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November 2007
12/1: Zakk looks to be the Dave morning host
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I heard from a good source that Chicago’s Zakk Tyler will indeed become the new Dave FM morning host. He was introduced to the Dave FM sales staff earlier this week.
Why the Powers That Be have not officially announced it yet, when he’ll actually start or whether Holly Firfer will be part of it is unknown to me. I haven’t gotten a callback yet from Wheeler.
Check out my Nov. 27 blog entry about this news here.
11/30: Atlanta Achievement in Radio Awards 2007
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta radio community honored 99X program director Leslie Fram Thursday night at the Achievement in Radio Awards for the March of Dimes at the Intercontinental Hotel.
ABOVE: Leslie poses with her husband and usually photo-shy Lanny West
Former 99Xer Jimmy Baron, possibly auditioning for a job, introduced Fram and brought down the house with a very funny presentation. Here are some highlights:
“I’m here to present the lifetime achievement award. Let me just say this: class, poise, intelligence, humility, talent and also throw in a good head of hair and a sexy, sultry voice. Those are the qualities one must possess to stand up here to introduce Leslie Fram.”
“In my career, I’ve spent a significant amount of flying around the country to banquets presenting Leslie with plaques. She has more trophies under her arm than a Dickey at a Halloween party. [He is referencing the Dickey brothers who run Cumulus Broadcasting, owners of Q100 and 99X as of last year. It’s an inside joke and got a big laugh.] Now wait — I kid the Dickeys but these guys have game. Come on— they’re good looking, they’re rich, they’re smart. They’re successful. They possess that one thing every woman wants: Bert’s soul.” [That is, Bert Weiss of Q100.]
Baron then reviewed how Fram helped change top 40 station Power 99 to 99X in 1992. He noted that as they went to record stores, folks weren’t talking about Wilson Phillips, Color Me Badd or C&C Music Factory, but Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Crash Test Dummies. (He was kidding about the poor Crash Test Dummies.) He noted that “these were all unresearched bands! This is about as likely to happen today as Neal Boortz not telling you how many airplanes he owns.”
Baron joined the Morning X around 1993. He had been working in Chicago. “I was looking to leave Chicago,” he said. “I was working for a guy who was temperamental and irrational and a raging jerk. I couldn’t wait til I came here so I didn’t have to deal with that type of personality.” [This got a big laugh because it’s well known Baron and Steve Barnes, who was not in attendance, didn’t get along. Oh, wait. Barnes—he wasn’t making even the remotest allusion to you. At least that’s what Baron will say.]
Baron noted that normally it would be awful to have the boss on the morning show. (“It’s counterproductive — like going to a strip club with your wife.”) But with Fram, he said, that wasn’t a problem at all.
Then he alluded to an earlier moment in the evening when someone wanted a moment of silence for a recently deceased radio person. “I would like to go off script for a moment. If we could have a moment in silence: earlier, somebody paid $4,500 for a trip to Aruba and Clark Howard dropped dead.”
Seriously, he said Leslie “set the standard for class and generosity.”
Later, Fram’s husband Lanny West put together a lengthy tribute video to her in the guide of a “Behind the Music.” Fram got shout outs from Jane Fonda, Elton John and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. as well as staffers like Axel and Steve. (Somehow, Chris Williams wasn’t included.)
The stations individually voted for the person on staff they felt contributed the most to the respective radio station. These appear to be folks who are well liked and well respected. Most of the winners are listed below:
Greg Fitzgerald, morning host, Smooth Jazz 107.5, Jordan Graye, mid-day host, B98.5, Chris Krok, night-time host, 750/WSB-AM, Steak Shapiro, morning co-host 790/The Zone, Diane James, mid-day host on 95.5/The Beat, Sonja Hamm, mid-day host on Praise 97.5, Randy Cook, morning host, WGST-AM, Cindy Simmons and Ray Mariner, afternoon drive hosts, Star 94, Rashan Ali, morning co-host, Hot 107.9, Sully, afternoon host, Dave FM, Matt Jones, “Organic X” host, 99X, Taylor Scott, morning co-host, 104.7/The Fish, David Clapper, promotions director, 97.1/The River, Cadillac Jack, morning co-host, Kicks 101.5, Silas “Si-Man” Alexander, night-time host, Grown Folks 102.5, Lorraine Jacques White, morning host, 1380/WAOK-AM, La Duranguense and El Tigre, morning hosts, 105.3/El Patron, Greg Street, night-time host, V-103, Marjorie Coley, newscaster, Kiss 104.1 (also B98.5), Dallas McCade, morning co-host, Eagle 106.7.
The event added a live auction but ended the silent auction before dinner began and before the libations loosened wallets. And Ryan Cameron was sorely missed. They wanted to make sure people stayed in the ballroom while they raised thousands more doing a fine live auction with a pro auctioneer caller and getting big-dollar pledges from the dais. So it all worked out and the auction checkout process ran smoother. The radio folks raised about $110,000 for the March of Dimes, $10,000 more than the goal.
ABOVE: 99X’s Mark Owens (right) gets some faux love from WSB-AM talker Chris Krok.
ABOVE: Matt Jones (left) from 99X and former 99Xer Jimmy Baron
11/30: Grown Folks 102.5’s van swiped
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The folks at Grown Folks 102.5 noticed yesterday that one of its promotion vans was swiped from its parking lot downtown at 101 Marietta St. this week and would like it back.
It’s a 2003 Ford E-150 Van wrapped in blue with Steve Harvey’s mug on it. So it’s not that hard to identify — much less keep incognito. If you have any info about it, call 404-765-9750 or the Atlanta Police Department.
There is a prize if you provide info leading to the recovery of the vehicle: tix and limo to Steve Harvey’s March 1 Philips Arena appearance.
11/30: Falcons, “Dancing” bring home ratings bacon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TV RATINGS
WATL-TV, which now airs barely-seen shows such as “Decision House” and “Jail,” managed a rare top 10 appearance because it was able to air the Thanksgiving evening Falcons game, bringing in 386,000 post-turkey viewers. Too bad the Falcons lost again.
In the meantime, “Dancing With the Stars” remains a huge hit, pulling in season-high numbers locally and nationally. In fact, the performance show Nov. 19 landed at No. 1 nationally thanks to the fact Thanksgiving stunted ratings for typical No. 1 “CSI.” In fact, “CSI” ranked 14th nationally and just 41st locally where many were catching the Falcons.
And the biggest Atlanta audience of the year for the city’s No. 1 show, Fox’s “House” Nov. 20 (558,000 people) helped fuel Fox 5’s 10 p.m. news show into the top 10 as well with 334,000 viewers.
After ABC’s “The Bachelor” Brad Womack rejected both women in the finale Nov. 19, including Newnan realtor DeAnna Pappas, the “After the Rose” post-finale show Nov. 20 actually pulled in more viewers, finishing at 12.3 million viewers nationally and 262,000 locally.
Plus, the CW’s “The Game” brought in an unusually high rating in Atlanta, ranking 45th, with about 150,000 viewers Nov. 19, even more than usual top-ranked CW show “America’s Next Top Model.” In comparison, the sitcom ranked just 105th nationwide with 2.4 million viewers.
And CBS’s supposedly trendy sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” isn’t trendy in Atlanta. Its Nov. 19 episode ranked just 77th locally, a lower rating than a “Friends” repeat Nov. 23 on Peachtree TV.
As for the trashiest show on cable TV, it’s a competition between “Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” on MTV and “I Love New York 2” on VH1. Both are compiling jaw-dropping numbers, at least for cable. “New York” Nov. 19 attracted 4.4 million viewers, the most since last season’s finale, while “Tila Tequila” Nov. 20 hit another series high at 4.2 million after a nasty catfight between two contestants.
Rank, program, network, date, viewers, national rank
1 - “House” Fox Nov. 20 558,000 6
2- “Dancing With the Stars” ABC Nov. 19 476,000 1
3- “Dancing With the Stars (results)” ABC Nov. 20 410,000 3
4- Patriots/Eagles NFL game NBC Nov. 25 402,000 2
5- “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” ABC Nov. 25 400,000 10
6- Bears/Broncos NFL game CBS Nov. 25 386,000 n/a
7- “Desperate Housewives” ABC Nov. 25 383,000 4
8- Falcons/Colts NFL game WATL Nov. 22 377,000 n/a
9- “Fox 5 News at 10” Fox Nov. 20 334,000 n/a
10- “60 Minutes” CBS Nov. 25 317,000 7
SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research
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Boy trouble
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: Yippee! The rare menswear challenge.
The low: Apparently none of the contestants knows how to press down a collar.
Let’s start with some quotes of the day:
“The shirt is kind of a nightmare.”
“The fit was, like, beyond horrible.”
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever made.”
“It’s a disaster.”
You know that phrase “abject horror”? Well, it would describe the sensation I felt watching catastrophe after catastrophe parade down the runway in the name of menswear. Now, it’s been a long time since I’ve set a sleeve or fitted a pair of trousers. But I was confounded that most of the designers encountered so much trouble on this challenge. Maybe designing three tailored pieces, including pants, was too complicated for two days’ work (which might explain why hardly anybody presented trouser looks to Sarah Jessica Parker in Week 2 for her pants-heavy Bitten collection). Maybe the deceptive simplicity of outfitting a male TV personality threw the designers off.
Poor Sweet P and her rumpled barfly shirt. All model Marcus needed was a 5 o’clock shadow.
Elisa’s earth-toned vest ensemble seemed well-made, but only if “Today” show correspondent Tiki Barber were reporting live from Burning Man.
And Carmen’s disastrous shawl-collar “shirt”? The jacket didn’t offend; if time and fabric permitted, I would have sewn snaps onto that bad boy, topped them with buttons to fake out the judges, and presented my look as a shirt jacket. Would have matched the newsboy cap, too.
Once again, I winced at the winning design, Jack’s cartoonish shirt and pants. I would have put money on Kevin’s pastel shirt and vest, however shiny and ill-fitting, or even Steven’s contrast-collar sweater. But an iffy double dose of stripes? I want to see what a videocamera does to that.
The last word: That dour wife, Ginny. Fake smile. Halfhearted handshake. Bored demeanor. Where’s the love, girl?
What were the designers’ problems this week? How could so many talented people flub the fit and such a basic design?
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Project Runway
11/29: Whatever happened to Z93’s Kaedy Kiely?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former 96rock and Z93 jock Kaedy Kiely will be on air with Mara Davis on Dave FM Friday at 2 p.m. to talk about her new game Rock Riddles. It’s an offshoot of what she used to do on the radio — riddles about rock artists. She’s got a web site www.rockriddles.com. She’s going to start selling it on CD. “It’s easier than what I did on the radio because a lot of the questions were for Camp Jam,” a rock and roll summer camp for teens.
