Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2008 > December
December 2008
12/30: “Bachelorette” DeAnna Pappas joins local “Get Married” show as host
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“The Bachelorette” DeAnna Pappas, after two stints on two ABC reality shows, has found herself a new TV gig. Starting January 5, she’s going to be a host on the marriage advice and lifestyle show “Get Married,” seen on the Lifetime Network at 7:30 a.m. each day.
“She’s going to be the bride’s ultimate best friend,” said Stacie Francombe, the owner of “Get Married,” which is based in Atlanta. Although Pappas isn’t married (and recently broke off her engagement to Jesse Csincsak), Francombe said she knows the topic well. “She’s the girl next door,” Francombe said. “She has a tremendous following. We like that. Brides are intrigued by her.” Pappas also has the advantage of being local. (Until now, she had been known as a real estate agent from Newnan.)
Pappas takes over for Jessica Campbell, who left for Los Angeles to pursue acting.
“Get Married” also has replaced David Tutera with Colin Cowie as a host. Cowie is a 46-year-old New York lifestyle guru and party planner to the stars. He’s a frequent guest on Oprah Winfrey’s show and has designed parties for the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Sir Elton John. Francombe said Cowie is a bigger name than Tutera.
I’m going to meet both of them face to face in the next couple of weeks since they’ll be taping more shows at the new headquarters for “Get Married.”
You can get more info at www.getmarried.com
Francombe noted that her company has grown from 4 to 40 people in just two years. A year ago, she moved from a tiny office in Midtown to a current 7,000 square feet space. But they quickly outgrew that one and are moving to a 18,000 square foot space at DeKalb Technology Park off Chamblee Tucker. “We are not moving again,” she said.
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12/29: Back from vacation! 1230 goes all sports w/1340, radio station spins
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The modest signals of WFOM-AM/1230 (heard mostly in Cobb County) has dropped news/talk and gone all ESPN syndicated sports talk including Mike & Mike in mornings and Tirico & Van Pelt during the afternoon. It will be known as 1230 the Fan 2.
David Dickey, who runs 680/The Fan, 1230 and WALR-AM/1340, now has three all-sports stations. 1340 now airs Fox Sports News syndicated talk shows and will be known as the Fan 3. 680 will be local focused, except for Colin Cowherd middays.
Dickey said when Bill O’Reilly said he was leaving, it opened up his chance to give ESPN Radio an entire station to itself over at 1230, which had been news/talk until December 22. This also enables Dickey to sell all three stations in tandem to a similar coveted male-oriented demographic.
Rival 790/The Zone, which had been using Fox Sports News as well as Sporting News, is now exclusively working with Sporting News radio for its syndicated news and talk. (The 2 Live Stews are syndicated on Sporting News).
So Atlanta now has four sports talk stations, albeit two on limited signals.
- The Bull is now promoting itself as the station that plays more country music than Kicks (without mentioning Kicks of course). Based on data from Mediabase 24/7, the Bull is indeed playing more music. But will it matter?
Cox Radio tried this tact a few years ago before the River came along on 97.1 with a hip-hop station (97.1 Jamz) to counter V-103. The station for virtually its entire life kept harping on how it played more music and fewer commercials than dominant V-103 but in the end, it could never garner much in the way of ratings or revenue or truly cut into V-103’s power base. Jamz was gone after two years.
The Bull is in a similar battle with Kicks. After two years, the station has been trying to find some traction with several different strategies. Given the fact it’s a soft economy and the station’s commercial load is probably lighter than Kicks, bragging about more music is easy. We’ll know soon if this tactic works. The station is still seeking a new male host to work with Kristen Gates for mornings.
During the week of December 21, the Bull averaged 324 songs a day while Kicks had 307. That week included Christmas and fewer ads than normal. That was a 123 song difference.
The week of December 14, Kicks averaged 298 songs vs. 314 for the Bull. That came out to 112 more songs for the Bull over the week or 2/3 of a song per hour.
For the week of December 7, the Bull averaged 317 songs while Kicks had 288. That was a 205 song differential or about 1.2 songs per hour.
Here’s the average number of songs played per day by a sampling of radio stations in Atlanta for comparison for the week of December 14 (the 21st was a weird week given the holidays).
The Bull: 314 (can’t compare to a year ago cos the station was all Christmas)
95.5/The Beat: 304 (305 the same wk a year ago)
Kicks 101.5: 298 (285 same wk in 2007)
Star 94: 284 (301)
Hot 107.9: 283 (275)
Project 9-6-1: 279 (291)
Dave FM: 269 (254)
Q100: 262 (numbers are depressed by the Bert Show, which plays virtually no music, 272 a year ago)
V-103: 242 (225)
Grown Folks: 202 (the station does all talk or heavily talk parts of the day… 197 a year ago)
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12/23: Biggest TV stories of the year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A writers’ strike. The continued rise of the DVR. Cable’s growth. NBC’s troubles. An historic election year. TV had a busy 12 months.
Locally, Atlanta’s Tyler Perry solidifed his home at TBS by signing on a second sitcom. An Athens writer created BET’s first ever sitcom. And some reality show called “Real Housewives of Atlanta” brought home ratings riches for Bravo (if not necessarily the housewives themselves.)
Here’s a quick year in review of 2008, TV style:
News junkie overload. The news networks and the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert all saw record ratings thanks to unprecedented interest in the presidential election. It also led to the rise of a couple of female talkers (Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, Campbell Brown on CNN.) “Saturday Night Live” should also thank Sarah Palin for resembling Tina Fey.
Impact of the writers’ strike. The three-month writer’s strike basically killed off the Golden Globes and stemmed any momentum many new shows had in the fall of 2007 (e.g. “Private Practice,” “Pushing Daisies”). It forced Leno, Letterman and the like to improvise minus writers. It meant far fewer new shows this past fall, an extra edition of “Big Brother’ and the ignominious return of “American Gladiators.”
Are they real or are they Memorex? Of all TV shows with local ties, nothing could beat “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” for controversy. Did NeNe really say that? Who is Big Pappa? And is Sheree really that full of herself? What’s more, the Web is packed with news that not all the housewives are quite as wealthy as they make it out to be on TV. (Nonetheless, Bravo is promising a second season in 2009.)
Cable keeps on getting bigger. While broadcast viewership is mostly dropping off, viewers keep on flocking to cable. USA (with the likes of “The Starter Wife” and “Monk”), SciFi (with “The Ghost Hunters” and “Stargate: Atlantis”) and Bravo (home to “Top Chef” and “Real Housewives”) all reported record ratings.
CBS’s renaissance. Bucking that trend is CBS, which has the biggest new show of the year (the enjoyable “Mentalist”) and growing numbers for shows ranging from “NCIS” to “How I Met Your Mother.” And so far, the original “CSI” has been smoothly integrating new cast members as key original ones (William Petersen) leave.
NBC’s woes. How far the mighty have fallen. Outside of the Olympics and “Saturday Night Live,” NBC has had very little to cheer about this year as its new scripted shows stumbled (see “Knight Rider,” “My Own Worst Enemy”) and hits suffered serious deterioration (see “Heroes”). No wonder execs handed five hours of primetime real estate a week to Jay Leno starting in June 2009.
Atlanta is now Tylerville. Tyler Perry solidifed his media empire in Atlanta by opening a monstrous Universal Studios-style complex in South Atlanta, which includes production studios for his hit TBS show “House of Payne” and upcoming sitcom “Meet the Browns.”
