don Henley, David Crosby, Steven Tyler and many more who knew and loved Lennon as an artist, icon and friend (visit Premiere Radio)

Mike Murray has added the responsibility of handling national sales for Cox Radio’s Tulsa cluster. Mike also holds the position of National Sales Manager for Cox Radio’s Houston cluster (visit Cox Radio)

Friday December 2, 2005

Clear Channel Radio has dismissed its top man in Northeast Ohio, James Meltzer, after six years. "I was asked to leave," he said Wednesday, his last day at the Clear Channel offices in Independence. "I was preparing to leave. They took control of the timetable." Meltzer, 58, said he was not given a reason for his dismissal. "I really wanted a new challenge, and people at the company knew that," he said (read more - Cleveland Plain Dealer)

A contrite Howard Stern? Maybe the big move to satellite radio next month is making the big guy a little soft. In an interview with Ed Bradley to air on Sunday's "60 Minutes," Stern seems to offer some remorse -- yes, R-E-M-O-R-S-E -- for his comments about former Federal Communications Commission chairman and Stern antagonist Al Sikes, for whom he had "prayed" for a recurrence of cancer (read more - Verne Gay-Newsday)

With XM Canada and Sirius Canada now on the air, speculation is rife about the future of traditional radio: Will it survive the satellite version? My short answer, not surprisingly, is that traditional radio will survive, but it will have to adapt. Some stations might go under, others will thrive. The key is content (read more - Jack Kapica-The Globe and Mail)

Nowadays, radio stations are largely corporate-operated and have to play what's at the top of the Billboard charts, explained Corey Booker, owner of Lakeshore All Around Sounds. "Every once in a while, a DJ may get an hour or so to play what he wants, but otherwise, that's it," Booker said. "It's a business, though, and you have to look at it both ways. Like, I guess if a DJ could just play local music all the time, no one would get a chance to hear the national stuff." For E-LAW, a DJ for Cumulus-owned radio station New Magic 102.9, that's the main reason he changed the TV show's focus to emphasize local talent (read more - Shreveport Times)

From Kent Burkhart -- So you have a new GM’s job????  Here are some tips on how to keep it in this consolidated world. * As you are being hired your boss will give you parameters of your job. You should definitely follow his instructions. ( I remember well a friend of mine who decided to make some changes beyond the parameters without permission from his boss. He was fired, even though he was an excellent GM who produced fabulous results.) * Do not hire a GSM or PD without running their qualifications by your boss. Protect yourself if they turn out to be duds…not dudes (read more - www.KentBurkhart.com)

PenguinRadio and Solutions Radio have announced the US release of the Web Radio, a standalone Internet radio appliance that streams Internet radio and podcasts without the need for a personal computer. Users plug in the device to their home network, office LAN, or regular telephone line and connect to the PenguinRadio central database of radio stations and podcasts from PodcastDirectory.com. The radio automatically connects to the Internet and starts streaming media from broadcasters and podcasters around the world. Within seconds, the device with PenguinRadio's database of stations can be operating with the simplicity of a clock radio (read more - Synthtopia)

Hit the pause button, drop the remote and turn your radio down. It's time for another installment of cards and letters across the television/radio desk: Doug Dahlgren: If WCKG finds [new morning host] "Rover" a writer with all the qualifications they're looking for, what exactly will Shane French do? That job description sounds like they're looking for a top-of-the-line morning personality + Glenn Reyna: Ed Schwartz didn't always make the smartest career moves, but in his heyday he truly was the king of late-night radio. I have him in my prayers, and I hope that if there is any heart left in Chicago radio, there will be a place in it for him (read more- Feder of Chicago)

D.A.V.I.D. Systems has announced the addition of Emergency Alert System support to its program associated data functionality, giving stations the ability to display EAS alerts as text on RBDS and HD enabled radios as well as on their Websites. Now a basic operating requirement of the FCC has been incorporated into the workflow of a digital audio solution (visit DAVID Systems)

Expect CBS to announce that Katie Couric will take over as anchor of "CBS Evening News" any day now. The Los Angeles Times reports, "CBS News President Sean McManus has been doggedly courting Couric to switch networks" and take Dan Rather's old slot (read more - NY Post)

ABC News Radio will provide affiliate stations with a five-part series, Flu Facts 2005, answering common questions about flu season. The complete series will be available to affiliates beginning today

Bill O'Reilly has published his enemies list. All three of them.  That's right, out of the ever-expanding media universe, O'Reilly has identified just two newspapers and a cable network that he claims "have regularly helped distribute defamation and false information" supplied by the "far left websites" he blamed for the uproar over his comments giving al-Qaeda the greenlight to blow up San Francisco. Making O'Reilly's blacklist were the New York Daily News, the St. Petersburg Times, and MSNBC. Since he offered no specific details on what this trio did to warrant inclusion on his dishonor roll, one can only speculate. Is it because the Daily News broke the story in 2004 that he had settled his infamous "falafel" sexual harassment suit for between $2 million and $10 million? Let's run that one through the No Spin Zone (read more - Huffington Post)

In a recent Digital Home Poll, nine out of ten Digital Home Canada readers said that Canadians should be allowed to subscribe to U.S. satellite radio services (read more - Digital Home Canada)

For the third consecutive year, Oldies 103 WODS-FM (103.3) has switched from Santana to Santa. The station kicked off its all-holiday music format Nov. 17. Magic WMJX-FM (106.7) also jumped on the seasonal bandwagon this year. It’s played nothing but Christmas music since the day after Thanksgiving. That’s a lot of “Jingle Bells.” But most listeners love it (read more - Heather V. Eng - Boston Herald)

The storied New York City Gay Men's Chorus will perform its first concert featuring its first female member exclusively on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. The special holiday performance and interview with NYC Gay Men' s Chorus will be broadcast to SIRIUS' national audience on SIRIUS Out Q (channel 106) at 10 am ET on Friday, December 9. Selected cuts from the performance will also air on SIRIUS throughout the holiday season (visit Sirius Out Q 106)

Boston Acoustics, a manufacturer of high end audio systems, yesterday announced a new desktop radio which features HD radio technology from iBiquity Digital. The Recepter Radio HD is shipping now and available for $499 (read more - Design Technica)

So what, exactly, is this Lincoln Group that helped plant pro-American propaganda in the Iraqi press, a phenomenon that has made front-page news this week and has now been denounced by everyone from top military leaders to journalism ethicists? And what about its sub-contractor, BKSH & Associates? The story starts with the Washington D.C.-based Lincoln Alliance Corporation (read more - Editor and Publisher)

George Clooney seems to be using Fox News' Bill O'Reilly to promote his movies. In a taping of CNBC's "The Abrams Report" airing today, Clooney brought up his contretemps with O'Reilly over 9/11 charity money and challenged him to have it out on Dan Abrams' show. "I'll debate him right here, right now," railed Clooney (read more - NY Post)

The White House and a senior Republican lawmaker expressed concern on Thursday about secret military payments to get Iraqi newspapers to print pro-American articles, but the military said it was important to spread the truth while insurgents were "lying to the Iraqi people." (read more - Reuters) (read more - Muslim-American Society)  (Christian Science Monitor)   (read more - NY Times) 

On ABC NightLine Thursday night -- There's an enormous stir about an issue NightLine addressed during its interview with Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, -- the reports that a U.S. military program has been paying for pro-American coverage in Iraqi newspapers. The military on the ground is defending the program as a necessary means to counter volumes of anti-American misinformation in the Arab media, while critics like Sen. John Kerry argue it undermines U.S. credibility. Nightline's Terry Moran covered the latest developments in this story (visit ABC NightLine)

ARBitron numbers for Albany   Greenville-New Bern   Memphis   Raleigh-Durham (read 'em)

Dave Graveline's Into Tomorrow on Sunday takes a sleigh ride and spin around this holiday season's high tech gadgets.  Into Tomorrow is syndicated and on over 100 stations each Sunday afternoon (visit www.graveline.com)

KZLA FM will release 2 carrier pigeons from the KZLA studio in Burbank to predict the winner of this Saturday's UCLA vs. USC football game. Two Carrier Pigeons will be chosen, one tagged with a USC band, the other with a UCLA band. The first pigeon to arrive back at their roost will determine the winner (visit KZLA)

Skype Technologies, the Luxemburg company famous for its free Internet telephone calls, today launches an update that brings us closer to an elusive technological dream — the videophone. The new Skype 2.0 software provides the ability to see as well as hear computer-to-computer callers — provided both parties have webcams (read more - LA Times)  (visit Skype.com)

What do Katie Couric, Lucille Ball and Julia Child have in common? The work of each of these women is being honored by the Museum of Television & Radio as part of a display about the most influential women creators in television and radio (read more - USA Today)

Clear Channel Communications has made a $100,000 commitment to the Capital Campaign for the new Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. The gift will be used to develop the Radio Hall of Fame exhibition area. The new 70,000-square-foot museum opens in the late summer of 2006. "Clear Channel is committed to honoring the people who make radio great, so it is thrilling that our company will have a role in opening the doors of the Radio Hall of Fame's new state-of-the-art home," said Mark Mays, Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Communications.  L. Lowry Mays of Clear Channel was inducted in 2004 (visit - Museum of Broadcast Communications)

It was a long and winding regulatory road, but satellite radio is finally --legally -- available in Canada. And it has the potential to mark a new era in radio, the paying era, similar to what cable did for TV in the early 1980s (read more - The Globe and Mail)  (read more - CBC)

 An internet radio show with a Colonial twist is extended from pilot-phase production to signing a contract to complete its first full year of production, thanks to a listenership that has grown to 170,000 monthly. Poor Richard's Shoebox airs live on Mondays, 7AM Pacific, on VoiceAmerica.com. The show covers taxes and personal finance (read more - PR Web)

WXCT has announced that the Central Connecticut Womens Forum will be joining the morning line-up beginning Dec. 6. CCWF will produce a weekly one hour show, on Tuesday mornings to showcase their organization, and offer some know how for women in business and those looking to get into business (visit WXCT)

Thursday December 1, 2005

Since the city (NYC) has no oldies or country station, and soon won't have a modern-rock station, XM Satellite Radio will be offering samples of its own oldies, country and modern-rock channels for the next two weeks over WNYE (91.5 FM). Today and tomorrow, WNYE will offer the XM '50s, '60s and '70s channels. Monday through Friday next week, there'll be programs from five XM country channels. And from Dec. 12-14, WNYE will carry several XM modern-rock channels (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

In the process of promoting his move to Sirius Satellite Radio, Howard Stern clued in David Letterman about how to succeed on the audio airwaves: “Be a big, fat, pompous ass, and have the answer to everything.” Whether “big, fat, pompous ass” referred to himself or arch-rival Rush Limbaugh is not clear. Certainly Stern isn’t fat. He’s more tall and angular, Joey Ramone-looking with shades and even more nose, but, for two and half decades, his lewd and idiosyncratic answers to everything have made him a power in the land. Stern and Limbaugh formerly bookended American talk radio like symbolic and opposing colossi of red and blue. Rush huffed and puffed and waved the bellicose flag, while Howard hosted Lesbian Dating Game (read more - Mick Farren-LA City Beat)

"Would we sell stations? That is not our intent," Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan told the Reuters Advertising and Media Summit on Wednesday (read more - Reuters)

Jim Meltzer, vp of Northeast Ohio operations, Clear Channel, is leaving the company. Meltzer made the announcement of the move in an e-mail, saying, “I am leaving Clear Channel to pursue other goals” (read more- Crain's Cleveland Biz)

Bill Struck, 60, regional vice president and market manager for Clear Channel Radio's stations in El Paso and other areas of West Texas, will retire Dec. 31 (read more - El Paso Times)

KERA/90.1 FM listeners knew talk-show host Glenn Mitchell for his wry wit, his respect for his guests, his breadth of knowledge and his depth of curiosity. But those who attended Wednesday's memorial service got a bigger, often irreverent, picture of Mitchell.
"My brother was the meanest croquet player on this planet in 1961," said Mitchell's sister, Linda Mitchell Bland, one of several people who spoke at the service at Dallas' Kalita Humphreys Theater (read more - Robert Philpot-Star Telegram)  (read more - Tom Maurstad-Dallas News)

After only three months as program director of sports/talk WMVP-AM (1000), veteran Chicago radio executive Jeff Schwartz has been promoted to director of operations of ESPN Radio 1000 and "True Oldies Channel" WZZN-FM (94.7) + With the new Museum of Broadcast Communications set to open next summer at State and Kinzie, the founder and president, Bruce DuMont, has lined up some high-profile partners to help with key exhibits (read more-Feder of Chicago)

If you tune in WABC (770 AM) Saturday night and you think you're hearing the Beatles, the Temptations and Neil Diamond, don't reach for your anti-flashback medication. That is what you're hearing.
Mark Simone will be hosting "Saturday Night Oldies," 6-10 p.m., a nod to the days when WABC was the most popular and influential top-40 radio station on the planet (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

Infinity Broadcasting has named Charlie Quinn Vice President, AC Format. Quinn replaces Smokey Rivers who left the company in October. He will continue in his current position as Operations Manager for KYXY-FM and KSCF-FM in San Diego. He has been with the company since July 1999. Quinn has over 25 years of radio experience programming Adult Contemporary, Adult CHR, Country and Rock stations (visit Infinity Broadcasting)

What exactly is Oprah Winfrey's problem with David Letterman?
In all the stories about her ballyhooed appearance on tonight's "Late Show" - her first on a Letterman show in 16 years - I have yet to read a satisfactory explanation for why she has avoided Dave's shows for all that time. Theories abound, however (read more - Adam Buckman-NY Post)  (read more - Alyson Ward-Star Telegram)