Kiely, who was on radio in Atlanta for 22 years including a long stint at 96rock back in its heyday, had worked for awhile at a startup drinkng company Viva Horchata after she got fired from Z93 in 2004 when the station switched over to Dave. Here’s my last update on her back in December 2005.. But she needed to pay the bills and got a job a few months ago doing production and imaging for 790/The Zone working with fellow Z93 expat Dave Marino. So she’s back in radio and you’ll hear her voice on the Zone, at least doing promotions and IDs. Her title? “Continuity director.” In other words, she’s the liaison between the sales people and the talent.
“I definitely miss being on the air. I miss the listeners and the music. But radio has changed a lot,” she said. She said she is enjoying the Zone’s folks and its entrepreneurial spirit.
This interview with Mara will be her first time on the 92.9 dial in more than three years. “I can’t wait,” she said. “It’s going to be fun.”
11/29: Alleged obscenity leads to WGCL anchor’s firing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A weekend WGCL anchor was let go this week after she allegedly said a nasty obscenity over the air, according to an online report by Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute, a respected non-profit media training organization.
Cari Champion told Prince via an email that she is appealing her firing to WGCL’s corporate heads, saying she was misunderstood.
Her take: “I was talking to my co-anchor during a commercial break. The floor director did not cue me or my co-anchor, and when it was time to tease an upcoming story, you could only hear us but not see us. My co-anchor and I were talking about a mechanical screenwriter. It is difficult to use at times. The last part of our conversation was silly banter and barely audible, but it was picked up. I called the screenwriter a ‘mothersucka’ not the f-bomb. I emphatically deny any attempted cover up of the mishap. In fact I was the one who brought it to the attention of the news directors. And, the beta tape, wherever it is, has conversation that clearly supports my position.” She said she was dismissed Tuesday.
Her former boss at WGCL Rick Erbach declined to comment. And Champion herself, through a friend, also declined to be interviewed. Her bio has already been taken off the WGCL Web site.
“On the beta [tape], the director and I have clear discussions where we were worried that the word ‘mothasucka’ had been picked up,” Champion wrote to Prince. “I did not curse on the air, and what happened should not have cost me my job. ‘Darn,’ ‘shoot’ and ‘heck’ are all words that a listener may see as substitutes for curse words. But, they are not curse words … and neither is ‘mothasucka.’ The penalty seems extremely heavy-handed.”
“Also, it happened at 11:30 at night when kids are asleep, and to my knowledge there were no complaints made about it to the station. I hope that the Meredith Executives in Iowa take the time to check the facts here and hire me back.”
Champion has also worked in West Palm Beach, Fla.
11/28: Project’s Giant Brian in 50-hour “lockdown” mode
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the Empty Stocking Fund devoid of $50,000 worth of toys and gifts thanks to the thieves who swiped them out of a City Hall East warehouse, Project 9-6-1’s Giant Brian morning show is going to air for 50 consecutive hours starting at 7 a.m. with a goal of raising $1,000 an hour to cover the deficit.
Sure, it’s a stunt to help get Giant Brian Carothers and Shaffee some attention for the new morning show, but at least it’s for a good cause.
And it’s been awhile since a local show has taken the marathon route. Si-Man a couple years ago raised money for Hosea Williams on 102.5 by holding a marathon airing.
11/28: WAGA adds an 11 p.m. newscast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Starting January 14, 2008, you’ll be able to see four different versions of that latest homicide or apartment fire at 11 p.m. thanks to Fox affiliate WAGA-TV.
Fox 5 will continue to air its popular 10 p.m. hour-long program, then segue immediately into “Fox 5 News Edge at 11” with a new anchor Tom Haynes from Miami. It’ll sub out “That ‘70’s Show.” “I’m not saying we’re reinventing news at 11 but Tom will give us a different look on air,” said general manager Gene McHugh.
WXIA-TV, WGCL-TV and WSB-TV already have beachheads at 11. But with the sitcom pipeline drying up in recent years, adding an 11 p.m. news operation has become more appealing financially to TV stations. Other Fox stations have recently added the 11 p.m. news including those in Boston, Detroit and D.C. This will up WAGA’s weekly total of local news to a whopping 43 hours, comparable to market leader WSB-TV.
WAGA-TV’s 10 p.m. newscast is competitive with the dramas the other three major networks typically air. The station’s strongest news time slot is the mornings, with its 5 to 7 newscast and successful “Good Day Atlanta” entertainment-oriented show from 7 to 9.
Here’s Haynes’ bio off his Miami Fox station Web site.. He has been in Atlanta before, working for a few years at CNN.
11/28: “Hannah’s” Oliver comes to Alpharetta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
That “Hannah Montana” craziness means I may end up being at the Gwinnett Arena with earplugs and tweens screaming and screaming for Miley Cyrus and her alter ego. The show, which has become Disney Channel’s most successful to date (and has aired a whopping 666 times this year through November 20 alone), is a monster and has generated one of the biggest frenzies in recent times for concert tickets. Heck, stubhub doesn’t even have any tickets left a day before the concert.
Since Cyrus, who I interviewed back during more placid times of January, was unavailable, I stopped by the Alpharetta Verizon Wireless store to talk to Mitchel Musso, who plays one of Miley’s best friend Oliver on the show.
At age 16, he provided me with nothing terribly fascinating from an interview perspective. He talked about how much he enjoyed meeting some guest stars such as Dolly Parton and Jesse McCartney. Disney, he noted, “is a big secondary family.” His dad likes the protective atmosphere Disney provides. “Emily [Osment] and Miley are my best friends,” he said. The show, he said, has gotten easier to do in its second season.
He has to spend three hours a day with Emily and Miley with a mother-son team of teachers. “I don’t like school,” he said. But he has no choice.
Moises Arias, who plays Rico on the show, is from Atlanta. Mitchel said he’s “crazy. he has so much energy. He’s a little monkey jumping on your back and the kid won’t let go.”
HIs character Oliver gets to do goofy things every episode like get immersed in pudding or covered in red syrup. He also noted a fish fight — with real fish.
Like seemingly every Disney actor, he is nurturing his musical side. He has rap experience and is just learning how to sing well. His opinion on his skills? “I’m incredible!”
The writers’ strike has no impact on the show since it’s not in production and won’t be until the spring for season three.
11/27: Hot 107.9’s Dirty Awards & Peachtree TV’s Drumroll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I wrote an advance piece on Dallas Austin’s new reality show on Peachtree TV “Drumroll: SWD”, which documents the life and times of the Southwest DeKalb High School Marching Panthers, considered one of the best marching bands in the country. The show is Peachtree TV’s first original series.
The series is only being aired over four one-hour episodes, a relatively modest bet. It’s an offshoot of Austin’s successful 2002 film “Drumline,” except this time it’s a reality show and focused on a high school instead of a fictional college. The most interesting aspect about the show is that DeKalb schools had final edit on the show, meaning anything that might hurt the image of the school was cut out.
Austin himself said he wanted a positive portrayal of the kids, most whom are under age, so he was sensitive to that self censoring himself, cutting out bad language, references to sex or drugs or anything along those lines. The focus is on the band, the intense rehearsals, the dedication the students have to uphold a long tradition. Does this mean a less-than-scintillating show? I’ve only seen the first hour so I can’t say that would be the case for all four hours but that first hour features a lot of background and a relative lack of enticing story lines or character development.
And since our hip-hop specialist Sonia Murray is on vacation this week, I stopped by the third annual Dirty Awards organized by Hot 107.9. It’s a great concept, a wonderful way for Hot to brand itself as the mecca for Dirty South hip hop. The ballroom, which fits at least 2,000 people, was packed and the production values high. Among the stars there included Big Boi, Soulja Boy, Young Joc, DJ Unk, Chamillionaire and Young Jeezy. Hip hop has had troubles with sales of late and Hot’s ratings have been weaker than normal but the station is still a solid No. 2 among 18 to 34 year olds behind V-103.
The winners included T.I. as Dirty Boy of the Year, who obviously could not be in attendance because of his arrest on weapons possession.
Dirty single of the year: T-Pain’s “Buy U a Drank.”
Best dance song: “Crank Dat.” by Soulja Boy
Best R&B male: T-Pain ’ Dirty Chick of the Year: Ciara (not in attendance, unfortunately)
Best rap group: UGK
Best DJ: DJ Khaled
I did like the fact the station acknowledged bootlegging by citing best bootlegged CD of the year: Young Jeezy’s “CTE.”
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11/27: Zakk Tyler a Dave FM morning host candidate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Could Zakk Tyler be the new morning host at Dave FM? On his blog, he’s hinting about a “major announcement” before the end of the holiday season. Tyler, last heard on rock station the Loop in Chicago, has plenty of sample clips of his show here.. From the looks of it, he’s clearly a personality-based DJ who has done lots of song parodies and radio stunts.
For instance, he parodies Bud Lights “Real Men of Genius” ads by mocking Rosie O’Donnell, Mark Foley and Kevin Federline.
Zakk didn’t respond to an email and Dave FM Program Director Mike Wheeler, who is very good at keeping things close to his vest, said he’s not ready to divulge anything related to the search.
Tyler’s contract was not renewed by the Loop in Chicago in June so he’s definitely available.
Here’s his some background about Zakk.. He’s worked in Louisville, Ky., Greenville, S.C. and San Jose, Calif. before going to Chicago for two years.
Said Robert Feder, a reporter at the Chicago Sun Times, who covers radio there: “I would describe Zakk as a very competent, reliable music jock. The guy definitely knows his stuff. The only reason the Loop dropped him was because they wanted to go with a more high-profile personality in afteroons. (As of today, incidentally, they still have not replaced him!)” The Loop wanted to replace Tyler with “The Partridge Family” alum Danny Bonaduce but Bonaduce turned it down.
Dave FM has gone without a full-fledged morning show since Steve Barnes quietly left in September 2006, using his former co-host Holly Firfer and Orf to mostly riff about the news and pop culture between songs.
Among others who have tried out for the morning show during the wee hours on Dave FM in recent weeks include former GST mid-day host Denny Schaffer, former 99Xer Jimmy Baron, San Franciso talker Chris Daniel and Glenn Beck sidekick Brian Sack.
11/26: 99x’s Leslie Fram wins lifetime achievement AIR award
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Leslie Fram, the veteran program director and morning co-host at 99X, is going to receive a lifetime achievement award Thursday at the Achievement in Radio Awards on behalf of the March of Dimes, an annual event since 1996. Jimmy Baron, who left 99X last year and is now executive producing a couple of possible TV shows, will introducing her on the podium.
Fram is the first woman to receive the award. Past recipients include Braves announcer Skip Caray, voice of the Dawgs Larry Munson, Steve Goss (formerly of Peach, now at WABE-FM) and morning host Rhubarb Jones of Eagle 106.7.
The annual AIR Awards, held this year at the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead Thursday Nov. 29, is a great place to rub shoulders with radio personalities. V-103’s Ryan Cameron typically oversees the silent auction and folks like Dave FM’s Mara Davis, 790/The Zone’s Steak Shapiro and Grown Folks’ Si-Man regularly show up. Tickets are $125 apiece and can be purchased here..
