by Tom Taylor | tom@in3media.com | 609.883.3321

Monday, March 23rd 2009

Headline: Newspaper launches national morning radio show

This is a surprise announcement from an industry that’s mostly gasping, in the largest markets – a newspaper-based 6-9am talk-based show that will capitalize on the paper’s scoops and investigative stories. No host announced yet or launch date, except “late Spring.” But newspaper executive editor John Solomon says “the goal here is to take what we’ve done so successfully in print and translate it to radio…it’s not going to be yesterday’s news.” TRN’s Mark Masters says “We believe this unique journalistic team, combined with radio’s ability to give the time and context needed to flesh out breaking stories, will make for a powerful winning combination in talk radio.” He further says “like ’60 Minutes’ once did for TV, this show can do for radio.” If they can get it to work, for three hours a morning and 15 hours a week, that will be something that its rival Washington Post failed at. Though to be fair, the Post and partner Bonneville were putting on a 24/7 radio station. There are also plans for hourly radio newscasts branded with the Washington Times imprimatur – which would be TRN’s first foray into the hourly news biz. Read the Times’ own report here.

Look for this to be announced out of the same market where Harvey himself originated - Chicago. The 20-year WLS (890) personality Roe Conn will offer short morning columns starting as early as next week, fed by ABC Radio Networks. T-R-I hears that one of the early clearances is Citadel talker WABC, New York (770). Conn has long-held ties with ABC News and was a contributor to the radio network's political coverage during the last presidential campaign. Suddenly, lots of folks in the "news and commentary" business...

Yes, the same Ed Krampf whom CBS hired to run Tampa last October and then added Orlando in the last week or so. (He’d just accepted the Orlando gig when he popped into last Monday night’s pool party at the RAB.) Now – Ed’s heading back to the West Coast to run L.A. for CBS Radio. The job came open after Dan Weiner decided to take a job outside CBS. And Dan himself has had a dizzying run the last six months – promoted from DOS to co-market manager, then made sole market manager when Roy Laughlin split, and now tempted enough to leave altogether. The well-regarded Weiner leaves some good-sized shoes to fill, especially on the sales side, and Krampf will need his charm for this job. But he knows L.A. – he once managed Clear Channel’s KBIG, KOST and KLAC. In 2003, John Hogan posted him to San Francisco, where he became Senior VP for the Western region. But then he got musical-chaired out of an SVP job when Clear Channel re-organized, just before going private last Summer. In Los Angeles, Ed will handle a blue-chip group for CBS – modern rock KROQ (106.7), classic hits K-Earth 101 KRTH, “Jack” KCBS-FM (93.1), smooth jazz “Wave” KTWV (94.7), the new CHR “Amp 97.1” KLSX, plus all-newsers KNX (1070) and KFWB (980).

A real shocker – he didn’t report for work at ABC News Radio over the weekend, and police found him dead of apparent stab wounds at his apartment in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The Daily News says the former WABC anchor had checked in at his usual Manhattan bar on Friday. That’s the “Blarney Rock” on West 33rd, and he was such a Cheers-style regular that his picture’s hanging on the wall. Weber also kept a blog (at GeorgeWeberTheNewsGuy) and the entries there stopped as of Friday. The Philly native quickly made it to the bigs in Denver (KOA/850), Los Angeles (KABC/790), San Francisco (KGO/810) and San Diego (KOGO/600) before landing in New York. For eight years he was part of the scene at WABC (770), but was laid off in February 2008 along with many other Citadel pros. George had recently been doing weekend anchor work for ABC News Radio. Steve Jones at ABC praises George as “a consummate journalist.” The New York board at Radio-Info.com is, it’s fair to say, reeling.

The underlying pension fund lost 23.4% of its value in 2008, off from a high of about $2 billion, says The Hollywood Reporter. That dictates changes in eligibility to participate in the union plan, with the minimum earnings threshold rising from $7,500 to $15,000. That new floor takes effect December 1. Members will continue to need five vested pension credits. And the formula for figuring out the retirement benefits will change from earnings to how much an employer contributed to the health and retirement funds on the member’s behalf. That modification goes into effect earlier – May 1.

The mic wasn’t off during the commercial break on Friday morning, the way morning hosts Marty Tirrell and Larry Cotlar thought – and KCCI-TV reports that listeners got to hear both the spots and a heated cussing-out over press credentials for a high school basketball tournament. (Very big stuff in Iowa, of course.) Channel 8 counts “about a dozen” instances of the f-word as Tirrell said “no you didn’t, you had two f-ing credentials. You caused a f-ing hornet’s nest. You’re jealous about the whole f-ing distribution system. Get the f-out of the studio.” The rule is – if it even looks like a microphone, treat it like it’s live.

