Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > April
April 2007
4/30: AM1230 and 1340 simulcast again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For years, Dickey Broadcasting had simulcast AM1230 and AM1340 but about 18 months ago, execs decided to turn AM1340 into Hispanic sports talk. Apparently, that was too niche. The stations have announced they will once again simulcast news/talk Monday, including the new Dennis Miller morning show from 10 to 1, along with Bill O’Reilly from 1 to 3. AM1230, which had aired Don Imus until recently, cover the Cobb County area; AM1340 is more inside the Perimeter. Neither is a major blowtorch in terms of ratings or signal power.
CNN Headline news is in the mornings now instead of Imus. And in the afternoons, the stations air Phil Valentine, a talk show host out of Nashville.
David Dickey, who runs Dickey Broadcasting, said the Hispanic sports talk format was profitable but he felt there’s still more power combining the two stations than have separate ones.
4/27: Kimmer’s official retirement note
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hurp!!! Look out! It’s only me, it’s only the Kimmer.
Okay, here’s the deal. I’m retired. I had a radio station in Atlanta interested in hiring me and we met several times but in the waiting period while they decided if they had any money, I started enjoying my time off so much that I decided to call it a day.
I’ve bought some seasonal properties to fulfill my future of golf, motorcycle rides, delivering Meals on Wheels, coaching kids teams, etc. So I’m also downsizing. That’s why 2 of my motorcycles are for sale and whoever makes a decent offer is going to get a terrific deal. My 1955 Ford street rod will be finished this summer and then my goal of collecting overpriced toys will be accomplished!
I sure wish it hadn’t all ended the way it did but everything in the business is different these days. It was only a question of time since I’m one of the last dinosaurs on the air who just isn’t what modern programmers are looking for. I still consider myself the luckiest guy I know and who knows, maybe in a few years something might change. I doubt it. In either case I’m looking back with great fondness for the most loyal, creative, interesting, funny, challenging, patriotic, decent listeners anyone could ask for. I really miss the good ole days but I will never forget the joy and love you gave me so freely. I can’t stop smiling.
Semper Fi, God bless America. I got to go, you’re killing me…
Kimmer
4/26: Wes Sarginson to retire
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Veteran WXIA-TV news anchor Wes Sarginson has decided to retire after more than 45 years in broadcast news, he announced Thursday.
Sarginson, 64, who also anchored beside Monica Pearson on WSB-TV from 1978 to 1984, has been at the NBC affiliate for the past decade. At the end of 2005, the award-winning evening anchor stopped anchoring the 11 p.m. news, leaving those duties to a new guy from Knoxville named Ted Hall.
Sarginson will stay on the desk until the end of May. Sarginson will continue to do his popular “Wes Side” stories featuring profiles in courage at least for a few more months. (He’s under contract through March 2008.) He also may sub out for Hall at times so Sarginson won’t disappear from the TV screens immediately.
Sarginson is nothing but honest. He said though he was no longer doing the 11 p.m. anchor job, “I ended up working more hours and doing more stories. My wife was constantly on my case.” He said through the decades, he never spent enough time with his kids and wanted to do more for his two grandchildren (one more on the way in August.) “One year when I was in Atlanta, I was made ‘Father of the Year’ by one group,” he told Buzz “I thought it was the worst decision I ever heard. I was never home.”
He’s looking into teaching broadcast journalism at Piedmont College near Gainesville and producing documentaries about science and other topics. He said ultimately he gets more personal satisfaction reporting stories than anchoring.
In his career at 11Alive, Wes has covered the 1998 Hall County tornadoes and their aftermath, the Heritage High school shooting and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
He’s been a big supporter of charities and seems genuinely grateful to the viewers who have been his fans over the years: “I will miss my friends and real characters in the 11Alive Newsroom, and I hope to tell their stories some day. The support of our viewers has been unbelievable. Every time I’ve told them about the need to save something worthwhile in our community, they have delivered. I’ve always said if we can fix a problem with money, our viewers will reach deep into their pockets and come to the rescue.”
4/26: Former GSTer passes away
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dave McBride, Sam Memmolo’s co-host on TV (“Two Guys Garage”) and radio (“The Car Show” on 640/WGST until late last year) passed away last week after a nine-month battle with cancer. Here’s an online memorial from Sam..
Memorial donations may be made in Dave’s honor to Eastside Baptist Church Student Center Fund, 2450 Lower Roswell Rd., Marietta, GA 30068
Memorial Service: Eastside Baptist Church 2450 Lower Roswell Road Marietta, Ga 30068 770-971-2323 Saturday April 28, 2007 @ 3:00pm in the sanctuary Reception will follow
4/25: Mitch Faulkner returns to V-103
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mitch Faulkner, the afternoon jock at V-103 way back in the mid-1980s who also held the same job at Kiss from 2001 and 2004, is coming back to V-103. He starts Monday as the creative services director at V-103, which means handling production, promotions and the “image voice” of the station. He is also willing to do fill-in DJ work as needed. “It gives me an opportunity to manage at a station I had my greatest success,” he said, noting he was the first jock at V-103 to go No. 1 back in the 1983 to 1986 period when V-103 had the FM African-American audience virtually to itself.