Employees at each radio station votes for that station’s favorite personality, a practice begun last year. The March of Dimes used to have an impartial judge’s panel outside of Atlanta listen to tapes and vote for best personalities but that didn’t always work out so well. Some stations with good shows didn’t bother submitting tapes and a five-minute tape doesn’t necessarily portray a show’s true essence. In fact, Peach’s Gene & Julie (remember them?) once won for best morning show and that show lasted all of two years. In its early years, the event would feature some jocks trash talking up on the dais, but the March of Dimes clamped down on that in recent years.
The cocktail hour (or actually 90 minutes) runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7. Then it’s dinner at 7, followed by an 8:30 p.m. after party. Usually, the event has a celebrity emcee such as Jeff Foxworthy, Brett Butler, Mo Rocca or Greg Gumbel but as of Monday, the group is still trying to finalize a big name. I’ll update this entry when or if they get that person.
Meanwhile, B98.5’s Kelly & Alpha are holding a “Can-nah Montana” giveaway. If you go to the the Publix by 6 p.m. at 9925 Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta and donate some canned goods (benefiting the Feed the Hungry Foundation), you’ll have a chance to win four tickets to the sold-out Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert Wednesday at Gwinnett Arena. Scalpers are having a field day with that concert and some seats are selling for $400-plus per ticket on eBay. (Will Gara at B98.5 purchased the tickets at cost from a friend.)
11/23: Bones big in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The power of the local Fox affiliate WAGA-TV helped fuel a mid-level show nationally like “Bones” into the tpo 10 locally last week. Ranked 38th nationwide with 9.1 million viewers, the Nov. 13 telecast ranked 8th in Atlanta for the week of Nov. 12.
The Nielsen gal who emails the local viewer figures was on vacation this week so I don’t have specific numbers but I do get household figures. It appears “Bones” got about 300,000 viewers.
As usual, “House” was tops locally while ABC’s “American Music Awards” outperformed the rest of the nation, fueled no doubt by all the Atlanta-related appearances such as Ne-Yo and Sugarland. The show ranked 6th with 13 percent of TVs on that show Nov. 18 while nationally, it ranked 10th wit ha 10 percent share.
Given that CBS drama “NCIS” skews so much older and Atlanta is a younger town, the show pulled in only 11 percent of TVs on locally but 15 percent nationally. “NCIS” ranked 5th nationally; 20th locally.
In Atlanta, NBC didn’t have a single show in the top 20. “Law & Order: SVU” ranked 23rd.
Here’s the top 10 out of Atlanta for the week of November 12:
House
Dancing With the Stars
Grey’s Anatomy
CSI
Dancing With the Stars (results)
American Music Awards
Samantha Who?
Bones
Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
60 Minutes
SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research
WINNERS
Showtime’s “Dexter” — Showtime got its biggest ratings ever for an original series as dark drama “Dexter” pulled in 1.23 million viewers. Given that only 13 mllion households out of about 120 million even receive Showtime, that’s not bad. In addition, “Brotherhood” brought in a series record 651K.
MTV’s “Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” — This train wreck of a dating show features a MySpace gal trying to find love among both men and women. The twist: she’s bisexual! When she eliminated two women last week, one attacked the other in a moment worthy of “Jerry Springer.” The show has nearly doubled its audience over five weeks, opening at 1.9 million Oct. 9 and drawing 3.6 million Nov. 13. That’s buzz!
ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” — The series hit a season high of 23.1 million this past Monday as the final four duked it out. Jennie Garth was ousted the next night.
ABC’s “The Bachelor” — The show’s post-finale talk Tuesday between Brad Womack and Newnan’s DeAanna Pappas and Phoenix’s Jenni Frost after he dumped both of them drew 12.8 million viewers, more than the actual finale Monday of 11.6 million. Despite the fact none of these bachelors in 11 incarnations have ever found a true love to marry, the show itself keeps going on.
CBS’s “CSI Miami”/”CSI:NY” — Both shows are down year over year but both also hit their season highs this week despite the fact it’s a holiday week.
CBS’s “Criminal Minds” — And CBS fans of this show are adjusting well with Joe Montegna replacing Mandy Patinkin because it hit a season high Wednesday of 16 million viewers.
The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” — This Tyra Banks reality show hit a season high at 5.3 million viewers Nov. 14 when Enrique Iglesias visited.
LOSERS
CW’s Monday night lineup — ”Everybody Hates Chris” hit a series low this past Monday with just 2.1 million viewers while “Aliens in America,” despite good critical viewers, is doing even worse. The only sign of life is “The Game,” which is doing better than the others.
NBC’s “Bionic Woman”“ — Easily the biggest disappoinment this year, this bionic bomb has lost more than half its first-episode audience, dropping every week since its debut. It drew nearly 14 million viewers week one but just 6.3 million Nov. 14.
NBC’s “Las Vegas” — Boy, the Montecito really misses James Caan. Or at least viewers do because the show (with Tom Selleck as Caan’s replacement) has hit series lows two weeks in a row, dropping to 6.7 million viewers on Nov. 16.
NBC’s “The Office”/CBS’s ‘Big Bang Theory” — The only reason they are losers is because they are the first two scripted shows to run out of fresh episodes due to the writers’ strike and will be on repeats until further notice. Sniff.
11/23: Bull goes all Christmas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the legacy of being the all Christmas station as Lite 94.9 for six years, 94.9 The Bull has decided to do it, too. In this case, though, the Christmas music is almost all country artists.
As you may recall, a week before Christmas last year, Clear Channel shocked Atlanta radio by abruptly cutting off all-Christmas music on Lite a week early and switching the station format to country music.
Program Director Clay Hunnicutt said he has no regrets doing that a year ago. But he knows the legacy Lite has with Christmas so he decided to go the Yuletide route with 80 to 90 percent country artists and a bit of Burl Ives and Nat King Cole thrown in, too. While hundreds of soft rock stations and Christian stations go all Christmas between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Hunnicutt said only a couple of other country stations do this nationwide.
“The format as far as country is fairly religious in tone and music such as Brooks & Dunn’s ‘Believe’ and Carrie Underwood’s ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel,’ ” he said. It helps that virtually every major artists does a Christmas album or contributes to some Christmas compilation at some point. He was able to compile a relatively deep playlist of 400 to 450 songs compared to just 150 or so B98.5 used last year. And to pay homage to Lite 94.9, the station is using the on-air line “The tradition continues.”
The year-old Bull, which has done almost as well as its predecessor in the key 25 to 54 demographic but still lags far behind mainstay Kicks 101.5, started all Christmas at the same time as B98.5 at 7 p.m. Thanksgiving evening. (Christian soft rock station 104.7/The Fish started a bit earlier. And the south-side leaning soft rock station Lite 96.7 launched Christmas earlier this week.).
So Atlanta has three Christmas stations and four if you count Lite 96.7 (which I really don’t because it isn’t a metro-wide signal and doesn’t have enough listening to qualify to show up on the Arbitron ratings.).
The first hour last night featured Alan Jackson’s “Holly Jolly Christmas,” Taylor Swift’s “Silent Night” (wow, she already has recorded a Christmas song!), Bing Crosby’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” Toby Keith’s “Joy to the World,” Alabama’s “Christmas in Dixie,” Martina McBride’s “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” Garth Brooks’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Gene Autry’s “Here Comes Santa Claus,” Trisha Yearwood’s “Away In a Manger,” George Strait’s “Christmas Cookies,” the Eagles “Please Come Home For Christmas,” Brad Paisley’s “Winter Wonderland,” Carrie Underwood’s “Do You Hear What I Hear,” Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper,” Tracy Lawrence’s “All Wrapped Up In Christmas,” and Johnny Mathis’ “The First Noel.”
Where was the backstabbing?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: SJP
The low: No backstabbing in the workroom (just kidding).
We’ve got plenty of material to cover this week, so to speak, so let’s get to work.
In my highly scientific research (show of hands) among unbiased watchers (all my friends), it seems as though young Christian is doing nothing to win the admiration and respect of viewers. This week was no different: Witness the ever-so-slight tilt of the nose as he chooses Carmen as his partner, or the overconfidence and exasperation with which he defends his design, telling Tim Gunn, “I think it’s perfect.” Oh, youth. So headstrong!
But people, people, I beg of you: Judge not the young on their conceit. Judge them instead on their designs - in this case, a tiredly retro jacket and stretchy dress not even worthy of further discussion. Next!
I much preferred the surprise effort between Sweet P and Elisa - two gals whom I assumed would partner as well as Sunni and Shiite. Even though Elisa created a teal dress two weeks in a row, I appreciated the cape’s simplicity and the fun, full sleeves on the dress underneath it. In fact, I liked it better than the winning design of Victorya and Kevin. The front of their tunic was too bunchy to be practical, and the off-center bow, while cute, competed with the teeny plaid vest. Sorry, Sarah Jessica.
The rest? Kinda boring.
This episode may have set a record for number of tears shed, and the crying jags took place even before chapeau’d Marion Lee hit the cold pavement of New York. While I confess to a bit of overemotion myself (Patsy Cline songs, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” weddings), I’m just the tiniest bit worried for Ricky Lizalde, who threatens to break down every week. Ricky: It’s time to man up. Every second you spend groping for tissue is a second better spent plotting strategy. On a related note, look out for Jillian. Suspiciously quiet in this episode, she’ll be trouble later, I promise. And she may well prey on the weak member of the herd. That would be the weeper.
The last word: Is it just me, or is Carmen channeling Nona Hendryx in her “Female Trouble” days?
In a week of blah, do you think the right design won the challenge? Did the designers meet Bitten’s standard? Would you have sent Marion home?
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11/21: A talk with jilted Bachelor gal from Newnan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABC in teasers before Monday’s finale led viewers to believe Brad Womack of “The Bachelor” had found “the one.” That one, apparently, was himself, because he chose neither Phoenix Suns dancer Jenni Frost nor Newnan-based Keller Williams realtor DeAnna Pappas.
The “After the Rose” special Tuesday night in which the two women confronted Womack over the decision failed to clear things up at all for DeAnna or the viewers. Although he said he still thought about DeAnna, he didn’t make any gesture to try to keep up a relationship with her to see if it would work.
“I’m still very confused about the situation,” said DeAnna in an interview today. “Everyone around me was confused. I didn’t find closure for myself. … I fell in love with him. I would have waited.” She would still like to try to work things out with him, but she said she is going to move on with her life after placing her social life on hold the past 10 weeks waiting to see what he’d have to say at this “After the Rose” special. (She was not allowed to talk to him at all during those 10 weeks from the time the Monday night episode had taped until the special was shot a few days ago.)
Overall, I thought she sounded pretty grounded and mature about the whole situation.
She is relieved that Brad never said he loved her. “I don’t want him to lie to me that way if it’s not true,” she said. At the same time, “I’m not sure if he knows something and just wasn’t willing to say it.”
Despite the rejection, she said “he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve met in my life. He’s honest. He’s genuine. He’s very caring. He broke my heart.”
