I'm retiring

Well, it's been a long, fun stretch, but now's the time to hang up my jock. I have decided to retire from this thing.

But wait! Brett Favre's back? Do tell! Well, that settles it - I'm back!

Hey, if an over-the-hill primadonna quarterback can suddenly come out of a three week retirement (how many has that been so far?) for buttloads of money and a guaranteed starting job with his biggest nemesis, then why not little 'ol me? Therefore, this entry is dedicated to the Master Indecider, the one and only Brett Favre, who is doing his damned finest to screw up whatever legacy he still has. Only things left are steroids, dog fighting, knifing his wife and gambling on his own games. The only ones screwing up more are the Minnesota Vikings, for pursuing this whole Brett Favre nonsense.

Now, with that out of the way...

Hartmann returning to Air America?

Well, not exactly.

But there is a rumor, and one he mentioned on his show last week. Word has it that he will soon be heard (if not already) on WZAA (1050AM), the station Air America operates in Washington, DC. Likely, it will be on delay status, as the station currently shows nothing on their schedule for their late-night hours. We shall see...

Obama hits the airwaves

Since taking office seven months ago, President Barack Obama has been perhaps the most visible commander-in-chief we've ever had. Seems like he's been everywhere, whether it be in television interviews, webcasts, televised prime time press conferences, on the road and wherever else. And he's got a few radio appearances coming up, as he continues to counter all the right-wing lies about his proposals for health care reform. And what better place to start than where all the bullshit is coming from - right-wing radio.

Dial Global's Michael Smerconish will interview the president Thursday August 20 (that's tomorrow, folks!) directly from the White House. The show will show live noon-3P ET, and the 20-minute Obama interview will air at 1:10P ET, the first radio interview on the grounds of the White House in the Obama Administration.

"I am honored to be the first radio broadcaster to interview the President live from the White House," said Smerconish, who, incidentally supported Obama in last November's election. "My listeners have suggested many pointed questions that I look forward to raising with dignity and respect."

But first, Obama will hit the webcast waves, with an online webcast special featuring a discussion by the religious community of the his administration's health care proposals.

The President will appear on "40 Minutes For Health Reform,' appearing on Blog Talk Radio this afternoon at 5P ET. And no, Obama will not take calls on the show, but a White House spokesperson will be on hand to answer questions submitted by the public.

Okay, I'm retiring again

I hate training camp. I'm too old to sleep in a college dorm. Unless she's cute.

No changes for WCPT

The FCC has rejected a petition from Newsweb, owner of WCPT (820AM) in Chicago. The petition was for reconsideration of the 2005 denial of a proposed dual community of license change for the station, currently licensed to Crystal Lake, IL and another station they own, located in the northwest Indiana suburbs of Chicago.

Newsweb had applied to move WCPT's city of license to Addison, IL, which would enable them to co-locate the stations' studios. The FCC, however, decided that the benefits to such a move did not outweigh the loss of local service to the former communities of license.

Keep in mind, none of this behind-the-scenes stuff has anything to do with what they're currently putting out on the air. It's just that news is slow, and I needed something to put here.

I'm back

Okay, I guess I'll stick around, so long as I don't have to go to training camp. Let me just hop right in and start.

Wendell filling in for Rhodes

KTLK/Los Angeles talker Johnny Wendell will be filling in for the vacationing Randi Rhodes on her syndicated show today (Wednesday) and tomorrow. Just so you won't wonder what happened to Randi.

Time to hang it up again

I do have a concern with that shoulder injury that makes it hard to type all this goodness that you read here. I'm goin' back to Mississippi to ride tractors. But first...

Real-life goodbyes

Two notable media figures have ventured off to the Great Beyond recently. First, we say goodbye to a television news legend, Don Hewitt, who passed away today at the age of 86:

Hewitt was best known as the creator of the venerable "60 Minutes" in 1968, and oversaw the show until 2004. His career in journalism spanned over 60 years, virtually all of it at CBS. As a young producer/director assisting at the birth of television news, it was usually Hewitt behind the scenes directing legendary CBS News reporters like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, using a playbook he had to write himself. He played an integral role in all of CBS News' coverage of major news events from the late 1940s through the 1960s, putting him in the middle of some of history's biggest events, including one of politics’ seminal moments: the first televised presidential debate in 1960.

And we also bid farewell to a less distinguished media personality, conservative commentator and nasty curmudgeon Robert Novak, who died yesterday at the age of 157. But do vampires ever really die?


Okay, I wanna come back


But only if you fork over $12 million. I can't have the money? Well, I'll stick around anyway. I'm back.

Departing glances

A few demises to note today. One's a well-known Miami talk show host who was dismissed from his job, another a national radio icon hosting his last show next week, and finally, we mark the real-life passing of a late-night television icon.

Rogers, WQAM part ways

First, after 12 years, Miami midday radio talker Neil Rogers, of note to some readers here, has been let go from sports talker WQAM (560AM).

The parting of ways is almost not surprising, given Rogers' increasingly scaled-down schedule, his 'telecommuting' from places such as Toronto and Amsterdam, his enormous paycheck and, of course, his prickly demeanor.

Owner Beasley Broadcasting recently signed Neil to a new contract that even allowed him a Summer-time schedule of working just Tuesdays and Thursdays, initially set to kick in next week.

But in recent weeks, Rogers, 66, got into hot water last month after accidently dropping an unbleeped 'f-bomb' on the air, and directed it at one of his bosses. He was angered over the departure of his longtime producer Jorge Rodriguez.

Rogers’ current contract is for five-years and pays $800,000 annually (down from $1.5 million). No word on whether Beasley will buy it out or settle. There is no noncompete clause, meaning that Rogers could work for another station at any time. However, Rogers has no plans to seek another on-air job at this time.

Rogers has been in Miami radio for 36 years.

Kasem hangs up his headphones

Meanwhile,a nationally-known radio icon is preparing to count backwards for perhaps the very last time. Casey Kasem, who had been hosting nationally-syndicated countdown shows since 1970, will do his last show during the July 4 weekend. Kasem and his syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks, mutually opted to cancel American Top 20, which airs weekly on mostly adult contemporary stations.

But that won't be the end of the road for Kasem. In recent years, Premiere has restored and remastered tapes of Kasem's old countdown shows from the 70s and 80s and currently offers them to oldies stations and satellite radio via syndication (which is perhaps one of the best ideas they ever came up with).

In addition, Kasem, 77, will continue with other lucrative projects, such as voice work, cartoons (hey, he was Shaggy in "Scooby Doo"!), and whatnot. He can also devote more time to outside causes, such as Lebanese-American and Arab-American issues (Kasem is Lebanese). He is also a vegan, and was a big supporter of Dennis Kucinich during his past two presidential runs (though he was a Nader guy in 2000, but don't hold that against him).

So, a tip of the hat to a legend and inspiration, Casey Kasem. Just be careful what you say when the mic is on.

McMahon dies

Finally, a real-life departure, this one of a longtime fixture on late night television. Former Tonight Show sidekick and announcer Ed McMahon passed away early this morning. He was 86.

No cause of death was given, but McMahon has been known to be suffering from many health problems over the last few months, including bone cancer and pneumonia. He also had to deal with a neck injury and many financial problems in recent years.

You can read more via the L.A. Times.

It's the end of TV as we know it (and I feel fine)

The ubiquitous box sits by the wall in the living room, it's kaleidescope of colors the center of attention. To paraphrase The Dude in The Big Lebowski, it pulls the room together. For over sixty years, this cultural icon was like a window to the world, bringing the images of society into our homes. We were informed of the daily news headlines by nicely groomed people staring right at us as they were seemingly chopped off at the upper torso. We saw all our favorite sports teams, watched our favorite movies, laughed at mindless sitcoms and gazed drearily into the night at mind-numbing infomercials peddling the latest snake oil. All with blurry images and glorious static.

No more.

We'll all see the same stuff we did before, for better or worse. But instead of occasionally fuzzy and ghostly images, it will all be in crystal clear digital, and for those with even fancier sets, in razor-sharp high definition. Today, June 12, is the official passing of the torch to the digital television era in the United States.

