Radio "sadness" from Los Angeles

Two radio stories in the news over the past few days each bringing a different form of sadness.

First, sorry to learn of the health struggles of Bob Coburn, now even more limited in his ability to do even a weekend shift on KLOS Radio. Coburn has been a fixture on KLOS going back more than 20 years, and is also remembered fondly in Chicago from his days on WLUP around 1980. He was the first to put "Ma Nugent" (Ted's mother) on the radio and discuss the issues with her. This was in the days when album rock stations didn't do any phone bits other than the morning show, and back then most morning shows were music driven.

Next, a great memory brought back in the Los Angeles Times story about KRLA, KFWB, and KHJ and its personalities.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-then4-2009oct04,0,3720458.story


It is great to read the memories this story brings back, but sad in the sense that it reminds us how local personalities continue to go away in practically every market.

While this is not intended to be a plug for the RadioRecordings airchecks, it might help to know that many of the Los Angeles personalities mentioned in the story are available via airchecks at http://www.MajorLeaguePrograms.com

I would be delighted to share memories that you have of these great personalities.

Tuna still has good taste

It was great to learn that Charlie Tuna continues to attract a large following of radio listeners in Los Angeles to this day. Literally.

The latest radio ratings for L. A. show that Charlie's weekend shows on K-EARTH 101 came in first in the market in every important demographic. It is a reflection of both him and the station, but mostly him since these numbers on weekends are better than KRTH does at some points during the week.

His friendly approach has come across as sincere for almost 40 years in Los Angeles. He never was the on-air character like Real Don Steele, but has always done a solid job.

Simply put, it is great to see that after all these years at least one personality isn't being replaced , toned down, or reduced to a shadow of his or herself. Congrats to Charlie on this one.

Those of you that would like to enjoy Charlie from years gone by should check out our airchecks "store" at RadioRecordings.com. We have some from his KHJ days going back as far as 1965 and then into the 70's.

KFWB Los Angeles - less news more talk ??

The Lovin' Spoonful song "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?" might wind up as the station's jingle at this rate.

KFWB 980 Los Angeles seems to be changing their mind - again. So much for the "Hollywood news" approach they have been trying as if to differentiate from sister news station KNX of late. In a sudden twist, the station is looking to add a block of talk shows to its weekday lineup starting Sept. 8th, which is the day after Labor Day.

These will reportedly include Dr. Laura from Noon to 3 PM and east coast based Michael Smerconish from 6 to 9 PM. It could be an "all Laura" midday as Laura Ingraham is reportedly in line for 9 AM to Noon.

As of now, 6 to 9 AM will remain local news and traffic with Phil Hulett and Penny Griego, with local news and traffic from 3 to 6 PM.

This is still another chapter in the damage that consolidation has done to radio over the past 10 years. Until the zeroes, KFWB and KNX were competing for the news and information audience 24 hours a day. KNX used its CBS News affiliation to have more of a regional and national news presence, to which KFWB balanced by focusing more on local matters.

Even when it came to sports, which both stations aired at the same time, they each went for a competitive edge. KNX would concentrate more on the sports headlines of the day and focus on the local teams, while KFWB would emphasize the scoreboard after 4:00 PM every day when the games would start. The stations each had competition, and listeners had choices.

Since both stations went to the same ownership, the need to scoop and "out cover" the other station has gone bye-bye. It has gotten to the point where some of the same reporters would turn up on either station. Orange County "bureaus" opened and closed periodically. But the stations became interchangeable. The magic was gone.

Now, so is an all-news format on KFWB. And for what? Talk shows with news blocks during weekday drive times is hardly an innovation. Just ask KFI from years gone by.

Changing format to add Dr. Laura? I'll be surprised if very many listeners give them 22 minutes after Labor Day.

Your comments are welcome!

94.7 KMET Los Angeles remembered - twice

After years of being forgotten on the air, all of a sudden two Los Angeles radio stations decide to honor the memory of 94.7 KMET and its days as an album rock leader in radio. Relative newcomer KSWD 100.3 in L.A. announced that this coming Friday July 10 will be “KMET Friday” with (current) host Jeff Gonzer to handle the day long collection of old airchecks and features, and on-air promos were done by Dr. Demento, who will do a one hour shift on Friday playing some of the novelty songs he aired back in the day.

Not to be outdone, the station which benefitted the most over the years from the demise of KMET, KLOS 95.5 jumped the gun this past weekend.

KLOS “just happened” to have a “Legends” weekend with memories of KMET, its former rival. Rachael Donahue shared memories on the air, and special guests included Paraquat Kelley, while comedian Frazer Smith filled in for Mark & Brian. Smith had success with his “Saturday Night Fraze” radio show with comedy and album rock back in the 80’s before winding up on a small suburban Chicago radio station years later where his past success was basically washed away.

KMET was one of the few Los Angeles radio stations in the mid-80’s to do a good job with the format and it was disappointing to many when the format was dropped in favor of “The Wave” KTWV and its near jazz format. (Or “the Grave” as many called it.) I still remember the last set of music as KMET, with Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changing”, followed by Bob Seger’s “Rock & Roll Never Forgets” and then ending with The Beatles “Golden Slumbers” and “The End”. Whoo-yah!

It is great that the legendary station is finally being remembered, even if twice in the same week as only today’s radio stations would.

Legends on the move

This Monday and Tuesday (April 13 + 14) mark a coming and a going for Los Angeles area radio listeners involving nationally known names. Rick Dees does his final show on 93.9 FM on Tuesday due to that station going over to Spanish language programming. Dees currently does not have another L.A. radio gig lined up after the better part of the last 20+ years on KIIS-FM and others in the Southland. Of course, Rick has enough to keep him busy on the national level.

Meanwhile, Hollywood Hamilton begins a dual presence on Monday, hosting daily shows in both New York and Los Angeles each weekday. He will continue to handle afternoon drive on WKTU-FM in New York, but starting this Monday will also be heard from 3 - 7 PM on MyFM 104.3 in Los Angeles each afternoon.

However, the L.A. show will be mostly recorded earlier in the day. Hamilton will be voice tracking the show from the NYC studios prior to going on the air in New York. Word is that the L.A. station will forward the request lines to Hamilton in NY for some of the show. Due to the 3 hour time difference, Hamilton would have the ability to record phone calls and add anything timely for the current afternoon's show.

While I understand that Hamilton is popular in both markets and is an important cog with both stations, I'm not liking this move. Los Angeles deserves a live afternoon drive personality over and above one who is literally thousands of miles away and not live.

Meanwhile, for those who wish to remember the dance music days of WKTU in the early 80's, our RadioRecordings.com airchecks series can help you remember them. See the list at RadioRecordings.com.

another station format change

The Los Angeles station known for years as "Indie 103.1" has bailed, but at least some of the air staff had the opportunity to say goodbye on the air. This station has been plagued by signal problems for years, going back to its "Mars 103" days of what I called the "weird rock" format in the late 80's.

Yet, station management is supposedly blaming the PPM audience measurement as a reason for its demise. As if that station ever made an impact in the market. It had a small but steady core of listeners, with little variation. At best, long term advertisers had a reinforcement outlet. For my money, this is the type of "hip" station that people would purposely overstate under the diary system and PPM is more of a reality.

At any rate, the word is the station will go Spanish within the month.