BET’s faith in Georgia. BET may be ready to move its headquarters down South. It aired “College Hill” in a mansion off West Paces Ferry Road this year, gave plenty of airtime to “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is” and taped the “BET Hip Hop Awards” here. Plus, Athens filmmaker Hadjii produced the network’s first sitcom “Somebodies” this past fall.
This rose didn’t smell so sweet. Newnan’s own DeAnna Pappas had her heart broken by Brad Womack in “The Bachelor” in late 2007. But ABC found her so charming, she got her own show “The Bachelorette” this past summer, picking snowboarder Jesse Csincsak. In November, she broke up with him. This matchmaking business on TV sure is hard, isn’t it?
In a Blais of glory. “Top Chef” this past spring featured Atlanta’s quirky chef Richard Blais, who nearly won the whole canole. His creative use of “molecular gastronomy” and sense of humor endeared him to viewers. He is now owner of FLIP, a new local burger joint.
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12/22: Biggest radio stories of the year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m on vacation so it’s a good time to review the biggest stories of the year in Atlanta radio:
In general, risks did not pay off in Atlanta radio this year as listeners preferred the tried and true.
Two new morning shows came — and went - in a matter of months while other fresh faces struggled to find fans.
But veteran morning shows the Regular Guys and Steve & Vikki found new lives on new stations.
Two long-time stations — 99X and Eagle 106.7 — disappeared from the airwaves, while oldies made a modest comeback.
And cost cutting was rampant as dozens of radio people on air and off lost their jobs.
Here are major stories from the year in radio:
— Into the sunset. On Leap Day, new owners Citadel killed country station Eagle 106.7 and canned a good portion of Kicks 101.5 staff. Eagle been the older cousin of Kicks for many years, but Citadel decided to bring back oldies, which had been absent from Atlanta’s airwaves for three years. This also gave Spiff Carner (right), half of the old Randy & Spiff team, a chance to crack jokes again for a living.
— Is three times a charm? Atlanta-based Cumulus Media took aging rock station 99X off the FM dial in January after 15-plus years, replacing it with a broader rock format (Rock 100.5) anchored by the testosterone-laden Regular Guys featuring Larry Wachs, Eric Von Haessler and “Southside” Steve Rickman. The team lost its job twice at the now-defuncct 96rock. So far, they remain happily employed, with most of their old audience to boot.
— Comfort food never gets old. After six months off the air, family-frienldy Steve & Vikki segued seamlessly from Star 94 to B98.5 in July with strong ratings to boot.
— What would Mr. T say? R&B/hip-hop station Hot 107.9 in October dumped its four-year-old “A Team” in favor of a lower-cost syndicated alternative starring comic Rickey Smiley.
— Zakk who? Cledus T dud. Zakk Tyler and Cledus T. Judd (right), we hardly knew ya. Zakk arrived from Chicago in January and proceeded to leave so little impact, hardly anybody cared when he was canned eight months later. 94.9/The Bull had high hopes for local boy Judd, giving the parody singer plenty of TV and billboard ads, but most country fans stuck with Kicks and he was out in November.
— Q100’s the underdog no more. With the move to the stronger 99.7 signal, Q100 solidified its dominance over Star 94 in ratings, thanks primarily to its award-winning Bert Show. Star, in the meantime, has found no footing with the Morning Mess, the much younger sounding replacement for Steve & Vikki.
— Whither Porsche? Porsche Foxx (right), whose most famous line is “let your haters be your motivators,” lost her mid-day gig at V-103 right before Thanksgiving. That was less than 18 months after being given a second chance by V-103 management. She first lost her job in 2005 after a DUI. It’s unclear what happened this time around.
— Zoned out. The Fan plucked two former mainstay talk show hosts from the Zone — Matt Chernoff and Chuck Oliver. The Zone, in the meantime, banked on a new afternoon show starring Mike Bell and David Pollack.
— Charity continues. Kicks in February raised $752K for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, up slightly from 2007. WSB-AM pulled in $1.2 million for the AFLAC Cancer Center, about the same as the previous two years. Star 94 raised $825,000 for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, down from $1.2 million in 2007.
— The future is not here. Satellite radio went from being the Next Big Thing in 2002-03 to the Next Big Thud in 2008 as XM and Sirius merged amid increasing debt, a low stock price and slowing growth in subscribers. The next bet is wireless Internet radio — in the car.
— Rest in Peace: Hugh “Baby” Jarrett, former Elvis backup singer and long-time Atlanta radio DJ, passed in June; Fred Powers (right), WGCL-TV reporter, died of cancer in June; Mike Kavanagh, former WSB-AM news reporter, passed suddenly in December.
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12/21: Michael Bandy, formerly of Kicks’ Bandy & Bailey morning show has died at age 37
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kentucky.com has reported that Michael Bandy, formerly of the Bandy & Bailey morning show for two years at Kicks 101.5 around the 2003-04 time frame, has died at age 37.
The news said he died after a long unspecified illness.
They came from Lexington and returned there after their short stint in Atlanta. They didn’t have much impact while here but I did have lunch with the pair and liked them both.
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12/19: Carol Blackmon returns to radio at Grown Folks 102.5
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good news! Somebody is being hired before Christmas — not fired!
Carol Blackmon, part of the powerhouse Mike & Carol morning show for V-103 before Frank and Wanda back in the 1990s, is returning to radio after 10 years off the air.
She will be manning weekend afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m. on Grown Folks 102.5 starting January 24. (That’s when Grown Folks is full-time music.) Promos will begin next week, said her now boss Derek Harper in a call this afternoon.
I’m technically on vacation so I’m not going to do much now but will call Carol when I get back December 29 for some follow up. She had said to me back in October when I did a “whatever happened to” piece that she was willing to go back to radio if the right opportunity came along. Harper said he and she had been talking on and off for about a year.
Blackmon has been doing on-air Georgia Lottery work and taking care of her son’s acting career.
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12/18: Bert Weiss topless (need we say more?)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bert Weiss lost a bet on his Q100 morning show, resulting in him succumbing to topless shots of himself. He sent me a photo a couple days ago. I resisted doing much on it because honestly, we already give Bert and his show a lot of press.
But the Powers That Be saw a WXIA-TV story about Bert is really popular on the Web. So here I am doing my job with the accompanying “dudeoir” photo. Laugh, cry, hide the kids:
The bet? The UGA Bulldogs would make the national championships this year. Bert lost.
Richie Arpino, the hairdresser and photographer, took the black and white photos.
If you want to see something a bit more wholesome, former 99Xer Jimmy Baron is doing a Bill Cosby “kids say the wackiest things” takeoff on YouTube:
-Radio-info’s Tom Taylor is reporting rumors that former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani might be taking over the radio job soon to be abandoned by Bill O’Reilly, heard locally on 1160 AM from 3 to 5 p.m.
Can you tell I’m going on vacation soon?
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12/17: Digital conversion won’t affect many Atlantans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Civil rights groups in town are worried that “at risk” groups will be affected by the digital conversion. And they very well may be. But in terms of total numbers, Atlanta is not as bad off as the rest of the nation.
Among the top 56 markets, Atlanta is No. 2 in terms of preparation behind only Hartford/New Haven.
Nielsen, which measures TV viewership, says only 2.66 percent of metro Atlantans did not have a TV that could handle the digital conversion in February as of November. That’s fewer than 120,000 people out of 4.5 million. WIth all the publicity in the next few weeks, a good number of those will get things fixed before the deadline. And naturally, given people’s affinity to TV, for those who only see fuzz come mid-February, they’ll find a solution pronto.