After V-103, he became program director for Kiss for several years. He has been doing the Blue Lights in the Basement House Party on Kiss Saturday nights from 1994 until about two weeks ago. For the past two years, he has been producing the Tom Joyner syndicated show (heard on Kiss) from Dallas.
But he got tired of the commute to Dallas (his family stayed in Atlanta) so he took the V-103 job.
Interestingly, he does the “image voice” for more than 180 radio stations. He won’t immediately be doing the “image voice” for V-103, saying “We’re the people’s station” until the current person’s contract ends.
4/24: WGKA’s Bill Bennett coming to Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We just had Steve Harvey in town.
Now 920/WGKA’s syndicated morning host Bill Bennett, former Secretary of Education and drug czar, will be in Atlanta at the Georgia State Capitol’s south wing Friday, May 11 to do his show from 6 to 9 a.m. Gov. Sonny Perdue is scheduled to stop by.
A book signing session will follow the broadcast from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Barnes and Noble in Buckhead at 2900 Peachtree Road, NE, Suite 310, Atlanta, GA 30305.
4/24: Digital subscribers like free radio, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The New York Times had a story Monday about a study Arbitron and Edison Media Research recently did comparing listening habits of those who use digital media (satellite, Internet, podcasting) vs. those who don’t. Apparently, the two groups listen to the same amount of free AM/FM radio. That’s a bit of a surprise.
“Heavy users of digital media don’t think, ‘If I’m doing this more, I’m doing the other thing less,’ ” said Bill Rose, an executive with Arbitron.
But specific satellite radio listeners do spend less time with AM/FM.
4/23: This hour sponsored by…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Wall Street Journal this morning had a story about a new rock-and-country format Clear Channel has created in Dallas called Lone Star. The format on KZPS-FM itself is unusual - a mix of acts such as Little Feat, Bob Seger, Johnny Cash, John Mellencamp, Steve Earle, Travis Tritt, ZZ Top, Bob Dylan, the Jayhawks and Wilco.
But it’s the advertising model that is even riskier. The station plans to weave in mentions of sponsors, no more than 15 seconds at a time, that is more akin to public radio than commercial radio. No more 30 or 60 second ads.
A sample script: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking: you’re now free to enjoy nonstop Lone Star music thanks to Southwest Airlines and Lone Star 92.5”
Or “Call us on the AT&T Lone Star request line.”
Management said revenue will be down this first year and many advertisers were reluctant to sign on until the format is proven. Four early sponsors who did join Lone Star include AT&T Wireless, Guitar Center, Coors and Southwest. Sales manager Kelly Kibler told the newspaper the staiton hopes that the sponsorship model will instill a deeper sense of listener loyalty to the products.
What do you think? Should an Atlanta station try either the advertising model or the format?
4/20: Harvey brings in thousands
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“The Steve Harvey machine is coming. Everyone’s got to watch out!”
That’s what Harvey — standup, actor, now syndicated radio host — told me Thursday during his visit this week to Atlanta, which included a live show Friday morning for Grown Folks 102.5 at Home Depot off Wesley Chapel Road and I-20 in Decatur. Thousands showed up and people waited up to 10 minutes just to get in the big tent to catch a glimpse of Harvey in his signature hat and suit.
“The sound isn’t so great but I’m just enjoying the atmosphere,” said a swooning Felicia Kenty, 40, of Decatur, who arrived at 5:45 a.m. and was still gazing at Harvey four hours later.
In a matter of a few months, Harvey has more than tripled the audience for 102.5, making the station a major player despite a relatively weak signal. Syndicated just a year, he’s now on 45 stations nationwide and locally is giving V-103’s Frank Ski and Kiss 104.1’s syndicated Tom Joyner some serious competition. Not that Harvey is going to jump in the muck.
“Tom is my friend,” Harvey said. “He’s going to remain my friend. I’d never say anything negative about him. I’ve promoted so many concert dates on his station, on Frank Ski’s station. It’s not a radio war.”
But his fans have no qualms about comparing him to his Atlanta rivals. “He’s so down to earth, so real,” said Letavia Roulhac, 28, of Decatur, who nabbed an autograph after Harvey finished his show. “Frank Ski? He’s uptight, too politically correct. Tom Joyner? Too corny.”
And I give SiMan “Baby” big points for promotional moxie. Although he was bumped for Harvey and moved to nights, he was there all morning in what he called his white “Easter” suit, shaking hands, kissing babies and handing out hundreds of business cards to fans. Grown Folks 102.5 staff also handed out hundreds of trinkets, from business card holders to mousepads.
4/20: Rhubarb’s golf tourney Mon.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eagle 106.7’s Rhubarb Jones, featured last Wednesday during WSB-TV’s “Monica Closeups,” is holding his annual celebrity golf tournament today to benefit his favorite charity, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It’s held at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta.