Entercom Seattle’s 99.9 KISW - FM announced that The BJ Shea Morning Experience will replace Howard Stern, beginning Jan. 3, 2006. The show will air weekdays, 5 – 10 a.m. The BJ Shea Morning Experience features BJ Shea, Double R and Topshelf. The BJ Shea Experience most recently served as the midday show on 100.7 "The Buzz" (KQBZ - FM) and was consistently one the top ranked radio shows in Seattle  (read more - Bill Virgin-Seattle PI)  (read more - King 5)

Still looking for that perfect holiday present for your friendly neighborhood radiohead? Here's the second installment of the Static Column Annual Gift Guide. Let's face it: Radio's had better days. The FM dial is filled with unoriginal music formats, canned programming and annoying shock jocks. Over on the talk-centric AM dial, there's enough superheated gas to float a flotilla of hot-air balloons (read more - Randy Dotinga-NC Times)

Oprah Winfrey is a billionaire and a role model adored by millions of fans — but she can't get into some of the country clubs near her home in Montecito, Cal. Sources say Oprah applied for membership at the Burnham Wood Country Club and the Knollwood Tennis Club in Montecito, and was rejected by both. "I can't believe they would turn her down, and I can't imagine she'd want to join Burnham Wood," said a neighbor. "It adjoins her property, but her house is bigger than the clubhouse and a hell of a lot nicer, too." (read more - NY Post)

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced the launch of a new arm of its on-air advertising campaign that promotes free, over-the-air radio's strengths. The advertisements move beyond the music message contained in the previously released "Radio: You Hear It Here First" advertisements. The Hear It Here First spots enlisted 23 superstar and newly emerging musicians including the Rolling Stones, Hoobastank, the Bravery, Bon Jovi, Avril Lavigne, Lee Ann Womack, Rob Thomas, Nelly, 3 Doors Down and Ludacris to describe how local radio provided the artists their first break. The new ads highlight other compelling audio entertainment on local radio and close with the tag "Radio: You Shouldn't Have to Pay for It." The ads were crafted to play across all radio station formats and may be downloaded at:
http://www.nab.org/newsroom/issues/radio/radiomarketingcampaignspots-talk.asp

John Hogan, Chief Executive of Clear Channel Radio, said the company is in talks with all the top U.S. mobile services and may run a number of tests for local cellular radio services with a view to beginning commercial offerings next year. "We are in discussions with all of the major wireless suppliers." Hogan said (read more - Reuters)

From Murphy Martin -- As the president goes about trying to sell his concerns for border violators, we ran across some numbers this week that come into play while Congress and the president try to arrive at legislation they can agree upon. There were 160,000 apprehensions of other- than-Mexican illegal-crossers in 2005. That was 219% increase over 2004. Also, 29% of the 36-million immigrants to America are here illegally! And 155,000 illegal immigrants were arrested in the interior or by fugitive units, and 460 people are known to have died in the desert after crossing our borders with Mexico illegally in fiscal 2005. All these figures were gathered by the Dallas Morning News from Homeland Security, Department of Justice and the Pew Hispanic Center (read more - www.MurphyMartin.com)

Emmis Communications announced that the company has gained the necessary approvals and has completed six of its 16 television station transactions. Emmis expects to complete three additional transactions early next week (read more - PR Newswire)

Coming Sunday January 1, 2006 from RDN Special Contributor Ron Jacobs ... When Men and Mountains Meet  (read more - www.RonJacobsOnline.com)

                                                                           
CNNRadio will offer its affiliates a special live one-hour program with CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. In the special titled, “Killer Flu: A Breath Away,” Gupta journeys to the frontlines of the battle against the bird flu as he investigates outbreaks in Thailand and Indonesia. “Killer Flu: A Breath Away” will air live Thursday, Dec. 8, from 2-3 p.m. and is a companion program to the CNN/U.S. bird flu special scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 11, at 10 p.m. 

SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced that Phil Jackson, legendary head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, will host a weekly NBA talk
show exclusively on SIRIUS (read more - PR Newswire)

A 35-year-old man from Philadelphia was sentenced to four months in prison Monday for helping dismember a murder victim in a case that shocked Denmark. Jared Heller, a former disc jockey, had been held in jail since April, when he turned himself after being sought by police in the murder of a taxi driver (read more - Philly Burbs)

"The feedback here has been phenomenal, the expectation is big, the interest level is high, the retailers are excited and geared up, ready to go," said Mark Redmond, president and CEO of Sirius Canada. "We've got high expectations." XM Radio is already up and running - its radios hit stores Tuesday - while competitor Sirius Canada launches Thursday, barely two months after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission gave its stamp of approval for the two providers (read more - Macleans CA)

ARBitron numbers for Austin, Baton Rouge, Jacksonville, Louisville, San Antonio and Tulsa (read 'em)

Wednesday November 30, 2005

Now that Cleveland's Shane "Rover" French is set to replace Howard Stern as morning personality at WCKG-FM (105.9), look for bosses of the Infinity Broadcasting "Free FM" station to turn their attention to the rest of their lineup. Nothing is official, but insiders say Wendy Snyder could be on her way out as one of Steve Dahl's afternoon sidekicks + Chicago will host Air America Radio's biggest star -- Al Franken -- when he broadcasts his syndicated talk show live from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 9 from Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted. Tickets are sold out (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Air America is switching to a split shift in the morning. The progressive talk network, heard locally on WLIB (1190 AM), will have Mark Riley hosting 5-7 a.m., followed by Rachel Maddow, 7-9. "Air America Mornings" starts Jan. 2 (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

People familiar with the matter last night said that only three groups remained in the auction to acquire ABC Radio, after months of negotiations and a series of rounds of bidding. The potential buyers were Entercom Communications of Pennsylvania, Cumulus Radio of Georgia – which recently acquired a large portfolio of radio assets from Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff, a Pennsylvania-based conglomerate – and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the US private equity group that unexpectedly emerged as a player in the race in recent days (read more - Financial Times)

KERA 90.1 FM announced this week that it will continue to air a live call-in talk show with guest hosts during its noon time slot as part of a temporary line-up. The schedule - which includes the addition of two BBC programs during the 1 p.m. hour - will be replaced with a permanent line-up sometime in early 2006. The midday changes follow the November 20 death of Glenn Mitchell, host of "The Glenn Mitchell Show."  For now, the station will air a one-hour call-in show, "The Talk Show" at noon, Monday through Thursday. Guest hosts for December include former guest hosts Krys Boyd, Kim Malcolm and Jeff Whittington (visit KERA 90.1)

ABC News Radio will provide affiliate stations with a one-hour special broadcast marking the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. Lennon: The Loss, The Legacy – An ABC News Radio Special will be anchored by ABC News Correspondent Larry Jacobs and will be available exclusively to ABC News Radio affiliates beginning December 1

Struggling against tough comparisons to October 2004 which were boosted by heavy political spending, October 2005 Radio revenue figures were significantly off. The downturn can be traced to specific markets in the battleground states from the 2004 election that were up against last year’s high comparison to the current non-political 2005 (read more - RAB)

Broadcasters say they would actually be glad of more guidance from the commission (FCC) or, at least, some idea of what the rules are. For now, the FCC seems to be simply heeding the nation's television viewers who don't mind a little gore in their dramas, evidenced by the popularity of the CSI franchise, but still find a glimpse of stocking to be something shocking (read more - Toledo Blade)

Nearly a year after shepherding the handoff from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams as the executive producer of "NBC Nightly News," Steve Capus was promoted yesterday to president of the network's news division. The appointment, which was announced by Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television Group, caps a meteoric year for Mr. Capus, 42, who was promoted to senior vice president of the news division in June and acting president in September. Mr. Capus assumes his job, in which he will oversee not only NBC News but also the MSNBC cable channel and Web site, at a moment of rapid transformation in broadcast news and in television over all (read more - NY Times)

Digital station Prime Time Radio, which targets listeners over 50, has announced it is exiting the DAB platform from May 2006, dealing a blow to the fledgling digital radio medium. Prime Time, which is also broadcast on Sky and NTL, is the largest station to withdraw from the Digital One multiplex so far (read more - Media Week U.K.)

As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq. The articles, written by U.S. military "information operations" troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Many of the articles are presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists. The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country (read more - LA Times)

The Conclave has announced its theme for the 31st annual Learning Conference next July in Minneapolis: FUTURE TENSE! The event – which in 2006, will be the nation’s FIRST multi-format radio gathering of the year – is being held at the Minneapolis Marriott City Centre Hotel on July 13-16, 2006 (Thursday through Sunday) (visit The Conclave)

Letting cable TV customers pick the channels they receive instead of making them buy programming packages would likely save subscribers money and help them avoid violent and sexually explicit shows, the nation's top communications regulator said Tuesday (read more - David Ho-Dayton Daily News)

Ricky Gervais, the comedy genius behind the British version of "The Office" and HBO's recently concluded "Extras," is launching a weekly "radio" show that will be available only as a podcast through the Guardian newspaper's Web site, www.guardian.co.uk
The London-based newspaper quotes him as saying, "I want to do a radio show where I can say what I want, when I want, for as long as I want and that's free for anybody who can be bothered to listen, anywhere in the world." (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Will NPR's podcasts birth a new business model for public radio? How the public radio giant has become a leading podcaster in just two months. Plus, a fond farewell from this columnist (read more - Mark Glaser-Online Journalism Review)

Kirsty Wark was seeing the funny side of life after taking the hot seat in a radio show with comedian Fred MacAulay. The Newsnight presenter, famed for her tough talking, is learning to lighten up after becoming co-host of Radio Scotland's MacAulay and Co (read more - Evening Times U.K.)

The shows began Monday; The Sean Hannity Show and The Michael Medved Show air weekdays on the Talk of the Inland Empire, News Talk 590 KTIE-AM.   Due to scheduling conflicts, The Sean Hannity Show, previously announced to air 12 noon – 3:00 p.m. on News Talk 590 KTIE-AM, now airs 8:00 – 11:00 p.m.  The Michael Medved Show airs live, from 12 noon – 3:00 p.m. (visit KTIE)

Tuesday November 29, 2005

Doug Goodstein is executive producer of Howard Stern On Demand, a pay cable channel devoted to the shock jock that premiered Nov. 18 which coincides with Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio. Video-on-demand is a regulation free environment where Stern can be as outrageous and uncensored as he wants to be (read more - Joe Flint-WSJ)

Dick Clark returns -- That's the word from ABC, which says the TV legend will make his first TV appearance since a December 2004 stroke on the network's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" special on Dec. 31. ABC's already picked "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest to anchor the show from Times Square. It now says Hilary Duff will headline the West Coast feed, and will perform three songs (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced that Rob Cross, former Operations Manager for WXRK-FM/New York, joins SIRIUS Satellite Radio as Director of Programming for its MAXIM Radio channel 108. Cross, who was with WXRK for two and a half years as Operations Manager, starts with SIRIUS on December 6th (visit Sirius)

How long does a radio station keep its word? In the case of WKSC-FM (103.5) -- the Clear Channel Radio Top 40 outlet known as Kiss FM -- we now know the answer is four years + Carrie Ann DeYoung, the entertainment publicist who's been moonlighting as Mancow Muller's female sidekick at WKQX-FM (101.1), was unable to come to terms on a contract with the Emmis Communications alternative rocker (read more - Feder of Chicago)

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is expected to suggest that cable companies could best serve their customers by allowing them to subscribe to individual channels instead of packages of several stations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday (read more - Reuters)

What cable did for TV viewers in terms of channel choice and image quality, the new satellite services will for radio listeners, offering vastly more selections and better reception for virtually everyone in Canada regardless of their location (read more - Auto 123)

Clear Channel's "progressive talk" radio format on KRPT — FM 92.5 — became history as of last Wednesday. Word from radio bosses is that the format didn't get sufficient ad and audience support ... Clear Channel is hyping the replacement on 92.5 FM: continuous, DJ-less, Texas country music, played 24 hours a day. Artists include Pat Green and Robert Earl Keen. It's dubbed "The Outlaw." It also can be heard best on the Internet at 925theoutlaw.com (read more - Jeanne Jakle-San Antonio Express-News)

Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity long have been the big names at cable news' No. 1 network, but increasingly, Shepard Smith is the big-gun anchor viewers expect to see when a big story breaks. "If you're talking about a major story, major news — certainly Shep is the face of Fox News," says Bill Shine, the network's senior vice president of programming (read more - Atlanta JC)

Dear Readers: The latest e-newsletter from Sarasota/Bradenton's low-power community radio station WSLR (96.5-LP FM) had a surprising subject heading. It read, "Bible Broadcasting Network has turned off their translator."  (read more - Dawn Scire-The Radio Babe)

The future of radio is at the door. It's being touted as the most significant advance in radio broadcasting since the debut of FM stereo. There's talk of the new technology "saving the industry." What is it? Say hello to high-definition radio (read more - IDS News)

According to her manager, Jim Johnson, Lauren Hart is leaving the "10" show on Philly's NBC10 to devote more time to her music career. Hart's last day on "10" will be December 9. Hart's new CD will be released January 14 and tour dates in England and Europe are in the works (read more - Laura Nachman)

Black Sabbath, Miles Davis and the Sex Pistols are among five musical legends to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation will hold its induction ceremony March 13 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, the organization announced Monday (read more - Washington Post)  (read more - Mary Huhn-NY Post)