But during the taping, she had no clue he was going to dump her - and Jenni. “I was never led to believe I was being set up for disappointment.”
Womack was able to make many of the girls feel special when he was alone with them, something DeAnna noticed while watching the episodes. “He did say things to me that he didn’t say to others,” she said. “He saw me in the future but the others only in the present time.”
For herself, “I have no game plan. I’m keeping my options open. I woke up today and it was a beautiful day. I waited for two and a half months. It didn’t happen. I can’t hang on forever.”
DeAnna, who graduated East Coweta High School, said a couple of good friends convinced her to try out for the show, which she had never watched. Now she’s addicted and plans to see future versions. “I’m hooked and I know how it works.”
What did she learn? “I learned about life, love and myself. I have no regrets. I learned you can wear your heart on your sleeve and love somebody, even at the risk of getting hurt. You live and learn and get over it. You’ll eventually find the person you’re meant to be with.” Before this show, she said she was always cautious about letting people in, especially since her mom died when she was 12.
Despite the fact none of the bachelors so far have actually married anybody on the show (only bachelorette Tristan with Ryan Sutter), she still believes the concept of “The Bachelor,” that “two people can find each other and make this amazing relationship. It depends on how hard people are willing to work at it.”
Womack, in this case, decided not to do so at all.
His loss, she said. “All my exes eventually want to come back,” she said. “They don’t realize what they’ve missed until they leave me.”
11/21: Ryan Cameron, T.I. raise $166K for Hosea
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
T.I., stuck at home because of the weapons charges against him, joined V-103’s Ryan Cameron radio show by phone Tuesday afternoon to raise money for the Hosea Williams Feed the Hungry campaign after the foundation had lost a $150,000 donor. So the station raised $166,000. Much of the money came from T.I. and Cameron’s celebrity friends such as Big Boi, Busta Rhymes, Ne-Yo, Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri. Despite his problems, T.I. put in $20,000.
“I’m just trying to secure my place in heaven,” Cameron told AllHipHop.com. “That’s what my grandma always said.”
Have a great Thanksgiving, everybody!
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11/19: Nausea alert! “The Bachelor” rejects Newnan realtor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I almost gouged my eyes out but I felt obligated to watch the final episode of ABC’s “Bachelor 11” because Austin bar owner Brad Womack had to choose between a Phoenix Suns dancer Jenni Croft and Newnan realtor DeAnna Pappas. Up to this point, I’ve managed to avoid this dreck.
There’s no show more pointless than this one. There isn’t even $100,000 pot at the end of the tunnel. So far, after 10 “Bachelor” shows, none of the guys have actually married anybody. And Bachelor No. 11 was no different. Womack rejected Jenni… AND DeAnna! He didn’t even make the pretense of giving one gal a rose and rejecting them off camera. You have to give him points for that.
Again, no fairytale ending here.
“I don’t understand how you can say goodbye to me maybe because my feelings are different,” she told him.
“I don’t want to give you any false promises,” he told her.
And off she went in her limo. Then came the tears. “The fact he didn’t pick either one of us is harder to deal with,” she said. “To be so hurt and mad all at the same time. Half of me is looking at him like i don’t give a [expletive] what he said. The other half just cannot understand. I definitely think he’d be the next person to break my heart. Stupid me. I don’t know how many times he said he couldn’t ask for anything better. That stuff hurts twice as bad as if he looked at me and say I don’t see marrying you ever. It always takes them to lose that person for them to realize they want them. I am sick of being that person to make it perfect for the next one.”
DeAnna seemed like the more level headed of the two and less nauseating than Jenni but at the end of the day, Brad wasn’t in love with either of them. Of course, he had to wait til the end to say so for “dramatic” effect.
Brad is left alone with his ring and the camera pans away
Tuesday night at 10, both will be on ABC to talk about it and face the women. “I came here wanting answers and closure and it still doesn’t make any sense,” DeAnna said in a preview to that meeting.
11/20: Frank TV and Oprah in Macon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I wrote a couple of TV stories with local ties for the print edition Tuesday.
First, I previewed TBS sketch comedy show “Frank TV,” featuring impressionist andn “Mad TV” alum Frank Caliendo, best known for his take on NFL analyst John Madden. Caliendo does dozens of different characters, from George W. Bush to Bill Clinton to Al Pacino to Jack Nicholson to the entire “Seinfeld” gang. The first episode I previewed had a few good moments (including a goofy “tour” of the Clinton library) and a few not-so-good moments (the sketch in which he plays all four “Seinfeld” characters feels forced and frenetic but not funny). His comedy is fairly gentle and jocular, not meanspirited — though John Madden apparently isn’t amused by Frank’s take on him.
Sketch comedy is tough enough without so much of the burden placed on one person’s shoulders. But the thought process is Frank has enough impressions up his sleeve to keep things interesting. Originally, he was supposed to do eight episodes but due to the writers’ strike, he’s only doing five.
It airs Tuesday night at 11 p.m.
And here’s a quick take on Oprah’s appearance in Macon this past Saturday which airs Tuesday at 4 on WSB-TV:
For the first time, Oprah decided to do her annual manic giveaway show “Oprah’s Favorite Things” away from Chicago. Her destination? Macon.
The city may have only 235,000 TV households, but Oprah’s rationale stems from loyalty. “Macon has the highest ratings for ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ ever since we went national in 1986,” Winfrey said in a statement.
That means 45 percent of TVs that are on in Macon any given weekday at 4 p.m. is set to Oprah, compared to a still solid 15 percent in Atlanta on WSB-TV.
Oprah used a bit of subterfuge, telling Macon residents that the show would be part of a tour of hometowns across America. Only when the 300 Macon residents arrive at the Macon City Auditorium did they find out about the freebies.
Macon chiropractor Milton Miller Jr., one of the few guys who saw the taping Saturday (which airs today), got even more than swag. Oprah saw his sign in his front yard saying “Oprah, come see us!” and spent 45 minutes with him Friday.
The gifts, he said, were mostly girlie stuff so “my mom is going to have a great Christmas.”
“People were screaming, people were crying, people were praying,” Miller said of the taping.
And that’s a fair reaction because to many, Oprah is God.
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11/19: Former Miss Georgia on “Celebrity Apprentice”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tiffany Fallon, a former Miss Georgia and Atlanta Falcons cheerleader, has jumped aboard the “celebreality” train with Donald Trump’s (desperate) attempt at reviving his ailing NBC “Apprentice” franchise.
Oh, and Fallon was 2005 Playboy Playmate of the Year. That’s her claim to fame, so to speak. And she’s married to Rascal Flatts guitarist JoeDon Rooney. (Turn ons, according to her December 2004 pictorial: tattoos, cowboy boots, good manners, sincerity, diamonds. Turn offs: tardiness, yelling, lying, man-sandals, piercings.)
Trump’s show, set to debut early next year, won’t feature folks vying for a job with him. Instead, they simply get charity money ($250,000 for the winner) after taking on business-like challenges.
Omarosa is back, of course. Other reality show vets such as Gene Simmons of Kiss (A&E’s “Family Jewels”) and Stephen Baldwin (“Celebrity Mole”) are joining the show, as well. Vincent Pastore (“The Sopranos”) dropped out of “Dancing With the Stars” but is trying his hand here. There’s Trace Adkins of country music fame, model Carol Alt, gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci, Olympic softball star Jennie Finch, “America’s Got Talent” judge Piers Anthony, boxer Lennox Lewis, “Taxi” star Marilu Henner and Ultimate Fighting champ Tito Ortiz. And for true obscurity, how about Telemundo exec Nely Galan?
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11/17: Lite 96.7 starts Christmas, B98.5 plays one-hit wonders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At midnight today, soft rock Lite 96.7 went all Christmas with Sting’s “I Saw Three Ships,” followed by “Merry Christmas Darling” by the Carpenters and Amy Grant’s version of “Jingle Bell Rock.” It’s the first Atlanta radio station to go all Christmas. The only problem is the signal is very weak and can only be heard south of I-20 so for you northsiders, you’ll have to wait a few more days. You could listen live online, too..
B98.5 and 104.7/The Fish are expected to go all Christmas on Thanksgiving.
Speaking of B98.5, the station is doing one of its quirkiest theme weekends in a while, a one-hit wonder weekend packed with truly obscure songs going back to the early 1970s. In fact, since the major signal Lite 94.9 disappeared, B98.5 has been taking more chances possibly because ironically the lack of direct competition makes it easier for them to do so.
Here are a few songs they’ve played so far that I seldom hear on the radio anymore: Johnny Bristol’s 1974 top 10 hit “Hang On In There Baby,” The Undisputed Truth’s “Smiling Faces Sometimes” (1971), Carol Douglas’ “Doctor’s Orders” (1974), LeBlanc and Carr’s “Falling” (1978), Netherlands duo Mouth & MacNeal’s “How Do You Do?” (1972), John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band’s “On the Dark Side” (1983), Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” (1983), The Honeydrippers’ “Sea of Love” (1984), Baltimora’s “Tarzan Boy” (1985), Timmy T’s #1 single “One More Try” (1991), Londonbeat’s “I’ve Been Thinking About You (1991)” and Los Del Rio’s “Macarena.” (1996)
And the station’s definition of “one hit wonder” is often odd.
— For instance, the station played the Thompson Twins’ “Hold Me Now.” The act has had at least three other top 15 hits including “King For a Day,” “Doctor Doctor” and “Lay Your Hands On Me.”
— Then there’s Debbie Gibson’s “Lost In Your Eyes.” She had several other top 20 hits including “Electric Youth,” “Shake Your Love,” “Only In My Dreams,” “Foolish Beat” and “Out of the Blue.”
— Nelly Furtado’s “I’m Like a Bird” from 2000 was played earlier today. She not only had a top 5 hit after that song “Turn Out The Lights” but has had several hits the past year including two No. 1 hits “Promiscuous” and “Say It Right,” plus a featured spot on a third “Give It To Me.”
— And somehow, Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll” was included. She had two other top 10 hits, “Crimson and Clover” and “I Hate Myself For Loving You.”
11/17: Joel McHale mocks Robin Roberts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of my favorite shows is Joel McHale’s “The Soup” on E!, which is a usually hilarious grabbag of snarky commentary on this week’s past pop culture events, mostly focused on TV clips.
Last night, McHale used the Georgia water crisis as the basis to make fun of an inattentive “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts (former WAGA sports reporter and V-103 morning co host).
Here’s the transcript (after a joke about Kiefer Sutherland which showed the painting he did for the cover of 99X’s Live X for a millisecond.):
McHale: “Good Morning America” did a report on cloud seeding, which is a process that would bring much needed rain to Georgia. If you just zoned out while I was explaining that, you could be a morning news anchor. It’s obvious that Robin Roberts wasn’t paying attention either.
[He plays a clip of ABC News reporter Steve Osunsami, in front of the Gold Dome]
Osunsami: Cloud seeding is not something you can just pick up and do. There’s equipment and entire operations and a commitment to the technology which doesn’t exist here in Georgia.