By midnight tonight, all full-power analog television signals across the country will be turned off for good. It may mean little to those who watch their television via cable, satellite or whatever the land-line phone companies call their service. But for people who watch television via a good ol' fashioned rabbit ear antenna that pulls the images and sounds out of the sky, it means quite a bit.

Today is a milestone in the history of television. And what better way to salute the idiot box than to take a rough look at other key dates (not completely verified, though) in its history? Perhaps this will help to explain the decline of modern civilization as we know it. Here it is, the unofficial LTR History Of Television (so far):

1873 - Willoughby Smith discovers the photoconductivity of the element selenium, which would later be used in the earliest mechanical television sets. Little did Smith realize that his breakthrough would lead, years later, to such banality as FOX News, VH1 reality shows and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Had he known that, he would have invented Pop Rocks candy instead.

1894 - Paul Gottlieb Nipkow came up with and patented an electromechanical television device with a spinning image rasterizing disk, though he never built an effective working model. The original design, featuring someone in a wooden box flipping pictures, never fooled anyone.

1891 - Larry King born.

1900 - Constantin Perskyi coins the phrase 'television' in a 1900 paper, which he read at the First International Electricity Congress in Paris. The original term, 'photoconductive spinning wheel moving picture box', didn't roll off the tongue quite as well.

1907 - Boris Rosing transmits silhouette images using a Nipkow disc, a mirror drum and a cathode-ray tube. Feeling sly, he chose to show very fuzzy images of his wife in her bloomers. Hence, the earliest, crude porno is born, and helps usher in the early television era.

1925 - John Logie Baird transmits the first television pictures in his laboratory, with a choppy screen featuring a piddly 40-line resolution. The quality is so poor, nobody realizes that he, like Rosing before, was actually showing raunchy stag films.

1926 - The first big hit television show, Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover sneezes, is a smash, even with its five second length.

1927 - Not content with inventing everything else connected with television, Baird comes up with a crazy (and workable!) idea of recording television programming on simple 78rpm gramophone records. Gets fined by local video store for not rewinding.

1927 - Soviet engineer Leon Theramin comes up 100-line TV. Beat that, you imperialist capitalist pigs!

1928 - The first television station ever, W2XB, is born in Schenectady, New York, even though nobody there knew what the hell television was, or what exactly they were supposed to show.

1928 - The first-ever commercially available mechanical TV set reaches stores. It's the size of a piano, has a three-inch screen and sells for $1500. Really, what's the point?

1929 - BBC-TV comes into being. A year later, Baird installs a set at 10 Downing Street, where British Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald and his family watch the first ever British television drama, The Man With The Flower In His Mouth. Sadly, it was 90 minutes of some guy with a flower in his mouth. Obviously seeing where this will lead, MacDonald orders the stupid contraption removed the next day.

1931 - Allen B. DuMont perfects a long-lasting cathode-ray tube (CRT). Also, Canadians launch their own television station, VE9EC in Montreal, again with nothing to show whatsoever save for sneezing politicians, flower-munching Brits and fuzzy porno. The idea catches on once they add hockey.

1934 - Philo Farnsworth demonstrates a non-mechanical television device, the precursor to modern-day electronic television. The electronic system held up better than the gerbil wheel featured in its predecessor.

1936 - Those enterprising Brits begin transmitting high-definition video (200 lines!!!). Also by this time, the BBC is broadcasting movies, Shakespearian plays and television series to a country with no sets. So, explain to me now why you all hate HD Radio.

1939 - First major league baseball game televised. Later that year, the first sports bar is born in Chicago, where hundreds of fans could gather to watch the Cubs lose for free without paying to get into Wrigley Field.

1940 - RCA and CBS demonstrate color television, though they had yet to perfect the black and white version.

1941 - The U.S. adopts the 525-line video standard still in use today. Yes, our soon-to-be discarded modern-day television technology is as old as Dick Cheney.

1942 - The FCC suspends all television broadcasting because of the war, and few people notice. Allen DuMont petitions for an exception and gains approval, only he has nothing to show, no stations to show it and nobody to watch.

1945 - The DuMont Television Network is officially born anyway.

1945 - NBC also launches its own television network, and luckily, they are not in fourth place.

1947 - Deciding that people would watch if there were actual worthwhile shows on the air, NBC takes action. They offer up Meet The Press and Howdy Doody, both featuring wooden puppets in their respective casts. Also, both NBC and DuMont broadcast the World Series.

1948 - CBS and ABC begin network programming, bringing the total number of networks, four, up to the same level as the number of people actually watching.
1948 - The first big television stars are Milton Berle on NBC and Ed Sullivan on CBS. Needless to say, in 1948, anyone could be a star on television.

1949 - The first Emmy Awards are presented, because every medium, regardless of lack of content, deserves its own trophies, dammit!

1951 - Seeing as they could monopolize the Emmys if they actually had some shows, CBS ponies up I Love Lucy and a couple soap operas.

1952 - National Educational Television (NET) launches as the first public/noncommerical network.

1952 - Hockey Night In Canada debuts on CBC, launching the joke, "Why do Canadians do it doggy style? So they can both watch the hockey game."

1952 - The first political ads appear on U.S. television, leading to the slow decline of the medium. Also, NBC's Today launches and sends birthday greetings to their first centurions.

1953 - The debut of TV Guide. Literacy rates drop in its wake.

1953 - The infamous and futuristic TV dinner hits the freezer sections of local supermarkets, then living rooms across post-war America. Pass the Salisbury steak and chocolate hockey puck, please.

1954 - On New Year's Day, NBC and RCA team up to broadcast the Tournament Of Roses Parade in the first-ever coast-to-coast color broadcast. The garish psychedelic images shown inspires Dr. Albert Hoffman to perfect LSD.

1954 - NBC launches the long-running Tonight Show with anal-retentive moral crusader Steve Allen as its first host. So those of you who bitch (wrongly, at that) about new host Conan O'Brien are easily reminded that at one time, it was much worse.

1954 - Disneyland launches on ABC. Modern-day marketing travesties such as High School Musical, Miley Cirus and the Jonas Brothers can be traced to this seemingly innocent moment.

1956 - Rock and roll hits the big time, and the networks are freaked out. Ed Sullivan agrees to book Elvis Presley, but opts to show him only from the waist up. Which is still better than Steve Allen, who suggests Presley sing his raunchy new hit "Hound Dog", an R&B tune originally sung by Big Mama Thornton about a promiscuous male Lothario, to an actual Bassett hound while wearing a tux. So stop bitching about Conan already!

1955 - After years of CBS, NBC and ABC poaching DuMont's talent lineup (most notably Jackie Gleason) and their strongest affiliates (like KDKA in Pittsburgh), the fourth (and forgotten) network goes belly-up. The Big Three to DuMont: "I drink your milkshake."

1956 - Zenith introduces the first wireless remote control to the marketplace, the Space Commander. The couch potato is officially born.

1956 - AMPEX introduces the first Video Tape Recorder. First tape returned to the video store unwound.

1957 - American Bandstand debuts, and elevates rock and roll only slightly higher than Sullivan and Allen's efforts. Hey, it's got a good beat and I can dance to it.

1958 - TV game shows are fixed. Really?

1959 - American Bandstand almost shuttered during the disc jockey payola scandal. Young pretty boy host Dick Clark was just as corrupt as frumpy middle-aged Alan Freed, who had been playing rock and roll when it was just raunchy R&B music. However, Clark put up a much more squeaky-clean public front, and got away with it. The scandal ruined Freed, who hit the bottle hard and died a few years later. Clark escaped unscathed, became a zillionaire and helped launch the careers of sanitized 'rockers' like Frankie Avalon and Fabian. Where is the justice?

1960 - Presidential candidate Richard Nixon discovers that, unlike with radio, one cannot show up to a televised debate looking like complete shit.

1960 - The Flintstones debut on ABC. Yabba Dabba Doo!

1961 - A teenage Geraldo Rivera (then known as Jerry Rivers) grows his first moustache. Gets ass kicked badly on playground after school.

1962 - Heeeeere's Johnny! Johnny Carson becomes host of The Tonight Show, replacing Jack Paar.

1963 - Call the medic! Doctor Who debuts on British television, as The Doctors and General Hospital debut in the U.S. Coincidence?

1963 - "The JFK Assassination" is the season's biggest hit.

