Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > December
December 2007
12/31: Looking to 2008 in Atlanta radio
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So much turmoil, so little time.
Next year looks to be a fun one for Atlanta radio. Starting next month, three major 100,000 watt signals will introduce new personality-based local morning shows: 92.9/Dave FM’s Zakk Tyler show, Star 94’s Morning Mess and 94.9/The Bull’s Cledus T. Judd show. (The Morning Mess actually had a “soft” opening this morning though the “official” launch isn’t until Wednesday.)
In the meantime, Project 9-6-1’s Giant Brian show is a mere three months old and 99X’s Morning X revival is seeking a replacement for Sean Demery, who abruptly left earlier this month.
Also, WSB-AM introduces its new evening show starring Herman Cain on Jan. 2 and the Zone starts its revamped lineup across the board Jan. 7, including Mike Bell in the late afternoons with Chuck Oliver and the Stews from 1 to 4 instead of 3 to 7 p.m.
Later in the year, Arbitron moves to a new ratings system for advertisers in Atlanta featuring a pager-like device which detects radio signals passively. This is rather different than the current 1950s technology of paper diaries people have to fill out for a week at a time. Based on early ratings numbers in test markets of Houston and Philadelphia, this new People Meter could potentially benefit rock and pop stations but given the preponderance of urban stations here in Atlanta, it’ll be interesting to see whether the shift will hurt powerhouse stations such as V-103 and Kiss 104.1.
Over in satellite radio land, Sirius and XM are attempting to merge because both are still hemorrhaging money. The two companies are still awaiting FCC approval. And that HD radio companies keep touting? The high cost of receivers so far has kept consumers from jumping aboard despite extra channels and higher sound quality. People are fine with either free radio, iPods or satellite so far.
There are also plenty of former radio personalities who may be seeking new homes in 2008. A few have been jobless (at least on air) for awhile including the Regular Guys and Jimmy Baron. Others, such as Spiff Carner and Steve & Vikki, will have to wait out noncompete provisions but will be on the market by midyear.
What are you most looking forward to in Atlanta radio 2008?
12/30: Letterman gets his writers Jan. 2
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Letterman and his company Worldwide Pants came to an interim agreement with the striking Writers Guild so he can bring his writers back with him January 2, according to this New York Times story.
“We are a writer-friendly company,” Rob Burnett, the chief executive of Worldwide Pants, said to the New York Times. “We don’t have a problem giving the writers what they are asking for. We think they deserve it, and we’re happy to give it to them.”
The strike, which started Nov. 5, has effectively shut down production on most scripted TV shows and shuttered the late-night talk shows. But pressure from the networks has forced them all to come back. Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien as well as Letterman and Craig Ferguson (also owned by Worldwide Pants) will return Jan. 2 and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert starts up again Jan. 7.
But Letterman and Ferguson will have the benefit of writers. It’ll be interesting to see how the others deal without them. They will probably do longer interviews, provide more time for standup comics and musicians and cut back on skits and monologues. Man-on-the-street interviews and unscripted banter will also fill up time.
January 2 is also the day Star 94’s Morning Mess (6 to 10 a.m) and WSB-AM’s Herman Cain (7 to 10 p.m.) debut their radio shows while Cledus T. Judd at 94.9/The Bull launches his new show January 7.
12/27: Biggest Atlanta radio stories
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Yes, it’s that time of year when I’m on vacation and a way to fill space is to review the biggest Atlanta radio stories of the year. (Yes, the biggest national radio story was Don Imus, we know that.) Tell me if I’ve forgotten any and I’ll add’em.
For the first time in recent memory, not a single major radio station in Atlanta has changed format this year.
But that surface stability masked plenty of turmoil. With radio revenues flat or down at many local stations, at least nine have added or swapped out talent this year in the mornings, a crucial time slot which often brings in the most listeners and commands the highest ad rates.
This also meant a few veteran jocks lost their jobs, including WGST’s Spiff Carner, formerly of the Randy & Spiff team, and Steve McCoy and Vikki Locke at Star 94. We recap some of this year’s biggest local radio stories:
Soccer moms mourn: Steve & Vikki, the corny yet consistently chipper pair who gave suburban families comfort and joy for 17 years as the morning team on Star 94, left on a bittersweet note in early November. While Locke cited health issues for her departure, McCoy didn’t want to leave. The station has brought in a younger, hipper trio from Indianapolis called the Morning Mess that seems to be gunning after Q100’s the Bert Show.
That Foxxy lady is back: Popular V-103 personality Porsche Foxx (AKA Stephanie Calhoun) lost her coveted afternoon job at No. 1 Atlanta station V-103 after a DUI arrest in 2004. She pled guilty and entered rehab. This past July, V-103 gave the sassy deejay a second chance, handing over the mid-day reins to her. Showing her clout, she quickly nabbed a highly publicized exclusive interview with Mike Vick two weeks after the government indicted him for dogfighting in July.
Not so bullish: Clear Channel’s new country station 94.9/the Bull in its first year has attempted to gore top rival Kicks 101.5 in the gut, but Kicks hasn’t bled much. The Bull’s ratings have been mediocre all year while Kicks has maintained a solid lead. But the station isn’t giving up: it went all-Christmas for a month and will be adding parody musician Cledus T. Judd to the morning mix Jan. 7.
The rock battle rages on: Since 96rock nixed the Regular Guys in the fall of 2006, younger men seeking personality radio have had a rough time finding it. The Morning X, still in training wheels with a new lineup, hasn’t gelled with listeners, if ratings are any reflection. And main man Sean Demery bowed out earlier this month for personal reasons. Meanwhile, rival Project 9-6-1 finally added a morning show in the fall with a pair of guy’s guys, Giant Brian and Shaffee. Further down the dial, adult rock station Dave FM is set to debut a jock from Chicago named Zakk Tyler who likes jokes and parody songs.
The Six Flags snafu: Q100’s altruistic efforts backfired in the spring when they opened Six Flags Over Georgia for free. Word got around and so many people showed up early, the park was shut down by 6 a.m., fueling an I-20 snarlup packed with thousands of angry commuters, parents and kids. (At least the Bert Show overcame logistical hurdles later that year to send Thanksgiving letters to every military personnel overseas, all 375,000 of them.)
Give it away: Radio stations generated millions of dollars in charity this year. Despite a slowing economy, both Star 94 and WSB-AM reached their $1.2 million fundraising goals for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and AFLAC Cancer Center, respectively. But others had a tougher time. Kicks only raised $735,000 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, down from $1.2 million each in 2005 and 2006. Dave FM’s Call to Auction for Habitat for Humanity fell $30,000 short of its $100,000 goal earlier this month.
WABE falls short: For the first time in several years, the news/classical public radio station 90.1/WABE-FM failed to reach its fundraising goals in the spring. But it managed to bounce back in the fall, hitting $1 million in pledges for the first time.
12/26: 96.7 now country
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Soft rock Lite 94.9 disappeared just over a year ago to make way for country station 94.9/The Bull. To mollify at least a handful of Lite fans on the South side, 96.7 became Lite FM for a year and played a wider variety of soft rock than the old Lite.
But as of midnight today, 96.7 is now the Legend, a country oldies station, focusing on the 60s through 80s. The station itself has such a limited signal, it has never generated much ratings or income for Clear Channel, which has tried at least a five formats on the signal this decade, including a Spanish simulcast, dance/R&B and alternative rock.
Clearly, by making it a country station, Clear Channel is taking a cue from Citadel (formerly ABC), which owns both Kicks and its slightly older-skewing flanker, Eagle 106.7. For years, those two stations scared away any other major country competitor until the Bull came along. Clear Channel now has two country stations, using Legend as an add-on component for its Bull sales staff.
Here’s the Legend’s home page..
According to yes.com, the station opened at midnight under its new format with Roseanne Cash’s “Seven Year Ache.” Other artists the station has been playing include Johnny Paycheck, Tammy Wynette, Elvis Presley, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Charley Pride and Willie Nelson.
Clay Hunnicutt, who engineered the move and specializes in country programming at Clear Channel, was at lunch with his kids when I called and asked me to contact him tomorrow when he’s back at work.
Victor Sansone, who runs Eagle 106.7 and Kicks 101.5, said he’s not concerned with Legend, given its weak signal. And he noted that the country oldies format wasn’t as viable as it used to be so over the past 18 months, Eagle has effectively phased country oldies out, moving more towards 80s, 90s and today, with a greater emphasis on the past 10 years. In fact, Eagle’s playlist is much closer to that of its sister station Kicks than it was a couple years ago.
“I don’t think there’s a market there” for Legend, Sansone said. “I don’t understand the plan, but it’s not mine to understand.”
But he’s said he’s sticking with Eagle as is. He has no plans to change it to soft rock, the most obvious hole in the market since 94/9 Lite FM left town, leaving the genre to B98.5.
12/26: TV stories of the year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… to fill space by doing a year in review. First off, we’ll do TV. Tomorrow, it’s radio.
Here are a few of the biggest local TV stories.
Tyler Perry, king of Atlanta media: Besides his films and plays, he is building a TV franchise as well. He broke all TV rules by financing 10 episodes of “House of Payne” in 2006 out of his own pocket, tested it in 10 markets and convinced TBS to shell out tens of millions for 100 episodes. This business model is one of a kind. Typically, TV shows have to air 100 episodes first on a broadcast network, then get pitched to syndication. But that pool is running dry. So far, “House of Payne” has become a big hit for TBS, averaging 3 to 4 million viewers a week. (That would ensure cancellation on ABC, for sure, but the metrix for cable are different.)