The Longest Drive Competition will pair local sportscasters (WXIA’s Fred Kalil, WSB’s Chuck Dowdle & Fox 5’s Karen Graham) against Charlie Daniels, Tracy Lawrence and former NFL football player Kevin Butler.
Over the years, Rhubarb has helped raise more than $3 million for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with the golf tournament and his March Across Georgia.
Last year, his Golf Classic raised $256,000 for blood cancer research and patient aid for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
4/19: 102.5’s Steve Harvey at Home Depot Fri.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you want to meet Steve Harvey in person, he’s going to be at the Wesley Chapel Home Depot located at 4325 New Snapfinger Woods Dr. doing his broadcast live Friday morning from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.. Expect a huge crowd. The man has done amazingly well as a syndicated morning host on Grown Folks 102.5 since he hit the air in Atlanta last summer. The signal is really weak but he’s pulling in better numbers than several stations with 100,000 watt signals.
The former “Steve Harvey Show” star who still does plenty of standup has been airing his show from Radio One’s offices the past couple of days. There’s a little irony there because his first radio show was on Radio One’s the Beat in Los Angeles a few years ago but he had a falling out with management there and the show went away. Premiere, which is owned by Clear Channel and also syndicates Rush Limbaugh, purchased his show and syndicated it last year. He’s now on 45 radio stations, including this Radio One property. Harvey said he has great respect for top management at Radio One and that the local falling out in L.A. didn’t change his opinion of Cathy or Alfred Liggins. In fact, speaking to him today at Radio One studios downtown, he sounds quite content. He’s really enjoying radio and the ability to be closer to the fans, to be able to convey his spiritual and humanitarian side in a way he couldn’t do on TV.
He had a meet and greet lunch today until 12:30 p.m. with Grown Folks 102.5 advertisers at Thrive, a lounge/restaurant in Radio One’s buliding on Marietta St. Here are a couple of shots I took:
Here he is at about 11:20 a.m. this morning at Thrive charming clients and Radio One employees.
Patricia Hardaway, who does shoeshines at the Omni (right), heard he was in the building and came by. “I’m not a groupie, just a fan,” she said. At the gift shop next to Thrive, Harvey bought lottery tickets for a few folks, including $30 worth of $2 scratchoffs for Hardaway. They would split the “winnings.” Unfortunately, she won only $2. She came back to Thrive to give him $1 but he told her to keep it.
4/19: Dave scales back new songs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dave FM, which had been playing new cuts by the like of Regina Spektor, the Killers and John Mayer, Paulo Nutini and Damien Rice, has scaled back those songs, relegating them mostly to overnights. It’s not a major switch in terms of overall music mix, but it means anybody who likes new adult alternative music will have to find it elsewhere - like iTunes, Pandora, satellite radio, et. al. Perhaps that’s where they are already.
Margot’s Thursday night show “Dave After Tomorrow” is out. It featured themes and was fairly erudite for a commercial radio station.
Typical hour today at 3 p.m., according to yes.com
Sublime’s “What I Got,” Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me,” James’ “Laid,” John Mayer’s “Daughters,” Nirvana’s “All Apologies,” The Cars’ “Good Times Roll,” R.E.M.’s “Man on the Moon,” John Mellancamp’s “Small Town,” Norah Jones’ “Thinking About You” (one of the few currents that is still on regular rotation), U2’s ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday,” Big Audio Dyanamite II’s “The Globe,” and iNXS’s “Need You Tonight.”
The station, just a few weeks after doing the Top 25 artists of the past 25 years, has now started the top 30 albums of the past 30 years as voted by the listeners. So far, a lot of records from the ’80s are representing. Yesterday was #23 John Mellencamp’s “Scarecrow.” The day before was Paul Simon’s classic “Graceland,” and Monday it was Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet.” Last week did include two from the ’90s: Counting Crows’ “August and Everything After” (#29) and Alanis Morrisette’s “Jagged Little Pill.” (#30).
4/18: Collins Spencer out at WSB-TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I try not to veer away from radio but occasionally, people ask me about TV personalities. At least 15 people have emailed me about WSB-TV’s Collins Spencer. As those people may have figured, he’s out. He was let go last week for unknown reasons though I don’t hear that it was anything salacious. He replaced Warren Savage, who left in the fall of 2005. So Spencer was only around for 18 months.
Bill Hoffman, the general manager at WSB-TV, praised Spencer’s community service but declined to comment further. He also didn’t comment on Spencer’s performance on air.
Spencer, who I haven’t been able to reach for comment, had worked at CNN and Fox News prior to WSB-TV.
4/18: Georgia Radio Hall of Fame dinner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The folks who have created the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame have already set up a dinner September 22, 2007 at the Marietta Conference Center and procured a keynote speaker: “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” announcer Joel Godard, a Milledgeville native and Emory University grad.
It’s $45 per person if purchased before July 1; $60 after July 1 and before Aug. 15, 2007. It’s semiformal.