The wheels are coming off the Howard Stern/Infinity Broadcasting relationship. Cast members of Howard Stern’s show said on Monday that Infinity made offers to them to remain at the company when Mr. Stern leaves for his new job at Sirius Satellite Radio (read more - Red Herring)

From RDN Special Contributor Sonny Melendrez --  Sonny talks with Gary Lewis about his renewed career, the future and the last time he talked with him in 1965 backstage in El Paso (visit SonnyRadio.com)  (listen to Sonny and Gary Lewis interview)

ARBitron numbers for Colorado Springs   Columbus OH   Denver   Fresno   Seattle-Tacoma (read 'em)

The public memorial service scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Dallas Theater Center's Kalita Humphreys Theater for renowned radio personality Glenn Mitchell will be a celebration of Mitchell's life, according to organizers of the memorial. Speakers will include Mitchell's friends, his family, and his peers in the media community - among them Texas radio personalities Norm Hitzges and David Johnson; the Star-Telegram's Bob Ray Sanders, a friend and former co-worker at KERA; and Jeff Luchsinger, vice president and station manager of KERA 90.1 (visit KERA 90.1)

From Happy Hare -- Contrary to what you may have heard, heart disease is not the nation’s #1 killer. It is boredom. My attempts to evade boredom often get me into trouble. Boredom is the benevolent wave that cast me back upon perilous shoals of radio and onto the tarmac of Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, on the third leg of a world speed record attempt. The airfield was a combination civilian and military installation. A deafening jet whine permeated the field, coming from MIG 15’s landing and taking off. One evening in early 1969, I warily approached a monstrous plane the likes of which I had never seen (read more - www.happyhareonline.com)

It was 20 years ago . . . The Classic Rock radio format is celebrating its 20th anniversary as a powerful force on FM Radio -- and beyond. In an era when radio formats come and go with regularity, Classic Rock has established itself as the most successful new format in the past two decades. Back in 1985, the Classic Rock radio format was created by consultant Fred Jacobs. Armed with research from his days as the Director of FM Radio Research at ABC and a programming stint at WRIF in Detroit, Jacobs recognized the burgeoning power of the Baby Boomer generation, and the music that galvanized them (read more - PR Newswire)

George Stephanopoulos (left), host of ABC News This Week with George Stephanopoulos, greets David Yadgaroff (right), Vice President and General Manager of ABC News Radio’s Philadelphia affiliate KYW, after discussing foreign and domestic issues facing the Bush administration at Drexel University LeBow College of Business’ Mid-Atlantic Currents series

On December 6 Radio’s morning show hosts Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold, otherwise known as Bob & Tom, will play themselves in an upcoming episode of “The Rodney Show,” which stars their old friend Rodney Carrington (Tuesdays at 8:30pm on ABC). Just in time for Christmas, Bob & Tom have donated 10,000 copies of “Radio Institution” to the USO’s Operation Care Package. A USO representative will be on hand to accept the gift on the Rodney set in Los Angeles. “Radio Institution” is an original comedy album that Bob & Tom created specially for the troops (visit Bob and Tom)

CBS Radio News presents the 30-minute CBS News Special Report, "The Record Breaking Hurricane Season," airing Wednesday, November 30th at 4:00 PM ET and 7:00 PM ET (visit
WCBS 880 Radio)

... somewhere in Philly, Dick Hungate, the man who is now one of the most experienced disc jockeys around was inventing a radio format that said, "Enough of this new, stodgy stuff. Let's play 100 percent classic rock, all the time." And he's never stopped doing that (read more - Classic Rock 96.9 WWUZ)

Media Monitors, which tracks radio content, has confirmed what most listeners suspected: When it comes to holiday music on the radio, we like it upbeat, light and familiar. In following 50 all-holiday stations in the 50 top markets last year, Media Monitors found none of the 10 most-played recordings were religious and none were more recent than 1971 (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

SportsRadio 770 ESPN, a Beasley Broadcast Group station, today announced that it is now broadcasting in HD Radio™. Sports Radio 770 ESPN is the first radio station in Ft. Myers to launch digital broadcasts through this technology (visit SportsRadio 770 ESPN)

Monday November 28, 2005

In September of 2003, Jeff France got lucky. A morning-show opening developed in Toledo, which is an hour's drive from his hometown of Ridgeway. WWWM-FM (105.5) hired him to replace Brian Casey. This is WWWM's fifth morning show since 1997, and France's on-air partner, Lyn Casye, has been on four of them. When asked to compare the current morning show to the others, she said things are "much more comfortable" with France (read more - Russ Lemmon-Toledo Blade)

Premiere Radio Networks extended its partnership with Maven Networks Inc. that will allow the companies to deliver segments of "The Rush Limbaugh Show" to video-enabled iPods and personal computers (read more - SA Biz Journal)

Radio industry insiders say companies "blow up" stations when formats are changed. Boom, boom and boom were the sounds heard at WGLD-FM (104.5), WENS-FM (97.1) and WTPI-FM (107.9) this year (read more - David Lindquist-Indy Star)

From Claude Hall -- Jose Feliciano singing on the beach across from Kings Castle casino at Lake Tahoe, NV, circa 70s. Jose's then wife was his manager in those days. She'd brought him out to the beach at Lake Tahoe, put him on a blanket, and he was entertaining the beach mongers, including me and my wife and kids John and Darryl. I thought it was a good ploy. Jose later entertained on stage in the casino (read more - www.ClaudeHallOnline.com)

GCap has promised that flagship London station Capital FM will not play more than two advertisements in a row after answering a plea from listeners, which number 1.8 million currently compared with 2.9 million in 2001 (read more - Virgin Finance News U.K.)

HOOAH!!! Radio, a free Internet-based radio station that salutes soldiers and supports their families announced its official launch. Staffed by live volunteer DJs that are comprised of U.S. military veterans, HOOAH!!! provides a wide variety of music and entertainment. (visit www.hooahradio.com)

There's one resource no one ever talks about. And yet, at the rate we're going through the supply, it's only a matter of time before we run out. I'm speaking, of course, about pundits. A pundit, in case you're not familiar with the term, is a so-called expert in his or her field who writes about or comments on issues of the day. Most often, you see the word "political" linked to "pundit." (You may know pundits by other names, including "talking heads," "gasbags" and "twits.") Political pundits are everywhere. They're on TV. They're on radio. They're in newspapers. They write blogs on the Internet. And because the number of TV channels is growing, and the number of programs on any particular network that uses pundits is on the upswing, and because the Internet allows for pretty much an infinite number of blogs, well, pundits are everywhere (read more - Linwood Barclay-Toronto Star)

Charlie Russell, account executive for KTSM-AM, has been named 2005 Presidents Club winner for Clear Channel Radio El Paso + J.J. Riley has joined Regent Broadcasting's KSII-FM (93.1) as program director and afternoon personality (read more - El Paso Times)

As the 41st-largest radio market in the United States, Indianapolis and its suburbs consist of 1.3 million potential listeners. Five corporations own 17 of the 20 highest-ranked stations in Indianapolis (read more - David Lindquist-Indy Star)

Radio hasn't had a great time of it over the past couple of decades. Set against television and the Internet, nearly century-old radio technology feels antiquated. And its content — with all of those relentlessly screeching commercials and unlistenable pap — has only spiked its annoyance factor. I'll take the sound of a broken, muffled Air Supply 8-track cartridge over most radio stations these days (read more - Robert Crib-Toronto Star)

Sean Hannity may be coming. Then again, he may not. There is no question, though, about the Lounge. It is closing. That's the absolute word from XTRA (690 AM). It is definitely pulling the plug on its Lounge adult music format, and the only question now is when that will occur. As for Hannity -- well, the controversial radio and TV host is another matter. KTIE (590 AM) thought it had him and even announced that he was scheduled to debut Monday in the noon-3 p.m. time slot. Twenty-four hours later things had changed considerably. There were "some contract issues," according to station spokeswoman Mary Harris (read more - San Bernadino Sun)

KZZN 760 AM's Jay Marvin is simulcasting his show and filling in for Air America's Jerry Springer this week on the morning show (visit KZZN - Jay Marvin)

Almost one year ago to the day -- Nov. 24, 2004 -- WLR "La Radio Net" began transmitting its Hispanic/Latino radio format 24 hours a day via the World Wide Web. In doing so, it became the first and only radio station in the Capital Region broadcasting a Latino/Hispanic format 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (read more - Times Union)

WKLU-FM (101.9) owner Russ Oasis and general manager Mark Clark say their station has soared in popularity by paying more attention to music fans and less to the bottom line. The classic rock station ranked 22nd among listeners age 12 and older for the summer months of 2004, according to Arbitron media research (read more - David Lindquist-Indy Star)

It is two years since Eddie Mair announced he was leaving Radio 4's Sunday morning show Broadcasting House to become the sole presenter of the weekday programme PM. So what does he do with his weekends now? "Just lie shivering, wishing I was back on the radio," says Mair, a master of the art of evading questions with a wisecrack (read more - The Independent U.K.)

For me, SIRIUS satellite radio embodies everything about the Internet that I like. First, it employs TC/IP and satellite technology. Second, it uses technology to breathe some new life into something familiar but old and third, it uses a small device to be able to access an endless supply of data, which by the way, is where all entertainment devices are headed. If you can get to all of your data all of the time, do you really care where it is? Of course not (read more - Greg Michetti-Canoe)

Walt Disney Studios and Clear Channel will be using video-enabled portable players including iPods to advertise movies and other content. Viewers will be able to download and transfer trailers, clips, interviews, and other promotional content to their PCs and their iPods from the web (read more - Indian Television)

Robert Lawrence is a former Taft Broadcasting executive who helped the St. Louis Cardinals team this year buy its own radio station. Now, the Indian Hill resident is said to be pursuing a similar deal for the Reds on behalf of his friend and soon-to-be controlling owner, Robert Castellini (read more - MSNBC)

With sleek iPods rapidly becoming the hi-fi system of choice, satellite radio offering hundreds of specialty stations, and the Internet overflowing with all kinds of free and cheap legal digital music, suddenly the thought of owning an awkward polycarbonate plastic-coated disc that holds only an hour of tunes by just one artist seems positively prehistoric -- even if it comes with a hastily produced "bonus" DVD (read more - Aidin Vaziri-SF Chronicle)

XM Radio Canada's Toronto headquarters is a mess: Electrical wires, insulation and dust define the former Scotiabank building where more than two dozen tradespeople are hustling 14 hours everyday to turn it into a shiny, ultramodern satellite radio storefront by Dec. 16. Sirius may be a step behind XM right at the moment. But Gary Slaight is determined to compete and says that his $14.99 monthly service ($2 more than XM), with its 100 channels — including Martha Stewart Living Radio and the BBC — is worth it (read more - Toronto Star)

Justin Hawkins has spoken about his issues with American radio stations. The lead singer of The Darkness says that success for the band may or may not happen. "We're not going to break our necks and go to all the radio stations in the US and say 'Please will you play our records?'" The rocker explained the differences between the US and UK in terms of getting a record played ... (read more - Digital Spy U.K.)

When fans attend basketball games this season in the Activity Center there may be a recognizable voice, as Texas Radio Hall of Famer Bill Mercer takes over the job of public address announcer. Mercer has more than 50 years of television and radio experience. He is well-known in the metroplex for broadcasting early Dallas Cowboys' games, including the team's first Super Bowl victory in 1972. That same year, Mercer broadcast for the Texas Rangers - in their inaugural season - alongside baseball hall-of-famer Don Drysdale (read more - UTD Mercury)

The Jack is a godsend for a broadcast radio industry trying to rebound from a weak advertising climate, audience losses as competition mounts from subscription satellite radio and capital expenditures associated with conversion to high definition radio. Kagan Research's Radio Financial Databook 2005(6th edition) notes radio station advertising revenue tumbled 7.5% in 2001 and grew just 1% in 2003 (read more - Kagan)

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson had made it his mission at CPB, which distributes about $400 million in federal funding for public television and radio, to root out what he perceived -- with justification in some cases -- to be a liberal bias in its programming. Inspector General Kenneth A. Konz's report details how Mr. Tomlinson's concern about politicization failed to extend to his own actions, which violated the organization's rules and federal law. It found that Mr. Tomlinson was in touch with the White House about "shaking up CPB" and that "political tests" were a major factor in choosing the corporation's current president, former Republican National Committee chairman Patricia Harrison, despite the statutory prohibition against considering political ties (read more - Washington Post Editorial)

Activists jabbed back at Bill O'Reilly on Friday, dressing one of their number in a turbaned and bearded "Osama bin O'Reilly" mask to decry the conservative talk show host's "fatwa" against the city ... O'Reilly, during his nationally syndicated "The Radio Factor" show on Nov. 8, berated the city for its ballot measure urging public high schools and college campuses to keep out military recruiters (read more - Inside Bay Area)

At this point, it's mostly hard-core radio fans who have heard of HD Radio, a new technology. But it's headed our way ... people in terrestrial radio see it as a potentially big weapon in fighting the broad offerings of satellite, and some 500 stations have their HD equipment in place, though none are yet broadcasting multiple channels in New York (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

On Grace Stanchfield's 100th birthday, she will wake to the voices of National Public Radio. And, when she hits her pillow, she'll drift off to the sound of KIRO's Mike Webb. "But I don't care for Dori Monson," she said. In short, she listens to liberal talk radio. Counts on it. It's what stokes her fire. "I love it," she said, then inquired of a visitor (read more - Gordy Holt-Seattle PI)