Alton Brown, king of the Food Network: Meanwhile, Atlanta’s food science guru Alton Brown has become the go-to guy at the Food Network, helming four shows this year, including his signature “Good Eats,” which is about to hit 200 episodes. He also hosts “Iron Chef America,” the “Next Iron Chef” and his own motorcycle road trip food show. Some weeks, Food Network aired 20 or more hours a week of Brown, more than Paula Deen, Emeril or Rachael Ray.
Welcome, Peachtree TV: Turner Broadcasting in October decided to dump its simulcast feed of national TBS on WTBS-TV and do its own programming for Atlanta. While this still means daily heapings of “King of Queens” and “Seinfeld,” as usual, it also means primetime movies and the launch of fresh local programming. Its first effort, “Dallas Austin’s Drumroll,” a look at a local high school marching band, was a big success this past month.
Is this better? WGCL-TV, whose news programs typically lag its rivals in most time periods, was doing so poorly a few years ago with its morning news, it simply gave up. Current general manager Andy Alford earlier this year decided to bring something different back, a program it dubbed “Better Mornings” from 5 to 7 a.m. While traffic and weather are regular features like any other morning news show, the hosts don’t gab about the most recent murder or apartment fire. Rather, it’s all about the hottest places to get a pedicure or the latest Britney Spears shenanigans. So far, it hasn’t had any impact on ratings, which remain dismal, but morning habits die hard and WSB-TV continues to dominate.
Mothersucka! Cari Champion, a weekend anchor on WGCL-TV, last month got into trouble for uttering a possible curse word that could be heard by listeners leading into a promo. She apologized to the station and said she actually said “mothersucka.” But the station let her go. She protested publicly, saying the punishment didn’t the crime. A month later, her bosses agreed: she got her job back and will be back on air January 7.
Is Foxworthy smarter than everybody else? Alpharetta’s Jeff Foxworthy has already been a standup star, a sitcom actor, a sketch comedian. Now he’s a game-show host, an amiable presence on Fox’s surprise hit game show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” His success shows that Atlanta has a knack for hosts, following Ty Pennington’s work on “Extreme Makeover” and, of course, Ryan Seacrest on “American Idol.”
And here are some of the bigger national TV stories:
Write or wrong Hollywood writers struck on November 5, mostly over payment for shows airing on the Internet and other digital media. Talks between writers and producers broke down just before Christmas and the strike may be protracted. The short-term effect was plunging late-night talk shows into repeats. It appears all will be back by early January, though most without their writers. Among scripted shows, many have already run out of fresh episodes, including “Heroes” and “The Office.” But some mid-season shows will be back, including “Lost” — or at least eight episodes. “24,” however, has been placed on hold because Fox wants to air it in its completion and production stopped after eight episodes.
Cable’s hot summer: While broadcast TV failed to generate a single watercooler hit this fall, cable had a field day over the summer, churning out quality show after quality show while ABC gave us “National Bingo Night.” Among the notable newbies this past summer included Lifetime’s drama “Army Wives” (which featured several Atlanta actors in secondary roles), AMC’s “Mad Men,” USA’s delightful “Burn Notice” and even ESPN’s guilty pleasure miniseries “Bronx is Burning.” Then there was HBO’s goofy “Flight of the Conchords,” FX’s late-summer drama “Damages,” TNT’s Holly Hunter vehicle “Saving Grace “and TBS’s turn-back-the-clock sitcom “Bill Engvall Show.” Okay, VH1 introduced “Scott Baio is 45 and in Love” and “Rock of Love” (both coming back in 2008!) so cable is hardly guilt free of junk food, but is that any worse than Boy Shakira on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”?
Don’t stop believ…: The show that truly defined HBO, “The Sopranos,” which was a critical and mainstream hit, ended on such a jarring, cut-to-black note, millions thought their cable had gone dead at the most inopportune moment. Rather, it was a twisted farewell by mastermind David Chase, who refuses to explain the move, leaving it to the viewers to interpret as they may.
Disney domination: Disney has found the sweet spot for tweens with squeaky clean yet fun acts such as Hannah Montana and the entire cast of “High School Musical.” The sequel to that film generated more than 17.5 million viewers in August, the most at that time for a basic cable telecast. And Hannah Montana became the hottest concert ticket of the year, selling out the Gwinnett Arena in four minutes flat and causing parents to throw hundreds of dollars to scalpers to keep their kids happy.
Can’t stand the View? Blame — or credit — Rosie O’Donnell for turning this female talkfest into potential daily grist for the pop culture blogs and late-night talk hosts. One second she was badmouthing Donald Trump, the next, she was pouting anti-war views in the face of a slackjawed Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Then she was gone, replaced by Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd, who doesn’t care if the world is flat or not.
Lost and found One of nuttiest shows on TV “Lost” found its footing in the final few episodes this past spring, highlighted by its season three finale, “Through the Looking Glass” and threw viewers for a loop near the end as Charlie died and scenes featuring Jack were revealed to be “flashforwards,” not typical flashbacks.”
Britney gave us more and more and more The pop singer/train wreck kept “TMZ,” “Extra,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “Best Week Ever,” “Access Hollywood,” “The Soup” and hundreds of paparazzi in business. From her inexplicable hair shaving to her potty mouth to her custody battle to shoplifting to that infamous MTV Video Music Awards appearance, she somehow outshone Paris Hilton’s jail release and Lindsay Lohan’s rehab.
12/25: What’s up with Matt Chernoff?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Matt Chernoff was the odd man out in the reshuffle of the Zone lineup a couple weeks ago. His agent Jamie Bendall said he didn’t know specifically why the Zone dumped him and the Zone itself was suitably vague. His contract ended in late November so in the end, they simply chose not to renew it.
Chernoff, a Dunwoody High School and Georgia State grad, had been there for a decade and was most recently a co-host with Chuck Oliver during Monsters of the Midday on the sports station. He has also been a fixture on CSS’s evening sports show “Sports Nite.”, which also features Nick Cellini, Bob Neal and Bob Fischella. And he’s a regular contributor on Jamie Dukes’ NFL Network football show.
In other words, Chernoff still has his TV gigs. Bendall said Chernoff loves radio and after a non-compete is over, he will be still seeking a job in that arena. (Chernoff was on vacation when I called him and referred comments to his agent.)
To summarize for those who missed it, the 2 Live Stews got a new syndication deal with the Sporting News and are moving to a 1 to 4 p.m. time slot. This led the Zone to moving long-time morning man Mike Bell to the 4 to 7 p.m. slot with Chuck Oliver and “Hometeam” Brandon Leak. (Given Chernoff’s TV responsibilities, he couldn’t do that time slot anyway). The Zone also promoted weekend guys Brandon Adams and Jeff Woolverton to middays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. All changes start January 7.
Former AJC Braves writer I.J. Rosenberg, who owns Score Atlanta and Score Marketing and does a weekend show on the Zone on Sundays from 2 to 4, has far more insight into the talents of the various Zone personalities than I do. He wrote about the changes here, the second item down.. Here’s an excerpt:
First, why is Matt Chernoff out? He is a good guy, but they didn’t feel he added anything special, say like a Chuck Oliver, who has tremendous college contacts and does a lot of reporting. Chernoff is perhaps the only one over there that actually has a face for television and not radio. Chernoff needs to go into TV fulltime. I told him that a few years ago and the money is much better. I hope he doesn’t land at 680, which would be a death knell. With ESPN only getting bigger, his agent needs to get on the horn and get him an audition. I wish Matt the best of luck.
And here’s Rosenberg’s thoughts on Adams and Woolverton, who will also continue to do their Saturday show but will no longer to Sundays from 10 to 2 p.m., replaced by Sam Radin and John Michaels:
My advice to Adams and Woolverton is to not just rely on straight talk and callers but give Atlanta what it so desperately needs on radio and that is someone that does some reporting. Make the two hours at midday a show that gives us some sports news, a perfect time to break stories and get guests on the phone to talk about them.
Also, another former AJC writer and freelancer Caroline Wilbert did a Q&A on Sunday with Weather Channel morning weekend host and former Miss Georgia Samantha Mohr here.
12/24: Updates on Spiff & Sean Demery
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Merry Xmas!
Here are a couple of emails I got from a couple of former Atlanta jocks earlier this month:
First, from Spiff, let go in the fall from WGST-AM:
I am sleeping late, enjoying life and have NO WORRIES! I’m working out, have lost 13 pounds and feel better than I have felt in years! Happy Holidays!
This, from Sean Demery, soon after he left 99X and arrived in Utah:
I’ve unpacked boxes, cut a bunch of seasoned firewood, plowed the driveway (14 inches of snow) and sat in front of the fire drinking wine and giggling with my wife. Tomorrow we’re going boarding at the Canyons (Park City Resort) and I’m gonna stretch a couple of 5’ x 7’ canvas’ for painting large format later in the week. My free time card is already full!
I already miss the peeps at 99X. It was a lot of fun but it didn’t quite jive with my home life… Unfortunate, I have no plans for the future as yet and hope to keep it that way for at least 6 months. I’ve been working straight with no more than vacation days for over 30 years. I’m soooo ready to just relax for awhile.
Be well and much happiness and success to you.
12/21: Most played songs of 2007
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Was there a radio song that dominated our consciousness in 2007? If anything, women dominated. Among the biggest hits played across all radio formats, six were sung by solo females. No. 1? Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right.” But songs that really defined 2007 in my mind include Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and Carrie Underwood’s crossover smash “Before He Cheats.” All were played more than 350,000 times by stations tracked by Mediabase 24/7 this year.
Among the guys, it was hard to escape Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” or anything by Daughtry. And it’s hard to miss the Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah” or Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls.”
