Airwaves: January 2, 2009
Family First
Michael Martin, VP of programming for Clear Channel in Los Angeles and
PD of KYSR (98.7 FM) has decided not to return to his job in 2009.
“Yes, I have resigned,” he wrote in a post on allaccess.com. “I
made the decision to resign when I realized that, in the past year, I saw my
son a little over 80 days out of 365.” Martin’s family remained in
the Bay Area of California while he worked in Los Angeles. “It’s a
great team in Los Angeles, and I’ll miss them dearly, but I miss my son
more.”
Expect an announcement soon on his next gig. My guess is that, while he is
leaving Clear Channel Los Angeles, Clear Channel itself won’t let him
get away completely.
Music on AM
Speaking of the Bay Area, CBS is trying music on AM again in San Francisco
as KYCY (1550 AM) adopts the legendary KFRC call letters and
takes on an oldies format programmed by Scott Shannon, who once programmed
Pirate Radio here in Los Angeles. The change took place yesterday (January
1st).
Which begs the question: does CBS have any such plans for their AM properties
here? I doubt it, but you never know. Two news stations (KNX 1070 AM and KFWB
980 AM) have been proven hard to support.
Predictions
I haven’t made predictions for the new year in quite some time. And I
won’t really do so this year either, except to say it will probably be
a roller-coaster ride for some stations.
Vulnerable formats include KLSX (97.1 FM), KNX, KFWB, KMVN (93.9
FM) and perhaps even KTWV (94.7 FM) among a handful of others. With
new PD David G. Hall, even venerable KABC (790 AM) will shift at least slightly.
So what do I expect?
I expect that KLSX won’t last the year. CBS may be dumb enough to try
news on FM, but it won’t work. Either KNX or KFWB will switch to talk,
or more accurately news/talk a la KGO/San Francisco.
Movin' 93.9, on the other hand, is up in the air. Right now it can’t decide
what it wants to be: dance, oldies, whatever. Yet that makes it a somewhat
interesting format in an odd way. Perhaps if they added some current hits,
added some real talent to their DJ lineup and did some real promotions, they
could earn some respect. I’d call it a recreation of the 1980s version
of KIIS-FM ... the dominant station of that decade ... led again by
the talented Rick Dees. I’d listen to that. Maybe I should apply to become
PD.
Letter Bag
“First of all, thank you for another year's worth of your radio column in
the newspaper.
“Secondly, thank you for your review of Sony's HD Radio tuner. I asked Santa
for one and he listened. I wanted to get HD radio for the KRTH HD-2 '50s - '60s
broadcast. Sounds great to hear songs that the main KRTH forgot years ago. Since
you have your ear on the pulse of the LA radio scene, any chance of any other
station jumping on the HD radio bandwagon with 50's doo-wop (KOLA maybe??)?” -- Mike
Reynolds, Redondo Beach.
I’m surprised that KOLA has not done this yet, to be honest. I think it
is a no-brainer for KOLA, whose Inland Empire flame-thrower signal is as strong
as many locals in much of Los Angeles County. I’ll send out feelers and
see what happens ... Maybe this letter will help spark the thought-process.
///
Copyright © 2009 Richard Wagoner and Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
To subscribe to The Daily Breeze, call (310) 540-5511