Nominations for the hall of fame can be sent to nominate@grhof.com by June 1. Ballots will be mailed out July 1.
Lifetime membership is just $25. Anybody is eligible to join and as a benefit, you can vote on future inductees.
More info about the dinner is here
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4/17: Paul Harvey out on Eagle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paul Harvey, the syndicated radio legend known for his deep baritone voice and folksy delivery during his daily “News and Comment” and “Rest of the Story” segments, has been taken off country station Eagle 106.7. He had been there for about two years after 640/WGST-AM dropped him.
The harried Eagle operator said the phone’s been ringing off the hook the past couple of days and switched me over to a standardized voicemail announcing his departure (though the station hasn’t said so on the air.). In the recorded message, listeners are told to go online at www.paulharvey.com to listen to his daily segments.
Victor Sansone, the general manager at Eagle, said the station is working on being more music-centric and allowing 30-plus minutes a day to Harvey didn’t jibe with that.
Sansone wouldn’t say it so I’m just going to surmise that Harvey’s listening audience is far older than what Eagle would like their audience to be. In fact, the station about six months ago tweaked its playlist so it would focus more on ’80s, ’90s and today with fewer cuts from the ’50s through ’70s. And I’m not sure the listeners Harvey brought in necessarily stuck around for the country music.
4/16: An hour with B98.5’s Kelly & Alpha
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Only a handful of morning shows have outlasted B98.5’s Kelly Stevens and Alpha Trivette, who have been on Atlanta radio for nearly a decade. Yet the pair gets virtually no acclaim, no attention whatsoever. So let’s listen in for an hour today to get a snapshot of what the pair actually do.
Kelly Stevens
Alpha Trivette
7 a.m.: Kelly does the standard B98.5 liners, promoting the 98 nonstop commercial-free song set coming up later and how they got voted # 1 again by some mysterious unknown group of voters. Then Christy Henry does the news for about 90 seconds.
7:02 a.m.: Two advertisements
7:04 a.m.: Weather then traffic.
7:05 a.m.: The daily “Pledge of Allegiance” by a local elementary school class.
7:05 a.m.: “Come To My Window” by Melissa Etheridge
7:10 a.m. The pair talk for about 60 seconds about brain foods for the CRCTs, which kids are taking this week. A teacher on a call recommends bananas, which she says calms anxiety.
7:11 a.m.: “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt
7:15 a.m.: Kelly talks about the $10,000 “Bad Day” double play contest and notes how windy it is before leading to Christy, who does the weather report. Alpha notes the Boston Marathon will still be going on despite the nasty weather up that way. Kelly gets back to CRCTs. Alpha’s granddaughter Sabrina eating pancakes. Flax seed oil. Colas and corn syrup are bad. Laura, a second-grade teacher, on the phone says peppermint candies help with concentration. The discussion takes about two minutes.
7:17 a.m.: Second traffic break of the hour with Jason Durden. (sponsored by Re-Max)
7:18 a.m.: Kelly and Alpha promote Alliance Theatre’s “Cutting Up” play.
7:19 a.m.: RaceTrac, Louisiana convention and visitors bureau, McDonald’s ads
7:22 a.m.: Weather report, Kelly does a celebrity of the day promo for about 10 seconds.
7:22 a.m.: “Hold on Loosely” .38 Special
7:25 a.m.: April calls in and wins the prize, a $200 gift card to Macy’s and has a chance to go on the set of “Entertainment Weekly.” This break takes about 15 to 20 seconds.
7:25 a.m.: “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough” Patty Smyth
7:30 a.m.: Kelly, for the second time this hour, does the much mocked “Voted #1 again for most music while you work” promo followed by the 98-minute promo. (They’ve been doing it for at least the five years I’ve been covering radio.) Then leads into Christy Henry and news (Nor’easter, taxes, Prince William breakup), interspersed with brief traffic and weather.
7:32 a.m.: Geico, Chevron
7:34 a.m.: Brad Nitz (sic?), subbing for Glenn Burns, does weather again. Then Jason Durden does traffic for the fourth time for the hour.
7:34 a.m.: Kelly and Alpha talk about CRCTs again for about 15 seconds with Alpha saying to the students who are about to go to school, “Good luck!”
7:35 a.m.: “Here I Go Again” Whitesnake
7:40 a.m.: Kelly and Alpha discuss more about brain foods for just over 60 seconds. Will Gara finds askdrsears.com. He says salmon and brussel sprouts are good. Alcohol and frosting are bad. Someone makes a Mommy Dearest joke. Debbie, a caller, recommends two other candies besides peppermint: Smarties candies and Dum Dum lollilops. It’s a joke. They use a sound effect when she says the punchline of someone getting konked on the head.
7:41 a.m.: “Beautiful” Christina Aguilera
7:45 a.m.: Kelly for the third time does the “vote” line, then promotes the Bad Day contest, leading into Christy Henry talking about the weather. Kelly congratulates Wally Carter for being a caller. Lynn, a caller, talks how stressful the CRCT tests are. She says kids who failed had parents talk to the principal and passed the kids on, anyway. The discussion lasts about 75 seconds. Then they go into traffic for the fifth time.
