An ayoda on radio

I watched an old episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" recently. The characters included Arthur Carlson the GM, Andy Travis the PD, Les Nessman newsman, Herb Tarlek sales, Bailey Quarters traffic / billing, Jennifer Marlowe receptionist, and of course, the talent including Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap. The show was lauded for its authenticity to local radio, save for the lack of headphones worn by the jocks. That was then, this is now. The days of having a local staff running the local station are becoming a rarity. This became apparent over the last couple of days with the latest round of layoffs, separations, and retirements throughout the iHeart radio group and particularly with heritage news / talk KFI. We reported last week  that  Robin Bertolucci , KFI's Program Director would be leaving her position after 22 years. Originally we stated she was part of the first round of layoffs, but later updated her departure as being her choice. Nonetheless, it's worth noting

  (click on any photo to enlarge) Our family is presently visiting the Central Coast, taking advantage of the three-day-weekend. One of our highlights was sharing time with his Sweetness, Dick Whittington , pictured here with my older son Peter. He's doing well, regaling us with stories from his long career of both radio and other things in entertainment (did you know he once was part of the cast of NBC's "Laugh In?") plus conversation about current events and of course, swapping stories about our families. We did take a moment to raise our glasses (iced tea and water, in case you were wondering) in memory of Don Barrett . He was also a resident of the Central Coast before his untimely passing last year. More about my mentor in a moment. Yours truly, Dick Whittington, Don Barrett (2020) When I get to talk to someone as legendary as Dick Whittington, it's easy to spend the entire time talking about his time in local radio as well as other stops, including being par

  We first offer the official word that KFI PD Robin Bertolucci  actually retired from the station after 24 years, we offer this as an update to our previous story. Also, we're hearing iHeart Media is going to transition to a regional sales strategy housed within the iHeart corporate structure. Practially speaking, a number of the local sales force will be reassigned or released.  In general, it appears iHeart will shift many responsibilities, from sales to prograning, from local clusters to regional hubs. This would match the comments made by iHeart Media CEO Bob Pittman, whom we previously quoted , who said (I'm paraphrasing) their new strategy the best talent now becomes available to their local stations regarless of where the talent is located.  We also are aware of more changes that will be announced on Monday. Again, please stay tuned. ayodaradio@gmail.com

Whenever there's a discussion about the future of AM radio, the success of iHeart's KFI radio is cited as an example that amplitude modulation is not yet dead. The station has transitioned from being the home of Rush Limbaugh ,  Dr. Laura Schlessinger , and Art Bell  to being almost exclusively live-and-local, featuring Bill Handel ,  Gary Hoffmann ,  Shannon Farren , John Kobylt , Tim Conway Jr. , and  Mo'Kelly , plus a smaller but mighty news department headed by Chris Little . The consistent factor over the past two-and-a-half decades has been Program Director  Robin Bertolucci . She was recognized as one of the best managers in the country. Note the past tense. Bertolucci has officially retired from her responsibilities at the iHeart Radio facilty in Burbank, with no replacement having been named.  In her memo to her staff, she noted her son was in pre-school when she started at KFI, he's now a 27-year-old. She thanked the talent both on-air and behind the scenes, r

  After a previous weekend of stunting, specifically playing Alan Jackson's "Gone Country" looping all weekend (and a couple of weeks of all-Taylor Swift radio), AM 1260 has officially morphed from classical K-Mozart to "Go Country Gold AM Stereo 1260,"   streaming at gocountrygold.com . The playlist includes a range of artists from Kenny Rogers to the Judds, more traditional singers including LeeAnn Rhimes to George Strait, plus the Eagles "Lyin' Eyes" (though they lose points for playing an edited version).  The station is also simulcasting on FM 105.1-HD4, the former home of "LA Oldies K-Surf." On Monday morning, the station featured pop hits with titles featuring the word "gold," including "Fields of Gold" by Sting, "Gold" by John Stewart, etc. etc. before it also featured the country oldies.  Saul Levine (Damian Dovarganes, AP) The first time I ever interviewed Saul Levine for LARadio.com was when he d

  On Friday, the station played a promotional spot, based on the question "where is Kevin?" The now-former KLOS afternoon driver, Kevin Ryder , who co-hosted with Doug "Sluggo" Roberts , posted an Instagram video , running a portion of the spot, then stating "well I'm not there anymore! KLOS fired me!" as Ryder reached for some ice cream from his home freezer. Much speculation is circulating why the KROQ veterans were released from the heritage classic rock station, who started afternoons at KLOS in 2021  amidst some decent fanfare. For 30 years, Ryder was half of the legendry KROQ morning team of "Kevin and Bean." Roberts, also a KROQ veteran, was serving at KLOS assistant program director and music director when he was teamed up with Ryder. The station's owners, Meruelo Media, had already released their midday talent from their various properties in February, including  Bryhana Monegain of Power 106 (KPWR); PJ Butta of  KDAY;   Carol