media bytes for tuesday, october 7, 2008

Welcome to SDRadio for Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008

This report is in ((Stereo)) where available!

Star 94.1 dropped the top-rated afternoon drive of Rick and Jen yesterday. In a move that was partly spurred by economics (as in paying the on-air hosts money), Clear Channel’s puzzle palace continued to shuttle radio in the market.

Hitman Haze takes over the duties as music director that was formerly held by Jen Sorensen. Haze’s duties will expand in San Diego: He will continue to program Channel 933 and take on the duties of assistant program director and music director at Star 94.1.

Joining Channel 933 will be Sisanie. She is mid-days at KISS-FM in Los Angeles, and through the magic of voice-tracking, be heard mid-days at 93.3 FM.

Meanwhile, Rick tells SDRadio that he “loves San Diego” and hopes to find a position here in the market. Likewise, in a separate phone call, Jen echoed Rick’s desire to stay in the market.

For what ever the reason why CCU-SD dropped the team, it wasn’t about ratings. Jen and Rick were among the top in billing and listeners at the 100,000 watt station. (Pictured: Hitman Haze)

Jen can be reached at her email address of jensorensen@cox.net

Stay Tuned

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Radio is having a rough time. So are newspapers. The fifth estate are going through something new, something borrowed, and something that is making them blue.

New: The internet — while approaching 20-plus years, remains the new kid on the block and is delivering content faster and for a price that all can afford.

Borrowed: Media pundits are saying that radio, and newspapers are on borrowed time.

Blue: Bean counters are making financial decisions that has experts wondering who is guiding the ship. Some cuts are needed, but cutting proven talent does not make sense. Have you priced radio stocks? Salem, the owners of KPRZ and KCBQ dropped below a buck yesterday. Some national companies are facing delisting by NASDAQ or NYSE.

What ever happens, the spoils of war may be broadcast stations on the inexpensive. Randy Michaels, currently with Tribune, is on the record to be hunting for stations. (Tribune owns KSWB-TV, the Fox station in San Diego.)

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Another Saturday Night. Most Saturday nights, a number of San Diego and Los Angeles radio and tv people gather at Shotgun Tom Kelly’s pool party at his El Cajon home. Honored recently was Clear Channel production ace and Southern California radio legend, Jim Duncan.

Celebrating with Jim: former KOGO news anchor Jeff Prescott, Double X (XPRS) Sports Radio chief engineer Bill Lipis, Jim Duncan, KRTH’s Shotgun Tom Kelly, former KMPC dj and voiceover guy Neil Ross, legendary KCBQ overnight man Jack Vincent, ex-KRLA pd Mel Hall, former KCBQ pd Gary Allyn, San Diego dj Ron Shaw and former KCBQ dj Bill Martin. Cigars were smoked, tequila was sampled (by some) and many tall tales were told.

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Reception report: I journeyed to Cabo San Lucas last week and took my trusty C. Crane radio with me. It was no surprise that I could get KFI-AM 640 there loud and clear, along with KNX-AM 1070. Also joining the night skywaves was KOGO-AM, and XEPRS-AM 1090, and XEWW-AM 690. Also on the list was 1200 WOAI and KOA-AM 850.

Ex-patriots tell me before the internet was common, AM radio was a news-line that had many listening to KNX, and other news outlets to keep in touch. Now, with high-speed connections available, some stations were available on the ‘net. (Clear Channel does not send the stream to computer IP address outside of the U.S.)

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 8:00 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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