1964 - The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan, garnering the largest viewing audience in television history. In a wise move, producers opt not to show John, Paul, George and Ringo only from the waist-up.

1966 - Color TV becomes standard in all television broadcasting. Buddy Ebsen never looked better.

1966 - Star Trek debuts, as the geeks begin to take over television.

1967 - The Overmyer Network debuts as the fourth national commercial network. They got as far as the two-hour Las Vegas Show, a name change to the United Network, tons of wasted money and the network's demise. All in a 30-day period. What? They actually expected viewers with a name like The Overmyer Network?

1967 - The first NFL-AFL Championship Game aired on two networks, NBC and CBS. Yet, for some reason, no one at either top-rated network is smart enough to actually remember to record the damned game. Today, only a few clips of the very first Super Bowl are known to exist.

1968 - The networks have a lot to learn about sports programming. Some dumbass at NBC decides to cut out of the last few minutes of the Raiders-Jets football game, as Joe Namath and company appear to be sewing it all up, to air the sappy family flick Heidi. Viewers miss the thrilling upset, as the Raiders scored two touchdowns on three plays in the final minute to win 43-32. NBC's switchboard is flooded with calls from pissed-off football fans, who missed what would later be called one of the most memorable games ever played.

1967 - The final episode of The Fugitive draws a record number of viewers. But the story doesn't end there. O.J. Simpson is still looking for the real killer.

1969 - Sesame Street, Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Brady Bunch debut. Coincidence?

1969 - 600 million viewers around the world can attest to the fact that Neil Armstong moonwalked better than Michael Jackson ever could.

1970 - The birth of Monday Night Football. Now, Americans can do as the Canadians do.

1970 - Not much liking the liberal fare distributed by National Educational Television (NET), which often dealt with subversive anti-American and morally reprensible topics such as war, poverty and race relations (sarcasm alert!), the network's various affiliates, financial supporters and even the Nixon Administration work to get it shut down, and succeed. PBS, which launched the year prior, takes its place.

1971 - Both All In The Family, featuring racist demagogue and right-wing icon Archie Bunker, and Soul Train, a variation of American Bandstand that actually features black people, both debut. Coincidence?

1972 - Home Box Office debuts. Bleary-eyed viewers suffer panic attacks when they see the uncut versions of raunchy flicks like A Clockwork Orange and Last Tango In Paris in their living rooms. A new era begins.

1973 - NBC's first post-Tonight Show entry, Tomorrow, with Tom Snyder, gives stoned college students yet another reason to stay up late, blow off homework and get high.

1974 - Future cable news shouter Nancy Grace expresses first mock outrage when some girl she kinda knows gets stood up by her prom date.

1975 - The birth of the X-BOX's grandfather, as Atari's home version of Pong hits Sears stores. And it looks bitchin' in hi-def!

1975 - Sony launches the Betamax. Now Americans can watch porn in the comfort of their own homes, rather than be seen walking by themselves into seedy mob-owned movie theaters.

1975 -Live from New York, Saturday Night Live debuts.

1976 - The VHS tape format introduced. Be kind, rewind.

1976 - Anarchy In The U.K.! The Sex Pistols cause controversy when guitarist Steve Jones utters the word "fuck" on live British morning television.

1978 - Another attempt at a fourth network, this one from Paramount. It would be built around a revised Star Trek with the original cast and some bald chick. Plans for the network were scrapped and Star Trek became a really, really boring movie instead.

1978 - The Laserdisc launches, with the poorly chosen moniker Discovision. Lynyrd Skynyrd fans opt for Betamax.

1979 - The birth of ESPN. Da da dah!

1980 - Saturday Night Live begins three decade run of utter lameness once the last original cast member leaves. New cast member Charles Rocket stirs up controversy when he utters the word "fuck" on live late night television. Luckily, few people were watching at the time.

1980 - The new fad is lowly-rated UHF stations that air scrambled pay-tv programming every night. Those that paid a ridiculous $30 or so each month could see uncut movies with the help of an often-malfunctioning 'descrambler' box. For those without, you could almost see scrambled boobies!

1980 - Millions asked, "Who shot J.R.?" Today, nobody remembers or really gives a shit.

1981 - MTV debuts, showing shitty reality shows music videos 24/7. As the only artists actually doing videos at the time were Rod Stewart and a number of obscure British synthesizer bands sporting lipstick and sculpted hairdos, the playlist is not very refined.

1982 - Police Squad!, one of the funniest television comedies ever produced, lasts a mere six episodes on ABC, failing because it was so fast-paced, people could not get up and go to the bathroom during its half-hour running time. The doomed show later spawns three hit movies. Gotta love network executives.

1982 - NBC's new Late Night With David Letterman gives budding yuppie college students yet another reason to stay up late, blow off homework and get drunk on wine coolers.

1986 - FOX debuts as the fourth network. Civilization begins to decline on this date.

1990 - David Lynch's bizarre prime-time soap Twin Peaks debuts, leading viewers across the country to yell, "WTF?"

1992 - The beginning of the late-night shakeup. Johnny Carson retires and is replaced by Jay Leno. A snubbed David Letterman moves into direct competition at CBS. since the Overmyer Network never returned his calls.

1993 - Sensing pending brilliance, NBC slides obscure comedy writer Conan O'Brien into Letterman's old Late Night gig, giving delusioned Gen-X college students yet another reason to stay up late, blow off homework and ponder their hopeless lives.

1995 - The biggest daytime soap opera this year is the O.J. Simpson trial, proving that, once and for all, people will watch just about anything on television.

1995 - Even with four broadcast networks and hundreds of cable outlets, the people behind UPN, The WB and Pax (a dubious venture featuring infomercials, religious barkers and Mama's Family reruns) all decide we need more networks.

1996 - WRAL-HD in Raleigh launches as first-ever digital high-definition station. Sharper picture, same ol' crap.

1996 - Zenith introduces first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the U.S. And like all front-projection sets to follow, it's a piece of junk.

1997 - The first commercial DVD players hit the market. No more rewinding fees!

1999 - The debut of HBO's The Sopranos, arguably the greatest television series in history. All the rest sleep with the fishes.

2000 - Survivor debuts on CBS, launching the never-ending 'reality' freak show fad. It only goes downhill from here.

2000 - Paramount releases the final two titles in the Laserdisc format, Sleepy Hollow and Bringing Out The Dead. Wait! Studios were still releasing Laserdiscs in 2000?

2001 - Pop Idol debuts in the U.K., inspiring many more international versions, including our own. It goes further downhill from here.

2001 - Biggest hit reality show of the year turns out to be something called "September 11 Terrorist Attacks".

2002 - Yet another [BEEP!] 'reality' show, this one featuring Ozzy Osbourne's foul-mouthed [BEEP!] family, debuts on MTV. Kill your [BEEP!] television. Right [BEEP!] now.

2006 - UPN and The WB merge into The CW, and FOX pushes MyNetworkTV from their loins. Three years later, few can name a single show on either network.

2009 - Another shift in late night television at NBC, as Conan O'Brien deservedly gets the Tonight Show gig, Jay Leno takes over a full hour of prime time and the utterly lame Jimmy Fallon is tapped for Late Night, giving feeble-minded college students yet another reason to stay up late, turn off the TV and actually do homework.

2009 - Not to be outdone by NBC, CBS devotes their entire 10PM hour of weeknight prime time to variations and clones of their CSI franchise. Wait! They've already been doing this for years! As for ABC, they just schedule more shit that nobody watches.

2009 - The U.S. ditches the old analog standard for television and moves completely to digital transmission. Okay, so at least we half-way killed our televisions. Bring on the digital era!

Weekend update

Kinda slow on the news front, and I've been spending the past few days on what I think is a pretty cool tribute to analog television. Nonetheless, here's what else is going on...

The analog ending

Unless you've been living under a rock, have no grasp of reality, or are George W. Bush, you should all know by now that today is D-Day, as in 'digital'. That means full-power analog television in the United States will go bye-bye today. What this essentially means:

1. This applies to all full-power signals. They will broadcast in digital-only from tomorrow forward. It does not necessarily apply to low-power stations or translator stations. They are exempt, but some may be shutting off analog anyway. The FCC has not set a shutoff date for low power TV broadcasters.

