by Tom Taylor | tom@in3media.com | 609.883.3321

Tuesday, June 23rd 2009

Keep reaching for the stars, Casey…

Premiere will continue circulating his popular American Top 40 shows from the 1970s and the 1980s (two different series, depending on the station). But the current Adult Contemporary American Top 20 will wind up over the July 4th holiday weekend – a meaningful anniversary for Casey. His quintessentially “American” show debuted on a July 4, back when he created the franchise in 1970. L.A.-based Eric Weiss has repped Casey for years and he tells me that “Casey and Premiere agree” that this is the time to end the AC show. That gives Casey time to do his other work – voiceovers, cartoons, you name it. Eric says “Casey has turned down a lot of stuff over the last few years” that he can now look at. From Premiere’s side, it can re-deploy the fairly large production staff behind AT-20 into other gigs – and save a few bucks. Weiss says Kasem has maintained his high standards up to the end of production – “He’s worked as hard doing this week’s countdown as he did 29 years ago.” I just wanted to pay tribute to one of the great radio pros ever, and a guy who inspired countless people to think “Gee, maybe I could be on the radio, too.” Thanks, Casey.

After 12 years, Neil Rogers is suddenly off Beasley’s otherwise-all-sports WQAM (560). That leaves the local media with one less commentator who reviewed and sometimes roasted everything else in South Florida media. In recent years, revenue-hungry Beasley was willing to let Neil do his 10am-2pm show from Amsterdam for part of the year - and more recently, from Toronto. His new contract even gave him a Summer-time schedule of working just Tuesdays and Thursdays. (That was supposed to start next week.) Neil got into trouble after he strafed his own show in mid-May with an inadvertent f-bomb that didn’t get bleeped back at the studio. His frustration was triggered by the departure of longtime producer Jorge Rodriguez, and he’d spent several days on the air explaining and defending what happened with George. On that fateful May day, Neil got worked up enough during the break to say “F-” the Beasley market manager, Joe Bell. Now –

That’s my read of the way everybody’s handling this. Neil’s attorney and agent Norm Kent says, very carefully - “Mr. Rogers has no intention of seeking other on-air work at this time, and has directed me not to seek any such employment, though under our agreement with WQAM, this is not prohibited.” But realistically, where else can he go, for the kind of money he’s used to making? His previous contract was for $1.5 million a year, and the deal he took last December was for half that, at $800,000. Rogers is 66 and he’s spent 36 years in Miami radio – an amazing run that started in 1973 at then-WKAT and took him to WINZ, WIOD, “Zeta” WZTA and since 1997, WQAM. Now Beasley can truly go all-sports on “Sports Radio 560” WQAM, starting today. Neil’s done his last show and the station can be sports 24/7 against Lincoln Financial Media’s “Ticket 790” WAXY. No immediate word from Beasley about who will succeed Rogers. The Miami Board of Radio-Info.com picked up on this one quickly - just click on the balloon.

T-R-I told you Monday about rival WIND (560) offering Greg a welcome-to-Chicago kit of Cubs/White Sox hats, local map, etc. Now a reader reports this subtle bit yesterday from Don Wade at WLS (890) – Don did the handoff to the traffic reporter by asking her if she needed a map. If you know what’s going on in Chicago radio, that’s worth a smile. Tribune’s WGN is taking a bit of a chance by bringing in out-of-towner Jarrett for mornings, but if he brings his good humor and willingness to learn with him, he should settle in pretty fast. It’s just that Chicago is (as the team at WIND pointed out) famously inhospitable to imports. Meanwhile, Chicago radio steams on – Don and Roma had former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on yesterday, talking about reality TV.

More on the front-page story from Monday’s T-R-I about country WBCT’s “Birthday Bash” – Clear Channel market manager Tim Feagan appeared on his news/talk WOOD/1300) yesterday to discuss the disaster that stranded hundreds of cars at the Ionia County Fairgrounds and brought out the Red Cross to offer temporary shelter to concertgoers. He says “it was a no-win situation” as the Grand river rose much faster than the forecasts. He tells the “Mouth to Mouth” show “the National Weather Service gave us their best projection. Along the way, conditions changed very rapidly”, and by late Saturday, more than a thousand people were stranded at the fairgrounds. How about all those marooned vehicles? Feagan says Clear Channel has hired private security guards to “make sure no one can get in there and mess with” the listeners’ cars and trucks. WOOD-TV (no longer co-owned with WOOD-AM) spends a fair amount of airtime on this ongoing news story and reports Feagan’s quotes. Here’s one more – he thinks some of the stranded vehicles will be okay but admits “some will be significantly damaged.” Think there are some GMs and promotion directors in other markets checking their insurance policies, after reading about Grand Rapids?