Here are the most played songs on Atlanta radio stations in 2007 (through Dec. 15)
92.9/Dave FM, Red Hot Chili Peppers “Snow (Hey Oh)”
Star 94 Justin Timberlake “What Goes Around Comes Around”
94.9/The Bull Montgomery Gentry “Lucky Man”
95.5/The Beat, DJ Unk “Walk It Out”
Project 9-6-1 Korn “Coming Undone”
97.1/The River Aerosmith “Sweet Emotion”
Praise 97.5 Anointed Pace Sisters “High Praise”
B98.5 James Blunt “You’re Beautiful”
99X’s Muse “Starlight”
Q100 Gwen Stefani “The Sweet Escape”
Kicks 101.5 Tracy Lawrence “Find Out Who Your Friends Are”
Grown Folks 102.5 Robin Thicke “Lost Without U”
V-103 Justin Timberlake with Beyoncé “Until the End of Time”
Kiss 104.1, Mother’s Finest “Love Changes”
104.7/The Fish Brandon Heath’“I’m Not Who I Was”
Eagle 106.7 Sugarland “Settlin’ ”
Smooth Jazz 107.5 Walter Beasley “Ready For Love”
Hot 107.9 Playaz Circle “Duffle Bag Boy”
SOURCE: Mediabase 24/7
12/20: “The Dead Zone,” “The 4400” kaput
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two USA sci-fi series have been nixed: “The Dead Zone” with Anthony Michael Hall and “The 4400,” which seemed like a low-budget version of “Heroes.”
Both shows opened with big numbers, “The Dead Zone” in 2002 and “The 4400” in 2004. In fact, “The 4400” was originally a miniseries that opened with such big numbers, USA turned it into a series. But “The 4400,” which lost its creative spark in its third season, saw its ratings fall off far faster than “The Dead Zone.” In fact, with average viewership hovering around 2 million, it actually started pulling in worse numbers most weeks than “The Dead Zone” in its final season despite being two years younger.
More details here.
12/19: Cari Champion gets a 2nd chance (UPDATED)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cari Champion (above), who may or may not have accidentally uttered a curse word over the air last month, lost her job Nov. 20 but after lobbying for the station publicly and privately, WGCL-TV is giving her a second chance.
She is back on the air January 7, but she will no longer do weekend anchor work. Instead, she’ll be a reporter with a 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekday shift, according to news director Rick Erbach. He declined to comment about the circumstances behind her firing or rehiring. (Actually, Erbach was mistaken, according to Champion’s attorney Dan Kolber Thursday evening. He said he negotiated a deal in which she got to return as weekend anchor.)
In mid-November, Champion said what some thought was a nasty profanity when she didn’t realize the mike was on. She later told Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute that she actually said “mothersucka,” but admitted even that was problematic. She said she made a mistake but felt she didn’t deserve to be fired over it. Based on the audio I heard, it could go either way.
At 11 p.m. Wednesday, I received a Blackberry message from her for the first time, but she didn’t want to talk until Thursday. Her attorney told her not to talk until things were clarified so I have yet to hear from her as of Thursday evening. He said she might call me later tonight. We’ll see.)
Here’s what she originally told Prince at the Maynard Institute:
“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.”
12/19: “Apprentice” alum Wes Moss on WGST-AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wes Moss, a former “Apprentice” contestant three years ago and UBS financial planner, knows how to promote himself well. He’s getting ready to release his second book, “Make More, Worry Less: Secrets from 18 Extraordinary People Who Created a Bigger Income and a Better Life.” It’s out in February and profiles people who did entrepreneurial acts within major corporations as opposed to being entrepreneurs with their own companies.
But he wanted to push his personal finance radio show, which has been on 640/WGST Sundays at 11 a.m. for five months.
“I’ve been trying to get this on air from day one,” Moss said. “I’m more excited by this than anything.” He already knows there’s “Money Matters” with Mike Kavanagh over at WSB-AM along with Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey. Compared to Kavanagh, “I look at the economy a little more globally. From time to time, I bring in experts from other fields like mortgages and the real estate market.”
And unlike Clark Howard, he is more about finding places to invest, not about penny pinching.
The show also helps him in his own investment and finance work because he said it forces him to keep up with the news.
Moss, married with a nine-month old son, is sandwiched between an hour of Dave Ramsey at 10 and Fox News at noon. (I noticed GST’s oddball mix later that day: Rush Limbaugh from 1 to 5, Bob Costas from 5 to 7 and Jesse Jackson from 7 to 8.
He said for all the problems “The Apprentice” has had, he can’t help but root for Mr. Trump. “I want the franchise to do well like you want your school to do well in basketball. We all went to Trump University.” He said he thought the celebrity list wasn’t half bad. (Trump brought in the likes of Gene Simmons, Lennox Lewis and Vincent Pastore.)
12/18: Jay, Conan back Jan. 2
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The writers’ strike has kept fresh episodes of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “The Late Show With Conan O’Brien” off the air since November 5, but both shows have decided to come back January 2 to save non-writer jobs. Both held back as long as there were active negotiations but there are no scheduled talks between the two sides forthcoming so the two late-night shows felt it best to get back to business.
David Letterman is still negotiation, through his independent company Worldwide Pants, to get a special waiver so he can come back next month with his writers. No word on Jimmy Kimmel. Craig Ferguson would come back whenever Letterman does because he owns both.
Here’s Jay’s statement:
“This has been a very difficult six weeks for everybody affected by the writers strike. I was, like most people, hoping for a quick resolution when this began. I remained positive during the talks and while they were still at the table discussing a solution The Tonight Show remained dark in support of our writing staff. Now that the talks have broken down and there are no further negotiations scheduled I feel it’s my responsibility to get my 100 non-writing staff, which were laid off, back to work. We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision.”
Here are Conan’s words:
“For the past seven weeks of the writers’ strike, I have been and continue to be an ardent supporter of the WGA and their cause. My career in television started as a WGA member and my subsequent career as a performer has only been possible because of the creativity and integrity of my writing staff. Since the strike began, I have stayed off the air in support of the striking writers while, at the same time, doing everything I could to take care of the 80 on-writing staff members on Late Night.
“Unfortunately, now with the New Year upon us, I am left with a difficult decision. Either go back to work and keep my staff employed or stay dark and allow 80 people, many of whom have worked for me for fourteen years, to lose their jobs. If my show were entirely scripted I would have no choice. But the truth is that shows like mine are hybrids, with both written and non-written content. An unwritten version of ‘Late Night,’ though not desirable, is possible - and no one has to be fired.
So, it is only after a great deal of thought that I have decided to go back on the air on January 2nd. I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and I’ll do the best version of Late Night I can under the circumstances. Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible. My sincerest hope is that all of my writers are back soon, working under a contract that provides them everything they deserve.”
12/16: Frank Ski’s wine auction at his home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Frank starts his auction. You can see Bert Weiss in the background with his wife Stacey. That’s his publicist Cherry Banez on the right.
Frank Ski’s 4th annual wine auction to raise bucks for his Frank Ski Kids Foundation is unusual because he holds it at his lavish home. Most of the main floor and downstairs are open to the public. Guards are stationed so people can’t wander upstairs and peek into Frank’s bedroom.
Last year, we did a “Private Quarters” photo gallery of Ski’s home and it was enormously popular. The Dunwoody home includes eight bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms. It features a basement with autographed jerseys of various athletic stars on the walls and a room packed with mementos from his various vacations (such as this big swordfish above.)
He raised about $90,000 for his foundation last year and broke $100,000 this year with auction items such as a trip to meet Magic Johnson and autographed items from the likes of LeBron James, Tiger Woods, John Smoltz, Keith Sweat (who was in attendance) and Babyface. (I’m awaiting a total from his publicist Cherry Banez. Yes, that’s her name.)
He used some of that money last year to send a dozen teens from Atlanta to the Galapagos Islands. Three of those teens showed up to the auction to extol the experience including an incredibly moving speech by 15-year-old Asha Carter, who definitely has skills speaking in front of a crowd. He also sends kids to NASA’s Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala. and holds a summer camp for thousands of kids over the summer. He also gives money to rec and parks programs around Atlanta.
His publicist named Cherry gave out a release dangling two A-listers as confirmed guests: Ne-Yo and Diddy. Ne-Yo was a no show, but Diddy showed up— for a few minutes. By the time I realized he was there, he was out the door. The AJC photographer found out just in time and nabbed a single decent shot of him before he left.
ABOVE: 112’s “Q” with injured Falcons defensive tackle Rod Coleman, who was fortunate to miss the drubbing the Falcons took the same day 37-3 to the Bucs.
ABOVE: Brian Jordan, formerly of the Braves and as Ski noted, not included in the Mitchell Report.
But there were other local luminaries there including Atlanta City Council prez Lisa Borders, Atlanta police chief Richard Pennington, DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, former Braves player Brian Jordan, educator, Q100 host Bert Weiss, actor Malik Yoba, Broadway director Kenny Leon, WAOK-AM talker Shelley Wynter, injured Falcons defensive tackle Rod Coleman, 112 member Quinees “Q” Parker, Luther Campbell from 2 Live Crew, Speech from Arrested Development and former radio host Michael Eric Dyson, His co-host Wanda Smith and I shot the breeze for awhile, though none of the other major V-103 personalities (Porsche Foxx, Greg Street, Ryan Cameron) showed up. Later on, after I left, Emmanuel Lewis and Dallas Austin popped in for an afterparty party, according to publicist Cherry.
ABOVE: Wanda Smith, Ski’s day wife, as she calls herself, and Tonya, Ski’s “night” wife, or in other words, his real wife.