Roberts: Yes, it does Steve. Alright. Thank you.
McHale, in snark mode, rephrasing Roberts: Yes it does. I know it does. Because I gave them that technology. You Steve are a liar!
11/16: TV ratings - Atlanta up on CMAs, not so much with “NCIS”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlantans last week pretty much watched what the rest of the country was watching. Nine of the top 10 shows nationwide were also in the top 10 locally.
The only show that did significantly better nationally was CBS’s “NCIS,” a drama that tends to draw older viewers. It ranked No. 7 nationally but only No. 29 in metro Atlanta.
Both CBS shows “CSI” and “Without a Trace” drew their biggest Atlanta audiences this season thanks to a crossover special Nov. 8 in which the characters of each show worked together to solve a single case. Up against that special “Without a Trace,” aging medical drama “E.R.” hit a series low of 8.4 million viewers, ranking 43rd nationally, 39th locally.
And ABC’s “CMA Awards” Nov. 7 showed its Southern appeal, finishing at No. 4 locally but not even in the top 25 in New York or Los Angeles.
There are a few big discrepancies outside the top 10. The CW’s “The Game,” for instance, ranked 116 nationwide but a much better 53 here in Atlanta. And while CBS sitcom “Two & a Half Men” is a steady top 20 presence nationwide, averaging more than 13 million viewers, it’s a midlevel performer locally, drawing only about 130,000 viewers, on par with ABC’s “Cavemen” and “Men in Trees.”
On cable, the finale of the limited series “Next Iron Chef” (hosted by Atlantan Alton Brown) on Food Network drew 2.6 million viewers Sunday night, its best yet. Cleveland chef Michael Symon won.
Meanwhile, “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is,” shot mostly in Atlanta, has been BET’s top show the past three weeks, averaging 1.4 million viewers — comparable to season one.
So far, the 2-week-old writers strike has not had any direct impact on prime-time TV. But that will start to change soon: NBC’s “The Office” will be the first scripted show to run out of fresh episodes. This past Thursday was the last original one available.
RATINGS
Rank, show, network, air date, viewers, national rank
“House” Fox Nov. 6 503,000 6
“Grey’s Anatomy” ABC Nov. 8 414,000 4
“Dancing With the Stars” ABC Nov. 5 364,000 3
“CMA Awards” CBS Nov. 7 358,000 10
“CSI” CBS Nov. 8 337,000 1
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” ABC Nov. 11 335,000 11
Chargers/Colts NFL game NBC Nov. 11 335,000 8
“Desperate Housewives” ABC Nov. 11 330,000 5
“Dancing With the Stars (results)” ABC Nov. 6 325,000 9
“Without a Trace” CBS Nov. 8 324,000 2
SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research
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11/15: Big Brother casting call Dec. 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the writers strike in full force, CBS is bringing out its sturdy summer reality show “Big Brother” for a possible winter tryout early next year. And that means the network needs conniving, self-aggrandizing people willing to be placed under cameras for weeks at a time for a shot at $500,000.
The show has about as much nutritional value as the filling in a Hostess Twinkie but it’s been a consistent ratings driver, averaging about 7.5 million viewers over the summer, pretty good for that time of year. If by some miracle, the strike ends soon, CBS can always postpone it back to the summer so the network has not set a specific launch date.
The casting call is from noon to 3 Saturday Dec. 1 at America’s Mart, 240 Peachtree Street 1st Fl. Rm. A. CBS has the application to download online here.
11/15: Star’s Sullivan and Holly going part time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When Star announced its new morning show from Indianapolis, Mikey, Shannon and Marco to replace Steve & Vikki, that also meant no full-time slots for either Tommy Sullivan and Shannon Holly. (It didn’t help Shannon that the new gal is also named Shannon.)
GM Mark Kanov said today that both Sullivan and Holly will be working on a part time basis from now on and are free to seek full-time radio jobs elsewhere (though Sullivan does have a six-month noncompete. I’m not sure about Holly’s situation.). Tommy Sullivan started as Star 94’s mascot back during the Reagan era when the station was still 94Q. He eventually became a night-time jock when he groomed Ryan Seacrest in the early 1990s. He joined the morning show as the stunt guy in the mid-1990s and has been there ever since. He and Shannon have been hosting the “best of” clips of Steve & Vikki. Sullivan still has his gig on “Atlanta & Company.”
Nudge might end up handling mornings temporarily. The Indianapolis trio arrive December 1 but currently are not scheduled to go on air until January 2. They could go on earlier. There’s no firm word on who their traffic and/or news persons will be. (Rob Stadler is under contract with Star 94 through 2008 but it’s unclear what his role will be next year.)
And the Star 94 Jingle Jam at Gwinnett Arena December 10th with Avril Lavigne, the Jonas Brothers, Coblie Cailat and Elliott Yamin is sold out, the station announced today.
For those of you who are going, here are the times each act will be playing, though this is subject to change. It’s a four-hour event:
Elliott Yamin 7:00p - 7:25p
Colbie Caillat 7:45p - 8:15p
Jonas Brothers 8:35p - 9:20p
Avril Lavigne 9:50p - 10:50p
Welcome to the Project Runway blog!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: the dramatic gray jersey number that took top honors.
The low: The split-personality teal wetsuit whose back door hatched what appeared to be a cheap magician’s bouquet.
Welcome to Season 4 of “Project Runway,” where contestants flung themselves headlong into their first challenge - literally - in Bryant Park tents.
Job one was to design an outfit that reflected the contestants’ design personalities. The results included a couple cutesy dresses worthy of sorority rush, an egg-shaped shift with no distinct personality, a genie costume, and a plain black suit.
The cameras only offered fleeting glimpses of most of the outfits (go to “Rate the Runway” at www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/index.php to see the finished products). It’s just as well, because Week 1 is better served for pigeonholing personalities and determining who’s going to be this season’s troublemaker.
At Mary’s, the East Atlanta Village bar that hosts a weekly “Project Runway” viewing party (“We watch and then we talk [trash] during the commercials,” says the friendly host, Jarod Jones), resentment was already building against Christian Siriano, the Generation Y designer with an impressive resume and a lopsided haircut, and “interdisciplinary artist” Elisa Jimenez. Her grass-staining stunt and ill-timed power nap mark her as a potential problem child. Naturally, the producers may keep her around for yuks.
But this week’s auf was the luckless Simone LeBlanc, whose blah-colored dress-and-jacket combo offered a perfect storm of poor fit, poor workmanship and poor innovation. On the other hand, Rami Kashou impressed the judges with his drapey goddess dress, which billowed around the model as she walked down the runway.
We asked Ray Dudley, a local theatrical designer, for perspective. Dudley says he wasn’t wowed by any of the designs he saw on Episode 1, although he found Rami’s dress to be edgier than most draped dresses. Still, he agrees that Simone should have been the first to get the pointy-toed boot.
The last word: Costume designer Chris March’s zany theatrical getups gave way to a fluid, bias-cut purple dress with a complicated but feminine neckline.
What’s your reaction to Episode 1? Did you see any designs that indicate who’s going to last, or who’s going out of style? Who shows the most promise? And most importantly, who’s going to get on your last nerve?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Project Runway
11/15: Two names, same DJ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jordan Graye, a long-time mid-day DJ at B98.5, offers pithy pleasantries between Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson songs.
Kate McCarthy, a new afternoon DJ at sister station 97.1/The River, offers pithy pleasantries between Boston and Aerosmith songs.
And they sound identical.
“Hmm… I have never seen the two of them in the same place at the same time,” said Chris Miller, program director for the River, which plays what it dubs “classic hits.”
He jokes. The truth is: McCarthy and Graye are one and the same. This was just a way to get an extra DJ voice onto the River at minimal cost.
“There were arguments about having her use the same name because she sounds good on both stations,” Miller said. “In the end, we decided on a different name to keep each station distinctive and not cause confusion.”
This is the first time in recent memory an Atlanta radio personality has donned two names for two different stations. But similar situations have occurred earlier this decade, all at stations that no longer exist:
2001: Clear Channel Entertainment gave 96rock’s afternoon jock Chris Rude a morning show over at sister rock station Mix 105.7, but at least he got to keep his name in both cases and not have to use a pseudonym. (Rude is now a morning host at sports talk station 680/the Fan.)
2002: Then-oldies Fox 97.1 used Randy & Spiff as both the morning show (live) and the afternoon show (taped) as a cost-cutting measure before the entire station changed formats in early 2003. (Randy Cook is now morning host at news/talk WGST-AM, where Spiff Carner was recently let go.)
2004: When 105.3 went FM talk for a few months, Atlanta listeners would hear “MJ in the Morning” from 6 to 10 a.m., then Todd Schnitt from 3 to 7 p.m.. MJ and Todd Schnitt are the same person doing two different shows out of Tampa. (He’s still on air in several markets but not in Atlanta.)
Graye, who has worked at B98.5 for much of the past 18 years, said she was given a list of 15 acceptable fake names to use on the River. She found an unusually high preponderence of names from the Brat Pack era such as Ally (as in Ally Sheedy) and McCarthy (as in Andrew McCarthy). She chose Kate McCarthy because it sounded pleasant enough.
But she won’t create an entirely new off-air persona. The Kate McCarthy bio online, for instance, does not include her picture and she won’t be doing public appearances under that name. “You won’t be seeing Kate McCarthy out and about in a blonde wig,” she said.
Here’s her Jordan Graye bio on B98.5 and her bio as Kate McCarthy on the River.
B98.5 and the River are owned by Cox Radio, which is part of Cox Enterprises, which also own the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
11/14: Writers strike links
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Are you having trouble comprehending this writers strike? The writers are wasting no time getting the word out, at least from their perspective, taking their campaign online onto YouTube. Here’s an example from the folks at “The Office.” “The Office,” by the way, has only one more fresh episode. Then it’s repeat hell until this strike is over:
If you want to know how many new episodes of your favorite shows are left to air, Michael Ausiello of TV Guide is keeping track here.. “Desperate Housewives” has three left, “Grey’s” has four, “CSI: NY” has six left, “Heroes” has three, “Ugly Betty” has five or six, “Private Practice” has four or five left, et. al.
[The LA Times offers a big picture story.]http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-et-bigpicture13nov13,0,1956165.story
Here’s Tim Kazurinsky (remember him from “Saturday Night Live”?) explaining the situation:
11/13: Star 94 $1.2 million fundraiser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For its fifth annual Cares for Kids Radioathon, Star 94 raised $1,212,437, virtually the same as the past three years. (Last year’s pledge total was $1,215,834 and in 2005, $1.2 million in 2005 and $1.167 million in 2004). Over five years, the station has raised a whopping $5.8 million. And this year, they did it without the benefit of Steve & Vikki, who left the station on November 2. Cindy & Ray, the afternoon team, worked double shifts to cover for them. And Tom Sullivan, Shannon Holly and Nudge helped out, too, over three days ending Saturday.
Monies go to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. You can still donate money at www.star94.com.