2. Your old TV may not be very effective without a digital converter box. Sets built in the past several years should be okay. I'm sure you know whether or not this is the case. In addition, those little portable sets you take with you on camping trips and wherever else are now paperweights. Send 'em to Canada or Mexico - they've got analog for the next two years at least. Also, if you still record with a VCR, it's analog tuner will not be very effective anymore. Split a cable off from your converter/cable box and you should be okay, though you may not be able to record one channel while watching another.

3. If you are still unprepared for this, and call TV stations, the FCC, etc. bitching about the loss of your favorite stations, I'm afraid television has already rotted your brain and God is trying to tell you to stop watching.

4. For those of you in the 'rabbit ear' crowd, if you haven't 'rescanned' your converter box/TV tuner, you probably should. With the switchover, some stations are changing their RF frequencies (which is their actual channel, rather than the virtual channel - don't ask) . If you're kinda confused over this, and I don't blame you, don't worry about it - just rescan. You may notice a few just-added channels or subchannels in your lineup.

Radio station celebrates the Big One Hundred

Wow! Has it been 100 years already since the precursor to KCBS in San Francisco first started broadcasting? It seems like just yesterday that they started experimenting with this crazy radio thingy.

But yes, all-news KCBS is celebrating its centennial this year.

It all started down the bay in San Jose, where engineer Charles Herrold conducted some experiments and was even doing regular broadcasting. In the very beginning, he just used a simple greeting like "San Jose calling."

On December 9, 1921, Herrold received a commercial license for his station with the callsign KQW. It was the 21st licensed radio station in the United States and the 11th in California.

Now, some may contest which was indeed the very first radio station in America. Many claim it to be KDKA in Pittsburgh, which was the first to obtain a license. But prior to KDKA, there were many unlicensed stations across the country, and a few of them exist even today. Many cite what is now KCBS as the very first continually broadcasting radio station in this country, and quite possibly the world (and no, I will not get into any comment debates with any of you smartypants, so hold off).

KCBS has a site devoted to their history here.

Peter B. Collins returns via podcast

Thanks to one of our readers for this heads-up. Peter B. Collins, who ended his radio show a few months ago, has returned with a regular podcast.

He will do 2-3 per week, at roughly 45 minutes to an hour in length.

You can find them at his website, Roots Up Radio or on iTunes.

No Republicans on Rachel

Wingnuts have long made hay over Rachel Maddow's reluctance to book right-wing guests on her radio and cable news shows. Funny, they don't seem to question Rush Limbaugh, who only allows left-leaning callers if he can walk all over them, or any of the FOX News meat puppets, who merely book left-leaning punching bags.

This blog from Baltimore Sun critic Dave Zurawik touches on this very topic, as if it is so damned catastrophic in the shape of things today. Whiny wingnut site Newsbusters.org also pisses and moans about it.

Hey, it's her show, she can do whatever the hell she wants. Much of cable news is at times almost unwatchable because it's typically pundits and 'strategists' yelling back and forth at each other. Since there are many right-wing radio and television talk shows, why not a left-leaning one that is more sedate and gives its viewers what they want? Why should she model her show after every other one on cable TV?

Let's be honest, the crybaby conservative brigade just hates that there are any liberals on TV. Further proof that most wingnuts only like America if it conforms with their own narrow world view.

Friday talkin'

Been a rather quiet week, which is nice once in a while when I feel I need to get away from this thing (which is more often than you think). So here's what's going on in the media and whatnot.

You say it's your birthday

Only a few scant weeks since Air America turned the Big Five, another radio programming service celebrated an even bigger milestone earlier this week.

At 3P on April 15, 1949, Lew Hill and a staff of four launched the first listener-supported radio station in the world, uttering the words: "This is KPFA Berkeley." And thus began Pacifica Radio, which is now 60 years old.

Since then, local residents created four more Pacifica stations - KPFK in Los Angeles, WBAI in New York City, KPFT in Houston, and WPFW in Washington DC. And there are approximately 150 other listener-supported stations airing Pacifica-created programming.

Pacifica sez:

For sixty years, since the McCarthy era, America’s oldest independent media network has defied political pressures and the conventions and internal censors inherent to mainstream media. A haven and training ground for artists and journalists, Pacifica has been the vanguard of free media. Breaking important news, providing historical and political analysis, and discovering some of our greatest artistic talents, Pacifica Radio has brought us the great voices of each era.

So, happy 60th, Pacifica. You never looked so young.

Now pass the cake.

Reminiscin'

A couple former progressive talkers are in the news this week.

First, KOMY (1340AM) Santa Cruz, which had a rather stormy relationship with the format before switching to oldies a couple years ago, has flipped again.

Since a rival station, KIDD (630AM) had ditched adult standards and gone oldies, KOMY swaps places, dropping their own oldies format and going with KIDD's former format.

The Zwerling family, which owns KOMY and sister conservotalker KSCO, put both stations on the selling block back in September 2007. No word on whether they're still available, but i'm sure they'd sell for the right price. Then again, with so many AM station simply shutting off the transmitters and going dark these days, in the wake of the rotten economy, is there is any kind of demand for two stations such as these?

On the other coast, remember WKOX (1200AM) Boston? And remember that supposed signal upgrade Clear Channel was trying to work out? Well, it has finally happened. Currently, they are pumping out the long-promised 50,000 watts.

The station simulcasts with another Boston AM, WXKS (1430), and both dropped liberal talk for Latin tropical music two and a half years ago.

There is no word on whether WXKS will be split off, since WXKS now has full-market coverage. There is also no word on whether either station will keep the "Rumba" format. After all, if ratings were part of the whole equation, well, let's just say that "Rumba" ain't doing so hot. Overall ratings (I know, I know) are not only lower than they were with progressive talk - they're currently nonexistent. But that's just another one of those crazy things with Clear Channel. But hey, if they feel they're making money with it, well...

The slow, painful death of terrestrial radio

Just as Arbitron and Edison Research released a study saying that online radio listening has risen so much, it's actually shown up in local ratings surveys, the terrestrial pack continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

Clear Channel, most notably, has been sweatin' up a storm. Listening and revenue has plummeted. And the idea of programming ideas being essentially generated by salespeople and bean counters likely hasn't made the situation any better.

So, in order to give listeners what they can potentially offer and what online radio can't - namely localism and immediacy, they have vowed to take a more locally-oriented approach at each of their stations. All fine and dandy. The homogenization and removal of all local flavor has probably been one of the nails in the proverbial coffin. Only thing is, they still don't get it.

Clear Channel's amazing, fantastic solution? Run more PSAs. Seriously.

And they plan on running more local public-affairs programming in better dayparts. And make local station managers available to local officials at all times. It is also part of their plan to mollify President Obama's FCC, which is calling for more localism.

The radio monolith acknowledges that programming needs to improve as well. So, does that mean more locally-oriented programming ideas, made at station level? Wider playlists for music stations? More local talk show hosts? Well, if you thought that, you just don't know Clear Channel.

No, instead, the two-pronged assault announced to the trade publications include adding more distinct HD Radio channels, even though nobody listens to HD Radio. And, in more earth-shattering news, they're adding another hour of Ryan Seacrest. Oh brother!

And that's why radio is dying, folks. They still don't get it.

And the cruiser rides off into the sunset

Couldn't conclude this entry without noting a major broadcast milestone. And for fans of the NFL, this is very notable.

Asked to name a football color commentator, and likely the first name that comes to mind is John Madden. After almost thirty years in the broadcast booth, Madden has announced his retirement. Well, with Brett Favre now retired (?), perhaps Madden has finally run out of things to ramble on about.

All kidding aside, love him or detest him, the guy is a legend.

The good news for fans is that the highly capable Cris Collinsworth will replace him on "Sunday Night Football", which is a pretty darn good idea.

Friday catch-all

Just a round-up of the latest happenings, including a few things I didn't get around to posting. Enjoy.

Montel producer named

Here's the whole press release, so I don't leave anything out:

Air America Media has named radio veteran Mike Opelka executive producer of "Montel Across America," debuting next Monday, April 6. In this role, Mike will oversee the overall structure and content of the show, and will assist in booking guests.

"Mike’s the perfect guy to join with Montel in creating this exciting new radio program", said Bill Hess, senior vice president of programming for Air America Media. "We’re thrilled he’s joined us."