ABOVE: Wanda with Bert Weiss.
I then stopped by the 99X Mistle Toe Jam. I got there too late for Silversun Pickups and the Shins, but caught part of Silverchair and all of Modest Mouse. Both were solid, fun entertainment and the crowd was definiteily into it. You have to give the station credit, for all its problems, it was still able to sell out the Gwinnett Arena, at about 12,000 people. That’s nearly five percent of its total weekly audience.
For the first time I met Lewis Alston of the 99X night-time show (below), who struck me as goofy nice. Or maybe it was just the Santa hat on top of his head.
12/15: TV ratings show love for the Patriots, The Closer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With “House” in repeats and “Dancing With the Stars” taking a hiatus, the top of the Atlanta Nielsen ratings charts shifted a bit. In fact, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” came in on top, a rare situation where cable trumped broadcast.
Nationally, the undefeated Patriots victory over the Ravens drew 17.5 million, the most ever for any cable telecast, beating the “High School Musical 2” debut in August. Locally, the game brought in 365,000 viewers. (A week later, this past Monday, the pathetic Falcons helped lead to the lowest “Monday Night Football” ratings ever, at about half the number of viewers as the Patriots/Ravens game.)
In reruns because of the writers strike, “House” still hit No. 3 locally.
And the Christmas special for TNT’s “The Closer,” which featured Brenda visiting her family in Atlanta, nearly made the top 10 here, finishing at No. 11 with 231,000 viewers. It was the third-biggest cable show of the week nationally, but at 6 million viewers, it was barely in the top 70 among all prime-time TV programs.
WSB’s “Channel 2 Investigates” special Dec. 3, which pre-empted a national telecast of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and generated some complaints, still did respectably well, ranking 18th with 205,000 viewers. WSB’s “Monica’s Closeups” featuring Usher on Dec. 4 did almost as well, with 188,000 viewers, ranking 25th. And ABC’s Barbara Walters “Most Fascinating People” special improved strongly from a year ago, finishing 13th with 222,000 viewers locally and 15th with 11.3 million overall.
Nationally, ABC Family had its highest rated program ever with Christmas flick “Holiday in Handcuffs” bringing home 6.7 million viewers Sunday, thanks to the one-two punch of stars Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez.
On the same evening, the E! debut of “Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood” pulled in a solid 1.9 million following the season debut of “Girls Next Door” at 2 million. But Oxygen continues to struggle to draw viewers to its original reality shows; the season debut of “Bad Girls Club” brought in just 374,000 viewers Dec. 4.
Over at BET, the Atlanta-based “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is” series finished its second season with a bang at 2.9 million viewers this past Tuesday. It was BET’s best performance for an original series telecast in the network’s history, virtually guaranteeing a third season.
TOP 10 PRIME-TIME SHOWS IN ATLANTA Week of Dec. 3
Rank, program, network ….Date……Atlanta viewers ..Natl. rank
1- “Monday Night Football (Ravens/Patriots)” ESPN Dec. 3 365,000 n/a
2- “Grey’s Anatomy” ABC Dec. 6 363,000 2
3- “House” Fox Dec. 4 301,000 19
4- “CSI” CBS Dec. 6 291,000 1
5- “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” Fox Dec. 6 288,000 31
6- “Sunday Night Football (Ravens/Colts)” NBC Dec. 9 281,000 7
7- “60 Minutes” CBS Dec. 9 249,000 3
8- “Mitch Albom’s for One More Day” ABC Dec. 9 238,000 9
9- “Ugly Betty” ABC Dec. 6 236,000 26
10- “Law & Order: SVU” NBC Dec. 4 232,000 12
Source: Nielsen Media Research
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12/14: The Zone shuffles lineup, Stews get new syndicator
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The dogs and poodles will have to soon adjust their schedules to catch the 2 Live Stews.
Sporting News Network has signed the 2 Live Stews to a syndication deal which will mean 790/The Zone will move the brothers January 7 to 1 to 4 p.m. weekdays from their current 3 to 7 p.m. slot.
Ryan Stewart said this evening that they hope to be on 20 to 30 markets starting out though he doesn’t know which ones yet. The pair’s previous syndication deal with Radio One ended a couple months ago. That one linked them with political talkers such as Al Sharpton and it didn’t meld as well.
Locally, the changes also mean a bunch of personnel shifts at the Zone. Matt Chernoff, a veteran talker on the station, is out in middays and is leaving the station. “Unfortunately in this business, sometimes you got to lose and part ways with very talented people,” said Zone GM Andrew Saltzman.
Chernoff’s mid-day partner and college football expert Chuck Oliver moves to the 4 to 7 slot with “Mayhem in the AM” vet and resident goofball Mike Bell and former fill-in man “Hometeam” Brandon Leak.
Mid-days will be the weekend hosts Brandon Adams and Jeff Woolverton from 11 to 1 p.m. (The pair will continue to do their Saturday show as well.) The “Mayhem in the AM” morning show, minus Bell, will otherwise remain the same with Steak Shapiro, Nick Cellini, Chris Dimino and Sandra Golden. Bell has been at the station for nine years ago.
John Kincade, who is part of rival 680/The Fan’s most successful show, said he and Buck Belue have competed against at least the six different combinations over at the Zone since they began seven years ago on the Fan. Against the Stews, Buck and Kincade usually won. He wishes both Bell and Oliver luck (though Buck and Kincade will still compete against the Stews for one hour a day.). “I think the world of both Mike and Chuck. I have nothing but admiration and respect for them.”
So what do you all think of these upcoming changes?
In other radio news, Dave FM’s Call to Auction fell short of its $100,000 goal, pulling in $70,000 for Habitat for Humanity last week. The auction, which featured people pledging money for songs and a charity auction, raised $60,000 in 2005 and $120,000-plus last year.
In TV land, it’s notable that three shows have been canned despite the writers’ strike but contractually, I’m sure networks have to decide whether to pick up the “back side 9” episodes of a 22-episode season. New shows typically get 13 upfront. So “K-Ville” on Fox, “Journeyman” on NBC and “Big Shots” on ABC appear to be goners. Up to this week, CBS’s “Viva Laughlin” was the only scripted show to be canceled this year. “Cane” probably isn’t far behind and it’s doubtful ABC will ask for more episodes of either “Carpoolers” or “Cavemen.”
And for anybody who cares, here are the TV Golden Globe nominations. The Foreign Press Association, for all the criticisms they take for being insular and pandering at times, often make braver and more interesting nominations for TV than the Emmys. For instance, FX’s “Damages” gets much love, along with Showtime’s “Weeds,” “The Tudors,” “Californication” and “Dexter.”
Series, Drama: Big Love, HBO; Damages, FX Networks; Grey’s Anatomy, ABC; House, Fox; Mad Men, AMC; The Tudors, Showtime.
Actress, Drama: Patricia Arquette, Medium ; Glenn Close, Damages ; Minnie Driver, The Riches ; Edie Falco, The Sopranos ; Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters ; Holly Hunter, Saving Grace ; Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer.
Actor, Drama: Michael C. Hall, Dexter ; Jon Hamm, Mad Men ; Hugh Laurie, House ; Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors ; Bill Paxton, Big Love.
Series, Musical or Comedy: 30 Rock, NBC; Californication, Showtime; Entourage, HBO; Extras, HBO; Pushing Daisies, ABC.
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? ; America Ferrera, Ugly Betty ; Tina Fey, 30 Rock ; Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies ; Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds.
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock ; Steve Carell, The Office ; David Duchovny, Californication ; Ricky Gervais, Extras ; Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies.
Miniseries or Movie: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, HBO; The Company, TNT; Five Days, HBO; Longford, HBO; The State Within, BBC America.
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Bryce Dallas Howard, As You Like It ; Debra Messing, The Starter Wife ; Queen Latifah, Life Support ; Sissy Spacek, Pictures of Hollis Woods ; Ruth Wilson, Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre).
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Adam Beach, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee ; Ernest Borgnine, A Grandpa for Christmas ; Jim Broadbent, Longford ; Jason Isaacs, The State Within ; James Nesbitt, Jekyll.
Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Rose Byrne, Damages ; Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters ; Katherine Heigl, Grey’s Anatomy ; Samantha Morton, Longford ; Anna Paquin, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee ; Jaime Pressly, My Name Is Earl.
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Ted Danson, Damages ; Kevin Dillon, Entourage ; Jeremy Piven, Entourage ; Andy Serkis, Longford ; William Shatner, Boston Legal ; Donald Sutherland, Dirty Sexy Money.
Project Runway recap: Polyester’s just divine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: Chris returns, but …
The low: Jack leaves.
In a season where tears flowed as freely as silk charmeuse, I was surprised to find my cynical self feeling a little verklempt when Jack Mackenroth left to undergo aggressive medical treatments. Best of luck to him.
Ah, the dreaded real woman challenge.
Before we move on to Steven Rosengard’s obvious distaste at touching polyester satin (insert sneer here), I’d just like to wonder aloud about the rules for these challenges. It seems to work like this: Tim Gunn explains the rules; someone flouts the rules; the judges overlook the infraction; the scofflaw skates away. What, I ask, is the point of having rules if we’re just going to ignore them? Two weeks ago, Jack made a two-piece menswear outfit instead of the “required” three; this week uppity Jillian used purchased fabric instead of her model’s clothing. What gives? I want justice delivered; I want to see punishment meted out. Stick needles under their fingernails! What, am I too hung up on the rules?
Speaking of uppity, while I’ve liked Steven’s previous points of view, I was incensed at his attitude this week: White lace and beads so gaudy he couldn’t even make an effort at using them. And, snif, the polyester satin. Really, is it that offensive? A job’s a job, Preppie. Make yourself cozy with that froufrou getup.