Peter announced the formation of Compass Media Networks on March 6 and began stocking it with existing syndicated talent like the Free Beer & Hot Wings morning show. Now he signs Lars and will put him on the bird starting next Monday, March 30. That gives workaholic Larson a one-week respite from doing two different talkshows every day – six or sometimes seven hours worth. First there’s the early afternoon show based at Rose City Radio’s KXL, Portland, Oregon (750) that airs on 17 other stations throughout Oregon. Then Lars tears right into a national show (3-6pm Pacific) that will now be distributed by Kosann-ran Compass. Just as with the Westwood deal, Compass will also offer a three-hour weekend show, and there will be a daily short-form commentary. (More inventory from the affiliates to sell…) Peter says former radio and TV anchor Larson’s shows (weekday and/or weekend) had been carried on more than 150 stations for Westwood. Two very big clearances continue – in New York, Salem’s “Apple” WNYM at 570. And in Southern California, Saul Levine’s “K-Surf” combo of KGIL, Los Angeles at 1260 and the San Diego-market XESURF at 540. Kosann tells me that “Lars is an incredible talent and a friend, and he has done a great job in establishing a national brand.”

This has been rumored for months – and in fact T-R-I speculated on November 12 about the scenario where Democrat Adelstein takes a job with the Administration and South Carolina Public Service Commission member Mignon Clyburn takes that seat. We don’t yet know whether Clyburn is Obama’s choice. But late Friday – a full two months after the inauguration – Adelstein was announced as the nominee to be the Agriculture Department’s administrator for the Rural Utilities Services. It’s not a glamorous job. But since he joined the FCC in 2002, Adelstein’s been interested in making broadband and other services accessible to rural Americans. His second term technically expired last June and he’s a holdover who could’ve been nominated for a third full term. But he seemed interested in leaving when the White House changed.

Jonathan Adelstein has continually prodded the Commission to investigate the Arbitron People Meter for alleged unfairness to minority audiences and broadcasters. He was also the main Washington actor in the anti-payola campaign that started with then-New York state A-G Eliot Spitzer. (I had a mental picture of crates of evidence arriving at the Portals stamped “deliver to Adelstein.”) And Adelstein had some very gutsy things to say about the broader pay-for-play issue of adequate disclosure, re: things like the Bush Administration’s faux-news VNRs (video news releases). He’s also been quietly pushing the FCC’s “localism” initiative, which might introduce new requirements for 24/7 manned operation, offices in each city of license and a community advisory board. Perhaps most crucially for radio, Adelstein has favored the cause of a new performance rights payment, something Congress is considering right now. Certainly fellow Democrat Michael Copps has aligned with Adelstein on some of those crusades, but Copps has spoken out more about ownership consolidation and Big Media. Losing Adelstein – who’d served since December 2002 – may mean a shift at the Commission. Particularly if his successor has other priorities –

He’s already nominated Harvard Law School pal Julius Genachowski to be the new Chairman. Now Obama’s got one more choice to make, and T-R-I has long predicted that it would be an African American and/or a female. Right now the FCC is four white guys, and that’s the least diverse it’s been in many years. Even after having two African-American chairmen in a row (Bill Kennard, Michael Powell) take power and then leave, it still had Debi Tate. But she left late last year as her appointment expired. One way to work on diversity would be appointing an African-American woman such as South Carolina’s Mignon Clyburn. Like Tate, she’s been a state public utility commissioner. Unlike Tate, she comes from a powerful political family – her father Rep. Jim Clyburn was an early supporter of the Obama candidacy. Ms. Clyburn has served on the state Public Service Commission since 1998, and was in newspapering before that. But there could be other nominees out there. And we still don’t know the preferred choices of Congressional Republicans. Presumably, Obama will pay attention to their wishes, in appointing a second Republican Commissioner to sit with Robert McDowell.

Connecticut School of Broadcasting re-opens its 26 campuses today – briefly.

That allows the students in 16 states finish their coursework and get their graduation certificates. But it doesn’t guarantee that CSB is clear of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy situation. It filed for that protection on March 6 after it claimed its lender PNC Financial pulled its funds. Last Thursday, a bankruptcy court in Boston approved a plan to let the trustee operate CSB “for a limited period of time, sufficient for students to complete the current trimester.” That’s what last Friday’s statement from the school said, and its website proclaims that “CSB School of Broadcasting has reopened.” Three years ago, a private equity-backed group bought out CSB founder Dick Robinson. Now current president David Banner says “We are actively working with the trustee to promote a sale that would enable CSB’s continued ability to provide quality education to aspiring media professionals.”

Investors have been told they’re unlikely to get any of their money back (per a weekend report from CNET). Anything that’s left over after liquidating assets will go a group that lent the Internet company “an amount exceeding $34 million” – and whose members hold senior secured notes. That means they’re in line ahead of the shareholders. For users, CNET says the bad news is that their musical choices could become “inaccessible” in two months. CNET’s Greg Sandoval reports that the ad-supported SpiralFrog “was wracked with problems even before launching in September 2007.”