"I’m looking forward to working with Montel and the entire Air America team to launch this one-of-a-kind radio show," said Opelka. "As preparations are well underway, I’m excited to be a part of bringing Montel’s passion and talent to Air America’s listeners."

Opelka is a media veteran with more than 20 years of experience in radio, network and cable television, internet production, management and publishing. Most recently he was executive producer of CBS Radio’s syndicated "Opie & Anthony" show. Prior, he was producer and director for the launch of Premiere Radio Network’s "Wake Up with Whoopi," starring Whoopi Goldberg. Additionally, he’s served as executive producer of WKTU’s "Baltazar & Goumba Johnny Morning Show," and assistant program director of the station. From 1988-1998, Opelka was a producer for Z-100’s "Morning Zoo" with Scott Shannon, Ross Brittain, Gary Bryan and Adam Curry.

In addition to his radio credits, Opelka produced shows and projects for Fox Television, including "Fox After Breakfast" and original programming for the launch of the FX Network.

"Montel Across America," hosted by Montel Williams, will air weekdays from 9A-12P ET on radio stations across the country, and streamed live online at airamerica.com.

WINZ flips tonight

Progressive talk fans in Miami should enjoy the last few hours if they can. The worst kept radio secret of the year, the long-rumored format switch at WINZ (940AM) to sports talk will finally happen tonight (Friday) at 6P.

The new station will feature all nationally syndicated hosts from FOX Sports Radio, which is owned by Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel, owner of WINZ. The only local presence on the station will be Miami Heat basketball. Also Florida Gators football and basketball, if you consider that local.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel sez:

"We also intend to pick up as much play-by-play (of various sports) as we can," program director Ken Charles said.

WINZ will become the sixth all-sports radio station in South Florida, an area that has shown it can support only one, if that.

No word on whether another area station will pick up the deposed progressive talk format, which garnered pretty decent ratings in its almost five year run. Perhaps one of the other five sports talk stations will consider.

Ironically, progressive talk replaced... (drum roll)... FOX SPORTS(!!!) back in July 2004. And we all know what the definition of insanity is, right?

The last terrestrial domino falls

Remember a few weeks back when I mentioned the fading of CBS' old "Hot Talk" push? The company flipped their New York and L.A. stations to top 40 and completely torpedoed guy talk. Coinciding with that, the syndicated shows of testosterone-fueled talkers Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis effectively ended. And now, Opie and Anthony have officially gasped their last terrestrial breath, as their final affiliate has thrown in the towel.

A couple days ago, their sole remaining affiliate, WROX in Norfolk dropped the delayed weekday airing of their show (in addition to the just plain awful Mancow show). The duo, however, can still be heard (and uncut, at that) via Sirius XM.

'Guiding Light' gets turned off

Never thought I'd be writing about a soap opera, but this one is pretty historic. After all, how many shows are still around that go back 72 years?

After this unlikely long run, CBS is pulling the plug on "Guiding Light", which will broadcast its final episode on Friday, September 18, 2009 after a whopping total 15,700 (now try buying the complete set on DVD!).

The show is older than commercial TV itself, as NBC Radio launched the 15-minute serial "The Guiding Light" on January 25, 1937. The show moved to television, on CBS, on June 30, 1952 (though the radio version continued until 1956). In 1967, the show switched to color and expanded from 15 minutes to a half-hour. The expansion to an hour happened in 1977.

In recent years, to cut costs in an era where seemingly nobody but retirees watch soap operas, they started taping the show outdoors with camcorders, in order to cut costs and give it that hip "YouTube" look. That didn't fly, and the ratings still tanked.

The show will likely be replaced by yet another talk show or perhaps yet another courtroom offering moderated by a sassy judge (I made up that last part).

For the die-hards, there is talk of some other entity continuing the "Guiding Light" saga, so, stay tuned.

From anal cysts to anal poisoning

Okay, sorry for being so nasty. But considering this last item was broadcast live on Rush Limbaugh's show to millions of people across the country, well, it is indeed worth mentioning. Some people just don't know when to shut up before they say something really, really dumb. Take, for instance, the GOP's current great white hope, certainly no stranger to saying utterly stupid stuff.

HuffPo sez:

...Limbaugh went waaaaaay over the top in insulting Gordon Brown with a mental image that one must work at to un-think about, warning that if the British Prime Minister keeps "slobbering" over President Barack Obama, he'll "come down with anal poisoning and may die from it."

Naturally, how Limbaugh gained such innovative insight into the epidemiological vectors of saliva-borne ass toxins remains an open question.

Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.

After all, who better an expert on assholes than America's biggest asshole? Perhaps Rush should have issued this warning to his fave brown-noser, Brian Maloney...

HuffPo and blatherWatch have the audio of this rather sordid soundbyte.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go hurl.

D Day - Not Today

This was supposed to be the day.

The end of analog television as we know it.

Of course, that's been delayed, since a small portion of really dumb and/or naive people aren't ready yet. So yes, the new date for the end of analog television broadcasting and the adoption of DTV as the official standard will now be June 12. Kind of.

In most markets around the country, the estimated 5-7% of the population still watching in analog will notice a few stations missing come tomorrow. See, although stations have the authority to continue cranking out analog waveforms until June, 491 of the nation's 1,796 full-power TV stations across the country have chosen to stick with today's original changeover date and will go digital-only by midnight tonight. Most of them are full-power independents or affiliated with lower-tier networks (i.e. The CW on down). Many of the country's Big Four-affiliated stations (i.e. the ones that carry NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX) are likely to keep their analog transmitters going until June, though some are going through with today's original changeover date.

So, in the instance of Madison, WI, the only full-power stations that will still be doing analog tomorrow morning include the FOX affiliate and the public television station (which will turn off analog in March). The NBC, ABC, CBS and CW outlets there are going all-digital. Therefore, the stone-agers there will still get their Sesame Street and America Idol. In San Diego, only the NBC affiliate will remain in analog. In the Waco and Temple markets in Texas, virtually the entire dial will be all-digital.

So, what's a stone-ager to do?

Well, first of all, pull your head out of your ass. Then, get out of the cave. There are many sites on the web that will explain what to do, such as the official DTV2009.gov and DTVanswers.com.

If you currently get your television from cable or satellite (i.e. pay a bill for TV every month), you need do nothing. This applies only to those who rely on an antenna (the pointy thing on top of the TV or on the roof) to get TV signals. If you just bought a TV in the past several years, it may be all ready to receive DTV signals. Make sure it's in the digital tuning position rather than the analog one. Consult your owner's manual if you're confused.

If your TV is older, it is likely analog-only. You need either one of the above or you need what's called a converter box. They retail for roughly between $40-60 dollars. And there's a lot of them out there. One webmaster sent me an email over the weekend telling me about a site he has that lists and reviews all the major converter boxes, so if you're confused, you're in luck.

Converter boxes are available generally at general retailers like Wal-Mart or Target, or electronics dealers like Best Buy and Radio Shack. Some mom-and-pop places sell them too. In fact, Target is currently featuring a $45 box in this week's circular. Now, that's a lot of scratch to come up with, especially with this crappy economic market. Luckily, your Uncle Sam will cover the first $40 for you. You can order up to two plastic cards good for a $40 discount on any approved converter box, meaning that box at Target will cost you $5. If you can't come up with that, recycle some pop cans, sell bodily fluids or brew some backyard meth. It ain't that much money, especially since it's one of the cheapest forms of entertainment available. Better than sitting on your sofa in denial watching snow and crappy VHS tapes on that fancy box, right? Now, do it ASAP, since there is a backlog of people requesting these vouchers.

As for those of you (us!) that are DTV-ready, via a newer set or converter box, you may still be affected somewhat if your favorite local stations shut down their analog tonight. Some outlets plan on moving their digital frequency back to their original analog channel assignment (with DTV and analog, they get a channel for each). A channel rescan tomorrow should ensure that all your local stations come in. In addition, some stations may increase power or change broadcast facilities for their digital signals. A rescan and maneuvering of the antenna should work.

So you see, DTV ain't that complicated. Maybe that's why they call it an idiot box.

That'll be the day (this thing gets posted)

With this catch-all entry, let us pause and remember the significance of this day, February 3, 2009. For today marks one of the most notable days in music history.