The least prepared? Houston. Nearly 15 percent of its households are not ready. That’s a huge difference compared to Atlanta. (Hispanics are less prepared than any other racial breakdown, according to Nielsen.) “The biggest indicator is markets which have traditionally strong cable/satellite penetration,” said Nielsen spokeswoman Anne Elliot.
Atlanta is also much more a satellite town than the typical city.
About 58 percent of Atlantans subscribe to some level of cable (compared to 60.9% nationally). Another 36 percent get satellite TV (vs. 28.4 percent nationally). This leaves just 6 percent of Atlantans using over-the-air broadcast signals. But more than half of those have TVs that automatically handle digital or have already gotten conversion boxes. Thus, the 2.6 percent figure.
As of November, 7.4 percent of the U.S. population is not ready for the conversion. “It’s been a pretty steady move” downward from 10 percent in February, Elliot said.
And nationally, slightly more than 10 percent of households lack any subscription-based service vs. 6 percent in Atlanta.
What’s interesting is 10 years ago, only 77 percent of metro Atlantans had cable or satellite. The penetration of cable has dropped from 69 to 58 percent while satellite has leapt from 8 percent to 36 percent. Back in November 1998, satellite companies were able to air local broadcast networks, which made it a much easier sell and helped them steal away customers from the likes of Comcast.
Top 10 most prepared out of the top 58 markets: Hartford/New Haven, Atlanta, West Palm Beaach, New York, Ft. Myers/Naples, Providence, Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando, Pittsburgh. The 10 least prepared: Houston, Tulsa, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Memphis, Portland, Or., Austin, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Phoenix.
This civil rights coalition group. notes that even if you have a digital conversion box and rely on rabbit ears, some stations that were fuzzy before may not come through at all.
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12/16: The Frank Ski wine auction, belatedly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday was so busy, I didn’t have time to actually post about the Frank Ski wine auction from Sunday at this home. He raised more than $100,000, reaching his goal despite the tough economy. The monies go to his various events and scholarships for kids, including a big trip overseas.
Here are some photos I took from the event:
Music producer Jazze Pha hang with host Frank Ski.
“Good Day Atlanta” hosts Mark Hayes and Suchita Vadlamani.
Sheree Whitfield from “Real Housewives of Atlanta” with NeNe’s friend who insulted her fashion show Dwight Eubanks.
Rap star Young Jeezy poses with WXIA-TV program coordinator Evelyn Mims.
“Webster” star Emmanuel Lewis stopped by.
The auction from his second floor balcony.
“Real Housewives of Atlanta” DeShawn Snow gabs with RaShawn Levias in Ski’s kitchen.
Eric Snow, the Cleveland Cavalier’s player, meets up with NBA legend Dr. J Julius Erving.
Q100 morning host Bert Weiss with his wife Stacey.
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12/15: Bravo renews “Real Housewives of Atlanta”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a move that surprised nobody, Bravo today officially announced a second season of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
The show was basically much more popular than anticipated, building from 650,000 viewers the first episode to 2.8 million viewers by the time the reunion came along two months later. It has also generated incredible response here on this blog. People may abhor the women but they can’t stop talking about them.
Or we can take the press release quote from the Bravo exec, in less-than-colorful business-speak:
“The level of engagement on Atlanta far surpasses a typical series on cable or broadcast, with our viewers deepening their connection to the show through live wireless chats, daily blogs and additional footage online,” said Frances Berwick, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Bravo. “This, along with the colorful personalities of our housewives, helped drive the series to a watercooler sensation.”
I anticipate all five housewives will be back. I’m not sure if they are contractually required to be around for a second season but my guess is yes. I ran into Sheree Whitfield yesterday at Frank Ski’s wine auction and she said the promotion the show gives her is priceless in terms of getting her clothing line off the ground, that it’s well worth the aggravation of being insulted online and being scrutinized to such a degree.
A launch date for season two has yet to be identified though my guess is late spring or summer. I bet they will start shooting the season in January or February.
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12/13: Tim Conway interview (extended version)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Former Conyers man Jack McBrayer shows Tim Conway around on “30 Rock” earlier this year when Conway played an actor with a politically incorrect past.
I wasn’t able to get my entire Tim Conway interview into the print edition so here’s the extended version. Conway provides commentary for a special on Disney live action films narrated by Angela Lansbury on Turner Classic Movies Sunday at 7 p.m.
While Tim Conway is best known for his physical and verbal humor on “The Carol Burnett Show,” he was also an integral part of those goofy live-action Disney films of yore such as “The Apple Dumpling Gang.” “The World’s Greatest Athlete.” “The Shaggy D.A.”
These are hardly “Bambi” or “Beauty & the Beast” in terms of “classic” and are seldom seen on TV nowadays. But Turner Classic Movies has been bringing back 25 Disney live-action films this month, including “Old Yeller,” “Swiss Family Robinson” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
This Sunday, TCM is airing a documentary on the Disney films narrated by Angela Lansbury and featuring commentary from the likes of Dick Van Dyke, Kurt Russell and Conway.
We spoke with Conway Thursday:
Q: Happy birthday a bit early. [His 75th birthday is Monday.] What plans do you have that day?
A; Well, probably just getting a cleaning at the dentist. That’s it for me. I don’t make so much about birthdays, especially when you get up to 75. Who would have thought I’d make it to 75? Certainly, not me! I don’t try to do too much at this age. It’s too exciting for me.
Q: Did you ever spend much time in Atlanta?
A; I shot a couple of independent films there: “The Prize Fighter” [1979] and “Private Eyes” [1981] with Don Knotts. It’s such an interesting city. At the time, the Underground was quite active. The weather is great. You get away from Hollywood, you can do what you want. It was fun.
Q: What was it like working with Don Knotts on those films?
A: The best! I had been a big fan of Don Knotts since “The Tonight Show With Steve Allen.” Don and I became best friends for 40 years. I admired him so much for his comedy, how subtle he was with his comedy. So I wrote a couple of films for us. We had the same philosophy in entertainment: try to do it in a way the entire family could enjoy. Do something we would never have to apologize for unless it was just bad comedy — not for foul language or nudity or violence. We had enough of that at home!
Q: I’m sorry about Harvey Korman [his castmate on “The Carol Burnett Show,” who passed in May.].
A: I am, too. We had 45 years together. It was great working with Harvey. On the show, I’d write things one way and say something else on the show. That’s why he used to go south all the time on the sketches. It was fun to break him up. We had a very enjoyable career.
Q: Did he make you laugh, too?
A: Oh, yah! I think looking at him laughing at me made me laugh. When we did the dentist’s sketch, we’d end up in hysterics.
Q: You’re such a good adlibber. Did you do much on the Disney films?
A: No. The scripts were too good. We only adlibbed physically. The stories were so well constructed. You didn’t want to ruin it.
Q: How did you end up getting that gig on “30 Rock”? [He played a politically incorrect old actor visiting the “30 Rock” set in an episode that aired in April.]
A: Tina Fey called me! I read it and said, ‘Gee, there isn’t much here.’ She said, ‘Please, come and do it.’ I did and won an Emmy. That’s how much I know!
Q: Did you enjoy working with Jack McBrayer [who plays Kenny and used to live in Conyers.]?