7:47 a.m.: Kelly and Alpha do a commercial about Kraft American singles cheese, noting that a friend has never had a grilled cheese sandwich.
7:48 a.m.: Georgia Lottery, Internet Speedway (sounds like some “get wealthy easy!” promo), Hass avocado
7:51 a.m.: Very very brief sixth traffic break (10 seconds). Weather reference. Kelly says Will, a teacher, counters that it’s not that easy to get by after failing the CRCTs. The overall segment takes about 30 seconds.
7:52 a.m.: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Nikki French version
7:56 a.m.: “Take a Chance on Me” ABBA
8 a.m. : The cycle begins again with Kelly doing the same exact promo as he did at 7 a.m.
The tally: 12 advertisements (two read by Kelly & Alpha), eight songs, six traffic breaks, two news breaks, at least five weather references, one contest, one daily gimmick (“The Pledge of Allegiance”), four promos (including three references to the infamous “#1 again” line and six minutes of actual content from Kelly & Alpha, focused almost exclusively on the CRCTs.
Overall, B98.5 runs a tight ship, where certain things happen the same time every day, where certain promos have to be said. Nothing drags. Jokes are breezy and innocuous. The callers provide brief interaction with the listeners. Chances of a Don Imus comment? Somewhat less than zero percent.
Do they have any fans out there? Foes? Why do you think Kelly & Alpha have lasted as long as they have?
4/13: Star’s Meet on the Street promo
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For four years, Star 94 did a fun “Mile of Men” promotion where the guys would stand on Peachtree Road near Lenox Mall and hold up numbers, hoping to collect digits. Check out a gallery from the event here. This year, Star has added women. Both sides came out in force. Some came because they felt they weren’t getting out enough — like Shirley Fite, 48, an accounting specialist holding No. 91. “My friends feel like I need to hook up!” she said.
Roni Page, 26, taking a cigarette break, said she was inspired because a friend of hers hooked up a year before with a guy in a Spider-Man outfit. “My feet are killing me!” she said.
Rebecca Kaufman, a 34-yearold Buckhead nanny, brought her dog Chloe to help attract guys. “I tried the bar scene and the club scene. I’ve tried Internet dating, J-Date. I figure why not add something new to the mix?”
Felicity Warren, a 40-year-old dermatologist from Dunwoody, held up a sign offering a tongue-in-cheek “free full body skin exam.” “It’s hard to meet people in Atlanta,” she said.
Sean Coate, a 34-year-old physical therapist, said his best friend put him up to it. “All my friends are married. They think I’ve been single long enough!”
Ron Goss, a 48-year-old party DJ who admits he looks older, dressed rather formally. “I’m a free spirit,” he said, but felt a suit and tie would show how serious he is about finding a woman to settle down with.
Daniel Clarke, a 26-year-old British software designer from Sandy Springs (above), wrapped himself in the British flag. This is his second go around. “Last year, I got two months worth of dates from this!” he said. And he noted, quite truly, “American women love British accents!”
Aaron Faubli, a 36-year-old sales guy from Little Five Points with the magic No. 1 as his number, brought a guitar and got on the radio four times singing a David Gray song, “Come and Get It.” He said a good friend met his future wife at a “Mile of Men” promotion three years earlier. He wanted to capture that magic himself.
4/12: Now CBS has fired Imus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, this was predictable after MSNBC and national advertisers bailed on Don Imus after his insensitive remarks regarding the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Now CBS Radio has dropped him..
Fair, unfair? Was this the proper punishment? Did this go too far?
Did Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton “take him down,” as WSB-AM’s Chris Krok said tonight? Did the sponsors “buckle”? as one of his callers say. Will this have a chilling effect on free speech?
Here was a summary of what was Imus’ last radio show Thursday morning while doing his radiothon..
4/12: Mile of Men - and women are back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Star 94 for a few years did a “Mile of Men” event around Valentine’s Day, where guys stood with numbers on Peachtree Road and women interested in them would call in. I covered it the first year and it was a fun promotion.
It’s back - with a twist. This time, Steve & Vikki are bringing in both genders from 7 to 9 a.m. Friday morning between Lenox Rd. and Piedmont. Single women will stand on one side of the street, men on the other.
This brings up a gender double standard. Will people approach the fact 94 women are standing there trying to hook up differently from that of 94 guys?
Either way, there’s a party that night at the Onyx at the Hyatt Hotel at 3300 Peachtree Road from 7 to 9 where folks can meet their secret “drive by” admirers.
4/12: MSNBC drops Imus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don Imus has seen his radio show simulcast dropped by MSNBC Wednesday.. This is in the wake of his offensive comments a week ago targeting the Rutgers women’s basketball team.
Now it’ll be interesting to see if CBS Radio follows suit. He is heard in many major markets but in Atlanta, he’s barely heard at all on a small signal, 1230/WFOM-AM.