It’s got five of the top five sales nets in the 18-49 demo and four of the top five in 25-54. A couple of caveats before we get into bragging rights here (and wonder how much Citadel misses Paul Harvey). First, understand that the Arbitron-produced quarterly RADAR ratings count the commercial associated with the program, not the content itself. Second, know that many of the RADAR-rated sales networks are limited-inventory affairs. Dial Global’s Contemporary, Complete FM and Adult Power – the top three finishers in RADAR 101 with 25-54s – all carry just 14 units and don’t cover all dayparts. Third, know that the Arbitron PPM device is widening the reported audience for RADAR, as more markets use the People Meter and show increased cume for radio. So here’s the top 10 for 18-49 adults – Dial Global’s Complete FM, Contemporary, Adult Power, Female Perspective, and Music & Entertainment. Then at #6-7-8-9, Premiere’s Emerald Plus, Modern Women, Male Focus, and Emerald. #10 is Crystal Media Networks’ Prestige. Here's the top 10, 25-54 – D-G Contemporary, D-G Complete FM, D-G Adult Power, Premiere Male Focus, D-G Music & Entertainment, D-G Female Perspective, Westwood WON I, CMN Prestige, then Premiere’s Modern Women and Emerald Plus. Arbitron continues to expand the sample size – to 360,000, by the end of 2009. Study the latest RADAR from Arbitron.

Lost in all the satellite versus online versus terrestrial radio chatter is something worth pondering – it was radio (satellite radio) that made the Sirius XM app the most-downloaded free music app, and one of the top free apps of any kind, in the first four days it was available. Sirius XM is thrilled (Scott Greenstein memos the staff about the “tremendous response”). While it’s true there’s been pent-up demand for this product, it’s also true that promotion on the radio is partly what drove the activity. Clear Channel’s also had great uptake on its iHeartRadio app – another mobile-device success story that was driven by radio. But Sirius XM had the luxury of spending actual hard marketing dollars on print to help supplement the on-air and online pitch. Remember when radio did "outside marketing"?

The New York Post ran a “comeback” story yesterday and CNBC’s Julia Boorstin did something similar Monday afternoon – quoting an analyst who thinks the auto-advertising business can’t get worse and might get better. That’s what this T-R-I newsletter was saying yesterday – GM intends to maintain its $40-50 million monthly level of advertising while it’s in Chapter 11, and that should be a positive for radio. CNBC says the national dollars should inspire spending by local dealers, and that’s good for TV, newspapers and radio. Is “the worst” really over? Group execs tell me that it’s stopped getting worse. But Summer has never been a great time for rallies. Once again, 2009 is what T-R-I said in early January – “the year of hanging on.”

It’s not just that he’s been convicted of a felony for theft and thus doesn’t possess the character qualifications to be a licensee. The Commission formally decides (nearly three years after taking up the matter) that Hammond “has demonstrated a propensity to ignore or evade lawful requirements…and engaged in multiple instances of unauthorized operation of unlicensed stations in California, Louisiana and Texas.” That pattern dates back to the 1990s, before he took ownership of then-KBKH, Shamrock, Texas at 92.9. The felony the FCC’s concerned about took place in 2002, when Hammond was caught “altering checks written to the station and depositing them into an account that he controlled.” He did time for that offense, but is now out. So he loses the license for now-canceled KBKH (which was originally KRMN at 92.7, with less power). But it could’ve been worse – he could’ve also been slapped with a $325,000 fine. The FCC is saving itself the hassle of a full hearing, as you can read here.

Matt’s the voiceover pro and former PD who observed in Monday’s T-R-I that radio tends to demonize commercials. So here's more blowback from the Radio Mercury Awards choosing not to recognize any “year’s best” spots in the Station Produced category. Joel Swanson of Cherry Creek Radio says “The only people who I ever hear saying anything bad about commercials are the programming types from other stations. My on-air people know better. It is grounds for dismissal. Granted there are some ‘bad’ commercials that don't get the job done. But commercials are good for management (ads keep you on the air), announcers (ads pay their salary), listeners (ads keeps them informed and entertained), and businesses (ads send them customers). As always, we are our own worst enemy! [At this cluster] we have no ‘commercial-free’ music sweeps, and we never say anything bad about commercials. To do so is downright idiotic.”

“Ross on Radio” explores three programming stories from New York – the 3-station CHR battle. Z100 vs Now. And “Country in New York.”