11/12: FX’s “Damages” will be back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Glenn Close legal drama “Damages” has been given two more seasons. FX had been on the fence on the show. Despite critical raves, the drama pulled in modest ratings numbers.
FX President John Landgraf in a press release noted: “We and Sony Pictures Television have a history, also spanning The Shield (with FTVS) and Rescue Me, of nurturing such programming together, and we thank them for their continued support. We’re enormously pleased to announce jointly that the fans of Damages will be able to enjoy the series for at least two more seasons.”
Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of “Damages” but I had a friend who loved it to pieces so I stuck with it to the bitter end. While I found some of the characters intricate and watchable (Ted Danson’s Frobisher and his suicidal lawyer with the really bad Southern accent), I didn’t particularly glom onto Glenn Close or her protagonist Rose Byrne. In fact, I hated exptressionless Byrne as her character went from naive to savvy in two seconds flat.
On the other end of quality, CW is doing a reality series called “Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants,” which starts December 12 after the finale of “America’s Next Top Model.” Mother/daughter teams vie to win a beauty pageant. Nobody from Atlanta is listed as a contestant. That’s good news for me.
But if you follow ABC’s “The Bachelor,” which I don’t, DeAnna (above), one of the two finalists vying for Brad Womack’s heart, is from Newnan. So I may have to actually watch the finale November 19. Ugh.
11/12: On Porsche, Ramsey, Wilkos
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Porsche, why so prickly?
V-103’s Porsche Foxx bit off the head of my colleague David Graves at her “Leather & Lace” Scorpio birthday party Saturday night.
Graves, a truly nice guy, noted the silly debauchery going on around him at the party and asked Porsche a lighthearted, softball question about what zodiac sign is best in bed. Her response? “I’m offended by that question,” Foxx says. “The type of person I am, you don’t ask a question like that.”
Uh, okay. How about a more serious question? She was fired after a DUI by V-103 in early 2005 and rehired a few months ago. He asked her thoughts about Don Imus, fired and rehired, too. “He made a mistake. Should he be punished for the rest of his career? I don’t have a comment.”
As Graves said, in Dan Rather-like fashion: “Geez, Porsche, you’re rougher than a pit bull on a pork chop. Calm down!”
She’s on air right now but I’m going to call her and see why she went all ballistic on him for no particular reason.
No wonder her publicist Cherry Banez dropped her as a client back in July. She also pulled a diva act on a local magazine in town by insisting they use a photo she provided, then proceeded to skip out on three photo shoots.
Here’s the Buzz item..
Another colleague Bill Torpy did a page one print story Saturday about Dave Ramsey, who had a big seminar (5,000 people) at the Gwinnett Arena last Thursday. It was a wonderfully written story though for some odd reason, there was no reference to Ramsey being on the radio locally on WGST from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. or on Fox Business Channel at 10 p.m. weekdays.
I also did a Buzz item about Steve Wilkos, the former security guard for “The Jerry Springer Show” who recently got his own talk show called “The Steve Wilkos Show.” He verbally beats down bad guys like deadbeat dads, pedophiles and drug addicts. His syndicated show, according to TV week, is already likely to be renewed for a second season. He draws 1.23 million viewers a day on average, according to TV Week, which is pretty good for a freshman show. In town to do some media and meet with WATL-TV staff (he’s seen daily at 2 p.m.), I hung out with Wilkos at the Vortex last Thursday and he was charming and relaxed. It was hard not to like the guy. He actually bikes to work 15 miles each day for the exercise. And he only ate half his cheeseburger to keep his weight down.
It’s the third item down here.
11/11: CBS ratings lifted by Colts/Pats game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CBS tends to do worse in Atlanta than the national average, but last Sunday’s “mini Super Bowl” matchup of the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts fueled the network the entire night.
The Patriots victory not only drew more than 32 million viewers nationwide, but it was the No. 1 show in Atlanta, bringing in 628,000. It also helped push “60 Minutes” into the top 10 locally, a rarity.
The game also helped give “The Amazing Race” its biggest debut in its history. The reality show (which replaced the painfully bad “Viva Laughlin”) came in 11th in Atlanta, 17th nationwide.
TOP LOCAL SHOWS, PRIMETIME
Program, Network, Date, Viewers, Natl. rank
NFL Patriots/Colts, CBS, Nov. 4, 628,000, n/a (The game bled into primetime although it started at 4:30 p.m.)
“House”, Fox, Oct. 30, 505,000, 7
“Grey’s Anatomy”, ABC, Nov. 1, 469,000, 2
“Dancing With the Stars”, ABC, Oct. 29, 391,000, 1
“Desperate Housewives”, ABC, Nov. 4, 335,000, 6
“60 Minutes”, CBS, Nov. 4, 332,000, 3
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, ABC, Nov. 4, 319,000, 19
CBS Saturday college football, CBS, Nov. 3, 312,000, n/a
“CSI”, CBS, Nov. 1, 293,000, 4
“Dancing With the Stars (results)”, ABC, Oct. 30, 291,000, 5
WINNERS
CBS’s “NCIS” — Daylight savings time appeared to have helped many 8 p.m. shows (since earlier sunsets generally mean more eyeballs on the tube) including CBS drama “NCIS,” which this past Tuesday hit 18.2 million viewers, its second best ever. That’s an unusual feat for a show in its fifth season.
VH1’s “I Love New York 2” and MTV’s “Shot of Love” - For some reason, 4 million people still love New York. Her spinof has grown from 3 million episode one to 4 million this past Sunday. Oh, and there’s that MySpace gal who is seeking love among men and women in the bi-sexual dating show “Shot of Love,” which has grown from 1.9 million Oct. 9 to 2.7 million Oct. 30. Scary!
ON THE FENCE
* FX’s “Nip/Tuck”* — This quirky drama in its fifth season brought in 4.3 million viewers, down from last year’s 4.8 million debut. That’s not bad erosion and the show does appear re-energized with its transplant to plastic surgery mecca Los Angeles.
LOSERS
NBC’s “Heroes” - The sophomore slump has hit “Heroes,” as the series hit a series low this past Monday with 9.8 million viewer. The stories are too disparate and the pacing meandering at times. And who knows what will happen if this writers’ strike lasts too long and the show has to stop. Already, the “Heroes: Origins” spinoff is on hold.
ABC’s “Cavemen” - This show makes you wish we lived in times with no electricity and viewers agree. Opening at 9 million Oct. 2, the show drooped to a series low 4.9 million this past Tuesday. The only reason it hasn’t already been cancelled is because the networks are grappling with a writers’ strike and nothing is going to get nixed at this point.
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11/9: More writers strike fallout, Big Brother’s early return
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TBS held a phone conference for print media with Ellen DeGeneres to promote her new variety show November 19 and we naturally asked her about the writers strike impact on her dailiy talk show. (Her variety show was pre-written in anticipation of the strike.).
“Personally, it’s heartbreaking,” Degeneres said. She didn’t tape shows on Monday but came back on Tuesday. “I love my writers. We’re a family. It’s a really hard thing to have to deal with where they are and where I am. I’m caught in the middle. I have 135 staff members. They are depending on me for a paycheck every week. It’s hard.”
Here’s what she said on today’s show, taped Tuesday: “I want to say I love my writers. I love them. In honor of them today, I’m not going to do a monologue. I support them and hope that they get everything they’re asking for. And I hope it works out soon. In the meantime, people have traveled across the country. They’ve made plans. They’re here. I want to do everything I can to make your trip enjoyable and give you a show.”
With the strike likely to drag on, CBS is also bringing “Big Brother 9” back early February. If you want to try out, go to this site.
And TBS’s new sketch comedy show starring impressionist Frank Caliendo “Frank TV” will likely air only five episodes instead of a scheduled eight because of the strike. I spoke with Caliendo for an advancer on “Frank TV,” which starts November 20, while he was at Turner studios Thursday to do a sketch with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith playing Charles Barkley. When it came to the strike, he played it neutral:
“It’s nuts. It’s awful. We support the writers,” he said. As for the issues behind the strike, “I have no idea how to weigh it… They’re friends, too. It’s just hard. There’s no animosity.”
Many shows have already shut down because the “showrunners,” who both write and produce, are refusing to do either. Sitcoms have to stop because the writers are needed during taping. That means “The Office,” “Desperate Housewives” and most sitcoms have already shut down and the supply of actual shows to air will be fairly modest.
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11/8: “24” postponed due to writers’ strike
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The impact of the writers strike has already begun with repeats of most late-night talk shows and the delay of ABC’s “Cashmere Mafia.”
Now we are losing Fox’s “24” for the time being. Fox has decided to hold off on a premiere date until the writers strike gets resolved. The show, Fox figures, needs to run in order in its entirety and the show has only filmed about 9 episodes so far, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The launch date for “American Idol” hasn’t changed: two hours a night on Wednesday January 15 and two more Thursday January 16.
Several new scripted shows are joining the lineup in the winter/spring including “The Sarah Connors Chronicles” (an offshoot of the “Terminator” films), “New Amsterdam” (originally set for fall but pushed back about a man who has lived for centuries) and “The Return of Jezebel James,” a comedy from the creator of “The Gilmore Girls.”
11/8: Dancing With the Stars tour coming to Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The “Dancing With the Stars” tour hoofs its way to the Gwinnett Arena January 25 with Marie Osmond, Wayne Newton, Monique Coleman, Joey Lawrence and Sabrina Bryan as confirmed celebrities. There may be guest appearances by others such as Drew Lachey. Among the pro dancers include Cheryl Burke, Mark Ballas and Edyta Sliwinska.
While Pop Tarts sponsors the “Idol” tour, Soft Scrub sponsors this one. Here’s more info at Ticketmaster..
Prices range from $51.50 to a whopping $167. There’s a pre-sale Friday but most tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m.
The show on ABC held up well in its fifth incarnation, averaging about 20 million for the performance show and 18 million for the results show. Jane Seymour was ousted this past Tuesday. “Cheetah Girl” Bryan, an early favorite, was the shocking ouster last week.
11/8: On Star’s Tom Sullivan, Bert, Drudge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Star 94’s Tommy Sullivan yesterday said he will not be part of the new morning show with Marco, Shannon and Mikey set to come on January 2. He said his last day doing mornings will be mid-December. He is still in discussions for another possible job at Star 94 but if that doesn’t work out, he’s ready to move on. He at least has his “Atlanta & Company” job, which he said he hopes will lead to other opportunities as well. Heck, the guy has been at Star 94 since he was a teenager, going back the disco era. And that in and of itself is incredible. (Star 94 is starting its Children’s Healthcare radioathon today and understandably, Steve & Vikki chose to leave last week instead of, say, Thanksgiving, because they didn’t want to go through the radiothon.)