Then again, his satin snub was the closest we’ve come to real attitude on this fashion love-in.
Finally, Christian’s own point of view was rewarded with a win. Hallelujah! Yes, Christian, your design really was better than everyone else’s this time! The judges got it! It was fierce! Please, can we move on to another topic now?
The last word: How about bringing Jack back as a guest judge?
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12/12: This writers strike isn’t ending anytime soon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After talks broke off last Friday, it appears both the writers on strike and the producers on the other side are digging in their heels for a long, long winter. The result: reality and game shows will clutter the airwaves and most fresh scripted fare will disappear. So might the viewers, who have already been gradually weaning themselves off broadcast shows anyway. Heck, there hasn’t even been a single new watercooler show among the freshmen class.
ABOVE: NBC’s “The Office” was one of the first shows to run out of fresh episodes once the strike started Nov. 5 and has been in repeats.
So far, the strike has lasted a month and the effect on people watching TV has been minimal. A few shows have run out of episodes including “The Office,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Heroes,” “Big Bang Theory,” “Shark” and “Bionic Woman.” If you want to track how many episodes are left of your favorite shows, TV Guide is doing a good job with the numbers..
The most obvious place where the strike is hurting is late-night TV talk shows. All have been doing repeats, some really old ones (see Leno when he had more black hair!). Only Carson Daly has returned and given his late, late time slot of 1:35 a.m. and basic irrelevance in most people’s minds, who really cares? If this strike drags on a few more weeks, the late-night shows will probably come back in some form as they did during the 1988 strike. The hosts who are currently bankrolling their entire staff can’t do so indefinitely. And even in the case of Comedy Central, which is paying Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s staffs for now, the largess won’t last indefinitely.
Michael Cieply of the New York Times lays out a fairly depressing scenerio.. The writers want more than just higher rates for downloaded TV shows and other digital media. This story makes it clear it’s also a battle about respect, about the writers trying to gain some leverage on the big corporations. The union wants to bring in animation and reality writers not covered by the Writers Guild. They want to be able to join other unions if they choose to strike. (The directors and actors have contracts to renegotiate next year, too.) These are not issues the big guys want to concede on.
Do the writers have enough power to force any real change? Will advertisers balk and viewers flee so fast that Disney and GE and the like will have to concede?
Or will this game of chicken backfire for both sides and simply hasten people away from broadcast TV (which is more affected by the strike in the short term than cable)?
Right now, the writers have done a good job on the PR front, many channeling their pent-up creativity via amusing YouTube videos portraying the big corporations as greedy bastards. But if this strike lasts into the spring and kills pilot season, thus delaying scripted shows in the fall, will the same number of people care enough to go back when “Desperate Housewives” or “24”finally come back? Will people get sick of reality TV to the point that all reality will suffer?
Will people start talking to each other and reading books instead of staring at their 42-inch flat screen four hours a day? Hey, there is a silver lining somewhere in this mess, eh?
12/11: Star’s Morning Mess starting soon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: A shot off star94.com from the Morning Mess’s recent party with the Backstreet Boys. That’s Marco, MIkey and Shannon, left to right.
Star 94’s new Morning Mess with Marco, Shannon and Superphat Mikey from Indianapolis was originally going to start in early January, but Marco intimated on stage at the Star 94 sold-out Jingle Jam Monday night that they may start sooner than that.
After Steve & Vikki made a bittersweet departure in early November after 17 years on the station, Star 94 ran a “best of” until Thanksgiving. Since then, night-time jock Nudge and traffic gal Shannon Holly have been ably holding the fort.
Marco, Shannon and Mikey have been at work but not on air since Dec. 1. Instead, Star 94 staff has given them a quick intro to Atlanta. General Manager Mark Kanov in October said they were supposed to spend the month in Atlanta traffic, meeting advertisers and learning how to properly pronounce words such as “Gwinnett.”
The trio, in one of its first public appearances as the new Star morning team, introduced headliner Avril Lavigne Monday night. (Lavigne during her one-hour set showed far more verve than she did at the recent American Music Awards, where she seemed languid and comatose. You have to give that gal credit— she’s a singles machine whose songs appeal with laser-sharp focus to suburban teen. Radio is already playing her fourth single “Hot” off her current album.)
On stage, Marco told the 10,000 mostly young teens (many who screamed nonstop for the Jonas Brothers), “We are the new morning show. We’re starting in the next few days.” Marco introduced Shannon (no, not Holly, the other Shannon, who wasn’t offered a full-time job in the new world order) and Mikey and explained “phat” stands for “pretty hot and tasty.”
I’m set to talk to them soon. Based on comments from fans in Indianapolis and videos on YouTube, the threesome will offer a significantly different (and younger) vibe from Steve & Vikki.
Meanwhile, the final count at Project 9-6-1 was more than $104,000 for the Empty Stocking Fund, more than doubling the value of the amount stolen from the charity’s warehouse a couple weeks ago.
And over in TV news, the final day for Cynne Simpson as anchor/reporter at WGCL-TV was last Friday. She sent an email out to friends noting her new destination: a strong ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington D.C., a comparable-sized market. She starts there January 7.
Here’s an excerpt from the email:
As you may know, I went to Howard University in Washington DC and have lots of family and friends there. I am super excited about returning to my old stomping grounds. It’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up!
Stephany Fisher will now co-anchor the 4, 6 (where Cynne had anchored) and 11 p.m. news and WGCL will hire a full-time reporter as a replacement. Bill Gaines will continue as co-anchor at 4, 6 and 11 p.m.
12/10: Cledus T. Judd new Bull morning host
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And the new morning hosts keep on comin’.
This time, 94.9/The Bull has dumped its syndicated Big D. & Bubba after just a few months in favor of a locally-based show starring Cledus T. Judd, the “Weird Al” Yankovic of country radio.
Judd, who is calling his show the “Cledus T. Party,” wanted to move closer to home. (His mom is in Cartersville). Mid-day host Paul Koffy will co-host. The show stars January 7, just a few days after Star 94’s new morning team, the Morning Mess, launches. Dave FM’s new morning show with Zakk Tyler will start soon after.
Judd, 42, recently left a morning show post at a Tampa country station WQYK-FM because he wanted to be home. “I had a great run there,” he said Monday. “They were some of the nicest people in the world. But my mama wasn’t doing well. I wanted to be with my friends and closer to my daughter [who lives in Kentucky.] I was dying a slow death mentally in Tampa.”
He has done parody songs playing off popular tunes by the likes of Toby Keith (“How Do You Milk A Cow?” for “How Do You Like Me Now?”), Alan Jackson (“Gone Funky” for “Gone Country”) and Travis Tritt (“It’s a Great Day To Be a Guy” for “It’s a Great Day To Be Alive”). He was recently on VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club” and had some lovely run-ins with Screech, er… Dustin Diamond.
Judd said he loved his time doing “Fit Club” although he said he starved himself on a diet of chicken and broccoli to get down to 190 pounds (from a peak of 290 long before the show even taped.). He is at about 200 pounds now. He said VH1 broadened his appeal. “I’ve been well known in Waffle Houses. After ‘Fit Club,’ I now have a monster black following.”He said he became friends with everybody except Dustin (“he’s a cocky, arrogant bastard,” he said) and stays in touch with rapper Warren G. and Maureen McCormick (AKA Marcia Brady).
He said his show in Tampa had about six or seven songs an hour and he expects the same on the Bull. He’s still rounding out his morning team of four and he’s looking for a good female sidekick. He promises to be accessible and if people want to stop by the studio, he’s open to that. He will bring listeners to his home on a regular basis. “When people call, the phones will be answered. We’ll talk about the military and family will be first and foremost. I will do damn near anything for kids.”
He loves doting on his three-year-old daughter Caitlyn (who lives in Kentucky with his ex wife) and based on his Tampa show, he will talk about her frequently.
“He knows this town,” said Bull Program Director Clay Hunnicutt. “He has a great relationship with the Braves players. It just made a lot of sense. Listeners are going to love him. He’s just real.”
Judd grew up in Cartersville and graduated from Cass Comprehensive High School. He became a hair stylist in the 1980s, working at Van Michael in Buckhead and Don Shaw Hairdressers. Judd moved to Nashville in 2001 and after struggling for a few years, making just $15,000 a year, he scored a record deal with Razor & Tie, an independent label. He has created 23 videos and sold more than two million albums total. Here’s his discography.
“I may not be the best morning person in the world,” he said. “I may not have that Steve McCoy voice. I do have the ability to relate with that guy in the pickup truck making $11 an hour who hates his job. I understand that same guy who has to drop off his daughter with his ex wife and a stepdad whose teeth he’d love to knock out… I’m just an ordinary guy from an ordinary town who went out and did some extraordinary things,” he said. “I want to share in my good fortune with my friends, my family and my listeners. It ain’t worth a damn if I can’t share them with other people.”
Do you think Cadillac Jack & Kristen Gates over at Kicks or Rhubarb Jones and Dallas McCade at Eagle should be quaking in their boots?
12/10: A talk with Herman Cain, new WSB-AM host
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WSB-AM just last year gave black conservative speaker Herman Cain a Saturday show and a spot as Neal Boortz’s primary sub. Now he’s getting his own evening weekday radio show, a major vote of confidence for the former Senatorial candidate and ex-CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. He starts January 2, taking Michael Savage’s slot while Savage moves to 10 p.m. where Chris Krok used to be.
“I’m excited,” Cain said. “It’s quite a compliment.”