Sean Ross, our new Executive VP of Music and Programming here at Radio-Info, has been listening to his radio – a lot. Topic #1 is the “three-station CHR battle in New York”, and Sean says “there are a lot of theories about why new CHR Amp in Los Angeles has caught on faster [than Now 92.3 in New York], but one theory that doesn’t get a lot of press is the continued presence of Clear Channel’s longtime Rhythmic Top 40 WKTU” – which Sean says continues to shape-shift into whatever Clear Channel needs. Topic #2 is the two-way battle of Clear Channel’s incumbent CHR Z100/WHTZ against challenger Now. Sean has specifics about how Z100 first reacted to “Now” musically, then re-adjusted. Topic #3 is “From the Boards: Country in New York.” Ross says that if somebody did try country, “You’d be trying to put together a coalition of 54-year-olds who still like Kenny Rogers, 25-year-olds who like Taylor Swift, and a group in the middle that hasn’t had regular access to the format on commercial radio for 10 years.”

We’d love for you to receive Sean’s Ross On Radio columns on music and programming trends, every Tuesday and Thursday by email. It’s free. Even if you’re getting this daily T-R-I newsletter, you need to go to the site here and check the box for “Ross On Radio.” Then you’re all set.

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In Sheboygan, Wisconsin, husband-and-wife Jack Taddeo and Susan Kraus sell their adult contemporary “Lake 98.1” WLKN to Seehafer Broadcasting. Taddeo says “in this world of media conglomerates, it is my pleasure to see WLKN go to a family-owned broadcast group that has been in business for decades.” Seehafer was founded by Don Seehafer and its current VP is Mark Seehafer. Mark says “WLKN is a great addition to our existing stations” - full service/AC WOMT and “102 Classic hits” WQTC, both licensed to Manitowoc. Taddeo and Kraus (Radio K-T Inc.) didn’t announce a price, and there's no LMA prior to closing. Jack and Susan have owned stations since 1986 and have held this one for nearly a decade. With the sale of this Class A FM, they’ll be out of station ownership. Taddeo continues his consulting business. Broker – Kozacko Media Services.

In Columbus, Ohio, a Spanish-language publisher looks for synergy, by taking over “La Super X” WVKO (103.1). TSJ News has moved its print-focused employees into the station’s downtown Columbus offices, says the Business Courier of Cincinnati and it's LMAing the station that Bernard Radio acquired from the troubled Stop 26 Riverbend in 2007. TSJ News is a subsidiary of Gate West Capital Ventures, and it publishes a bi-weekly newspaper in Columbus (La Jornada Latina) and a monthly magazine named “Latinos.” The radio station is WVKO, Johnstown, a Class A. It’s been featuring regional Mexican music since 2004.

There’s more to the Cumulus Media Partners sale of two stations in Greenville, Texas, northeast of Dallas. More when it comes to the FM, at least. I should’ve mentioned Friday that KIKT has a granted construction permit to move further away from Dallas and to enlarge the signal. It’s now a Class A (just 1.8-kw at 328 feet) licensed to Greenville. The CP will make it a C3 (12.5-kw at 407 feet) with new city of license Cooper, TX.

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Delmarva Peninsula’s newest station is rhythmic oldies “Studio 106”, on the FM that Great Scott took silent last year. That’s now WXSH, Pocomoke City, MD at 106.1, and it had been classic rock “Sam 106.5.” You no doubt noticed that the two frequencies are different, and that’s part of the story – WXSH used to be at 106.5 and has now moved to 106.1, still as a Class A. DelmarvaNow.com describes the new format as “classic R&B, Motown and disco” – a good thumbnail of the rhythmic AC stations that used to call themselves things like “Jammin’ oldies.” This one, debuting in time for the Summer crush of visitors, is “Studio 106.”

Who’s doing creative programming on an HD multicast channel? The people who should be entering the NAB’s contest. Prizes will be handed out at the NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia, September 23-25. NAB launched this competition in 2007 to incentivize operators to show creativity in using HD Radio channels, and the previous winners have been worthy ones. Those include KBCO, Denver’s “Studio C Channel”, WRIF, Detroit’s “Riff2” and WHUR-World from WHUR, Washington.

Curtis Media Group partners with Atlanta BT for “enhanced online marketing service” to its clients. Raleigh-based station owner Curtis also has a CMG Interactive division, and Curtis Media Group President Phil Zachary says this new combination is “an unprecedented offering in the Carolinas” that ensures “integrated elite-level brand support across every channel” of its clients’ marketing investments. Advertisers want to be online, and CMG wants to enable that. Jon Jordan is the president of Atlantic Business Technologies, also in Raleigh.

