An ayoda on radio

  I'm not a golfer, but like everyone else I know who's Tiger Woods and admittedly am a fan. It was interesting to hear how local radio covered the breaking news. Of course, KFI and KNX were on top of the story. KFI's Gary Hoffmann  and Shannon Ferren  seamlessly weaved the story into their midday talk show. It's a plus that both can claim the mantle "sports journalist." KNX did their usual comprehensive job, I was waiting for  Pete Demitriou to arrive on the scene (he did) who does breaking news better than anyone, albeit he does have a counterpart with Steve Futterman who seems to travel the country (world) for CBS News -- he's gotta have frequent flyer miles to burn. There are so many nuances -- demos, cume, 6+ versus W25 - 54 -- that I hesitate trying to comment on the ratings. But KOST and KRTH (K-EARTH 101) continue to lead the ratings. The "buzz" that I did hear about this particular book -- Public Radio station KPCC making a big leap from...

  Before Rush Limbaugh was syndicated over 600 stations and became the American talk radio superstar, he first started his journey as an established talk show host at KFBK-Sacramento, a heritage news / talk outlet. He'd already worked as a disc jockey and for the Kansas City Royals baseball team, stating his days as a deejay were "a moderate failure." Courtesy laradio.com Dave Williams is now an award-winning news anchor for KLIF-Dallas. He's remembered in LA for his work at KRTH, KFWB, KNX and KABC, also for his work a news anchor. Back in the late 80s, Dave did morning drive at KFBK, co-hosting the number one program in the State Capitol. He was at the station when Rush Limbaugh got his start in Sacramento: I worked with Rush at KFBK from 1985 until his departure for New York in June 1988. It was a great time to work at KFBK and Rush was a major part of it, not only for his enormous popularity on the air but because everyone who knew him off the air absolutely ador...

  It was well known that Rush Limbaugh  would be retiring sooner than later, plus his diagnosis of terminal cancer was also common knowledge. At the same time, his passing this morning is a shock if not a surprise. As recently as a couple of weeks ago, Limbaugh declared the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump indicated the "(Democrats are) not gonna be able to stop Trump from having a public life if he wants it, and when that happens — and they are waiting in abject fear for that." One of Limbaugh's first stations when he started in syndication was with KFI, then a station that was still in the shadow of competitor KABC. I'm now working on a more detailed story about Rush's impact on the LA market. My son told me on his Twitter feed, Limbaugh's distractors are offering "rest in p**s." My first response was this was completely disrespectful. But on second thought, I could see Limbaugh having a good laugh.

  thewrap.com, ramp247.com Kevin Ryder , half of the longtime duo of Kevin and Bean  on KROQ and recently released by the Entercom station, is joining Doug "Sluggo" Roberts at Meruelo Media's KLOS for afternoons.  Ryder told AllAccess.com : I’m happy KLOS has lowered their standards just enough for me to slip in. Everyone at the station, starting with Heidi and Frank  in the morning, are having fun, and love the music they’re playing. I’m happy to be working in the afternoon, with my longtime friend Sluggo, because one of us needs to be able to use the English language sufficiently. Plus, I need my beauty sleep to remain at the top of the modeling game. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with listeners and having fun on the air in L.A. again! For three decades, Ryder and Gene "Bean" Baxter  hosted KROQ mornings until 2019, when Baxter decided to move to London. The duo was recognized by the National Association of Broadcasters in 2015 by inducting them into th...

  As part of my Year in Review (posted on January 5), I mentioned the forthcoming departure of Rush Limbaugh from the national airwaves. The Washington Post offers their story about “El Rushbo” and the future of talk radio, conservative or otherwise, read it here . Talk radio continues to be the number one format, but the question is who’s listening. Hint: It’s apparently not the prized 25 – 54 demographic. Something in the aforementioned article caught my attention. They quote Brian Rosenwald, a media professor who wrote the book Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Party that Took Over the United States , the paraphrase stated “the financial pressures on Cumulus and iHeart make them unlikely to invest in the one thing that might save political talk radio: local personalities.” You never know what you’ll see on social media. Someone posted a photo from the studios, looking out at an empty field, of “The Mighty 1190” from the 1970s. I’ll planning to do a story about ...

I watched yesterday's Super Bowl via a virtual gathering with some friends. One is a rabid Chief's fan, we found ourselves having to console her throughout the fourth quarter. My own tragedy involved the lack of snacks I'd normally be sharing with my friends at a traditional gathering. I only had a bag of "heart healthy" fruit and nuts. Sigh. By watching the game on TV, I missed the opportunity to hear the great Kevin Harlan call the game (although Jim Nantz is solid and Tony Romo doesn't bother me as he does others) on radio for Westwood One. During the game, there was some idiot running onto the field. Generally TV ignores these incidents so as not to encourage copycats. Harlan, on the other hand, is known for offering play-by-play of the individual eventually being tackled and escorted off the field. He stopped doing that recently...until yesterday. Hear his call of another one of those silly moments  here . Jim Rome said it was the only highlight of the g...