He’s on several corporate boards (AGCO, Hallmark, Whirlpool), is a regular on Fox News Channel and does speeches all over the country. Like Neal Boortz, he’s philosophically a Libertarian with a conservative bent: “I support less government, less taxes and more individual responsibility.” He also big on fighting the war on terror, strong national security and the fair tax.
Cain, who will air from 7 to 10 p.m. weeknights, said about 70 percent of his night-time show will parallel that of his show when he subs for Neal. Those are the national topics. But he will also talk about local issues such as the Grady Hospital crisis or Atlanta traffic that may not necessarily interest a national audience. He said he’s especially good at taking complex issues and making them understandable to a broad audience.
“Neal’s style and approach is different but we are very closely aligned relative to where we stand,” he said. Are there any substantive differences? “I’m not sure if our favorite ice cream flavors match,” he joked.
Boortz, who I caught on the phone on Friday afternoon, said the radio affiliates (he has more than 300 now) like Cain, so he’ll continue to be Boortz’s primary substitute. “He has credibility,” Boortz said. “Look at his business record. He’s not just someone on the air. He’s not just talking about it. He’s done it and continues to do it,”
He notes that Cain being good at business and being a good on-air personality is “an odd combination” that somehow works. “Maybe he can take over my show and I can go ahead and retire,” said Boortz, who is actually younger than Cain. “He’s older but he wants to work longer than I do.” (Seriously, there’s no real sign that Boortz is going to retire anytime soon.)
12/8: Dancing, football, xmas specials dominate the week
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlantans last week consumed a heavy meal of celebrity dancing, Christmas entertainment and football.
While Fox’s “House” took the top slot in Atlanta as usual, the two “Dancing With the Stars” episodes featuring Helio Castroneves defeating “Scary Spice” Melanie Brown for the crown boogied their way to spots No. 2 and 3 for WSB-TV, ABC’s local affiliate.
And ABC’s “Shrek the Halls” showed the public’s big appetite for new Christmas specials, pulling in a surprisingly robust 21 million viewers nationally Nov. 28, including 428,000 here. It ranked No. 4 in Atlanta.
Plus, Atlantans hoping the University of Georgia would make it to the bowl championship flocked to the Fox special announcing the bowls on Sunday, which landed No. 7 locally, No. 26 nationwide.
With a tornado hammering Wisteria Lane, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” on Sunday drew its best ratings in a year nationwide with 20.6 million viewers, ranking fourth. But the plotline didn’t excite the locals as much: The show only ranked No. 10 with 325,000 viewers in Atlanta, fewer than a week earlier.
On the new Peachtree TV, the network’s first original series, “Dallas Austin’s Drumroll,” attracted a respectable 130,000 or so viewers in metro Atlanta in its opening frame Nov. 27, ranking 67th among households. The reality show featuring the Southwest DeKalb High School marching band did slightly better last Tuesday.
Over on cable, SciFi Network celebrated its biggest audience in its history with part one of “Tin Man,” its starker reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz.” The telecast drew 6.3 million viewers Sunday.
Among syndicated shows, the new “TMZ on TV” show is doing slightly better on Fox’s WAGA-TV at 7:30 p.m. than its time-slot predecessor “That ’70s Show,” finishing a solid third place. “Jeopardy” over at WATL-TV has nearly doubled its ratings at the same time period vs. its 4:30 p.m. slot on WXIA-TV before the fall season began.
“Wheel of Fortune” —- now at 7 on WATL —- lost about a quarter of its audience compared with when it was on WXIA at 7:30 p.m. prior to September.
Among the late-night shows, in Atlanta, the writers strike, which started Nov. 5, affected all of them to varying degrees. Leno locally is down 20% compared to May, comparable to the drop nationwide. Ditto with Conan. CBS’s Letterman and Ferguson are down less severely nationally, possibly because the bigger audiences over on NBC may be checking them out. In fact, Letterman’s November ratings in repeats in Atlanta were higher than they were in May, when he aired originals. Jimmy Kimmel was only down about 10 percent in November vs. the previous month.
(Unfortunately, talks between the producers and the writers broke off Friday with no solution in sight. It appears this strike will drag into the new year, guaranteeing tons of scripted repeats in January and February.)
TOP PRIME-TIME SHOWS IN ATLANTA
For the week of Nov. 26
Rank. program, network, date..Natl. viewers..Rank
“House” Fox, Nov. 27 .526,000 ……..7
“Dancing With the Stars” ABC, Nov. 26 .482,000 ……..2
“Dancing With the Stars (results)” ABC, Nov. 27 472,000 ……..1
“Shrek the Halls” ABC, Nov. 28 428,000 ……..3
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” ABC, Nov. 28 402,000 ……..5
“Oklahoma/Missouri Big 12 Championship” ABC Dec. 1 346,000……..27
“AllState BCS Selection Show” Fox Dec. 2 .334,000……..26
“Bones” Fox, Nov. 27 .325,000……..33
“Dolphins/Steelers Monday Night Football” ESPN, Nov. 26 324,000……..n/a
“Desperate Housewives” ABC, Dec. 2 321,000 ……..4
Source: Nielsen Media Research
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12/7: Dave FM’s Call to Auction, new morning host (UPDATED)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dave’s former Program Director Michelle Engel may not have been known for her great communication skills, but she did come up with a fun charity event with Habitat for Humanity: Call to Auction in 2005, raising more than $220,000 over the past two years. The event started today at 9 a.m. and runs through Saturday.
People donate money to have their songs requested on air. The more obscure or offbase, the pricier it gets. This leads to some unusual picks. Someone at 6:20 p.m., for instance, bid $150 so Dave FM played Taylor Hicks’ “The Right Place,” a song that certainly has never played before on the station. DJ Mara Davis, a big Hall & Oates fan, spun “Kiss On My List” today. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” not a normal song on Dave’s playlist, made the cut. Frank Sinatra’s “Summer Wind” was played during the noon hour. And the funnest, most off-the-wall pick so far: The Time’s “Jungle Love.”
According to the Dave FM Web site, here’s how the bidding works.
Each song will have a minimum bid of $75 via credit card over the phone, with all monies going to Atlanta Habitat for Humanity. When we say minimum bid, we mean, if the song is not questionable in content or length, and is a song that is in the familiar “playlist” of DAVE FM, it will cost only $75. But the more obscure or unusual the request, the more it will be taxed (and thus, raising more for the effort!).
Auction items, including a piano lesson with Rolling Stones’ Chuck Leavell and a Tori Amos autographed piano bench, are available here.
Also, Dave on Friday introduced Zakk Tyler to the world as Dave’s primary morning host. It’s clearly going to be a personality-based morning show.
I posted info about him back on November 27 here. His Web site is www.zakkster.com
Dave’s General Manager Rick Caffey said both Holly Firfer and Tim Orff, the current morning show lineup since Dave dropped Steve Barnes in September 2006, are still being considered for spots on Zakk’s show, but nothing has been finalized. He hopes to have the show ready to go by January.
“We’re not going to launch with a big hyped campaign,” Caffey said Friday afternoon. “He’ll earn his listeners one at a time. He’s very funny, very driven. And he’ll be out and about in the community.”
In the print edition, I did a piece about Adam Murphy, the WGCL-TV reporter who does the weekly “Restaurant Report.”
We’ve given WGCL, whose news telecasts usually lag behind its rivals in ratings, more media coverage in the past week than the previous 12 months combined thanks to Cari Champion’s firing, the departures of Gene Norman and Cynne Simpson and now Adam Murphy.
12/6: Adam Murphy’s Restaurant Report Card
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s a story I wrote for the print edition about Adam Murphy and his Restaurant Report on WGCL-TV:
For TV reporter, rats and roaches part of show
By RODNEY HO / Staff/ rho@ajc.com
At a quiet strip center near Gwinnett Place mall, WGCL-TV consumer reporter Adam Murphy and cameraman A.J. Willen enter Super New China Buffet.
Dressed in a crisp Brooks Brothers suit, Murphy confronts an employee about a recent health inspection report that included comments about salad dressing kept at improper temperatures and roaches.
“Have you cleaned up the roach problem?” Murphy asks. She just smiles helplessly, a deer in the headlights, and says, “Sorry. I can’t speak English.”
“There’s got to be somebody in charge or managing the restaurant right now, ” he says impatiently.
Normally, Murphy gets booted from restaurants he confronts each Thursday by angry store managers. But in this case, there’s no manager in sight.
“That was frustrating, ” Murphy said later. “My mission is to go in there and make sure they’ve cleaned up their act.”
ABOVE: Duluth, GA: WGCL reporter, Adam Murphy, and photographer A.J. Willen, confront a worker at the Super New China Buffet as part of his Restaurant Report Card” which zings restaurants with failing health inspections. Murphy also visits restaurants with good health inspection scores and praises them for their good work. (Brant Sanderlin photo/Staff)
This is a mission 34-year-old Murphy has been on for nearly five years with his “Restaurant Report Card” on the local CBS affiliate. Managers have called the cops on him. They’ve verbally cussed and threatened him, but nobody has hurt him —- yet.
“People have shoved me out the door and placed their hands on the camera, ” Murphy said. He notes that he has the legal right to enter the premises and stay there until told otherwise. Sometimes, he does feel uncomfortable at ethnic restaurants when there’s a language barrier. “But if these restaurant people don’t understand me, then they don’t understand the inspectors, ” he said.
Murphy doesn’t take credit for the tougher state restaurant inspection regulations, which went into effect Dec. 1, but he’s happy about them. “The state was behind the game the last few years, ” he said. He likes that restaurants now must post scores on drive-through windows, employees must wear gloves in the kitchen and inspections are now standardized.