4/11: Whatever happened to…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gary McKee?
He was one of Atlanta’s most beloved DJs in the 1970s and 1980s, especially at then top 40 station WQXI-AM, who also worked at B98.5 and Z93 before leaving the scene eight years ago.
I asked him for an update and he wrote an extremely eloquent email, which I will print in its entirety here:
The last day of my radio career happened at the old Z93, a station I suspect was built over an early Indian burial ground. January whatever of 1999, my best day in years. I wasn’t only burned out, I was a charred remnant, dead as leftover snapper. You so kindly ask me to summarize the “…from then to now.”
There have always been in my mind, stories. A result, I figure, of the daydreams a kid in a violent, broken home uses to stay sane. I began to write those down shortly after leaving radio and I still am. Anita and I bought a new Harley Road King and made the first of our yearly summer rides to the big Sturgis rally. And, since there wasn’t enough exasperation in my life, I started playing more golf. I still am. Travel, scuba diving mostly in the Caribbean, yard work, Anita’s graduation cum laude from KSU, Anita’s acceptance into UGA’s Master Gardener Program, it’s always about her! Ha. There’s a healing comes with a good family and I am the most blessed idiot on the field with Anita and our children. My office is in the basement behind the water heater and I’m here when they leave and here when they come home.
Sadly, and you can share this with your readers if you want, there wasn’t much said of it in the media (we thank you); in February of 2004 we lost our oldest son, Case, in a firearm accident. He snuck a secured pistol to his room, was twirling it and it discharged. Case, Parker and I hunted and shot many times and he knew better, but that doesn’t help, does it? At fifteen, kids wrestle with invincibility, we all did; but must remember, some lose. I couldn’t count the days I’m drawn to a child’s obituary in the AJC and grieve for the parents and siblings and grandparents and whomever that precious kid touched in such a short life. You quietly expect to lose a parent, even a spouse, but not a child. That’s not a part of it all, now, is it? A dear friend who lost his sister years ago in a terrible ordeal emphatically shared these words with me just two days after Case’s death, “You WILL make it!” “You WILL make it!” We have. Anita, Parker, Cassidy and I have made it. But I miss my boy! Whew.
So, Rodney, thanks so much for asking about us. I’m attaching a family photo at Anita’s KSU graduation last summer. Our lovely, Cassidy, is at Dickerson Elementary and never more than three feet from her cell or iPod. Our strapping son, Parker, is a Junior at Walton High, the consummate Rugby freak and three inches taller than me.
We’re well. In my treasured days at WSB, that great warrior Falcon, Jeff Van Note, always said to me when I ask how he was, “I’m well.” Not great. Not terrible. Not too high. Not too low. Just well. I’ve always liked that.
Regards, Gary
4/10: Sasha the Diva out at Kiss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kiss 104.1 mid-day host Sasha the Diva was let go today. Her contract is up June 2 but Tony Kidd, the general manager, said they decided to let her go early so she can find a new job. He said they simply wanted to go in a different direction, that she didn’t do anything specific to merit losing her job.
I got the impression that Cox’s general stance on FM stations is not to emphasize personalities and that may have frustrated Sasha. She wouldn’t say that exactly but she did believe the place got “more corporate” over her five years there. She wants to get more into acting and has gotten parts in “The Gospel” and Tyler Perry’s “Daddy’s Little Girl,” plus a show on TV One. She will likely move to L.A. or N.Y. to pursue that dream.
She said she was ready to move on after five years, that it was an amicable separation. She said she loved Kiss but wished they would take more chances.
“Tony [Kidd] and I have been together for a long time,” she said. “He’s the one who brought me here. I love him and am going to miss working with him. It is what it is.”
New York native Sasha arrived in June 2002 from Baltimore. She has sustained solid ratings ever since.
When she was hired, she said she uses the stage name “diva” because she’s “a woman who is aggressive, knows where she’s going in her career and is beautiful inside and out.”
A replacement has not been named.
4/8: New Q100 midday person
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the midst of all the Six Flags brouhaha, I forgot to include the following item.
Brittany Huntman has taken over as mid-day host, taking over for Tracy St. George, who left for West Palm Beach (though I heard a tip that she might be coming back to Atlanta.)
Brittany’s last job was at Kiss 106.1 in Seattle.
It’s interesting though that in press accounts, neither Q100 nor Six Flags is taking responsibility for what happened Thursday morning. I presume both sides want it to just quietly go away.
4/6: CJ finally joins the Beat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
That’s Murph on the left with CJ in the studio today CREDIT: Lee Cagle
Hot 107.9 didn’t make it easy on CJ Simpson but she is now finally free to join 95.5/The Beat as co-morning host with Murph Dawg.
She starts Monday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. “I’ll be able to show who am more,” she said, compared to her relatively limited role on the “A” team.