Starting in December Princeton, Illinois, a town of 7,500, will begin offering high-speed Internet service over the electrical lines that power the city. It is among a handful of communities nationwide to plunge into a new technology called broadband over power lines, or BPL, that competes with Internet connections provided by telephone and cable TV operators. Combined with wireless technologies, broadband service delivered over power lines--and perhaps one day even through natural gas pipelines--raises the likelihood that going online anywhere at any time for very low cost will soon be a reality (read more - Jon Van-Chicago Tribune)

Cell phones -- often maligned because motorists talking on them can get into accidents that result in backups -- will now be used to help ease congestion in the region. The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) next year will begin using relayed signals from cell phone towers to pinpoint where traffic has ground to a halt, thus enabling highway officials to distribute timely traffic reports and help motorists avoid backups. The program initially will focus on Baltimore and the surrounding area. If successful, the initiative will take on the D.C. area, in addition to side streets and roads in Baltimore (read more - Washington Times)

Radio and TV presenter Jonathan Ross has received an OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to broadcasting. Ross, who hosts a BBC One chat show and BBC Radio 2 programme, collected his honour from the Prince of Wales (read more - BBC)

Elliot Spitzer alleged that executives from Warner Bros. Records, Reprise, Lava and Atlantic showered radio programmers with lavish gifts, trips, tickets to high-profile events and cash in exchange for airplay. WMG acts allegedly benefiting from pay-for-play tactics included the Used, Michelle Branch, Toby Lightman, Josh Groban and Antigone Rising. According to Spitzer, the company often passed along perks to radio stations via indie promoters that included Michele Clark Promotions, Jeff McClusky and Associates, Tri-State and Lawnman Promotions, with the label's indie promoter budget as high as $100,000 per song (read more - Reuters)

Aside from howling winds, what does Winnipeg have to offer an entertainment-starved Hollywood starlet? KICK FM, a recent addition to the local airwaves, according to Gina Gershon. On a recent episode of Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, Gershon enthused about the station that she listened to regularly while she was in town shooting the recently aired television movie, Category 7 (read more - Chart Attack)

Barry Greenhill has been a Howard Stern fan since the radio shock jock worked the morning drive shift at DC-101 in the early 1980s. With Stern set to jump from Infinity Broadcasting to Sirius Satellite Radio on Jan. 9, Greenhill chose to follow. Last month, he purchased a Sirius radio for his car and began subscribing to its programming. Friday he was back to buy a docking station so he won't miss any of Stern's expletive-filled rants while at his federal government job (read more - Washington Post)

Friday November 25, 2005

On a recent conference call, Radio One Inc. chief executive Alfred C. Liggins III spent much of his time explaining to analysts how his large urban radio company could break the industry's sluggish boundaries. "We're in the black people business," he said. "We are in the business of aggregating audience for this particular demo and providing content to them." To prove it, he ran down the company's plans for next year, which include launching the first national talk radio network targeting a black audience (read more - Washington Post)  (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The number of people listening to digital radio services has almost doubled in a year, according to a survey by monitoring group Rajar (read more - Personal Computer World)

It's officially still the McGraw-Hill Building, but Sirius Satellite Radio has turned it into a modern-day Tower of Babel, a senior thesis in sociology come to life. SportsWatch visited recently, walking by Howard Stern's future studio and down the halls of the 36th floor, past the rap station, country station, gay station, right-wing station, left-wing station, Korean station and more to a corner of familiarity where people were talking sports (read more - Neil Best-Newsday)

From Kent Burkhart -- Hi gang. No column this week. I’m taking the Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends off. I wish you a very good Turkey!!!! (visit and read past columns from the archives - www.kentburkhart.com)

Dave, Shelly & Chainsaw," KGB's morning show team, is out with its annual highlight CD. "The DJs Are the Heroes" costs $9.99 and is available from 101kgb.com. (Thankfully, the DS&C crew isn't making an ill-advised venture into filmmaking as it did last year.) Proceeds go to the morning team's charity fund (read more - Randy Dotinga-NC Times)

Al Jazeera, an Arabic broadcaster accused by U.S. officials of biased reporting in Iraq, will begin airing an English-language television channel from Malaysia next year to win over viewers in Asia (read more - Bloomberg)

Both XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio will celebrate the holiday season with special Christmas music programming. Continuous commercial-free Christmas music will be broadcast on two SIRIUS channels through Christmas Day, December 25. XM Satellite Radio has temporarily revamped 5 channels to bring listeners a mix of holiday offerings (read more - Corey Deitz-About)

Two local radio stations have been singled out by the state Attorney General's Office as requesting money for station necessities in return for playing music a record company wanted to promote. A 24-page settlement released Tuesday said there are a few stations statewide that stand out as requesting promotional support from Warner Music — one in Albany, one in Syracuse and Kiss WKGS-FM (106.7) and WPXY-FM (97.9), both pop music stations in Rochester  (read more - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Craig Newmark, the San Francisco engineer who created the popular Craigslist Internet site, is getting involved in the news game. Newmark, whose free Web site listings have wreaked havoc with the newspaper business model over the past few years, acknowledged Wednesday that he is working with other people on a new media venture involving "technologies that promise to help people find the most trusted versions of the more important stories" (read more - Dan Fost-SF Chronicle)

The mystery over Oprah Winfrey's autobiography has never been solved. A decade ago, Knopf paid the talk-show queen a bundle for her memoir, to be written with Joan Barthel of "A Murder in Canaan" fame. Oprah was so concerned the manuscript be kept secret that after each session with Barthel, she had the completed pages put away in her safe. Oprah went to a book fair to hype sales, and there was every indication the book would be a huge best seller, when she suddenly canceled publication (read more - NY Post)

Court TV host Catherine Crier has a cameo in Sarah Jessica Parker's upcoming movie, "Spinning Into Butter," about a New England college hit by a spree of racist hate crimes (read more - NY Post)

CBC Radio 3's satellite radio station will launch next week with an impressive lineup of hosts. The roster includes: Smugglers frontman Grant Lawrence, who already hosts a Vancouver-based show for CBC; Craig Norris, a TV host and the singer for The Kramdens; singer/songwriter and CBC Radio culture reporter, Tariq; Vancouver hip-hop radio DJ Lauren Burrows; and last, but certainly not least, Canadian music icons (and perennial Chart cover boys) Jay Ferguson and Chris Murphy of Sloan (read more - Chartattack)

Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2005

With a tip of the pilgrim's hat to the great Roy Leonard, whose Turkey of the Year Awards were an annual Thanksgiving Day treat at WGN-AM (720), we proudly salute this year's bumper crop of gobblers on the television/radio beat: Too much caffeine? "Java Joel" Murphy, evening personality at WKSC-FM (103.5), was fired for telling a joke about adopting "three black kids [and] taking them to the zoo to see where they came from." He later apologized for "crossing the line." (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Britain's largest commercial radio broadcaster, GCap Media, will today detail plans to axe about 10 local radio stations as part of an ongoing shake-up by the new chief executive, Ralph Bernard (read more - The Telegraph U.K.)  (read more - Reuters)  (read more - This is Plymouth)

From Murphy Martin -- Some things seem to never change. The political party out of power in Washington still blames the party in power for everything that plagues America today. Sagging economy. Skyrocketing medical costs. A costly war that seemingly will never end. Leaky borders to our free paradise that allow illegal aliens to enter at will. It's been going on for years, if the Democrats are in control of the White House, Republicans are lobbing accusations about the weak do-nothing leadership in power. If the Republicans are in power, the Democrats are firing away. Except for this time of the year---this DAY of the year. This day is special--it's Thanksgiving Day, a day when people of all political persuasion in Washington, Austin, Dallas, Bad Breath Arkansas---wherever we are from we can lay aside our differences and say thanks for what we have in this great land we call America (read more - www.MurphyMartin.com)

The widespread tenor of sports talk radio — wise-guy, attitude-fortified radio — again has exceeded its low expectations.
Monday night, in the first period of Predators-Red Wings, Detroit defenseman Jiri Fischer had a seizure that caused his heart to nearly or completely stop. Fischer was revived by CPR and with a defibrillator. During the lengthy delay to await the decision on whether to continue the game (it was postponed), the Predators' Nashville flagship, 104.5 FM (WGFX), switched to Fox Sports Radio (read more - NY Post)

Media regulators imposed their biggest sanction ever against a radio broadcaster, fining Manchester's Key 103 FM 125,000 pounds for comments made by a late-night presenter (read more - Reuters) (read more - The Guardian U.K.)

It's being called the worst computer worm of the year -- a fast-spreading Internet threat that looks like an official e-mail from the CIA or FBI but can leave your computer wide open to intruders. The bogus e-mail claims the government has discovered you visiting "illegal" Web sites and asks you to open an attachment to answer some official questions. If you do, your computer gets infected with malware that can disable security and firewall programs and blast out similar e-mails to contacts in your address book (read more - Washington Post)

Arbitron numbers for Atlanta   Charlotte-Gastonia   Miami   Orlando   West Palm Beach-Boca Raton (read 'em)

Jeff George's radio career lasted just slightly longer than last year's flirtation with the Bears. George had been doing a postgame radio show in Indianapolis on WXLW, but the station said it fired him after he failed to show up after the Colts' Oct. 23 game at Houston (read more - Chicago Tribune)

Podcasters from cities all over China have hit the airwaves this week with "life-casting," sharing anything from their blogs and jokes to songs and speeches. Wangyou.com is the first among a dozen Chinese podcasting websites to pass its podcasts, or home-made or professional audio contents, over to 16 provincial or regional radio stations early this week (read more - China Daily)

Metro Detroiters will finally get a chance to see "Radio Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Big 8 CKLW," the Canadian-made documentary about the high energy Detroit/Windsor pop radio station CKLW, as Detroit Public TV (WTVS Channel 56) will show the film  (read more - Detroit News)

IBC Radio Network, a division of International Broadcasting Corporation  announced that the quest for expansion continues with the attempt to acquire AM Radio affiliates in the United States. NewsSarasota.com (www.NewsSarasota.com) is now the official syndication representative for IBC.  There are currently 2 AM Radio Stations playing IBC programs 

A memorial service for Glenn Mitchell, one of Dallas-Fort Worth's best known radio personalities, is scheduled for Wednesday, November 30 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas. The service, a celebration of Mitchell's life, will begin at 3 p.m. and is open to the public. Mitchell was the long-time host of "The Glenn Mitchell Show" on KERA 90.1.  He died early Sunday morning at his Dallas home. He is survived by his wife, Susan Krasnow. The Kalita Humpreys Theater is located at 3636 Turtle Creek Boulevard in Dallas, 75219 (visit KERA 90.1 for more information)

The U.S. digital satellite radio market is expected to grow from 12 million installed units this year to 55 million units in 2010, according to a new report. Jupiter Research announced the 35 percent compound annual growth rate Tuesday. While 23 percent of online consumers surveyed reported an interest in satellite radio, only six percent have it, according to Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at JupiterResearch (read more - Information Week)

Last year, a new nine-member "Leadership Council" handpicked by KUT-FM station general manager J. Stewart Vanderwilt began "serious" discussions about the future of the station, Austin's primary public broadcasting outlet. Every aspect of the station has been on the table for review, from the future of KUT's revered music programming to renegotiating the relationship with the University of Texas, its bureaucratic parent, as Vanderwilt moves forward with ambitious plans to re-create the station for the modern media world. A few weeks ago, KUT management made its first major move toward turning those discussions into reality, by forming a nonprofit entity, Austin Public Radio, with members of the Leadership Council serving as the initial board of directors (read more - Austin Chronicle)

Ambassador Joseph Wilson will be on 790 KABC's McIntyre in the Morning on Monday, November 28, via phone, from 6:05am-6:15am to talk about the outing of his wife, Valerie Plame, the subject of the ongoing CIA leak investigation (visit Doug McIntyre-KABC)

Next week, BBC Radio 1's popular morning program, The Chris Moyles Show, will broadcast to both the U.K. and the U.S. from SIRIUS Satellite Radio's New York City headquarters.  BBC Radio 1 is broadcast exclusively in the U.S. by SIRIUS (visit Sirius Radio)

Wednesday November 23, 2005

No matter what else may be happening in radio, Arlo Guthrie will be coming around tomorrow to keep things in proper balance by singing "Alice's Restaurant."  The most famous modern Thanksgiving song will play at noon on WAXQ (104.3 FM) and WFUV (90.7 FM), both of which consider it important enough to take an 18-minute break from their holiday-weekend specials to be sure Arlo is heard (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

Little Steven's Underground Garage," the syndicated "garage rock" showcase hosted by Steve Van Zandt, is on the move in Chicago: After three years on "Free FM" WCKG-FM (105.9), it has been picked up by adult rocker WXRT-FM (93.1). Both stations are owned by Infinity Broadcasting + Brian Kovacs has resigned as program manager of Salem Communications' news/ talk WIND-AM (560) (read more - Feder of Chicago)

CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves said on Tuesday that the company's news division is making progress in altering its evening news program, considering ideas such as adding multiple anchors to attract younger viewers (read more - Reuters)  (read more - USA Today)

AL Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" star, found out the hard way not to mess with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who chided Franken as if he were a delinquent schoolboy at Time Warner Center on Monday night (read more - Page Six)