Naturally, restaurant owners and managers targeted by Murphy aren’t exactly fans. “I don’t like it at all, ” said Erica Chang, a spokeswoman for Super New China Buffet, who says the restaurant has regular pest control visits. “TV reports like this are not good.” (The restaurant, which received a failing score of 64 last week, improved to an 89 at a reinspection earlier this week.)
For balance, Murphy highlights a restaurant with a high score every week. Last Thursday, for instance, he spent more than an hour at Depeaux, a new Cajun restaurant in Decatur, which received a perfect health inspection score. “I’ve had a number of people come in and say they saw the piece, ” manager Frank Coughlan said Wednesday. Watching the segment with Super New China Buffet, he said, “I think it keeps people honest. Personally, I’m a stickler. We are cleaning the kitchen constantly.”
Georgia Restaurant Association executive director Ron Wolf took a Switzerland-like approach to Murphy’s “Restaurant Report Card”: “It’s part of what the media does. I’m sure some find it useful. Others don’t take it seriously.”
Murphy, who scans hundreds if not thousands of inspection reports every week from health departments in metro Atlanta, has captured a live roach on camera scurrying across the floor of a Henry County pizza place. He’s had employees of a Chinese restaurant run out of the place en masse when he arrived. He watched inspectors shut down a Wendy’s in Lawrenceville during lunch hour.
Vernon Goins, a Gwinnett County Health Department spokesman, loves Murphy’s reports. “He’s an indispensable asset to public health education, ” he said. “He exerts pressure on the food service industry we can’t provide. It’s also extremely entertaining.”
Murphy, a Dunwoody native and Marist High grad, has wanted to be a reporter since he was a kid and says he’s now “living out my dream.” With a folksy style and boyish face, he also possesses a distinctly raspy voice that sounds like he’s smokes two packs a day but is merely genetic.
He’s also a good marketer, promoting his weekly reports on top 40 station Q100, country station South 107 in Rome, the Sunday Paper and Jezebel magazine.
Listening to Murphy gab about rat droppings and rotting meat “is like a traffic accident, ” said Q100 morning host Bert Weiss, who’s had Murphy on every few weeks for several years. “You don’t want to watch, but you can’t break away from it.”
Murphy readily admits he’s not the first reporter to go after dirty restaurants. Since 2000, hundreds of TV stations have done this type of “gotcha” reporting nationwide, said Michael Castengera, a University of Georgia media lecturer and consultant to seven TV stations, none in Atlanta.
“It’s not broadcast or promoted as much as it once was” at other stations, said Castengera. “But Adam has taken this on and made it really personality driven. It’s not only the restaurant report, but it’s also Adam. People identify with him and feel he’s going to bat for them.”
Murphy’s job doesn’t deter him and his wife, Angie, from eating out four times a week. He just checks inspection scores everywhere he goes. If it’s below 80, he walks.
And better yet, he has not had a case of food poisoning since he started doing the reports. “Either I’m lucky, ” he said, “or what I do actually works.”
ON TV
“Restaurant Report Card” airs during WGCL’s 4 p.m. newscast on Thursdays, usually in the second half-hour, and during the noon news on Fridays. Watch the reports online: www.cbs46.com/restaurantreport/index.html.
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I’m over the cuteness
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: A winner is announced right away with no “little chat” on the part of the judges.
The low: Everything old is new again.
In the words of the Hyundai commercial: Duh.
Given that worshiping at the altar of retro is a rite of passage for everyone under the age of 30, interpreting the fashions of 20 or 30 years ago doesn’t seem to be that much of a challenge.
I mean, don’t we see flared jeans shuffle past us every hour, hems trodden underfoot? And haven’t leggings outlived the novelty stage? Even the poodle skirt fails to embarrass. You want outdated? Do the bustle.
Anyway.
I think everyone in the “PR” viewing audience was sufficiently impressed by Team Jillian’s winning lightweight denim collection. The pieces were modern, wearable and - all together now — cohesive. They could go straight from the Parsons workroom to Macy’s (or Bluefly.com) to my closet. And that’s the problem.
It was a knockout of a collection, and I would have worn any of those designs, but its professional polish lacked the grit that makes fashion fantastic, outrageous, desirable. The more I watch “PR,” the more I want winners with edge, not just winners who can make an outfit that’ll fly off the racks in the hands of spend-happy teens and 30-somethings alike. I want less cute.
Consider Kit’s black-and-white mismatched prints, or Sweet P’s tulip dress with — whoa! — yet another ’80s trend, the sleeveless mock turtleneck.
The last word: I want to make a bold statement: Chris March got sent home not because of the wingspan of his shoulder pads, but because he didn’t make good TV.
Over the last four episodes we’ve been surprised and bored and annoyed and intrigued. So now it’s time to make a prediction. Who are the early favorites? I like the soft-spoken Steven, but I don’t think he’ll last, especially after this week. I’m looking at Kit or Sweet P.
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12/5: Cynne Simpson, Gene Norman leaving WGCL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WGCL-TV has lost two of its more popular on-air personalites, evening anchor/reporter Cynne Simpson and meteorologist Gene Norman. Simpson has been there for three years. Norman has been at the station a relatively long time, arriving in 2000. The CBS affiliate, which is just getting over the Cari Champion “mothersucka” firing, had stabilized management and staff the past two years after several years of turnover.
No word on where Simpson is going. Subscription-only NewsBlues reports that Norman is moving to Fox affiliate KRIV-26 in Houston to be that station’s primary meteorologist. (NewsBlues on Thursday said it erred. Norman is actually going to the CBS affiliate KHOU-11 in Houston.)
In a memo sent to employees Tuesday, news director Rick Erbach wrote:
I regret to announce the resignation of two key and beloved members of the CBS 46 News family.
CBS 46 News anchor/reporter Cynne’ Simpson and Chief Meteorologist Gene Norman have accepted new jobs outside of Atlanta.
Cynne’ is leaving us for an exciting new position. She will make her announcement by the end of the week.
Gene is also leaving to pursue an opportunity. He’ll make his announcement by the end of the year.
I can’t thank Cynne’ and Gene enough for all of their hard work and enthusiasm. Both are professionals and great people. They will be dearly missed. While I would like to see them stay, their new career opportunities will provide them with new challenges and rewards. We all appreciate their dedication and their never ending parade of public appearances.
Cynne’s last day with us is December 7th and Gene will be staying through the Holidays. His last day will be January 18th.
Again, we thank both for their accomplishments and their passion. We are a better station today because of their efforts
Good luck!
Rick
Here’s Cynne’s bio on WGCL
She is one of the youngest major market evening news anchors in the country. Cynne graduated magna cum laude from Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in Broadcast Journalism and minored in Spanish. While in college, Ted Koppel was so impressed with her ability to report in English and Spanish, he selected her for a semester fellowship with ABC News Nightline. Cynne is a native of West Bloomfield, Michigan, but grew up in Sacramento, California. She has also lived in Spain and Costa Rica as an exchange student.
Here’s Gene’s bio on WGCL..
For Gene, there is nothing more interesting than the way a really good thunderstorm can crackle through the sky, shaking the windows and turning night to day. He arrived in Atlanta to cover the city’s historic Ice Storm in 2000.
12/5: WSB’s Chris Krok out, Herman Cain in (UPDATED)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chris Krok is gone from WSB-AM after two years as a night-time host. He had been groomed to be a possible replacement for either Clark Howard or Neal Boortz if either chose to step down. But that was clearly not to be.
Krok, whose last job was in Minneapolis, focused intensely on local issues and was big on the anti illegal discrimination front, holding two raucous public rallies earlier this year.
Pete Spriggs confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Krok is out. He said Herman Cain, a black conservative talk show host who airs a weekly show on Saturday for WSB and subs for Boortz, will start a night-time talk show five days a week on January 2. Spriggs wouldn’t say exactly what his time frame will be, probably because it will likely affect Michael Savage, now on air from 7 to 10. For the next month, WSB-AM wil air a “best of” Clark Howard from 10 to midnight and “best of” Sean Hannity from midnight to 2.
ABOVE: Krok with his wife Faye at the AIR Awards at the InterContinental Hotel last Thursday
Just last Thursday, Krok was feted by WSB-AM at the Achievement in Radio Awards. He was given the favorite local personality award by management. I guess it was more a farewell gift.
“Not at all,” Spriggs said. “He earned it. The AIR award is for someone who has really made some impact at each radio station. Chris made an impact. He made a very good local talk show.”
If he was so good, why replace him with Cain?
“I’d rather not comment on that. That’s between me and Chris.”
Krok couldn’t be reached for comment.
Sadly, radio stations seem to like to make big cuts right before Christmas, possibly to clear out budgets for the next year. Clear Channel did the same thing last year when the company blew out Lite and 96rock as well as dismissed most of the local on-air folks from 640/WGST-AM.
Spriggs said this is not a budgetary savings since they now have to pay Cain full time.
12/5: Project 9-6-1’s Giant Brian raises nearly $100K for Empty Stocking
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Giant Brian show on Project 9-6-1 just finished up 50 hours to raise $96,535 for the Empty Stocking Fund, which found its warehouse stripped of $50,000 in gifts for needy kids. The thieves have yet to be found but he said it’s obvious the fund will end up with more cash than it otherwise would have had, said Don Crawford, the Empty Stocking Fund executive director.
“I’m tired but inspired,” “Giant” Brian Carothers said after the total was announced at 10:12 a.m. today.
“We thank you very much. It will help a lot of children,” said Crawford.
About 6,100 people contributed money. More will come in so the final total will likely be bigger and might break $100,000, said Chris Williams, program director.
