An ayoda on radio

  We're sorry to report a body found near San Francisco's Pier 39 has been identified as Jeffrey Vandergrift . Better known as "JV," he was the morning man at iHeart's WiLD 94.9 (KYLD-San Francisco). Vandegrift was last seen on February 23. He had challenging health issues, including a difficult recovery from Lyme Disease. JV chronicled his encounter with the illness on social media. His survivors include his wife, Natasha Yi, who was also featured on his morning show. NPR West facilty on Jefferson Boulevard in Culver City Cut cut:  National Public Radio, probably better known by its initials NPR, announced layoffs which will result in $30 million in savings. About 100 jobs, ten percent of their workforce, was cut. This follows a freeze on most new hires, internships, and travel back in November 2022, saving $20 million. Additionally, NPR has "stopped production" with four of their podcasts,  Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot, Rough Translation, and ...

  I was reminded by both Elizabeth McDonnell and Don Barrett, the latter via LARadio.com (still updated daily with past stories) that it's been eight (8) years since the passing of Joe McDonnell, aka "Big Joe," "The Big Nasty," etc.  Joe was always good to me, anytime I needed a quote or occasionally some background info on a story I was doing, he was always available and helpful. And he was always a kick to listen to, albeit I did listen to him at more than one venue. Tom Hoffarth, former sports media columnist for the Daily News , summed it up nicely:  Courtesy https://samehereglobal.org/profile-tom-hoffarth/ I found it interesting that Joe always put on his resume that he was the Los Angeles Daily News Sports Talk host of the decade during the 1990s. He also made the number one spot of my annual list of the best sports talk show hosts so many times that I stopped counting. The one thing you could always count on with Joe was he offered an unfiltered opinion...

  LA radio lovin’:   A recent Los Angeles Times story highlighted how local listeners were loyal fans of dedication shows , programs where the talent would take listener calls or letters (nowadays it’s emails) and hear about a current love, a lost love, or something related. Writer Julia Carmel offered her own tale about wanting her own dedication:   A few weeks after moving to Los Angeles last August, my partner and I were driving home from the movies when we came across the voice of Art Laboe on the radio, chatting with KDAY 93.5 FM callers late on a Sunday night. “Why have you never dedicated a song to me?” I asked them as we rolled up to a stop sign.   “Because it’s corny,” they replied. “But I’ll do it if you really want.” The streets were quiet when we turned onto my block a few minutes later. We lingered in the car for a minute to hear a stranger pour her heart out to Laboe — and thousands of listeners. Laboe died last October, but his impact on th...