Every once in awhile, someone reports a story that just seems way out there. And you wonder: Could this possibly be true ? Or is it plain old media sensationalism? That's how I felt about this British tabloid report that President Bush considered bombing al-Jazeera. I'm sorry, it just doesn't add up. (Yes, I know the U.S. bombed al-Jazeera's Kabul office during the 2001 war, but I have no reason to disbelieve the explanation that it was an accident.) In any event, judge for yourself (read more - Howard Kurtz-Media Notes)

Bob Sirkin of KNX Los Angeles produced an hour long special on the 42nd anniversary of the JFK Assassination, "Motive for Murder" JFK, the Cubans and The Mob." The broadcast features newly released, declassified government documents from the National Archieves. These documents deal with JFK''s secret war against Castro which was to have lead to another invasion of Cuba on December 1, 1993. At the same time, JFK was secretly negotiation with Castro to normalize relations with him. When word leaked of this, it infuriated the Cuban exiles. According to the documents, the Cubans conspired with Mob bosses (who hated RFK) to murder Kennedy in Dallas. Listen online  to the recorded version on www.knxradio.com

Energy 92.7 FM's morning show hosts will be on hand for the business district's annual tree lighting ceremony Monday, November 28 and return on the morning of December 16 to broadcast their show live from the gay neighborhood. All the promotional activity is much more than the station playing Santa to gay-owned and gay-marketed businesses (read more - Bay Area Reporter)

Brad Pomerance, host of the radio feature Celebrity Crime Club, recently joined CNN Headline News as a local host in Los Angeles. Pomerance is an attorney in Hollywood who represents talent and producers in the broadcast industry. Celebrity Crime Club is a daily feature that presents a humorous view of the crazy world of celebrity mischief. Celebrity Crime Club is syndicated by CRG Radio Networks (visit CRG Radio Networks)

XM Radio Canada has posted their channel guide.  You can choose to hear the online announcement in English or French (visit XM Canada)

Sirius Radio Canada has posted a few of the channels they'll be satellcasting.  Canadian Radio channels include CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 3, Iceberg Radio, Energie2, RCI Plus and more (visit Sirius Canada)

The Tawani Foundation has awarded The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago $250,000 to fund a digitization initiative that will make more than 600 programs on U.S. military issues available to the public, both onsite and online. The grant will also support two public programs exploring the media and the military (visit The Museum of Broadcast Communications)

... despite trying times, students and journalism professors say that interest in joining the news business remains high and that the adversity shaking the industry could make it stronger. "There's no question that the hits keep on coming," says Tom Kunkel, dean of the University of Maryland journalism school. "But whatever has been happening in the media certainly has not been diminishing the students' enthusiasm." (read more - Peter Johnson-USA Today)

Three local radio stations and three of their employees were mentioned Tuesday in a $5 million pay-for-play settlement that Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced between his office and the Warner Music Group Corp. WSPK (104.7 FM), based in Fishkill, WRRV (92.7 FM) and WPKF (96.1 FM), both based in Poughkeepsie, were mentioned in the announcement, the latest development in Spitzer's ongoing probe of pay-for-play, or payola, in the music industry. Also mentioned in the settlement were Andrew Boris, program director for WRRV, Gary Cee, program director at Poughkeepsie-based WPDH (101.5), and Jimmi Jamm of WPKF (read more- Poughkeepsie Journal)

Lara Logan is a 34-year-old South African who just 15 years ago was a hostess at the Water Club on the East River. Now, as the new president of CBS News, Sean McManus, weighs whether to remake the "CBS Evening News" with a single anchor or an ensemble, he has already made one early decision about the future of the broadcast: Ms. Logan, her title yet to be determined, will be one of its stars. When the new "Evening News" is unveiled, probably sometime next year, Ms. Logan will have a lead role reporting from abroad, Mr. McManus said in an interview last week (read more - NY Times)

The radio frequency 730 AM was blasting static last semester.
But after an eight-month hiatus, Penn's student-run radio station is finally back on the air. The transition, however, has not been easy.
WQHS -- completely separate from Penn's professionally run radio station WXPN -- suspended all broadcasting for the spring semester during its relocation to Hollenbeck Hall (read more - Daily Pennsylvanian)

Sunbury Broadcasting Corp. has entered into an agreement with Milton-Lewisburg Broadcasting Inc. to acquire WVLY-FM and WMLP-AM (read more - The Daily Item)

Warner Music on Tuesday agreed to pay $5m to settle a New York state investigation into improper payments made by the music industry to get songs played on the radio. In a settlement similar to one made by Sony BMG in July, Warner Music agreed to stop making pay-offs in return for airplay, a practice called "payola", and said it would disclose all "items of value" provided to radio stations (read more - FT-MSN Money)  (read more - LA Times)

From Ted Koppel -- I was telling a group of friends the other night that there really is no right way to leave a great job like this. No matter how or when you go, it's either too early or too late. I thought for a while that there might be a happy middle ground; some occasion on which leaving would be exactly right. But when everyone is agreed that the time is just right, it's actually already too late (visit ABC NightLine) (Photo courtesy ABC News)

From Trey Ware -- 26 years ago famed San Antonio food king Raul Jimenez recognized a need. The homeless, elderly, and less fortunate in our community had nowhere to go to get a hot, home-cooked, delicious Thanksgiving meal. So Mr. Jimenez got together with community leaders, and with the help of his connections in the food business, the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner was born ... For 26 years I have been honored to interview Mr. Jimenez, and now his daughter Patricia about the event. There are no words to describe media coverage of the dinner. It seems as though everyone in media comes together to encourage participation in the event. It really is incredible to see people who are usually fierce competitors link arms and get involved in our community in this way. It makes me wonder though. Who will link arms in service to the community when the big media corporations fire everyone and turn all the stations to Jack, Bob, Hank, Sue, or Alice? Community service is something a computer just can't do (read more - Trey Ware)

ARBitron numbers for Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Minneapolis-St Paul and Tampa-St Pete (read 'em)

Night after night, WCBS/Ch. 2's Kirstin Cole tries to give us the willies by exposing dirty restaurants. While reporting on food establishments with unsanitary conditions is laudable, the way Ch.2's "Eat at Your Own Risk" goes about it should, well, be cited by inspectors, too. On Monday, for instance, Cole reported the inspection results for a handful of big Manhattan restaurants and tourist spots, including the American Girl Cafe, '21,' Rao's and the Hotel Carlyle, right at a time when people are planning holiday visits. Here's the problem: In a few cases, the inspections were nearly a year old. That's right, some were from last December, others from January or February (read more - Richard Huff-NY Daily News)

WMET, Washington DC, KSRR, Provo, UT, CIFX-FM, Lewisporte, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada have been added to the "Christmas on the Radio" affiliate list (visit www.christmasontheradio.com)

XM Canada announced the launch of Canada's first satellite radio service with an exclusive offer to its Founders Club members to purchase XM satellite radios and sign-up for service on-line starting today (read more - PR Newswire)

Cat Country 98.7 reporter Rob Milford was with the Milton based 842nd Signal Company Army Reserve at Camp Shelby in Mississippi as they prepared for deployment. This past Saturday the 842nd departed on a 17-hour flight to Kuwait for additional training. When training is completed, they will deploy from Kuwait for an undisclosed location in Iraq. Rob Milford is with the 842nd as an ‘embedded reporter’ in order to support our local troops and tell Cat Country 98.7 and Classic Country 1620 listeners what it’s like to leave your family behind and go to Iraq for a year to serve our country (read more - Jaye Albright's Breakfast Blog)

Seinfeld has not suffered from shrinkage. Seven years after its finale, not only does the classic sitcom air up to two hours a day in some markets, but the reruns remain fresh enough to spark watercooler chitchat about everything from puffy shirts to mimbos.  "Isn't it weird how present it still is on the television landscape?" Jerry Seinfeld wondered during a recent joint interview with Jason Alexander (who played George), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) and Michael Richards (Kramer) (read more- My Telus)

Keith Olbermann’s weekly one-hour stint as regularly scheduled guest co-host on ESPN Radio’s Dan Patrick Show (1-4 p.m. ET M-F) will become five times as good on Monday, Nov. 28, when SportsCenter’s former “Tag Team” will share the airwaves daily during the 2-3 p.m. hour

The Mass Transportation Authority is helping to collect toys for needy children in the area by working with WDZZ-FM (92.7) for its "Hope for the Holidays" campaign (read more - Flint Journal)

Tuesday November 22, 2005

As the undisputed king of late-night radio for decades, Eddie Schwartz brought companionship and comfort to hundreds of thousands of faithful listeners. But now the unique personality known as "Chicago Ed" fears he could lose the battle of his life without the help of his friends. "This really is the toughest thing I've ever faced," Schwartz, 59, said from the bed of a north suburban health care center. "I'm not sure I can make it through. I don't think I'll be strong enough." Since he was diagnosed with renal failure in September, Schwartz has been shuttling between hospitals while struggling to cope with kidney dialysis treatments. Although he says he has lost more than 100 pounds since his ordeal began, the illness left him considerably weakened (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Leslie Gold will bookend morning host David Lee Roth in the new Infinity lineup, and she said coming back to commercial radio won't create any crises of content. "When you get to satellite and you can say anything you want, sure, you take advantage of it," she said. "But the novelty wears off. Using those words just to use them isn't very interesting." Gold's discussions of sexuality, including her own, have often flirted with the explicit (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

Radio fans in Pueblo and the Arkansas Valley are getting a rare Christmas gift. The area's first new commercial radio station in 15 years will debut Christmas Day. KPHT-95.5 FM - a $2 million startup venture by radio giant Clear Channel - will hit the airwaves with local managers already confident the format will prove a winner (read more - Pueblo Chieftain)

Dear Radio Babe: (Subject: WWPR Saturday morning conservative talk show referenced in Nov. 14 column.) Perhaps the letter-writer meant a show called "Talk Back America" that apparently was on WWPR earlier this year. A Google search under "WWPR and Vidify" offers this intriguing headline under talkbackamerica.org: "Special note to our listeners: Regretfully, Vidify Media Inc., the management company of WWPR, has broken our active contract and issued a new contract ..." (read more - Dawn Scire-The Radio Babe)

Tonight, the retiring Ted Koppel anchors his final edition of ABC's "Nightline" + Jerry Seinfeld visits CNN's Larry King at 8 tonight as part of the effort to peddle seasons five and six of "Seinfeld" on DVD (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

If you haven't seen the commercials by now, you will: Celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Ellen DeGeneres doing their best to hook you on satellite radio just in time for Christmas. It was just a few years ago that Con Maloney was introducing the world to satellite radio. Cowboy Maloney's was the first business to sell Sirrius. Now in 2005, competition is fierce between it and XM (read more - WLBT 3 TV)

SolidSpace LLC, a leading provider of dynamic hosting infrastructure and developer of intuitive Web-based collaborative technologies, today announced the immediate availability of a new podcast hosting service for radio stations throughout the country. solidSpace debuted its podcasting capability in a partnership with WSMW-FM in Greensboro, N.C. (read more - TMC.net)

In separate legal actions yesterday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an influential digital rights advocacy group in California, and the Texas attorney general filed lawsuits against the music publisher Sony BMG, contending that the company violated consumers' rights and traded in malicious software (read more - NY Times)

ABC News Radio Correspondent Aaron Katersky has begun a week with troops in Iraq which includes spending Thanksgiving with U.S. soldiers at Camp Victory/Camp Liberty in Baghdad. Katersky began his embed with a helicopter trip from the Green Zone in Baghdad, where U.S. officials and the Iraqi interim government are headquartered, to link up with the 10th Mountain Division based at Camp Liberty

Radio Norway is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year (read more - Norway News)

From Happy Hare --  “I am Harry Martin and I am grateful to you for going to the trouble of coming to meet me.” Then I proclaimed, “I am here to break the world record for an around the world record for a jet passenger.” And he said, without cracking a smile or extending his hand, ”Whatever For? (Whatevah Faw?) Not a good beginning. When the two hour staring match mercifully ended he arose and beckoned me to follow him to the British European Airlines boarding area. Off the hook, he warmly shook hands with me and perfunctorily handed me a letter. “This is from the Lord Mayor welcoming you to London,” he said. I did not open it, but handed him a couple of bronze San Diego mission bells to give to the mayor. So much for London. I fell into a deep sleep a few minutes after take-off on the five hour Moscow leg then lurched out of my sleep when the plane bounced and the wheels yipped on touchdown at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport (read more - www.HappyHareOnline.com)

A death in the radio family is always an odd thing. Those of us who are broadcasters rarely grow socially close with our own co-workers, much less the employees of other stations. But we spend time together – as listeners to one another's shows. Most of us are students, critics and fans of our chosen profession, always fast with an opinion on who is great and, well, who is not. I'm here to tell you: Glenn Mitchell was great (read more - Mark Davis-Dallas Morning News)

HDNet will give U.S. racing fans an exclusive front-row seat December 3 as NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon and X-Games champ Travis Pastrana compete in the 2005 Race of Champions -
Nations Cup, live from the famous Stade de France in Paris. The entire event will be available for the second year in a row to U.S. television viewers in the highest quality 1080i high-definition television (HDTV), only on HDNet, Saturday, December 3 at 11:00 a.m. ET, followed by a prime-time encore presentation at 9:30 p.m. ET (visit HD.net)