Fifty years ago, on February 3, 1959, a trio of young rockers on a midwestern ballroom tour, rocker Buddy Holly opted to get out of the dilapidated and freezing tour bus and charter a plane to take him and his band from Mason City, Iowa to their next gig in Moorhead, MN, hoping to arrive early enough to get some laundry done.

Tourmate Richie Valens flipped a coin with one of Holly's bandmates, Tommy Alsup, for his plane seat. Valens won. And another tourmate, J.P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson, suffering from the flu, begged Holly's other bandmate, Waylon Jennings, for his seat, to which Jennings obliged.

When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes." No more ominous words were perhaps ever spoken. The plane wound up doing just that not too long after takeoff, killing all aboard.

Read more about The day the music died.

And here it is, the catch-all entry. Enjoy.

The day the music could die at EMI

This one is a bit off-topic in general, but is, however, music-related. And there are parallels between the entertainment industry and the media industry. Both have consolidated to the point that the biggest players hold an increasingly large chunk of the pie, and in some cases, some companies have fallen under the control of private equity firms with myopic slash-and-burn mentalities.

Most notable in the music industry is venerable British label EMI, which has a long and storied history. They're the ones that brought us Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Garth Brooks. Their Abbey Road Studios in London is perhaps the most famous and most innovative studio on the planet. And now, it looks like EMI's recording legacy could come to an end.

EMI has long been suffering, and even more so since the takeover by the Terra Firma private equity firm. Their deep-pocketed rivals have gotten much bigger, and EMI has seen an exodus of some of their biggest stars, including Brooks, Radiohead and Paul McCartney, who have all recently opted to go the indie label route. All of the combined factors have resulted in the recording division posting losses of £757 million ($1.08 billion) for the year ending March, 2008. Even after cleaning up some sloppy business practices and slashing 1500 jobs, the company is still hemmhoraging money.

Terra Firma may sell off EMI's recording division and keep its lucrative music publishing division. Could EMI land with yet another private equity group or get swallowed up by one of the other big industry fish, such as Sony, Time Warner or Universal Media Group? Or could we see a situation where some of the crown jewels, i.e. the lucrative Beatles catalog, get sold off separately, perhaps to the band members/estates themselves? Music fans will likely be watching this one closely.

And the prospect of a Big Three holding sway over most of the music industry could be a double-edged sword. With the ability of smaller independent labels and consortiums finding distribution and promotion to be quite simple compared to years past, and big artists such as Brooks, The Eagles and Nine Inch Nails releasing their new material sans-label online or through exclusive deals with retailers like Wal-Mart, do we really need major labels anymore?

Early in the Morning

Starting this week, you can hear Rachel Maddow in mornings at Air America, as she has given up her weeknight show on the radio network.

The New York Daily News says that Maddow will "provide content" for an hour-long morning program, largely built on her MSNBC show of the previous evening.

The problem, says Maddow, is that something had to give.

"I just couldn't keep doing both," she says. "It was a quality control issue - the quality of the program and my own quality of life. I need time to, say, eat and sleep, which I understand most people do every day. I wasn't. I needed not to be grabbing food off a cart at 2 in the morning."

Oh, Boy!

Two years after they almost killed it, and only a few weeks after management tried to shake it up by making some rather controversial changes, it appears that the listeners were right after all.

And with that, congratulations are in order for WXXM (92.1 The Mic) in Madison. In the most recent ratings book, they have jumped from a 2.2 share to a whopping FOUR POINT FREAKIN' SEVEN (!!!) in the overall numbers. That's a 4.7, folks, and marks a record for the biggest number for a purely progressive talk station in America.

Currently, they are tied for #6 overall in the market with country music sister WMAD.

And they say nobody listens. Feh!

Not Fade Away

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you know that television will undergo a major transformation in 2008. Gone will be the seven decade-old analog standard, to be replaced by ones and zeros.

As it currently stands, all of the nation's full-powered television stations will be required to turn off their analog transmission facilities and continue with their digital-only facilities on February 17. This may be extended to June 12 if Congress acts soon (and President Obama has signalled he will sign the bill once it leaves the House successfully). That means that, if you receive your television signals via rabbit ear antennas, you need to take note.

First, if you subscribe to cable, satellite or similar service, you're set. You're good to go. You may not even notice anything come February 17.

If you get your signals over-the-air, you may need to take note. Do you have a newer wide-screen LCD, plasma or other flat-panel set? Or a newer CRT (that big picture tube) unit that already receives digital signals? You're also set, but you may have to refer to your instruction manual to make sure you've already scanned the digital channels.

Now, if you have an older set (made more than three years ago or so) and it doesn't already receive digital signals, you may need one of those digital converter boxes. So far, they've been selling like crazy. So much that the government program that doles out $40 discount vouchers for the units has run out of money. That has been replenished, thanks to the recent stimulus bill that just got passed.

If you've been procrastinating and still haven't applied for your voucher yet, you can still do so, unless you just don't care about television anymore. Otherwise, you can still pay full-price for a converter box, if so desired. The boxes typically retail for $50-60, and can be found at most big-box retailers such as Best Buy, Radio Shack, Target and Wal-Mart.

Keep in mind that even though the analog shutoff may be postponed, individual stations, faced with the expense of keeping their old signals on for another four months, may opt to sign off analog come February 17. The FCC has been allowing stations to do this. Once the analog signal signs off for good, you'll need to be digitally compliant to still watch.

Now, let's say that you get your signals over-the-air. If you haven't already scanned for digital channels, then do so. Stations are still signing on their digital counterparts and even debuting subchannels. With the analog signals shut down, some stations may increase their digital power, allowing for a greater coverage area. And some may even change channel locations. It certainly would not a bad idea to occasionally rescan to update the tuner. And make sure you've got a decent antenna (often, a simple $20 one will suffice - a rooftop antenna is ideal).

But if you need a converter box, and don't already have one, what the hell are you waiting for?

A potpourri of Tuesday goodness

Not feeling the desire to do a long diatribe-style entry for today. And while the tighty righties are making a big stink about the whole Obama/Limbaugh thing (which just plain reeks of faux outrage), and with a bunch of little things going on, here's yet another one of those catch-all entries:

You've got four more months

Okay, so you've been procrastinating and haven't sent away for the DTV converter coupons yet. Well, it looks like you got lucky. Yesterday, the Senate voted to delay the much-ballyhooed analog-to-digital television conversion until June.

The reason for the delay is that the $1.5 billion government program designed to send out the coupons ran dry of funding and is awaiting a fix to get it all taken care of. Currently, an estimated 6-8% of homes nationwide would be left in the dark come February 17 as it now stands.

Obama himself called for a postponement of the switchover date, in order to satisfy demand for the converter box vouchers. The extra money is due to come from President Obama's proposed $825 billion dollar stimulus package.

Again, if you have an older TV and get your signals via an antenna on the top of your set or on your roof, you may just need that converter box. If you already have cable, satellite or the equivalent, you need do nothing. If you currently have a newer TV set that can obtain digital signals, you should be in the clear, but should also check and make sure.

If you realize that yes, indeed you do need a DTV converter box, well, get off your dead ass and apply for one (or two, if needed). Stop procrastinating!

You can find out more here or here. And here's a few common questions answered in this USA Today column.

Status quo at Marti

Right-wingers can bitch all they want about the Obama Administration's desire to spend money on stuff like (gasp!) health care. But I rarely see a peep out of them about ridiculous government sinkholes that they support. Like Radio Marti.

I caught a little blurb yesterday on AllAccess about the station, who's sole reason for being is to pump propaganda into Cuba. Nevermind that Cuba jams the signal, making it all a lost cause. But Pedro Roig, the Director of the U.S. Office Of Cuba Broadcasting, which operates Radio and TV Marti, has been asked to stay on by the Obama Administration at least temporarily.

Radio and TV Marti have both long been criticized. Aside from reception issues in Cuba, Cuban exiles and dissidents have complained that the stations do not bash the Cuban government enough over suppression and assorted human rights abuses. Many also don't see the whole excercise as being worth its $250 million spent on the operation over the past decade. Hey, the Pentagon can get a toilet seat for that!