A: He will be a big part of the business. He’s such a nice guy and he’s a funny, funny guy. He presented the Emmy to me. I got mine the week before [when all the awards not presented during primetime are handed out.]. We’d been there five hours and it was the last award. Before Jack had a chance to announce the nominees, I went up on stage. I stood next to him. He said, “Wait a minute! You haven’t won! I’m just announcing names!” “Yah, but if I do win, I’ll already be here and you wouldn’t have wasted time.” He then read the names, took the envelope and said ‘Tim Conway!’ I took the Emmy, thanked everyone and walked off!
Q: Are you still doing “Spongebob”? [He does the voice of Barnacle Boy opposite his former “McHale’s Army” cohort Ernest Borgnine, who does Mermaid Man.]
A: Yes. That’s fun to do. Ernie and I still get to work together every once in awhile. I’m seeing him next Wednesday to do a few more episodes. He’ll come up and give me a bear hug, break a couple of ribs. We’ll do our show, I go to the hospital and then get repaired for the next round.
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12/12: Atlanta radio celebrates itself, broadcast TV viewership down
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: AIR Awards host and Dave FM jock Mara Davis with her agent and the lifetime achievement award winner Norm Schrutt.
At the Achievement in Radio awards for the March of Dimes Thursday night, radio stations handed out what I call “teacher’s pet” awards or the favorite people at the station internally.
Here are the results. (By the way, Mara Davis hosted the program and was a hoot as always).
TIm Orff (morning host) Dave FM, Rob Stadler (news director) Star 94, CoCo Brother (jock) Praise 97.5, Murph Dawg & CJ (morning hosts) 95.5/The Beat, David Hall (morning news man) 640/WGST-AM, Dutch Van Steeg (promotions) Rock 100.5, Scott Taylor Kicks 101.5, Dan Ratcliffe (afternoon host) 104.7/The Fish, Kaedy Kiely (morning host) 97.1/The River, Lorraine Jacques White (late morning host) 1380/WAOK-AM, Lance Houston (afternoon host) 94.9/The Bull, Twanda Black (public affairs) Kiss 104.1, Will Gara (morning producer for Steve & Vikki) B98.5, Giant Brian & Shaffee, plus Carlos (morning show) Project 9-6-1, Capt. Herb Emory (traffic guy) WSB-AM, Matt Edgar (program director) 790/The Zone, Ryan Cameron (afternoon host) V-103, Greg Talmadge (traffic) Kicks & True Oldies, Silas “SiMan Baby” Alexander (evening host) Grown Folks 102.5, Rashan Ali (middays) Hot 107.9
ABOVE: Doug Stewart, part of the 2 Live Stews heard locally on 790/The Zone, buys his wife a Christmas gift from the March of Dimes silent auction. (And no, I won’t tell what it is!)
My news operation also presented the readers’ pick for best morning show, Kevin & Taylor at the Fish. The AJC staff pick was the Bert Show at Q100. The newspaper will donate $1,000 each for the March of Dimes on behalf of the shows.
ABOVE: Wendy Adams, Q100 traffic gal, poses with the AJC $1,000 donation oversized check to March of Dimes after our staff picked the Bert Show as best morning show.
Mark Arum of WSB-AM also gave a lovely tribute to the late WSB-AM newsman Mike Kavanagh, who died suddenly last Saturday:
We lost a titan, folks. It’s ironic in a room full of titans… the Stews, Mr. [Norm] Schrutt, Ryan [Cameron.] Where’s Frank Ski?? That person cost me $30,000 in bonus money!
Mike also ran his own investment firm and hosted ‘Money Matters’ show for years. He just loved high finance in 1998. I came into some money after a trip to Vegas. Here’s money. I found it. Set this up for my retirement. I want this to pay for my kids’ education. I gave him $10,000 in 1998. And now it’s.. $3,200.” (laughs)
A genius! I don’t know how he did it… in all seriousness,… he was the guru before we had Internet in the newsroom. And he was our Walter Cronkite, our Edward R. Murrow… he was the guy when news happened. The day trader shooting in Buckhead, the courthouse shooting, 9/11. Mike was there to reassure our listeners. He reassured our newsroom, too.
Norm Schrutt was given the lifetime achievement award. The radio agent to the likes of the 2 Live Stews, Mara Davis and John Kincade, he did do a nice job mocking me on the dais, in deference to my fine last name.
ABOVE: “Autoscoop” man Adam Goldfein (heard on V-103) and WAOK-AM host Lorraine Jacques-White.
- Continuing a long-term trend, TV viewers are steadily skipping out on the broadcast networks and moving to cable. Four of the five major networks have seen dropoffs in viewerships this fall. Only CBS has build viewers.
Of 66 returning shows, only 8 of them have seen increases in viewership year over year (five of them on CBS including “NCIS” and “How I Met Your Mother”), according to an Associated Press story.. It’s not surprising this is why NBC is ceding five hours a week of primetime to Jay Leno.
Ultimately, viewers under the age of 30 don’t really differentiate between broadcast and cable. With 90 percent of the population with access to cable shows, increasing numbers of people couldn’t care less if ABC or NBC has something on TV. They’d rather go to ESPN, CNN or Bravo. The big tent, in other words, keeps shrinking.
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12/11: NPR cutting shows, staff; 790/The Zone close to picking new morning gal, Buck & Kincade celebrate 2,000th show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks to a sharp drop in corporate underwriting, National Public Radio has cut 85 positions and two shows (not heard on WABE-FM) “News & Notes” and “Day to Day” were cancelled. That’s 7% of the staff and will mitigate a $23 million shortfall in the current fiscal year budget,.
WABE GM John Weatherford said the station’s corporate underwriting, which covers about half its budget, has been naturally challenged by the current economic environment. He didn’t have the anticipated dropoff for fiscal year 2009 (which ends mid-year) but said he feels the station is doing better than most NPR-affiliated stations. He credited the new underwriting specialist for WABE, Jared Blass, for ensuring things aren’t as bad as they could be. Plus, the station reached its goals in the fall campaign despite the lousy economy.
-790/The Zone has been seeking a “sports babe” to replace the recently departed Sandra Golden. They are down to three women.
Here’s Cayci Johnson
Former Hawks dancer MaShara Johnson:
NFL cheerleader Nikky Williams
-And congrats to Buck Belue and John Kincade on their 2,000th show together at the Fan. Kincade has assiduously kept track of such things and only counts shows in which the two of them were there. Belue calls him “Rain Man” for being so meticulous.
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12/10: Norm Schrutt — radio agent to the stars - feted at AIR Awards Thursday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Superphat Mikey (left), Norm Schrutt (center) and Marc Orem (right) at Star 94’s Mark Kanov’s retirement party in July. The Morning Mess is part of Norm’s client base.
This is an extended version of a story running in Thursday’s print edition about Norm Schrutt, radio agent extraordinaire. He teased me for years to do a story about him. With him getting a big lifetime achievement award, I am finally doing him justice:
He’s helped make Mara Davis the voice of Dave FM, Ryan Cameron the afternoon gig at V-103 and the 2 Live Stews national radio stars.
His name is Norm Schrutt. And he’s an agent, along the lines of the fictional Jerry Maguire or the very real sports agent Scott Boras. But while he specializes in nurturing radio DJs into big names, he himself is an avuncular, larger-then-life figure in the radio business.
“I have a sculpture on my desk in the office of a horse pulling a wagon,” he said in an interview at Bone’s. “I really believe that’s what a talent is, the horse pulling the wagon and the wagon is the radio station.”