The Wall Street Journal says SmartReply "designs telephone and email marketing programs for retailers", but wanted to expand into the mobile space. mTech shareholders such as Partech International and First Round Capital will take a minority stake in Irvine, California's SmartReply. mTech launched in 2006 and provided radio stations and other clients with the technology to do SMS (text-message) communications and ad sales. But the Journal says the 12-person mTech "never hired an ad-sales team" of its own. It raised a total of about $6 million in capital and has yet to turn profitable.

He possessed a grand vision of a satellite radio service that would address Third World countries in Africa and Asia, but he had perpetual problems making the business model work. The WorldSpace technology helped lead to the XM satellite radio platform, and for a while XM was a shareholder in Silver Spring, MD-based WorldSpace. The international satcaster entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October (amid a flurry of last-minute emails and communications to employees, I hear). Now Samara’s Yenura Pte. Ltd. agrees to pay $28 million for most of the assets of WorldSpace, and a Delaware bankruptcy court has okayed the deal. Yenura will assume “certain liabilities”, but presumably won’t have all the debt that kept WorldSpace (later named “1worldspace”) tied down. The rumors have been around since last Fall that several folks are working on books or perhaps magazine articles about WorldSpace – and those should be interesting, to say the least.

If you work at WIBW (580) or WIBW-FM (94.5) or the Topeka Capital-Journal and make less than $25,000 a year, you’re facing a 5% cut starting in April. If you’re between $25K and $50K, it’s a whack of 7.5%. If you earn $50K or more, it’s a mandatory 10% reduction. Privately-held Morris Communications of Augusta, GA was recently ranked on the “Bottom rung” of the Moody’s list of companies carrying a high risk of default.

» Buzzing on the Boards
back to top »

Nashville-area daytimer WDKN (1260) goes dark, after 53 years. That’s the report on the Nashville board at Radio-Info.com, concerning "Country Connection" WDKN, Dickson. WSMV/Channel 5 says the order came last Thursday morning to turn out the lights at noon. The licensee is Edmisson and Eubank Communications, and on Friday it informed the FCC that “the severe economic downturn that has affected the region surrounding WDKN has forced the station to suspend operations…the licensee respectfully requests that it be allowed to suspend operations until December 1, 2009.” Though the principals “are aggressively seeking a resolution to the station’s losses” and hope to be back on the air before then. Read the station’s FCC “Notification of suspension of operations/Request for silent STA” here. The station’s got 5-kw daytime but just 18 watts after dark. If we’re going to start seeing more distress by stations that have been long held by the same owner and presumably ran a thrifty operation that carried little or no debt – this is going to be a tough year. See what the Nashville board’s saying (including a post from somebody who lived through a similar incident, years ago).

» Wheeling & Dealing
back to top »

The Seneca Indian Nation is buying a future FM from Randy Michaels’ Radioactive LLC in New York’s “Southern Tier”, and the going price is $250,000. That gets the Salamanca, NY-based Seneca Broadcasting the construction permit for a future Class B1 at 105.9 licensed to Little Valley, NY. Michaels’ Radioactive LLC is going to make some money on this one – Michaels (using his birthday name of Benjamin Homel) won the permit at the FCC’s 2006 Auction #62, and paid $108,000. Along with the filing of this deal comes a request for an 18-month extension to build the construction permit, which Seneca Broadcasting will almost surely get. There’s a fairly new FCC policy that lets “eligible entities” buy a construction permit and get a guaranteed 18 months to build it. Read the FCC filing by Radioactive and Seneca here.

In Richmond, Virginia, the EMF “K-Love” empire grows, paying $125,000 for the construction permit for WKYV. It’s a future Class A (500 watts at 295 feet) licensed to Colonial Heights, and the seller is JKJ Educational Foundation. JKJ is Kevin J. Youngers of Greeley, CO. You might recall him as the seller of an FM translator in the Charlotte, NC market a few weeks ago. This time he’s working through the non-profit JKJ Educational Foundation. The buyer, EMF, is Educational Media Foundation, which has cannily grown to well over 200 full-power stations and many more FM translators, all broadcasting either the network “K-Love” contemporary Christian feed or the network “Air 1” Christian alternative feed. See the FCC filing for WKYV here.