The words echoed across Texas radio 42 years ago today: "President Kennedy is dead." Just that morning, he had told Fort Worth to stand bravely for freedom. Then he left for Dallas. Some of the broadcast history of that day has never been found. But an estate-sale shopper in Fort Worth has recovered one more small piece of the Kennedy-assassination radio archives. Mark York of Fort Worth was browsing at a west-side home this month when he paid $4 for a dusty, four-record set. It was marked "President John F. Kennedy Fort Worth Visit." The records turned out to be lost audio from a legendary local news station, KXOL/1360 AM. The news director that day in 1963 was Roy Eaton, now 67 and a newspaper publisher in Decatur. I called him Monday and played back his historic words. He hadn't heard them in 42 years. "We couldn't believe what we were reading," he remembered (read more - Bud Kennedy-Star Telegram)

There’s a rumor floating around radio circles that the only reason the Kansas City Brigade, our new Arena Football League team, awarded the team’s broadcasting rights to Jerry Green and Union Broadcasting was that Green simply bought a portion of the team. Sort of the way George Steinbrenner tries to buy a pennant every year (read more - Jeffrey Flanagan-KC Star)

XM Satellite Radio, the official satellite radio network of Major League Baseball, announced New York Yankees' All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter has joined forces with XM to promote XM's MLB programming (read more - XM Radio)

The public radio station that serves Marco Island and south Collier County is off the air because of a lightning strike that hit during Hurricane Wilma (read more - Naples Daily News)

Clear Channel Radio has named Kevin Hughes market manager for the company's Louisville market, which includes eight radio stations and two networks (read more - Louisville Biz Journal)

It was a star-studded music-filled night in Muskogee last month when The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. inducted Oklahomans Toby Keith, Billy Parker, Tommy Allsup and the Cain’s Ballroom into its 2005 Class at the Civic Auditorium. Veteran radio personality Parker was inducted by Tulsa World writer and past Hall of Fame inductee John Wooley who said that listening to Parker on the radio feels like you’re sitting there having a cup of coffee with him. Parker, a long time disc jockey on Tulsa country radio station KVOO was almost speechless upon receiving his award—something highly unprecedented. But he recovered and spent his time thanking many people, praising others and reminincing about days on the road as the front man for the Texas Troubadour (read more - GRT News Online)

TRIO, the artsy cable channel, was killed yesterday. NBC, which acquired Trio in the Universal deal two years ago, quietly put the network to sleep in the third paragraph of a press release yesterday. NBC said Trio would become an Internet-only service on Jan. 1, when the channel would cease to exist (read more - NY Post)

Utah Grizzlies Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations Adrian Denny announced that all Grizzlies radio broadcasts will move to KKAT AM 860 (read more - Post Nuke)

Sirius Radio is featuring cranberry sauce to dressing Thanksgiving Day entertainment specials + SIRIUS Satellite Radio will present an exclusive, original radio special celebrating the release of the highly-acclaimed new film Rent, starting on Wednesday, November 23 at 5 pm ET (visit Sirius Radio)

Leslie Gold, also known as "The RadioChick," has been named as New York's FREE FM afternoon drive host, it was announced today by Tom Chiusano, Vice President and General Manager of 92.3 FREE FM. The appointment is effective on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006 (3:00-7:00PM). Gold returns to Infinity following a brief stint on satellite radio.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. on Monday said 200 radio stations would, by the end of the month, be upgraded to air high definition digital broadcasts featuring CD-quality music as it aims to protect its market share from rival satellite radio services (read more - Reuters UK)

iBiquity Digital Corporation, the sole developer of digital HD Radio™ technology, today announced that Intel Capital, Intel's strategic investment program, has invested in the company (visit iBiquity.com)

The departing Howard Stern show on 105.7 The Point (KPNT) in St Louis will be replaced by "Rover's Morning Glory" starting Tuesday, January 3.   Stern’s last broadcast on KPNT will be Friday, December 16.  The station will be music-intensive from December 16th until January 3 (visit 105.7 The Point)

Glenn Mitchell, host of KERA 90.1's "The Glenn Mitchell Show," and one of the region's best known radio personalities, died early Sunday morning at his Dallas home. Mitchell was 55.  According to the KERA FM Web site, the cause of Mitchell's death has not yet been determined. He had a history of heart-related issues and had undergone a heart bypass operation. Memorial services are pending. KERA 90.1 FM will air a radio memorial Monday during the first hour of "The Glenn Mitchell Show." (read more - Mark Davis) (read more - Robert Philpot)  (read more - KERA FM)  (read more - Ed Bark-Dallas News)  (read more - KRIS TV)  (read more - Dallas Biz Journal)

Speculation abounds as to why Bob Frantz is no longer host of the WSPD-AM (1370) morning show. The decision had to do with style, not ratings, said Brian Wilson, the news/talk station's new program director.  Frantz was simply too intense for the morning drive (read more - Russ Lemmon-Toledo Blade)

Napster and XM Satellite Radio announced that a beta version of their innovative XM + Napster integrated music service is now available to XM's five-million-plus subscribers at napster.xmradio.com

I've been there myself, so I know just how George Jones feels
Radio Ulster presenter George Jones made clear his hurt, anger and distress when his afternoon show was dropped. But he's not the first... seven years ago Mary Johnston loved going into Broadcasting House to present her radio programme. Yet with no warning whatsoever she, too, was axed (read more - Belfast Telegraph)

The Washington Post's Bob Woodward visits CNN's Larry King at 8 tonight (Monday) to explain why he didn't tell his bosses until last month that somebody leaked Valerie Plame's secret CIA identity to him, making him part of the whole mess (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Multi-platinum, GRAMMY award-winning country music star Garth Brooks, who was named the Recording Industry's Male Artist of the Century, will be featured in an exclusive SIRIUS Satellite Radio radio special, Garth Brooks Unlimited, premiering on Thanksgiving Day (visit Sirius.com)

The chairman and chief executive officer of Emmis Communications Corp. said employee devotion is one of his top concerns. "The most important thing is to know if you want people to go through walls for you, you have to show them you'll go through more walls for them," Smulyan said. "Create a culture where people know they will be treated fairly and want to stay." (read more - Indy Star)

From Claude Hall -- Vince Cosgrave, sitting, with his promotion staff at MCA Records, Los Angeles, and disc jockey Scott Muni, right, program director of WNEW-FM in New York City. 70s. Most of Muni's career was in Manhattan and a great deal of it with WNEW-FM when the station was a key moneymaker for Metromedia in a progressive rock format. Muni was air personality and program director of the station. Oddly enough, when he first arrived in New York, one of the major program directors of the time told Muni he'd never make it. I used to joke that Scott Muni had a voice like a gravel truck in reverse. No matter, Without question he was one of the major radio personalities of the glory days of radio. Last time I got to see him in person was in the 70s at the Century-Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. A Gavin converence, I believe. Scott Muni was a nice guy. (Photo courtesy of Vince Cosgrave) (read more - www.ClaudeHallOnline.com)

Whatever happened to the government crackdown on bare breasts and bad words? The Federal Communications Commission levied a record $7.9 million in indecency-related fines last year, raising concerns among media companies that regulators were embracing a nanny-like approach to enforcing decency standards. Programming changes followed, among them the departure of shock-jock Howard Stern to the FCC-free world of satellite radio, taking millions of advertising dollars with him (read more - Amy Schatz-WS Journal)

The Kim Komando Show is celebrating 10 years in national syndication.  This year, Kim has over $100,000 in goodies to be given away to listeners! The Great Giveaway started Nov. 19th and won't end until Dec. 17th (visit Komando.com)

ARBitron numbers for Cincinnati   Dayton   Phoenix   Pittsburgh   St Louis   Tucson (read 'em)

Dave Fulton of Parsippany currently listens to Howard Stern on WXRK-FM, known as K-Rock in New York City. When Stern's show moves, Fulton is hoping his wife will get him a Sirius Satellite Radio subscription for Christmas (read more - Ellen S. Wilkowe-Daily Record)

The Nightbird of New York radio never really sounded like a bird. When Alison Steele spoke into a microphone, what came through the speakers was more of a breathy, intimate purr, the way a black cat might sound discussing Hendrix - or reading Kahlil Gibran. "The flutter of wings, the sounds of the night, the shadow across the moon," she would say after midnight had passed. "Come fly with me, Alison Steele, the Nightbird" (read more - Ellis Henican-Newsday)

"Just a Moment" with Chuck Buell -- 1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it. 2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction! And it probably made you laugh too! (visit www.chuckbuell.com)

Mary Mapes, the CBS producer fired over the journalistic fiasco involving President Bush's National Guard service, is the latest in a line of lonely crusaders, defending her work more than a year after it was widely discredited. Dan Rather may have apologized for the story, an independent panel may have denounced it, and CBS News may have criticized her "disregard for journalistic standards," but Mapes argues in her new book that the critics are politically motivated, cowardly or just plain wrong (read more - Howard Kurtz-Media Notes)

'Wife Swap" may have gone too far this time. An Oklahoma husband is suing the show for sending a gay man to live with him and his family as his half of the swap (read more - NY Post)

More than half of the approved bidders for the Jan. 12 auction of a Blue Lake license for FM broadcast service have no other media interests and will get a 35 percent price discount over locally-owned Eureka Broadcasting Co. and Lost Coast Communications Inc. Twenty-four applicants qualified for the New Entrant Bidding Credit designed by the Federal Communications Commission to promote diversity in the media by awarding discounts to smaller, startup businesses looking to gain access to the market (read more - Eureka Reporter)

Dear Dr. Bombay: When I download Rush Limbaugh MP3 files from his Web site and try to copy them to CD-RW disks, the MP3 files get converted. The three 36-minute files are too large to fit on an 80-minute disk. The write-to-disk program asks, "Do you want to convert file to a data HighMAT file?" (read more - Ventura County Star)

Classic rock station WTAK-FM 106.1 had a big drop, but there weren't a lot of other changes in the recently announced Arbitron summer radio ratings. Country giant WDRM-FM 102.1, No. 1 in this radio market since 1987, again had twice the listeners of its nearest challenger, adult contemporary WAHR-FM 99.1 (read more -

WAXQ (104.3 FM) will hold its own version of the rock 'n' roll fantasy camp in late January, offering civilians a chance to learn from and play with rockers like Mick Fleetwood, Little Steven Van Zandt and Liberty DeVito (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

A Virginia lawyer for Living Proof, a California-based religious broadcasting company, said Thursday that the group intends to build a radio station in Lunenburg. But it could be some time before a radio station is constructed, because Maynard High School has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to deny granting Living Proof a broadcasting license (read more - Sentinel and Enterprise)

Republicans face the prospect of being a minority at the Federal Communications Commission next month despite their control of the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives (read more - Washington Post)

Ed Keyes, President of World Talk Radio Networks say the network has formed two new channels that will be supported through WTR: NEW AGE TALK and HEALTHY LIFE RADIO (read more - SB Wire)

For the third consecutive year, ABC News Radio will provide affiliates with holiday greetings recorded by military personnel serving overseas. These greetings, courtesy of the various branches of the United States Armed Forces, are available for broadcast immediately, and will run throughout the holiday season

Friday November 18, 2005

Arbitron numbers for Baltimore, Washington DC, Akron, Hartford and Fredericksburg VA (read 'em)

WYD Media Management announced it has consolidated its ownership position in the STEPHANIE MILLER SHOW by acquiring the program interests previously held by Democracy Radio. WYD now fully controls the national radio program, said Ron Hartenbaum, president. The STEPHANIE MILLER SHOW is currently heard in 10 of the nation’s top 20 markets and on nearly 40 stations overall across the country. The program has marked substantial growth in affiliate station clearances and ratings since its launch a year ago.  (visit www.stephaniemiller.com)

Mike Elliott is hanging it up next month after a half-century in radio, a good chunk of it in southeast Wisconsin. The 68-year-old Elliott is currently the program director and morning voice at WBWI-FM (92.5), the classic country station out of West Bend. He signs off on Dec. 16 (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Shane "Rover" French, the dog from Cleveland who's coming in to replace Howard Stern on "Free FM" WCKG-FM (105.9), needs help. So he's looking for "the funniest person alive" to write jokes for him (read more - Feder of Chicago)

From Kent Burkhart -- Prior to watching the Country Music Association awards this week something caught my eye while reading USA Today … which I believe is still the nations most read newspaper Monday through Friday. Since the awards were in New York City for the first time I assumed that there would be some sort of front page (section A) mention ... but I couldn’t find it. Matter of fact I couldn’t find a mention on the front page of their Life (section D) section…which is their entertainment news section. Mmmmmm????!!!!! However, what caught my eye on the front page (section one) was a promo for a story about Jennifer Aniston to be found on the front page (section D) of the Life section. Does this mean that Jennifer Aniston is more important than country music?? (read more - www.kentburkhart.com)

ARBitron numbers for San Francisco, Boston, San Jose and Monterey-Salinas (read 'em)

Radio listeners may have noticed that ESPN's Sal Paolantonio appears on both ESPN Radio (920-AM in Philadelphia) and on Philadelphia's WPHT 1210-AM. Is ESPN OK with its star football announcer playing for two "teams?" (read more - Laura Nachman)

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting's former chief e-mailed White House strategist Karl Rove, "bragging" about a push for conservative programming on U.S. public television, the CPB's inspector general said on Thursday. "There's a few of them to and from Karl Rove," Konz said of the e-mail traffic. "They primarily relate to (ex-)Chairman Tomlinson advising Mr. Rove and his staff regarding his success in getting a program to be put on the air to balance the Bill Moyers program. ... He was bragging on how successful he was being  (read more - Reuters)

Republican Kathleen Abernathy said Thursday she will leave the Federal Communications Commission early next month, which could leave the five-member commission with two open seats and give Democrats a temporary 2-1 majority. Abernathy has served for four years. Her term actually expired last year but under federal rules she could stay on until next month. She plans to leave the job Dec. 9. The FCC already has one vacancy, leaving a 2-2 split between Republicans and Democrats (read more - Seattle PI)