He has a caricature of himself on the wall at the Palm restaurant in Buckhead. One year, he sent out bobbleheads of his likeness to his clients. And tonight, he receives a lifetime achievement award a the Achievement in Radio Awards fundraising dinner for the March of Dimes.
“He knows his clients’ worth and gets them top dollar. He’s done that for us from day one,” said Ryan Stewart, part of the 2 Live Stews, heard locally on 790/The Zone. He dubs Schrutt the “radio rabbi.”
Schrutt represents 23 radio personalities, more than a half dozen in Atlanta alone, including John Kincade and Christopher Rude at 680/The Fan, Mike Bell at rival 790/The Zone and both the morning show and the afternoon show at Star 94. He’s part babysitter, part advisor, part counselor.
And he supports his talent unequivocally. “Nobody,” he would say, “calls my children ugly!”
“Nobody can talk me off the ledge better than Norm Schrutt,” said Kincade, who credited Schrutt with getting him his deal with ESPN Radio. “To me, he’s like the godfather. You listen to what he tells you to do.”
Schrutt said he tries to keep the negotiations with management light with jokes and banter — until they start talking salary. “I stop messing around,” he said. “Invariably, the person I’m negotiating with will say, ‘What happened to the jokes?’ I’d say, ‘Nothing’s funny about money. After we negotiate the money, we can start joking again.’ “
Andrew Saltzman, general manager at the Zone, said he appreciates the fact Schrutt was a former radio exec and understands where Saltzman is coming from. And Schrutt’s style is distinctive.
“You can tell he’s making a point when he starts talking slow and really low tones,” Saltzman said. “We’d be in these heated discussions. My voice is rising and he’d immediately do the reverse. ‘Andrew - why are you yelling?’ “
“Some days I love him,” he added. “Some days I hate him.”
At age 75, Schrutt looks and acts like someone two decades younger: “I’m in it because I like the action. I like the people I represent. I enjoy being around young, creative bright people. I cannot tell you how much I love it.”
Davis of Dave FM said Schrutt won’t always tell you want you want to hear, but he’s right 99 percent of the time. When she decided to do mornings at the station in 2003 when it was Z93, he told her it wasn’t the right move. “At the time, I was offended,” she said, telling him, “You’re trying to squash my dream!”
But in the end, he was right. Davis eventually went back to mid-days, where she has thrived.
Paul O’Malley, who runs Kicks 101.5 and True Oldies 106.7, used to work with Schrutt weekly in the mid-1990s as an advertising exec while Schrutt ran ABC/Cap Cities radio station group. One year, he won Schrutt’s coveted Waterford Crystal Pig of the Year award.
Schrutt’s rationale: breakfast is like life. Chickens contribute eggs. Pigs commit themselves via the bacon.
O’Malley still has the pig sitting on his home office mantle. “He gave it to me because I was committed to my job. I would go talk to him about national performance once a week and get unbelievably yelled at. Then I’d come back for more. That’s commitment!”
A Buffalo native, Schrutt entered radio selling ads in the 1960s. “I took to it very quickly,” he said. “I loved the aggressiveness of sales.”
After stints in Buffalo and Los Angeeles, he came to Atlanta in 1981, where he stayed at Cap Cities/ABC Radio in various capacities (including head of Kicks 101.5 and WYAY-FM) until 1996, when Disney bought the company.
“I realiized Disney and I did not laugh at the same jokes, “ he said. So he retired. But he got bored. “I have no hobbies,” he said. “I don’t play golf. I don’t play tennis. Working is my hobby.”
So he became an agent, hooking up first with Atlanta entertainment agent Joel Katz, who has repped the likes of Sheryl Crow, Alan Jackson and Christina Aguilera. He has since gone solo, garnering impressive loyalty. Of his first 10 clients, he said, nine are still with him.
“I want my clients to be rich. But I want management to be richer,” he said.
He hasn’t seen eye to eye with every client. After former country Kicks 101.5 morning host Moby was hired by then classic-rock station Z93 in 2002, the station after a few months decided to demote him to traffic person, taking advantage of a loophole in the contract Shrutt had drawn up for him.
Schrutt as his agent suggested he find a radio job in a different city. Moby wanted to start his own syndicated radio program and stay in Atlanta. They eventually parted as client and agent. But Moby still has nothing but respect for Schrutt.
“Norm always assumes he’s the smartest man in the room,” Moby said. “And usually, he’s right.”
Ryan Cameron recently left Schrutt as a client after a decade but still talks to him regularly, calling him his “bruddy,” as in his bro and his buddy. Norm didn’t take offense to Cameron’s departure to the “bigger brand” of Career Sports Management.
“He’ll be back,” he said. “They always come back.”
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12/10: Mike Kavanagh funeral arrangements set for Friday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The funeral services for Mike Kavanagh, long-time news man at WSB-AM and financial planner, will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Saint Brigid Catholic Church. The address: 3400 Old Alabama Road in John Creek. Mass starts at 10:30 a.m. followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, donate money to [FODAC, Friends of Disabled Adults & Children.](http://www.fodac.org/
Or Clark Howard Christmas Kids here. Kavanagh was set to help Clark out this Friday with on-air fundraising, but he died suddenly last Saturday at age 57. Based on the comments from his colleagues, he was well respected and well liked across the board.
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12/9: Jay Leno going to 10 p.m. weekdays, redefining “late night”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jimmy Kimmel and “Nightline” producers just breathed a sigh of relief. Rumors had Jay Leno possibly going to ABC once his deal with NBC ended next year on the “Tonight Show” after 17 years. But Leno looks to be staying at NBC — at 10 p.m. weekdays.
The New York Times’ Bill Carter,, who chronicled NBC’s loss of David Letterman back in the early 1990s in a best-selling book broke the story on the Times Web site tonight.
10 p.m., for the Big Three networks (minus Fox, which cedes that hour to local news), has traditionally been the home to adult dramas such as “L.A. Law,” “E.R.” and “Law & Order.” Now it’s going to be another hour for Tom Cruise to pimp his latest movie and hear Leno pop an O.J. joke. This would be far cheaper for NBC. Carter’s story estimates it would save NBC up to $13 million a week in costs. Ratings will likely be lower, too, but he will work 46 weeks a year. A typical series airs original programming 22 to 24 weeks a year.
NBC had previously announced Conan O’Brien would take over “The Tonight Show” in May in the biggest late-night move since 1992. But Leno is still very successful and NBC clearly did this to ensure Leno does not compete with O’Brien. The show is set to begin next fall, according to Carter’s account.
What do you think? This appears to be a smart move on NBC’s part because its 10 p.m. are mostly struggling, with “SVU” losing steam, “Law & Order” aging, “ER’ retiring and “Knight Rider” cancelled.
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12/8: Clark Howard gets his own Headline News show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the story that’s running in the print edition Monday
Just a few days after announcing he wasn’t going to run for Atlanta mayor, syndicated radio host Clark Howard has set his sights on a new venue: national TV.
Howard, who self-effacingly calls himself Atlanta’s biggest cheapskate, will host a new weekend Headline News show under his own name starting January 3. It will three times a day on Saturdays and Sundays at 6 a.m., noon and 4 p.m.
The hour-long program will feature clips from his radio show, which is syndicated to 235 stations natonwide. There will also be segments specially made for TV, including a “money coach” series in which he follows families over a long period of time to see if they heed his penny-pinching pointers.
“It’s perfect for our times,” said Ken Jautz, executive vice president of CNN Worldwide, who runs Headlines News. “People are looking for and needing financial advice.”