Inner City tries several arguments to reduce a $10,000 public-file fine – including the angle that it’s minority-owned. The Commission doesn’t buy that, of course. Just as it doesn’t buy the other arguments trying to bargain down an ancient fine levied against KVTO, Berkeley, CA (1400) for missing quarterly issues/programs lists from 1998 through 2000. The $10,000 fine was first levied three years ago (June 2006). Inner City tried the argument that it voluntarily disclosed the problem (almost everybody tries that one), that nobody opposed its license renewal, that it has a history of overall compliance (sometimes that works), and that the $10,000 fine “inappropriately penalizes a minority-owned station”, as the FCC phrases it. The agency solemnly intones that “we are aware of no precedent which supports such a reduction.” Inner City owes the ten grand, as you can see in the Forfeiture Order. KVTO’s call letters stand for “Voice of the Orient.” It’s the sister of “Quiet Storm” urban AC KBLX (102.9) and it does brokered Asian-language programming in the polyglot market of San Francisco.

McAllen-Brownsville’s KMBH warns listeners about a possible “scam” – another public radio station. Its President and CEO denies he’s referring to the soon-to-sign-on “Voice of the Valley”, which has backing from former KMBH (88.9) staffers. But those folks aren’t taking too kindly to on-air and website announcements like this – “There is only one public radio in the Rio Grande Valley, and this is KMBH, serving you with the best of NPR and local talent since 1989. If you or someone you know is contacted requesting a donation for public radio which is not Public Radio 88FM, please report it to the authorities and let us know…Public Radio 88FM has been serving you in the Rio Grande Valley for 20 years. Anything else may be a scam or a fantasy.” Msgr. Pedro Briseno of KMBH tells The Brownsville Herald that he’s not talking about Voice of the Valley. But former KMBH host Joe Perez says his old station is “trying to prejudice the public against another station.” He’s one of two KMBH, Harlingen hosts who split after it didn’t air a documentary about priests and molestation of parishioners at the scheduled time. The folks at the new service say they’re not soliciting money – just pledges. KMBH is owned by RGV Educational Broadcasting, which also owns PBS affiliate Channel 38.

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Randi Rhodes starts today in the Nation’s Capital as the PM drive component of new progressive talker WZAA’s lineup – thanks to a deal with her syndicator Premiere. That’s an interesting wrinkle, since WZAA (1050) is being leased by Air America Media, which has its own roster. But Air America’s Senior VP Programming says “I’m thrilled to have Randi on the Air America Washington team…it’s about time we were reunited.” He’s referring to Randi’s exit from Air America under an earlier regime – when she was doing the same airshift, 3-6pm. Hess says her “entertaining, aggressive style makes her the perfect fit for the ride home in Washington, where she’s now based.” Randi’s hiring moves the local “Live in Washington with Jack Rice” back to 1-3pm. The recruitment of Rhodes and the repositioning of Jack Rice knocks Ron Kuby out of the daytime lineup.

Al Rantel is indeed retiring from L.A. talker KABC (790), per yesterday’s T-R-I (but originally from Don Barrett’s LARadio.com site). It’s a sad story – The evening personality isn’t leaving because of his 2007 bout with lymphoma, but because of complications from a truly nasty fall at his apartment complex in August 2008. He tells Barrett he’s undergone both a shoulder replacement and a hip replacement – and “the hip replacement went bad in February, and I went out on disability. They had to re-do the hip.” His shoulder has now “progressively developed problems, as well – they had to replace the whole rotary cup of the shoulder.” Al’s on pain medication – no surprise – and that’s ultimately why he’s giving up evenings on KABC. He says “I told the doctors that even with the Vicodin and Celebrex and all this crap they have me on, I’m still in pain.” Give KABC owner Citadel credit for working with Rantel through his ailments. He’s now going onto permanent disability. Gary Lycan at the Orange County Register reports that Al’s last shift on KABC will be this Thursday – and that he’s relocating to Vancouver, Canada for medical treatment and rehabilitation. The L.A. Board at Radio-Info.com is talking about it now.

Jerry Schemmel has one of the great careers of any sportscaster out there – the attorney and former deputy commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association has also done coaching (in college baseball). He’s been the NBA Denver Nuggets’ radio announcer since 1992 – and now wins the job that 150 other people competed for. He’s the new voice of the Colorado State University Rams, for football and baseball. The Coloradoan recalls that Schemmel had a brush with history in 1989 when he survived an airline crash near Sioux City, Iowa that killed 112 people. He not only lived, he went back into the wreckage to save a baby. Out of that experience, Jerry wrote a book titled “Chosen to Live.”

Fred Reynolds and Joseph Ianiello, 12-year colleagues at CBS Corporate, will be tied up exchanging BlackBerry messages this Summer. Fred retires as CBS Executive VP and CFO on July 20. Ianiello, his deputy CFO since last November, succeeds him and will no doubt be asking many questions. Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker says “Fred Reynolds will be missed…he has an excellent reputation and is known for his conservatism, focus on the balance sheet, and desire for CBS to maintain an investment-grade rating.”

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