According to a GMIPoll of 17,000 consumers in 18 countries, sales, cost and budgets influence Americans more than holiday advertising, Brandweek reports (read more - Media Buyer Planner)

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB), newly renamed, has released its second wave of market research that identifies and more clearly defines the rural lifestyle population. One of the most revealing results of the study was the difference between NAFB listeners and non-NAFB listeners in the “likely to listen” to radio question. A total of 94.9 percent of NAFB station listeners said they were likely to listen to radio Monday through Friday, while only 84 percent of listeners of non-NAFB stations said they were likely to listen during this same time frame. Programming with the greatest appeal included weather forecasts (84.7 percent), agricultural markets (58.8 percent), and news affecting agriculture (57.6 percent). The most popular programming format was Country, followed by Oldies and News Talk. The most popular listening time of the day was 5 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Complete details of the study, and more information about NAFB, are available at www.nafb.com  (read more - Cattle Network)

For the quarter ended Oct. 1, Disney profits were down.  Disney earned $379 million, or 19 cents per share, including a 1 cent per share charge regarding an accounting change involving FCC licensing (read more - Biz Journals)

XM Canada announced its groundbreaking program lineup that will be brought to Canadians, from coast to coast in time for this year's holiday season.  "Canadians have been waiting for XM and now we're going to give them what they want - superior choice, sound and signal quality," said Stephen Tapp, president and COO of XM Canada (read more - Broadcaster Magazine)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio celebrates the upcoming holiday season with special commercial-free Thanksgiving and Christmas music programming starting on Thanksgiving Day (visit Sirius Radio)

Every once in a while you'll see something on TV that seems like a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, only it's real. Exhibit A: Ryan Seacrest filling in for Larry King on CNN. What, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog wasn't available? When I flipped to CNN Tuesday night, the metrosexual DJ and host of "American Idol" was dressed in a big boy's suit, but his attempt at gravitas was undercut by a bright pink tie with a knot the size of an apple + From Limbaugh's Web site: "Support our men and women in uniform by giving a subscription to Rush 24/7 and the Limbaugh Letter to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. Adopt as many soldiers as you like at a discounted price and make sure that our military has full access to all three hours of every Rush Limbaugh Show. Say thank you by giving the gift of Rush to the men and women who protect our freedom . . ." All for just $49.95. I'll say this for Limbaugh, he's consistently shameless. Here's a guy who makes tens of millions of dollars per year spouting the company line to his legions of hardcore fans -- yet he's always coming up with new ways to make a buck. Limbaugh's site offers all kinds of crappy schnitzel  (read more- Richard Roeper-Chicago Sun-Times)

The John Tesh Radio Show will air on 95.9 KFSH-FM beginning Monday, November 21 (visit The Fish)

Michael Graham thinks he’s a much misunderstood and maligned victim of the liberal media that, in his world view, includes the Boston Herald. Graham, who took over Jay Severin’s afternoon radio rush-hour slot on WTKK (96.9 FM) earlier this week, got off to a rough start in his new town. A native of South Carolina and resident until recently of Virginia, Graham was welcomed to Boston by a Herald story that drew attention to his calling Islam a “terrorist organization” and getting fired from his last radio job in Washington, D.C., for refusing to apologize for the on-air remarks (read more - Jay Fitzgerald-Boston Herald)

Wrapped up as a special holiday gift to viewers, Comcast SportsNet will replay every White Sox playoff game and all four games of the World Series (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Howard Stern, who ends his broadcast radio career Dec. 16 and heads to Sirius Satellite Radio, visits David Letterman tonight (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Someday, maybe a few decades from now, college students might find themselves studying a defunct form of communication that disappeared back when they were kids. I'm not talking about newspapers. Instead, the missing medium might be the radio we know today, which essentially controls how and when you listen. Things are changing ... listen-when-you-want programming has never really made it big on the radio, until now. And it's all due to a single form of technology: the podcast + According to online reports, Esquire once uncovered that he (Paul Harvey) stole a plane during World War II and was discharged from the Army Air Corps under Section 8. Now, Harvey is crazy like a fox, making millions even as he makes bizarre statements like a post-9/11 commentary in which he suggested that nations "civilize themselves out of business" when they stop things like slavery (read more - Randy Dotinga-NC Times)

ARBitron numbers for Philadelphia, Detroit and Bakersfield (read 'em)

On Monday, KHOW 630-AM pulled the plug on "The Radio Factor With Bill O'Reilly" because of poor ratings. His nemesis, Al Franken, had better ratings on Boulder's Air America affiliate, KKZN 760-AM - a station that has spotty reception in parts of the metro area. The most recent Arbitron ratings, from this summer, show an 8 percent share of the listeners tuned to local radio talk show king Rush Limbaugh, 2.6 percent listened to Franken, and 2.1 percent turned to O'Reilly when the three were aired during the same time ... It's not because conservatives are suddenly becoming liberal and changing stations. It's because shows like O'Reilly's lack broad appeal. In Washington, D.C., O'Reilly's show was cut from WJFK-FM and replaced with "The Sports Junkies." (read more- Cindy Rodriguez-Denver Post)

Bob Woodward apologized to The Washington Post yesterday for failing to reveal for more than two years that a senior Bush administration official had told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame, even as an investigation of who disclosed her identity mushroomed into a national scandal. "It just looks really bad," said Eric Boehlert, a Rolling Stone contributing editor and author of a forthcoming book on the administration and the press. "It looks like what people have been saying about Bob Woodward for the past five years, that he's become a stenographer for the Bush White House" (read more - Howard Kurtz - Media Notes)

From Murphy Martin -- U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant, who serves parts of Denton, Dallas and Tarrant counties, related a surprising story. He said while he was at the Laredo processing center, a dozen illegal border- crossers were being processed when another six were brought in and NOT ONE OF THOSE EIGHTEEN PEOPLE was from Mexico. They all came from Central and South American countries like Honduras, El Salvador and Brazil. I wonder how many...maybe from Iran, Saudi Arabia or North Korea, have made it through our leaking, inviting borders with Mexico. How many anti-Americans have used those entry points to get inside our country and plot havoc upon the freedoms we have enjoyed for decades (read more - www.murphymartin.com)

"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and other holiday tunes are coming to a radio station near you earlier than ever this season — before you could nibble the last of your Halloween candy or pop the Thanksgiving turkey into the oven. Two stations in Cedar Rapids were among the first in the nation to crank up "White Christmas" when they switched to all-holiday formats on Nov. 7. At least one 24/7 Christmas station - KLTI-FM "Lite" 104.1 — is expected to start broadcasting soon in Des Moines (read more - Des Moines Register)

Broadcasting pioneer Ralph Edwards, who spotlighted stars and ordinary people as host of the popular 1950s show "This Is Your Life," died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 92 (read more - SF Chronicle)  (read more - LA Times)

WXRK went from 9th to 10th with an Arbitron of 3.2 to an Arbitrend of 3.1. Infinity decided a few months back to drop its alternative rock format for mainstream hard rock (mostly old hard rock from 20-plus year old titles by AC/DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith, etc.). Remove Howard Stern's AM drive numbers and WXRK would presumably be battling Jack for bottom-of-the-barrel status. Come January, WXRK will drop rock for "Free FM," dumbed-down, bottom-feeder talk format made up of mostly syndicated programming - and David Lee Roth replacing Howard Stern in AM drive. That will definitely drop them down to Jack status (read more - John Gorman-Audio Graphics)

Satellite Radio and Mercedes-Benz USA announced that they have extended their exclusive relationship to September 1, 2012, and that the luxury automaker plans to offer SIRIUS as a standard feature on select 2007 model year vehicles, beginning in 2006 (visit Sirius Radio)

By integrating the two lists for the summer-quarter book for the Seattle-Tacoma market, we find that among listeners 12 and older tuned in 6 a.m.-midnight Monday through Sunday the top station remains country-format KMPS-FM (94.1). But the second highest-rated station in the market is KUOW-FM (94.9), finishing comfortably ahead of KUBE-FM (93.3). KUOW isn't the only non-commercial station to register in the combined overall rankings (read more - Bill Virgin - Seattle PI)

ABC News Radio has entered into an unprecedented eight-year agreement with The Big 550 KTRS, St. Louis’ News and Talk radio station. Under the terms of the arrangement, KTRS will carry newscasts, special reports, short-form and long-form programming and will have access to ABC News Radio’s extensive library of audio clips and archival material (visit KTRS)

Consultant Guy Zapoleon and longtime city deejays Famous Amos and Anita Bonita are rolling out a format called Rhythm & Gold. It's classic soul and R&B with a danceable edge - not totally unlike the late Jammin' Oldies format (read more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)

ABC Radio Networks has appointed Michael Knize to Director of Southwest Sales. Knize will be responsible for leading the sales efforts for all ABC Radio Networks properties in the eight-state Southwest territory

If public television were a threat to the United States, Kenneth Tomlinson might seem like a hero. Instead, the former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting seems like a B-movie bad guy who exceeded his authority to win dubious political points. A report from CPB's inspector general finds fault with Tomlinson and CPB, which, he says, failed to set and follow sound policies and procedures (read more - Boston Globe)  (read more - Troy Record)

It's almost too easy. He's too easy a target, really, Bill O'Reilly of the casually toxic Fox News, too bloviated and too silly and too undercooked, and no one whose opinion you truly value or with an IQ higher than their waist size actually watches him with anything resembling intellectual honesty or takes anything he says the slightest bit seriously. You hope. Especially when he, like Pat Robertson ranting about how gays caused Sept. 11 or that Dover, Pa., is now a doomed and godless hell pit, given how the town fired every single one the imbecilic, intelligent design-supporting Repubs from the school board, especially when Billy goes off his nut once again and essentially wishes al Qaeda would attack San Francisco, well, it is up to us to merely look at him like Shiva looks at a sea slug -- i.e., a moment of compassion for his regrettable incarnation -- and then laugh and shake our heads and move the hell on. I mean, what else do you want to do? (read more - SF Chronicle)

Wednesday November 16, 2005

Space may be the final frontier for Howard Stern in the U.S., but Canada remains a no-fly zone. Sirius Canada, which plans to start beaming to your car and home before the end of this year, has no plans to include Stern and his no-holds-barred morning show that includes the likes of Stuttering John, Baba Booey and butt-bongo stunts (read more - Toronto Sun)

The CMA Awards held its first shindig in New York with its country twang intact Tuesday night, as Madison Square Garden was transformed into the Grand Ole Opry with rootsy performances from Lee Ann Womack, Gretchen Wilson, Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts (read more - Washington Post)

Another voice has been added to the growing chorus of complaints about a misleading direct-mail marketing piece that's being used to promote radio stations (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Big & Rich, country's hottest duo, had a tête-à-tête with Mick Anselmo, Clear Channel Radio's regional vice president and the top dog at Twin Cities country mainstay K102. Anselmo "knows too many people," said New York media buyer Mealifer Lew, who used to buy ads on K102, at a Clear Channel reception held this week at swanky Shelley's restaurant. The reception took place before Tuesday's Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. "He's a big guy," Lew said. "You need to kiss the ring." Anselmo is the godfather of country radio, says award-winning Dallas radio executive Dan Halyburton, who converted WDGY from a Twin Cities rocker to country in 1976 (read more - Star-Tribune)

WMYX-FM (99.1) is planning its usual Christmas bash on the FM dial, along with WOKY-AM (920) for AM radio listeners. This season's new addition will be WRIT-FM (95.7). So when will all the ho-ho-ho-ing begin? (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. announced initial programming details for Martha Stewart Living Radio, which will debut November 21st on SIRIUS channel 112. The 24-hour-a-day, seven day-a-week channel will allow listeners  to participate anytime by calling in, Martha Stewart Living Radio will create a national on-air community (visit Sirius Radio)

Among readers who said they would be subscribing to satellite radio when it becomes available in Canada, significantly more readers picked XM Radio over Sirius satellite radio in a recent website poll (read more - Digital Home Canada)

ARBitron numbers for Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego and Milwaukee (read 'em)

It's not right to call Dick Hungate a brown-noser, but it is true that he has only good things to say about The Boss. All you have to do is ask, and Hungate will relate the man's down-to-earth nature. And one of his favorite stories is about the day he was closest to this legend in his field (read more - Free Lance-Star)

Media giant Emap confirmed yesterday that 20 staff had been laid off as part of its integration with Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) and warned more could go north of the Border as a result of the slowdown in radio (read more - The Scotsman)

Al Franken, the talk-show host/author, coming to the Boulder Theater on Wednesday to do his show live (10 a.m.-1 p.m., KKZN AM-760), has a plan to fix the mess in Iraq (read more- Dick Kreck-Denver Post)

Rush Limbaugh is coming under pressure for his "Adopt a Soldier  Program" -- On Friday, Limbaugh announced his "Adopt a Soldier Program". This involves soliciting money from listeners to pay for subscriptions to the Limbaugh letter and Rush 24/7 that will be "given" to the soldiers. Each listener can "adopt" as many soldiers as they wish who will each get a subscription. The donor pays the discounted price of $49.95 for each soldier. The description is on Rush's web site here... (click here for the Adopt a Soldier Program)  Clearly this is a tasteless marketing ploy (read more - Rush Limbaugh Online)