CJ, who worked remotes for four years on Hot’s morning show under Ryan Cameron and then Rashan Ali and Griff, left Hot in early February, thinking she would be free to join any other radio station since the station didn’t renew her contract. But Radio One, Hot owners, tried to enforce her six-month noncompete. She hired a lawyer and won the case in court. Cox Radio, owners of the Beat, wouldn’t touch her until the case was complete. But now the case is closed and Radio One managed to keep her off the air an extra two months.
4/6: Zone lineup changes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While Big D & Bubba are working just three hours a day on 94.9/The Bull (5 to 8 a.m.), sports talk 790/the Zone has extended its morning show from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., adding Chris Dimino to the mix of Steak Shapiro, Mike Bell and Nick Cellini.
Dimino’s 10 to noon show is over.
Chuck Oliver then joins Monsters in the Midday at 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with Chuck Smith and Matt Chernoff. That show adds an hour, too.
2 Live Stews stays the same.
4/5: Big D & Bubba new Bull morning show (UPDATED)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s a big week for Bubbas.
CREDIT: Premiere Radio
Big D on the left, Bubba on the right
Big D and Bubba are joining 94.9/The Bull. The syndicated duo are based out of Nashville and can be heard in about 25 markets including New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Cincinnati. They start Monday April 9.
Despite being syndicated by Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio arm, they say the show will be ‘customized” for Atlanta from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. weekdays, which is an unusually early cutoff time for a morning show. Big D also said it will be music intensive, upwards to 12 songs an hour, which isn’t much different from mid-day hosts. “It’s better to leave the party early and having the listeners want more,” Bubba said.
Clay Hunnicutt, their boss, said a majority of people are already at their desks by 8 a.m. “The listeners told us they really want more music,” Hunnicutt said. “They don’t want to hear us talk nonstop.”
In the end, it sounds like they’ll be talking for five or six minutes max per hour, so doing “customized” content for that amount of time shouldn’t be terribly taxing.
The pair say they are buds with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw and will provide plenty of music news. And they say they don’t laugh excessively at their own jokes.
Both fly private jets and plan to spend a lot of time in Atlanta, including all of next week. Bubba is also a huge Braves fan and married a gal Stacey from Marietta.
Hunnicutt, the Bull PD, used to work with them in Nashville. In fact, he was the program director for Big D & Bubba’s syndicated radio network. So this addition should come as no surprise. It’s another out-of-town morning show, on the heels of Steve Harvey on 102.5 and Yolanda Adams on Praise.
And this is on the heels of the arrival of syndicated Rick and Bubba out of Birmingham from 4 to 6 p.m. on WSB-AM on Sundays.
Here are minibios of the pair from about.com.
Big D (Derek) and Bubba (Sean) don’t release their last names for privacy reasons.
I asked Phyllis Stark, who used to cover country music for Billboard magazine and now works for radio-info.com, about the show. Here’s her response:
“It’s a really good show, but I’m not sure a market the size of Atlanta necessarily needs a syndicated morning show. They’re good at localizing, but it’s not the same.
They’re hard working guys though. They do their syndicated morning show, take a break, and then come back an do a live afternoon show every weekday for WSIX here in Nashville.”
4/5: 99X’s Big Day Out lineup
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
99X has brought back its “Big Day Out” concert, which went away a few years ago after many many years. (99X went through some years of free concerts instead.) The lineup this year: Chris Cornell, Interpol, the Bravery, Plain White T’s and the Almost.
It will be June 2 at HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, the same day as Star 94’s StarFest. But 99X’s concert will start much earlier. Tickets go on sale April 11 at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster. Tickets range from $9.97 on the lawn to $50 in the pit.
Get more info at 99x.com
4/5: Ditch Day insanely popular
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Talk about a huge promotion.
According to Q100 this morning, the park closed it doors for free entry at 5:52 a.m. as the parking lot filled capacity and caused monstrous traffic jams on I-20. Hundreds apparently camped out. Families were parking cars outside the park and trying to walk in but park officials were not allowing them into the park. People needed to drive in.
Q100 didn’t even expect this monstrous of a turnout so early so fast. Bert Weiss didn’t even arrive until 6:45 a.m. and he left more than two hours earlier from Sandy Springs. Melissa Carter and Jenn Hobby didn’t get there until closer to 7:30 a.m. and they had to sweet-talk the police officials to get in.
I wanted to stop by and see Bert kiss that 72-year-old woman after losing a bet but that obviously couldn’t happen. I was planning to leave around 6:30 a.m. No dice there.
Weiss came up with the idea because he had done a similar promotion a few years ago in Washington D.C. that went smoothly.
This one, he acknowledged, did not. “I think it became a viral thing,” he said. “Based on the emails we were getting, it seemed to be a mixture of our Bert Show listeners and people who had never heard of us just getting emails about it and wondering if it was true.”
He felt the station did a good job warning people to come early or they’d be locked out but their suggestions were to try to get there by 7 a.m. He said talk with Six Flags officials gave him the impression the consensus was the park would fill up by 8:30 a.m., not 6 a.m.