Headline News will air 16 daily one-minute bits by Howard starting today. He will provide tips on how to stretch the holday dollar such as setting a specific budget for Christmas shopping and resisting spending on yourself.
“All I have to sell is that I am who I am,” Howard said. “I have this whiny nasally voice. I’m certainly not one of the pretty boys.”
He added that people who only know him on the radio often think he’s short, fat and bald. “I’m graded on a curve,” he said. “They often say, ‘Wow! You look okay!’ “
Howard, 53, has been on local radio since the late 1980s, first on 640/WGST-AM, then 750/WSB-AM. He went into syndication in the late 1990s and has owned his show himself since 2002.
His radio program draws more than 3.25 million listeners a week, according to Talkers magazine, ranking him 15th nationwide. Headline News on a typical weekend draws 250,000 to 400,000 viewers during the day.
Howard is no stranger to TV as a regular contributor to WSB-TV’s news operations. But this will be a new test of his national appeal.
“It’s an ego thing,” he admitted. “If I can teach more people, for me, that’s the deal.”
Howard hopes his gig on the weekends will be successful enough to parlay into a weekday show. He noted that fellow radio host Glenn Beck’s pay day went sky high once he got a TV gig, first with Headline News and next month, Fox News.
During a rehearsal last week for one of his promos, Howard took out a dollar bill and pulled at it. “Was that too Crazy Eddie?” he asked producer Scott Tufts, referencing a wacky sales guy for a now defunct electronics chain.
“It’s just Crazy Eddie enough!” Tufts parried back.
CNN retrofitted the WSB Radio studio with a faux brick backdrop and three cameras. Through the fake window is a photoshopped fictional midsized city Howard dubs “Clarkville” and includes a couple of recognizable local landmarks such as the Bank of America tower. That’s ironic since Howard has battled Bank of America over their treatment of customers.
“I’m going to get ribbed for that!” he said.
-And condolences to the family of Mike Kavanagh of the WSB-AM. Kavanagh, a long-time afternoon news host and most recently the host of “Money Matters” on weekends on the station, passed away suddenly on Saturday. Funeral arrangements are forthcoming. He is also the founder of a great WSB radio history site, www.wsbhistory.com
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12/6: More radio ratings, parsed out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I received the October 16-November 12, 2008 ratings under the new Arbitron radio ratings and relatively speaking, the numbers are not that far off from the results under the old system. Like October, the first month people meters were used, the Hispanic stations did better than they had with the paper diaries while Q100 did better (surprisingly, among men!) and Rock 100.5 did worse. You can also see why Dave FM and the Bull have pulled their morning shows—their ratings are lower than they were under the old system as well.
The ratings are based on a combination of time spent listening and unique listeners. Some stations, especially pop stations that get heard in offices, tend to get high numbers of unique listeners while stations targeting specific demographics (such as gospel or Hispanic) tend to have higher average time spent listening.
Here’s the overall 12-plus rankings:
1- WSB-AM improved its October numbers, probably fed by all the election news, was the top station, with the most unique listeners and solid time spent listening.
2-V-103, comparable total listeners, less time spent listening than WSB-AM
3-Kiss 104.1 - both strong time spent listening and unique listeners
4-Kicks 101.5 - good time spent listening and unique listeners but significantly less than Kiss
5-97.5/Praise - relatively low unique listeners, very high time spent listening
6-B98.5 - very very high unique listeners, very low time spent listening (since it measures actual time spent listening, folks who hear the station, say, in a doctor’s office for a few minutes, gets credit, dragging down average time spent listening).
7-Q100 - much higher number of unique listeners than under the old system, relatively low time spent listening but not as low as B98.5, Project or Star 94
8-97.1/The River - very similar numbers to Q100 in overall unique listeners and time spent listening
9-95.5/The Beat - same time spent listening as the River, slightly fewer unique listeners
10-Grown Folks 102.5 - good time spent listening boosts this station into the top 10
Those ranked 11th to 20th are: Hot 107.9, El Patron 105.7, Star 94, Viva 105.3, Project 9-6-1, 104.7/The Fish, Smooth Jazz 107.5, 90.1/WABE-FM, 92.9/Dave FM, 640/WGST.
In the 21st to 30th spots: True Oldies 106.7, 94.9/The Bull, 680/The Fan, Rock 100.5, 790/The Zone, 96.7/The Legend, La Raza 102.3, J93.3, 920/WGKA-AM, 1380/WAOK-AM
The top 10 stations in terms of the most unique listeners in a given week are: 750/WSB-AM (1.242 million), B98.5 (1.179 million), V-103 (1.142 million), Q100 (903,100), 97.1/The River (901,900), Kicks 101.5 (869,400), 95.5/The Beat (852,500), Star 94 (770,500), Hot 107.9 (768,600), Kicks 101.5 (675,300)
The top 10 stations in terms of time spent listening among the top 30 stations:
1-La Raza 102.3 (6:45 hours per listener per week) 2 (tie) Praise & El Patron (5:45) 4 (tie)- Kiss 104.1, Viva 105.3 (4:45) 6 (tie)- 96.7/The Legend (4:15), 750/WSB-AM (4:15) 8 Kicks 101.5 (4:00) 9 (tie) V-103, Grown Folks, WABE-FM, WGST, WAOK (3:30)
Top 5 stations among men, 12-plus:
1- 750/WSB-AM 2- V-103 3- Kiss 104.1 4- Kicks 101.5 5- 97.1/The River
Top 5 stations among women, 12-plus:
1- V-103 2- Kiss 104.1 3- 750/WSB-AM 4- Praise 97.5 5- Kicks 101.5
Top 10 18-34 year olds
1 V-103 2- Q100 3- Kicks 101.5 4- El Patron 5- 95.5/The Beat 6- Viva 7- Hot 107.9 8- Project 9- WSB-AM 10- Star 94
Top 5, men 18-34
1- Kicks 101.5 2- V-103 3- El Patron 4- Project 9-6-1 5- Viva 105.3
Top 5, women 18-34
1- V-103 2- Q100 3- 95.5/The Beat 4- Hot 107.9 5- Star 94
Top 5, 25-54
1- V-103 2- WSB-AM 3- Kiss 104.1 4- Kicks 101.5 5- El Patron 6- Q100 7 (tie) Grown Folks, B98.5 9- The River 10- Viva
Top 5 men 25-54
1- WSB-AM 2- Kiss 104.1 3- V-103 4- Kicks 101.5 5- 97.1/The River
Top 5, women 25-54
1- V-103 2- Kiss 104.1 3 (tie) B98.5, WSB-AM 5- Q100
Top 10, 35-64
1- WSB-AM 2- Kiss 104.1 3- V-103 4- Praise 5- Kicks 6 (tie) B98.5, Grown Folks 8- The Rier 9-WABE-FM 10- Dave FM
Top 5, men 35-64
1- WSB-AM 2- Kiss 104.1 3- V-103 4- Grown Folks 5- The River
Top 5, women 35-64
1-Kiss 104.1 2- Praise 3- V-103 4- WSB-AM 5- B98.5
Top 26, morning shows, overall
1- Scott Slade WSB-AM 2- Tom Joyner Kiss 3- Frank & Wanda V-103 4- Cadillac & Dallas Kicks 5- Bert Show Q100 6- Steve & Vikki B98.5 7- Kaedy Kiely, The River 8- Steve Harvey Grown Folks 9- CJ and Murph Dawg 95.5/The Beat 10 (tie) Yolanda Adams, Praise, The Regular Guys Rock 100.5 12- Morning Edition, WABE-FM 13- El Tigre & Rosy El Patron 14- Kevin & Taylor, Fish 15- Morning Mess, Star 94 16- Rickey Smiley, Hot 107.9 17- Giant Show, Project 18- Greg Fitzgerald, Smooth Jazz 19- Rude & Perry, 680/The Fan 20- Panda & Brenda Viva (tie) with Cledus T. Judd (now gone) at the Bull 22- Orff, Dave FM 23- 96.7/The Legend 24- Mayhem in the AM, 790/The Zone 25- Randy Cook, WGST-AM 26- Don Imus, True Oldies 106.7