In the future, all radio will be sports

As Super Bowl week has arrived, sports is a big story in the radio industry as well. Clear Channel always has some sort of uninspired gimmick up their sleeves, and now, it appears to be their FOX Sports division (Clear Channel's syndication arm, Premiere Networks, owns it, but licenses the name from you-know-who). Last week, they flipped former progressive talker KLSD in San Diego to an almost wall-to-wall feed of the network. Stations in Los Angeles and Detroit basically got the same treatment.

And now, another former progressive talker, WYTS in Columbus (formerly WTPG), has dropped their right-wing talk format and flipped to wall-to-wall FSR. And there have also been rumors that a future prospect for an automated FOX Sports outlet is another liberal talker, WINZ (940AM) in Miami. But so far, it's all rumor, and most of it is FSL-type message board cranks that like to pull rumors out of their asses. So, best to not bet the farm on this until you hear it from a better source.

In the meantime, sure wouldn't hurt to let station management know you're listening. Or at the very least let their advertisers know.

Oh yeah, that Obama/Limbuagh thing

I really didn't feel the need to spill anymore electrons over this. Am I really the only person who doesn't think it's a big deal? And I typed out a couple paragraphs on this so-called 'controversy' only to have my browser crash and erase it all. An omen, perhaps?

It started innocently enough. President Obama invited some top Republican lawmakers to the White House, to try and sell his stimulus package. Now that in itself is notable, since the previous president, while enjoying a majority in Congress, would merely tell Democrats to go pound sand and just deal with it. At least Obama is listening to his opponents.

The whole thing started innocently enough. He even got off a rather funny line. "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told them. In other words, it's time to get beyond partisan sniping. Of course, invoking the name of His Tubbiness is enough to stir up a virtual shitstorm of fabricated outrage. Sure enough, faster than Brian Maloney can affix his lips to Limbaugh's ass, two of the biggest purveyors of phony hostility, the Drudge Report and the New York Post, went nuclear, and turned what appears to be a molehill into Mount Vesuvius.

Of course, much of it is coming from Rush Lowbrow himself. He thinks it's all about him. And, in what appears to be the beginning stages of an all-out meltdown, is going out of his way to start some kind of high-level fued with the president. That attitude, coupled with comments such as "I hope he fails," is making him look even more like a complete fool. Especially when he claimed that it is Obama that wants Limbaugh to fail. Is this yet another shark jumping moment for the Round Mound of Obnoxious Sound? Are people finally rolling their eyes at this reclusive, drugged-up, loud-mouthed millionaire former disc jockey and his neverending attempts at playing the victim?

Thankfully, Obama isn't taking the bait. He's ignoring Limbaugh, as he should. Obama's the big gun now. Limbaugh's small potatoes. Let him implode on his own.

Playing catch-up

Been tending to other business over the past week, so I've been away. As for all the emails, I'm trying to catch up on all of that.

But here's what's happening...

Nova M moves in the new year

Come November 1, listeners of KPHX in Phoenix will have to do a dial dance. The format will move from 1480AM to 1190AM on January 1. The new station will be branded as "1190 Nova M."

The 1190 frequency, which has the call letters KNUV, was purchased by the group several months ago. KPHX had been leased by the group.

Taylor out at San Diego 1700

San Diego talker Stacy Taylor is no longer at XEPE (1700AM) in San Diego, according to one reader who emailed in. In his words, he's been "eliminated."

He said on his website, “When I arrived at the studio, the GM was waiting for me at the door with the news.”

DTV - 2 months to go!

Got your converter box yet? Today marks exactly two months to go until the end of the analog era in television. Come February 17, all American over-the-air television will be digital-only.

If you have an older set not equipped to pick up digital signals, and don't have cable, satellite or the equivalent, you may need a digital converter box. Luckily, your government can help. Just to to dtv2009.gov to request a coupon good for $40 off a converter box, which can be picked up at most electronics and department stores (the major chains such as Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, etc. all carry them). A typical box runs about $50-60, so that translates to a net cost of $10-20.

Read previous entries about DTV here and here.

The Man of the Year

No surprise here. Time Magazine, on this morning's "Today" show on NBC, named President-elect Barack Obama its "Person of the Year" for 2008. Who else did you expect?

The recession-proof Tuesday update

Okay, so it's now official. Break out the cat food and ramen noodles! The National Bureau of Economic Research on Monday announced that we're in a recession, and have been for a year now, pretty much saying the same thing everyone else besides the news media has been saying for months.

But in these parts, the only recession going on is the hairline of the guy typing this. Hey, blogging's still free, right? Though it would be nice if y'all could click some advertising links to the right and send this poor, balding fool a little substinance (or Rogaine money) to get through these rough times.

With that aside, let's catch up with some news...

Zoning

In case you were wondering, WWZN (1510AM) in Boston has started its liberal talk transition effective yesterday. So far, it's former WKOX/WXKS host Jeff Santos in mornings, 6-9A. Peter B. Collins' syndicated show airs live weeknights 6-9P. Other shows are forthcoming (such as either Thom Hartmann or Ed Schultz in middays, reportedly). Currently, the rest of the lineup is mostly sports and paid programming.

You can stream the station here.

RFK Jr. not interested in Senate seat

With Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) about to give up her Senate seat to become President-elect Obama's new Secretary of State, a few names have surfaced for Governor David Paterson to consider. He'd like to name a woman or a minority, but would also be really open to a well-known name. Like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the former senator from the state.

But Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and co-host of Air America's "Ring Of Fire," said this morning that he had telephoned Gov. David A. Paterson and explained that he was not interested in being appointed to the United States Senate. Kennedy has said that he did not feel the time was right, and he wanted to devote more time to his family.

"Baby, if you ever wondered..."

Moving on to the semi-whimsical, many have wondered for the past three decades or so whether there was actually a WKRP in Cincinnati, similar to the faux radio show on the old CBS sitcom. The answer, obviously, has always been no, but that's about to change.

Okay, it won't be a radio station picking up the call letters, but a low-power independent TV station. Henceforth, Channel 38 in Cincy will be known as WKRP-TV (actually low-power WKRP-LP, if you want to get technical about it).

Not surprisingly, the station is heavy with old sitcoms. Unfortunately, there is one obvious show exception, which kinda messes up the whole concept, right?

Bill Drake (1937-2008)


Finally, a sad farewell to a radio pioneer. Bill Drake, the legendary radio programmer who revamped Top 40 radio in the 1960s and helped launch highly successful "93/KHJ Boss Radio" in Los Angeles, passed away Saturday of lung cancer. He was 71.


In the '60s, Drake was known as one of the most powerful men in the radio industry. His formula for success was called the Drake format: less talk, fewer commercials and more music.

Before the paint hits the wall

As I continue to grind away at yet another spiffy makeover for this blog, I thought I’d catch up with some older news.

Adios, Air America in Atlantic City

We start this fun-filled episode with yet another small AM station spinning the format wheel, in hopes of seeing what sticks. WTAA, which began airing a progressive talk format in June 2007, went Spanish on September 18. They are now airing a syndicated format known as “La Gran D.”

La Gran D went on the air Sept. 18, becoming Atlantic and Cape May counties' only all-Spanish language, 24-hour radio station. The format replaced the political programming of Air America, which had been broadcast on the station.

Kelly said the format switch was made because the listenership for syndicated politically liberal-leaning format (featuring Air America and Don Imus) has been negligible for the 15 months it had been on the airwaves.

"We knew we wanted to do something to serve the Spanish-speaking community," said Kelly, who predicts the Spanish format will get better ratings.

Because of the increase in the number of Hispanics living in Atlantic County, it was likely someone would try a Spanish-language station. In Atlantic County, the U.S. Census Bureau counts 38,894 Hispanics out of a total population of 270,644, a 31. 8 percent increase since 2000.
The station was sold last May, and rumors of a pending flip have been ongoing since.

"Carol" sings a sour note

Okay, I got a lot of shit from the Free Republic crowd for dissing David Zucker's new right-wing 'comedy' flick "An American Carol." Well, perhaps they would have a stronger leg to stand on if it actually did well at the box office. For the past weekend, the film debuted at a tepid #9 overall, getting throttled by a kiddie flick about a talking chihuahua.

The film, which opened in 1,639 theaters, pulled in a weak $3,656,000. By comparison, the #10 movie, the Bill Maher documentary "Religulous," opened in only 502 theaters, but finished only $200,000 less than "Carol." Maher's film, made for a measly $2.5 million, has more or less made its investment back. The $20 million dollar "Carol" looks much iffier.