Weiss said he’s not sure if this is ultimately a good or bad thing for the radio station. “I don’t think we led anyone down a path they weren’t expecting,” he said. “But I do feel bad for church groups who got there at 6:30 a.m. and couldn’t get in.”
He said it’s too early to say whether Six Flags would do a similar promotion again but if so, it would have to be changed. “There is a learning curve not knowing how big this would be,” he said.
Weiss himself got stuck in the traffic. He left his home in Sandy Springs at 4:30 a.m. and didn’t arrive at the park until 6:45 a.m. At one point, his boss Dylan Sprague told him to do the show from the radio studio but he stuck with it and made it, albeit late.
He said he was annoyed by the hysteria rival Star 94 was fomenting by saying people were stopping in traffic and getting into fistfights. “It was very poor taste,” he said.
4/4: Q100’s Ditch Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Q100 has worked with Six Flags to put together an amazing deal tomorrow: free entry into the park from 6 to 9 a.m. Sure, for school systems not on spring break, this isn’t necessarily a step forward for education but it’s a great bargain for families, even if they have to pay amusement park prices for concessions.
Details are here.
While Six Flags is giving up a huge amount of revenue, management probably figures the free publicity and goodwill (plus increased sales of season passes) will more than offset that. If anything, it’s going to be a swarm of people tomorrow morning off I-20.
4/3: More on Goss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Steve Goss, let go in December by Clear Channel after 28 years at Peach/Lite (now the Bull), landed on his feet. He said he saw the opening in January and applied. (The previous host’s spouse got a new job out of town.) He knew Lois Reitzes and she got him in the door for an interview. He had joked with her that his departure from Lite/Peach meant she was now the longest-running on-air host on Atlanta radio at the same place.
He’s naturally excited by the new opportunity to host the local portions of “Morning Edition” and produce stories and do interviews for the station as a whole. He expects to start on air Monday, April 9 though he said that’s not a guarantee.
“I’ve always been a big fan of public radio,” he said. His favorite public radio shows include “This American Life” with Ira Glass and “Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor. (He’s seen the latter show live.)
He said back in the early days when Peach was more instrumental, it actually had a big crossover audience with the classical WABE crowd.
“They have rededicated themselves to their news product here in Atlanta,” he said. “They are taking steps to increase their presence here and in the state.”
As for the soft rock, he says, “I’ve had enough of Air Supply and England Dan and John Ford Coley.”
And one thing Clear Channel did for him as he was walking out the door: the company waived a six-month noncompete clause when he left, allowing him to get another job at will.
Arbitron ratings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings
Permalink | | Categories: Linkblog
4/2: WABE pledge drive falls short, Goss hired
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
90.1/WABE-FM fell short by about $65,000 of its $900,000 spring pledge goal, according to general manager John Weatherford. I’ve covered radio for more than five years and WABE has reached its pledge goals every single time — until now. (The station runs drives twice a year.)
One issue: the station shortened its pledge drive by 10%, from 10 days to nine days. To its credit, WABE has progressively over the years shortened the pledge drives, which used to run two weeks, to no ill effect. Weatherford said this could have been one factor but there are many others. Spring break schedules, the economy and the Final Four distraction this past Friday all could have hurt the station. One thing’s for sure, he said: a ten-day pledge drive is all but certain this fall.
Perry Mitchell, a local citizen who runs the Atlanta Public Radio Initiative and is pushing for more news/talk on WABE-FM, said many of his followers have purchased HD radio, where WABE now has separate streams for news/talk and classical (as well as the hybrid format on 90.1). Some folks listen online. Others, he said, are simply picking up podcasts off the NPR Web site. “Some of my cohorts are opting out” of WABE-FM and didn’t even hear the pledge drive, he said.
The station has also hired former Peach/Lite radio host Steve Goss as its new local “Morning Edition” host from 6 to 9 a.m. Given his demographic appeal after 28 years at 94.9 and his dulcet vocal tones, Goss is a great fit. (Goss was let go by Clear Channel after Lite became country station the Bull in December.)
I had earlier posted that photo above of Goss from the Lite 94.9 page and it featured the time he used to be on at Lite - 9 a.m. to noon - leaving the impression to some folks who may have read this that he was taking that time slot (Lois Reitzes’ time slot.) That is not the case. I cropped the photo to get rid of that earlier today and more explicitly noted when Goss would be hosting. Marcia Killingsworth at WABE wanted me to clarify that.
3/31: Barnes’ former dog passes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Steve Barnes’ former dog Stoli passed on Saturday from a tumor. The former 99X/Dave FM jock had given up Stoli about seven months ago and was criticized by animal rights groups for doing so. A reader of this blog, Shannon Williamson, a former Z93 employer, took in the dog. Stoli was about 10 years old and a frequent topic when Barnes used to work at 99X.
Heres’ the note I got from Shannon: “Stoli, one of the best dogs in the world - was put to sleep this afternoon due to cancer of the bladder. She was the most wonderful dog I have ever met and I will miss her with all of my heart and soul.”