18-34, 1- Frank & Wanda 2- Cadillac & Dallas 3- Bert Show 4- El Patron 5- Scott Slade 6- CJ & Murph Dawg 7- Panda & Brenda 8- Regular Guys 9- Giant Show 10- Rickey Smiley
18-34 men 1- Cadillac & Dallas 2- El Patron 3- Regular Guys 4- Scott Slade 5- Frank & Wanda 6 (tie) Panda & Brenda & Giant Show 8- Bert Show 9- Kevin & Taylor 10- Christopher Rude 11 (tie) La Raza & Morning Mess
18-34 women 1- Frank & Wanda 2- Bert Show 3- CJ & Murph Dawg 4- Cadillac & Dallas 5- Rickey Smiley 6- Steve & Vikki 7- Scott Slade 8- El Patron 9- Panda & Brenda 10- Morning Mess
25-54 overall 1- Scott Slade 2- Tom Joyner 3- Frank & Wanda 4- Bert Show 5- Caddy & Dallas 6- Steve Harvey 7- Kaedy 8- El Tigre & Rosy 9- Regular Guys 10- Steve & Vikki
25-54 men 1- Scott Slade 2- Tom Joyner 3- Frank & Wanda 4- Caddy & Dallas 5- Regular Guys 6- El Tigre & Rosy 7- Kaedy 8- Bert Show (tie) Steve Harvey 10- Morning Edition (Chris Rude & Mayhem are in 14th and 15th place respectively while Randy Cook on WGST is 24th behind Bill Bennett on WGKA at 18th)
25-54 women 1- Frank & Wanda 2- Tom Joyner 3- Bert Show 4- Scott Slade 5- Caddy & Dallas 6- Steve & Vikki 7- Steve Harvey 8- CJ & Murph 9 (tie) Greg Fitzgerald, Kevin & Taylor 11-Morning Mess
35-64 overall 1- Scott Slade 2- Tom Joyner 3- Frank & Wanda 4- Caddy & Dallas 5- Steve Harvey 6- Steve & Vikki 7- Kaedy 8- Bert 9- Yolanda 10- Morning Edition
35-64 men 1- Scott Slade 2- Tom Joyner 3- Frank & Wanda 4- Caddy & Dallas 5- Steve Harvey 6- Regular Guys 7- Kaedy 8- Morning Edition 9- Steve & Vikki 10- Bert (Mayhem is 11th, Rude 12th, Orff 13th, Bill Bennett is 15th, Randy Cook is 18th)
35-64 women 1- Tom Joyner 2- Scott Slade 3- Frank & Wanda 4- Yolanda 5- Steve & Vikki 6- Caddy & Dallas 7- Bert 8- Steve Harvey 9- Kaedy 10- Kevin & Taylor
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12/5: Top radio songs of the year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here are the most played songs at various music stations in Atlanta this year, courtesy of Mediabase 24/7. This is a bit of an artificial conceit since songs that happen to be released midway through the year are at a disadvantage since they don’t have enough time to generate enough spins to be the top song of the year. If a song gets released, say, in November of the year before, it has a shot to get a year’s worth of spins.
But I love year-end stuff so here ya go — along with the top artists for each station based on total plays of songs by those artists. Those core artists do convey in a broader way what you hear on that station.
Kiss 104.1: “Float On” by the Floaters from 1977 (Luther Vandross, O’Jays, Isley Brothers, Anita Baker, Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass, Al Green, Maze/Frankie Beverly)
Grown Folks 102.5: “Just Fine” Mary J. Blige (Mary J. Blige, Luther Vandross, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Earth, Wind & Fire, Jaheim, Raheem Devaughn, Keyshia Cole, Michael Jackson, Anita Baker)
V-103: “I Remember” Keyshia Cole (Keyshia Cole, Lil Wane, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, T.I., Usher, Kanye West, Plies, Young Jeezy, Chris Brown)
Hot 107.9: “Put On” Young Jeezy (Lil Wayne, T.I., Shawty Lo, Plies, Young Jeezy, Usher, Rick Ross, Rocko, T-Pain, The-Dream)
Kicks 101.5: “Just Got Started Lovin’ You” James Otto (Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Rascall Flatts, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, George Strait, Montgomery Gentry, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Sugarland)
94.9/The Bull: “Small Town Southern Man” Alan Jackson (Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Rascall Flatts, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Garth Brooks)
Star 94:”Stop and Stare” OneRepublic (Daughtry, Rihanna, Jordin Sparks, Fergie, Leona Lewis, Pink, Nickelback, Maroon 5, Natasha Bedingfield, Lifehouse)
Q100: “Stop and Stare” OneRepublic (Rihanna, Jordin Sparks, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, Natasha Bedingfield, Daughtry, Maroon 5, Fergie, Colbie Caillat, Leona Lewis)
95.5/The Beat: “Love in This Club:” Usher (Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Plies, T.I., Usher, Flo Rida, Webbie, T-Pain, J. Holiday)
Rock 100.5: “Long Road to Ruin” Foo Fighters (Van Halen, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Foo Fighters, Def Leppard, Pink Floyd, Stone Temple Pilots)
Project 9-6-1: “Psycho” by Puddle of Mudd (Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Nirvana, Stone Temple Piots, Seether, Three Days Grace, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Puddle of Mudd)
Praise 97.5: “Never Would Have Made It” by Marvin Sapp (Kirk Franklin, Hezekiah Walker, Marvin Sapp, Israel & New Breed, J Moss, Clark Sisters, Mary Mary, Bishop Morton, Myron & Levi Butler, Yolanda Adams)
B98.5: “Big Girls Don’t Cry” Fergie (Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Daughtry, Nickelback, Prince, Journey, Fergie, John Mayer, Fray, Billy Joel)
97.1/The River: Close call among several songs such as Van Halen’s “Dance the Night Away,” Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water,” Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded,” Steve Miller’s “Swingtown” and Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion,” to name a few. (Eagles, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Steve Miller, Boston, Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Foreigner)
Dave FM: “Shut Your Eyes” Snow Patrol (R.E.M., Counting Crows, U2, Coldplay, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews Band, Police, Sheryl Crow, Goo Goo Dolls)
Smooth Jazz 107.5: “Tequila Moon” by Jessy J (Sade, Boney James, Kenny G, Anita Baker, Paul Hardcastle, Euge Groove, Marvin Gaye, Norman Brown, Paul Taylor, Stevie Wonder)
True Oldies 106.7: Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” Zombies’ “Time of the Season” and Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” are in a close call. Each song averages a spin two out of every three days or so. (Beatles, Beach Boys, Supremes, Rolling Stones, Temptations, Elvis Presley, Four Seasons, Stevie Wonder, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Four Tops)
104.7/The Fish: -a virtual three-way tie among “Love is Here” by Tenth Avenue North, “Call My Name’ by Third Day and “Your Grace is Enough” by Matt Maher. (Third Day, Jeremy Camp, Chris Tomlin, Mercyme, Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, Switchfoot, Lifehouse, Kutless, Craig & Dean Phillips)
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12/4: NeNe Leakes bites back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the Bravo Web site, NeNe Leakes denies she was evicted. In the email exchanges we had with her Tuesday, she never said she wasn’t evicted and that she left voluntarily. And our story never said she was evicted.