"Carol" was not screened in advance for film critics, usually a bad omen but typical for comedies that know they're going to get trashed by reviewers. Nonetheless, some reviewers actually did see it, and most thought it sucked. On Rotten Tomatoes, which tracks film reviews, the film got a 15 out of 100 on the Tomato Meter. Only one person, Kevin Ranson of MovieCrypt.com, actually liked it. And speaking of political satire...

Scranton, Wilmington get dissed by SNL

Okay, if you're like me, you've been enjoying "Saturday Night Live" this season, particularly for the hilarious Sarah Palin bits featuring Tina Fey (though they could have just aired tapes of the oft-ridiculous Palin and gotten much of the same reaction). Nonetheless, it's the best political impersonation on the show since Dana Carvey riffed on both George Bush and Ross Perot.

During last week's opening skit spoofing last week's VP debate on SNL, cast member Jason Sudeikis, playing Joe Biden, referred to Biden's hometown of Scranton, PA as a "genetic cesspool," among other things, and also disparaged Wilmingont, DE as being "not that much better."

According to AllAccess, two top 40 personalities, Ralphie Aversa, night jock on WBHT Scranton and Ricky Thomas, night guy on WSTW in Wilmington, aired calls and and hit the streets seeking listeners to rebut (or agree with) the accusations. You can hear the audio on the WBHT site here, or on the WSTW site here, if you're curious.

The Rest

* Rachel Maddow gets yet another writeup, this time in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

* As mentioned last week, you can hear "Maron Vs. Seder" weekdays at 3P ET at mvslive.com.

Mid-week roundup

As I try to wrap my head around what kinds of hallucinogenic drugs John McCain must be ingesting, it's time to catch up with some of the big stories going on in the world of media...

Wilmington gets digitized

The plug was pulled at noon Monday, as Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin and Wilmington, N.C., Mayor Bill Saffo flipped a huge, symbolic digital light switch to end full-power analog TV in the market, making the market the first to switch to all-digital broadcasting.

The symbolic move, the latest prior to the nationwide switch to digital on February 17, 2009, had all of the market's major stations pulling the plug on analog at the same time. The market's station owners all agreed on May 8 to volunteer to become a test market for the FCC, becoming the first to go all-digital.

As expected, the switch did bring in a few calls out of the estimated 13,000 local households that receive broadcasts via antenna, with roughly 226 logged as of Tuesday. Surprisingly, only one call was from a viewer who was surprised by the switch, with most of them needing assistance in setting up their DTV converter boxes correctly (hint: Use the autoscan feature), reception issues or inquiring into the whereabouts of their requested $40 government-issued voucher coupons.

The Wilmington shut-off most importantly shows the importance of being prepared for the upcoming analog-to-digital switch, with only five months to go. If you don't subscribe to cable, satellite or other subscription means, and your television is several years old (without digital channel reception capabilities), you need to get a converter box. As you may know, Uncle Sam will foot $40 toward the cost of the box (which averages roughly $50-60 retail). Log in to dtv2009.gov to apply for up to two vouchers. For those of you with friends or relatives unaware of the change that still use an antenna, this is the perfect opportunity to remind them, and to give enough lead time to prepare for the conversion.

Regardless, many see the upcoming digital switch as a major pain in the ass. In reality, it shouldn't be. Digital channels should come in much clearer than their analog counterparts. The digital picture is clear - DVD quality. And many stations carry subchannels on their digital signals, which allows for additional programming. Most NBC affiliates carry Weather Plus, which carries full-time local weather updates. Many PBS affiliates have feeds of extra programming, such as the excellent PBS World. And others are carrying channels such as RTN, .2 Network or the upcoming MGM channel, This TV (to launch this fall in Chicago and Milwaukee so far), all of which specialize in classic reruns and movies.

Think of it as getting better reception and more channels. Not a bad motivation to pay $10-20 dollars for a small box.

The Sirius XM lovechild

As the nation's two satellite radio services proceed with their merger, listeners of either service will soon be able to hear programming from the former rivals, meaning that XM subscribers will soon be able to hear Howard Stern and NFL games, while Sirius subscribers will get Opie and Anthony, Oprah Winfrey and PGA broadcasts (golf on radio?).

The combined company announced this week a content lineup for Sirius XM's new "Best of Both" programming options. As part of "Best of Both" programming, most current XM customers will continue to receive their existing XM service, and be able to obtain select Sirius programming. Likewise, Sirius listeners will be able to access some XM programming.

In addition to their existing service, Sirius subscribers will have access to XM-exclusive sports such as the NHL and select college sports, in addition to Opie and Anthony's "The Virus," "Oprah and Friends," and XM's public radio offerings, including Bob Edwards. XM fans will be able to hear Howard Stern, Martha Stewart's "Living" channel, Playboy Radio and sports offerings from the NFL and NASCAR.

As you may have noticed, liberal channels such as Air America and Sirius Left are not on the list currently, a surprise, since the two channels are an obvious drawing card for their respective services.

Right-wing station sued for bias

An interesting item from Los Angeles, as Salem Communications owner Ed Atsinger is being sued for the obvious right-wing slant of local talk station KRLA. The Glendale News Press reports that the plaintiff, David Birke, who describes himself as a Democrat, is suing the station and its hosts, including Salem's Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher, KRLA local host Kevin James (link), TRN's Laura Ingraham and Westwood One's Dennis Miller. Birke alleges that the station defrauds the public and misrepresented itself to the FCC by featuring only conservative hosts and "Republican issues."

Birke's complaint alleges that KRLA "has never allowed a Democrat to host a show; uses call screening to 'suppress' calls from Democratic supporters; and violates "campaign finance laws by providing free media for advertising, attacks on Democrats, fundraising and promotion exclusively to GOP officials and candidates.'"

His attorney Johnny Birke (not sure if there's a relation) stated, "This a legal attack about the facts and law about what these defendants did and what they are doing on the airwaves."

The suit will likely go nowhere. The FCC has consistently declined to interfere in programming decisions since the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine and does not require stations to balance programming.

Personally, I have always held the belief that station owners should be free to do whatever format they want. We all know that Salem is a corporate media sinkhole propped up by the revenue brought in by the fundamentalist religious formats airing on many of their stations. And we all know that roughly 95% of the public does not listen to political talk radio of any kind, and most of it just preaches to the respective choirs anyway. I think too many make too big a deal of it.

Stephanie Miller out in San Diego

Speaking of KRLA, Salem and Laura Ingraham seem to have parted ways. She is off all of the stations that had aired her show, and in Los Angeles, she takes her show to rival KGIL/XESURF, which serve Los Angeles and San Diego respectively.

While most people here could likely care less about Ingraham, it is noteworthy in that her show will replace that of Stephanie Miller on the San Diego station, only a few months after being added to the lineup. Local liberal talker Michael Jackson is also gone in the shuffle.

Wait! Wait... Just Watch Me!

Are you a fan of NPR's hilarious weekly game show "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!"? If you are, you'll be pleased to know that it will soon hit the TV screen.

A TV pilot version of the show is being developed by CBS Entertainment, always on the prowl for new game show ideas. And unlike most of the crap passing for game show/reality competitions, nobody will be forced to run through obstacle courses, live with smelly, irritating roommates or eat live bugs. Or that terrible game show on FOX the other night which featured teams of people jumping through walls. It's just a fun little quiz show that's a bit more challenging than opening suitcases full of money. Think "Jeopardy," but with a bit more wit.

Host Peter Sagal and judge/scorekeeper Carl Kasell will appear in the pilot, with show creator/executive producer Doug Berman serving in a similar role for the TV version.

The hour-long show is produced by Chicago Pubic Radio in association with National Public Radio and is structured like a quiz show, focusing on current news subjects. No word on whether the show will air on the CBS network or via their syndication arm.

Article of the day

Finally, for those of you interested, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article on local boy Ron Reagan, who just started a new show on Air America. His show airs from 8-9P weeknights. I haven't had the chance to tune in, but dedicated reader FSL claims that it's better than fried spam and mayonaise sandwiches, and more fun than Sarah Palin in granny panties. Check it out.