» Sound Bites
back to top »

“Alex” is the new kid on the dial in Selma, Alabama, near Montgomery, and that comes out of a flip from hot AC at WALX, Orrville, AL (100.9) to classic hits as “Alex.” The new station will replace “Laser 101”, but will retain the Birmingham-based Rick & Bubba syndicated morning show. That's not all - The Selma Times-Journal reports a second and third format change by Alexander Broadcasting Company and related entities. The urban AC and black gospel WJAM format will move off the FM dial at 107.9 and take up residence at 1340. Up until now, the 1340 has been billed as “Selma’s Oldies & Talk” format. That approach will be re-machined into a straight talk format to dubbed The Voice of Montgomery, and re-born at 107.9. It will use the WMRK calls that have been at 1340 for many years. The paper says the three flips come as Scott Alexander’s son Paul joins the family business.

» Faces on the Radio
back to top »

Lavette Bills won’t be doing a reprise of her 2007 financial advice show on New York’s WBLS (107.5) and WLIB (1190) any time soon – she’s been charged with mortgage fraud. The Daily News reports the Bronx real estate broker and “foreclosure specialist” earned the attention of police after allegedly ripping off a homeowner who merely wanted assistance paying off a $38,000 mortgage. Instead, the house was re-titled to Ms. Bills, who then allegedly sold it and kept $150,000. She and colleague Kirk Lacey have been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The FBI report on the allegations is here.

Ed Schultz may be getting closer to scoring the coveted 10pm Eastern nightly slot on MSNBC, says the New York Times. It says “MSNBC is in talks with Ed Schultz, the progressive radio talk-show host, about a permanent position.” Last week the New York Observer reported the possibility of a hookup. Ed recently moved his base of operations from Fargo, North Dakota to Washington, D.C. – to be closer to newsmakers, and just maybe to be closer to a cable TV deal. He’ll presumably continue creating his daily progressive-politics radio show, distributed by Dial Global.

Bob Houghton and Rod Maynard are dual victims of budget-cutting at Georgia Public Broadcasting. Houghton once managed Atlanta’s WGST (640) for Clear Channel, and Maynard was at the Braves Radio Network, says the Atlanta board of Radio-Info.com.

Bill O’Mara was perhaps the oldest active sportscaster in the country in mid-2007, said Seattle’s KING-TV, when he was laid off following the sale of KLKI, Anacortes, WA (1340). Now he’s dead at 92. His Puget Sound career stretched back to the pioneer days of Channel 5, when O’Mara was its first sportscaster. The station says Bill “was renowned in the Northwest for broadcasting hydroplane races” on the radio and TV, before Pat O’Day became so identified with the races. The Seattle board at Radio-Info.com has fond memories of Bill O’Mara.

Pat Demaree has died at 77, after a colorful career that included owning stations in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The Northwest Arkansas Times says his Fayetteville-area stations included KFAY (1030) and KKEG (92.1). (They're now owned by Cumulus.) Pat retired from radio in 2001, though he had many jobs before broadcasting – as a “fruit tramp, waiter, Fuller Brush salesman, powder monkey, short-order cook, sawmill operator and TV news and sports announcer”, says the paper. He started his radio career in 1955.

Sins – From Friday’s story about the sale of San Antonio-area “La Lupe” KTXX, Karnes City, TX – the technical facility is a C2, not a C3. T-R-I reader (and engineer) David Stewart points out that fact, and jokes that it’s “a C2 badly wanting to be a C1.” Like getting the news from this daily T-R-I newsletter, delivered at no charge from Chicago-based in3media? Keep telling your friends about it. Got a newstip? I'm at Tom@in3media.com - Tom Taylor

» Classifieds back to top » Radio Sales Management Opportunity in beautiful Charlottesville, VA Monticello Media has a great opportunity for a sales manager for our six station cluster in Charlottesville, Virginia. We’re looking for a leader who is a strong trainer, a great coach, spends time on the street with sellers, brings energy to the operation and sees creative revenue opportunities in every aspect of our on-air and interactive products. He or she understands accountability and the importance of building a winning team attitude. Previous radio sales management experience is required. If you’re tired of big corporate radio and ready to win, send us a cover letter stating why we should talk along with a resume and salary history to jobs@cvillestations.com or mail it to: Sales Manager Monticello Media 1150 Pepsi Place #300 Charlottesville, VA 22911 Monticello Media is a small private company, an equal opportunity employer and a great place to work!

www.radio-Info.com

You are receiving this email at ##insert_email_here## because you subscribed at radio-info.com for the Taylor On Radio-Info newsletter.
Stop Receiving this Email | Start Receiving this Email | Send Feedback

To view or print past issues of Taylor on Radio-Info, please click here
Contact Tom Taylor By e-mail at TomTaylor@in3media.com or by phone at 609-883-3321

Are there changes in your market? Send format updates, personnel changes, or other radio news to Radio-Info.com by clicking here

To learn about advertising or other creative partnerships, contact Cushmeer Singleton at 301-805-0936 or by e-mail at sales@in3media.com.

RADIO-INFO.COM | 65 EAST WACKER PLACE | CHICAGO IL | 60601