John Cabaniss, a research scientist at Georgia Tech who lives in Marietta, stopped by the studio ((above, right, with Giant Brian)) and gave $16,000 from a charity foundation set up by his grandmother on behalf of his late grandfather. The radio station gave $25,000.
The two jocks didn’t stay awake or stay at the studio the entire 50 hours. They both snuck home overnight to shower, brush their teeth and shave. Brian Carothers slept three hours last night on a love seat while Shaffee found a spot on the floor in the control room under a desk to doze for an hour last night. “The carpet probably hasn’t been vacuumed since this building opened so I breathed in all sorts of dust, but it was worth it,” he said.
A company called Digital Blue, an education and entertainment company, said it will provide a matching total (including in-kind trades). So the final total could be closer to $200,000.
Crawford said the thieves focused on electronics, taking hundreds of DVD players and MP3 players. They didn’t steal any of the books.
Last year, the charity organization said it helped out 46,376 underprivileged children. You can donate directly here..
12/4: Sean Demery leaves 99X
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In an unusually volatile year for Atlanta radio morning shows, 99X’s New Morning X has lost Sean Demery, who decided to move to Utah to be with his wife.
99Xwatch.org provided the audio of Demery’s announcement Tuesday morning.
Demery had been working in Atlanta and flying to the West Coast every other weekend the past 14 months and it was wearing on him. He’s literally on the road to Utah as I write this.
“I’m leaving the show and that bums me out because Atlanta is one of my favorite towns on the planet,” Demery said on the air. “Some things have gotten in the way. I have to work on my marriage as well and my wife can’t come out here as soon as she’d like to.”:
“The separation. I’m surprised you did it as long as you have,” Leslie Fram said.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this long. As a matter of fact, it was supposed to be five months ago that she was supposed to be out here. It just didn’t work out.”
“We made fun of your quirkiness and your Cliff Claven-esque ways,” said Rob Jenners. “I will miss playing the Cheers theme every three and a half minutes.”
‘I’m going to miss your taste for music and passion for music,” Fram said.
The Morning X has tried to resurrect the 1990s heyday, but the 2.0 version has not quite gelled with listeners. Is it an edgy morning show chasing a young male Regular Guys crowd? Is it going after a more sophisticated older adult crowd who loves good music? Or has it simply been trying to please too many people at once, failing to establish a true point of view?
In the fall of 2006, the show opened with promising numbers but its ratings slipped sharply in successive months, falling from 7th in the fall to 11th in the winter to 16th in the spring among 18 to 34 year olds. The morning show rebounded slightly in the summer to 14th place. (To be fair, it often takes a new morning show at least two years in this town to hit stride. The Bert Show didn’t start making decent ratings numbers until its third year.)
Demery was a successful afternoon jock and music director at 99X in the 1990s. He then became program director at a San Francisco alternative rock station. Last year, Leslie Fram convinced him to come back and try mornings again. (He briefly did mornings in the early days of 99X but given his penchant for going to late concerts, it didn’t work with his schedule.). Demery is an incredibly nice guy but this didn’t translate into a compelling morning personality although you could tell he loved the music. He wasn’t so much into the pop culture stuff or the goofy stunts. In recent months, he sounded increasingly disengaged, giving Jenners more and more responsibility and airtime.
John Dickey, the head of Cumulus programming, agreed that “Sean had a lot on his mind. He loves the station and loves Atlanta. He left a great job in San Francisco to come here. The magnetic pull of his family was too great. I respect that. It happens.”
Dickey said the station will seek a new person to replace Demery, hopefully by the spring. The other players, including Mark Owens, Tim Andrews, Fram and Jenners, will remain in place. “We will look for someone else to come in and provide that same perspective and contribution Sean did,” he said. He described Sean as quirky but a man of “civility,” too.
So far this year, besides 99X, we have or will see morning show changes at Dave FM, Star 94, the Bull, Project 9-6-1, Praise 97.5 and WGST-AM, to name a few.
12/4: CBS strike schedule for February
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CBS is the first network to release its strike schedule for January and February. With the writers on strike the past month, production has ceased on most scripted TV shows and several shows are now out of fresh episodes. By February, most scripted dramas and comedies will be in reruns.
CBS relies more heavily than the other broadcast networks on non-serialized cop procedurals and comedies that repeat well. So overall, the lineup changes aren’t quite as extreme as they may end up being on NBC and ABC. Most of its regular lineup will simply be in repeats of “Criminal Minds,” the three “CSIs,” “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case,” “NCIS,” “Numb3rs,” “Moonlight,” “The Ghost Whisperer,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Two and a Half Men.” “Cane,” a serialized new show which hasn’t done well in the ratings, is out. And “The Unit” isn’t on the schedule starting in February.
Drew Carey’s “Power of 10” is back starting Wed. January 2 in the slot where “Kid Nation” had been. Newsmagazine “48 Hours Mystery” will air on Jan. 22 and 29 in place of “Cane.”
A new sitcom “The Captain” starring Raquel Welch, Jeffrey Tambor and Chris Klein debuts on Jan. 28 in the slot that “Big Bang Theory” had been on at 8:30 p.m. And in place of “Rules of Engagement,” a new set of episodes of sophomore sitcom “New Adventures of Old Christine” are back the same day.
The new season of “Survivor” starts Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. And the first winter/spring version of “Big Brother” is set to air Tuesday at 9 p.m. Feb. 12 in place of “The Unit,” followed by seven episodes of the sophomore sci-fi drama “Jericho.” ‘” “Big Brother” will also air at 8 p.m. Sundays in the spot currently taken up by “The Amazing Race.”
A new game show “Do You Trust Me” is also in production though a date hasn’t been set.
12/3: 102.5’s stolen van is found
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cops found the Grown Folks 102.5’s promotions van, which was stolen last week. The sky-blue 2003 Ford cargo van, which had morning host Steve Harvey’s face plastered all over it, was swiped from a Marietta St. downtown parking lot
Atlanta police found the van Friday with the two thieves in it. The perpetrators happened to have stolen air conditioner units with GPS tracking devices in them, which allowed the cops to locate the van in the West End, said promotions director Corey Punzi, en route to retrieve the van from the impound lot.
“Stupid is as stupid does,” cracked Si-Man, the night-time host.
I also spoke with Silas “Si-Man” Alexander about when he did a marathon on-air fundraiser, similar to the one Project 9-6-1 is doing. But when he did it in 2003, he was on air for 102.5 hours, more than twice the length of what “Giant” Brian Carothers and Shafee plan to do. At the time, then-morning host Si-Man and Classic Soul 102.5 raised more than $30,000 for the Hosea Williams Feed the Hungry campaign by staying on air for 102.5 consecutive hours on the roof of a local middle school.
“I was cool the first 24 hours,” said Si-Man, “but it started getting to me after 36.” He said it helped that he was outdoors and it was cold: “I drank a lot of coffee and walked around to stay alert. By the end, though, I was feeling pretty dizzy.” He also had a nurse check on him regularly. At the time, I visited him at the very end and he was visibly exhausted. He also occasionally messed up his words on air by the 102nd hour but that’s understandable.
Although he did an abbreviated version in 2005, a true encore is not forthcoming: “My doctor told me he’d divorce me as a patient if I ever did that again.”
12/3: Imus returns (not in Atlanta), Project 9-6-1 marathon starts today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don Imus is back on air after about eight months in exile on WABC-AM in New York. His new cast includes two black comics. Surprisingly, Imus brought back Bernard McGuirk, the producer who instigated the Rutgers comment and was fired as well.
While Imus pledged to use his new show to talk about race relations, he added:
“Other than that, not much has changed. Dick Cheney is still a war criminal, Hillary Clinton is still Satan and I’m back on the radio.”
More info about his comeback here..
Imus used to be on AM1230/1340. David Dickey, who runs those stations, has been using CNN Headline News instead. He hasn’t decided whether to pick up Imus yet or not. “We’re keeping our options open,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Giant Brian Show at Project 9-6-1 this morning at 7 launched its 50-hour marathon run to raise at least $50,000 to replace the toys stolen at City Hall East more than a week ago for the Empty Stocking Fund. The station will match up to $25,000 raised by individuals.
12/1: Fired WGCL anchor Cari Champion calls into WSB-AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former WGCL-TV weekend anchor Cari Champion, whose debatable use of an obscenity on air led to her firing last month, called WSB-AM Thursday night to talk for the first time about the situation. (She emailed Richard Prince at the Maynard Institute Web site earlier in the week, first presenting her case.)
Mark Arum, subbing for Chris Krok, defended her, thinking it was overkill, even if she did accidentally utter the “MF” word (though she said it was “mothersucka.”) He noted that nobody complained and it happened at 11:17 p.m. on a Sunday night long after the kids were in bed and outside the purview of FCC regulations.
Champion said the letters “f” and “s” “often do sound similar.”
I listened to the audio and honestly, it’s a close call what she said. You could reasonably interpret it either way.
She did say she shouldn’t have even said “mothersucka.” “I was under the impression we were in between commercials and the mike was dead. I know all the rules… Sometimes you forget. We as humans make mistakes.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” she continued. “I’m really starting out in my career. I really want a second chance. I will be the first to say it wasn’t right.”
“I believe I’m valid in my decision to fight and protest it.”
“I’m just trying to deal with it. I love what I do. I’m very passionate about what I do. Everyone who knows me knows I care about this business. I care about freedom of speech and people waying whatever they want to say. This is the first real test in my life. We’ll see how it goes. I’m just going with it day by day. I really want my position back. I care about the station and everything I’ve been through. I love it here. I think there was a misunderstanding… I can’t change everybody’s opinion.”
Since this is a personnel matter, news director Rick Erbach last week declined to comment.