He's not looking, but CNN exile Aaron Brown would be "hugely interested" in the vacant anchor jobs at ABC or CBS. "No one who does what I do for a living would say no to one of those [Big 3] jobs," Brown said yesterday, in his first interview since leaving CNN Nov. 2. "I would absolutely want to do it." (read more - Gail Shister-Philly Inquirer)

The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Tomlinson, appeared to have been motivated by politics in recruiting a new board president, the corporation's inspectors reported on Tuesday (read more - Reuters)

2005 continues to be a good year for the WMMR 93.3-FM morning team of “Preston and Steve,” as they won “Best Morning Weekday Host or Team” at the AIR (Achievement in Radio) awards last week. Some of the other winners were WXTU 92.5-FM’s Leigh Richards for “Best Weekday Midday Host or Team,” WOGL 98.1-FM’s Big Ron O’Brien for “Best Weekday Afternoon Host or Team,” and WYSP 94.1-FM’s “Matt and Huggy” for “Best Weekday Evening Host or Team.” (read more - Laura Nachman)

The Sean Hannity Show goes on 590 KTIE AM in San Bernadino beginning Monday, November 28 (visit KTIE)

Entercom Wilkes-Barre, LLC, a radio cluster owned by Entercom in Bala Cynwyd, Penn., recently took delivery of six AirTools 6200 dual-channel digital voice processor from Symetrix. Lamar Smith, market director of engineering for Entercom Wilkes-Barre, notes that the units would allow him to tailor a unique sound to each on-air personality's voice. After trying one of the units prior to their commercial roll out, Smith placed the order for six (read more - Mix Online)

Tuesday November 15, 2005

Bill O'Reilly is no longer on Denver radio. KHOW radio program manager Jerry Bell announced in late September that O'Reilly and Bob Newman would be replaced in the noon-to-3 p.m. weekday period by Glenn Beck, a syndicated host out of Philadelphia. The reason: O'Reilly's poor audience ratings. Beck finally arrived Monday (read more - Dusty Saunders-Rocky Mountain News)

Michael Graham, a conservative radio host who was fired by a Washington station after he called Islam "a terrorist organization" has been hired to host a talk show in Boston (read more - Boston Globe)

 U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska plans to reopen hearings later this month on obscenity in broadcasting. Congress persists in beating that dead horse and, unless it changes tactics, this will continue to be much ado about nothing. I spent 42 years in radio and television broadcasting. I ran a morning show on radio for more than 15 years at a time when we had to find a way to be funny without being profane. Even "hell" and "damn" were banned. Board operators (DJs) were licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, and it was not worth losing our livelihood over potty-mouthed humor (read more - Tom Joyner editorial-News Observer)

A round of name-calling has erupted between conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa after a clash over programs on Armed Forces Radio. Harkin, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor that Limbaugh "wouldn't know the truth if it hit him in the face." Limbaugh, in exchange, has taken to calling the senator Tom "Dung Heap" Harkin on the widely heard Limbaugh show (read more - Des Moines Register)

Since Marv Dyson's exit in 2003 as president and general manager of Clear Channel Radio's urban station group -- including WGCI-FM (107.5) WVAZ-FM (102.7) and WGRB-AM (1390) -- Dyson has been more actively engaged in the broadcasting business than ever + Tom Tradup, former president and general manager of ABC-owned news/talk WLS-AM (890), has been promoted to vice president of news and talk programming at Salem Radio Network. He most recently has been director of network programming at SRN (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Mark Belling fills in for Rush Limbaugh today, and WISN-AM (1130) repeats the three hours in Belling's normal 3 p.m. slot if you can't listen to it live from noon to 3 + Appleton's WWWX-FM has renewed the syndicated version of Milwaukee's top morning team, Brian Nelson and Bob Madden, whose show originates from WHQG-FM (102.9). The deal keeps them airing in the Fox Valley through March 2008 (read more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)

Dear Radio Babe: What ever happened to the Saturday-morning show on WWPR with the two conservative guys? From reading earlier articles in your column, the new station owners indicated they wanted a balance of liberal and conservative local talk. I only hear liberal talk. Thanks. -- P.J.S. Dear P.J.S.: After numerous calls to Bradenton's WWPR (1490 AM) with no reply, Radio Babe posed your question about the Saturday program to Valerie Silver, owner and station manager of Sarasota's WTMY (1280 AM) (read more - Dawn Scire-The Radio Babe)

ESPN Radio 710's Third Semi-Annual Mason & Ireland Celebrity Poker Tournament was held on Sunday at the Normandie Casino. A total of 305 players turned out with the winner, L.D. Gray of Los Angeles taking home $28,600 (he won with two pair - Queens & 4s).  The top 40 players were included in the prize pool of more than $134,000, including actor, Brian Cranston in 16th place and actress, Shannon Elizabeth in 30th place.  Over $20,000 was raised in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Steve Mason is pictured presenting a $20,000 + check to Mike Shumard of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Interep National Radio Sales announced its third quarter financial results. Commission revenue increased $1.6 million, or 8.5%, to $20.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, from $18.5 million for the same period last year. Commission revenues for the first nine months of 2005 increased to $59.3 million from $56.1 million for the first nine months of 2004, or approximately 5.7%. These increases reflected the improvement in national spending for advertising at the company's client stations during the period (read more - Interep)

John Hill for 35 years shared his love of radio with the Port Huron area as the voice of WPHM AM-1380. Retiring from the station in 2002, Hill became a full-time employee at St. Clair County Community College. There he focused on his second passion - teaching. Hill soon will be calling it quits for good. He plans to retire from the college at the end of this semester. "I'm very fortunate," Hill said. "I've had two jobs that I loved and for different reasons." (read more - The Times Herald)

A public-radio executive says he's been unfairly criticized for his high salary and a profitable business deal. But others in the non-profit realm say they're shocked, or at the very least, have had their eyebrows raised. The Salt Lake Tribune published the numbers--pretty big numbers for salaries and profitable ventures in non-profit public radio. But Blair Feulner says he's worth it because he's returned millions of dollars in value to listeners (read more - KSL)

Apple's iTunes is driving the popularity of podcasting, a market which could reach up to 75 million people by 2010. A study of listeners conducted by Bridge Ratings in 10 major markets suggests that podcasting will be welcomed by the radio broadcasting industry, and that podcast audience growth is expected to reach between 45-75 million users in five years (read more - iPodNN)

In a move that has brought a burst of publicity to Sirius Satellite Radio, Howard Stern has entered into a five-year, $500 million deal to broadcast his show and program two channels on Sirius. Nevertheless, Hugh Panero seems unfazed: XM is the largest satellite radio company, and its revenue for the third quarter grew 134 percent from the period a year ago. While the company has yet to earn a profit, it expects to break even in cash-flow terms by the end of 2006. Mr. Panero spoke recently about the company's growth, its channels and its plans. Following are excerpts from that interview: Q. How fast has XM grown? (read more - NY Times)

Friday November 11, 2005

SIRIUS Satellite Radio will cover the 39th annual Country Music Awards (CMAs), which are being held in New York City for the first time on Tuesday, November 15. For the first time, as part of the "Country Takes New York" celebration of the CMAs taking place in New York, the legendary Grand Ole Opry will be broadcast for the first time outside of its Nashville, Tennessee home on Monday, November 14 from New York City's Carnegie Hall (visit Sirius Radio)

During opening sessions today of the Portable Media & Podcasting Conference in Ontario, California, Bridge Ratings President Dave Van Dyke released his company's first research installment regarding the impact of podcasting on radio station listening. This first-of-its-kind Bridge Ratings study of radio listeners who download radio station podcasts indicates that station and program recall is improved by the time-shifting technology (visit BridgeRatings.com)

Conservative talk-show host Bill O'Reilly is ready to scratch San Francisco off the map of the United States. Gone. Coit Tower? Terrorists can blow it up, and the rest of the country shouldn't care. The Fox News talk-show host and one-man conservative media juggernaut has concluded that the United States and San Francisco just don't go together anymore (read more - Joe Garofoli-SF Chronicle)

The shakeups continue with the Cardinals radio broadcasts. Wayne Hagin, who was hired three seasons ago to replace Jack Buck after the legendary Cards broadcaster died, has been fired. He’ll be replaced by John Rooney (read more - St Louis Post-Dispatch)

Spin the radio dial in the nation's largest city, and the choices are dizzying: Talk shows in English and en Espanol. Smooth jazz and heavy metal. Nonstop hip-hop and 24-hour news. But AM or FM, left or right of the dial, one thing remains absent: There's no country music station in New York City, home to more heartaches and honky tonks than any place below the Mason-Dixon line (read more - Newsday)

Country music has an esteem problem. Not a self-esteem problem. The country business just doesn't think it gets enough respect from New Yorkers. So, Nashville has moved itself to Manhattan. On Tuesday, the Country Music Association holds its 39th annual awards show at Madison Square Garden (read more - Forbes)

WIP 610-AM listeners heard an on-air spat on Monday between hosts Angelo Cataldi and Mike Missanelli over Cataldi's use of Eagles' employee Dave Spadaro as an analyst about the team. What listeners may not know is that the reason Missanelli was a few minutes late for his Tuesday show was because he was part of a closed-door meeting with Cataldi and WIP management, according to sources close to the situation (read more - Laura Nachman)

In the rush to market, the impending launch of Canadian satellite radio services is encountering some static. Both Sirius Canada Inc., and XM Satellite Radio Inc. are to launch in three weeks, just in time for the holiday retail boom, but Canadians won't have the same choice of hardware or programming as American radio lovers (read more - The Globe and Mail)

On Friday, Sid Mark makes it to the big five-oh -- 50 years of treating Philadelphia radio listeners to the music of Frank Sinatra. There were two dark days in Sid Mark’s professional life. First, the day Sinatra died, and second, the day his own career appeared stymied in November of 2000, when radio station WWDB fired its entire news-talk staff to replace its format with '80s music (read more - KYW 1060)

From Kent Burkhart -- This past Saturday night was one of those special ones for Texas radio broadcasters. It was the 2005 induction dinner of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. Here are some of the highlights: “This is not a test”. All of us in radio know that this is the emergency broadcast warning test phrase. Bill Bradford, a Texas guy, who worked on the technology for the EBS system, and who came up with that well known phrase was in attendance and picked up all Hall of Honor award. That phrase must be one of the most heard over the past three decades. Comedian George Carlin was inducted into the TRHF (read more - www.kentburkhart.com)

All signs are pointing to a sale of ABC's radio network and most of its radio stations -- including news/talk WLS-AM (890) and oldies WZZN-FM (94.7) -- by Thanksgiving (read more - Feder of Chicago)

Live 105 announced that Woody, Tony & Ravey will be the new hosts for Live 105's Morning Music Co-Op beginning January 3, 2006. The program will air between 5:30 and 10 AM every Monday through Friday and was most recently heard in afternoon drive on WKQX-FM/Chicago

Infinity Broadcasting has partnered with Apple Corps Ltd to bring America the exclusive broadcast premiere of "Let It Be...Naked," The Beatles no frills, back-to-basics album that the band first set out to make in 1969, but was never released (read more - Corey Deitz-About)

A high school radio station that has been broadcasting for more than 30 years is in danger of being shut down. Reason: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month awarded the station's frequency to an upstart religious broadcaster based some 3,000 miles away (read more - eschoolnews.com)

Entercom, WEEI's parent company, made Jason Wolfe director of all its sports programming, which gives him power over four additional stations spread from New York to Oregon (read more - Clea Simon-Boston Globe)

WDUQ sits at 90.5 on the FM radio dial, but over the summer it became two radio stations in one. That's because it's one of three local stations that have begun broadcasting HD radio, a digital transmission system that allows stations to broadcast up to eight channels over the same frequency, called "multi-casting." "We've doubled the footprint of our transmission system," said station manager Scott Hanley (read more - Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

A new, independent web site devoted to HD Radio technology has been announced by Axcess Sales. The site, www.hd-radio-home.com can be unbiased because it is not affiliated with any radio stations, industry group or radio manufacturer. It includes a description of the technology behind HD Radio, information on its features and benefits, a list of stations already broadcasting in HD, information on the various types of HD radios available a section devoted to HD Radio news and more

A radio journalist accused of slowly poisoning his wife by spiking her Gatorade with antifreeze pleaded innocent on Thursday as the woman's family called the killing a "horrible, evil and senseless act." His attorney  said Keown is "very hopeful and upbeat, actually. He has the demeanor of a man who is confident in his innocence and expects that he will be found not guilty after a trial." (read more - Boston Globe)

Radio Parties, has appointed Laura Steiner to the newly created position of "Station Affiliate Manager". She will be responsible for creating new station promotional affiliates in the Top 50 markets in the country (read more - RadioParties.com)

DirecTV and XM Radio begin simul-satellcasting on November 15 when XM takes over channel s 801-879 with commercial free music (visit DirecTV.com/XM or Chanel 800 on your DirecTV)

Cumulus Media Inc., the fourth-biggest U.S. radio broadcaster, said it received a subpoena from the office of New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as part of an investigation of music company promotion practices (read more - Atlanta JC)

Tribune Company announced the appointment of John Reardon as president/chief executive officer of its broadcast group, overseeing the company's 26 television stations, Superstation WGN, WGN Radio, and Tribune Entertainment. The company also announced the promotion of John Vitanovec to executive vice president (read more - PR Newswire)

Dave Graveline and the "Into Tomorrow" team talk home theater on Sunday afternoon.  The team will show listeners which cables to get, what software to use and how to make your home a theater  (visit Graveline.com)

(More RDN CENTRAL ARCHIVES -- Click Here)