We did say for a fact she left the house and that there was an eviction notice placed on the house because her husband hadn’t been paying the rent. That eviction notice is real and a fact. If they did leave on their own accord, why did they fall behind in the rent? That is left unanswered.
Anyway, here is what she says:
“The recent rumors alleging that my family faced an eviction are a huge misunderstanding and grossly inaccurate. I am truly blessed to enjoy a wonderful life and lifestyle. We have indeed moved to another home, but we did so on our own free will. We live in an absolutely beautiful home and we are fortunate to be able to live in the place of our choice. Unfortunately, there are many families who are facing real foreclosures and real evictions. That is not and never was the case with us. I know where we live and how we live, and for those blessings I am humbly thankful. It is disappointing that many members of the media have chosen to report gossip instead of news. Without wasting time on the details, the only thing I will say is that we were NOT evicted. Everybody knows that I like to be honest, real and upfront. If something was wrong, I would tell you! Thank you for your well wishes. However, please know that my family continues to be abundantly blessed, and that Miss NeNe has not skipped a beat!”
A lot of gossip blogs, not reading our story that carefully, unequivocally said she was evicted. So there ya go. I wish she had been a bit more straightforward with me but such is life. We’ll see how life goes with her when Bravo starts taping season two. (Sure, Bravo hasn’t said it has committed to a season two but that’s a virtual fait accompli.)
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12/4: Clark Howard talks more about not running for mayor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WSB-AM’s syndicated talk show host Clark Howard, whose radio advice is more invaluable than ever given the current economy, has bowed out of the Atlanta mayor’s race.
He decided it would demand too much time away from his kids, a three-year-old son and a nine-year-old daughter. (He also has a 19-year-old daughter from a first marriage.)
He said he may go for it when his kids are older.
There may also be a financial factor, too. His show, heard on 235 radio stations nationwide, has benefited from the lousy economy, with stations giving him better time slots. And he makes good money since he owns his own syndication and pockets 3/4 of the revenue.
“The money is good,” Howard told me Wednesday. His next window of opportunity to walk is the end of 2010. So if you’re a fan of his radio show, he will be around at least another two years.
Clark, 53, said he’s wanted to run for public office for 40 years. But he first pondered running for mayor in the 1997 to go against then mayor Bill Campbell. He has never been shy about expressing his distaste for Campbell. (“You know the bull with the red cape? He was the red cape.”) He had just gotten married to Lane a couple of years earlier and didn’t want to unduly strain the relationship by entering a political race.
Two years ago, he thought about the mayoral post again and even considered statewide office. Somehow, it leaked out, he said, to Creative Loafing and he decided to be honest with them (and us) about it.
His wife, he said, was okay with it since “she’s already used to me being a public figure.” His radio staff, naturally, wasn’t thrilled. He figured he needed to make a decision by September of 2008 this year when he had to re-sign his radio syndication contract.
But after a summer with the kids, he figured again it wasn’t the right time. So in his life up to this point, the most serious office he’s ever held is vice president of his condo board.
Clark does have something new up his sleeve (and it’s not at all political) but won’t say until next week.
-And brace yourself if you still care about “The Apprentice.” NBC has asked the shows be two hours long instead of one hour, according to tvweek.com
“Donald has always felt the boardrooms were too short, and I think he’s right,” Mr. Burnett said. “Right now, there’s really only about nine minutes of footage that we use and the boardroom (scenes) go on for hours sometimes. The problem has been trying to squeeze it all in. Every season we go through the struggle of cutting the show down.”
The celebrity version will start in February (exact date TBA), which includes Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of TLC from Atlanta.
-The New York Daily News did a nice job re-writing what I wrote yesterday about “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star NeNe Leakes and her eviction. The Defamer was simply snarky. So is NY Metro blog
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12/3: NeNe Leakes and hubby leaves pricey Duluth home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The New York Post and various gossip Web sites in recent days have dug up paperwork showing NeNe Leakes, the breakout star of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” had been evicted from her Duluth home.
Or more specifically, her husband’s name Gregory was on the eviction notice.
We confirmed Tuesday that they are no longer living in the home featured on the show from the broker Darryl Pierce. He said the Leakes left the 5,000-square-foot home at 1765 Silvermere Ct. in Duluth in November after Winwood Properties filed the eviction notice in September. You can check out the house here and it’s for rent if for $2,995 a month..
Did she ultimately get evicted per se? She never quite says so.
The Powers That Be wanted this as a standalone story so you can access it here..
NeNe Leakes, in a series of emails Tuesday, would not say where she is now living. “It’s none of your business,” she wrote. But she noted that they “are financial able [sic] and stable to live where ever we feel fits.”
She clearly was not pleased with the fact we were writing about this although it’s newsworthy given the type of show she is on. Here’s one of her responses, verbatim:
“Clearly you guys have nothing else to report about. Housewives of Atlanta has been off for two weeks! And to answer your earlier question if you don’t already know, I AM the most popular housewife in franchise history and have offers from every directions on the table as we speak! And on an even more positive note, I will be having a launching of twisted hearts foundation website in the following weeks with a huge gathering! Happy writings!!”
She’s right. She is the most popular housewife on the show. It’ll be interesting to see how she capitalizes on her fame. Bravo has to be thrilled with how big the show has become. It opened at about 650,000 viewers. The reunion show last week? 2.8 million viewers, which is a big number for Bravo. And more than 2 million of those viewers were in the coveted 18 to 49 year old demo.
We never claimed to be the first people to get this information. In fact, we were a bit late. This Web site claims to have been the first and isn’t happy that we didn’t give them credit, though we did our own independent work on it. The site does have fun with my last name.
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12/2: Former 99Xers Fred Toucher, Rich Shertenlieb, Crash Clark get morning gig in Boston
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After 2.5 years in Boston at WBCN-FM in the afternoons, former 99Xers Fred Toucher, Rich Shertenlieb and Crash Clark have been rewarded with the morning show after syndicated Opie & Anthony were dumped.
“I’m completely surprised,” Toucher said by phone Monday. He noted the show is No. 2 in Boston among me 18 to 44. He noted that he’s loving Boston and the audience and “We get to do the show we couldn’t do in Atlanta.” The morning show starts Tuesday from 6 to 10 a.m.
Congrats guys. Atlanta isn’t quite the same without y’all. (Toucher spent several years at 99X, including 2.5 years as morning host. Shertenlieb worked a bunch of years there, too. Crash was there more than a decade.)
-Glenn Beck will debut on Fox News January 19 at 5 p.m., just in time for the new presidency. He is also heard locally from 9 to noon at WGST-AM and made a name for himself at CNN Headline News for a couple of years.
-Danielle Knox is the new weekend anchor at WGCL-TV, replacing Mike Moore, who is now a full-time reporter. Knox has worked in Monroe, La., Hartford, Ct. and south Florida. She also co-hosts “The Balancing Act,” a Lifetime Television weekday morning show which focuses on women’s issues. The show airs every day at 7 a.m. right before Atlanta-based “Get Married.”