Sullivan was also in the New York Times Sunday in a story about people who spend mucho bucks trying out for reality shows. (“It was awesome!” he said.) He was the lead anecdote, noting that he spent $8,000 in travel, hotel, video production, et. al, trying out for CBS’s “Survivor” for five years. He said he attempted to get on the show from cycle 2 to cycle 11. He made it to the “semifinals” five times but never made the cut. He said “Survivor” casting folks said Tom came across as “too nice” for the show. Sullivan said he did a farewell casting video in which he insulted the staff, a basic middle finger to “Survivor.” “I was fed up,” he said. He has not watched an episode since.
Q100’s Bert Show took a caller this morning who asked the crew about Steve & Vikki. Bert Weiss repeated what he told me last week, that he has nothing but respect for their longevity and success. And even Jeff Dauler held back on mocking them as he has in the past because as he noted, he sees Steve and sees a mirror, that this could and may eventually happen to them. Everybody in radio has a shelf life and Bert said a bar friend compared them to a vodka brand at a bar. People will enjoy them for awhile, then move on to another brand. “We’re a commodity,” Bert said. That’s not necessarily true. That implies that the Bert Show is interchangable with anything else. They are unique and they have created their own success. When a caller was about to explain why she liked the Bert Show and why she no longer listened to Star 94, the Bert Show cut her off, saying this wasn’t the right place to do that, that they didn’t want to go there. Jeff predicted that Steve will be back on the radio “like a ninja, kissing some” you know what.
Meanwhile, 640/WGST is no longer airing the Drudge Report on the radio because Matt Drudge has dropped his Sunday night radio show, saying he wants to focus on the Web site. WGST is now using Bill Cunningham out of Cincinnati.
11/7: On Frank and Wanda’s 9th b-day, Clark Howard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve learned a lesson. V-103 dangled A-list R&B singer Alicia Keys for a media “meet and greet” before a special concert for Frank & Wanda fans to celebrate the pair’s ninth anniversary. Calling it a “meet and greet” is a misnomer because “meet and greets” are set up for corporate sponsors and fans, not the media. We do “press conferences” and “photo ops.” Nonetheless, the V-103 publicist said Keys would be taking questions so I took the press conference part seriously and came by . But alas, it was right before the concert and minutes before her appearance, a J Records rep said she was a little “under the weather” and couldn’t take questions so she could “rest her voice.” In the end, it was just a photo op. Not V-103’s fault but I probably should have seen that one coming. So I left before Keys hit the stage.
Meanwhile, Atlanta magazine did a cover story on our favorite happy-go-lucky cheapskate Clark Howard, who could be mayor. The story isn’t available online but it’s a well-written, comprehensive profile that shows he’s the same off air as he is on air. And he always treats his fans with respect as they accost him in public all the time. (That hasn’t changed an iota since I did a page one story about him for The Wall Street Journal back in 2001.) The story is probably the most indepth piece about Clark I’ve ever read. Heck, in a footnote, it even lists every newspaper and magazine he reads on a regular basis (or at least the online equivalent.)
When Howard is at local book-signing events, he has a WSB event security guard Alex Shapiro keeping people from punching him. (Shapiro says that has happened.) “He speaks the truth,” Shapiro told writer Virginia Parker. “Some people have too much time on their hands and not enough Thorazine.”
There’s also a great anecdote of Howard buying umbrellas cheap at a Value City or Dollar Store and handing them out when it rains. And he’s not truly cheap in one sense. He pays for a Westminster School tuition for one of his daughters and owns five cars. But he has zero debt. Zero. He saves 80 percent of his income and still has enough to pay for a Florida beach house as well as his Atlanta estate. His wife will indulge on things and not tell him.
He’s on 227 stations and owns his own syndication, which he said lost money in 2002 after 9/11 but has been profitable the past four years.
Clark didn’t tip his hand on whether he’ll run for mayor or not but he’s clearly interested.
And I wrote a story about Sugarland in advance of tonight’s CMA Awards on ABC at 8 p.m., interviewing Kristian Bush. He still lives in Decatur. Check it out here.
11/6: Writers strike’s impact on TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
From what I’ve been reading and hearing, this writers strike could be long and ugly. It’s basically a battle for a share of the digital world and how much money the studios are willing to pay the writers in that burgeoning realm. The writers, who felt they were gypped on DVD sales, want more on the Web, the cel phone, the iPod. Studios are worried that it’s too early to ascertain what is the right level of compensation for such mediums because they aren’t generating much income right now. They are also worried about setting a precedent for actors and directors to jump on next year when SAG and DGA negotiatve contracts.
This strike has been a long time coming so both sides have prepared. Studios have been stockpiling scripts. The Writers Guild has been stockpiling a strike fund to give low-interest loans to its members. So far, both sides appear to be far apart even after the writers took raising DVD residual payments off the table.
There are about 12,000 WGA members, of which half are employed at any one time. The residual payments from repeats and DVDs have helped keep many writers going between full-time gigs.
Here’s what will happen:
Already, starting last night, the late-night shows such as Leno, Letterman, Conan, “The Daily Show,” Kimmel and “The Colbert Report” are on repeats. They all use writers and they aren’t going to go on without them. “The View” and ‘Regis & Kelly” are talk shows that will go on as normal because they don’t use WGA writers.
The upcoming ABC show “Cashmere Mafia” starring Lucy Liu has already been postponed. And NBC has said it won’t be doing the “Heroes: Origins” episodes, which were to be a precursor to a possible spinoff.
In a few weeks, soap operas will run out of scripts and shut down.
If the strike lingers, scripted shows such “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Heroes” will run out fresh episodes and networks will be forced to air repeats, reality fare, game shows or newsmagazines. By February, broadcast TV will look suspiciously like summer. New shows such as “Pushing Daisies” and “Gossip Girl” may see momentum stymied. Netwokrs will have to decide if they are going to air only a few episodes of “Lost” and “24” or none at all. (For “24,” it might end up being none at all given how important it is to run the entire show in sequence with no repeats.)
Shows such as “American Idol,” “Survivor” and “America’s Next Top Model” are not affected since the folks who do edit or refine the storylines on these shows are not part of the Writers Guild (despite efforts to do so.).
Broadcast TV is already struggling this fall. This could be just another kick in the groin as viewers wander elsehwere. In 1988, the last time the writers struck, the broadcast networks lost about 9 percent of their viewers, many of whom never came back.
For the film industry, the impact won’t be immediate given the advance time and the ease of stockpiling scripts.
How do you all feel about this? I’m just depressed it’s even happening. I need my weekly “Office” fix!
11/5: Q100 Bert Show reaches 375,000 goal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It took an extra week, but Q100’s Bert Show managed to hit its goal of 375,000 letters to overseas U.S. troops in time for Thanksgiving.
“I’m hugely relieved,” said Bert Weiss, morning cohost. “This was an incredibly ambitious project and everybody came together.”
Taco Mac provided hundreds of hours of free labor collecting and sorting tens of thousands of letters collected at their restaurants over 17 days. And Pitney Bowes offered to pay the postage.
Last week, when the popular morning show was about 75,000 letters short, Fox News and CNN heard about the effort and aired reports. (This was an unusual situation where a radio station got national press unrelated to a Federal Communications Commission violation or a Don Imus-type snafu.)
The letters will reach not only the troops in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan but those in remote parts of the Pacific and Iceland.
Joel Denver, who runs a radio news Web site www.allaccess.com and has been in the business for 39 years, said any good promotion is “live, local and evokes an emotion. This one is a real warm and caring move.”
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11/4: The Zone opens Stats restaurant
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
790/The Zone has spent more than four years trying to put together a restaurant. The management has gotten a space, set to open November 12 with a pre-opening party this past Friday.
Stats is located about two blocks from the Omni Hotel and CNN Center at 330 Marietta St., an area that didn’t have much of anything but is now a hot development area.
By its very name, it sounds like a sports bar and restaurant and in some ways, it is. The 15,000 square-foot space boasts 70 flat-screen TVs, exposed brick and cool personal beer taps that charge by the ounce. They say they are one of the only places in the country that has these taps. The restaurant just measures the amount of beer that has been consumed and charge you accordingly.
It even has a ground-floor radio studio with a two-way glass window overlooking Marietta St. which the Zone will use several times a week. (Think “Good Morning America” or “The Today Show” in New York City.) The studio should be ready by next week, according to Steak Shapiro (above), the station’s resident hypester who truly follows the edict “Always Be Selling.”
Parts of Stats exudes a Midtown nightclub/lounge feel with mood lighting, leather seats, private VIP rooms, wood floors galore and an outdoor bar area with a retractable roof. There’s even a separate room that will be used for private parties and comedy nights. Plus, Bob Amick’s Concentrics Restaurant Group (which also includes Trois, One Midtown Kitchen and Two Urban Licks) is involved and provides the food that’s a wee bit more sophisticated and a wee bit pricier than, say, Jocks and Jills over at CNN Center. There’s a crabcake BLT ($15), a short-rib pot pie ($22) and cheese fondue ($13).
The restaurant hopes to draw convention traffic as well as pre and post-game sports fans for the Hawks, Falcons and Thrashers. Here’s the Web site..
ABOVE: Sandra Golden, producer for the Zone’s morning show, Hawks broadcaster and former NBA player Dennis Scott and Cody Hicks, the Zone’s marketing man.
Among the notables who popped by the opening party after Friday’s Hawks opening victory: chef Kevin Rathbun, former Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor, CEO of the Atlanta Spirit Bernie Mullen, Hawks NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, Astros shortstop Adam Everett and several current Hawks players including Solomon Jones, Tyrone Lue and head Zaza Pachulia.
Radio folks were there, too, including most of the the Zone personalities, Star 94 afternoon team Cindy Simmons and Ray Mariner, 95.5/The Beat’s Crystal “C.J.” Simpson (above),Q100 morning co-host Bert Weiss and WGST’s sports guy MItch Evans.
Bert (above, with admirers) as of Friday night said he didn’t know if the station had reached its goal of 375,000 letters for all oversease military for Thanksgiving. He’ll know by Monday morning.
ABOVE: The Zone’s Chris Dimino with Astros shortstop Adam Everett
ABOVE: Zone’s Mike Bell (left) with CNN correspondent Mike Brooks CREDIT: Rodney Ho
Also, fellow AJC writer Drew Jubera, one of our best scribes, did a profile on 790/The Zone’s morning co-host Mike Bell in Sunday’s Living section. No news peg per se but Drew just felt he was worth profiling given the fact he’s 39 going on 10 and the most purely entertaining part of “Mayhem in the AM.” Check it out here.. It’s a fun read.
11/4: No more Dog the Bounty Hunter will hurt A&E
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry, last week got sort of crazy with Steve & Vikki so I’m posting the weekly ratings a bit late.
Fox and ABC were the big winners with local TV viewers last week.
The local affiliates dominated the top 10, including Fox’s “House” turning in its best performance of the year, pulling in 563,000 Atlanta viewers.
The top-ranked CBS show locally was “CSI: Miami” last Monday at No. 14, with 276,000 viewers. For NBC, “Heroes” was the most popular show at 18th, with 259,000 viewers.
And if you are a fan of “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” Duane Chapman’s leaked racial slurgs forced A&E to drop not only production but all airings of its popular show. During the week of October, the network aired the show a whopping 29 times over 14.5 hours, drawing a total of 24.6 million viewers. (Many are likely repeat viewers so it’s not necessarily 24.6 million discrete people.)
WINNERS:
ABC’s “Samantha Who?” — This fall’s biggest new hit starring Christina Applegate has given a full-season order this week after three strong showings. Locally, it ranked 10th; nationally, 18th.
ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars — This show hit a season high October 29 the day before “Cheetah Girl” Sabrina Bryan was surprisingly ousted, finishing at about 21.4 million viewers. This show also fueled “Boston Legal” to its series high of 11.4 million viewers Tuesday.
CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” and “CSI: Miami” — Both middle-aged shows hit series highs this past Monday, 14.1 million for Charlie Sheen and 15.7 million for David Caruso.
WSB-TV’s “Georgia’s Water Crisis” — WSB-TV, the ABC affiliate, bumped “Cavemen” and “Carpoolers” Oct. 23 for this second special on the drought and clearly Atlantans had a thirst for it. It ranked 12th overall, bringing in 283,000 Atlantans.
Comedy Central’s “South Park” — More than a decade and many deaths of Kenny later and this animated series is showing incredible resilience. It is pulling in some of its best numbers in at least three years, averaging 3.6 million viewers a week.
LOSERS
Bravo’s “Queer Eye” — Once a buzz-worthy show dubbed “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” this show isin its final season is going away quietly. It’s averaging only 490,000 viewers nationwide vs. 1.7 million its first season. It drew only 384,000 October 23.
HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — Larry David, who recently divorced in real life and separated with his fictional wife, keeps losing viewers too. In its sixth and final season, the show’s original airings are averaging just 1.13 million viewers so far, down from 4.5 million its peak year in 2002 (then fueled by “Sex & the City” and “The Sopranos”)
NBC’s Monday night lineup — All three shows hit series lows October 29. First, “Chuck”, a new series about a lovable semi-loser who has the government’s secrets imbedded in his head, finished with just 7 million viewers. “Heroes,” which may be hitting a sophomore slump, dropped to 10.5 milliion the same night. And likely-to-be-canned “Journeyman” dropped to 5.8 million.
LOCAL RATINGS
Program Network Date Viewers national rank
“House” Fox Oct. 23 563,000 5
“Dancing With the Stars” ABC Oct. 22 467,000 1
“Grey’s Anatomy” ABC Oct. 25 386,000 4
“Desperate Housewives” ABC Oct. 28 363,000 3
“Extreme Makeover: ABC Oct. 28 325,000 13 Home Edition”
“Fox News at 10” Fox Oct. 23 324,000 n/a
“Bones” Fox Oct. 22 309,000 41
World Series, Game 4 Fox Oct. 28 301,000 2
“Dancing With the Stars ABC Oct. 23 295,000 6 (results)”
“Samantha Who?” ABC Oct. 22 293,000 18
Source: Nielsen Media Research
11/2: Star staff says goodbye to Steve & Vikki
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Above: the lobby features this monster-size version of the Atlanta magazine cover story about Steve & Vikki during their peak days in 2000
Steve & Vikki this morning wanted to do a regular morning show with minimal histrionics about the departure. They aired an interview with Steve Carell and brought in comic Kathleen Madigan like any other day. They didn’t take calls from listeners wishing them good luck and kept the goodbye brief and poignant. Radio is a cruel business and Steve isn’t leaving on his own terms, but at least Star gave them a chance to say goodbye to their listeners (unlike, say, the Regular Guys or Jimmy Baron or countless others.)
Their boss Mark Kanov wanted to give them a surprise. So he gathered about 25 people from the Star 94 staff into the lobby and brought them upstairs and held up signs saying “Star 94 will always love you Steve & Vikki.”
While Madigan (in studio to promote her Punchline appearance Friday and Saturday) was gabbing about “Cops” and “American Idol,” the staff walked into the studio. Here’s the audio.
Long-time news guy Rob Stadler opened with a speech. “You wanted today to be kind of low key,” he said. “It’s the end of an era.”
Steve offered a few words: “It’s kind of like being at your own funeral and you’re alive. It’s with mixed emotions. We understand the nature of the business. We hope we will be able to get by this. We thank you one and all that have been part of our lives at work and will continue to be friends, I hope.”
Vikki simply said, “Thank you.”
At about 9:30 a.m., I asked the pair if they’d like to talk but they both said they are worried about a clause in their contracts that says if they say anything disparaging about Star, they could lose their remaining pay and benefits (or worse). They don’t want to take any chances because they aren’t sure what could be construed as disparaging if they do talk to me. And they are under a six-month noncompete once their contracts are up at the end of the year. So they won’t feel comfortable talking until July. When I told them that Kanov said it was okay to talk, they passed. In this emotional situation, caution prevailed.
The final goodbye came at 9:43 a.m. Steve ended it with a live verson of “Your Song” Elton John did at Star a few years back.
“This is not the way I envisioned leaving,” Steve said, getting emotional. “I have no plans to retire.”
“Tragedy plus time equals comedy,” he later said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to laugh again.”
“We’ll going to be greeters at the Wal-Mart in Roswell,” Vikki joked. She handed Steve a poem by Kipling “If.”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much, If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Night-time jock Nudge even stopped by to wish them luck.
11/2: Tom Joyner Sky Show in Atlanta w/Cameo, Sinbad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is the fifth Tom Joyner Sky Show I’ve attended and they are revelation because Joyner turns the Civic Center into a huge party… at 6 a.m. in the morning. There are more than 3,500 people in this venue right now and as people cycle in and out, probably 5,000 plus end up popping by before 10 a.m. The parking lot is packed and as I arrived at 5:55 a.m., there was barely any spots left. Cameo is up on stage right now playing the group’s big crossover hit “Word Up.” Larry Blackmon, the lead singer and briefly the morning host at Kiss earlier this decade, is wearing a red hat, a shiny purple suit and a big red plastic plate over his crotch. It’s 1986 all over again as the entire crowd yelps “W-O-R-D Up!”
“There is no sleeping at the Sky Show,” Joyner pronounced. “If you’re tired, take your bad a** home!”
“If you’re out of school, this is old school, an old school party!” Joyner said.
Joyner remains hugely popular among older African Americans, pulling in 8 million listeners weekly on about 120 stations nationwide. Locally, on Kiss 104.1, he averages about 250,000 listeners a week and is the city’s third biggest morning show, behind only WSB-AM and V-103. Even the arrival of Steve Harvey last year hasn’t hurt him nearly as badly as you might think. Normally, his staff works out of different cities with Joyner helming from Dallas. But 20 times a year, they all get together on stage in different cities, also providing free entertainment. When I came by to pick up some media credentials yesterday at 5 p.m., there were already several people camping out to get the best seats this morning in the front. The front rows are dominated by women, Joyner’s primary audience.
“Some people have been up since the Stevie Wonder concert!” J. Anthony Brown cracked.
Joyner notes the water shortage. “This means you all need to shower together!” said Sybil Wilkes.
Other entertainment later this morning includes Angie Stone and comic Sinbad.
This show is no longer televised so “if you’re not supposed to be here, it’s okay,” Brown joked. The cameras are only for the room, Joyner noted.
The commercial breaks are packed with entertainment for the crowd. There’s never a break in the action for Joyner. His staff goes into the audience and holds contests to give away T-shirts and other memorabilia. He also uses this as a venue to get corporations to donate money to historically black colleges and the companies get to tote out those oversized checks for the grip-and-grin photos. This month’s beneficiary is Savannah State University.
A major sponsor of this show is Southwest Airlines, which is always amusing to me because this is one of the biggest cities in the country this airline does not serve.
11/1: Steve McCoy’s first public comments about leaving Star
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Above: Tommy Sullivan, Vikki Locke and Steve McCoy at the Tabernacle, June 2, 2006, during the Next Big Thing concert featuring James Blunt, Bo Bice and K.T. Tunstall. CREDIT: Robb Cohen
Steve McCoy, who is leaving Star 94 Friday after 17 years along with Vikki Locke, wasn’t willing to submit to an interview by phone or in person so the best I could get was emailed answers to four of 18 questions I sent him yesterday. Here are the questions and answers verbatim except for grammatical fixes. What’s interesting is it sounds like he’s assuming Vikki will want to join him in a future endeavor once her health problems are out of the way. I don’t know if that’s the case because Vikki hasn’t been willing to talk since her original conversation with Richard Eldredge in June.
Q: What are you most proud of about the past 17 years?
A: The fact that Vikki and I were able to gain the confidence of a large audience and be so accepted for so many years is something that most morning shows envy in markets around the country. There’s so much “creative remembering” in radio today, and I’m proud that we were two people who always tried to create something new and unique every morning.
Q: You worked first with Vikki at Power and recommended she join you. Why?
A: Vikki was the best thing to happen to me. She’s one of the most creative people I’ve ever been around. It’s rare that you meet a person in your career who when it comes to career type goals sees things the same as you. We both would look at an interview or an idea like our Mile of Men, and come at it a different way…..but the beauty has always been that we would both build on each others ideas, and make every bit better each time. Neither of us ever worried who’s idea it was….but that it worked.
No matter what industry your in…when you have two people thinking like that….it’s magic and we are hopeful that magic can continue.
Q: What were your favorite moments from the show over the years (in some detail please) and your most embarrassing? Some notable moments I’ve been told they include Vikki’s birthday party that Rusty put together in 1993 in which David Justice and Halle Berry called in as well as Elton John; Tommy Sullivan eating off someone’s plate at a Waffle House, the 1996 April Fool’s Joke about the Olympics, the Live in it and Win It stunt, the Children’s Healthcare radiothon in which you revealed your son’s death on the air.
A: Actually there we’re a bunch of birthday shows. The first one was for Vikki’s birthday when I first learned Elton lived here. I grew up with Gerry Klaskala,who at that time was the head chef at Buckhead Diner, where Elton dined quite often. I asked Gerry if he would give a note I wrote inviting Elton to call in on Vikki’s birthday. Gerry got it done, and to my surprise Elton called Vikki on her birthday. That began a great friendship for us and Elton. He subsuquently came on the show and would stay all morning seven or eight more times, and the only time we both we’re speechless was when we we’re invited to dine with him and Bernie Taupin a few years ago. Vikki also got the opportunity to visit Elton at his London home a few years ago. On my first birthday show with Vikki, she got Pam Anderson to come on the show.
Q: Are you going to find another job in this market once your noncompete is up?
A: I am not retiring. Vikki and I have built a strong relationship and success in Atlanta. We both love the people and the city. I would be hopeful that other stations have taken notice of what we have been able to do. We both have worked hard for the community and I would love the opportunity to still be one of the top morning shows here in Atl. Next to my son dying at Children’s Healthcare, this has been the hardest number of months to go through on the air. We have tried to remain professional through out it all, and I know God must have a plan.
